Hello to all,

As if there isn’t enough negative goings on in Pro Wrestling today, here is aonther fact for us to ponder. There is now a name and an actual study going on for brain injuries in sports acording to the April 11th issue of People Magazine. This now can help us better understand what health issues we may face as wrestlers in our future. Hopefully this study continues and will help us understand what is happening in our heads so that we don’t have any more incidents like the Benoit situation as well as all of the wrestlers suicides, most recently Larry Sweeney this past week.

There are 70 reseachers at the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy at Boston University’s School of Medicine that are studying to understand the permanent damage athletes suffer from head injuries. Five athletes, that are now deceased, donated their brains to this study. Of the 5 men, 2 were suicides, 1 heart failure, 1 Overdose and 1 died from ALS (Lou Gerrigh’s Disease). What is this brain disease called? Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy.

So what is CTE you ask? CTE is the progressive death of brain cells following blows to the head, leading to memory loss, depression and dementia. So far the only test for it: Examine the brain postmortem (After you’re dead) for a toxic protein, TAU, that indicated swaths of dead areas. They have studied football players, hockey players and boxers. In all but one there is CTE.

The answer should be a simple choice for a wrestler to make, it’s called not being stupid. In the 90′s when hardcore was popular, alot of us took alot of senseless shots to the head just to make it look real. The marks wanted stiff, they got stiff. It was dumb for us to do then, it is absolutely retarded to do it now. This now has a name and has a body count. I am only hoping that you guys and gals in Florida really pay attention to this. Being careless to look good in front of a crowd of 50 at a local indy show is just plain dumb and promoters should really think about the angles they want to run and how they want to run them. A lot of people say, “It won’t happen to me”, but it will. I never worried about all of the head trauma that i took on because ECW was doing it, World Championship Wrestling and WWF were doing hardcore stuff. It all seemed just fine and dandy. Now we are finding out exactly how “Not Fine” this crap really is.

I am 36 years old now. My career is over. I had about 6 matches booked from February through July of this year. Nothing crazy, just a few matches with my tag partner, Vito DeNucci. On January 18th i was sitting at home with my Wife looking at something on EBAY. I woke up in an ambulance. I had a grand mal seizure while sitting in my computer chair. I broke a table and went crashing through a dog crate during my seizure. I wasn’t high, i wasn’t drunk…..I was sitting in a chair. The seizure was partially due to head trauma which showed up on the CT scan I had done while in the hospital. Not many people really know the truth about my seizure, but I am telling you guys and girls this because I do not want to see people have to go through this one day like I am now. I am hoping that people actually listen to this and take it seriously. I have massive migraines that come on about once a month that are so severe all I can do is lay in bed and cry until they are gone. I have been having vision issues as well as some memory loss, mostly short term memory. I am telling you all this because you can avoid these types of issues by doing right by yourself.

Being a Pro Wrestler was the only thing i ever wanted to do since I was 7 years old. It was my dream to work for the National Wrestling Alliance/World Championship Wrestling and the WWF. I was fortuate to be able to accomplish my goals in a business that today only wants guys that are 6′ 4″ and 280 lbs. I had a great career doing over 300 television matches and holding the National Wrestling Alliance World Tag Team Titles on 3 occasions. I am proud of what i accomplished. I only hope that the damage that I did to myself does not get any worse in time. I was a football player, baseball player and a wrestler. I have been an athlete my entire life. My Son plays Varsity Football for his High School team where he is the QB. I support sports of all kind for anyone who wants to play. I really want you all to be careful out there. No $20 payday is worth the price you might have to pay in your future if you do crazy things and take major head trauma.

Like I said, I am proud of what I accomplished, very proud. I just want to be around and be able to coach my Son and one day my grandkids and not be in a wheelchair or dead. You all have a choice to make out there. I am not saying don’t be a wrestler. I am saying, please be a smart wrestler.

Very Sincerely,

Chris Nelson

Chris Tipton (Nelson)

Hello to all,

I have been talking to a few young men involved in the wrestling business recently. They are all good workers, some of them are very good. Some of these young men live as far down as the Miami and Ft. Lauderdale are, which is a long haul if you are working shows in Tampa or Orlando, which is what makes me even more upset. I have been told by many sources that there are a bunch of workers working for free (Completely Free) for some promotions here in Florida. It bothered me in 1991 and it bothers me in 2011. I am no longer a worker but I will always be an advocate for worker’s rights here in the State of Florida.

It seems like more and more workers are actually working for free just to be on a show. These are guys that have been around, for some, at least 5+ years, these are not rookies. Here is how I see it.

*****If you are a rookie (Just started training to the end of your 1st year as a wrestler), then if you get paid you should consider yourself lucky. At that point in the business you should be happy to just be working. If you sell tickets, you should get a cut of the tickets that you sell though, even if it’s a dollar. You should be setting up and taking down the ring wether you are asked to or not. You should get there early, before the ring does and just start pitching in. Believe me, the promoter will notice. Setting up chairs is a nice thing to do as well. If you do these things then you are paying your dues and like I said, people will notice. If the promoter has enough money to slip you $10 bucks, then gladly take it and thank the promoter for the opportunity he gave you to work his show. Trust me, when your name comes up for future show, the ring setup and things like that will get you brought back for another match….unless you absolutely suck. You really shouldn’t bitch if you don’t get paid because you are still green as grass. Getting ring time in front of a crowd is a beautiful payday for all you rookies out there!

*****If you have been in the business from 1-3 years and you are a good worker, then you have a right to discuss pay with the booker. You should get the price you agreed upon, even if it is $10, therefore, you still got paid for your work. The ticket sale money still applies if you sell tickets, of course. If you have been working for a couple of years and are a midcard guy, making $25 is ok money. If you are working main events, getting paid more money is usually common place, but be happy with $25 if you get it.

*****3 years and up should be getting the most money out of anyone on the card. This usually means that they are a good, solid worker who can lead a green guy through a match, gets good heat if he is a heel or makes 13 year old girls cry if they are a babyface. Around $50 is a fair price for a worker who does not suck and has paid their dues. Workers need to get paid for asses they put in the seats because their angles are hot and drawing money. A good angle can still draw good crowds here in Florida. This state is not totally dead yet (But it is getting that way)!

*****Promoters, just because you have a “Star” on your roster doesn’t mean it is ok to forget the guys that bring in your crowd show after show. The guys that bust their asses every time out there. It have seen promoters who are drawing houses running about 250-300 people per show bring in a “Name” and still get that same 250-300 people. Therefore the promoter has essentially wasted around $500 to draw the same house they would have drawn anyway.

What really upsets me is when a worker who is a great worker doesn’t get upset when they are handed a $20 payday when they were promised $50 and they get the old, “The house is down” speech. If you receive a guarantee then you should get paid that guarantee. I know that things happen but if the pre-sales are down or something crazy like that, the promoter should call the talent the day before and say that they don’t know if they can afford the full guarantee or not. This gives the worker the chance to decide if they want to do the show or not. Promoters will never tell workers that a day ahead of time because they don’t want them to back out. I am just saying that workers would appreciate the call ahead of time instead of getting shorted on pay when they get there. This leads to heat between the promoters and the talent and then ends up on a message board somewhere getting 500+ views and 4 pages of discussions. Honesty is a new word in pro wrestling, but it goes a long way!

Some promoters will compromise the integrity of their show to get out of paying an established worker $50 so they can save money and pay some no name dude $10 or nothing at all. Who wins? The promoter wins.

Todays workers face a ton of health issues from this business, presedtly and in the future. When I was new, if you got hit with a finisher, you stayed down. Now finishers are being done in the opening spot and workers barely register the move and continue to the next sequence of “Spotfestation” as I call it. If promoters want to use a whole card of $10 guys and not $50 guys, they need to remember one thing. You get what you pay for. Your fans will not be happy and may not return. They will probably attend another show besides yours that has the $50 talent just so they can see good wrestling.

Guys and Girls, this business is hard. Even $50 a match is not worth the physical toll that wrestling takes on your body. You may think you are Mega Man now, but wait until you retire and actually see what you have done to your body. I would never have done a swan dive from the top rope onto the floor, ever. Even for $150 I would not have done it. Some kids today will do it for free just to get on the show. Shit like that will slowly kill you (Or very quickly kill you if you fuck it up or the guy doesn’t catch you). Think about your life, your family, your job, your kids and the condition of your body down the road, say 2031 or so. What I am saying is 100,000 watts of the TRUTH my brothers and sisters. Please be careful out there. We have seen in recent months what can happen in a wrestling ring when things go wrong. Is $10 really worth the risks? That is a question you must answer yourself. It is a personal choice for everyone. You have to know when to cross the line and how much money you want for you to do it. Don’t give your talent and your body away for free just because you want to work a show. Money changes everything!

Be safe out there!

CCN

The Full Nelson: The Retirement Edition
by classychrisnelson on January 29th, 2011, 11:46 pm

Hello to all,

It has been about a month since I have written anything about the wrestling business due to holidays and family gatherings and whatnot. I have been pretty busy dealing with and living my “Real Life” as of late so I have not given wrestling too much of a thought as of recent.

I know that the word has spread that Vito and myself are officially retired from Professional Wrestling as active wrestlers. This piece of information is 100% true. Vito and I have been kicking around the idea of an actual retirement for quite a while now. We had both decided that 2010 would be our final year no matter what. When you attempt to get out of wrestling that is when wrestling pulls you back in and won’t let you go. Once wrestling is in your bolld, you are addicted, period, bottom line. There is no escape….or is there?

Even though we planned on being done by December 2010, as usual, something cool and good paying came our way and that deterred us from pulling the plug once again. We had about 5 matches planned between January and May for extremely great pay and hotels for each event. That is what is in our “Contract” for us to get in the ring. Good pay and a hotel. Nothing more, nothing less. Much to our surprise, each promoter met our price and our hotel agreement, so we decided to go ahead and wrestle these upcoming matches. The shoot of the matter is that neither one of us should be anywhere near a ring let alone actually wrestling in one. Both Vito and myself have missing disks in out back, disk herniations, spondeolesthesis’, and our list of injuries goes on and on and on. However, we adjusted out plans once again and changed our date of departure from wrestling until 2012. Little did we know that about 1 week after that the decision was made to continue, we would be done for good. Done I tell you, done!

2011 was going to be a year of doing shows we wanted to do and making the money we wanted to make. everything was going as planned until our pasts caught up with us (Me Especially). Long story short, last Tuesday I had a grand mal seizure which put me in the hospital via ambulance from my house. One minute I was fine, having dinner with my wife and discussing our days at work. The next thing I remember was waking up to 4 Paramedics standing over me attempting to put me in a neck brace and on a backboard. I was having no part of that so I walked to the ambulance and went to the hospital. After many hours and many tests it was determined that my seizure was caused by a “Perfect Storm” of bad events and bad choices on my behalf.

First off, I was extremely dehydrated for some reason. Due to my work schedule last week, I was also exhausted and had not had much sleep. When those things were combined with the head trauma I have received from 20 years of professional wrestling, everything created a massive seizure that could have ended me for good. Thank God my dear friend Chuck, former wrestling manager “The Candieman”, was at my house along with my wife. She called 911 and Chuck, who is a retired Paramedic, kept me down and calm until 911 arrived. Needless to say, it scared the shit out of me, my wife and Chuck. When I called Vito the next morning we both agreed that this was the final straw in my / our career. It’s time to put our career’s out to pasture to graze and eventually die away. Wednesday morning it finally hit me for real that I was never going to step into a ring again as a wrestler. Honestly, I am ok with that now, I really am!

I accomplished everything that I wanted to in pro wrestling. All I have left to do now is to write the book Vito and I have been discussing writing for the last 2 or 3 years. The interest in there from the publishing company, so I think it is time to start rolling with it. Personally, I worked for World Championship Wrestling, WWF and the AWF. I wrestled on every island from the Bahamas to South America and all over the United States. I was also fortunate enough to hold the National Wrestling Alliance World Tag Straps 3 times. I wrestled some of the best wrestlers in the World and had the respect from the World Championship Wrestling and WWF offices. They knew if they put me in a match, I would get the job done the way they wanted it done. For me, that was the ultimate compliment. I worked for the “Big 2″ from 1993-2002 as a regular “Jobber”. I wrestled the best of the best from HHH, Terry Funk, The British Bulldog, Vader, Rick Rude, The Steiner Brothers, The Nasty Boys, The Honky Tonk Man, Kamala, Kevin Sullivan, Alex Wright, Lex Luger….the list is endless, it really is. Point being, I had a great career!

I would like to thank a few people who were instrumental in helping me achieve my goals in wrestling. Since I was 7 years old, all I wanted to be was a pro wrestler. Look Mom, I made it, had a great career and I am still alive!!!!! Seriously and in no particular order, The Cuban Assassin, Frankie Reyes, Al Hardimon, Cliff Anderson, Howard Brody, Bill Brown, Bill Behrens, Kevin Kelly, Dennis Allen, Ron Neimi, The Candieman, Frenchy Martin, Jimmy Del Ray, Bob Cook, Shane and Angela Shank and many more! There are too many people to thank for me to name here, but you know who you are and I love and appreciate you all and what you have done for me / us over our career.

A very special thank you goes to Randy Hogan and Buddy Valentine. These men trained me how to work and got my foot in the door for me in World Championship Wrestling which started the ball rolling in my career. Randy bought me my first pair of boots (Which I still wear today) and my first ring attire. Randy taught me the moves and how to be a babyface, Buddy taught me how to be the top heel in Florida and how to work like a mother fucker! To both of these men, I am forever greatful. I love you both so very much. You were both like Dads to me over the years!

Finally I would like to thank Jimmy Del Ray, Frankie Reyes, Howard Brody and Vito DeNucci for the best couple of years of my life. Howard lobbied for us to get the National Wrestling Alliance Straps, as did Frankie. Jimmy taught Vito and myself how to be a unit and work like a tag team should work. Frankie, Howard and Jimmy changed my life forever and for that I am 1000% thankful. As for Vito DeNucci, words cannot express how I feel about Vito. The man literally saved my life in several different ways. Vito never gave up on me, even when I was at my lowest point and didn’t care anymore because I was heartbroken. I will never be able to repay you, Vito, but you know that I am there for you at the drop of a hat, my friend!

I will be writing more in the next couple of days because I have more people to thank as well as some advise for the up and comers in this business. If they listen, I can help. Until then, Thank you and I love you all~

Chris Nelson

Hello to all,

I am hoping that everyone out there is having a safe and memorable Holiday Season. No matter what you celebrate or even if you celebrate nothing at all, I hope everyone is doing just fine out there!

On a side note, if you are wanting to be in the wrestling business or in the wrestling business in some capacity or a wrestling fan, you should all read Bobby “The Brain” Heenan’s book “Chair Shots and Other Obstacles, Surviving Life’s Wrestling Matches”. The book is a few years old but I just finished it last week (I am always behind). What a TRUE representation of pro wrestling and the people involved in this crazy business. Besides that, it was just plain funny. They have several copies on EBAY if you would like. I am also willing to lend out my copy (To someone I know). You should have to read this book and be quizzed on it before being admitted into the wrestling business, in my opinion!

I am not a big “Holiday Person”. Holidays have always been a sore spot with me because things in my personal life have always happened from Thanksgiving through New Years Day (My Birthday is in the middle of the two Holidays), so I usually don’t celebrate them. This past week I have been around my wife and kids as well as my entire family, and I am on a 17 day vacation from work, which is real nice. Point being, I have been able to do about 15 minutes of serious reflection every day, and I have come to peace with many things in my life that I could not come to peace with in the past. I won’t get into personal details, but I reflected on my entire life and tried to remember all of the positives that I have experienced instead of focusing on the negative in life. Whenever I go home to Lakeland and see my mom it always makes me emotional, but this trip was extra emotional and really made me think about my life and what I want to do and not do with the rest of my time on this earth. If you have things in your life that bug you or cause you confusion or dismay, take a step back and look at things over again. Maybe you will get some insight that you did not have originally. Maybe your feelings can change about things and you can “Let It Be”!

Since it is 2011, I like to reflect on the past year and be thankful for the good things God has given me and my family. I am going to list some things that I am thankful for. Not only this past year, but for my entire lifetime. Some will be serious, some will be funny, some you may not understand unless you were there or personally know my stories! Some of you out there have lived the movie with me and know what I am talking about! To sum it up, God has given me alot and I am very thankful for my friends, my experiences, my family and the awesome career that I had in Pro Wrestling! Here we go~

I am thankful for:

* My family and friends. They are the glue that keeps me together. My Wife, My Kids and Vito DeNucci, first and foremost. I love them so very much and am thankful for them being in my life. Through the good and bad, they are always there for me, and that means the world to me!
* Randy Hogan and Buddy Valentine for training me and teaching me how to work. Without them i would not have the career that I did.
* Vito DeNucci for our 12 year partnership and friendship. You have been there for me 1000% and helped me out tremendously. I cherish our friendship more than you know!
* Howard Brody for believing in Vito and I and giving us the chance to tour with the National Wrestling Alliance Tag Titles. That was the highlight of my career in wrestling for sure. Thank you for getting the ball rolling for us having our back when we needed you!
* Frankie Reyes and David Sierra for taking a chance on a 17 year old kid you didn’t know from Adam. You guys booking me in Tampa opened the doors for me. I will never forget what you guys did for me and it is appreciated!
* All of the fans and workers who called me and kept my spirits up when I got hurt in 2002. I kept wrestling (Against Doctors Orders), but knowing my career was over was very depressing for me and the constant calls and emails, etc. really helped me and kept my spirits up!
* Buck Quartermaine for being my “Road Dog” since 1993. We have been through a ton of stuff together, good and bad. We have always been there for each other and I value our friendship!
* The 2 sisters from the Melbourne area. Those 2 weekends with the two of you and Me and Buck Q. were absolutely some of my favorite sex stories and great for a laugh whenever i need one! You girls were real troopers!
* I am thankful to God for not letting me die in the car accident when I went through the windshield of my car in 1999. I know that you have a purpose for me and that is why you let me live! I get it, God, and I am thankful for the 100th or so chance you have given me!
* WFC and Buck and Steve Madison for continuing to let Vito and I work on your shows and letting us do what we do. You guys have one of the best promottions in the State of Florida in my opinion. i am sure that 2011 will bring great things for you guys!
* To all of the fans that support indy Wrestling in Florida. You guys are the best fans in the World, without a doubt. You guys are great!
* To Shane and Angela for always being there for me when i needed you. Shane and i have been friends since 1989 and I value his friendship completely!
* To all of the Florida wrestlers that I have worked with in the last 20 years. Some of the older workers helped me learn how to work and the newer guys give great energy to the sport and keep me wanting to still be involved in wrestling in some aspect or another.
* To all of the women that were in my life at one time or another. You all made an impact on me, some good, some bad, but all a learning experience that I do not regret!
* Once again for my friends and family. They are so important that I needed to mention them again!

In closing, I have been blessed in this life with good friends, good family and a lifetime of memories and learning experiences that i would never trade in. Wrestling gave me the opportunity to see the World, meet great people, make lifelong friends and fufill my dream. I told myself at 7 years old that I wanted to be a Pro Wrestler. In high school I had people tell me that I would never make it. Some even laughed at me and thought my dream was ridiculous! Well, i did make it. I wrestled for the National Wrestling Alliance, World Championship Wrestling, WWF and so many others all over the World, and I made a living at it. I wrestled full time and didn’t have another job, just wrestling. I am not Hulk Hogan (Terry Bullea) or Ric Flair but I have had a great career in wrestling and I am proud of myself and what I have accomplished.

Work Hard, Set Goals, Push Yourself, Don’t fcuk People Over, Be a Stand Up Person. If you do these things, you might be able to do good in wrestling, but most importantly in LIFE. Be good to people, be good to yourself and work your ass off! Hope you all have a great 2011. If any of you need any advise in wrestling or in life I am always willing to talk to you and give you my opinion. If you want to be a good worker you need to ask questions of the veterans in this business. That is how you improve. Ask questions and get advise. Veterans are supposed to help out the younger green boys and girls, it is our duty to wrestling. If you need my advise or want to talk, you can Email me anytime you would like.

chris.tipton30@ymail.com

Until next time,

CCN

Hello to all!

It has been a while since I have the time to write anything, it is long overdue! It is with great joy that I applaud the accomplishments of my friends, The Dark City Fight Club on winning the National Wrestling Alliance World Tag Team Titles last week. That is a belt that is near and dear to my heart. A belt that I was fortunate enough to hold with Vito DeNucci on 3 separate occasions. Kory Chavis and Jon Davis are two of the hardest working independent wrestlers in Florida and also the United States and they are finally getting the recognition they deserve! A serious congrats to those two gentlemen! A congrats also goes out to Craig Classic who has captured the National Wrestling Alliance Jr. Heavyweight Title as well. It has been a great month for Florida for sure!

Vito and I were talking today about the National Wrestling Alliance titles. Vito said to me that I had a great career as a “Jobber” in World Championship Wrestling and the WWF, which is true. Vito also had a great run himself as we did a World Championship Wrestling Thunder main event match together as well as him wrestling countless television matches for the WWF as well. Vito pointed out that I had a great career and made great money before we were ever a tag team. He said he would not be surprised if that was my bast time as a wrestler. He said that his best times were touring with the National Wrestling Alliance Tag Team Titles. I thought about it for 2 seconds and agreed with him. My best times were with Vito, on the road, defending the National Wrestling Alliance Tag Titles as well. I am very appreciative of my time with World Championship Wrestling and the WWF, but my best times were with Vito, hands down!

To be a successful tag team several things must happen. First off, you have to get along with each other. If you are planning to be in a tag team you cannot spend countless hours in a car or airplane with someone you do not like. It is just a bad start to begin with. Secondly, the timing has to be right. Promoters need to have openings for a tag team and the true desire to push them. Promoters love singles matches because they cost they are usually cheaper for the promoter. If they do use a tag team, it is usually a team that they can get rather cheaply. In a tag match you are paying 4 people for 1 match instead of 2 people. Most promoters (No Offense) are cheap and are trying to make a buck themselves and I don’t blame them one bit. If you are an indy wrestler, I hope you are doing it for the love of the sport and not for the money because you will be sorely disapointed! Of course to be a successful tag team you have to be a team that can get over no matter where you are in the world, get you opponent over and have a gimmick that people want to see. Take the Heartbreak Express for example. These guys have a great gimmick, know how to work and know how to get heat! That puts asses in the seats show after show. Finally, you have to work and think as a team not as an individual. It is sometimes hard for a singles worker to transition into a tag team. If you don’t have all of these things, it’s going to be a tough row to hoe!

When Vito and I were on the road with the belts we always had a plan. Anytime we wrestled out of Florida, we planned our trip to include a stop at a casino or two. Promoters will promise you the world and a great payday as well as expenses. When you get there the old song and dance begins about the house being down or some other ridiculous excuse that is preventing them from giving you your full payday. It’s always something in this business. I remember one trip we were on. 10 days from Florida to Massachusetts and back. The money ended up being a little less than promised, as usual. But we were already to New Jersey by then and could not turn around. Luckily we stopped in Atlantic City and played a little blackjack after a wrestling match on the AC Boardwalk. After a couple of hours we walked out with an extra $1,000 between us. The trip was an automatic success after that AC evening! Most of the time in wrestling you can guarantee that something is going to go wrong on the road. A flat tire, a speeding ticket (Vito), extra hotel bills that the promoter isn’t going to cover and so on and so forth. Bobby Heenan was asked how you get in the wrestling business he replied, “Be a lawyer or a doctor, stay away from wrestling because most people are full of shit!” For the most part, I agree with his opinions of pro wrestling. If you have not read Bobby’s book, Chair Shots and Other Obstacles, I suggest that you do. Pro wrestling, if you think about it, is a fucked up business to be in. When people ask me how to get into the business I usually tell them to run and run fast. Also, if you are a woman, never date or marry a pro wrestler. Most of us are full of shit and some are just absolute idiots and womanizers. A wrestler is only as faithful as his options! Remember that, kids! Sorry, I got off track!

As I look back, I could have not had a better tag team partner than Vito Denucci. He is almost 6′ 4″ and about 260, and he can fight. He saved my drunk ass many times, too many to count as a matter of fact. Being in a tag team really is like being in a marriage. At one point in 2001-2002, Vito and I saw more of each other that we did our wives and girlfriends. It is almost impossible to maintain a healthy relationship while you are in this business. I used to tell the girls I dated that “I was wrestling before you and I will be wrestling after you are long gone”. That was the truth. If I actually counted all of the good women I let slip away because of this damn business I would really be mad at myself! I have a great wife now, but I am also not on the road 5 days a week either. Vito has the best wife in the world but the business also caused extra stress and tension between them do to the travel and pay mostly. As you gain years and experience in this business you change into a different person. It was so hard for Chris Tipton to cut off Chris Nelson that I became Chris Nelson 24 hours a day 7 days a week, and that is not healthy at all. If a woman stays with a wrestler for the duration of his career she should be nominated for sainthood because it sure is a hard thing to do! Some of the things I did in my career and time on the road to this day still amaze me. I would not be married to me. I would have left my ass after about 3 weeks. On a side note, my wife and I have been together for 7 years and counting. My wife has a psychology degree which is why I cannot figure why she is still with me. Maybe she is using me as a case study for her Master’s Degree, I don’t know. As my good friend Howard Brody, former National Wrestling Alliance President said, “Wrestling is the most fun you will have at being miserable in your entire life!”. I agree completely. At times I have been absolutely miserable in my real life because of this business. This business is not for the weak, I guarantee that!

In closing, if you love the wrestling business, stay with it and give it your all. You never know when you might get that call from the World Wrestling Entertainment with a job offer. That might happen but you also might go absolutely nowhere at all. Shoot for the stars, but expect to be in the sand trap. If you don’t work hard in this business you will never get anywhere. This is true in all businesses, but also very true in pro wrestling. I am not trying to discourage anyone from getting in this business, trust me, you can have our spots if you would like. This business is hard in every way. The wrestling is the easy part. The hard part is everything else from the self promotion, the shortened paydays, the extensive travel, the being gone from your family too much and etc. etc. etc. On the positive side, it can also be rewarding as well. You get to make lifelong friends, see the world (If you are lucky) and get paid to do it and have a genuine great time. Keep your head straight, stay away from the bad things, kiss the right ass……and you might just have a great career!

Until next time,

CCN

By Classy Chris Nelson

Hello to all,

Sorry Father because I have sinned. It’s been almost 4 weeks since my last article. I have been really busy at work and trying to be a “Normal Person”. It gets easier and easier to get away from wrestling since I don’t do it much anymore. So when the invitation came down to go to an ASW show in TRAMPA, I couldn’t turn it down. I have heard and ready some many different things about the promotion and the shows that I wanted to check it out for myself. I am not one of those guys who will list every match and write about what they liked or didn’t like. I can’t remember what I ate for lunch today let alone a wrestling show that I attended 4 or 5 days ago. The thing you have to remember about this business is that everyone has their own opinions and usually will share them, good or bad.

I started out my evening by checking in to my room at the Days Inn off of Busch Blvd, (For those of you who know about Trampa). I was with my cousin Kelly, Biff Slater and Simon Sez and they had another show to do earlier that afternoon. While they were gone I took advantage of a 60 degree motel room and ESPN. I’m all about going to wrestling shows but 2 in one day, when I’m not working….Never! After a 2 hour snooze I headed out to dinner with Ryze and Bryan Kelly (Or Byron Saxton as the Fed calls him). I did not eat because I had just had Taco Bell 2 hours before that. I did, however, munch on some of the grub that my friends left behind ( I did the same thing at Kahloon’s in Boston). After dinner Ryze and I went to the show. I was greeted at the door by a friendly woman named Colleen. She let me right in the door and I didn’t even have to buy a ticket (National Wrestling Alliance Southwest). I actually ended up giving Colleen ticket money for a friend of mine that was coming. I also never want to cheat the boys and girls out of a bigger payday just to let me in the door. I saw Neil, Rachel and Jordan Bomse and I sat down with them for the entire show. I love those folks! by then it was 8:00pm or so and they were ready to rock, so here we went!

I thought that the show had a great pace to it overall. There was no stalling with bullshit promos or enterances that take 10 minutes (Like the NHB’s do). You got what you paid to get, wrestling. When I looked at most of the roster I saw something in their eyes that was refreshing to see, hunger to put on a great show and have a great match. Ric Flair always wanted to have the best matches on the card and usually did. I also wanted to be someone who the fans remembered and came back to see the next time. I was in the parking lot after a show in 1995 and i heard some fans talking about the show. The one fat dude said right off, “Did you see what that damn Chris Nelson did tonight?” I thought that was cool as hell. I was usually on cards with excellent workers and did not usually have the best technical match, but I did something that mad my match memorable to the fans. That is important to do, unless you like to wrestle in front of 8 people every night. Alot of these guys and girls had that same desire in their eyes, to be the best and to be remembered. I don’t remember every match that was wrestled that night, but the characters were larger than life for sure. ASW gave you a little bit of everything, which was refreshing and nice. I had a few workers ask me to watch their matches, which I did. I love it when guys want to get feedback. That is necessary to improve your skills and your interaction with the fans. Believe me, the fans were in to the matches because the workers involved their emotions and got them in to the matches. A+ on the aspect. They were very respectful of each other and seemed like they were having fun! Wrestling is supposed to be fun. If you’re not having fun you probably need to get out of the business. You get paid to wear spandex, piss people off (Or have them cheer for you), and put on a show. At the end of the day we are performers, right? To me, ASW is on the right path. It is hard to draw a consistent crowd running on a Friday night during High School football season and to run weekly at that. I am sure that their crowds will pick up after football season ends, as long as they keep putting on good shows like the one I saw Friday night.

All in all, it was a great night. I got to see some old friends and had a great time at the show! My thanks to ASW for the great welcome and I am looking forward to seeing you guys again real soon.

Until next time,

CCN

Chris Tipton (Nelson)

Hello to all,

I was asked this week to talk a little about the internet, wrestling web sites and the impact they have had on the business. I will discuss my thoughts on the internet and a few other things that have been on my mind over the past 2 weeks or so.

With football season in full swing, I am curious if High School or College football will create a problem for indy wrestling shows that decide to run on Friday or Saturday nights, as they typically do. Friday nights used to be a tough night to run wrestling many years ago in small “football towns” like Pahokee for example. Since football fans and wrestling fans are sometimes the same people, I am interested in seeing if Friday nights are still a bad night to run shows in Florida. I remember not too long ago that promoters would not run certain towns on Friday nights because the High School football draw was so strong they didn’t want to compete with it. Now, especially with money being tight for most American families, It seems to me like pro wrestling would take a back seat to high school football in most cases. I really don’t know if that is true these days so I am interested in fresh opinions on the subject if anybody has one. For me, I would probably pick football over wrestling matches these days. It would depend on the card I guess, for me at least. I know back in the day we would never run shows in Winter Haven or Auburndale on a Friday night. Those towns live for high school football and wrestling would not be able to compete.

As far as the internet, I was a wrestler before the internet was around and I can say that there are definite advantages to having a web site or a message board if you are indy wrestling company. They are a great tool to keep your fans informed about what is happening in your fed. They are a good way to advertise your events that are coming up. They are a good way to keep angles going or to start new angles as so many people will go to a wrestling based web site for information and entertainment. The fatal flaw that I see happen on occasion is that some promoters post their cards on the internet and that is all the promoting they will do for the show. As good of a tool as it is, you still need to beat the pavement do guarantee your show’s success. However in wrestling shows, there is no guarantee of a crowd. Good old fashioned posters and word of mouth are 2 of the best ways to get a crowd to your event. I have seen many promoters also advertise their shows on cable t.v. shows like Raw and Smackdown. If you can afford to do it, that is a great way to advertise your shows. It is hard for any indy promotion in Florida to use cable television to promote their shows if they want to make a profit. There are so many costs to run a show these days, I wonder if any promotion is really making any money or just making enough to pay the bills. Building rent, ring rental (unless you own a ring), talent, music/lighting, the list of bills is endless. Many buildings want you to have police officers there for security, and that gets expensive. With so many bills to pay and so many people with their hand out, I can see why promoters are using workers that will work for free. I guess sometimes it has to be done just to survive.

Back when I started, the way to start working in a new area or for a promoter that didn’t know you was to work for free. You would go to a show, meet the promoter and ask him if you could work a match on that card. Sometimes you would get lucky and someone would not be able to make it and the promoters would put you in to fill in the gap they had. Usually you would work for free in either case to show the promoter your skills and why they should use you on future cards. You might work for free the first time, but if you were good enough, the promoter would bring you in on the following show for a payday. That is how you got your foot in the door back then. Now if a promoter wants to see you work they can check you out on Youtube. The internet can be a valuable tool in getting yourself booked these days. Most workers only post matches of themselves that are flattering to watch. If you have a piece of shit match you probably won’t want to put that on Youtube. I love the fact that I can look up a wrestler that I have never seen work before and watch matches of them instantly. As a promoter it is a great way to scout new talent for your shows without ever leaving your home office or living room. That is a definite positive!

With the good always comes the bad! You can watch matches and shows online and you can also comment on them, which gave birth to internet smarks as they call them. Opinions about wrestlers and shows have always been around but now it ridiculously easy to make your opinions public, via the internet. If people have bad things to say about a worker or promotion they can create a false identity and bash whomever or whatever they want to bash without anyone knowing it was them. Back when the internet first came out, Strictly Wrestling was a message board dealing with Florida indy wrestling. There was a guy on there named Joe Blow and he tore many people up, especially Al Hardimon and his FWF. I don’t know if the true identity of Joe Blow was ever revealed, but he raised blood pressures of Florida workers and promoters for a couple of years with his sometimes personal attacks on wrestlers and shows. It was entertaining to say the least but also a chicken shit way of expressing your opinions. I still think that if you have something to say, even on line, just say it under your real name or your wrestling name. I still to this day have never seen an indy wrestler in Florida named Joe Blow. I was even accused of being Joe Blow on a time or two, which I thought was comical. I can tell you for sure that it wasn’t me. I would like to know who the real and original Joe Blow was. He never had anything bad to say about me personally, but he did have some opinions about most of the overs in Florida back then.

In closing, I am personally a big fan of the internet and all that it brings to the table. I can watch Youtube for hours and hours watching old Championship Wrestling from Florida and remember how good it was when I was a kid. I can get on line and see who is saying what and about whom, which I love. I can check out new talent that I have heard of but never seen (and so can World Wrestling Entertainment and Total Nonstop Wrestling). All things considered, I love the internet as it pertains to wrestling. I am also a huge fan of porn. I especially love homemade movies by real couples, not actors. I also love to read reports and blogs of matches and events that I do not attend myself. It is a great way to catch up with friends and fans alike. Bottom line, I love it. As long as I don’t have to read articles from non-workers talking about work rate I will be fine!

Until Next Time,

CCN

Chris Tipton (Nelson)

Hello to all!

I just returned from Sanford and wrestling for WFC against the Heartbreak Express. I want to talk about the weekend, the show and WFC in general.

I speak for Vito as well when I say that we are very happy to be associated with such a positive wrestling company as Wrestling For A Cause. In my almost 20 years in pro wrestling I have seen a ton of indy wrestling companies in the State of Florida, I mean a ton. The longest running company that I worked for in Florida was run by Al Hardimon which was the FWF. It started out as the NAWF and quickly morphed in to the FWF. The FWF ran for about 11 years at least having 1 show a month sometimes like 2 or 3. The roster changed, old guys came and went, new green guys came and went just like every other federation in Florida. It was a great place to work and get exposure. The FWF would frequently be featured in National wrestling mags. My first appearance in a mag was for the FWF when I was tagging with Dennis Allen as the Hitmen in about 1993 or 1994. About the other longest running promotion in Florida was Ron Niemi’s IPW. This promotion was absolutely HOT, no doubt about it! If you want to talk about a good fed with a huge and faithful following, it was IPW. There are still IPW reunions about every other year. They do enough reunions to keep it interesting and still fun! SCW is another Florida indy fed that has had about 11 years of success. Like the other two I have mentioned, they have a great fan base and is also a lot of fun to do the shows when they run them.

Theer are several reasons that I love WFC. It is run by two of my favorite people in wrestling, period, Buck Quartermaine and Steve Madison. Buck has been my favorite person to wrestle over my 19 years in this business. Steve has been in for about 10 years and has one of the best wrestling old school minds I have ever seen. Both of these gentlemen work great together and produce what I think are the best shows in Florida, bar none. The best part of WFC is the fact that these shows are run for different charities around Florida. Youth sports teams are the majority of groups that the shows are run for. As of a couple months ago I know that WFC raised over $10,000 in the past year for these different groups of kids. As a parent who’s Son is extremely active in sports of all kinds, any amount of money raised is much appreciated. It is expensive as hell for all of the equiptment needed for youth sports. Money raised for these teams helps to ease a little of the financial burden thrown at parents. Let’s face it, everyone is hurting in this economy, everyone. Keeping youth athletics going is a necessity if we want to keep our kids off the streets and away from drugs and gangs, etc. The other part I love about WFC is the locker room and the quality of the workers on the show. Most of the wrestlers on these shows are seasoned vets that have been around a long time. WFC also gives Florida’s up and coming superstars a chance to work in front of good crowds and hone their skills. To me, WFc is a win, win, win company.

If it sounds like I am doing a commercial for WFC, that is good because I am. If you as a fan want to attend a show and get the most “Bang for your buck”, WFC is the show to go see. The next show is September 10th in Tampa with shows to follow on September 24th and 25th I do believe in the Orlando area. If you have never been to a WFC show, give them a try! You won’t regret it!

Not only was our match with the HBX great as always, the whole show was top notch. Billy Gunn, Vito LoGrasso, Sinn Bodhi and Bruce Santee were in action just to name a few. After the show we all went to Hooters for dinner. It is great to sit around after a show with fans and workers alike telling war stories, eating good grub and reviving old friendships with guys you haven’t seen in a while. That is why I still love this business because you can have great matches with great talent and then go out and top off the evening with old friends.

Despite the fact that Vito and I got rained out on the 5th hole of our golf outing, it was a perfect 24 hours. We are looking forward to all of the WFC shows that there are in September and beyond. Like I said, if you haven’t been to a WFC show, treat yourself and your family to some good old school wrestling.

See you all next time!

CCN

Chris Tipton (Nelson)

Hello to all,

I have never been real good at remembering dates, I admit that. I remember when I got married, I remember when I got divorced, I remember when my kids were born and that’s about it. When Vito and I were talking the other day about wrestling bookings, the date September 18th came up. September 18, 2010 we will be wrestling in Eustis, Florida for WFC. Cool, I got that, no problem. What is so damn odd about September 18th I asked myself. Then it hit me. September 18, 1991 was when I had my first match as a Pro Wrestler. That means that this September 18th is 20 years to the day that I got in to this crazy ass business. 20 years, wow, that’s a long time, 20 years. The revelation that I have been involved in wrestling for 20 years sent me into about 15 minutes of serious reflection. In this 15 minutes I remembered what it was like back then, the things we did and didn’t do. All I can say is, “FUCK, THINGS HAVE CHANGED”!

20 years ago we had our ring music on cassette tapes not c.d.’s. 20 years ago you had to pay an ass load of dues before anything happened in your career. 20 years ago we didn’t have the internet. 20 years ago instead of worrying about getting all our high spots in we worried about where we were going to get drunk that night after the show. 20 years ago there were women who made a career out of fucking all the wrestlers they could. Some people refer to these ladies as “Rats”, but in the last 20 years we have become too P.C. to call them that, so I will just call them “Cum Receptacles” for our purposes on this website. 20 years ago I never got carded for booze or lottery tickets. 20 years ago it was fun to fuck waitresses (It probably still is). 20 years ago gas was $1.12 a gallon and you could drive to any show in Florida and back home for about $12-$15, not $50-$70. 20 years ago if you were mad at somebody, you called them on their home phone and argued with them, now you just post it on Facebook or Twatter. Yes, I meant to say Twatter. 20 years ago wrestling was fun. Wrestling was something you looked forward to doing. Roadtrips, Waffle House, waking up with some random skank in some flea bag motel like the Sahara Inn in St. Pete, right by Kahoona’s. If there was an argument or a disagreement, it got settled in the ring, not in a text message. 20 years ago you got your ass beat by the Southern Posse in the ring and then got in a bar fight with Buck Quartermaine and Jimmy Del Rey out of the ring. 20 years ago you could get out of a speeding ticket by signing an 8×10 pic of yourself for the Cop’s kids. 20 years ago was, FUN!

Wrestling is still fun today, somewhat. The times and the faces have changed over the years that is for sure! I don’t long for the good ole’ days nor am I one of those bitter veterans who shit on everything they see. Far from that in every aspect. I would just like to go back to 1991 for about 1 week just to relive the people and places that made Florida indy wrestling great back then. I would love to bang some mindless tramp with a couple of my buddies joining in, just 1 more time. Now, to get laid, it seems that you have to submit to a credit check and a few weeks of sensitivity training. I don’t have time for all that shit. I mean seriously, it’s just pussy for fuck sakes!

Oh well, so much for the 90′s! Like I said earlier, Vito and I will be wrestling on September 18th in Eustis, Florida against Buck Quartermaine and Steve Madison. That will be a great night for me personally. I will be with my other Wife, Vito, and will be wrestling against my 2 favorite people in Florida wrestling. 65 years of ring experience in one match. Damn that’s alot! Afterwards should be a great after party as well. Hopefully we can find some trouble to get in. At least us old bastards will have a hotel room for the night. If you want to see good, old school wrestling, come on out. It will be a great show, I guarantee! 20 years in the making, sort of~

CCN

Hello to all,

Sorry I have been away for a few weeks and have not attended to my column in my absence. I have been on vacation for a couple of weeks and spent some good time schlepping around not doing much of anything.

It seems that there has been much drama on the Florida scene since I have been away. The main topic of conversation has been the Chasyn Rance arrest. This has sent shock waves through not only the State of Florida but also the National media as well. Once again the media has chosen to report on another negative aspect of a professional wrestler rather than reporting on ANYTHING good that pro wrestling has done, and there have been several recently. Before I get into anything I would like to send out a big congratulations to Wrestling For A Cause. They have raised over $10,000 for various charities and athletic organizations since their inception. The Heavenly Bodies, Vito DeNucci and myself have been very happy to work for this company and are glad that they have done such a great job of raising money for good causes. Steve Madison and Buck Quartermaine have put in many hours and miles to make this thing not only a reality but also a positive moneymaker for several charities. We are happy to work for them and will be making appearances for WFC for the remainder of 2010 whenever we are needed. We wish them all the success in the World in their endeavors.It seems that if you run an indy promotion if Florida that you already have the cards stacked against you. As a friend of mine said the other day, 97% of wrestling promotions in Florida eventually fail. I know from past experience that promoting a wrestling company can sometimes really suck. It is hard enough to pay your workers what you can pay them and also pay the bills enough to continue running. I have seen promotions be run into the ground and the promoters continue pouring money into it thinking that one good show could turn it all around for them. That is a great thought, but that thought ends up costing promoters a ton of money in the long run. What is the fascination with running an indy wrestling organization? I enjoyed it for about 9 months, then it became something that I was praying would end sooner rather than later. I loved running shows, booking matches and coming up with angles that made sense and drew money….and they did for a while. When your houses go up then the pay for your workers should go up too. That is the thinking of every wrestler in the game today, and it is the truth. If you are making money then you should be sharing the money with the workers that make you the money. Of course when you lose your ass, some of those workers still want their money no matter what. I have been on both sides of the coin. As a worker I want to get paid as much as I can. As a promoter, I wanted to pay my talent as much as I could also. The problem for a while that alot of promoters and wrestlers were faced with was the “$10 worker” or the “I will pay you to work your show” worker. Granted, everybody has to start somewhere, but it became hard to make money wrestling when you were being undercut by workers who will give their talent away for free just to be on the show. Some promoters loved the idea of cutting their talent costs down considerably. However, less money usually equals less talent, which equals lower houses, which equals a dead promotion. Some of the workers who have been at this for a while are faced with the realization that if they want to work they are probably going to have to cut their fee down considerably just to compete with guys and girls who just want to work no matter how much it costs them personally. Sounds like a great time to be a promoter, right? I can book 8 matches now for what it used to cost me to book 2 or 3. What suffers? Talent suffers. Talented wrestlers stay home and don’t work and the fans suffer because the talent levels have thus dropped considerably. What’s the answer? I guess it boils down to personal choice. Wrestlers have to choose whether to work cheap or stay home. Fans have to choose which show to go to, a stacked show of seasoned workers for a higher admission price, or a show of greener talent for a lower price. I admit that I learned how to work because I was able to work 5-7 nights a week in the Tampa area because someone was always running shows. We usually made $10 cash and a free bar tab. That’s probably the reason that most of us became raging alcoholics in the 90′s. All the liquor or beer we could drink and enough cash for a greasy Waffle House meal on the way home. Scattered, smothered, chunked and topped if you will.

What ‘s the answer to everything? Hell, I don’t know. It is all a matter of choice that has to be made by every worker, promoter and fan that are involved in indy wrestling wherever it is. Personally, I paid my dues. I wrestled for $10 or $20 enough in my career, I’m not going to do it now. For some of us older workers we are happy to let the young guys have it. Packing up the car, driving to a wrestling show, doing the show, going out afterward and driving home sometime that night or the next day is just not too appealing to me anymore. I am very happy to work a whole bunch less and making when I do work well for all parties involved. I win because I get paid good, the fans win because they get a good show from a fat, old Bastard that can still work and the promoter wins because they have happy fans who will be returning again to see their shows. That all sounds good to me! I am happy to let the new guys learn the ropes so to speak while I sit home and tend to real life stuff like family and work. Learn your craft kids! You are the next generation of guys who are going to have to make the same choices one day. Hang it up or keep doing what you love for whatever you can make. As long as you’re happy about your choices, I guess it’s all good then.

In closing, I am sorry that wrestling sometimes splits up promoters who are working together to make things happen. But when it ends, even if it ends badly, don’t take your ball and go home. Let others continue to do good things with what you helped get going. We are all going to not get along at some point or another. That is life though, deal with it like an adult. Don’t ruin it for the fans and the workers just because you don’t get your way. In the words of the Beatles, “Let It Be”!

As for Chasyn, I wish him the best in his life and in the things he has going on. Chasyn has always been good to me and I will be the same to him. I know that I have made many mistakes in my life and done many things I should not have done. God led me through my hard times and showed me the light at the end of the tunnel. I wish the same for Chasyn.

Until next time, whenever that will be,

CCN
Chris Tipton (Nelson)

Hello to all,

Before I write anything for the “Full Nelson”, I always think about what to write, and I never can come up with any good topics…until I sit down at the computer and just start writing. This week should be easier because I had a few requests emailed to me. People want to hear stories about RIBS. No, not pork or beef, but the act of doing something funny to another wrestler or person in general. A RIB is the art of getting laughs at the expense of someone else. In pro wrestling it is as old as pro wrestling itself. So here we go!

My favorite one involves Vito Denucci, Mike Sullivan, Scoot Andrews and myself. The four of us were driving to Lafayette, Louisiana to do Monday Night Raw, the year was 2000 I think. I was driving and we were in the Bayou. Bottom line, the swamp. Nothing around at all except the blackness of night. Scoot had to take a piss really bad. He was looking for an exit but there was none for miles. He asked me to pull over so that he could pee, so I did. Scoot was standing about 10 feet from our SUV. As soon as he had a good stream going, I hit the gas and drove off. All we could see in the headlights of the other vehicles was Scoot Andrews running after us, still peeing, with his big black stuff flopping in the wind as he ran. I pulled back over after a few seconds and Scoot caught back up to us. He began to pee again and of course I took off again. The same thing happened. Black Nature Boy running down a Louisiana road, in the swamp, pissing all over himself, again. When all the pissing was done and we were all exhausted from laughing, Scoot got bak in the SUV. He said, “Damnit Nigga! You had my black ass out here running with my dick out. What if I had got eaten by some snakes or crocodiles?” Of course there were no crocodiles in Louisiana, just a ton of gators. This RIB, totally harmless and totally funny!

Most fun stuff in wrestling happens when you are on the road somewhere. Sometimes you just have to let off some steam! I remember wrestling in Yuma, Arizona. Steve Keirn had put together a great tour that involved wrestling at an Indian Reservation. Great talent, Great payday, Great times! I was wrestling as Doink the Clown and my opponent was the talented veteran B. Brian Blair. We had a great crowd at the show, probably about 3000 ro so. Blair and I had a great match, no complaints about anything. When we got back to the hotel (The Shilow Inn), we met a dude in the lobby who said that he was a Miller lite distributor. He said that if the wrestlers went to a certain bar (Ron’s Place) that Miller Lite would pick up the tab for us all. Wrestlers and free beer go hand in hand. So they put the bar tab under my name. Any worker that wanted a drink just had to go to the bar and tell them to put it on my tab! I remember that Horace Hogan and myself were having some beer and then we decided to offer free drinks to hot women. Any hot woman we saw, we got her some beer. This continued until 3:00am. After all was said and done the total damage was 436 beers and 16 shots of Jager. The Miller distributor was not there when we closed down the bar, but I am sure that he had a big shock when he got the bill. Thank God we flew out about 6 hours after the bar closed! We took the red eye flight home because I had to be in a wedding the next day. I was so exhausted that I fell asleep at the reception right after I gave the toast.

These are 2 of my favorite stories. I gave you the cliff notes because the extended versions are just too much for me to type. RIBS in wrestling are supposed to be light hearted fun! I have seen people do RIBS to be mean. I have seen someone who I shall not name take a shit in the gear bag of someone he did not like. That to me is a little extreme, but stuff like that does happen. When that happened it was actually at a WWF show. Imagine going to put on your gear before your match and seeing a big pile of shit on your singlet. I always enjoyed it when a veteran put “Hot Stuff” of “Tiger Balm” in the crotch of a rookies trunks. 5-10 minutes after the put their gear on their balls were on fire! I have seen guys super glue wrestling boots to a wooden floor. I always used to put my padlock on people’s gear bag and enjoyed watching them try to get their stuff out. Point being, back in those days you never left your bag alone. If you did, something would happen to it or your gear! I think that a RIB is good fun, as long as you keep it funny and it does not cost money to replace what ever is screwed with.

The RIB is a wrestling tradition that needs to be continued. I don’t mean ductaping a naked wrestler to a street sign. I don’t mean slipping somebody a gimmick and when they pass out on the airplane shaving their eyebrows. Stuff like that leads to fights, big time fights, real fights! Keep up the RIBS but plan them out so they are funny, entertaining but not too costly!

Until next time,

CCN

Chris Tipton (Nelson)

I was thinking about what to write today and about 1000 thoughts ran through my mind. The one that stuck was about the events that led up to my first ever match as a “Professional Wrestler”, days that I will never forget for sure.

I graduated from High School in June of 1992 and that is when I began to honestly train to be a wrestler. I remember spending endless night in Al Hardimon’s gym in Winter Haven, Florida taking bumps and learning my craft. I started training really training in July of that year, working very hard to get everything down. One day in late July, Al came up to me and asked if I thought I would be ready to wrestle in September. I, of course, said “Yes”, not really sure if I would be ready of not. Once it really set in that I was going to wrestle my first match on September 18th, I became extremely nervous and started counting down the days until my professional debut.

I was initially trained by Randy Hogan. He started my training in Lakeland at the Kelly Rec Center. We were using the Judo room, which was a concrete room with a few gym mats on the floor. We worked out there for a few weeks just doing different moves and taking bumps on that hard concrete floor. When he thought I was ready he took me to Al’s gym and introduced me to wrestling ring. Although it was softer than concrete, it was still pretty stiff. Randy had handed my training over to Buddy Valentine. Buddy was a solid wrestler who was a “Heel” in the Winter Haven area. Buddy taught me so much about the business. Not only how to work in the ring but what also to do in the locker room and how to “Kay Fabe” everything from the fans. I also spent time working with Al and Jon Force. Jon was scheduled to be my first opponent on September 18th, so we worked out what we were going to do. We had about 7-8 minutes worked out, a good opening contest for the show. As the date approached, so did my nervousness. Randy had ordered me my first wrestling gear from K&H and my boots from B&A. I still have the gear and the boots to this day. Nobody made gear and boots like K&H and B&A. I praise their stuff to this day! Alas, it was September 18th and it was my time to shine or fail miserably. Either way, I was ready!

I got to the Chain O’ Lakes Civic Center very early that day, a practice that I would use for my entire career. The guys running the music asked me if I had my tape, not a c.d. but a cassette tape. I handed him my tape that I had gotten perfectly cued up to play “Rock and Roll by Led Zeppelin, a song that I thought was fitting for a babyface. I got dressed up in my K&H gear and started greeting the wrestlers as they came in. Most of them I had never met before but was excited to meet. As the crowd started filing in the building I realized that there was going to be a ton of people at this event. That made me even more nervous. I guess I was hoping that there would only be 5 people there, instead, there was about 500. Not only was there a bunch of people there, but my family attended also. This actually ended up being the only live match that my Mother and my Step-Mother would ever see me wrestle. Neither of them liked wrestling, but they were there to support me. Of the many people I met that night was a manager named Champagne Cain. After seeing my girlfriend give me a kiss for luck, he told me that I should never bring a girlfriend to a match. Stupidly I asked him why. He then pointed out about 20-30 single women that were in the crowd. “That’s why, Rookie” he told me with a smirk on his face. That was my first introduction to wrestling groupies or “Ring Rats” as he so lovingly called them. I will admit that my brain was taking in way too many things at once, but the love of groupies stuck with me without fail!

The matches started and I was up first. I was standing behind the curtain waiting for my music to start, nervous as hell. I heard music but it was not my music. I realized that the idiot playing the music put my tape in backwards. I was told to go anyways, so I went out to the “B Side” of “Rock and Roll”, whatever that song was. The crowd instantly booed me. I don’t know why, I was from Winter Haven, what the Hell? I went with it anyway and uttered my first ever “Shut Up You Fat Pig” to some toothless woman in the front row. That was the start of my nasty side! The crowd loved Jon Force, which made getting heat very easy. It was during that first 10 minutes of the show that I was forever hooked on being a Pro Wrestler. The match was good, not great, but good. Jon Force, however, was great that night and led my through like a true pro! We hit everything that we had rehearsed the month prior to that night. After the first bump my nervousness wore off and I was focused on doing what I was supposed to do. I took a clean pin that night, as I should have and was on a natural high for about 2 weeks after that. At the end of the night I was handed an envelope containing $25 bucks! Not a killing, but not bad for my first match either. I was happy! I got change made out of the $20 and put a single dollar bill in a frame along with a ticket stub from that night that was stamped September 18, 1992.

This entire story started today with me remembering that my original ring music was given to the music guy on a cassette tape. Something so trivial can spark a memory I guess. The first thing I ever wanted to be when i grew up was a “Professional Wrestler”. My Dad used to take me every month to the Lakeland Civic Center to watch Championship Wrestling from Florida. I wanted to be Ric Flair or Dusty Rhodes or Kevin Sullivan or Percy Pringle III, depending on what day it was. Wrestling was burned into my brain when I was 6 years old. I remember when my childhood best friend Spike and I went to the Great American Bash to watch Ric Flair battle Dusty Rhodes for a solid hour! So many nights I spent dreaming of being a Pro Wrestler, and it finally was a reality. The business has changed alot since I became a wrestler. However I can still see those big eyes of some kid dreaming of being a wrestler every time I go to a wrestling match. You may be the reason some little snot nosed kid gets into Pro Wrestling. One day some green horn might come up to you and say that you inspired them to be a Pro Wrestler. That is a pretty cool thought I must say!

No matter what changes in this business, hopefully you do it because you love it. Wrestling may have changed but the thrill that people get from going to a wrestling match is still the same as it was when I was 6 years old. That is a pretty special thought! I used to give the sound guy a cassette tape, now I give them a c.d. Who knows what we will give them in 10 years, who cares. It is still great to be a part of something that makes people happy. Something that brings families together. Something that can help you escape from reality for a few hours. Is that bad? I think it is pretty damn cool~

CCN

The Full Nelson Column will not be ran for two weeks because The Classy One will be on vacation. He will be back in a couple of weeks with another edition!!

Marcus Pitts

Hello to all,

I was thinking yesterday about something that is very important to wrestling. Without this particular something, wrestling would not exist. What is this lifeblood of pro wrestling you ask? The wrestling fans and also the wrestling promoters.

I started watching wrestling back in 1984. I was a huge fan of Championship Wrestling from Florida with Gordon Solie. I never missed a Saturday night showing of CWF on old channel 44 (Yes, before I had cable t.v.). I was mystified by the characters and the story lines of wrestling. Good vs bad, pretty vs ugly. The whole thing was a love of mine that no other tv show could match. I remember when my Dad took me to my forst match live. The main event that night was Dusty Rhodes and Blackjack Mulligan vs Black Bart and Ron Bass in a “Walkin’ Tall ’84 match. I was amazed at the 8,000+ people who were in attendance, all glued to the action in the ring. At that point I was hooked for life. I remember in school when teachers would ask the what do you want to be when you grow up question. I always answered, a pro wrestler. Most kids I went to school with thought it was a silly dream to have, but I knew what I wanted to do since I was about 6.

When I was in High School I met Randy Hogan who was a “Jobber” in the old National Wrestling Alliance and World Championship Wrestling. I was lucky enough to talk him in to training me to wrestle. It was anything but easy. It wasn’t just going hold for hold, there was conditioning and a ton of bumps and bruises along the way. When I had my first match I had decided on a name, Chris Nelson obviously, but I had no character. I was green as grass and had no clue which direction to go. I was standing in the ring and there was a group of 3or 4 fans clapping really hard for me and cheering me on. I went closer to investigate why they loved me so much and had never seen me before. As soon as I got near them they turned on me and started booing and calling me every name in the book. It was at that point when I decided that i was going to be a heel. I wasn’t built like a typical babyface, so it wasn’t that hard of a decision. From that point on, everything I did was to develop my heel persona, and it worked. Not only did it work, but it was fun. It’s fun to be the bad guy. It’s fun to have 5, 50, 5,000 or 50,000 people yelling and screaming at you. It is a stress relief for the fans, and it’s good to be hated, I think.

Without the fans, there would be no wrestling. Anyone who has wrestled in front of 10 people before knows that it is a ton better to have a building full of people rather than and empty building. It is important as a wrestler to be able to wrestle in front of 10 people, although it sucks ass! If you can work in front of 10 people and have a great match in which the 10 people are involved, you have then accomplished something good. Not every wrestler can do that. Unfortunately, that is an issue in Florida Indy wrestling. You never know if you are going to be working in front of a good house or a bad house. I have wrestled in pretty much every shit hole town in Florida in the last 19 years. I have wrestled at supermarkets, union halls, parking lots, a whole bunch of bars, birthday parties and every other event you could possible think of. What do they all have in common, fans.

I was lucky enough to have a few friends of mine that were also fans. I went to High School with a man named Shane. Shane has been there since the beginning. He remembers me saying that I was going to be a pro wrestler and he never doubted me. His wife Angela has also been a great supporter of me. Shane is not only a fan but also one of my best friends. It is not easy to be friends with a wrestler sometimes. Shane and Angela have housed me on too many occasions to count. Times when I was too drunk to drive home, times when I just needed a place to crash. I used their house as a brothel from time to time. They have picked me up at the airport and driven me to shows when my car was in the shop. They have truly been great supporters of my career and great friends as well. Shane, along with Vito, were 2 of my best men in my wedding. Both of them have attended hundreds of matches to cheer me on, or pick me up from the hospital when I got injured. The cool thing about them is they always buy their tickets. I have offered to get them in for free almost every time, and they always refuse and pay their way. Paying fans = your payday. Putting an ass every 18 inches makes you money, at least it used to. It seems like these days it makes the promoters more money than the workers. I am not going to bitch about promoters making money in this business. The fact is they put up the money for all of the expenses, advertising, the ring, building rent, etc. If the show fails, the promoters take it in the ass, not the workers. Of course this might lead to a smaller payday for the wrestlers, but as far as the money goes, it is all on the promoters.

I do not have a problem with promoters making money, but at some point you as a wrestler have to determine when it is no longer a good decision for you to wrestle. Many wrestlers in Florida will work their asses off and then get handed $10. For many of the boys that is fine. There was a time when wrestling was my only job. World Championship Wrestling, WWF and Indy’s all over the USA were paying my bills. Some months were great, some months really sucked. All in all, it was a fun way to make a living for several years. Having promoted shows before myself, I know that promoting wrestling show in Florida is a losing proposition in the long run. Wrestling companies die, period. There have been so many wrestling companies in Florida since 1991 that I cannot count them all. I don’t have any angst against promoters whatsoever. They have to do what they have to do. The main problem that I have with promoters is how they sometimes distribute their money. I remember working for a few promoters show after show, building their houses up with hot angles. It would kill me when the house was already going to be good, and then they would bring in a “name”. So the promoter pays the name a ridiculous amount of money and the local guy who busts his ass show after show gets pocket change. It does happen time after time. Every time it happens used to be like a shot to the head. I know that “names” deserve a good payday but so does the local guy who sells tickets, brings in the fans and consistently makes things happen.

In the long run wrestling needs fans and promoters, or else it would not be possible. At some point in your career you have to weigh the options of being a wrestler or not being a wrestler. Does the wrestling and the cheer of the crowd outweigh the amount of money you are going to make doing it? You also have to consider your body in 20 years from now. I am 35 and have had more issues with my back than any normal person does. The medical bills and fact that my back is forever screwed up leaves me thinking I should have gotten out for good many years before. I tried to leave, but in wrestling there is no such thing as retired, until you are dead. There is always a “next time”. I will never regret anything I have done in wrestling and the friendships I have made, but it is tough to live with permanent back issues. I urge everyone in this business to take a close look at what they are doing in the ring. Maybe change your working style. Maybe save the stupid crazy moves for bigger shows and not the 10 person crowds. I don’t know the answer but I do know that alot of us are going to be in wheelchairs one day, sooner than we should. I hope I have given everyone alot to ponder. Until next time!

CCN

Hello to all,

It is with a sad heart that I am writing this installment of the Full Nelson as I found out yesterday that Trent Acid has passed away. If you follow pro wrestling up North, then you know who Trent Acid was. Trent was a great worker and member of the tag team The Backseat Boyz. They were a popular team up North and also worked quite a bit down South. I had the pleasure of working with Trent only once as Vito and I teamed up against the Backseat Boyz in Tampa, Florida at the Ft. Hesterly Armory for the National Wrestling Alliance. He was taken away from us way too soon as he was only 29 years old. I do not know what the cause of death is currently, but do know that it was way too soon for this talented young man’s life to end.

The list of wrestlers that have passed away in the past 10 years is a long list, way too long in my opinion. There have been many causes of death in the wrestling business from drug overdoses to car wrecks, heart attacks, suicides, the list goes on and on. Any time that a wrestler passes away it sends shock waves through the wrestling community. This is a ever present fact of this business. Wrestlers die. For what ever reason it is, wrestlers die faster than any other sport in the world. I am not going to re-hash ever wrestler that has died and the manner in which he died. Those stories have been told and re-told a million times. I will only say that it is a very sad situation and one that will no doubt continue for many years to come.

Wrestling is a hard business to begin with . For the few who do have some level of success in this business, they know all to well about the dangers of being a pro wrestler. As a wrestler you are on the road way too much. Always flying or driving somewhere to the next show. Even guys on the indy scene drive a ridiculous amount of miles to chase their dream. If you are working a pretty busy schedule, you are always on the road. Many of the boys and girls in this business drive together, not only to help with the travel costs, but also to keep each other awake. I remember one trip that Vito and I made was from Boston to Florida non-stop. I had to be home for something so we drove a 2 day trip in 1 day. We drove from Texas to Georgia overnight to make the next days show. No sleeping in a motel half way through, we drove it all the way, leaving Texas at midnight just to make Georgia by 5:00pm. Crazy stupid it was, but that is the life of a wrestler. Some workers have a “day job” and then drive somewhere to wrestle at night. Then they drive back home after going out with the boys only to do it all over again the next day. I remember working 6am to 3pm and then driving to a show, wrestling, going out afterward and then driving home only to go to work at 6am again. I kept this schedule for many years. In 1999, I went through the windshield of my car while someone else was driving. As the car started going off of the highway I attempted to grab the wheel. We hit a concrete barrier at about 65 miles per hour. I held on to the steering wheel for my life. If I had not grabbed the wheel when I did I would have been thrown out of the car. I walked away from that wreck with glass in me from my head to my ass. It took me a month to pick all of the glass out of my body. I was lucky as hell to survive that night. That was the one time that I fell asleep and let someone else drive. Believe me, I never fell asleep again. That was an unnecessary risk to take but a risk that I never thought about until the wreck.

Many of the boys have died from accidental o.d.’s. Some wrestlers feel alone even when they are on top of the world and surrounded by people that adore them. It is hard to understand how you can be loved by so many but feel so alone inside. That is why wrestlers take their lives also. I have been on many trips and all of a sudden had this feeling of emptiness hit me. I don’t know where it comes from, but it does happen. Sometimes you can be around dozens of people but feel like you are the only person in the room. Some wrestlers experience this feeling of emptiness and turn to drugs and alcohol to help them through it. I was someone who went through many periods of emptiness in my life. On the outside everything looked great, but on the inside I was miserable. I turned to drugs and alcohol often to get me through those times. Later on I realized that the drugs and alcohol only made things worse. Not only was I still miserable but i had hurt my friends and family in the process. I was a wreck and didn’t even know that I was a wreck. I had no clue. I can relate to these feeling of emptiness that some wrestlers feel. I was there myself. Empty, lonely and miserable. That is no way to live your life. Sometimes you have to step away from your current situation and look at it from an outsider’s viewpoint before you realize what you are doing to yourself. Some people never get the chance to step away. Sometimes the evil gets you before you can conquer it. It’s scary, but this business is full of demons and if you’re not careful, it will bring you down with it.

I love the wrestling business and I always will. I love the men and women that I have had the honor of sharing these good times with. I have known much success and good times in the wrestling business, but I have known much pain and inner turmoil also, alot of it was self inflicted. I would never change the experiences and fun that I have had for the world. However, I would love to have a pause button for my friends that did not make it. I would love to be able to pause their lives before they lost control. Help them regain what they needed to break free from their inner prisons. We have lost too many and for some it is too late. For the new wrestlers in this business I pray that you will take it slow. Look at everything around you and take it in. Steer away from the bad things in this business and focus on the positive. Be safe and never take anything for granted, like your health or your sanity. Work hard and ask for advise from the people that have been there. Model yourself and your work around positive people and things. Ask questions about everything. Love yourself, love this business. Respect yourself, respect this business. DON’T BECOME A STATISTIC! RIP, Michael Verdi, aka Trent Acid.

Until next time,

CCN