I' m gonna try something different- I've spent the last two posts critizing others, and I wanna due something that is less bitter & negative- so here's the idea: I recall an event that I either promoted or booked ( arranged the matches, for you less wrestling savvy readers) & try to provide insight into why I did what- and in many cases, I will critique my past performances based on current day thinking.
I call this "The Bookers Brain"- and we will start with the very first event in the history of Championship Pro Wrestling. OFF WE GO.....
April 19,1997, Berkeley County Fairgrounds,Martinsburg,Wv: I recall it as a chilly night, which was made no better by the fact that we had to dress in one building & wrestle in another. I has assembled what I thought was a pretty solid assortment of talent after my separation from the NWL (update: that relationship was patched up, permanently I hope, 3 years ago) My biggest concern was allievated when friends from Baltimore arrived with the scheduled main event talent, as then future WWE Hall of Famers Greg "The Hammer" Valentine & Tito Santana were slated to headline my first ever event.
The opening bout that night was a three tag team bout featuring the combination of Adrian Hall & Twiggy Ramirez facing The Blood Angels (Diablos Macabre & Lucifer Grimm) vs. The New Wave (Bobby Davison &???) with only one team, The New Wave, considered "babyfaces/good guys" The action was fast and furious, and if I recall correctly, The Blood Angels won the "historic" first match in CPW history.
**In retrospect, I think the New Wave team should have won the bout....theres a school of thought that putting the heels over in the opener gets people riled up, and in those days I was a subscriber to that philosophy; 14 years later, I totally disagree. Its better for people to start off the night happy.
Christian York, then just a young guy getting his start, faced CueBall Carmichael in the second bout of the card. York put on a fine exhibition before losing the fall to the older more experienced Carmichael.
**I think I got this right, except for the fact that the heels won the opener...the right guy won the match, but it was in the wrong spot...the bad guys have now won two in a row....is the crowd weary? Have we given them enough to keep them happy?
Combat Kid ( who later morphed into Gino Samartino) vs. Mr Wrestling 3 is next- this match is largely a set up for the next match, as Wrestling 3 (babyface) wins the match, but is assaulted by Mohammed Kane, the reigning Southeastern Heavyweight Champion. After a bit of a beatdown, 3 is saved by Martinsburg's own Bobby Keller, who returns home tonight to challenge for the title!
**In the beginning, I thought that no one would buy into the credibility of CPW having titles of its own yet- so I used the Southeastern Heavyweight Championship instead. I still believe I did the right thing- I hate when promotions start off with all these belts, when most know better than to believe it.
Keller had the fans fired up as he challenged Kane to defend the title "right now" instead of "later" ( an easy pop every time) Kane,a 300 lb African American man, was the perfect champion in Martinsburg that night, defending his title against one of their own- and after about 10 minutes of action, thru the mistake by Kane's manager, future CPW co promoter Spike Callahan, Keller won the title!
**I think this entire segment worked perfectly...I can honestly say their isn't anything I would change about it, even 14 years later..the crowd went apeshit, we were off & running. This probably made up for my earlier in the evening booking snafus.
After a intermission, which I'm sure wasnt brief ( I always run intermission long, a CPW staple) we came back with a Battle Royale, won by Wrestling 3.
**overkill- totally unnecessary match- I came from a place that did battle royales every card, and I continued that trend- but not for long- I don't believe CPW did another one for over a year.
Shane Shadows vs. Julio Sanchez (later Julio Dinero) w/ manager Doc Hollywood- fresh off a multi year run as a heel for NWL, I hit the ground running as a babyface, taking on my former tag partner Julio, managed by Doc, who also jumped from the "other side" just 2 days before the show.
We went back & forth, with me trying to play super babyface before I really knew how...I did know I wanted to do a return match with Julio,so he got Dq'ed. I then stole a Dusty Rhodes idea and pinned DOC instead.
**a real mistake here-being that Doc stayed as the manager of all my rivals for the next year plus, pinning him was like biting my nose off to spite my face- we should have saved that for down the line, instead of an easy pop. Lesson learned.
Valentine vs. Santana finished off the night, in their classic style, with Valentine thinking he got the 3 count, but the ref off, & Tito hitting the schoolboy for the win.
**easiest thing all night- send them home happy. Good match. Good beats Bad. Enough said.
Overall, I think it was pretty good. Clearly,mistakes were made, but nothing that killed return business. A solid start to a run that continues to this day, although less often.
Where you there? Do you remember? Drop me a line....give me your thoughts!
I hope you enjoyed "The Bookers Brain" ...so until next time....
SSS
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