Here is a few teasers for my new book. Please over look any typos or grammar errors these come from my rough drafts before I sent them to my editor. In my new book "It Takes All Kinds, The People Places and Events of Pro Wrestling" I take a look at just that with many short stories from my year in wrestling. I'm now taking preorders of the book. Each preorder comes with a special DVD Documentary that follows Misty and I on the road for a month as we travel to WV,KY,GA,PA, and Middle Tennessee. The DVD will not be part of the book sales once the book goes to press in just days. So order your copy now!
The forward was wrote by Dr. Tom Prichard and the back cover by WWE's Paul Bearer.
From The Chapter "Magical Places"
Memorial Hall in Kansas City
Over the next hour plus. We went through Memorial Hall. From dressing room to dressing room, the stage, the box office, the stands, and any where else we could go. It was something being in those dressing rooms. I have experienced the feeling in there in a few places. It was stepping back in time. You could feel the presents of the wrestlers of yesteryear. The ghost in the walls were talking to you. Our friend who gave us the tour had his own stories as he worked security at the wrestling matches. He was very knowledgeable about the history of the wrestling in Memorial Hall as he had been there to see it happen.
The weirdest feeling was when we made our way up stairs to the offices. We walked in and it was like an episode of the Twilight Zone. The offices look in 2005 as they did in 1987 when All Star Wrestling shut down. The old phones on the desks, tickets on the table, the line up for that weeks card was wrote on a piece of paper and was by a phone on the desk so when people called for info the secretary could give it to them. The man leading this trip through time. Said they came in one day and told us that the wrestling was done. The promotion would be closing and some people at Memorial Hall would be laid off. I’m so glad he was not one or I would have never had this opportunity.
Memorial Coliseum in Evansville,IN
I had everyone write the number down on a note pad I passed around. A few minutes later I said if your name is not on this sheet of paper you are not booked here next week. If I need you I will call you. I hung a blank sheet of paper on the wall. I ran the entire crew off except for a few young look guys. I needed a street team. It was a building with long history. It was ran by the Tennessee office for decades yet there was no Tennessee wrestling in there.
From The Chapter "Just Another Day"
When we came out of the building is was as quite as a church mouse. The wind hand picked up some and we could tell a storm was coming. We stopped at a gas station at the interstate and fueled up. As Krunch was pumping gas I was standing there talking to him a gust of wind came through and about took us down. Krunch said lets get out of here. He finished the fuel and we took off.
No sooner than we pulled back on I 75 the sky opened and the rain came. I mean a rain like I had never seen before and only have seen a couple times since. As we rolled up the road I was looking along side the road for animals lining up two by two. I was wishing we were in an Ark rather than my ‘84 Topez.
I had a C.B. in my car we had it and the radio on. It was only a few minutes before we started hearing emergency interruptions on a Knoxville radio station. They were telling people in Rhea, Meigs, Roan, Loudon, Knox, Blount, and surrounding areas to take cover that radar was showing several funnel clouds. As Krunch and I were listening Alex Shane started talking about the matches. Alex being from Virginia and new to traveling was not sure how serious this was. Krunch asked him if he knew where these places are? Alex said no. And Krunch said well buddy let me tell you, you are right dead in the cross hairs.
As Alex sat back and started listening we started hearing truck drivers yelling tornado on the ground at this mile marker and that one. It was so black you could not see but a few feet in a front of you. Krunch was driving and was having trouble holding the car on the road from the wind. The rain was coming down in sheets.
The only breaks we had was when we would go under an over pass. Each over pass had cars stopped and people got out and were up under the bridges. Not us we just kept on. The next hour we went through one of the worst storms Tennessee had ever had.
From The Chapter "Quotes and Conversations"
Ricky Morton - Who trained you?
Young Wrestler - A Name we have never heard
Ricky Morton- What did he get for breaking you in?
Young Wrestler - $500
Ricky Morton - He should have gotten 3 to 5 for stealing your money
Scotty McKeever - Do you realize almost everyone in this dressing room hates you?
Me - Yeah and They don’t pay me. You do. So who cares
Scotty McKeever - Well as long as you know
Oak Hill WV 2003
K.C Thunder - So the guy started crying and said please don’t shoot me please I have a family
Me - so what did you do?
KC - I shot him
The two of us standing at urinals in a Pennsylvania Truck Stop about 4am. You have never seen a public bathroom clear out so fast
From The Chapter "The Good Guys"
Another trip down the Country Music Highway Brad Thomas was driving and Bobby and I were riding with him. As we got close to Duffield, VA it was time to check the tires (wrestlers talk for pee on the side of the road). I told Brad don’t stop on this road State Troopers in Virginia is not people you want to deal with. I told him where to turn off a short side road that myself and others wrestlers had been pulling off on for years.
The road dips down of 23 and is out of sight. You go about the length of two football fields and there are two house. What we did not know as that someone had built a house in the woods and as we were checking the tires we noticed it. Brad said hey we are in someone’s front yard. About that time the outside lights came on. The next thing I know Bobby is done and jumping back in the car. The garage door comes up and Brad and I hear get’em boy!!! Something you do not want o hear at 2am in the dark cold Virginia night with your privates hanging out. Brad runs around and jumps in. I’m still checking the tires as this dog comes at me in a dead run. I finished and got in the car and closed the door just as the dog got to me. I have not made that stop since then and don’t think I will be again.
From The Chapter "In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash"
As soon as the matches were over and people filed out Barry went to the office and I was in hot pursuit. I was wrong about a few things first I was third in line behind Wahoo and Chris.
Wahoo came out and looked at us and said good luck boys. Not something you want to hear. Chris went in and after a few minutes I peaked in and he gave me what I thought was the OK sign with his hand. He got up and came to me and said “zero, the guy says Charlie left at intermission with the box office money.” He then tells me “don’t let anyone in here”. Chris Walker is a huge man hence the name Conan. He was in the middle of a separation from his wife. He was not one to mess with.
He started yelling at this guy and people could hear it all over the building. I saw him grab Barry with one hand and throw him against the wall. He then slapped him so hard Barry did a cartwheel with out hands. Barry started yelling for help. People came when others got to me I told them the deal. Barry’s now had zero friends in the building. It became a mess. The boys were ready to kill him. Me included.
Barry was trying to talk and no one was listening. I figured the guy blow his money day one and be gone. Truth was he had no money to begin with. When the boys knew they were not getting paid they started going threw his stuff taking anything of value.
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