kurtsoloempire

Just a quick update...

I've been working on the business with the occasional break to play Battlefield2... oh, and a little sleep when I have to. Speaking of Battlefield2, if anyone, from the area, reading this plays it, let me know... I want to get a clan together.

The NEW show is about here (Sept. 10th). Should be fun working the show alongside of my tag partner again (though we didn't originally plan to work the NEW shows). Plus being in the same locker room with Buddy Landel again, as always, should be fun. Love hearing him tell his "stories". Plus it'll give me a chance to examine his robes again and compair it with the ones I'm creating.

The money keeps rolling in for the business, but it seems like it's "rolling out" even faster. About to try some new things and hope for the best. Unfortunatly, that will mean even less sleep. I'm about to fall asleep as it is... I know, I'm rambling. Oh, well.

Good luck to Corey in whatever he will be doing next. At one time, I felt as if we were extremely good friends, but with time comes change.... or something. Anyway, good luck.

I feel bad for those in the fucked up part of the US.... then again, there are alot of different fucked up parts in the US. Anyway, I feel bad for them.

Oh yeah, I know people say I have heat with certain individuals.... well, if there's heat, it's not coming from my end. Anyone that really knows me, knows that my attitude is "oh well, fuck 'em". And that's it, unless they start alot of other shit. The truth is, alot of guys have come to me with bad things to say about people or promotions, and then go back to the same people THEY were talking about and telling them that I was the one who said the things that THEY were actually saying. Hell, I might agree with 1/2 of what they WERE saying, but unless I tell you personally, it's bullshit. I'm not afraid of any one man, and I'm not afraid to speak my mind. Most of you know the "hows", "whys", etc. of what I have problems with. If you don't, it's just so I don't hurt your feelings, and if I don't want to hurt your feelings, then I wouldn't go around telling others about it anyway.

Ok, I'm done... For now. Hope this made sense.... need sleep.
Later

I finally got the TIVO type gimmick from TW Cable, so I can actually watch the local wrestling shows in the rare case of having a little spare time. So I might even decide to review the local shows a little more often. However, I'm new to the whole "DVR" thingy, so I somehow accidentally canceled the recording for the CWF show - I guess I'll have to re-set it and catch the next episode.

With that being said, I did watch TWE-tv from this past week.
Horrible.
Enough said about that for now. Maybe I'll elaborate on it later, but for now, that review will have to do.

Additional note:
I've been trying to attend shows when possible to help fight the "burn out" of working so much (business has quadrupled and still only 1 additional employee - from 1 week turnaround time, working 2-4 days a week for a few years, to 8-12 weeks turnaround time, working 7 days a week going steady for the past year). But now, I have heat with some of the boys for no apparent reason other than showing up at a show. Maybe it was the "Solo Sucks/Rules" chants that I got while sitting in the crowd, just before the fans sat quietly for the matches. I guess I'll have to wear a hood from now on. This business will drive you crazy.

Oh yeah, New Empire Wrestling is returning. I consider this return to be bigger and better than before - with a lighter schedule and new roster. Lots of changes with N.E.W.. One of the biggest differences will be having ONLY the best talent this time. If you read this and would like to work with us, contact me (newempirewrestling@hotmail.com) and you will be considered.... MAYBE.

Until next time, buy an outfit.
Solo

I finally took some time for myself, last night, and traveled down to Asheboro to watch the TWE show and do a little REAL business. One of the best things about taking time off from wrestling is being able to see the sport from a new perspective. This new perspective is great. I can critic guys for what they truly are, their true abilities, talent, etc. etc., or lack of. And the best part is, I don't HAVE a "spot", or any other kind of "2nd intentions" behind my opinions. In other words, I don't have a reason to put down others ring work just to boost my ego or make me look better to a promoter. I've worked in this business for the last 9 years. I KNOW this business, inside and out - better than 90% of the guys that step into the ring. That is NOT any kind of ego talking, that is FACT. Years ago, I was referred to as "one of the greatest minds in the business". I've also been known as "one of the best workers", a few years back. Though now, very few would actually acknowledge the fact, but some of these people have 2nd intentions, or simply "just don't know". Anyway, I just want to give some insight as to who is writing this (to those of you who don't know me). Don't believe it? That's fine. I didn't believe it when those things were said about me.... or I just didn't care, I'm not sure. I don't expect you to believe it. But I do expect those that I'm will be writing about to read the following and take a step back and examine yourself. Don't take it as a pounding of your ego, take it as valid criticism from someone who's been there and can look at you from a new perspective without 2nd intentions. With that said, here are some things I've noticed about the TWE show/workers as well as the CWF TV show I had the opportunity to watch a few weeks back.

Allot of young guys mixed with some established workers on the TWE card. The young guys seem like showcased backyarders - their matches not really building to anything, spotty, etc. Not even ONE pin attempt was make with the pinned opponent ACTUALLY kicking out. It was always a raise the shoulder kinda deal which left the crowd looking at the ref to see if he was going to count the 3rd count (which is NEVER good) - or it was a weak pin attempt where the worker making the pin would raise up like he was suddenly laying on a live wire after the ref counted "2" (still with not actual "kick out"). I think these matches were there to give the young guys a bit of experience and maybe get some "oohs" and "aahs" from the crowd. To that extent it worked, but for the most part the young guys matches were duds. Looking back, I can see that same thing happening (not so much the "backyarder" part, but anyway) with N.E.W. (see I can even critic myself...lol). I just think that these guys need more REAL training - the "whys" and "why nots" of everything - not just showing them the moves.

The established workers (with some exceptions) seemed to be just going through the moves on this show. Maybe it was the heat in the building, but regardless, you are entertainers. If you aren't entertaining the crowd, you aren't doing your job right! It's time to look at yourself for the blame on this one, not the humid building (or the fans, for that matter). The most versatile workers can even work the heat to their benefit. Try new things in different environments and see what works - keep learning - and the next time you're faced with the same situation, use it!

Their are some guys I was most impressed with in one-way or another.
Ali Steele/Tito Rains - Ali has improved since I last watched him work - has much potential. Tito, I expected more out of, mostly due to what I've read about him, but he is still a decent worker with allot of potential. Overall, I think they did their job with what they were given for a match, which says allot.

Damage Inc. - Much improvement as a tag team, but still too many power moves leads to repetitiveness of moves used. Selling is still not their strong point. Need to play off of each other a little more and diversify. I'd like to see Bam be the power brawler type guy and Buzz be the technical spot type guy (though that probably makes no since, but I can see it in my head). If they make the right changes, they could become one of the best tag teams ever in this state - but they'd have to be willing to make these changes. Overall, they were the best tag team of the entire show.

Thugged Out Pimps (TOP) - This tag team gets 2nd spot - which is surprising. The gimmick works and is over, so keep doing it. The gimmick allows the fans to look past the in-ring work, which is a good thing. That doesn't mean to stop learning though. Improve ring-wise and get the total package (work & gimmick).

Too Hot (Matt Houston & Johnny Lightning) - This match up was what I was looking forward to all night. My former partner, now tagging with Lightning. I knew what a UE vs. DI match was like, so I was expecting something similar. I was hoping to, in a sense, look at something similar to an Unholy Empire match, from the outside, or maybe something even better than what we had with UE. Boy, was I wrong. Never did I imagine that the team would be a total dud. Nothing from this tag team.......... NOTHING! I couldn't even tell they were a tag team. No chemistry from either one on this night. I was totally disappointed with the team, as I was hoping to use the 2 on the next N.E.W. show. Matt Houston was not himself last night. Johnny Lightning, who may be a decent worker demonstrated how "not to work", botched spots, bad selling, and had nothing to offer offensively of defensively... plus he finishes the night by dropping Lodi on his head, during a run in, with a botched brainbuster (which Lodi let him know about in the office). I was told he was a good worker, but he sure wasn't on this night - still I give him the benefit of doubt and assume this was an "off night".

Rob Killjoy - You can tell this guy either "has it" or is "actually learning", unlike allot of the young guys on the show. Don't get me wrong - he needs work, but the potential is there. We'll just have to see where he goes from here.

Tim Blaze - He didn't work the show in the ring, but boy, he was everywhere. He was handling business. Everything from announcing, video, supervising the music, making sure the ring area was secure, etc. I respect that. He also does a fairly nice job with the TV editing/directing, which I can respect also, since I've dealt with that as well. The only thing Tim needs is an assistant by his side during the show, to help with various tasks.

TWE - They are aware of most of their low points. This is good, since they aren't trying to push them under the rug and not acknowledge them. They need some fine-tuning, and possibly a makeover, but their show was overall fairly decent. I would work on some storyline development and make the payoffs a little more dramatic. Their TV needs some changed elements as far as running storyline/angles and a few minor details to boot.

Now, on to the CWF TV show.... Guys, if there is a promotion (workers and higher management alike) that REALLY needs to step away from it's own product, this is the one! The CWF TV show was horrible. In every way. I respect Randy and Grant (love you guys), but even the commentary/play-by-play was VERY off. I don't think it's entirely their fault, because they are around the product so much, that it's become the "standard" for them, but to put over such horrible work in the ring just makes them come off on TV as "total goofs who don't know better". Of course, the entire live shows are probably (also can be read as "hopefully") not as bad as the matches they were putting on TV, but judging from what I've heard from some of their previous fans, a couple of months back, that doesn't seem to be the case. I'm not going to name names, but some guys need to go back to working like they did 3-4 years back, and some guys need more basic training. On TV, I saw outdated graphics, bad ring work, no running storylines.... really too much to write about. Guys..., really..., step away and re-evaluate. It could be SO much better.

Overall, it seems like 98% of the workers have stopped learning. Oh, sure they want to try new moves, etc., but they don't want to take the time to study each move inside and out, physically and psychologically.

Hopefully, if anyone reads this, they will not get defensive, but will understand that I’m not trying to get heat with them. I want everyone to succeed – just look at some of the guys I gave a chance to in N.E.W. – I did it because I wanted them to find their true potential – The same goes for the ones mentioned here.

Take care guys, and never stop learning.