LARRY SWEENEY-ROH UPDATE
By
Mike Johnson on 2009-04-09 23:00:00
One of the major topics of conversation among those at the Ring of Honor
television tapings tonight was a blog posted by Larry Sweeney on Myspace.com
decrying the company in the latest in a series of strange circumstances
revolving around Sweeney in recent weeks.
Sweeney, who in recent months
had been working backstage for the company as well as his on-air duties as the
manager of Sweet N' Sour Inc., has been said to have been acting erratic in
recent weeks, leading to the company presumably distancing themselves from him.
As I noted on my PWInsider.com Elite Hotline on Tuesday, Sweeney arrived in
Houston, Texas after the conclusion of the first ROH event last weekend and when
he arrived at the PPV taping Saturday afternoon, was escorted out of the taping.
Sweeney had been telling those he saw at a ROH after-party that he was suspended
and had asked for his release, something ROH officials have denied on both
counts to me.
I was told by several PWInsider.com readers that Sweeney was
spotted at Wrestlemania, at Raw the next day and the WWE Hall of Fame wandering
around the respective Arenas and "looking out of it."
I know there have been a number of people around the industry who have been
attempting to reach out to Sweeney to offer him help in recent weeks as he's
always been considered a good guy by those he's dealt with. There is a lot
of concern about his well being as he's obviously been dealing with some sort of personal issues of late.
Sweeney, who is still in Houston as of this writing, posted the following
comments about the company and his recent actions:
Hey everybody,
Wow, hard to even start this one.
I have been learning to live with bipolar disorder since I first went
through a bipolar cycle when I was 18, ten years ago.
As I understand it, Bipolar disorder is an energy imbalance; call it
chemical, call it what you like, but i am most comfortable with the term
energy imbalance.
ut mr sweeney, sir, you say, you are a perverer of such greatness!! So
overwhelming is your awesomeness, that I could hardly ever think of a person
of your stature as 'imbalanced'! Who are these false profits that make this
judgment of you, and why?
Calm down, wipe the nacho cheese off your face and fingers so that you
don't ruin mom's keyboard, sucka, and I'll tell you. But I'm going to be
brief about it.
When I was 16 I wrapped a car around a tree and almost killed 5 people,
myself included. I don't remember this, at least in my conscious memory, so
the parts of my brain where this trama is stored, well, when you do something
like that at a young age, and of course you don't mean to, but shit happens,
right?, well, you're going to be affected by that for the rest of your life.
There it is. That's my explaination.
It has been incorrectly reported that I have been battling depression. Not
true. What do I have to be depressed about? I've made it further in this
business and in life than I ever would have imagined possible, gotten to meet
so many great people through this business, and have travelled the world. I
love what I do and I'm not going anywhere.
A more proper explanation was that certain events led to an onset of mania
for me in early february.
While I love Ring of Honor and certainly hope to return, I am quite angry
with how I have been treated by Mr. Silken and his company. Despite any
personal troubles or turbulance I may have been going through, I never once
showed up in a condition where I was unable to perform.
I do not have a drinking problem, nor a drug problem, but my brain gets a
little bit coocoo for cocoa puffs sometimes. Really? In the grand scheme of
life, that ain't really a big deal. I'm certainly not complaining.
But, the company treated me like a drug addict, not like a person with a
medical condition. You see, if somebody shows up drunk or stoned to work and
gets caught, then you can suspend or fire them... but in the eyes of the law,
in such a crzy world, if any person has a bout with craziness and is seeking
care, they cannot be treated the same way, at least this is what my lawyers
have told me.
Cary Silken suspended me from pittsburgh and new york with less than 48
hours notice and did not pay me. Before that, the company shorted me on money
for the first tv tapings... then I came to houston and, despite my sobriety
and clarity, and willingness to fly myself down on my own dime, I was told
that I was not welcome.
Since I have not recieved a release from my contract, I consider all monies
owed for these bookings to still be owed to me, and I am sitting out, chilling
down in the south, until the company makes things right with me. I would like
to be there for all of the wrestling fans who enjoy my performances with the
company, but I will still be appearing as much as I can, just for different
companies. My relationships with CHIKARA and International Wrestling Cartel I
consider stronger than ever, and I am very grateful for the care and
consideration that Norm Conners and Mike Quackenbush, men who have known me a
lot longer than anybody in ROH management, promoters who I have worked for for
4ish and 6ish years repectively, true friends... I am very gratefull to have
them in my life as friends and employers.
Because, you see, what would larry sweeney do? (My real name is alex whybrow,
sorry to burst your bubble...no, that does not mean that I'll add you as a
friend on facebook if I don't know you personally, thank you very much, so
don't ask)...
WWSD? That is the question.
I'm under contract until May 2. While I certainly would like to go back to
work for mr silken and his company, until they make things right with me, I
will not do, and I am retaining a team of lawyers in the mean-time.
Would I love to work with Ric Flair? Hell yes. Do I need ROH to do it?
F**k no.
When life tries to slap you like a b**ch, you've got to stand on your own to
feet and fight like a man.
When somebody tries to f**k with you, you've got to be like marcellus wallace....
who doesn't like to get f**ked by anybody but missus wallace.
When somebody tries to treat you like a kid, kick em in the b***s. When
somebody won't leave you alone, don't be afraid to punch them in the teeth.
F**k the law. I'll spend a night in jail, I really don't care.
I decide what is right and wrong for me, nobody else. This is my life, and I
don't owe it to anybody, and that is true for each and every person on the
planet.
F**k the world, I'm taking over.
I've been in Houston since last Friday, and I love this town. I'm
wrestling in Louisiana on Saturday night, doing a clinic on Sunday for
Southern Pure Wrestling, and then wrestling in Houston again on Saturday the
18th.
I will appear for ROH if they have made things right with me by that time,
but quite frankly, I do not see that happening.
If somebody says they're your friend, but then tries to f** with your
livelihood, for whatever reason, what does that make you? Your enemy.
Enemy. Somebody who tries to f*** you, if you don't want to be f**ked? That
person is your enemy, and there ain't no doubt about that.
More details to follow, but before I take back to the streets of houston, I
would like to thank each and every wrestling fan out there, because if it
wasn't for you, then I would be able to do what I love, and wrestling is most
certainly what I love. Thank you for all the support, friends and fans alike.
12 Large,
-alex. <(swee
