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I only had the occasion to meet Misawa once a few years ago at the first week long training camp my friend Harley Race ran in conjunction with Pro Wrestling Noah. He had what I would have to call quiet class. When you watched him walk into a room you may not have known his name or rank in the world but you knew he was special. He was pleasant, gracious, a gentleman and it only took watching him wrestle one match on Saturday night in Eldon, Missouri to know that he was indeed a class act between the ropes as well. For all this class personality, I saw the other side of the coin when Harley took him out on Lake of the Ozarks in his power boat and allowed Mitsuharu to drive. It was his first time, and the excitement of the lake and the power of the boat brought out the child like glee in this regal gentleman.
I feel honored that I was able to have met and broken bread with this great grappler. Many of you may not understand the impact this will have on the entire pro wrestling scene in Japan. May you rest in peace and be remembered for what you created for our industry.
Several people have asked if I could imagine how the wrestlers at ringside close to him felt. Strangely enough, yes I can. I stood over my dear friend Luther Lindsey in a Charlotte ring in 1972 along with Johnny Weaver and Abe Jacobs as he passed away. It was a hard thing to grasp, and it truly had me soul searching for quite sometime. I still think of Luther often and fondly today, but that sad evening always jumps out at me as well.
Was sorry to hear of the passing of Billy “Red” Lyons this past Monday from cancer. I only met Billy once, but always heard he was a great worker, and a nice guy. Billy was a top baby face in Canadian rings for many years. He was 77 at the time of his passing.
I enjoyed myself at the family reunion in North Carolina this past weekend, and among the things that stood out was my first time eating Bear. You heard that right Bear. Someone had fixed it for one of the dishes at the reunion buffet and people kept telling me to try it, and that it tasted like pot roast. I finally gave it a shot, and they were right: Had I not known the difference I would have thought I was eating pot roast. Now I can identify with pioneers like Davey Crockett who ate this stuff.
Another enjoyable experience was venturing over to Waynesville and checking out the new “Club 56” fitness center down in the “Frog Level” section of town. This area is made up of hundred year old buildings housing antique stores, coffee houses, and the like.
Club 56 owner Miles Burton made me feel welcome and the combination of old world ambiance and modern exercise equipment makes for a great atmosphere in which to train. The neat juice bar at the front of the club resembles an old time saloon. If you happen to be in that area stop in for a workout and tell Miles that I sent you.
I received an e-mail from a promoter asking if he was one of the people I was referring to in the column a couple of weeks back when I talked about people not finalizing deal one way or the other, and leaving independent contractors hanging. My answer is simple. If that’s the way you conduct business, then I was talking about you. If you tie up all the lose ends then you weren’t part of the column. Easy enough huh?
What did the Donald Trump week long ownership of Raw accomplish? I give up. It didn’t make a lot of sense, it upset a few main stream media outlets, and now it’s back to the same old same old. It created a little buzz, but bottom line will it up the ratings or buy rates long term? I really don’t think so. I continue to think that if you actually increase the amount of quality performance in ring and logical angles and story lines you will increase both of the above. Cheap heat is still just that and it has no sustaining value.
I happened to find a 1999 cassette recording of the radio show I did here on the Clear Channel all sports talk station, and in listening we talked about how Raw had doubled the rating of Nitro, and a comment I made then was that WWE (at that time WWF) took time to plan ahead and layout their shows and story lines in more detail instead of booking on the fly as it seemed WCW did. My first thought after listening to myself say that was “Boy! Have times changed” and how great it would be for there to be major competition out there once again to make everyone up their game.
To round this column out I’ve said it once and I’ll keep repeating myself that nothing can top a realistic story in capturing the attention and emotions of those watching. “America’s Got Talent opened their season last Tuesday night and the final audition of the two hour premier was two brothers and a sister ages 9, 13 and 16 who called themselves “Voices of Glory”. They began singing three years ago at their mother’s hospital bedside as she lay in a coma for eight months, and it grew from there. Their audition song was a simple tune called “God Bless America” with which they brought the house down and got a standing ovation from not only the audience, but the judges as well. It was such a powerful finale that judge Sharon Osborne was brought to tears as the mother was pushed in her wheel chair out on the stage to join her family (there wasn’t a dry eye at my house either).
The key statement by the judges as they passed the children on to the next round was “As emotional as this story was, the deciding factor still had to be their talent (ability to sing).” People in the wrestling business need to heed that statement. If you witnessed this happening and don’t think these three children’s performance and the accompanying story topped female impersonators, choreographed acrobatics, unrealistic story lines and slapstick comedy then you are out of your frigg ‘in mind.
I wanted to add that the pro wrestling industry owes a big thank you to Torrie Wilson who placed second over all last night to Lou Diamond Phillips on NBC’s “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!” after 25 days in the Costa Rican jungle. She came across as classy, professional, warm, articulate, strong, and a competitor. She was given the “Not Just another Pretty Face” award by the other competitors in this event. Thanks Torrie, great job!
Train hard and master your craft.
Till Next Time,
Les
Les and Harley Race form Elite Pro Wrestling Training along with principles left by former staff members Ricky Steamboat and Dr. Tom Prichard. For information on the company go to www.epwt.com . To book an EPWT seminar, camp, or trainer contact Les at les@epwt.com .
Get your copy of “The Professional Wrestler’s Workout & Instructional Guide” by Harley, Ricky, Les, and Alex Marvez published by Sports Publishing LLC at your local bookstore or THE PWINSIDER SUPERSTORE.
The Annual Harley Race/Pro Wrestling Noah training camp is set for September 28th thru October 2nd at Harley’s school in Eldon, MO. This year’s special guest is Ric Flair. You can sign up now.
All the details are at www.harleyrace.com .
Join Les and host Rich Tate every Wednesday at 9: PM EST for “Peach State Pandemonium” with special guests at www.georgiawrestlinghistory.com .
