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LOOKING AT THE X3 DEBACLE AND HOW WRESTLERS AND FANS CAN PROTECT THEMSELVES FROM SHADY PROMOTERS

LIVING THE DREAM CAN LEAD TO NIGHTMARES

Note: This article was written in April 2003.

Wrestlers want to believe. They wouldn't be in this business unless, at some level, they want to believe and live in a fantasy world. Think about it. While the wrestling world is a brutal one, if you live for it and love the business, it's all you will ever want and needs for your own ego, and if you are especially lucky, your wallet.

From rookies to veterans, there is no difference. Every wrestler who has laced the boots wants to live in the world of professional wrestling, the fantastical frat boy's world that keeps them from living in reality - the crowd roars, the big houses, the exposure, the popularity, the women, the road, the parties, the notoriety of walking through the airport and being "known." They all want to believe in the fantasy and live within it forever.

For some the fantasy means they will be set for life financially, but for most, especially older workers, the crowds get smaller, the money winds down, and the body aches more. Still, the belief never burns out, even when reality begins to set in. Deep down, they want to keep believing, and sometimes, a lot of the times, they believe too much, and they get burnt.

By all accounts, this is one of those stories.

On June 22, 2002 a promotion calling itself the IWS ran The Sandcastle Stadium in Atlantic City, New Jersey. With The Road Warriors, Chris Chavis, Jimmy Snuka, Hacksaw Duggan, Tom Brandi, the late Rocco Rock, Sabu, Bam Bam Bigelow, and even Japanese stars Keiji Muto and Satoshi Kojima on the show, there was name value of performers who at one point or another, had worked or even headlined in the WWF, the NWA/WCW, ECW or Japan.

Presented as "Wrestlefest," the theme of the show was the United States vs. The World. In the climax of the event, The Road Warriors win for the United States, the crowd of a reported 4,000 goes home happy and the story ends there. A night of fantasy for the families in attendance and a night of performers who get to live their dream and get paid for it. For some, it was a chance to work in front of a large crowd again. Once they returned from the ring, that's where the fantasy ended for those who worked on the show. It soon became a nightmare for those who, you know, actually wanted to get paid for working and traveling from as far away as Japan to appear.

According to an article on PressofAtlantic City.com, Matthew Hendrickson has been indicted on charges of issuing seven bad checks to six wrestlers who appeared on the show. Those who received bounced checks were Crowbar, the late Ted "Rocco Rock" Petty, "Patriot" Tom Brandi, Hacksaw Duggan, King Kong Bundy, and Kamala. Hendrickson owed the workers $17,653 after signing off on checks that didn't clear due to non-sufficient funds. When the workers decided to get a lawyer in order to pursue the funds, their attorney Scott Krieger of Norristown, PA brought the situation to the attention of Atlantic County Prosecutor Jeffrey S. Blitz's Financial Crimes Unit. Blitz's office investigated, brought the case to a grand jury, and signed off on the indictment. Hendrickson was later ordered to appear in court.

Of course, the happy ending to the story now would be that the wrestlers would get their money and the promoter, if he is found guilty, gets what the court decides is justice. We might eventually get that ending, but this being the world of professional wrestling, where everything is a spin, it's not that simple.

A spin is when someone in the business wants to deflect attention away from the truth. When you spin something, you're "working the mark." In actuality, you're lying. That's what it's called in the real world. A lie. However, in the world where grown men wear tights and crash through tables, it's completely acceptable and at times, even writers will accept being worked. Some people want to protect their storylines. Some people want to protect themselves. Some people just love to get others going and worked up, so they spin until you forget what it was you originally asked them.

So how do you spin getting indicted for nearly $20,000 in bad checks?

The IWS website posted a response to the indictment story, citing myself and the Press of Atlantic City specifically. The website retort is that both the site and the Newspaper were reporting a "false" headline that the promotion "intentionally bounced checks to several wrestlers." The statement goes on to state that Hendrickson was not the promoter of the event, although it does acknowledge he signed 47 checks to talent that night, 12 of which bounced.

According to the article, seven checks belonged to the aforementioned six. That leaves five checks that bounced. The show was in June 2002. It is now April 2003. Ten Months. Ten months for Hendrickson (who wasn't the promoter according to the site but as of the week I write this, tried booking talent for a May show in Biloxi) to make good. Ten months that he hasn't, at least for those seven checks, as he's indicted in the state of New Jersey. Several I have spoken to have confirmed that Hendrickson was indeed the promoter and the person they dealt with in regard to the show.

Hendrickson contacted me via email I originally noted the newspaper's allegations and reasons as to why the wrestlers haven't been paid. I asked if the comments were on the record, but he never responded. I was later given a phone number to contact Hendrickson, and have left several messages. I have yet to hear back.

There is no question the checks bounced. The indictment is proof of that and of Hendrickson's burden in the bouncing. The IWS website acknowledges the checks bounced. However, those who are going after Hendrickson aren't alone. Others beyond the aforementioned have had the same problems, including Road Warrior Animal.

Animal, the booker of the show, actually contacted me when the show was being put together to promote the event and get behind the IWS to give it credibility. Animal put the show together, used his contacts to get talent, trained White Lion, a Taiwanese wrestler who was connected to "Taiwanese backers" of the show, worked the show, and was to be paid "a retainer" for exclusive use of the Road Warriors name by IWS. Animal lost as much, if not more money than anyone else. To this day, he claims he and Road Warrior Hawk are owed money, and the Japanese performers were never paid by Hendrickson either.

"I still have not received all of my night's pay nor have I been paid for booking the card," said Animal when contacted for comment. "As people in this business know, booking a card of this magnitude takes months as hotels, Air travel, matches, etc. all have to be set up and I did all of it. I actually paid [Keiji] Muto and [Satoshi] Kojima myself when I did an [All Japan] tour and was Muto's tag partner. I took the money out of my own pay out of respect to the Japanese office and paid them off. [Hendrickson] now owes me for that too."

Animal began simply as a worker booked on the show by Hendrickson, and eventually ended up being offered to book the event. He claims he and Hawk lost two months of booking as they were to be paid to be exclusive with IWS. It's possible he saw money behind the show and wanted a bigger piece. It's possible he saw the promoter as a mark to fleece and tried to get as much money as he could. Maybe Animal believed there really was going to be a PPV taping. Who knows. In any event, Animal saw the carrot and chased it, wanting to believe the money was there and wanted to get as many of his friends, many who have had their huge run in the business, in on the action and the payday. Road Warrior Hawk was brought in for radio publicity, and according to Animal, has also yet to be paid.

The IWS statement continues by announcing that while 4,000 fans were in attendance at Sandcastle Stadium in Atlantic City, "Hendrickson said that Sandcastle Stadium only turned over to him the sum of $2,200. The Sandcastle Stadium owner Bill Rodman told Hendrickson that they comped over 2,000 tickets. IWS feels that they were cheated but they didn't have the proper paperwork to document any accusations because the deal was done on a handshake but they do have video evidence to prove the attendance. " According to the statement, tickets were $20. That means 110 tickets were actually sold to the event. 110 tickets that were expected to cover the costs of 47 paychecks.

So, in layman's terms, the IWS is saying that the lack of money to pay the wrestlers isn't the fault of the promotion, but the fault of the venue, because Sandcastle Stadium "cheated" them.

In speaking to Bill Rodman of Sandcastle Stadium, Rodman told me Hendrickson's claim was, "Not true at all. There was number one, a written contract with IWS and I believe [Hendrickson] was the signee of the contract. [If he wasn't the promoter of record], why did he sign the checks? .....they told us and a lot of people a lot of things that weren't factual, and I don't know if he knows the difference between truth and lies. I had whatever conversations I had with the prosecutor. [Hendrickson] told him that I made promises that I was going to give him money and all that kind of stuff, none of which would have no bearing on him writing bad checks....When I chatted with [Hendrickson] when all this was going on, he just thought it was a joke; he wasn't going to have any problems. He basically chatted with the prosecutor and I guess he thought he was going to bullsh*t him, too. All I am is a facilitator. He came and rented the Stadium....All we did was facilitate it and make it possible for him to come. He wanted to tape a PPV. He wanted to make sure the place was packed and we helped him with all of that. We used our entire staff. We made sure there were a lot of people there. We gave away a lot of tickets. Everything they were entitled to receive, they received it 100%."

So where's the money for the wrestlers then? Was it never there to begin with?

The IWS line is that there was no money to pay the wrestlers without the gate as, according to the IWS site, "their [sic] was only so much money in the wrestlefest budget and that [Hendrickson] felt that the ticket sales would have taken care of everything." That brings to mind the question of who in the world books a show without having the money to pay the talent already set aside, much less booking beyond the budget he does have, but this is professional wrestling where logic rarely, if ever, reigns supreme. The normal business model in producing a live event includes putting the money needed to make the event happen in an escrow account. It certainly does not seem that is what happened here.

The IWS statement brags, "Just for the record the IWS paid all of the wrestlers three to four times the salary of what they normally would have made.". The IWS knew going in what they were agreeing to pay the workers, but there wasn't enough to cover those prices. That doesn't stop them from flaunting the excessive amounts that were "paid", for those who actually had their checks clear. The others received three to four times zero.

According to Animal, Hendrickson was well informed the Wrestlefest workers were to be paid in cash or cashiers checks. Hendrickson was late arriving to the building on the day of the event, showing up less than an hour before belltime, and when he arrived, informed the wrestlers they "were getting paid by company checks and not cashiers checks. I understood if any of them wanted to leave and not work they could. But as friends, the guys stayed and after getting their checks and talking to Dave Bahoric [said to be an attorney representing the company] and Dave Davis Jr. [believed to be one of three owners of IWS with Hendrickson, with the third owner being Lori DiGangi], [the wrestlers] all believed they were going home with checks that were good to cash or deposit. As it turned out to my understanding, only 30 or so of the guys, whose checks got to the bank first cleared, the others bounced."

Animal claims Hendrickson was made aware of how the workers were to be compensated as well. "I explained to Hendrickson that everyone was to be paid cash or cashiers check the day of the show and he knew that. He told me the funds were set aside and led me to believe so for 4-5 months. Even the day of the show, I asked him if he had cashiers checks and he said yes he did, which was a lie as all he came with was corporation checks with a company seal which means nothing."

When Animal contacted IWS and questioned where the funds for the wrestlers were, he claims he was told, " . . . An excuse of the production company wanted more money or they were not going to film the show as it was supposed to be filmed for pay per view."

That production company was Laser Media Film and Video out of Pennsylvania. I contacted Chuck Juice of Laser Media, and was told that Hendrickson owes Juice money and equipment.

"[Hendrickson said he had] offers from big video companies like SMA in NYC and at first I told him I didn't want the gig because I had bad feelings about Matt. Then I felt sorry for him, made a deal well below his other production offers and filmed the show and post-produced the footage. He owes me money (the balance of my production agreement) and stole video equipment I stored at his gym. I busted my *ss trying to help that sc*mbag then he locked me out of his facility around December 2002. Police were called and things will be done about that. Matt is the type of person that will blame everything on everyone else....The Sandcastle Stadium, The video company, the investors..... Look at his website and you will see the web of lies he creates.....He tried to do several shows in Philly that never happened....He claims to have a world tour...I hope he rots in jail."

Juice would not comment on the video footage of the show. At this point, it's not clear who's hands it is in, but it contains the likenesses of performers who were never paid for their part of the show.

Animal had the most to lose out of this and did. He used his status as "one of the boys" to bring others on. He lost out on what he estimates as "two months of bookings" to work on the show exclusively for IWS, only to see everything fall apart before his eyes, to the point he was called to Japan to make good on money owed.

"One golden rule in this business" said Animal, "is that you never slight the talent, always make sure they get paid first, as if you don't pay you won't have another show."

The golden rule was broken. But, that's OK. Excuses and spins abound and always will in a situation like this, because that is the fantasy world of professional wrestling. This world allows lies and garbage to actually amount for something in a world built on the backs of men and women breaking down their own bodies for the gratification of others.

However, The reality is that bills still have to get paid, children still have to be fed, and grown men (one of whom, Petty has passed away without seeing this resolved) are owed for their services. These are grown men who live the fantasy because they want to believe. Only this time, they believed the wrong person and reality came crashing in. Sadly, this won't be the last time something like this happens. Not by a long shot. Not in an industry like professional wrestling.

Will the workers ever see their money? Unknown. Of course, according to the IWS website, "Hendrickson also said that the twelve wrestlers that were not paid will all be reinburst." I'm sure that somewhere, someone wants to believe that. It might be Hendrickson. It might even be the person who can't spell the word, "reimbursed". It certainly isn't anyone who wrestled on the show, who missed other possible bookings for this show. It certainly isn't Ted Petty's family, who know he passed away without getting what was owed.

As I stated earlier, wrestlers like to believe. Sometimes, they believe too much and too hard. Whether it be that they want to live the fantasy or get one over on a mark, or just love the business too much to let go, they believe. Animal believed in IWS, for whatever reasons. The others believed in his word. They were all burnt, and there's no happy ending in sight. Just spins and a forthcoming court date.

On Tuesday April 8th, Matthew Hendrickson began contacting talent for a show on 5/9 in Biloxi, Mississippi at the Coliseum. According to the venue's website, the only events planned are The West Regional FMCA sea Mini-Rally and "CPR Fest." On Thurs 4/10, the building's website added the event to their website with a link to Ticketmaster.com to purchase tickets. There was no listing for the show on Ticketmaster, and the show was later canceled.

Hendrickson has yet to return my phone calls.

The beat goes on.

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