My AWE Experience

[BobbyJay]

Check out my commentary on the my AWE experince.

I know others have been stiffed by them too

www.geocities.com/beautifulbobbyjay

or

bobbyjay.cjb.net

[Booker Thee]

Ouch.

I had heard a lot of that and other stuff too, but did not realise or imagine it was that bad.

Funny thing, one of the AWE guys told me last week that everything was fantastic.

I'll refrain from commenting in detail, though there is more that can be added to that story and it makes my comments prior to the show seem very accurate.

Live and learn I suppose.

[Booker Thee]

I know bandwidth is an issue with those sites and this is going to generate a lot of hits.

With no bias whatsoever, here is the article:


My Action Wrestling Entertainment Experience
By Bobby Jay

April 17th, 2005

Well, where to start. I guess in the beginning. I was booked for the AWE show Larger Than Life on March 11th, 2005 in Winnipeg. I dealt with Mike Davidson, with whom I have had dealings with, both good and bad over the years, but was told that he had new partner for AWE and his name was Jeff Dyck.

Mike and myself were in contact quite often as I offered to try and sell some sponsorship for the show. He gave me 10 tickets to sell for the March 11th show. Mike asked me to try and find a show for the Thursday with G Man (known as Billy Gunn in the WWE) He also wanted my to try and book a show for the Saturday with Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Fatu (known as Rikishi in the WWE).

Zack Mercury was trying to set something up in his hometown of Lac Du Bonnet on the Saturday, but with less than 3 weeks to put a sponsorship package together, he did not want to risk it. I stepped up and offered to "buy the show" for a price Mike agreed to.

I head off of vacation to Mexico for a week (Feb 26th- March 5th) When I return I talked to Mike on the Sunday and he has G Man and AWE booked for a show March 10th (just 4 days away) just south of Steinbach and he asks me to rent my ring. I rent him my ring dirt cheap ($200.00, including gas mileage) on the condition he pays the ring crew. If I refused to rent him the ring AWE is screwed as Mike told me that G Man was guaranteed a show on March 10th. I found it weird that I had to pick up the keys to the venue and open it up when I was not a part of the AWE "Office". I bought the ring crew (6 of them) McDonald's after we tore the ring down for doing the ring to later find out that they, to this date, never got payed to do the ring (or wrestle) so luckily they got a free meal out of it. I did get all my money for the March 10th show.

March 11th comes along and as I am heading to the venue when Mike calls my cell and they do not have a Curtain "entranceway" for the wrestlers to come through to head to the ring. Mike wants to borrow mine. I do not feel like driving from the U of Man back to Transcona in rush hour traffic to get mine, so Zack Mercury goes to my house to get it.

I sell 10 tickets to people that would not have been there if I wasn't on the show so AWE makes $100.00 off me.

The show goes great, huge crowd (my guess close to 1400) great production and some good matches. I was given 3 ½ - 5 minutes to work a match Jon Cutler (we had the shortest time allotted on the whole show) but Jon and I made the best of it and from many accounts ours was one of the stronger matches on the show.

After the show I told gave Mike $1000.00 US deposit for the Saturday Show. I would not give a deposit until I personally talked to Fatu and Jim Duggan to confirm they were booked for the Saturday show. Everything was all good (so it seemed).

I wanted to get home so I told Mike I would deduct my pay off for the Friday show off the balance of the money I would pay him for the Saturday show at the show. And he was OK with that.

On Saturday afternoon Mike calls me and says Ticketmaster is closed and he could not get the money owed to AWE for Ticketmaster's advance sales until their office opens on Monday Morning. He asks if he can borrow $1200.00 until Monday on top of the $3000.00 I payed him for the show. I told him I would see how the show drew, as I had $7000.00 of my money tied up on the show and was tapped until the show was over. He called me again a couple hours later asking again to borrow the money, this time with a little more urgency in his voice. I gave him the same answer.

In the price Mike would pay the talent and the ring crew. I would handle everything else, including work for the show as part of the agreement (I did book the last 2 matches but the undercard was Mike's to book) I would supply the ring for free in the agreement as long as the ring crew was cover. I was told Danny Duggan and 3 other were going to help Ox Anderson (a reliable hand that does my ring quite often) I suggested to Mike that he book him for a battle royal and Ring Crew, Mike asked how much he needed and I said since there were 4 others helping, Ox would be like the "foreman" to help get the ring up.

I told Mike to have the Ring crew there at 5 PM as the hall was being used until 5 or 6 PM. Ox brought Louie (RCW Manager Lawrence Fozworth II) along for the ride out and was there around 4:30. Danny Duggan, Rick Matthews and ref Kenny Rogers show up a ½ hour late at 5:30 but the hall was not to be available until 6. With the doors opening at 7:00 for an 8 PM bell time the crew of 5 would have to hustle to get the ring up in time. I told Danny Duggan that we have ½ an hour to kill then we would get in the hall.

At 6:00 Louie and Ox start hauling in the ring, but no sign of the rest. At 6:20 I am looking everywhere for the other 3 and find them at Chicken Chef across the street, they had just got their meals. I told them I need them right away. They got to the hall at 6:40 and helped finish the ring.

[Booker Thee]

We could not open the doors until almost 8 PM and stated the show a half hour late.

While the ring was going up, Mike and Jeff Dyck arrived as well as the entire crew. Mike and Jeff took me to the side and said they need to borrow the money as they were short $800.00 for paying Duggan and Fatu. Short $800.00 AFTER I pay them the $3000.00 for the show. I told them again I'll see how the crowd is. Before the doors open Mike and Jeff are paid in Full the $3000.00 for the show (me forgetting to take off my pay off from the Friday show). Just before the doors are open, Duggan and Fatu are sitting in the seats where the crowd was going to sit and did not look too happy. Mike and Jeff come up to me again and now tell me (after they got my 3 G's) that if Duggan and Fatu don't get paid in advance THEY WILL NOT WORK THE SHOW! So, it's either I borrow Jeff and Mike $800.00 or my 2 head lining names (which I paid for in the guarantee to AWE) work not going to work. I was screwed and had no choice. I was able to borrow them $500.00 more before the doors opened. Jeff asked if I could give them $1200 instead of the $800 as he wanted to give the local workers some money as well that night. Jeff said right in front of Mike that they would give me an extra $350.00 for my trouble. I was able to come up with the extra money and before the first bell I had bailed AWE out again, by borrowing them $1200.00.

During the show I was hot about the situation and did not hide my feelings. I approached Duggan and Fatu and told them everything I just wrote about the money situation, They said they were now paid and everything was cool. Everyone in the locker room knew what happen as well I was furious.

The show goes on, it is actually a very good show, good talent and the boys worked hard. The crowd was about 120 (95 paid) but very hot. I was budgeting for 400 people so the 95 paid equalled a $3000.00 loss in my pocket, but AWE was paid in full and even borrowed $1200.00.

After the show Mike f**ks off. The ring is just starting to come down when Danny Duggan, Rogers and Matthews grab their gear and are heading out. I ask where they are going and they say they are leaving. I told them Mike committed them to ring crew and Rick Matthews said they had places to be and they left.

I saw Jeff Dyck and told him about this. He helped a bit then said he had to leave. He left and all the boys were wondering were their Payoffs were. I told them all that I borrowed Jeff and Mike $400.00 to take care of the boys but the f**ked off with that money. Very professional!

Because Ox was supposed to be the ring crew foreman and had to basically do the himself , he and Louie, I gave him and Louie an extra $70 on top of the money AWE paid Ox (Ox was the only one to actually get a payoff from them as Jeff gave me the money to give to Ox)

Now, the fun starts. On Monday I try all day to get a hold of Jeff and Mike. I finally get a hold of them and on Tuesday, March 15th Jeff came to my house with a $1200.00. He said he would give me the extra $350.00 after few things got cleared up. He said Hooters owed them $1000.00 for gimmick they did with Fatu. Mike had told me that Hooters owed them $350.00 for the same gimmick……get your stories straight boys.

I deposit the cheque and a week goes by and I get a call from my bank…….THE CHEQUE BOUNCED!!! Now 3 cheques I write from that account bounce! I call Mike and Jeff several times. I finally get a hold of Jeff and he says some money went through he wasn't expecting and it would be resolved right away. Then Jeff says he may have some of it before the weekend or Monday at the latest. On the Tuesday Mike has me drive to Polo Park from Transcona to meet him and I get the $1200.00 (where's the extra $350.00?)

So time goes on and several wrestlers I talk ALL say they had not been paid for the shows. On April 8th I see Mike Davidson at Stan Saxon's Wedding Social. He tells me he is no longer a partner in AWE as Jeff Dyck is buying him out and he will just be a consultant and Jeff can get sued for everything. Mike told me as well as others that the WWE is threatening legal action against AWE for using the names "Jamie Noble" "Rikishi" and "Billy Gunn" on the show and newspaper ads.

Mike told me that night that Jeff now has money to square up with the boys. I told Mike I do not need the $350.00 promised to me, just $200.00 to cover the extra $70 I payed Ox & Louie, the charge backs for my bounced cheques, and a few bucks as a pay off for March 11th. Mike's exact comment was "stretch him for at least $250" I said all I want is the money owed to me as I am a fair guy.

I tried all weekend to get a hold of Jeff but his voice mail wasn't working. On Monday I called Mike and he said Jeff was out of town until Tuesday and call him then. Tuesday the voice mail still wasn't on and then Wednesday evening, April 13th I was made aware the Jeff had a new number (which Mike new about but did not tell me) I received the new number and left Jeff a message. Around 7:15 I saw Ryan Wood at the gym and he said he was going to Jeff's to watch the edited version of the March 11th show. He was going there along with Mike Davidson and Shane Madison among others. I called Mike right away and told him tell Jeff to call me and I would head down to pick up the money. He said he would.

Around 8:15 I decided to call Jeff again as Woody said they were all meeting around 8. I got Jeff's voice mail again, so I figured his phone was off so I called both Madison and Woody's cell's so they could pass Jeff the phone so I could make arrangements to pick up the money. I tried all 3 cells every few minutes figuring they all were off while watching the matches. I later found out all three were ringing every time I called and it was a big joke to them.

I have left at least 50 messages for Jeff since then and he is screening his calls. At the time of me writing this, on Sunday, April 17th, still no reply. All I want is the money I am owed and I will be happy.

This is the appreciation I get from Mike Davidson and Jeff Dyck from Action Wrestling Entertainment for bailing them out several times

- I rented them a ring dirt cheap when there was no other 16' ring available to them

- I borrowed them my entranceway for March 11th show

- Sold $100.00 in ticket to people that would not have been there if I wasn't

- Gave them a guarantee in Lac Du Bonnet as the had to run a show as Duggan and Fatu were guaranteed 2 shows each

- Borrowed them $1200.00 when the were desperate for it

- Was patient when cheque bounced



You guys are class acts!

[Skinartia]

Holy sh!t! Bobby, if I were you, I would not be this patient. That is really f**king weak of all of AWE. Class acts, indeed.

Didn't someone on the AWE band wagon say that they were going to be the most professional company in WPG? And they pull a stunt like this?

I bet everyone in AWE must be real f**king proud.

[Booker Thee]

You know its bad when even the Shadow Chaser cuts a promo on the board and makes good points. lol