Steve Corino's LiveJournal

The Corino Chronicles XXVII: You Can Go Home

You can never predict anything when it comes to life and pro-wrestling. And its even worse when you are a wrestler and trying to live a life! Haha. Less then six months ago, I felt at my worst mentally and physically. I couldn’t kick out of the funk that I was in. I felt that my shoulder, my weight, my personal life, and my career were in a tail spin. Nothing seemed to go right until I figured out that the only person that could truly change my luck was me.

With the support of some great friends and family I started to climb out of the self-imposed cellar I was in and decided it was time to either change or go further down the crapper.

And that is when it hit me. Stop making excuse, get off your ass, and start from the bottom. That is what I did. I got as healthy as I can (shoulder still is a mess but I am down 30 pounds), and changed everything that was stale.

It wasn’t and isn’t an easy road.

I write this because I am happy to announce (well, the office did already) that I will return to Pro-Wrestling ZERO1 for my 73^rd tour from December 8-18 and take part in the ZERO1 Tag League with my partner Kintaro Kanemura!

Excitement would be an understatement because not only have I always been a fan of Kanemura but he has been a good friend over the last eight years. I always think back of the way he treated me, not just as a wrestler but as a guy he considered a friend, at the 2003 WEW event for Kudo Fuyuki.

We are in the A-Block which will give us a chance to wrestle four different teams including a few fighters I have never wrestled before.

It goes to show that just when you feel your lowest, you can change your destiny and recover. With returns to ZERO1, UK (for 101 and 1PW), and ROH I finally feel that even though I am a bit older and the bumps hurt a bit more, that I am ready for the next phase of my career.

Usually in my Chronicles I go in order from the last writing but this time I will go backwards. Just a change in pace (plus that is how my notes go! Haha).

As I am writing this it is 24 hours before the WORLD-1 events in Neptune, NJ. We have been slowly increasing our attendance month by month and tomorrow we will go with our first double header in a few years. It gives W-1 the chance to not only further our stories (which are good!!!) but it gives a chance for newer wrestlers to show their stuff in front of Mr. Asai from Pro-Wrestling ZERO1 in Japan. ZERO1 announced last month that WORLD-1 and Simon Inoki were the exclusive bookers of foreign talent for their company and I am very pleased. For seven years I was in charge of being the gaijin agent for the company and now with Z-1 and W-1 working together again it will get our wrestlers a chance for international work.

Tickets are only $5 for each event tomorrow. That is cheaper then a pizza! Come on out and have some fun. You can come right to the building for tickets or visit www.WORLD1Online.com for details.

Last weekend was my first return to the United Kingdom in a year wrestling for Steven Gauntley’s Pro Wrestling 101 and 1PW. The trip over was easy. Maybe 30 people on my flight so I got a good seven hours of rest. I had planned on a cramped trip so I bought Dan Brown’s new book The Lost Symbol to read but luckily I was off to nap time. When I arrived in the UK I sat and read waiting for a 1PW official to pick me up. Two hours later he got me. Not that he was late but I don’t think he recognized me since I was wearing my glasses and my hair was up in my hat!

The companies put us up at a real nice hotel near the Doncaster Airport and it was great to see Sterling James Keenan right off the bat. After some rest, I went to the Dome to host a seminar. Although 15-20 contacted Steven about coming, only five showed up and that was fine for me. I like teaching the young guys and sometimes a smaller class gets more. Of the 10-15 that didn’t show, only one emailed me which I thought was very professional of him. I would have never know that he was scheduled but he showed that he wanted to learn.

After the seminar, who do I see? My European PIC (Partner In Crime) Steve Lynskey! Lynskey is just one of those funny guys that I love hanging out with. We have been all over Europe together and its always story time when you get us together.

It was also a lot of fun to hang out with Keith Myatt. Keith, to me, is like King Kaluha. A guy that just is so nice and has so much knowledge of pro-wrestling that you learn new things everytime you are around them. Keith has such great stories of World Of Sport and is a guy that all young wrestlers should flock to so that they can learn.

The shows were a lot of fun. And it was nice to talk to the UK fans again. Thank you to everyone that came out. Even those who don’t like me! LOL.

I was supposed to go from UK to Finland for a few days of holiday but unfortunately it wasn’t going to happen thanks to EDreams.com. EDreams is a shitty internet travel agent that screwed me on my ticket. You ask how? Thank you for asking. I ordered my ticket for X amount of Euro’s and got emailed my confirmation number. Should be all good right? Well, just by chance I checked my email between the 101 and 1PW events and what do I see? An email from these dicks telling me that they “made an error on the fare” and that it would cost me another $200 for the ticket. How do you do that? How do you take the money, send a confirmation number, and then ask for more money? Assholes. They still haven’t returned my money. They told me it might take 7-10 days before I get it. So www.EDreams.com, welcome to The List.

Another person that made The List this week gets it for being a total douche and thinking he is smarter then wrestlers. In fact, he was proved to just be a stupid kid. His name is Fusent or something like that and he was the “owner” of Parliament Entertainment Promotions in Ontario. He contacts me on Facebook asking me about a show he was going to run on November 27. We agreed on price but right after it started to go downhill. I tell him how I need my flight and he asks me to come in a day earlier. That was strike number one. He had no idea how to book a flight. Then when it came to the deposit (I require a deposit with first time promoters and so does my agent Bill Behrens for EVERYONE) I told him he could send it via Western Union or PayPal. He tells me that he will send it via PayPal on Friday, October 30. The 30^th comes and goes so I figure that I am not on the show. No deposit, no show. Then I get emails from fans and wrestlers in Ontario warning me about this kid AND telling me that he is advertising me. Note to fans-if you DON’T see it on www.CorinoWrestling.com then I am not scheduled. I contact the guy and he lies (LIES) and says that he tried to call me twice and wanted a reassurance that I would be coming since The Honky Tonk Man wasn’t requiring a deposit. After telling this shithead that the reason for a deposit is a guarantee of appearance he still didn’t get it. I told him to take me off his advertising and he wrote back about me being unprofessional. HA! Guess what this kid did? Canceled his show. Next time try getting talent from Bill Behrens, since in this kids world no one requires a deposit. Luckily my buddy Gordo over at Ontario’s Indy Elite (http://ontariowrestlingsindyelite.com/) warned me about this kid. Hey kid, now who is stupid? LOLOL.

Back to fun stuff.

The weekend before was a stressful but fun weekend featuring my return to Ring Of Honor and winning the ACE heavyweight title from Danny Maff on November 7.

ACE, once again, was a lot of fun. During the match my injured right shoulder got crushed by Danny Maff on his dive (Trying to do the math of Danny’s weight plus his speed of him coming through the ropes makes me cringe!). By the time I tried to hit my finisher, now named the Sliding C Special (why Sliding C Special? Because it is more special then the Sliding D! Eat that Tanaka-san!!! LOL), three times I was about to cry. Maff has a barrel of a chest and one sliding lariat hurts me. Three was like having a baby, or really bad gas. Just killed me.

I wore all of my Phillies stuff, because I knew the pro-Yankees locker room would be ready to give it to me and I was right! But I took it like a man and it was great to talk baseball with EC Negro.

The two nights before marked my return to ROH for the first time in three years. Nervousness was the understated word for these shows. Over the last 15+ years I have wrestled about 2300 times. In those 2300 times, I have probably done three matches that lasted under three minutes in my favor. I have been on the receiving end a bunch of times but being on the offensive end is nerve racking for me.

Luckily I was against two really good kids that were amazing. Plus I had the help of Colby putting stuff together including a new move I debuted called “ColbyShock”. I hope the fans enjoy it. I saw that I am scheduled to debut on the HDNet TV show on Monday, December 7. It is great to be back and although I was totally intimidated by some of the styles of the ROH guys, I look forward to the challenge of keeping up with them! Plus I have a built in feud with Kenny Omega, since we are both from Winnipeg. Apparently Bobby Cruise only thinks that one wrestler can be from a certain city! God forbid that me and Omega both get announced from Winnipeg right Bobby, you hairy hairy man! Bobby Cruise is so hairy that bears are jealous of his coat. Bobby Cruise is so hairy that Big Foot thinks HE is Big Foot! Ohhh, Cruise I got a bunch of them for you!!! So from now on, in memory of Bobby Cruise, I will be introduced from my birthplace, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada! Think of Bobby when you hear it! LOL.

That is about it for this edition. Thanks for reading and supporting me!

The Corino Chronicles XXV: 25 Editions Already?

Welcome to the 25th edition of The Corino Chronicles.  One day I have to sit down and see how many "It's Good To Be King" and "Dream The Impossible" commentaries I have done over the last ten or so years.  I started the commentaries out as a way of giving the fans of ECW a "heels" point of view on what was going on. I got the inspiration from reading old Pro Wrestling Illustrated columnist Dan Shocket.  He wrote from the heels point of view.  Then about six months into writing the commentaries I had a long ride and wanted to let my real feelings be known.  I just wrote about everything that was on my mind and it became popular.

I want to send a big congratulation out to my buddy Steve Goff, who married his beloved Kate, on October 11 in Michigan.  Due to work I couldn't be there but both the bride and groom looked great and happy.  I wish them all the happiness in the world. They deserve it!

While "my girl" was getting married in Michigan, I was in Quebec wrestling for NSPW.  Being a Canadian (my sister and I hold dual citizenship) it is always exciting to go back to the "Motherland".  But Quebec is different because it is like being in Europe.  There is barely any English and I am not good at French.  But the culture is more like France then England.  Although it was cold I loved the air in Canada. It’s hard to describe.  Maybe it is a Canadian pride thing.  It might be funny to some fans but Canadian pro-wrestlers have a certain amount of pride about being from Canada.

Being a professional wrestler has always been a great job but one of the downsides is that you have a different locker room with different guys every show.  Most times you can find one or two guys that you have met before and you feel more comfortable.  You just hope that you get a nice and fun locker room. The NSPW locker room was like that. Even though that English was everyone’s second language, everyone made me feel comfortable.

But one guy that I was excited to see was Don Payson. Don and I were on a trip to India in 2007 together and the amount of stories that came out of that tour usually takes weeks to talk about!  He is a great wrestler. Every time I see The Miz on TV I always think of Don. They have similar looks.

I also learned of the legend of Pat Games.  If you don’t know Games, you don’t know wrestling! LOL.

The crowd in Quebec really was hot all night and that just adds extra energy to me (and probably the other wrestlers too).  I don’t know what it is about wrestling lately that has me so excited but I think I have hit a turning point in not just my life but my career.  It might be the dedication to getting healthy and stronger or it might be that I finally have a clear head.  Maybe both but instead of looking at my schedule and trying to figure out things like flight schedules and money, I think about the matches I can have and the guys I am wrestling.  It’s a fun time.

A lot of fans (and even wrestlers) ask me if I am excited about returning to Ring Of Honor in November and to be honest, I am very excited about every show coming up.

It has been a long time since I was in the ROH ring and a lot has changed since then.  When I come in this time it will be totally different.  Homicide is gone and so is the Steve Corino that wrestled in ROH in 2005-6.  I am coming back fresh with a newer look (even though I am older! LOL) and I am looking to really make a true impact.  There is a lot of great wrestlers in ROH that I look forward to wrestling and hopefully having matches that ROH fans will enjoy.

But does that make ROH more special then any other show? No. And that is not taking away anything from ROH but every show that I am on is equally important and I always try and give fans 100% of me.  But now it is a bit different. Instead of my normal 100% I now try and find that extra 10% to make it 110%.

2010 is going to be a real fun year.

As I write this my Phillies and the Yankees are both up three games to one in the NLCS and ALCS.  I am pretty pumped at the thought of a Phils-Yanks World Series!

And while in Canada, I was reading an old book about baseball where it had bios on teams and key players for that team and it made me think of the guys that are not in the Hall of Fame.

Joe Jackson, Pete Rose, Mark McGwire, and Barry Bonds usually come up in conversation/arguments.  Now I do believe that “Shoeless” Joe and McGwire should be in the Hall. Jackson was coerced into admitting his role in the Black Sox scandal because he was promised that he would not be punished and the other players all said he wasn’t involved. His name was used because he was a big name and got the gamblers to invest.  And McGwire never failed a drug test.  Even if he did, let’s face it: Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa SAVED baseball in the late 90’s. What they did for baseball outweighs the scandal of steroids.  I am not saying they weren’t on it, but when they played they didn’t test for it.  So if they cheated and got away with it then THEY have to live the guilt, not us.

I love Pete Rose. I grew up watching him with the Phillies (I was a little young during the Big Red Machine days) but he was the total hustling ballplayer.  But Pete Rose broke the rules and admitted it.  As much as I would love to see him in the Hall, he agreed to a lifetime ban.  I hope one day it is lifted but until that day he does not deserve to go into the Hall of Fame.  BUT that doesn’t mean I am still not a fan of his play.  How many players have you watched that you loved that are not in the Hall? I am sure tons.  I put him in that category.  With the MLB Network you can enjoy the Pete Rose that we loved watching play.  I don’t need him in the Hall to enjoy him.

Now onto Barry Bonds. I like Barry Bonds. Always did. And I don’t care if he is a bad husband, tax cheat, terrorist, or steroid user.  Barry Bonds will go down as the best player of this generation.  Did he cheat to get that way? Maybe.  Was he a complete jerk to other players and the media? Probably. But the facts are is that he hit more home runs then anyone in American baseball (I think the Japanese major leagues should be recognized in our stats) and deserves to be in the Hall IF unless it is proven that he failed a drug test after 2003.  I always love that they show a picture of him in 1986 and then a picture of him in 2001 and talk about the bulk he put on.  When you are making millions of dollars a year, you can afford a full time personal trainer like he did.  I am not saying something doesn’t smell fishy but it is possible to put that kind of muscle on naturally.  It takes time and HARD work, which even with steroids you need. You just can’t inject something and all of a sudden you are big. I wish!

What if someone failed a drug test in pro-wrestling. Happens a lot right? Do they deserve NOT to be in the WWE Hall of Fame? I don’t think so. Unless it is hurting their in-ring work to the point that you are being ripped off for your ticket money, then it is on THEM.  If they take drugs to get “ahead” then they will pay the price.

Before taking off for Germany last Friday I stopped at the Wawa near the gym to get some gas and of course some coffee.  I don’t know about any of you but I like my coffee with a bit of half and half and some sugar and usually the stirrer is really thin. For some reason I will pick up two or three and stir it.  And I never think about either. It is just normal coffee procedure to me.  It was also something that me and Chuck (Mr. Mac/Guillotine LeGrande) debated a few weeks ago. I think everyone uses a few right? Well that was until I got heeled by a bitchy woman with nothing else to complain about.  Here is how the conversation went.

Woman: Excuse me. Is there a reason you are using more then one of those stirrers?

Me (a bit shocked): Huh?

Woman: It’s bad enough you are killing the environment by using the plastic stirrer, but you have to use three?

Me (once again): What? (Looking at her like she has three heads or a face of Reyes)

Woman:  You heard me. You should be ashamed.

Me: Mind your business (and I walk off)

I definitely lost that argument but to blame me for the environment for using three plastic stirrers? Well that is just awesome because it gave me a funny story for the Chronicles.

My flight to Germany was nice and easy. I actually got a bunch of sleep on the flight, which was good after watching the Phillies blow a wonderful pitching job by Pedro Martinez.  Ahh, loses happen but Pedro (my new second favorite pitcher! LOL) threw an unbelievable game.  Just awesome.

This was I think my 7^th trip to Germany for the GSW group and every time is so much fun.  The German fans are among the best in the world and always make me feel so good.

The German wrestlers are also super nice and really good too. It is actually where I met my future brother-in-law Ares but had great matches with Joe Legend, Michael Kovac, Doug Williams, and Absolute Andy.  In fact the two matches Andy and I had in 2007 are among some of my favorites.

This time I was wrestling two fighters I had never wrestled before but loved their stuff: Emil Stotchi and Steve Douglas. In fact Douglas reminded me of a young me, only better.

The match on Saturday night with Emil was really good. He has a great look and I think if he returns to the US in the near future he could get over big in Ring Of Honor.

On Sunday I challenged for the GSW heavyweight title, which I held in 2005 and 2007, against Steve Douglas.  The night before he used my niece and son in his promo to drum up heat and it worked. The fans were hot for the whole match and it was one of the best matches (and the night before too) I have had in Germany.  After the match, Douglas said some real touching stuff to me that made me feel good.  I love the whole GSW crew and hope to be back in 2010.

I also got a chance to catch up on some personal stuff too, that went a million times better then I could have imagined.  All in all, this past weekend in Germany was one of the best times of my life.

Due to the popularity of Twitter, I have discontinued the CorinoWrestling.com text messaging service.  It is actually doing the same thing on Twitter.  So if you want text message updates sign up at Twitter.com @CorinoWrestling.  While you are at it sign up for my sister, Allison Danger’s page @AllisonDanger.  I was pretty against Twitter when it started but it is kinda cool now.  Without a doubt, Awesome Kong has some great “tweets”.

Have you seen the new edition of Pro Wrestling Illustrated?  Well you should! Haha.  Colby Corino is on page 126 talking about being the youngest wrestler in the 61 year history of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) to win a sanctioned match.  It is not set in stone yet but Colby may appear at our November 22^nd WORLD-1 event, where we will be holding tryouts for Pro-Wrestling ZERO1 in Japan.  ZERO1 Vice President Yoshiyuki Nakamura will be in attendance looking at new talent for the company.  Go to www.WORLD1Online.com for information or email Ryan at WORLD1Wrestling@GMail.com for information about trying out.

People ask me all the time if Colby wants to be a pro-wrestler like me and it is totally up to him. He is 13 and is going to follow his dreams and I will be right behind him and it doesn’t matter if it is pro-wrestling, video game design, firefighter, or warehouseman. 

This week I will be in Ashton, IL for RWF/NWA Midwest defending the NWA Heartland States title on Friday night. If you are in the Chicagoland area, come on out.  Then Saturday afternoon I will be appearing at Legends Of The Ring convention in Monroe, NJ.  I will have new t-shirts, photos, WORLD-1 tickets for 11/22, and also helping out sell tickets for the Saturday evening TWA event in Voorhees.  I hope everyone comes out to support the TWA.  Visit www.TWAProWrestling.com for ticket information. It is going to be a fun show!!!

Until next time, thanks for reading.  

The Corino Chronicles XIV: The Future Is Bright

 

September 13: While off today and enjoying a day at home with a few hours to kill before the Phillies night game (Go Pedro!), I found myself watching AAA for what might be the first time in a years.  When I had Comcast it either wasn’t carried or I couldn’t find it but with Verizon I found it.  Right now I am watching Rocky Romero and Jack Evans vs. Alex Koslov (I hope I didn’t spell that wrong) and Teddy Hart.  This is my first time watching Alex and he is pretty amazing in the ring. Love his stuff. Rocky and Jack are always on their game but it is crazy to me how scary good Teddy Hart really is.  He looks like a million dollars, his work is spot on, and has a great presence.  I think one day he is going to get that shot at the WWE again and this time will become the star he should be.  I think Mexico might be the best place for him not only to learn but to grow up.  He is on his own down there and you really can learn a lot about yourself in a place like that. I wish him the best.

 

September 15: Congratulations to Kurt Angle for being cleared on most of the charges filed against him last month. I don’t want to get too much into why, but the second I read about it I thought something was a bit fishy.  I am not a fan of this girl, being on a few Japan tours with her, and didn’t like the way she treated the staff of Pro-Wrestling SUN so I was hoping that the fans would wait until Kurt had his day in court to pass judgment.

 

Now onto the delicate situation of Jeff Hardy.  Jeff is someone I consider a distant friend and someone I have known for almost 13 years. Its sad to see that he is going through this hard time and like Lance Storm said, lets wait to see what happens before we make judgments on him. Jeff has a great heart and is a very deep person but like everyone, has demons. I just hope that he is strong enough to make it through this difficult time. Not guilty or guilty, Jeff Hardy needs everyone’s support right now.

 

September 21: It’s Monday morning and what a beautiful day here in suburban Philadelphia. I love this time of year. Not too hot, not too cold-just perfect.

 

It is also a good time to just relax with some coffee and write.  Sometimes I am surprised when I look at the amount of views I have after a Chronicle because I never know if my life is that interesting to people.  But I guess it is just good bathroom reading material! Hahaha. I just want you all to know that I appreciate the amount of reads every edition on CorinoWrestling.com or right at Live Journal.

 

This past weekend was just amazing for me personally and professionally.  I love to brag that I have lost some weight (almost 35lbs!!!) but I have a way to go. Want to get the belly down a bit more and try and get this shoulder at least back to 50-60% (right now it is like 25%).  But I am proud of myself for being good. Only getting one cheat day in a week (Friday with my buddy Steve Stone!) and the rest of the week I am eating better then ever. It’s hard to get used to after eating everything I have wanted for the last 36 years but once you get in the habit it is much easier.

 

Friday I took off to Milwaukee from Philly International and guess what? Can you believe the flight was over an hour late? Of course. F’ing airport. I swear this airport has an on-time record of -75%.  And of course when a guy, being super nice too, asked if they had an estimated time of departure the gate agent was a total smart ass to him. Crazy.  Only eclipsed in craziness by a woman, maybe the rudest ever, flipped out on the flight to Milwaukee.  I had fallen asleep (and mind you this is a really small plane) and within minutes this woman starts cursing and yelling that it is taking too long to get there.  It is a freaking two hour flight! Minute 35 or so and this lady is shitting.  But it wasn’t even that she was scared, she was just 100% mean.  She even said “What the F is taking so long? Are we passing by F’n Alaska?” It was funny but quickly annoying because this flight attendant was actually nice.  Finally this lady is F this and F that on the flight. I was hoping for someone to punch her in her mouth (right in the mouth), but even better the police were there to pick her up when we landed. Funny, funny stuff.

 

Working in Milwaukee is always a lot of fun.  I have worked for Frankie The Thumper and Brew City for a few years now and its always one of my favorite shows to wrestle on.  The boys are always nice (except one and you know who you are!!! C-O-L-U-C-C-I hahahahaha) and the fans are usually pretty cool. I say usually because they are finding different ways to boo me.  But being in a feud with Dinn T is great because he is so good. He just knows what he wants to do in the ring and that comes from his training under Harley Race.  Dinn T is one of those under rated guys that doesn’t get enough press. 

 

After the show I thought it might be my one drunken night of the year (the last one was in Milwaukee in ’07).  But it was more subdued hanging out with Steve Stone and having a few beers.

 

With a connection set for the next day I fully expected either the first flight to Cleveland to be delayed or of course Philadelphia to be delayed but I was so surprised that not only was I on time but I was about 20 minutes early.  That gave me enough time to run home and pick up my dog, Sandy, to take to the ACE event in Union City, NJ.  Not just that but Mike Kehner met me at the homestead and gave me only more motivation for the night. Mike is one of those great wrestling minds that can dissect a match piece by piece and make it make even more sense.  I always joke that he is my Pat Patterson (because he is a great finish man).

When we got to ACE I realized that there is no parking but we got lucky.  I had my attack dog with me (she is a cock-a-poo) to keep me safe and we entered the ACE Arena.  The first person we saw with Sean The Mic from the DOI (DOIWrestling.com).  Most wrestlers probably don’t want to admit it but we all love his site.  It is pro-wrestling meets TMZ and he reports not only the regular news but all the craziness that goes into independent pro-wrestling (and trust me there is a ton!).

 

The ACE Arena is amazing.  It reminds me of both the CWF Mid Atlantic’s set up in Burlington, NC and the old Georgia Championship Wrestling studios back in the 70’s and 80’s.  It is my dream building.  A place where you can probably fit 200 crammed in and there isn’t a bad seat anywhere. Mike, the owner/booker, has a great set up.

 

Going into this match I was already excited because Danny Maff has always been a guy that I have wanted to have a program with.  When we were running PWF, Maff and Monsta Mack (Steve Mack) were a great tag team for us called Da Hit Squad.  Like most indies, tag team wrestling is always short term but they lasted a few years together but it got to the point where there was no other teams to wrestle.  Except me and CW.  We never got a chance to wrestle them and the Squad ended up going singles but I never forgot that I wanted a program with him.

 

I couldn’t have imagined that me vs. Maff would be as good as it was. For 20+ we were two warriors going at it like it was WrestleMania.  It sounds very markish but it doesn’t matter if there are 20,000 people in the crowd or 2, when the bell rings it is all the same.  You are out there to put out as much emotion as possible and I think Maff and I did that.  I was so proud of the match and hope we can do it again.

 

The day I was sore….hahaha

 

October 5: Everytime I want to sit down and write I end up getting busy, which is good but also makes the Chronicles a little long.

 

After the NWA Brew City and ACE weekend, I was on a mental high again. The last six or seven weeks has really been a great eye opener for me.  I feel better physically and mentally then I have in a long time. It is starting to click for me again.

 

Saturday the 26^th we (Pro-Wrestling WORLD-1, www.WORLD1Online.com) held our “Repercussions” event in Morganville, NJ.  I was totally expecting the worse because there were two free events being held within 40 miles of us and here we are charging but the crowd was actually up (and more importantly louder!) then August 28 which is always a plus.

 

W-1 is running starting to cook now as I think the fans are getting into the personalities of the wrestlers and it’s a fun show to see.  In the near future we are going to turn it up from our regular “G” rating into more of a “PG” style.  I figure if the WWE can run Monday Night RAW with more of an adult theme and still keep it OK enough for kids to come to, we can turn it up a bit.  Plus me and the Godfather (the King not the WWF guy) have an idea for what might be the most controversial character EVER in pro-wrestling. Now if Ryan just signs off on it!!!!

 

Ryan Sawyer (2009 Hashimoto winner), Kevin Payne, Alex Anthony, and Sean Haze are really developing into good wrestlers. It is fun to watch these come in month in and month out and get even better.

 

Plus the additions of Damian Dragon and Chris Rockwell as young vets are helping really bring the quality up.

 

We have a really good core. The Beast, Super Sweet, and GPS are getting super popular and Tommy Thunda, Reiko DMF, Richard Guille, and Rockwell just become even more hated!!!  Then we have Greg Spitz, who can piss off any fan that comes in.  Even the W-1 girls that help with the shows get mad when his music hits! That’s heat. And then you have Kid America, who is such a solid babyface for us that he is a feeler for new talent.  I am probably forgetting a few (can’t forget Roxie Cotton and the great job she did on 9/26)…Oh yeah, Rob Dimension too.

 

Also on the 26^th, Colby’s mom (my ex-wife) Nichole got married to her long time love Joey. It was great to see her finally happy and I couldn’t have a better step father for Colby then Joe.  Congratulations to Cole & Joey!

 

With Nichole and Joey on their honeymoon, I scored big because Colby got to hang out all week with me instead of just a few days a week.  Luckily me and Colby’s mom are only three miles away from each other and its easy for Colby to come and go to both our places but it was just fun to be with him seven straight days.

 

On Friday we went to the movies and saw the new Brad Pitt movie, Inglorious Bastards. Although a bit long, and going in not a big Tarentino fan, I loved the movie and so did Colby.

 

Saturday we took the easy ride to Allentown for WXW C4.  I have worked a few of the WXW since July and always have a great time.  I was scheduled to go against Tommy Suede and totally planned to Ram Jam him (don’t get it? Booo) but he was sick and I ended up wrestling Adam Cole, who is one helluva young talent.

 

The crowd kept me energized as I tried a new look (Dick Togo style baby) and was a bit insecure about it. I still am until I see pictures but Alex keeps telling me that it looked good.  With the weight loss and trying to get into shape I feel like a woman trying to feel out what I want my 2010 look to look like! LOL.

 

October, November, and December are going to be some fun and exciting times for me.

 

First next week (17^th thru 19^th) I return to Germany for GSW.  German Stampede Wrestling has been so good to me since I started there in 2004 and every time I get booked there is a lot of fun.

 

Not only am I looking forward to returning there I am looking forward to seeing a person I haven’t seen in months. Nervous and scared but this European tour is going to fun.

 

Then when I come back I am back in the Midwest for the National Wrestling Alliance, then right back to the Philly/NJ area to appear at the Legends of the Ring, and then to a show I am VERY excited to be apart of: The TWA reunion show.

 

People have emailed me and asked me why I would do a TWA reunion show and not an ECW one even though I never wrestled in the TWA.  Fans need to remember that without the Tri-State Wrestling Alliance there would have been no ECW.  I was a huge TWA fan as a kid and went to all the shows they had at Temple University in Philadelphia. I joke that the TWA booked me because of all the tickets I bought when they were running but the truth of the matter is that I was so honored that they would ask me to be a part of this event.  I grew up watching Larry Winters, Tony Hitman Stetson, DC Drake, Glen Osbourne, The Sandman (never a fan! Hahaha), Michael Bruno, JT Smith, CN Redd, Rockin Rebel, and Johnny Hotbody (always hated him. He turned me down for an autograph!!!).

 

Wrestling for the TWA on the 24^th gives me a chance to thank all of them for paving the road for me and the other ECW wrestlers that came after them. If it wasn’t for the blood, sweat, and tears these guys put out most of you reading this Chronicle would never have heard of me.  The 24^th I get to say thank you.

 

Halloween weekend I am back in the Midwest for the NWA with stops in Milwaukee (third month in a row!) and Green Bay.  Like I said earlier, Milwaukee is a fun city for me and being the NWA Heartland States champion is an honor so I can’t wait to get back there.  This will be my first time in Green Bay for the NWA (I was there in ’00 for ECW) and should be exciting.  Could the NWA World’s title be in the cards for 2010? If I have anything to do about it will.

 

The first week of November, the rumors become true as I will return to Ring Of Honor for the ROH on HDNet tapings in Philadelphia.  I never thought that I would return to ROH but I wanted to for a few reasons. One, my son is a big ROH fan and so are his friends.  In their world they don’t care if you are TNA or WWE because ROH is their favorite.  And more importantly number two, I always felt that I left the wrong way in 2006.  The Homicide-Corino feud was so epic but it ended sourly and I blame myself because I over thought the whole match concept instead of just having us go out there and kick each others ass one more time.  This is my chance to reinvent myself for the newer ROH fans. I will have a full statement on ROHWrestling.com this week.

 

After ROH it is back to England for the first time in a year.  First it will be for Pro Wrestling 101 on the 14^th and then the afternoon of the 15^th.  Then, after many weeks of going back and forth with discussions, 1PW and myself finally made a deal to come back for their 4^th Anniversary event.  BUT, let it be known that my UK home will be with 101 not 1PW.  I will represent Pro Wrestling 101 at an event that I main evented in 2006, when the company was at the top.  I am willing to give the new ownership of 1PW the chance to make good on developing great wrestling for Doncaster, but I have my reservations due to dealing with the last management team. More one person then the team. November 15^th will be a day that could change pro-wrestling in the United Kingdom again.

 

Until next time, thanks for reading.  Go Phillies!!!

The Corino Chronicles XXIII: A Return To UK? Its Gonna Happen

 

September 11, 2009

I don’t want to get into a huge thing about the importance of 9/11 but I hope everyone remembers the innocent victims of these attacks and the heroes that helped afterward.  It is one of those dates where I think we all remember where we were.

 

Before we get started I want to plug Mr. Mac’s Facebook page.  He has some awesome stuff on there with pics of us in Puerto Rico and Japan.  Mac is one of the most under rated heels and minds in our sport.  I love that he got the chance to shine in PR this year and I am sure he will be back there soon.  Go to my FB page and look up Mr. Mac.  Some fun stuff on there!

 

I get a rare weekend off and it couldn’t have come at a better time.  Those of you that get to see me on a regular basis know that I have been real serious with training and losing weight (mostly fat) over the last few months and I am proud to announce that I am under 230 lbs. (105 kg) for the first time in SEVEN years!  After getting up to 258 in April I finally had enough of not only being fat but feeling like crap.  I had set my original goal of 230 for October 1 but I got to it a little sooner.  My new goal is 225 by October 1.  Ricky Reyes is not going to be able to yell at me as much now!!!  But he is short, brown, and angry so it’s all good!

 

With the weekend off I get a chance to relax and get ready for a busy autumn season with stops in Milwaukee, Union City, Morganville (WORLD-1! Get out there and watch!!!!), and returns to Germany and England (more on that later).  People have asked me why I am trying to get in shape and the only answer I can come up with is the truth: To feel healthy.

 

For the last year wrestling in Puerto Rico, I got so lazy in my training and kept blaming my injured shoulder.  While it is a pain in the ass to train because of the pain I can not use that as an excuse any longer.  Plus as a 36 year old professional wrestler I am not getting younger and if I want to compete with these young guys coming into the sport, I have to work that much harder.

 

Has anyone seen that stupid Jim Brewer Pizza Hut commercial yet? Un F’n Believable.  What do they think they are going to accomplish with this joker?  Does Pizza Hut think “Jackpot” is going to be the “Wazzzz up” of 2009?  Hell no.  Stupid as shit if you ask me and now I am off Pizza Hut until this commercial runs its course!

 

The other commercial that I hate is these freecreditreport.com ones.  The first two or three of the series were OK, but now it’s just stupid.  Am I the only one that is affected negatively by advertising?

 

The Phillies are starting to scare me a bit but that is just the typical Philadelphia fan coming out in me.  After the great World Series win last year, I am just hoping a return to the big game.  But maybe more then anything MAX CAPACITY is now in my debt forever. A man servant of types because the Mets are out of the race already!!!  Well almost. 4 games until the Mets are mathematically out of the race and Max will be wrestling me while wearing a Philadelphia Phillies shirt.  Maybe he can even sing “High Hopes” in tribute to Harry Kalas!

 

A lot of the people that read the Corino Chronicles are from Europe.  Being from Europe, most of you have the unique benefit of a health care system taking care of by the government.  It makes me laugh when people here in the USA get all hot about President Obama trying to reform our SHITTY health care system.  And then some people say they don’t want a “socialist” government.  Well, what is wrong with a socialist government?  I have spent a lot of time over the years in Finland and they are socialist, and even though they pay higher taxes they get everything paid for.  But in America we are so scared to try something new or even admit that the American system is very outdated.

 

One of my best friends (I don’t want to reveal his name because the other person that I will talk about will get hot at him) debated the health care proposals and one of the comments was “I don’t want to pay for other people’s health care.” (I am paraphrasing of course) but doesn’t he understand that our taxes pay for a lot of things.  If I am paying taxes every year, most of the times I have no idea where they are going.  Would I mind paying a little more in taxes so that EVERYONE is covered for medical? Hell yeah. Why would it be an issue?  It’s funny to see how selfish Americans can be.  What a shame.  You would think we would want to help everyone in our own country, considering we always stick our noses in other people’s business.

 

OK, enough politics….for now! I do reserve the right to express my views and not listen to everyone else! LOL.  Well, heck it is my website!

 

Rob Dimension wanted me to plug this for him:

“Probably plug the world 1 stuff, that you are gonna already do, Im sure.

If you can plug any of my writing stuff, that would be awesome. I have made my profile public now on facebook www.facebook.com/dimensioncollectibles . I just want more people to read it.


Thanks for the offer. Have a good weekend man.

Rob”

 

I give Rob a lot of shit (and well deserved!) but his writing is actually very good. I really enjoyed it and I am sure you guys will too.  Give it a shot.

 

Now onto some juicy stuff…Steve Corino returns to the United Kingdom for Steven Gauntley’s Pro Wrestling 101.  Big news eh?  Well, on one hand it is because of the very heated break up of me and Steven’s partnership in late 2006. But as many mistakes that were made, Steven came to me like a man and made amends.  And it wasn’t money that he made amends with it was other things that were said when I resigned as booker of 1PW.  To me that makes Steven Gauntley all right in my book.  A real man admits that he isn’t perfect and admits mistakes. Steven did the right thing and I am fully behind him with his 101 project.  Steven and I really made some magic with 1PW in 2006.  If you think about it, we sold out with a Steve Corino vs. Abyss main event when the 2008 crew couldn’t sell out with the greatest professional wrestler of our generation, Ric Flair.  Why? Because the whole show was a show.  1PW in 2006 was special because EVERY match, EVERY wrestler, and EVERY fan was important.  Me and Abyss get credit for selling out but it was the whole crew that sold the place out.

 

A lot of fans have asked if I am going to return to 1PW and right now the answer is maybe. Why maybe? Because I promised that I wouldn’t return if one of the “owners” was still involved.  This person was what was wrong with the promotion if you ask me.  He wanted to be the big star and the truth is that he couldn’t draw a dime if I put him in Ric Flair’s body.  The problem I had business wise is he was a liar.  He tried to tell the fans that I no-showed 3CW and a few of you still believe that.  I have been down that road too many times and if you still think that I would have screwed over some of the best fans in the world, then there is no convincing you.  Believe what you want. Truth is that I wanted to go to that show, I boarded the plane, and because they were too lazy to get me a visa I got turned back.  But I got the blame.  Come 2008 and a return was asked of me.  Did they ever tell you that the even though they screwed up in 2007, I told them to use the deposit that they gave me in ’07 toward my fight fee in 2008.  I didn’t have to do that.  Then I was given instructions for a match with Ulf Herman that made NO sense to me or him.  And if it didn’t make sense to us, how were the fans supposed to get into it right?  The answer is, that they didn’t and people thought the match was shit. It was.  And it was because the booker didn’t have a clue of what he was doing.  The fans got screwed out of what could have been a good match.  I take the blame though because it is my job to create something special when I am in there. It is tough when you are handcuffed but both of us should have made it work.  Oh, did they ever tell you that they tried to cancel me three days before the show through Kingdom James because ONCE AGAIN they didn’t get me a visa. Luckily I was coming from Finland and they didn’t ask for one. Read about the girl from TNA that lost her job because of her visa situation. Its not fun and it could keep you from entering a country for five to ten years.  The promoters are responsible for the visas not the wrestlers.

 

Come early 2009 and I was asked to be a part of their “To The Extreme” show and asked to book my friend Masato Tanaka.  A few weeks later after Tanaka-san told the Japanese press about returning to England we were canceled.  That happens but this guy never had any intention of booking us.  Once again 1PW and England wrestling was made to look like shit in the Japanese press.  What a shame because the UK scene is really good.  I wouldn’t have been as upset about the cancelation until this fucknut tried to tell me that he paid for me to go to Finland last year to wrestle and see my wife.  Wrong asshole.  He once again tried to take the blame off himself and put it on someone else.  To me, he is a jackass and a never will be.  This is a guy that Gauntley had to beg me to book because I didn’t like him.  In fact if it wasn’t for his partner, he would have NEVER been on the shows.  I liked him and wanted to push him as a singles.

 

Now I am told that this person is gone from 1PW and if true then the door is open for a return.  If he is not gone, then no return. I don’t need to deal with the stress of a guy lying to the fans and me.  If I wanted that I could work for Adam Goins, who still hasn’t paid anyone (856-770-4573, call him).

 

I would love to return to the Doncaster Dome though because I love those fans. If you would have listened to the 1PW message forum last year you would have thought my return would have been on the same level as Hitler appearing in 1PW but I was surprised at the response.  Those fans were and are very special to me and no matter what role I play for Pro Wrestling 101, it is my job and pleasure to give them the best match possible.  In 2006 they brought out stuff in me that I didn’t think I had anymore. Dare I say that in 2009 and 2010 they can find a little more stuff in the basement (see Rocky Balboa) for me?

 

Next week is a return to Crusher-land in Milwaukee for NWA Brew City and also to hang out with Steve Stone!  I love Milwaukee and look forward to getting in there again with Dinn T. Moore.

 

Then Saturday I finally, after talking about it for seven years, get to wrestle Danny Maff in Union City, NJ.  I will actually go into why this match is very important and how I turned down work for ZERO1 in Japan so that his match will happen.  Stay tuned!

 

Thanks for reading.

I am not a wrestling convention fan.  I admit it.  It isn't because I don't love the sport or fans, it is a matter of that I am just a pro-wrestler and prefer being in the ring then sitting at a table feeling like I am begging someone to buy my autograph.  So I guess I should say I am not a fan of working a wrestling convention.  That makes more sense. It is why I rarely do them.  But when it comes to something like the NWA Legends Fest, I really don't belong on the other side of the table because these guys are TRUE legends of the ring.  I feel like a fan when I am attending this convention.  In fact, I am a fan that is actually getting the chance to hang out with these guys!  But on the way to the show I was actually dreading it.  Why? Because I feel like I don't deserve to be a part of it.  Sure, I have held a lot of championships over the years and no matter what anyone wants to debate, I am the only wrestler to hold versions of the ECW World, NWA World's, and AWA heavyweight titles.  We can dispute and debate that the titles were tainted and/or weren't as important as they were in the 1980's and it is true.  That isn't my fault though but I did my best to raise the quality of the title (and every title I am lucky enough to hold).  We can argue about my contribution to the sport another time! LOL.  I am just lucky that I still make a living in pro-wrestling.  And I was super lucky to be invited to be a part of the NWA Legends Fest.

 

          The whole week was going to focus with Colby and me going to North Carolina to visit our family. It is something we don't get to do much at all. We were excited because we were going to meet my niece and Colby's cousin, Kendall, for the first time.  It sucks being 550 miles away from my sister and my brother in law but the times we do get together are fun.  My sister, Allison Danger to wrestling fans and usually just "Kiddo" or "A Danger" to me, is four years younger then me but she is more the big sister of the family.  My brother in law, Ares or "Aniki" as I call him, is probably the nicest man you will ever meet.  Must be the Swiss in him!  Their little girl is just gorgeous though and gave Colby the biggest smile when they met. It was so nice to see as you can see by the attached picture.

 

          Our ride down should have been easy.  Should have been!  But we are talking about the Fabulous Corino Boys here!!!

 

          We didn't get to leave until about 2pm because Colby had chores to do at his mom's house.  And his mom is boss.  We have been divorced almost ten years now and I am still scared of her! With it being a 9-10 hour ride we figured we would hit a bit of traffic but were lucky.  Only a little bit around Washington but not much at all.  That was until we saw one of the coolest storms ever.  Just ahead of us we watched as lightning started but it was sunny above us.  I tried to take a few pics but they didn't come out well enough.

 

          It really didn't slow us up though.  What slowed us up was an accident we witness about 30 miles from the North Carolina border.  A car came over into the southbound lane from the northbound lane and then back.  It was scary.  The car in front of stopped as did we, and a truck on 95 North.  We all called 911 to report the accident but the woman on the line couldn't have been any ruder. Like she could give a shit if people were hurt or not and hung up.  I would have thought it was just a bitchy woman until the guy in front of us said that he had the same thing happen to him.  Thank goodness that these people involved in the accident were just shaken up and not seriously hurt.  After the police arrived, me and Colby were back on the road.  Be careful if you are on I-95 around mile marker 249, the people at 911 don't give a shit and will make you feel like you are doing something wrong calling in an accident.

 

          We arrived in the beautiful city of Emerald Isle at 1am.  I had told my father not to tell my mom that we were coming so we could surprise her but he chick'd it up and told her.  Can't tell the fat man anything!  Emerald Isle is one of the nicest places I have ever been too. It’s a place I want to move to one day.  Maybe when Colby graduates high school and goes off to college.  But of course he has to pick a college close to Emerald Isle so that he is near me!!!

 

          Thursday and Friday were just for us to relax and get to know our new member of the family.  Pictures can only do so much justice!  This baby is sooooooo cute.  It was so much fun to watch Colby hang out with her and his uncle.  They became fast friends the moment they met and I hate that they don't get to see each other much.

 

          I was going to shoot over to Charlotte on Friday and hang with Mr. Mac/Guillotine LeGrande but then I noticed that I didn't have to be at the Legends Fest until 3pm Saturday so I decided to hang out one more night with the family.  Plus I knew that Colby really didn't want to go over to the show because he was having way too much fun.

 

          Saturday morning comes and I plan to get on the road by 7am.  It is about a 5 1/2 hour ride from Emerald to Charlotte and I am not the fastest driver in the world so I like to take my time.  I am not grandma slow like Colby will try and tell you but I like to go the speed limit.  It’s not because I don't like to go fast, I just don't want to pay for a damn speeding ticket!  Which brings me to this story...

 

          As I am cruising along on route 74 I notice that there is this nice Dodge Charger in front of me.  I like these cars and if I could afford one I would love to have one.  I notice that the car slows down to about 57mph so I pass him, and look right at him, admire his car, and go in front of him.  And then he puts his lights on!  It is a freaking cop!!!  Now he is pulling me over and for the life of me I can't understand why. 

 

          He comes over to the car and I laugh and say "I'm sorry but isn't it 70 here?" and he says "No sir, 55.  About 5 miles ago." and for some reason I go "Ah, shit I can't believe I missed that!  I am really sorry, let me get my license and registration for you."  This cop was unbelievably nice.  He looks at my license (which I look like Butters from South Park in) and asks if I still live at the address.  I lie and say yes because I never got an address change and spent the last year in Puerto Rico anyway and he asks where I am going and I tell him the NWA Legends Fest in Charlotte.  He says "NWA? Like Ric Flair?" (hey we are in North Carolina!) and I come back with "Yep" and as I think there might be a chance that he recognizes the name on the license or my good looking mug he kills off what is left of my ego by saying "Big fan?" to which I reply "yes sir, I am".  He laughs and goes back to the squad car.

 

          Like I said a few paragraphs ago, I am not a speeder but now a days you never know what they are going to find when they run your license.  I was trying to think if there were any parking tickets I didn't pay or anything that could come up.  I couldn't think of anything so I totally figured I was going to jail for something!!!  I decided to just relax and take whatever butt raping would be in my future.  I pulled out my Harry Kalas book and start reading.  I figured he would be a good 15 minutes finding out how many warrants I had out for me and this book is really good.  I think I see him on my left but I don't hear anything (and of course that is my deaf ear) so I keep reading.  Finally the policeman knocks on the car and says "Good book?" and I laugh and say "How long you been there?" and he replies "Three minutes".  Opps.

 

          So he gives me my information back and says "I clocked you at 73 but I checked your driving record and do you know the last time you got a speeding ticket?  I have to think but I wanted to say it had to be at least ten years and he says "1993.  Here is a warning. I don't want to break your streak." and I don't what I was thinking but I say "SEINFELD!" and he laughs "That is my favorite episode."  Now for those youngins who don't know the genius of Seinfeld there is a famous episode where Jerry has gone like 16 years without throwing up and its called "The Streak".  Both the cop and I have a laugh over it and he then asks "Why did you pass me?" and I say "I liked your car!" He laughs but says "You looked right at me." and I laugh back and say "I was only paying attention to the car."  He gives me my warning and I shake his hand.  He says before he leaves "Remember not to pass any Charger's!"

 

          It is so nice to see that there is still a lot of policeman out there that don't have an attitude and want to serve the public.  I grew up and live in a town where the cops are like everyone neighbors.  They are there to handle problems and never have that "I am the law" attitude that you can see.  This guy could have been a jerk or just followed the law and gave me a hefty fine for doing 73 in a 55.  I was wrong but he knew that I didn't mean to speed.

 

          Finally I arrive at Chuck's house and we head over to the Hilton, where the NWA Legends Fest convention would take place.  I was nervous walking in because I figured no one would know who I was but I was thankfully wrong.  The response and welcome I got from the fans was not only shocking but touching.  I get embarrassed in situation that I can't handle and I was easily embarrassed with this one.  Each fan had a different story or suggestion for me and it was so much fun.  At first I didn't have a table ready because of a scheduling conflict so I pretty much hung out, saw old friends, met old heroes, got to shake hands with a bunch of awesome fans, and enjoy the beginning of what would become a great weekend.

 

          Saturday night was the wrestling show part of the event.  For months I was psyched to wrestle Abdullah The Butcher but was told that he had accepted a higher paid booking somewhere else later that day.  As disappointed as I was because I had never wrestled Abby, I knew it was just business and he has to go where the most money is.  But on the other hand I also knew, selfishly, that this was going to be a chance for me to steal the show in front of the veterans and legends.  Wrestling Abby would have been a slow bloodbath, something many wrestlers could have done. Now I was going to get a chance to show my real abilities. And like a good vet, I went politicking!  I texted Greg Price, the promoter, non stop for about 15 minutes pitching Scorpio (who I had never wrestled), Jake Manning (who I always have great matches with), and Mike Jackson (who I am a big mark for).  Greg never texted me back. I still think he doesn’t like me!

 

          Finally as we were watching “Tropic Thunder” in the hotel suite, Fonzie (Bill Alphonso) came in to tell me that he was going to be managing me against Wahoo McDaniel’s son, Zak. I had actually wrestled Zak in 2004 when he first started training with Dory Funk Jr. in Ocala, FL.  He has a lot of raw talent and will be very good if he sticks with it. I can definitely see him getting a WWE deal in a year or two.

 

          And damn, can he chop! I just to knock a few away but he still connected with a few.  The worst part of the match was when Zak nailed me with what I think was a tin can.  Made a ton of noise and shouldn’t have hurt that bad but he caught me with the side of it and split the top of my head open. I knew it was cut but didn’t know how bad.

 

          After the show, Chuckles and I went back to his house and I wish I could say that we stayed up partying and drinking but I was exhausted and I fell asleep on his couch within minutes.

 

          Sunday came and it was back to the Hilton for the last part of the NWA Legends Fest weekend.  You could tell that many fans were actually tired from a fun weekend.  I realized that not only do they get to meet and hang out with their heroes but they get a little taste of what life on the road for us.  But the morning was fun for me as I got to sit, hang out, and talk with a great bunch of fans and my heroes.

 

          I got to sit and talk to Black Bart, who watched my match and told me his thoughts. I finally got to sit down with Magnum TA and talk about the famous ECW promo from 2000 (he got a big laugh out of it!), and apologized to Mike Jackson for doing some hardcore stuff before his match.  I also got to hang out with one my favorites, Baby Doll. I always rank Baby Doll and the great Missy Hyatt as two of my earliest crushes when I was a kid and both of them still look great.  Baby Doll is just so much fun as we traded Tully Blanchard stories (who most of you know I am such a big fan of) and just the fun parts of the sport.

 

          Add that to hanging out with Fonzie again, it was just a magical weekend. I am sure I missing a bunch of others things from the weekend but after almost a month of not writing I want to touch on a lot of things.

 

          I want to thank Greg Price for inviting me, the wrestlers that I watched growing up being so good to me, and especially the fans that came out.  I hope to be invited to the 2010 Legends Fest but if not, thank you for such a great weekend!

 

          The ride back to Emerald Isle was long but I knew that Colby was having fun with my mom, sister, brother in law, and new cousin. It was worth driving six hours east to pick him up and drive ten hours home.

 

          As fun as the NWA Legends Fest weekend was it was back to the reality that not all promoters are honest.  This is the story of ADAM GOINS.  Adam is a “promoter” that was claiming to have his first show on Saturday, August 15 at the Camden minor league baseball stadium in Camden, NJ.

 

          Now being around for 15 years you can usually smell bullshit real quick and Kehner smelled it!  The guy barely had any advertising and I noticed that it was not a show produced by the baseball team.  Usually if you are seeing a wrestling event at a baseball stadium it is part of the baseball teams promotion department. This wasn’t.

 

          Kehner started telling me about the problems that were coming. I knew it was bad because originally I was only booked to do autographs and then I heard that Jerry Lynn and Jim Neidhart’s deposit check bounced and CW Anderson never got his flight information. Not good.  Then comes Sunday night and this ADAM GOINS starts to book a totally different crew.  All of a sudden he asks me to wrestle and books my sister, Allison Danger, and Samu of The Samoans.  It sounded shady from the get-go. Why re-book a show less then six days out?  But ADAM GOINS assures me that the money is there and with Samu on the show I thought I was safe because you NEVER want to screw over a Samoan! Never.

 

          So Monday, this guy calls and says that the Camden baseball team pulled the plug on the show. Funny, why would they pull the plug?  Easy enough, let me call.  Ahhh, the guy never paid a deposit.  I knew it was weird when I noticed that the team wasn’t even in town that day. He says that he wants to do an autograph session and agreed to pay the fees that he was for the wrestling.  Both me and Kehner knew this was going to be bad.

 

          We get there Saturday night and ask for our money.  Adam’s “money guy” is on his way.  He never came.  Then he takes each one of us privately and says that he is going to pay us. Samu via Western Union and me, John Finnegan, and Mike Kehner at the W-1 show the next day. I said “Give me your word.” And he did. A man only has his word. He had every chance to say “Steve, I don’t have it but will get it to you..” or anything else. Don’t give me your word and then lie.

 

          Sunday comes and Kehner is pissed. He knows this asshole isn’t coming and in the back of my mind I know he isn’t coming either. I text him and say “Where are you?” and he says “295”.  Then he turned his phone off.  Not like power off, DISCONNECTED.  Yep, he went into a partial hiding.  I say partial because he still checks his MySpace, MySpace.com/nechampionshipwrestling, his email Goins.AJ@Gmail.com and NortheastChampionshipWrestling@GMail.com.  He thinks he can hide but everyone is smart to him. Go ahead and write to him and ask him why he screwed over Samu, Jerry Lynn, Jim Neidhart, CW Anderson, Mike Kehner, and John Finnegan. You see Adam, over 8000 people read my Chronicles and you should never screw over the wrestlers and lie like you did. Promoters screw up, I know I have, but if you lie and screw them over they are going to get you. I already heard that two guys that you bounced checks to turned them over to the DA.  Plus that and your is number 856-770-4573. Dick.

 

 

          I sound a little bitter but in all honesty dickheads like that are rare. Most promoters I work for are good guys and actually respect the wrestlers.

 

          What I have failed to mention that I had been unbelievably sick from the NWA Legends Fest to August 16.  In fact I started to get a bit scared because I knew that my head was infected.  That and I started to get cold sores, which I never get.  Carolyn, who is an awesome friend, insisted that I go to the CVS nurse.  She told me everything I already knew and charged me $62!  Oh well, luckily for me, The Beast had penicillin and saved my life!

 

          Two days later I finally felt better but as for our W-1 show in Jackson, NJ I was feeling rough. Usually falling in the ring is something you get used to and don’t think about until you are sick. Then every bump hurts!  But I think this was one of our strongest shows to date.  Since we combined 3KWrestling and B4W into the new WORLD-1, the shows have been awesome.  BUT we still need to get people out there to experience the shows.  Go to www.WORLD1Online.com and check us out.  They are fun shows that you can bring a family too but watch out as we are about to “turn it up a notch” in September.  If the WWE can run PG-13 shows on Monday nights and draw families, we can go from G to PG!

 

          The next weekend was another one of those crazy weekends that on paper don’t look fun but they are!

 

          Me, Colby, Tommy Thunda, and W-1 owner Ryan Kavangh took off for a 15 hour drive to Milwaukee for NWA Brew City Wrestling. Usually once a year I get to work for Frankie The Thumper DeFalco and always enjoy it. Thumper is an old (not old old) but old AWA guy and still looks the same he did in 1988 on AWA on ESPN.  I always pop when he is on!

 

          It was Tommy’s Midwest debut and Colby wrestled The Golden Boy Taylor again.  Check out this promo pic! Eventual WWE champion right? Haha. College first, then maybe wrestling!!!

 

          After the show, Colby’s old man was tired so he went to bed but Colby, Ryan, and Thunda went out for some beers and wings.  OK, only wings and games at Buffalo Wild Wings.  I had to laugh when Colby came in the hotel room like he was sneaking in from being past curfew!

 

 

IWA Mid-South closed? Yeah right.

 

          Friday, the 28^th was a big day for not only me but for Colby as it was his 13^th birthday!  Yep, a teenager! He took it like any other day but for me it was really emotional.  He is such a great kid and I am so lucky to have a special relationship with him like I do.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY COLBY!!!

 

          Next week I will go more into the Shinya Hashimoto Tournament on 8/28, missing the PPW show on the 29^th, and much more.  Have a great Labor Day weekend!

 

          Don’t forget to visit www.CorinoDangerAres.proboards.com and sign up for text message updates on CorinoWrestling.com.

The Corino Chronicles XXI: A Whole Lot of S#$t


July 21, Delta flight 137-New York JFK to LAX, 8:11PM EST

The first leg of what is going to be a 24+ hour flight to Australia.  And as usual in the messed up universe of Steve Corino, nothing went right from the get go but I will get into later.  It is quite a story. And with the help of a few amazing friends I got on the plane.

But lets start off with a story that I left out of The Corino Chronicles XX because it just didn't fit in with what I was writing about with Puerto Rico.  The following story, as stupid and crazy as it may sound, is true.  LOL, too true.  And if Ricky Reyes was not a legend before this strange night, then he will be after you read this.

On Friday, July 10 I arrived in Puerto Rico about 3:30PM and prepared for what was going to be my last weekend with the World Wrestling Council.  After being picked up by the Cool Twins (aka Double Image), I headed to the Dalia to grab the rest of my clothes that I would be taking back to Pennsylvania.  Idol and Reyes had taken over Mac and my room since they didn't have a lock on their door (remember the Australian girl broke it).  I texted Orlando (I guess I can admit talking to him all this time since he was reveled to be The Nightmare) and asked about the pre-Anniversary party.  He told me that Carlos wanted the WWC talent to be there between 7-9PM.  Most of us assumed that wrestlers would be ARRIVING between 7 and 9 because in Puerto Rico, nothing is on time.  That is why we call it "Island Time".  Everyone usually arrives whenever and we do our thing.  I remember when Mac and I first started last year we would drive ourselves nuts because we, and the rest of the wrestlers, would show up to buildings 20 minutes before belltime.

I called Mr. X and arranged for him to grab all of us at around 7:30 so that we could arrive fashionably late.  Unfortunately 7:30 turned into 7:45...8:00...and eventually 8:30.  The five of us didn't sweat it because we figured that the party would last into the night.  We were wrong! Really wrong.  And we were all dressed to the nines.  Sue had a dress, I had a suit, Idol looked great, and even Ricky Reyes wore a tie.  He looked like he was ready for a court appearance!

So we show up at the arena at 8:55 and notice that people are leaving. We see Kennedy, Umaga, and Carlos Colon getting into cars.  Killer Kat came up to the car and explained in Spanish to X that the party was over.  Over. We all got dressed up for nothing. Or so we thought...

Now you have to realize that Mr. X (and Mrs. X) are two of the nicest people I have ever met. They would do anything for anyone and not ask for anything in return.  But Mr. X doesn't speak much English and the four of us speak barely any Spanish. Even Reyes, who looks like he is a native Puerto Rican, speaks no Spanish. NONE!!!  I did get out of the conversation that X was sorry for us being late and he wanted to stop for dinner.  All of were tired and really didn't mind missing the party.  That didn't stop Senior X from feeling bad.  I noticed that we were on a different road then my hotel and X made a right, a fateful right turn that stories are made from, a right turn into a fancy restaurant.

I had been in this place once before to film a Ray-tings Cafe earlier in the year.  It is an amazing and very expensive restaurant.  And it was a place that the five of us never should have walked into. Although I was the reigning Universal heavyweight champion, I still could not afford to eat in the place. Shit, if I had been the WWE World champion I still would have went "Damn, this place is expensive." And if I was there with the current WWE champion, I am sure his cheap ass would make me pay for my own dinner!!!

So we walk into this place and ala Animal House, the music stops.  We do not belong in this place.  The first person we see is Orlando's dad Jose.  Like Orlando, his dad is super cool. All of us like him a lot. He always has smile and is just a totally nice guy.  I think he was surprised to see us, as we were surprised to be there. He was not even close to being as surprised as Carlos Colon was when he swung his head around the corner! I knew that we had to get out there and so did the rest of us. Except X! He said "Come on, lets go" as in, lets go into the bar and hang out with them.  Like little kids that knew we were about to get yelled at by our parents for being in a place that we shouldn't have, we hesitated.  But Jose, with his big smile, said no problem.  I gingerly, with my other uninvited friends, walked into the bar area and said hi to Carlos, Carlito, Kennedy, Umaga, Mrs. Umaga, Ricky Santana, and Carlos' daughter Stacy. Everyone is nice but I can tell Carlos is thinking "Why the hell are these people here?" because I am thinking "Why the hell are we here?"

We go over to the bar and order water for me and Reyes. Sue decides to have a beer and relax. We all come up with the quick plan of having one drink and getting the piss out of there on the double.  But we didn't leave quick enough because the server tells Carlos that his table is ready...I panic but see relief on the way because here comes Orlando. I tell Orlando to get us out of there because we weren't invited and with his big second generation Belefonte smile says "nah, come on in. Enjoy yourself."  I almost got the sense that Orlando and Jose were enjoying this. OK, I am sure of it because they are big jokers and this was going to make for a good story: GRINGO 4 + 1 CRASH DINNER.

I give Idol the task of telling Jose that Mr. X had to go and that even though we would love to stay (he saw through that pretty quickly!!!) that we had to go.  Jose, being smarter then us, asks X in Spanish where he has to go and someone forgot to tell X about our lie because he said that he didn't have to be anywhere!  You see where this was going huh? Now we are going to be stuck at the most uncomfortable and awkward dinner ever.

We sit down. Sue, Me, Idol, Reyes on one side and X on the other side.  We order water and then open the menu's. Holy shit there wasn't anything under $40!  I think they even charged you to look at the menus. No wait, that would be an airline.  I was having panic attack number two at this point because I don't know if Carlos is going to pick up the tab or I was going to have to play a little dine and dash!  Jose tells us to order what we wanted but there was no way I was going to order anything big.  Although Sue is not a wrestler, she is street smart and asked Jose to see if they just had a simple chicken breast and mashed potatoes. At least we would show Carlos that we weren't trying to get the big expensive dinner.  The waiter goes down the line and Sue, me, and Idol all order the chicken and potatoes.  Reyes...one Ricky Reyes looks right at the waiter and says "Filet". As in filet mignon!  Like a $70 or $80 steak!!!  Within seconds we are all texting Mac to tell him what is going on.  I can imagine his glee as he is getting texts from all of us telling him the goings on of this awkward dinner.  Although the five of us are all feeling bad that we crashed Carlos' pre-Anniversary party with the ex-WWE guys, we are having fun just being kids.  

The dinner was over and it was once again time to think of an excuse so that we could exit stage left and get out of this situation.  But Ricky Reyes would have none of that.  The filet was not good enough for the angry brown one and he orders what was probably at $20 piece of cake!  Reyes not only wanted his cake and eat it too, he eat it!  If you are reading this on CorinoWrestling.com I put the pictures of Reyes' antics on the page. And also a group picture.

We say our goodbyes and the second we get in the car we all let out a "WTF was that?" and just laugh about how we totally and accidentally ruined Carlos' party. Ricky Santana tried to make us feel good and tell us that Carlos wanted us there but Ricky only wanted a ride back to hotel safely! It was a fun night and we had plenty of laughs over the debate if Carlos was pissed or not.

I got confirmation the next day when I spoke with Carlos.  Here is pretty much how it went.
Steve: Hey Carlos, thanks for dinner last night. I am sorry that we weren't invited.
Carlos: Your welcome. Nothing we can do about it now.

Holy shit, he confirmed it!  Oh well, I guess it all worked out. We all had fun (sorry Carlos), ate well, and it gave me the inspiration for a good story!

July 23, Sydney Airport, Australia 7:45am Australian time

Where in the hell did July 22 go?  I left LAX at 10:30 PST on the 21st and arrived here in Sydney at 6:15am on the 23rd.  Ah man, this makes my head hurt even thinking about it.

The flights from New York to Los Angeles and then Los Angeles to Sydney were LONG! So far I have 22 hours down and two to go on my way to Adelaide, South Australia for the first part of the tour with ICW Wrestling.  I am surprised that I am not feeling worse considering I just did almost 16 straight hours in a middle seat next to some dude that thought that he had two seats (I put him in his place quick) and a woman that rivaled Chris Hamrick in age. That's right, she was right around 98 to 99 years old!

This leg of the Delta flight had some really good movies so I spent most of my time watching some movies that I didn't get a chance to see in the movie theaters or DVD. Heck up until Monday, I hadn't been to a movie since Borat in 2006!

I started out with I Love You Man with Paul Rudd. It was pretty funny but not his funniest. I prefer Rudd more as the smart ass friend like he was in 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, and Role Models.  But it had a lot of great moments and definitely will grab it on DVD.

Then I took a quick nap before the old lady next to me asked me if I wanted dinner.  Dinner of course was an hour away but either I was snoring too loud or she just wanted to be nosey.  I then clicked on Tropic Thunder and thought that was hilarious!  Everyone was great in the movie, but in my opinion, Tom Cruise steals the whole thing.  You read so many bad things about Cruise because of his religious beliefs but I don't think think that he has done a movie that I hated.

Damn, you can watch a lot of TV and movies in 16 hours. Especially if you don't get any sleep!  But I feel much better then I should considering my 225 pounds (OK, 237) was in a middle seat for the last day.  As I wait for my connection to Adelaide I got to stretch out a bit.  But looking for a free Internet connection went from hopeful to impossible.  They actually have a service that is $12.99AUS an hour. A freaking hour!!!

July 27, Jacksons Motor Inn, Adeliade, Australia 7:58am Australian time

Jet lag is a bitch.  You would think I would be prepared but I am not. Never am. And this tour is a bit more of the same.

Arriving on Thursday, I was tired and figured I would catch up on some sleep. Being 240 pounds and on a plane in economy for 24 hours makes for an uncomfortable sleep.  I ended up sleeping 12 straight hours and that only was going to screw me up for later.  Friday I felt fine and enjoyed getting out there at the Golden Grove arena again against Cannonball, Blake, and my old WORLD-1 neminis Mana.  The crowd was fun and loud and think (I hope) they enjoyed the matches.

Saturday's show was at the XAW school on the other side of Adelaide.  These are shows like we used to do (and will do again) for the Revolution Dojo, where the trainees get to learn and perform in front of a crowd.  The crowds can range from 25-50 but the building is small so they wouldn't be able to fit many more in.

Yesterday I decided not to spend all day in my room playing MLB The Show (OK, I played 3 games) and taught myself the Adeliade bus system into the city. With the wireless Internet at the hotel being more expensive then anything I ever saw ($20 a day...a freaking DAY), I figured I could find a cheaper Internet cafe in the city.  I found one but the connection was shit (but the coffee was good!!!) and it was cheap enough.  As I was coming back from the city I noticed that the McDonalds down the street had wireless and I am going to be on my way.  Why pay $12 for two hours when I can spend $2.65 for a large coffee and sit for a while and see if Colby emailed me.

Now onto the weekend and how I almost didn't make it to Australia.

Saturday due to circumstances that I won't get into, Colby and I went up to Alex Anthony's (or as Colby called him The Fresh Prince of Bel Air) for the night since he lives close to Allentown and I was wrestling for WXW the next day.  Alex may have the coolest house I have ever been in before and we had a blast watching DVDs (the new WWE tag team DVD is pretty awesome).  In the morning we went over to Alex's buddies house and had a great breakfast with his family and then it was off to Sportsfest for the show.

Now this was the first time working for the Samoans, even though I always wanted to.  Heck, 15 years later I got my chance!  Sportsfest is their biggest event of the year and usually they have 500-1000 people.  The whole Sportsfest day is a lot of fun.  Colby got to go kayaking and then canoeing with Ryan's girlfriend Carolyn.  Watching him have fun is more fun for me then him. If you are a parent reading this you know what I am talking about.

The guy I wrestled, Eric Cobian, has a million dollar body and a look that WWE would love.  Although I thought I would get booed a lot more then I did, it was nice to hear the cheers. After a year of getting booed in Puerto Rico, it is fun to be on the other side of the ring.  The funny part was that the fans were cheering Rob Dimension.  No, I am serious. I couldn't believe it either!  But in all seriousness, the chemistry between me and Rob is really good and I enjoy him being my full time manager.  Its a shame I hated him when we were partners in the PWF promotion! Maybe it would still be alive!!! LOL.  Anyone for a 10 year reunion in 2011? And he looks like the Sham Wow guy!!!

After the show, Colby and I headed to the beach in New Jersey with Ryan and Carolyn and hung out with them. I don't know what I would do without friends like Alex, Ryan, and Carolyn.  They have a cool place near the beach and both Colby and I are big fans of the beach. Considering we live in the Philly suburbs, you would think that we would try and get a place near the beach more.  By the way, why the piss do you have to pay $5 to go on the beach?

Monday, Ryan took us to the movies to see The Hangover. Holy shit was this funny!  Sometimes I had to wince because it was a bit too adult, but Colby has a mature and funny sense of humor so he didn't seem to mind.  It is definitely a movie that I will grab on DVD when it comes out.  Like I said earlier, this was the first time I had been to a movie since 2006. I might need to get out a little more!

Wednesday, August 5 5:49am-Jet Lag SUCKS!...so the story continues

Tuesday comes and Carolyn takes me (way out her way!!!) to JFK in New York. I have only flown out of JFK a few times and the whole airport is just huge...and confusing.  But it is cool. I went on line and figured out what terminal I had to go to, printed out my boarding pass, and made sure I had enough cash for my visa. Usually you can pay for your visa for Australia (it works different then other countries) at the airport.  Well that was until July 1!  Now you have to do it online.  No problem right? Now come on, this is Steve Corino you are talking about. Nothing is easy in my world.  They warn me at the Delta counter that they had to turn away someone that went downstairs because they couldn't get the visa website to work. This isn't good.

I go downstairs to use the computer they tell us and we put in the information.  Should be easy right? Nope. It tells me that I have to put in a date within the next 12 months for arrival. Huh? I did. Over and over again. It was not looking good. Here I am on my way to a good tour of Australia, one I needed financially and emotionally, and it looked like I was screwed.

But Carolyn, God bless her, figured out that the computers clock and calendar where wrong and had them change it.  Visa printed and it was time to carry on! So me and wrestling fans in Australia have to thank the smartness of Carolyn for helping me! Her and Ryan are just amazing people.

So it is off to Australia via Los Angeles and Sydney as you know from above.

I arrived in Adelaide on Thursday morning and felt good. Too good. I knew I would crash early and I did!  That is the bad part of traveling.

Friday was going to be fun because not only was I returning to Adelaide for the first time in two years but I was going to get to see Mana for the first time in two years since he moved back to Australia.

Mana has always been one of my favorite people. Just a nice and laid back guy. And a guy that I always felt comfortable in the ring with.  I was excited to be able to be in the ring with him again.

The show was fun and the fans were awesome (as usual!).  After the show I went back to the room and was asleep before I hit the bed! I am just not as young as I used to be...

Mana also brought his students from the SHWA (pronounced sh-wa..took a little getting used to but I like that it is different) and they were a lot of fun. I like when young and hungry guys take the bull by the horns and get out there to make a name for themselves and learn different styles.

Saturday night was a smaller show at the Wrestle Hustle wrestling academy. I love this style of shows. It gives the students a chance to work in front of a crowd and learn. I think XAW charges like $2 a ticket. $2 to see the future of wrestling? What a bargain. Maybe the next Samoa Joe or John Cena would come from there. And you could see it for $2. I like it.

After the show we all went out for some drinks. But the fun part was actually the ride to the bar.  I don't know how it happened but the boys all started singing on the bus!  So here I am, tired as balls, and I am almost giggling because we have like 10 guys and girls singing (out of tune of course). That is what being on the road is all about! Experience and fun.

I got to hang out and relax for a few days in Adeliade. I learned the bus system so that I could go into the city and walk around.  I am a laid back guy so I can pretty much hang out and enjoy myself by reading my email, playing my PS2, or just walking.

Wednesday I took off for Perth.  The amazing thing to me was the flight was not only on time, but early. Maybe the US based airlines could learn from the Aussies.

When I got there I noticed how beautiful the city was. My mother in law lived in Perth for a few years in the 70's and she always told me how pretty it was and it is.

That night I held a seminar for about 13 young wrestlers from SHWA. I think most of them got a lot of out it and that is rewarding for me.  That is the point and hopefully they will use what I taught.

Both NHPW/SHWA shows were a lot of fun. Four shows down and I am relaxed, rejuvenated, and ready for next weekend.  That is the best feeling about being a Freelance wrestler.  People don't realize it but I am a real pro-wrestler, meaning that I do this full time.  I don't have another job (although I should! haha) and some weekends things in wrestling are stressful. Sometimes it is who I am working for, or slowness in fees, or just the locker room doesn't have a good chemistry. I love wrestling and it is tours like this that remind me how much I love this sport and how lucky I am to have made a full time living out of it for the last ten plus years.

The ride home was a nightmare of course. Perth to Sydney, Sydney to Los Angeles, Los Angeles to New York.  Then a train from JFK to Jamaica Station, Jamaica to Penn Station, Penn Station to 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, and then Philadelphia to Norristown. Then finally a taxi!  Home or what is my temp home.

This week it is off to Charlotte for the NWA Legends Fest. Looking really forward to it.

Until next time...stay away from Cockburn.

 

The Corino Chronicles XX: The Truth About Puerto Rico

 

July 10, 2009

I figured the headline would catch most people’s attention.  While the majority of fans will think that this is going to be another horror story about Puerto Rican wrestling, my story is just the opposite.  This story surrounds the breathe of life that the island gave me for the last year.

 

It is 1:33pm on a packed Air Tran flight from Orlando to San Juan. This weekend I will come back to Puerto Rico for what could be my last weekend for a while. Not because I hate Puerto Rico, or behind in wrestling fees, or even anything of that which seems to bring a certain bitterness in wrestlers that have come here. While some have their complaints and they are probably justified, the majority of guys that come down here expect that they will achieve more financially then they will in experience and knowledge.  I had chosen July 11 to be my last show here for a while for a few reasons.

 

Most of all is that I miss my son, Colby.  At his age he needs his dad and quite honestly I need him probably more then he needs me.  The last year and a half has been difficult for both of us due to my economic situation and my divorce.  When he was growing up it was so easy: Two weeks a month in Japan for ZERO-ONE and two weeks home, where I would make money working independents. No one could have predicted that business in Japan would go down the way it did, especially in ZERO-ONE after the death of Hashimoto-san.  My tour schedule went from 26 weeks a year down to 13.  My guarantees went down also.  It was no ones fault. Just the way business goes sometimes. Unfortunately it hit me at a time when I didn't have many options.  I didn't impress the World Wrestling Entertainment company in December of 2007 and TNA Wrestling was not interested in me either.  ROH is much different (and more exciting) then it was in 2002-05 when I was there feuding with Homicide and there was no room for me and I had a problem with concussions that put me in the hospital scaring me to this day.  There was not many ways I could have gone.  My then-wife and I decided that I would work at Gold’s Gym part time and then continue to wrestle independently.  It was a good idea at first but call it OCD, but once I am committed to a job I want to do it 150% not just 100%.  There were many problems at the gym and I knew I could fix them. Within weeks I went from a personal trainer to running the gym as manager. It was a job I loved.  But with that love came the commitment of working 70-75 hours a week (only getting paid for 40) and having to cancel a lot of bookings because I had a staff that couldn't make their shifts. The easiest thing would have been to terminate them but I had an owner that wouldn't allow it. Although I was the man in charge, personnel changes had to go through him and for some reason he believed that if I was working over my 40 hours then I was not costing him any money and the girl that would call out every weekend would.  And when I had to fire someone I had to let them go over email.  Crazy huh?

 

The hours took a tool on my family life.  My ex-wife and I were not getting along at all and she did not treat my son the way I would have liked her to and I wasn't able to be there all the time for him.  And when you take into consideration I was doing all these extra hours I was working for free, I was making the same amount of money that I would have wrestling twice a week on the indy circuit.  It took its toll on all three of us.

 

With my marriage dying a slow death every day I took a chance and decided to call Carlos Colon and ask if he had any spots available. He booked me for Anniversary 2008 with the option that if I got over with the fans and we could agree on money, we would make a deal to come down full time.  I figured I could make the same amount in WWC then I could at Gold's but be the wrestler that I am.  I also got the notion that it might help my marriage being away from each other. We started out with a long distance relationship and maybe the heart would grow fonder if we went back to it.  It didn't.  When she left, I had to come back to Philadelphia and try and pack up.  It became a huge financial strain to have a place in Philly that was too expensive with two incomes, flying back and forth on my own dime, and trying to keep the schedule I had.  At the end of April I was in the hole more then in the plus.  And each time I came home I realized that I am not being the father to Colby I should.  I had my time in the sun. Although never to the financial gain as others, I gained so much in memories that no one will ever be able to take away from me.  Right now I should be home more often so I can watch him grow from this amazing young person into an even more amazing man.

 

My second reason for taking some time off from the Island is I am a Philly Boy. OK, let me strike that and make it more truthful: I am a Philly Suburbs Boy.  I love where I live. A new friend of mine, who lives in Los Angeles, just had a conversation about how much we loved where we came from.  The suburbs of Philly are where I have spent the last 31 years of my life. It is where Colby grows up and it is where I need to put my roots.  Now this isn't saying that I don't love to get on the road, travel, and wrestle. Shit no. There is nothing I love more then to get in that ring with someone and entertain.  I don't get to wrestle on PPV or big houses anymore (someone change that!!! haha) but it doesn't matter to me if there is 15 or 1500, the ring is my church and there is no other place I would like to worship.  But up until the last few months I always had my home to come home to. Right now, I don't have that. I don't have a place where Colby can be a only-child (he is the big brother at his mom's house) and I want/need to change that.  We are in the process of re-building what we lost and its a slow process. If I didn't have the help of an amazing person I would be homeless right now.  She will never know how much she has done for me, when other people couldn't or even wouldn't. To me, she is Super Woman.

 

And my last reason for taking off from WWC is to make sure that I, as Mr. Wrestling Steve Corino, do not get stale.  The World Wrestling Council is the last territory and with that comes the chances that you can be there too long.  Back in the old days when there were 26 territories, heels lasted 6-9 months and babyfaces lasted maybe a year before they had to go to another region.  This was done so that everything and everyone stayed fresh.  People forget that this is the same thing with WWC.  It is not the WWE or TNA where you are signing a specific contract and you are there until they release you.  In WWC and IWA before, you were there as long as you could draw.  I think I have done that in my year here.  My series’ with BJ and Ray Gonzalez brought houses up and for that I was rewarded with a run as the WWC Universal heavyweight title.  For the last five months not a day goes by that I don't look at the belt and realize the history that is in it.  Carlos, Abby, Murdoch, Garvin, Ayala, Valentine, Shane, Carly, Eddie, and Ray have all held this title with pride.  Call belts and titles what you want, but they are important if treated important.  Too many fans today try to "outsmart" themselves by reminding themselves and everyone that wrestling is "fake" or "not real" or titles are a "prop".  That is all bullshit.  Pro-Wrestling is an athletic magic show where people get hurt, lives are ruined, money is made and lost, and people are entertained.  Enjoy it for what it is. Why does it always have to be negative?  What is going to happen if it is revealed that some UFC fights are worked eh? I am not saying any of them are but I am not saying any of them aren't. Makes you shake your head a little bit right? How could I say that?  Kids don't know that Santa Claus isn't real until the parents tell them correct? But we all still celebrate it and we all WANT it to be 100% right? Same with wrestling.  But back to reason number three.  As I sit on the plane I have no idea what is going to happen tomorrow at Anniversary 2009.  Odds are I will lose the title to BJ, but what if I don't? I know it has already been considered letting me take the Universal title all over the world for the next three months, coming back to Puerto Rico occasionally to help raise the status of the title.  Raise it to what it was in the 80's.  Can it happen? Who knows but what does it hurt to try?

 

Will I be back? No doubt.  I fell in love with the Island of Puerto Rico on my first tour in 1997 and love it today.  The company is not perfect but you know what, they never claim to be.  All of the positives of WWC and Puerto Rico outweigh any of the negatives that I have.  Right now it is just time for me to get back to Philly and get back on my feet.  For me and Colby.  Once I do that, I will be back. Full time.  Maybe even Colby will come down and wrestle for the summer and make some money.  And it won't take long either. I predict, and I told the WWC office this, that I will be back on my feet financially, spiritually, and stable by October 30.  That gives me three months to get out of the debt that I am in, get on my feet, and make a stable single father home again for Colby.  It has always been me and him against the world and I think I lost that vision when I got re-married in '06.

 

To all of the fans that stick with WWC, watching it on TV and coming to the events, I want to thank you.  Although you have booed me for the last year, your boos were cheers in my heart.  Pissing you off was my way of showing my appreciation for you spending your hard earned money on the company.  To the critics of me and/or WWC (and IWA for that matter), if you don't enjoy the programs stop complaining about them and go enjoy something else. Why would you waste your time bitching and moaning about certain wrestlers, owners, or TV when you could be watching something you enjoy? I don't get it.  And to Carlos Colon (and maybe a little bit to Jovica! LOL), thank you for giving me the opportunity to come down and be a main part of the WWC for the last year.  I promise that my next run will be even better!

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July 11 (1:53pm)

Although I should be at the building already, I decided to be a brat and go later. Its not that I want to be a brat but today I am more nervous then I have been in a long time. Being there way too early is only going to add to my nervousness. Its only a stupid pro-wrestling match right? Well, no. Actually it is more then that. Tonight all eyes in Puerto Rico will be on this show and on me and BJ.  Watching the lack of TV promotion that WWC gave me and BJ's match only makes me more determined to go above and beyond expectations.  And I know that somewhere in Wrestling Heaven, Shinya Hashimoto is watching over me and in my ear telling me that if the fans want 100%, I need to give 200%.  When it gets to that 15 minute mark and I can't breathe or BJ has hit me with another chop meant for my chest but lands in my mouth, I need to dig deep down and find that fighting spirit.  For the fans. For BJ. For Hashimoto. For ME.

 

I am sure I will write on the plane on my way home but I will try and get some thoughts down after the event.  And of course I have to talk about dinner last night!

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July 12 (12:11pm)

Air Tran flight from Orlando to Philadelphia

I am tired.  Tired might be an understatement. Beat is a better word.  Sore is also another good description.  But in all seriousness there are a bunch of emotions running through my head right now: Pain, Happiness, Disappointment, Satisfaction, and Sadness.  Last night was amazing. The fans were electric during what turned out to be a very long night.  I want to thank each fan that came out to the Anniversary event.  There were a ton of fans that waited outside the building and it was fun to say goodbye to them personally and take pictures.  Even the Chicky Starr fans!!!

 

From what I saw the event ran smooth and the matches were really good. Because the monitor was out in the first match, I didn't get a chance to see the Lucha X match but I heard the crowd erupt for each daredevil move.  Those guys are crazy!

 

The Nightmare vs. Ray Gonzalez was exactly what I thought it would be: Just amazing.  The addition of boxing great Tito Trinidad could have helped or hurt the match, but he did great too.  You could tell he was excited to be out there but didn't take away any of the heat that Ray and Orlando built up over the last seven months.

 

I can't say the same for the aftermath of my match.  For six months the company has built toward a Steve Corino vs. BJ battle for the Universal heavyweight title at Anniversary.  This feud was hot in March and April but for some reason after drawing a big house in Bayamon we were put on the back burner.  The lack of promotion for the match was frustrating.  Over the last eight weeks, BJ and I had to come up with ways to interfere in each others matches without interfering.  Honestly I was worried that people were going to either forget or not care about the match and I understand that WWC was banking on the draw of Ray vs. Nightmare and there is only 44 minutes of TV time.  But once my music hit and I came out and saw all the signs and homemade t-shirts for BJ, I thought there was a chance that people were into it.  Then when his music hit, the Goosebumps started (as I write this I have them again!).  It was our night.  Was the match five stars? That is always up to the fan. Was I happy with it? Yes.  I was happy that the crowd wanted to see this kid win the title.  They were pissed when I kicked out of his finisher but the came alive when he was ready to hit it one more time.  The reaction that the 3 count got was just something that made all the pain (and I am feeling it 100 times worse today) go away. For those moments that the crowd was cheering for BJ meant the world to me. I knew that at 36 years old and a guy hanging on to that hope that there is one more run with a big company, that I did a great job of making this moment for him.  The handshake and hug at the end of our match was not just something to do because I was going away. It was two warriors that gave everything they had showing how much respect they had for each other.  BJ is truly my Steamboat and to be able to be the guy that he defeated for his first Universal title reign made it real special.  It was his night. Well it should have been.

 

Now what I write is not going to be popular with some fans and maybe not some of the wrestlers or office but what happened after the match with me and BJ was just plain stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid.  First of all, Noriega quit the company last year and STOLE the new title belt. He freaking stole it and this company opened their arms to him.  That is not what upsets me.  What upsets me is that you build BJ up for six months to finally get that title win and you ruin with a guy that not only jumped to TWO different companies, stole your belt, and fled to Chicago to come back and spoil the moment.  If they were hell bent on bringing this kid back, why not wait until next week's TV?  Why ruin BJ's moment?  So instead of basking in the glory of BJ finally beating me for the title, they put their faith in this kid that they built up and he shit on them.  And don't give me the crap that the company probably owed him money or he jumped for money. The fact is that you still lose the title. You don't steal it for a year and then try and defend on shows in Chicago.  First you had the Mr. Big guy quit and jump with the title to IWA, then they have a long tournament with Noriega becoming what should have been the next generation of the Universal title and he quits.  That made the last two champions, me and Ray Gonzalez's job that much harder.  How many times did I have to read on PRWrestling.com message forum that I quit and would be taking the title or vacating the title? Way too much.  Maybe I care too much, but the WWC Universal title is not some indy title that is defended once a year. It is the main title of a television company.  If you want to quit, you do it like a man.  WWC has done a lot of things right, but last night they were wrong. And the guys that had the chance to tell me this decision and hid it from me must think I am an idiot.  I am not.  You ruined BJ's night, not me.

 

Will I be back? Probably. Right now, I am sore and tired and just want to go home, sleep, and get on with the next chapter of my life/career.  I have a pretty packed schedule for the next few months (luckily, and it could get more packed. Hint hint!) and Colby and I are going to enjoy some time together.  I am going to get healthy (already lost 20 pounds....OK, 15) and just get my life together.

 

To the boys that make up the lifeblood of WWC I could thank you all personally.  Actually I will:

 

Mac-Get back to the Island. I don't tell you this because you are my friend, but you are the shop steward of WWC.  They boys respect and love you and the office trusts you.  You could be the next Luke Williams or Dutch Mantel in Puerto Rico.

 

Reyes-The Jr. division became something super exciting when you went to PR.  It was good before but you are the glue that makes all those great pieces stick together.

 

Idol-There is no good reason you are not on RAW or Smackdown right now.  Your look and work are what they look for and you can talk too. They need to open their eyes and give you a chance to break out.

 

Orlando-You are a true friend. From the moment I got to PR, I saw you were a guy that loves the sport as much as I do.  You have a thankless job of being a Colon and one of the boys too. You are WWC's Tommy Dreamer and you know how to be loyal to your family and the boys, but still be truthful.  Its a trait that a lot of us wouldn't be able to do.  Can't wait to see you join your cousins in the WWE.  Carly and Eddie are amazing wrestlers but you are the best of the Colons.

 

Ray-I can't tell you how much respect I have for you. Always a gentlemen. You are what I strived to be as Universal champion.  With out without the title belt, you conduct yourself like a real champion. Wrestling you was wrestling one of my heroes.  From the moment I watched you in 1997 on my first tour, I knew that you would be a legend in PR.  And now, even at your age, you are.

 

Tommy-Your talent is just starting to come out.  Your a guy that I enjoy just sitting and watching as a fan.  You can wrestle Jr. heavyweights one night and then come back and mix with Thunder and Lightning the next.  You deserve your spot as a locker room leader and everyone respects the hell out of you.

 

BJ-Thank you for keeping this old man motivated!  You deserve that title and you will be a star not only in Puerto Rico but worldwide one day.

 

Rico-I wish you didn't go first. Man, I miss you. You were always one of my favorite guys to be in the locker room with and I hope that we can share a locker room again in the near future.  You always put me over to people but the reality of it is that if it wasn't for your help in '97, I probably wouldn't have been able to do what I did.  You helped me learn how to wrestle and you helped me raise confidence in myself.  Thank you.

 

Mr. X-My Puerto Rican brother.  You have improved so much in the last year in the ring AND in your look.  Carlos is crazy if he doesn't see that. Your big, know how to wrestle, and are just a great man.  Your wife and you opened your arms to me, Bradley, and Mac when you didn't have to. It is tough being in the position you are in but never once have I seen you complain. That is the attitude of a champion.

 

Shane-It sucks that you are coming back as I am going.  You are still one of the best in the ring and just a guy that TNA dropped the ball on.  I wish they would see what you have done in Puerto Rico and how loved you are by the boys and the fans.  I will always be your biggest fan on the Island though!

 

Thunder/Lightning-Thank you for making my Sunday’s so enjoyable!  You guys never get the press in the States that you deserve and are two of my favorite guys to wrestle.  I wish one day that CW Anderson and I get to wrestle you guys on a big show.  I know we could tear the house down!

 

Double Image-NEVER GIVE UP! You guys just need that break and once you do, break down that door.  It’s frustrating but you guys have what it takes to be champions.  One of these days they are going to have to do Double Image vs. Los Aeroes and you'll get to showcase your talents.

 

Carlitos/Tua-You guys are so exciting to watch in the ring and nice guys outside it.  I can watch you guys wrestle Reyes and Tommy (or a combination of them plus Johnny Styles) every night and never get bored.

 

Killer Kat-My Bonita!  You are my good friend and I don’t ever want to see you give up. WWC needs more girls so that you, Nancy, and Morena can grow and learn. I think WWC can have a great girls program if they just added two or three more girls.

 

Fashion Angel-Although all of us give you shit all the time, you are awesome in and out of the ring.  I wish that some of the other refs would follow your lead and come to every show like you do.

 

Angel-Stop stealing my moves! Nah. You have improved so much since Reyes came to the Island. You look like a star now and keep it up. You are going places.

 

To anyone else I forgot, I just want to say thank you for a great year!

 

This is it for now. I am really sore and tired.  I will be back later in the week with my thoughts on Misawa-san’s death, the most awkward dinner of all time, baseball, and just about anything else that comes to mind!

 

Gracis Puerto Rico

The Corino Chronicles XIX: I love (I hate) the news

June 5, 11:00 on US Airways flight 1071 in Philadelphia

Its 11am and my self-imposed alarm of snoring should have found me and my 200 or so comrades on flight 1071 to San Juan about one hour and ten minutes into the air.  But I am now awake and STILL on the ground. And godforbid don't ask someone because when I did, I got the death stare.  

If the take off my all my clothes and shove a thumb up my ass way of airline security wasn't bad enough, yesterday two buttheads attempted to take an unloaded gun on a US Airways flight. Worse then that, one of them works for this stupid company.  And I thought the partial sodomy was bad, at lease they whispered nice things in my ear while they did it, used some sort of lube, and rubber gloves but this morning once everyone was on board, they had security came on and checked with everyone's carry on bag again. Wasn't that what the first set of security for? Or why I have to take off my shoes? And can't carry my coffee through the metal detector? Or have to put my computer in a separate bin?  Now I have to worry that the airline employees are going to try and take down this plane.  Remember when former President Bush said that Americans are going to feel safe in the air again? Still waiting douche.

But at least they did the security sweep at 9:40 and were out at 9:47 so I thought the chances of an on time take off was pretty good.  So I thought. I think I may be on some sort of streak of like 150 consecutive flights in or out of Philadelphia where the flight was either delayed or canceled.  But none the less, I fall asleep. Hoping to recover a bit of the sleep I lost by getting up at 5am and fight the traffic to get to the airport to hear that my flight would be delayed.  I thought it might be tough to catch some sleep because all 244 pounds of me is stuffed in seat 23C (What? WWC doesn't fly me First Class? Oh those bastards! Maybe we can write and complain about that when we are talking about how they should have treated the Aussie girl. Can you feel the sarcasm?). But next to me might be the long lost daughter of Crusher Blackwell.  Well if she was Puerto Rican.  But they are the same size and have the same facial hair. I really shouldn't complain because I got to use her arm fat, since it was in my personal space, as a pillow since there was no way in hell I was going to give US Airways $7 for a fucking pillow and blanket. WTF? What's next? Am I going to have to pay to pee? Because if that happens watch your local news for "Tonight at 6, Universal heavyweight champion poops himself on a plane and then sits in it for three hours with a smile."  I can always get a new pair of underwear at Wal Mart but the smell will last in the memories forever...and the seat!  

If you are wondering it is now 11:10 and we are still sitting here. Just sitting. Southwest Airlines is flying. I think I saw one of their flight attendants tell their customers that are on their ON TIME flight to shoot us the middle finger and laugh as they go by. I don't blame them. If Southwest flew to San Juan I would do on that flight.  I am sure they will one day but I will be fired way before that!

Wait we just moved...Nope, false alarm. My bad.

I can't even put this on my computer yet (well I guess I am doing it now) because we can't use the portable electronics till we are at 10,000 feet. Never understood that either.  So I am jotting everything down in my trusty notebook (remember from Corino Chronicles 18 that I always carry it).

I love this city, soft pretzels, cheesesteaks, and of course The Phillies but I hate this airport. In fact let me get my list out...there we go "Philadelphia International Airport" again.  Now PHL is on my list again.  If I had a dollar for everytime that a flight is late or canceled in and out of here I wouldn't need to wrestle. Its a shame I just can't drive to San Juan!

Now Captain Dipshit just came on the speaker to tell us that we are next in line to take off.  Next my ass. I asked Crusher Blackwell and Shiek Adnan El Kassey in 23A (come on folks, watch your old AWA on ESPN Classics.) and they both said that this was the first announcement.  Everyone has just been waiting...and waiting.

Holy shit burger we are taking off...nope. What the piss? Now we are number three again. If you ask me, I think they are giving us a bunch of number two if you know what I mean!

Wait, gotta pray for a second.

DEAR GOD, I HATE FLYING. LOVE, STEVE

Just in case he reads The Chronicles.

11:26AM and now we are in the air. Gee, lets hope we don't crash or I just spent almost half an hour bitching for nothing. At least if it is on the computer someone might be able to recover it. OK, I guess that part was in bad timing because of the plane crash off Brazil. But let's face it, I didn't know anyone on the flight and I can pretty much guarantee that none of them are a fan of mine so it is almost like I didn't say it.

So let's get to the reason I wanted to write today-the news.

Because I don't live in the Philadelphia area anymore I don't get to read my favorite newspaper, The Philadelphia Daily News. Sure I can read it online but for me there is still nothing like waking up in the morning and flipping through the paper with my coffee.

My love for the "People's Paper" goes back to 1989 when I was in high school and during the summers I would be tutored in English and Grammar by St. Pius X's Mr. Mattaliano.  Rob was a family friend and helped me get better grades in English. In fact, if it wasn't for him I would have never graduated.  But during the summers of '89 and '90 he would teach me through reading the Daily News. From him came my love for reading.

The Daily News is different from other papers in not just Philadelphia but other major cities because it is almost like the working man's paper. It doesn't hit you with a ton of "big" words and gets to the point quickly.  And its been probably two months or so since I bought one.  Once I got to the airport and started reading I knew I had the beginnings of The Corino Chronicles XIX (shit I better start learning how to do Roman numerals over 20 soon!) and since this is my website and column, I decided to go through the paper and give MY opinions on the news of the world.  Doesn't make it right or funny but in my mind it is both!

GAY MARRIAGE BILL IN PA
Corino's Headline: GAY MARRIAGE WILL HELP ECONOMY
While I am not a homosexual myself, I am not a homo-phobe.  Ricky Reyes might be both...My theory has always been that if two dudes want to get it on and they aren't hurting each other then why the hell do I care? In fact I hope they do. Wouldn't that potentially give heterosexual men better odds of snagging a girl? In my book yes. If men are 51% of the population and women are 49% and 10% of all dudes are gay then it is like the odds of getting a girl increased ten fold.  Think about that next time you see two guys kissing. In fact you should thank them and ask them to throw a good word in for you with the girl you like.  Girls love gays because they dress well and are nice to them.

Anyway, in 2009 why the piss are we even debating if gay people should get married? Because it is a "sin" in someone's bible? Come on now people.  I am not a religious person by any stretch of the imagination even though I hope there is a heaven because I have a pretty cool funeral planned out for myself (read Corino Chronicles XVIII) but the people that rally against gay marriage are not perfect. None of us are.  Plus have any of these people that are rallying against gay marriage ever been married? If's F'n misery. I have been married twice and I think I would rather stick a hot poker in my eye then do that again.  Anyone that has ever been married will tell you that once you are married that you become miserable and sex just about disappears.  You want to stop gay sex? Let them get married.

Now here is where it stimulates the economy.  With marriage comes what? Correct, DIVORCE.  Divorces cost money and people will spend money getting divorced.  Instead of using lawyers, the government should set up agencies for quickie divorces (hehe, I said stimulate and quickie in the same paragraph) where people are assigned to process no-fault divorce.  This creates jobs.

And you can even do it with marriages. Since the church isn't going to recognize the marriage anyway, the government can hire people to preside over marriages like a justice of the peace would.  Say 500,000 gay couples want to get married. That is potentially a million soon to be miserable people. But if you charge them $50 for their marriage license and $50 to get married you now have created $50 million in just marriages.  Divorces are messy and even no-fault divorces through the newspaper/Internet are going to cost you $250 plus.  Say 250,000 couples a year are getting divorced (figuring divorce rate would be 50%) you are looking at another $62.5 million.

Yep, your Universal heavyweight champion just created $112.5 million dollars in revenue for the economy just by allowing gay people to put a ring on their fingers.  And that doesn't even count the amount of rings, dresses (kidding), suits, DJ's, gifts, and other things that a good wedding (aka Welcome To The Nightmare) need and that would be spent.

This is a no-brainer.  

SOMETIMES, IT DOES TAKE A VILLAGE
Corino's Headline: Finally A Lawyer Speaks Like A Real Person

On page 21, Philadelphia attorney Christine Flowers wrote what is maybe a controversial piece about the neighborhood in Philadelphia who jumped on a "alleged" child rapist and beat him senseless until the police came and arrested him.  I say that "what is maybe a controversial piece" because there will be bleeding heart people that will talk about how it is un-American to be a vigilante, due process, the constitution, and all that bullshit.

Ms. Flowers (quick editors note: "Comfortably Numb" by Pink Floyd and Van Morrison just came on my iPod. Wow, what a song! And "The Departed" is a great movie) gingerly covers that but really hits some great points where she said that it is about time that neighborhoods stuck together instead of cowering.  This man raped an 11 year old girl. OK, he is innocent until proven guilty (blah blah) and even if he didn't she pointed out that this guy has a rap sheet of drugs, parole violations, and other things that make him a menace in that area. Maybe a good Four Horsemen style beatdown will show some of these criminals that people are fed up with being scared.  

I am sure she will get emails saying that she shouldn't have written this article because it is not politically correct but I applaud her for saying F.U. to political correctness and saying something real.  The bottom line is that there is an 11 year old girl that just lost her innocence and someone is responsible.  No one should have to go through that.  I always read that prisoners hate child rapists so I am look forward to what this man has in store for him while awaiting trial.  Isn't "eye for an eye" in the bible?

CRAIGSLIST UNDER SCRUTINY IN ANOTHER SEX CASE
Corino's Headline: Why The Shit Is This Getting More Coverage Then Alex's Lemonade Stand?

On page 27 there is a disturbing article about a North Carolina man that hired a man from Craigslist to rape his wife. The problem I have with this story, besides the total craziness of the story, is that on page 7 there is only a blurb on Alex's Lemonade Stand, that is trying to raise $10,000 in one day.

For those of you that don't what this is it is a tragic story of four year old Alexandra Scott, who sold lemonade in front of her house to raise money for childhood cancer research. Just thinking about this makes me sad.  Little Alex passed away at age eight in 2004 and people keep raising money in her honor.  THAT is a story that needs a whole page, not some sicko and his hired hitman that just ruined his wife's life.

Philly.com is trying to raise $10,000 on Monday with an event at LOVE Park in Philadelphia.  I know that in this economy it is hard to give but if you ever have an extra dollar that might be a good place to give it.

To me that is news.

ACTOR DAVID CARRADINE: A SUSPECTED SUICIDE
Corino's Headline: Why Was Carradine Naked?

While most deaths are not funny, some are. This one might be in the strange category.

72 year old actor David Carradine was found dead naked, hanging in the closest in Bangkok, Thailand...which leads to about a million more questions.

His management company said there is no way that he would have committed suicide but I am sure that you could pretty much say that about most people that commit suicide.  One of the reports I heard on the news yesterday said that his death may have been a lot of like the lead singer of INXS.  And if you graduated high school in the late 80's or early 90's, you know how that went.

My question is that if you are going to commit suicide why would you get naked?  And if it a accidental sexual death (and I am sure we have all had sexual injuries. A good buddy of mine tore up his knee during a one on one sexual match!) why is this guy still having sex at 72?  Yuck.

Ahhh, what a world.

TAYLOR HICKS IS TEEN ANGEL IN GREASE AT THE KIMMEL CENTER
Corino's Headline: Clay Aiken To Play Rocky Balboa In Rocky: The Broadway Show?

I don't get it. This guy was good on American Idol but why the heck is he going to ruin Teen Angel on Grease?  That is like casting me in the role of Batista.  Just doesn't look or sound right.  Not saying that neither one of us couldn't pull it off though!

SECRET SERVICE & MR. GREENGENES AT THE OCEAN DRIVE IN SEA ISLE CITY
Corino's Headline:  Ahhh, Memories Of The O.D

Sea Isle City is one of my favorite beach locations. I used to go there a lot when I was 19-22. Man, what a town to have fun and party.  Just ready that brought back memories of the O.D. and cheesesteaks at Phil's.  Now I have to remember that I am 36 and that the crowd down there would wonder why the old guy is jamming out to Secret Service!

But I love that these local groups like Secret Service, Mr. Greengenes, and Crystal Roxx are still around. They were around before I turned 21 and are still rockin the Northeast scene. They are like those hard working independent wrestlers that never get a shot at the big time but always give you a great show.

SPORTS
Corino's Headline: Baseball, Baseball, & Baseball
Since this is my column I can skip over the NBA Playoffs even though I was thinking of Dave Chappelle when I hear "Kobe". And they are still playing hockey? Well, I am boycotting hockey until the Winnipeg Jets are brought back so I don't care who comes away with Lord Stanley's big ass cup.

But baseball is my favorite sport and as long as baseball is on and Colby is happy, there is nothing wrong in the world...I love this new MLB Network. Baseball 24-7? Is there anything better? Sure, WWE 24/7 is a cool concept but they pretty much have ignored me and my contribution to the sport so screw them! Kidding Uncle Vince! (Call me, a male manager would be money. Someone start a Facebook petition. Hell, I would ignore it too.)

Instead of my mornings being filled with re-runs of Sports Center, where I have to sit through lame basketball, hockey, golf, and especially football news, I get my baseball fix. And at night time their 1st To 3rd Show is tremendous, especially with Mitch Williams. I love how he buries some of the players but then reminds everyone that he wasn't perfect either. He has great insight and humor that makes you enjoy the game and his analyzing more.

As of my writing, the Phillies are 32-20 and ahead of the Nazi's, I am sorry I meant Mets, by four games.  It's still too early for Max Capacity to book my Florida vacation but things are looking great.  If you know the Fightin Phils you know that they are a second half team, which is perfect because the is usually when the Mets start to choke.  It is only a matter of time before J-Roll (Jimmy Rollins) gets hot. Right now he is only hitting .229 but will pick it up and when he does this team could be unstoppable.
 
Add that to Cole Hamels finally feeling healthy, Antonio Bastardo (I love that name. Man, that bastard through a great game. Can you see the t-shirts now?) being brought up for the injured Brett Myers, Ryan Madson continuing to dominate like he did in the second half of last year, Raul Ibanez is just kicking major ass, and Chase Utley (the re-incarnation of Ryne Sandberg) is quietly hitting .298 with 12 HR and 36 RBI's already.  With all the focus on Ibanez, Hamels, and Howard I can see Chase with another .300/30/100 season.  And remember that he wasn't even supposed to start the season on time! But the question is, should the Phillies pick up another arm?

It is easy to say yes since Jake Peavy and Roy Oswalt are both out there and their teams want to dump that salary. But both don't seem to be a fit in Philly and have sold no-trade clauses. Peavy for me would be exposed in Philly or any of the newer parks. San Diego is a pitchers park and one of the last.  Plus I am not a believer in that the new stadiums are causing the ball to fly out. The hitters are better conditioned now then they ever have and with 30 teams you have a lower quality of pitching then you would if you had 24 teams.

Pedro Martinez, Paul Byrd, and now Tom Glavine are all out there.  Pedro is not a guy that I would put faith in. Byrd is hit or miss, and I still hate Glavine for using the Phillies before he signed with the Mets a few years back.  Of the three I think Glavine is a great pick because now he is pissed.  Being released by the Braves the way he was was classless and I hate that people will defend the team saying that they are preparing for the future. As of June 5, the Braves are 26-26 and six games out of first place. No where near dead.  And unlike when the Phillies released Steve Carlton in 1986 (which broke my heart), Glavine was on the comeback trail after pitching six scoreless innings in a rehab start.  I could see a rejuvenated Glavine signing with the Phillies and throwing some gems until Myers returns.  But my gut tells me that the Phillies need to give that bastard (hehe, I can't stop) Bastardo a fair chance.  Now we have a starting five of Hamels, Blanton, Moyer, Happ (at 4-0, 2.48 is doing great), and Bastardo. Not super impressive but if the back two can give us 10 wins and get the team into the sixth inning, then Romero and Madson can take over.

I don't know if anyone saw it but I was pretty shocked that MLB suspended A.J. Burnett for six games after throwing at a Texas Rangers hitter.  Its not that I was surprised he got suspended but that Vicente Padilla didn't.  He nailed Mark Teixeria twice but only got a fine.  I never like Padilla, even when he was a Phillie.  He is pretty much the starting pitcher on Steve Corino's All-Time Asshole Team.  Hmmm, lets see if I can fill in all the positions.

1B-Will Clark
2B-Joe Morgan
SS-Juan Bell
3B-Chipper Jones
OF-George Bell
OF-Manny Ramirez
OF-JD Drew
C-Tim McCarver
P-Vicente Padilla
CP-Billy Wagner

Wow, that was too easy.  My hatred for these guys vary. Most of it for no good reason.  Clark hitting like Babe Ruth in the NL Pennant against the Cubs in 1984, Joe Morgan for his continuing criticism of Ryne Sandberg, Juan Bell for wasting the Phillies money, Chipper because he is a dick, as the same for George Bell and Manny Ramirez. JD Drew might be number one on my list for not signing with the Phillies. McCarver because he was always a backup at best, Steve Carlton's bitch, and a guy that makes me want to kick the TV when he is talking. Padilla for the above, and Billy Wagner for leaving the Phillies and talking bad about them. Well at least we got Brad Lidge...oh yeah and a WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP!

That was fun. If you have a All-Asshole Team send it over to me at Steve@CorinoWrestling.com or post it on my message forum at wrestling-radio.com.

Well until next time...I am Steve Corino and my bladder is full!

It Sucks Getting Old

 

Once again the laziness bug hit me as I had originally planned to sit down and write about two weeks ago but I would just end up jotting stuff down, but never put it together. I am one of those people that have a notebook with me at all times and if the book has 70 pages to it, I have about 15,000 different things written in it. And sometimes with no rhyme or reason. Stuff to do, ideas to pitch (and be shot down with), little quirks for this Chronicle, or anything that just comes to my mind. But now I have Pandora on, some Kiss playing, and its time to write.

 

Last Friday, I “celebrated” my 36^th birthday. Jeez, that even looks old when I write it!  I put celebrated in quotes because everyone else can celebrate it. Haha. Me? I just say “Oh hell, another year and I still haven’t grown up.”  I want to thank everyone that sent me birthday wishes on Facebook. It is nice to know that people care sometimes and it was nice to read some of the personal wishes from people I haven’t heard from in a long time.

 

I also got a chance to speak with a fellow May 29er, Brian Kendrick. Me and Spanky have always been good friends but sometimes due to our schedules you lose contact with each other so it was so cool to hear from him on our shared birthday.  Although former Cincinnati Reds star and May 29 Club Member Eric Davis did not call either one of us!

 

When I last left you, I had apologized to some of the fans that were offended by what the “Gringo Mafia” (like that? Just made it up.) did as payback for the disrespect shown to the wrestlers, the office, the sport, and the Island.  That is what is called pro-wrestling justice and justice was served. What I had apologized for was to the people that were a little taken back that things like this actually happen.  Pro-Wrestling is a different world that gets attacked a lot. Most times it is justified by bad decision made by bad people. But when someone is wrong they need to be called on it. What was a little confusing to me that some of the Internet fans in Puerto Rico were critical of things they have no idea about. Is it that they just hate WWC, Carlos Colon, and/or me? Or do they not want their sport that obviously they follow on a message forum defended? Or worse yet, their island?  Most Puerto Rico pro-wrestlers, fans, and people I have met have a certain pride. Much like the Japanese. Almost a fighting spirit of sorts. While 95 to 97% of the emails I got were positive and thankful that we defended pro-wrestling and Puerto Rico, there were a few that just wanted to justify.  You should have seen the emails from the Aussie wrestlers and fans that applauded that someone actually stood up.  I was amazed.  I figured if there would be any backlash it would be from there.  Bottom line is that don’t come here, screw up, and then blame everyone else especially when you know from the get go how it works.  If you get screwed then complain. But if you are shown hospitality by a vast array of people, show disrespect, and lie about then there is backlash.  No one is perfect. Just take responsibility for your mistakes.

 

While we are on consequences visit CW Anderson’s blog at CWAnderson.LiveJournal.com as he explains to fans what happened between him and NWA Charlotte. I think what fans don’t realize is that most wrestlers don’t shoot first, the let someone else shoot their mouth off. The guy had no right to bury CW, who is worth so much more then works for anyway and I have always told him that, and my sister Allison Danger. 

 

Mac and I finally got cable in our room. I say finally because those bastards Reyes and Idol have this awesome selection of channels and we have always just had TBS and USA (plus all the Spanish speaking stations. I don’t speak Spanish!). So for weeks I was asking the apartment manager to turn it on for us because you can only watch so much Tyler Perry’s House of Pain (I just don’t get it). So after we get our channels what do we end up doing? Yep, watching TBS and USA all the time! And if you are shaking your head and thinking we are idiots, you are correct!

 

On our days off, Mac likes to take an afternoon nap, which means one thing: PS2 time!  I think I wrote a few blogs ago about “accidentally” erasing my memory card where I was holding an awesome 6-19 record.  In my new season, things are better but (12-10 as of today) and ½ game out of 1^st place but a funny thing happened.

 

I am sure I am not the only person that does this but every year I do create myself to play. This year it was a little tougher. I had to get a Class AA player and edit him around to be me. Now, I don’t put myself in as an everyday player but I am a backup shortstop, occasional pinch hitter, and Sunday starter (hey, guys need a rest every once in a while). I don’t jack up my skills (ok, a little) but it is funny to see what a 36 year old, six foot two inch, 244 pound planner with excellent speed looks like!

 

So…it’s Saturday night and we are wrestling Cagaus. Mac and I always ride with Mr. and Mrs. X, who are two of the nicest people in the world. Mr. X has become like a brother to me and Mac and has improved so much in the ring and his body since I first met him last year. Both of us push for him to be given a chance every week, not just because he is our brother, but because he deserves the break. But anyway, we are waiting on him and I am trying to finish up the Marlins. It is 4-2 in the top of the 9^th when Brad Lidge blows a save for me as Mr. X walks in. Now it is 4-4 and I have to leave and go to work.  I go to Cagaus, had a really good match with Angel even in the rain, and then I can’t wait to get back to the apartment for extra innings.  Yep, I am excited for a damn video game that I play by myself.  So I get back and A-hole Reyes comes to the room to hang out. I say A-hole with a lot of love though!  OK, back to my story (it is my Chronicles! Hahaha). It becomes the top of the 13^th inning and Jimmy Rollins goes left when he should have gone right and I got hot. I mean totally pissed off. Now I know what you are thinking: You control him. That is true but when you are fighting for first place and into the game you lose a little grip on real reality (note to some wrestling fans: Do the same. Makes it a lot more fun). So as Mac and Reyes are talking (or kissing, I had my back to them) I decide to pull Rollins right out of the game and put “Steven Corino” in there as a defensive replacement.  Ryan Madison gets me (Steve Corino the person, not Steven Corino the imaginary ballplayer) out of the inning and its time for the top of the 14^th. “Steven Corino” is up second in the inning and lines one up the middle. Remember I said for being 6-2/244 I have awesome speed. Well, in the game that is. I steal second easily!  A big fist pop and shit talking (to the TV) while Reyes and Mac continued kissing, then it happens. The screen goes to ol #3 lying on the dirt holding his knee. I tried to stay quiet because I knew they would have made fun of me but they were on me like me on a bowl of Fruity Pebbles! Not only was I out of the game, but after the game (I won by the way) I checked the disabled list and my character is out for the rest of the F’ing year! Torn ACL!  That, of course, got a big pop out of those two.

 

Speaking of baseball, this year is a lot of fun. While I have been back in Pennsylvania I have been glued to the MLB Network. And the Phillies and Mets are making it super interesting in the NL East and it’s only the beginning of June!  And if there is any lingering questions of weather Raul Ibanez was a good pick up and letting Pat Burrell walk as a free agent, I think we have our answer. As of June 2, Pat The Bat was hitting .250 with 1 HR and only 17 RBI’s where as Ibanez is hitting .340 with 19 HR and 51 RBI’s. WOW, this guy is good.  Go Phillies!!!!!!

 

Don’t ask (because I don’t know either) how this came up but have you ever planned out your funeral? Of course you won’t be there to see it but sometimes I joke around with people of what I want at my funeral. First off, bag pipes playing “Amazing Grace”. I am neither Scottish nor religious but it’s a nice way to go out. Then Mac will do my eulogy where he will announce that my biggest regret in life was that I didn’t learn how to play the piano and sing, in his best Will Ferrell/Old School, Chicago’s “Colour My World”.  Now that is a party!

 

If you are a regular visitor to CorinoWrestling.com you will notice that I am starting to make it more of a Corino Family wrestling site dedicated to not just me, but my sister Allison Danger, brother-in-law Ares, and son Colby.  While Colby dabbles with some pro-wrestling exhibitions, he likes to concentrate on amateur wrestling. So expect a lot of updates on him this winter. I have already added A-Danger’s blog “Dangerous Thoughts” that she posts on her MySpace account (www.MySpace.com/AllisonDanger).  I will also have upcoming dates for all of us, results, and news so make sure you visit regularly.  And if you have suggestions please feel free to email them to me at Steve@CorinoWrestling.com. Or if you are a banner maker (I really don’t know what they are called to be honest) and would like to make some banners with the four of us on there please feel free to email them over. I would love to see them. The one that is on CorinoWrestling.com was made by an awesome guy in Germany.

 

After this years WWC Anniversary show I am going to take a tour of Germany and Australia and return to the Island. I think once people didn’t see “WWC” listed on the website after July 11 they figured I was leaving and assume that I am just going to drop the title to BJ at the big show.  Please don’t assume that. I am not going anywhere or plan on losing the title. Not to sound like I am marking out for myself (even though I am writing on MY website so I can see where you would think that) but even if I did lose to BJ there are a million title shots that I would get.  I do like to get off the Island every few weeks to take a quick breather (which we will get into in a second) and also so that fans of WWC don’t get too sick of me.  WWC and IWA are two of the last real places that run weekly so it is easy to get sick of a wrestler if he is there every time you turn around. I know for me I am tired of seeing referee Angel! Haha.

 

I write this because it seems that someone reported to Mike Johnson of PWInsider (I don’t think he printed it. I like Mike but not the owner of his site so I refrain and ask someone else to check it out! Haha.) that I had no-showed last weekend’s shows and then I also got a few emails that asked if I had quit WWC. Nothing can be further from the truth. I was planning on taking a few days off so that I could come home to hang out with my son and do the B4W show on the 31^st. I then asked the office if I could actually take the whole week off and they said yes but TV was already done. And if you know WWC, they do not announce to the Internet if something changes and there was no way to change it on TV so I ended up doing a promo for a match vs. Ray Gonzalez and then went home. I wish it could have been a juicier story but that is the truth. I am back this weekend and ready for action.

 

Speaking of B4W, I had a great time going back last Sunday.  I really wish we could draw more fans because they are missing out on some really good young wrestlers busting their ass.  My match with Alex Anthony was very good and I look forward to seeing it online.  But we have a bunch of young talent and I think if fans gave it a chance they would enjoy it. Please visit www.B4WPro.com and check it out. Come out to one of our shows and if you don’t like it, cool but I think you will. As some of you know B4W and my 3KWrestling combined at the end of 2008 and even though I can not get there for every show, everyone is trying their best. We have some great fans and being back in Morganville, NJ is perfect for the company.  Plus you add vets like King Kaluha, Greg Spitz, Kid America, and Mark Mest to this young roster and it is a fun way to spend an evening out.

 

The night before I got to go to a sketch comedy show for the first time in my life. I have always been a big fan of Saturday Night Live, Chappelle Show, and other things of that nature but never got to see one up close. Wow, what a blast. We went to a bar called O’Neal’s Pub near South Street in Philadelphia. It was a small room with a packed house of about 30 people and for over two hours these actors put on a hilarious show.  Each sketch was four or five minutes and they just kept coming out. Imagine an indy pro-wrestling show that you enjoy and put it with comedy now. That is exactly what me and Mike Kehner were comparing it too. These actors were doing their best to make us laugh, get experience, and one day hope to get their break.  My favorite was Den Mahoney. Even though I know him now didn’t make me bias.  He just has a way of entertaining that kept us in stitches.  Visit www.ComicEnergy.com to see what you are missing. It’s a lot of fun!

 

Before I go I got to read Taz’s blog recently where he talks about meeting fans and how they mentioned that he isn’t as “grumpy” (I think that was the word) as his rep.  I got to be around Taz for a year before he left ECW for the WWF in 1999 and he was a great guy.  He really respected the sport of wrestling and he demanded respect from the younger guys, which we always gave him. He was not easy on me but he taught me so much and everything he did and it didn’t matter if it was in the locker room or in the ring looked legit. I have a ton of respect for Taz.  He is a guy that should be getting booked for seminars. A lot of young guys would learn a shitload from him.

 

Well it’s about to rain here in Philly which means my plane will be delayed because for some reason Philadelphia International likes to use flight time as a guide not a schedule!  Back to the Island and I hope it doesn’t rain.

For me, its beach time and Isle Verde is missing a whale and that whale is me!!!

The Corino Chronicles XVI: What Makes A Person Tick?

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April 20/09
A question just popped into my mind a few days ago. Can you really start over?  Or is life just a continous journey of new beginnings? But maybe the question I am searching for is Why?

I try to tell myself that bad decisions I have made in my past have made me stronger but that might just be a cop-out. Am I stronger? As I approach my 36th birthday next month, am I really happy with where I am in life?  I guess the truthful answer would be yes and no.

For 15 years I have been doing something I love.  The industry that I have luckily been a part for over a decade and a half owes me nothing, but am I a success?  Was the path that I chose the right one?  For me, yes.  Unfortunitely for me, I never got into this sport for the riches and that might have been the wrong move.  Because like many Americans, I have a mound of debt that seems almost impossible to chip away at.  Like many before me, I have been through two failed marriages and face the real possibility of a life alone.  And like my heroes that I watched as a child, I have tried to give my 100% best EVERY single night even when I am injured more then people will ever know.

Since 1994 somehow I have survived.  It's not easy mind you. Being away from my son for weeks at a time is the hardest thing in the entire world.  I know that it is not fair to him either and he, in his way too mature way, continues to tell me that this is who I am and what I have to do to survive.  Why is an almost 13 year old strong enough to handle distance but not his almost 36 year old father?
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Flying home, or what was home but I guess we should just say Philadelphia, I finally caught "The Wrestler". Its a movie that a lot of the boys have mixed feelings about but for me it was amazing.  Amazing but sad because its as real as it gets sometimes for guys in our business including myself.  The story was written so well and I thought Mickey Rourke played it perfectly.  In my opinion he was a good hearted guy that made a lot of bad decisions resulting in how he ended up.  I can't tell you that I made some of the decisions that "Randy The Ram" made but I definitely felt what he felt.  Not just him being a guy on top and then being the "old guy" trying to hang on but refusing to listen to doctors and getting back in the ring because that is what you are: A Wrestler.

Necro Butcher came out exactly the way he is; just a totally cool guy in the locker room to a crazed maniac in the ring that will do anything to his body to make sure that fans are entertained.

Ernest Miller was the perfect old school heel. A guy that didn't want to make the match in the locker room but make it in front of the people where he could feed off and the most important part of the match-the fans.

I was very concerned at first when I read that this film was being made because professional wrestling didn't need any more bad exposure but the writer, director, producers, Mickey, and the wrestlers that acted in the movie made me proud to be a wrestler.  Sure, people might know some of the secrets but that just makes our job more challenging.  And isn't being challenged a way to get better? Yes.

And I even saw the "legendary" Green Latern Fan in the movie.  Did he ever post what was the finish and time of the match? Hehe, it never gets old.  God bless the GLF.  Someone has to. Jeez, I can't stop.
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As most people in the Philadelphia area and sports world read about was the death of Philadelphia Phillies play by play man Harry Kalas. I can't tell you the sadness that overcame me when I read the news.  Did I know Harry personally? Of course not, but ever since my father introduced baseball into my life when I was five years old, Harry Kalas was there.  

Every February my first inkling that spring was coming was when Harry The K would be calling exhibition games.  It was a constant every year. A sign that winter was almost over and that anything could happen during the baseball season.  A voice of mine and thousands of Phillies fans' youth. And now it is gone.

In a perfect scene in a ever continuing chapter "Field Of Dreams", Harry will be up in baseball heaven calling games with his pal Richie Ashburn.  I am just glad that Harry got to see the Phillies win the World Series one last time in 2008. Watching the game online in Tokyo and instant messaging with my sister, Allison Danger, Harry's call of Brad Lidge's last pitch will be something I will never forget.  Or his 500 Home Run call of Michael Jack Schmidt (thanks to Harry I can never just call him Mike Schmidt), or after a Steve Carlton pitch "Struck him oooout", everything that came out of Harry Kalas' mouth was gold.

Thank you Harry Kalas for the memories.
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April 26/09
"Ohhh What A Night" might be playing on my United flight back from Germany but its more like "ohhh what a long day!" after another chapter in the "Airline Misadvantures Of Steve Corino".  Heck I think I could write a book on the way things go wrong at the airport or on the flight.  Today wasn't the airlines representive's fault, but to be honest there has to be a better system.

When I had to cancel my appearances in Finland and Germany last week, I was still allowed to make yesterday's (AWESOME) event in Giessen, Germany for GSW (more on that later too).  But when GSW officials re-did my airline ticket the earliest they could book was a 5pm ticket to Washington, DC and then connect, arriving in Philadelphia somewhere around 11:30pm.  Kinda sucks but it wasn't GSW's fault.

I decided that I would take my chances and go to the Frankfurt airport with CW, the Machine Guns, Wonderful Willie Apter, and Abyss at 8:30am and try and work some magic to see if I could go stand-by on three of the earlier flights.  When I went to the counter the lady said that there was plenty of room on the 11am BUT it would be a $250USD charge...WHAT??? This is what I don't get about the airlines.  You already have a ticket and even though that there is room on an earlier flight they want to charge you almost 1/2 of what the original ticket cost.  And then they make it look like its your fault that you even asked.  What kind of charge is next for these airlines? A "courtesy charge", where you have to pay $5 for every smile a flight attendent gives you?  Or maybe even a bathroom charge?  Gotta pee? $5 please. It is getting worse and worse.  Only a few years ago if there was a seat you could get in, if you had a bag you could check it in, and security wasn't a long line with 25 TSA agents telling you to strip to your underwear to get to your plane.  security. None of which look like they could stop a six year old if he ran through Flying has become the most miserable form of travel and gets worse with every day. In fact I just got a email from USAirways saying that you "can" purchase online your baggage tags instead of buying them at the airport because they are going to charge an extra $5 if you pay cash at the aiport. When is this going to end? And what makes even sicker about it is that Southwest Airlines is the cheapest faired airline in the US and they have NO baggage charges...Or stand-by charges...or penalities for changing your ticket. Oh yeah did I mention that Southwest has the nicest staff?  You don't feel like a criminal when you order a ticket from them. Gee I wish they would come to San Juan airport.

So after I got shut out at the ticket counter (I was not going to pay $250 to get home eight hours earlier) and have 8 freaking hours till I take off,  I end up trying to find a wireless internet connection.  I figure at least I can screw around online, update CorinoWrestling.com, see what happened in Puerto Rico and Japan this weekend, and hope that the Phillies are at .500 again.  Only connection I can find is a T-Mobile connection.  I think that it might be 10-12EUR for the day.  Nope. How about either 8EUR for one hour or 29EUR for a whole month. Nothing in between.  What a freaking ripoff. Not even Starbucks had a internet connection.  So after walking around about twenty minutes, I finally find a place to sit and relax.  I end up sleeping for about five hours and go back to the ticket counter to check in since you can not check in unless it is three hours before the flight (another stupid, I mean STUPID policy).  I get there and the lady sees that I am tired says "Why didn't you go on an earlier flight?" and I say "Because I am not in the position to spend an extra $250 to go earlier and sit in economy."  I thought I would be funny by saying the economy part but then she kills me with "Oh, I could have waived the charge for you sir."  WHAT?  Once again it is proved that these ticket agents have the power to do whatever the hell they want with your ticket. Obviously the first women didn't want to deal changing my ticket and shoed me off.

Now I am about 20 minutes away from Washington DC, where I will have a two and a half hour layover.  Yep, the same amount of time it would take me to drive to Philadelphia!  God, I hate flying.  If I could swim to PR this week I would.

Ahh, too good to be true!  After an easy time through immigration and customs I head over to my gate and hang out for the duration of the layover. All is well until it is time to board. As the first person is about to board there is that phone call you dread hearing. The crew had to be changed and it would be a half hour delay...why now? Why was this crew OK until person number one was about to board?  So a 1/2 hour is not too bad, or so I thought.  The new crew would be coming in "any moment" and I would land in Philly at 11:45pm. Late, but what do I expect out of these airlines?  Half hour goes by, then 45 minutes, and then finally an announcement that the crew we s actually coming in from Richmond and the flight would take off at 12 midnight.  So now I have been in Washington DC for 4 1/2  hours. Did I mention that it takes 2 1/2 hours to drive?

The worst thing about these airlines is they have stopped apologizing for the mishaps and make it look like it is just something we have to deal with.  A little courtesy goes a long way.
----------------------------------------------------
Well, I am done complaining about the airlines.  This past weekend was a lot of fun traveling to Germany for GSW.  Originally I was supposed to be one a 10 day trip to Europe with stops in Finland and Germany one weekend and then GSW the next weekend. As I announced on CorinoWrestling.com I had to cancel my appearances with FCF and VDB to stay in Puerto Rico to defend the WWC Universal title against BJ.  It ended up being a blessing in disguise as I would have had to stay in Europe for five days with nothing to do and instead I got to go back to Philadelphia to finish packing up my apartment.

Then Thursday night I took off for Frankfurt. It was an easy flight but the movie selection was pretty limited. I did watch Marley & Me.  I never got a chance to read the book but the thought of the worlds worst dog was not something I was interested in but beggers can't be choosers.  The dog was awful and it was sad when the dog died but I couldn't help thinking that Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston's characters had the patience of saints. I would have thrown the dog out the moment that he tore up my sofa! But I was choked up when the dog died.

When I got to Frankfurt I walked over to the next terminal where I met the GSW promoter and we waited a few minutes for "The General" CW Anderson, who looks great.  If you haven't seen the body transformation of CW I recommend you to go over to CWAnderson.LiveJournal.com and see the pictures. He hasn't looked that good in years. And he looks happy too, which is the most important.

We chatted for a moment and headed over to meet up with the Motor City Machine Guns (God, me and CW would have some awesome matches with them!), Abyss, and my main man "Wonderful Willie" Bill Apter.  

To speak about Bill for a moment and to give you an example of what an awful friend I am, Bill and I have lived 35 minutes from each other for fifteen years but we only see each other on International tours!  More on Wonderful Willie in a bit.

I didn't get any sleep on the plane so all I wanted to do was get to the room, throw my shit down, grab some McDonalds (oh yeah, the Extreme Horsemen will find a Mickey D's almost anywhere), and get some sleep.  Plus CW had a new Ron White DVD that we had to check out (and you guys should too, funny stuff).

Within minutes we find a McDonalds.  We were lucky that most people in Germany speak English because my German is worse then my Spanish, which consists of about four curse words (note: Don't say any of them to Victor Jovica. He doesn't like it...at all). As I was about to order this guy steps in line right in front of me.  I don't care what country you are in but butting is not allowed! I tapped him on the shoulder and in my meanest face said "back" popping CW.  Gee, what did this guy think?  Some people.

The next day started with a seminar that I held for a few young wrestlers.  I am sure that most guys that do seminars will tell you that there's is the best but I have done mine in not just the US but Canada, England, Finland, Australia, and Germany.  I highly recommend it to young wrestlers and also "smart mark" fans.

For me it was going to be an "easy" day. I was going to be the color man to Bill Apter's play by play of the GSW action.  Being around Bill is like being around a legend. I grew up reading Bill's columns in Pro Wrestling Illustrated, The Wrestler, and Inside Wrestling religiously. He was an extra teacher for me. When I met him for the first time in 1995 I was awestruck because for me he was Shakespeare.  Over the years we have become friends and he is just a great guy to be around. Not just for me, but anyone that comes into contact with him. He always has a ton of jokes and treats everyone the same.  It doesn't matter if you are Hulk Hogan or a German hotel desk clerk, Bill is just one of the most geniune people you can meet.  And he puts up with all my mark questions! Boy do I have a bunch.  I would love to just sit down with him and a tape recorder and ask questions.  He has a story for every story and you are just glued to him.  Many wrestlers do shoot interviews but Bill Apter has seen it all. I would love to see someone take the time to film his 42 years of wrestling.

This GSW show was the best I have ever seen since I started working for them in 2004.  From the first match to the last the crowd was super hot. In fact if you get the DVD (I think RFVideo.com will stock it) get it with the English commentary because you can hear the fun we are having calling the matches.  From CW Anderson-John Kay to the 8 man scramble, Elijah (who became my favorite heel that night)-Doug Williams, the girls (more on that in a second), the tag title match, the Hardcore match with my old rival Absolute Andy, and then the main event which saw the crowd go from 95/5 for Kovac to almost 50/50 in 25 minutes was great.

My favorite match of the night had to be the women's match between Wesna and Blue Nikita (and that is not saying I didn't like any of the matches because they were all great) but this was just something crazy and special.  I have known Wesna for years and she is up there on my list of the best women wrestlers in the world right behind Amazing Kong and in front of my sister Allison Danger (sorry kiddo, but know I am not your favorite guy wrestler either! LOL).  This was my first chance to see Blue Nikita in person and she impressed me with her skills and ability to take punishment.  These were no divas and rightfully so. These were fighters that gave each person their monies worth just on their match alone.  God I wish we had foreign girls like this in Puerto Rico...which will lead me to my final story of the Chronicles.
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I would like to preface this part with I am not perfect in any way. I have made a ton of mistakes in life and wrestling but I have always held a certain amount of respect for people and this sport itself.  When someone tries to disrespect chances they are GIVEN, then I feel the need to strike back.  But this time it is not me just striking back. This next story is for not only WWC and Carlos Colon, but Mr. Mac, Idol Stevens, and Ricky Reyes.

The following story is a TRUE account of Sara Jay-Evans' trip to Puerto Rico.

I met a 16 year old Sara Jay during my first trip of Australia in 2003. She seemed like a nice girl who really wanted to learn about pro-wrestling.  She wasn't good but tried hard and I would take that anyday of the week over someone he is good but thinks they are the best. Over the last six years we kept in touch and she expressed that she would love to wrestle in Puerto Rico.  At the time Carlos Colon was looking for a "diva like" girl to wrestle against our regular girls Killer Kat and Sweet Nancy.  

I forwarded her pictures to the WWC office and they liked what they saw.  She was told the deal and she agreed to come to Puerto Rico on April 1 for eight weeks.  She seemed excited and I was glad that she got booked.

Before she came I made sure that she had everyone's number at our apartments since I was going to be on the mainland wrestling for Platnium Pro Wrestling with Colby.  She even was going to get a few days to relax since WWC does not run on WrestleMania weekend.  I never expected her to make a mess right away.

Chuck (Mac), Idol, and Reyes are three of the coolest and nicest guys you want to meet. They will do anything for anyone UNTIL someone crosses them.  Sara seemed to cross them right off the bat.

Sara arrived at the apartments and was told that she would be staying in me and Mac's room until other arrangements were made.  Since the office pays for the rooms it is up to them where you stay. When I arrived in 1997 I stayed in the same room with Ricky Santana, Shane Sewell, and Val Venis.  Four beds in one room.

Almost immediately I was getting texts from the boys telling me that she did not look like what she did in the pictures and that all she did was talk about herself.  That gets old quick, especially when we just got rid of Charles Evans.  Remember the name Evans.

Then it was little things that turned quickly into bigger things.  Not saying thank you, bragging about how over she is in Australia even though SHE flies herself everywhere not the promoters, and that (and I quote all three guys) she is only the third wrestler in Australia to have a "Best Of" DVD.  Shit in the US, everyone has a Best Of.  Then Mac started noticing that our toilet paper was starting to go missing. We usually buy a four pack a month because number two's are for the resturant, not a small studio apartment.  What the hell was she doing with the toilet paper? The boys speculated stuffing.  Funny.  Did I mention that my quarters for the laundry went missing?  And that she would leave the door unlocked?

The Tuesday before I am supposed to get back I talked to Carlos and asked what we were going to do with Sara since we have two beds and I am not sleeping with anyone that isn't my girl!  Carlos said that the office was not going to get a third room and that she would have to room with one of us on a roll-a-way or blow up mattress.  I know Idol has been on Smackdown and Reyes just got paroled from rooming with Charles Evans, but I had to pull the vet card and say "Upstairs you go".

Now this whole time that she has been there Mac has repeatedly told her to go to the hardware store and spend $2 to get keys made. He said that she went one day and came back complaining that she didn't see where it was.  Then he told her she should get a pre-paid mobile phone at the Walgreens, that is 150 yards from the apartment so she can keep up with everyone.  She couldn't do that either.  She told the boys that she couldn't find any.  When I got back to the island I walked in and it took me exactly four seconds to find the phone.  So she has no key or no phone.  Did I mention that all she did was talk about herself?  I am getting it from all three of them because she would not be considerate.  Mac even bought her dinner at our Denny's and she never said thank you.  

Another thing that pissed everyone off was her continuing correction to everyone her name.  No, not the porn star Sara Jay but her real name Simone. Now say it. Sounds like Simone right? Well, she told the boys it was Simone.  Do you get the pattern here?

Mac told Simone..Simone...come on say it right people, Simone that she needed to get a airmatress because she was going to live with Reyes and Idol. She was given three days notice.  In those three days she didn't get a phone, key, or bed.  All of which could have cost less then $25.  Its gets better...

So I arrive late at night on a Friday and go to my room where Mac and Idol are watching a movie, as we usually do.  I notice that there is a "asleep" Sara Jay on half my bed. Now mind you, the TV is loud and I slammed the door and she didn't sell it a bit. Mac said right away that she was faking sleep because she had yet to go and get an air matress, which was on sale at Walgreens for $9.99 and he figured I would just try and be the nice guy and let her sleep in my bed.  I don't think so.  I decide to be nice and we give her a little extra time to "wake up" and go up to room 420 as we planned on going to Denny's.  We get back and she is still in her hibernation. I say hibernation because we were loud enough to wake up the whole floor!

Finally after saying her name loudly (I can't say Simone) three times I kick the bed and tell her that she needs to go upstairs.  She throws a little kid fit like she was told she can't have candy and walked out to go upstairs.  Reyes was not a happy camper.  These were the last almost English Sara Jay said to me.  Not thank you, not I hate it here, not the guys are dicks, or not what did I do wrong.  She should have said one and four.  She then goes up their room and there is no bed to sleep on.  Idol, who is already asleep and 6'4" is unaware of what is going on.  Reyes, who is super cool until he become angry is now angry.  He tells her that he doesn't care where she sleeps.  She starts on the floor near the guys but as Idol found out at 3am when he went to take his nightly mid-sleep shit, that she was camped on the bathroom floor. She same floor that that gets pissed on when they miss the toilet.  She startled Idol, who thought a 5' cockroach came out of the toilet.  Idol, a real nice guy, decides to pinch and hold it till morning which is dangerous when you eat as much protein as he does.  He could have seriously contracted mudbutt.  Painful and dirty.

Saturday comes.  Although the boys were ready to drown her in the ocean we all decided to give her a chance when it came to her match.  We had a great house in Bayamon and for some reason it was decided that Sara Jay would beat Killer Kat in her debut to win the WWC Women's title.  She has yet at belltime to even introduce herself to Carlos Colon and Victor Jovica.  How do I know this? Because I was the one that took shit for it.  She didn't say hi to Orlando Colon (why would you?) or true superstar in our locker room Ray Gonzalez (why would you? Do you get the sarcasm?) or pretty much anyone else.  Sara quickly went from a girl that half the locker room was planning on trying to bang to a girl that didn't look like her pictures!

Match time: Now Killer Kat is not the best wrestler in the world. But she is a great girl with a big heart and tries her best.  Like I said before I would rather have 100 Killer Kats then 1 Charles Evans.  Kat right away knew that this match was going to shit the bed and it did. Now, Sara's enterance music was good and then the bell rang.  The over 1300 Bayamonians (like that?) went from thinking that the porn star Sara Jay was entering to laughing because as some of them put it, she looked like a 12 year old girl.  A little rough, but truthful.

The match was so bad that even CGI was not going to be able to fix it enough to play on TV.  Moreso, her ring name became a bit of controversy.  You see the WWC is on televison at noon on Saturday and Sunday and they have sponsors that they need to make happy. One of them, who are friends with me and Chuck, asked why we were promoting a porn star.  Her name needed to be changed.  And it was an easy switch since she had more heat then the glory days of one Charles The Hammer Evans.  Not the heat in the ring, you know the good type, but heat with the locker room for having a "Diva like attitude".  She was then christened "Sara Jay-Evans"...oh, it gets better.

Saturday night, no bed. Sleeps at Denny's where she put herself over on MySpace all night.

Sunday comes and Idol, once again being the nice guy, lets her sleep on his bed while he went to the beach.  She tells Reyes that because Killer Kat in not on the Sunday show she is not going.  This makes one little muscular brown man turn red with anger. And you don't want to see Reyes mad (or drunk for that matter, type Rick Noon into Youtube).  Reyes goes off on her because she is not only making her own schedule, she has yet to get a bed, key, or phone.  In the immortal words of Dave Chappelle "Sara Jay is fuckin' up"...and it gets better.

She has yet to ask anyone for a ride to the show.  On most show days Reyes and Idol go in one car and me and Mac usually go with Mr. X and his wife, Mrs. X.  This day we were riding with another co-worker and Sara is almost left without a ride because of her attitude.  As me and Mac are getting ready we get a text simply saying "You Missed It", we knew something was up.  Once we get down in the lobby Idol tells us that Sara just went off on Reyes.  Did I mention that Reyes is a vet and worked the Tokyo Dome? Something that Sara probably doesn't even know exists.  Reyes kept his cool even though I am sure he wanted to give her that that Brainbuster he has been killing Jr. heavyweights since January.

We get to the show, which is a good two and a half hour ride.  Idol, who's spot in car #1 was taken, rode with us even though he offered to go in car #1 which prompted a quick "Don't be stupid Idol" from me!  This girl has yet to say thank you, fuck you, or anything to me. She is not going in our car. I'm Calvin round here!!!  She is not scheduled for a match but Sweet Nancy is in the building so me and Rico get Carlos to add Sweet Nancy (who like Reyes, has an angry streak and already felt disrespected) vs. Sara Jay-Evans in a non-title match. More like a non-title beating.  Nancy beat the piss out of her for five good and enjoyable (for the boys) minutes, pinning her brutally.  Nancy proved her point but Sara goes to Idol and says that Nancy is green but not to worry because she was green once too.  This boogles the mind of Idol, who can't wait to tell us.  Isn't it usually the green wrestler gets beat up? Thought so too.

At this point we all start to bet when she will leave. Quickly we find out that Carlos has fired her.  After two shows. I think its a record.  But she doesn't sell this to anyone, well because she doesn't talk to anyone.  The next Friday and Saturday come and go and she has two more stinkers.  The night she is supposed to drop the title she somehow "forgets" to pack the Women's title and Idol catches on and tells her to put it in her bag.  Speculation she was going to pull a "Noreiga" and steal the title belt.

That Saturday morning, Ricky Reyes declares war.  As I write I this Reyes is giving me his account of what he did.  First he brushed his smooth as eggs balls (aka Honey dick) with her toothbrush, then pissed in her boots (DAT MY BOOT?), then dumped out her shampoo and pissed in that too (Idol, always a quick one said that her shampoo was enriched with vitamins A, C, & P!!!), and then put salt in her protein. Reminder to me, don't piss off Reyes.

Sunday comes and we are back in the same town that she took a beating from Nancy the week before.  As me and Mac leave the "gringo office" aka Denny's we notice Miss Evans still on her laptop.  We leave with Mr. & Mrs. X at three and notice in car #1 that there was no Sara in the car.  She ended up not coming out in time and they left her.  How the piss can you miss a call time?  Did she expect everyone to wait hand and foot on her?  I guess they did.  Boy was she wrong.

Now if you have followed this long winded story you would have figured out that she STILL has not gotten a key, phone, or bed. Besides the mouth hug that she gave one of the Jr.'s she has had NO interaction with any of the boys.  Although that boy did say she had a very nice Australian porno mouth. I don't know what that means but it makes me snicker.

In our apartment they lock the door on the weekends and this dipshit is now stuck.  She gets in the lobby but can't get in the room because well, she wasn't responsible enough to get a key...She can't call because she didn't get a phone, and now she is no-showing her final appearance.  Not good.

When we all get back we fully expect that her and Reyes are going to fistfight.  But instead she BROKE down the door and left a note on Idol's half plate that he funnels his protein with more spelling mistakes then this Chronicle.  But I have gotten hit in the head alot and well its my Chronicles!  She then somehow got Smith Hart involved which could cause Mr. Hart to be more then the Black Sheep of the Hart clan if it is true. He would be open for the Rage Of Reyes.  Could be bad.

Bottom line is don't come to Puerto Rico or ANYWHERE with an attitude that you are the best.  Charles Evans, could have been awesome, but cut his time here in almost half because he shit on the island and its wrestlers. Sara Jay-Evans didn't even last over two weeks before being let go because her diva-like attitude plus shit work equaled no use for her on the island.  Now she has told people that she left because of the "conditions" and that the ring was small.  She is fucking 5' tall. A 12' ring is big for her.  As Reyes said "Does she expect an ocean?"

Somehow this will get turned into my fault but none the less, I just sat back and watched as this person was humbled.

Wow, what a mess she caused. By the way, Jovica is going to be looking for her to pay for the door that she broke.  And he will find her.

The Corino Chronicles XV: Finding My "Steamboat"

 

Being a pro-wrestling fall almost all of my life I have seen some great feuds, but one of my favorites involves the many years feud between Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat.  These two, according to the Flair DVD, probably wrestled somewhere near 3000 times against each other and each one of them was amazing.  As I approach my 15th Anniversary in pro-wrestling tonight in Michigan City, IN I have thought about the things I have accomplished, the titles I have won, the places I have seen, and the guys I have had epic feuds with.

 

For most American fans I am probably most remembered for my feuds with Dusty Rhodes in ECW, Terry Funk in MLW, and Homicide in ROH.  All great feuds but they would go under the category of "blood feuds", where the feud is based on hate rather then competition.

 

In the UK I am probably going to be remembered for feud with Abyss in the old 1PW and in Japan I think I will be remembered for always trying to entertain fans with every match.

 

But who is the guy that can push me the most in the terms of technical wrestling, excitement, and emotion the way that Steamboat and Flair pushed each other?  That is the question I have been asking myself for the last few weeks.  There are a few guys over the years I have had some great series' with including Starbuck in Finland, Robby Royce in Winnipeg, Kamikaze and Masato Tanaka in Japan, and Ray Gonzalez in Puerto Rico, but in January of this year I started a feud with the WWC Puerto Rico champion BJ.

 

Originally my feud with BJ was supposed to last a few months but it ended prematurely when Charles Evans totally shit the bed in a two week program against then-Universal champion Ray Gonzalez and I was put in there with Ray.  I was a bit worried because I was hoping to hold off feuding with Ray until at least May, because once you wrestle the champion there is no where to go but down right?  Well, I was wrong!

 

I actually got over 25 emails from WWC fans that were upset because they had liked what me and BJ had done so far.  When I defeated Ray for the Universal heavyweight championship I wondered who was going to be my main challenger since “Mr. Ray-tings” (God I love that nickname) is feuding with the masked Nightmare and to my surprise here I am back feuding with the young Puerto Rican champion.

 

I can’t tell you what it is but there is definitely something that this 19 year old (or he might be 21, who knows!) kid brings out in me.  Maybe it’s because I was the freaking ECW champion of the world when he was 10 (Oh shit that really makes me feel old!)…You see I am the veteran. A much hated 15 year pro and the main champion of the World Wrestling Council.  He is the youngster and the champion of the isle of Puerto Rico.  His style is exciting, mine is based on emotion.  It shouldn’t mesh with mine and vice versa but somehow it does.  Maybe this “oil and water” combination is what makes it so good in the ring.

 

Is he my “Steamboat”?  I really think he is.  Someone that is totally opposite of me that can push me to the limits of my abilities and create magic? It might be him.  Win, lose, or draw this Saturday in Bayamon I know (and I am sure he does too) that we need to go out there and steal the show.  I always want to have a great match and be remembered but this weekend I want people to remember that they saw a Universal heavyweight title match that they can be proud of.  And I just hope this is the beginning. If we can push each other over our limits, this summer could be a very exciting and painful one.  But enjoyable for the fans!  And that is what makes pro-wrestling so much fun.

 

Last weekend was one of the most fun weekends of my entire life.  Because of my crazy schedule I don’t get to spend as much time with my son Colby as I would like to.  I know there is only 24 hours in a day and if I could I would spend every waking moment with him but I am not that lucky. Plus at his age, he won’t his old man around that much!

 

About eight weeks ago, the booker of Platinum Pro Wrestling in Michigan City, IN texted me with what he thought was a crazy idea: Father and Son vs. Father and Son.  As I laid on my bed in San Juan I popped up and this smile came to my face.  Mac (Guillotine LeGrande) started laughing when I told him because he knew that I would be so interested in it.  In fact I called the WWC office to request off for that weekend so we could do it.  Within seconds the match was set: The Corino Boyz (hahah, actually The Corino Boys) against Erico and his son Taylor for charity.

 

Now on paper this has comedy written all over it right? I thought so too and so did Erico but not the kids.  Both are really good on the mat and they wanted to go. And when I say go I am talking kicking each other’s asses and trying to steal the show.  I think me and Erico were a little concerned the kids were going to outshine us (they did!) and all of a sudden at the end of the night on Friday, we did a 25 minute regular tag team match that the fans in Michigan City, IN seemed to love. I know I did.  Then to add that it was my 15^th Anniversary match, it just seemed to be pure magic.  Teaming with my son on this special night was a dream come true.  It was just so much fun and Erico’s son Taylor is a true natural.  You can tell that this kid, even at his age, has such a future. He was amazing and made Colby feel a little more at ease.  God, I hope we can get Erico and his son to come to New Jersey for B4W Fighting Athletes this year and have a rematch!

 

I also wanted to thank Erico, Taylor, Walt, Derek, and the whole PPW locker room for the plaque celebrating my 15^th Anniversary. I was totally shocked by it and was actually speechless when Walt gave it to me in the ring.  Everyone there was such a class act…well except American History Next (hahahaha!). Those guys are my buddies and make me laugh every time I see them.  Colby got to see the immature side of his father when Stone and Craig are around!!!

 

Not to get off the subject of the weekend, well I guess since this is my Chronicles I can, but American History Next are two guys that need a break.  I always push them to the office in WWC and Japan (along with some other good talents) but they really look like a team and that’s something you don’t see much anymore.  They really remind me of the Anderson’s, Ole and Gene, the way the cut off the ring and everything the do looks legit. I could definitely see them kicking some ass in ROH.

 

After the show on Friday, Colby crashed in the hotel and I stayed up to update (ready for cheap plug?) www.CorinoWrestling.com and I fell asleep around 4:00am.  This little (well not so little anymore) poop gets up at 6am!  I woke up thinking that it’s late and then he gives me the “calm down old man, I am getting some breakfast” look.  He goes down has something to eat, trains (yep, trained), and then wakes me up, and then goes down for more breakfast with some of the PPW guys, and then swimming.  I think he might be hanging out with Ricky Reyes too much!!!  He just fit in so well, like he has been wrestling for years.

 

We did lunch at Hooters and watched the Yankees-Cubs exhibition game.  We kept looking around laughing because we were thinking of that South Park episode “Raisins” where Butters falls in love with the waitress.  There were a few of those creepy guys!  Speaking of creepy guys, doesn’t the old man from Family Guy (the one that wants to have sex with Chris) sound a little bit like Chris Hamrick?  Hey, I am just putting it out there!

 

Saturday nights show was at huge Gold’s Gym in Merrillville, IN and featured me and Erico for the PPW title and a singles match between Colby and Taylor. Once again those kids went out there and worked their young asses off.  I sat there thinking that if these kids really concentrate and dedicate themselves along with Shinya Hashimoto’s son Daichi, the future of wrestling could be in their hands.  Is that crazy or what?  I will support Colby in anything he chooses to do in life no matter if it is a wrestler or warehouseman but can you just imagine how fun it would be for the next generation of WWE or even ZERO1 could be in their hands?  It would be amazing!

 

Me and the boy had a almost funny, but almost awful and embarrassing moment at the airport in Philadelphia.  I am sure he will kill me for talking about it, but to preface this story, Colby and his friends are big into these air soft guys that shoot the plastic BB’s.  His mom and stepdad have a lot of woods around their house and it is a lot of fun for the kids.  You see where this is going right?  Hahaha.

 

We get to security and Colby pulls out his laptop to put in the scanner and I see that his face turned completely white.  And he has this look like he doesn’t want to tell me something and I can see why.  He forgot that his air soft pistol was in his bag!  I freaked out for a moment. All I could think was that he and I were going to get carted off to prison for a play gun.  I ended up telling him that we had to dump like we were some kind of mobsters getting rid of the murder weapon after a hit!  I was pissed off for a minute but we had a great laugh about it after we got through security.

 

But overall like I said earlier, it was one of the most fun weekends of my life and I am so grateful to the guys at PPW for coming up with the idea and making this amazing moment happen.

 

And a big thank you to Ryan, Carolyn, and Sue for Colby’s costume and help with customizing it.  If you go to my website, CorinoWrestling.com or my Facebook page you will see pics from the show.

 

I think I figured out the homeless problem in Philadelphia…well not as much a solution but an idea.  I was walking around the city with a great friend of mine and we noticed that there were way too many homeless people and it’s sad to see.  And now I will ruin it with my tastelessness here but I saw one guy wearing a Baltimore Orioles hat and thought “Why the Orioles?” and it came to me…If Mayor Nutter and the city can not help these guys, why not distribute Philadelphia Phillies hats so that at least they are not advertising another cities team?

 

Now on a different note, and I hate to bring down a positive and fun Corino Chronicles, but it has come to my attention that a guy in the UK named Oliver Newman is telling promoters that he is my agent.  He is NOT my agent and I am sorry for the promoters that wrote me to tell me how much he offended them.  Oliver is a guy that sent me an email interview a few years ago (I used to do like 20 a week!) and seemed OK to me. He contacted me on Facebook and knew that I was very upset about the disrespect showed to me and Masato Tanaka by Dragon Aisu and 1PW (you can only screw over someone so many times right?) and said that he wanted to get me back in the UK since I was going to be in Europe from April 17-25 working for Fight Club Finland and the awesome guys over at GSW.  I told him that was fine and told him my fees.  At least seven times he told me that I needed to go down on my price and tried to work something with PTW that I would stay at someone’s house instead of staying at a hotel. That is a no-no for me.  I know the guys at PTW and they have always been super to me even though I have never worked for them but they were taken back by the brashness of this young man.  It was almost like he demanded that they use me.  At first I thought that he had the right intentions and I told him that I would rather do it on my own. He then went on a tirade about “goodness in pro-wrestling” and shit like that. Really weird stuff. Almost threating..Funny, but weird.  And then I got a few emails from UK promoters telling me that he has me on his MySpace page as his agent. I am not even a friend on his MySpace!

 

If a promoter wants to book me they have three options: Email me at Steve@CorinoWrestling.com, email Bill Behrens (my main agent) at ShowBis@aol.com, or if they are an AWA/WSL member they can email Dale Gagne at DRGagne@charter.net. Mr. Newman is NOT my agent and will NEVER be my agent.  Hopefully he will stop making posts on the UKFF forum (A promoter sent me the link and I kept waiting for “Hey guys, just kidding, not really crazy”).

 

And while I am on the UK wrestling scene, there was a quick rumor that I may return to 1PW this year. Not true. I am not interested in returning to 1PW. The 1PW I knew and booked is not the same 1PW I worked for in ’05 and ’06.  Would I return there? I wouldn’t ever rule it out because I never intended to go back last year but (and this is no work) I have NO respect for Dragon Aisu or the way he treated me and Tanaka-san when he canceled us off the April show.  Its one thing to cancel a show or cancel someone because you over booked but you can’t try and make it look like it’s my fault. The 3CW bullshit pissed me off because they flat out made up a story about me not getting on a plane and hurt my rep with a lot of fans. Then most fans don’t know but Aisu tried to cancel me off Anniversary because he was worried that I would no-show (also known as he didn’t have the visa again that I demanded) and then put the final nail in his coffin with me when they asked me to use my friendship to book Masato Tanaka, asked us to go down in price, and then canceled us after Tanaka told the Japanese press that he was going to give 1PW another chance after the whole Great Muta fiasco.  So now you can see why I am a “little” hesitant about going back there. I have a good run going in Puerto Rico and still hanging on in Japan, I don’t need that stress and don’t need some of the fans on their forum that think they know the whole story taking personal shots.  I am too old to deal with that Indy BS anymore. Wrestling is supposed to be fun not stressful.

 

OK enough boring stuff, lets get back to fun.  It’s going to be a busy rest of the month for me.  This weekend is the “Road To Glory” weekend in Puerto Rico where I will test my mental and physical limits in defending the WWC Universal title against BJ and then its off to Finland for Fight Club Finland. If I do retain on Saturday, I will defend the title against Starbuck in Helsinki on Friday the 17^th.  This would be the first time in the 26 year history of the World Wrestling Council Universal title (company started in 1973 but the Universal title was created in 1983) that the title has been defended in Europe. And there are even talks that I may defend the title the next night (if I retain) at the VDB-Catch on Saturday the 18^th.  And this will be the last time I ever come to Finland so I want to make it special.

 

Then it’s a return to German Stampede Wrestling on the 25^th! GSW is one of my favorite places to go. The wrestlers, staff, and fans are all A+ people. I will never forget the last time I was there when the “Corino Police” gave me a photo album. It is something that really touched me.  I asked to be reinstated but GSW but understand that I did retire from there and I am just happy to return to commentate.  It will be a kick ass show including for the first time in Germany, the last two (and original) members of The Extreme Horsemen in the same building!  Damn, I wish it was me and CDub against Bad Bones and someone..Where the hell is my brother-in-law Ares when I need him!!! Hahaha. But it’s going to be awesome to be back for one night and don’t forget to get your Extreme Horsemen ’09 Tour shirts!!!

 

OK on a final note, people have asked me if I watched WrestleMania and it’s a big no. Not because I wasn’t interested. I wanted to see Carly and Eddie against Miz and Morrison, Steamboat vs. Jericho, and of course Taker-Shawn (can’t wait to see that…where are all these illegal download sites??? Haha) but how could I miss the opening night of the 2008 (and yes Max Capacity, the soon to be 2009) World champion Philadelphia Phillies?  What kind of fan would I be?  I would be like a dirty Mets fan and no one wants to be that type of scumbag!!!  We lost but I have us predicted at 158-3 so I still have a chance!

 

Until next time, everyone be well!

The Corino Chronicles XIV: Random Nonsense

 

Friday, March 13: Hotel Mita Kaikan, Tokyo

Its 9:49pm on a rainy Friday night in Tokyo and I got the itch to write as I try to get internet access in my room, which is near impossible.  I have had a love/hate relationship with this hotel for the past three or four years.  Mostly hate.  I can’t really say that truthfully though because the hotel that ZERO1 puts me up at is economical and I do like that it is quiet.  But on the negative side I have to beg for a second pillow (OK, not really beg but I never learned the Japanese word for extra pillow so that one is my fault), it’s in a business district part of town so there isn’t a lot of Western style restaurants, and there is no wireless internet.

 

Well my initial itch is now over and its time for me to get back to my new game, MLB 2009 The Show!  And I am not starting the year off well (2-4 so far)

 

Sunday, March 15, 8:35pm: Hotel Mita Kaikan

It’s relaxation time! Another successful Japan tour is now finished and I am back in my room, drinking a beer, and licking the wounds of this afternoon’s match.  Ahhh, the life of a wrestler and now single man.  Party, party, party huh?

 

For me it is sometimes hard to believe that this was my 71^st tour of this amazing country.  And what made this one different is that I actually left the hotel for more then checking my email at the Internet Café and going to the arena.  This tour marked the return to ZERO1 of Sonjay Dutt and the Japanese debut of Orlando Colon.

 

Sonjay is truly one of the funniest guys I have ever met.  Watch his matches and look at his talent.  Now times that by 100 and you get his sense of humor.  And Orlando has become one of my good and real friends over the last few months.  I don’t think many wrestlers and fans get to see the side of Orlando that me and Mac see, but I am honored to call him a friend.  I was really happy when the office told me that they wanted to book him against Shinjiro Otani for the ZERO1 heavyweight title and knew that he would adjust to the Japanese style and have a great match.  And I wasn’t wrong but I will get into that in a bit. Now it is time to go back to where I left off with The Corino Chronicles XIII.

 

I wanted to thank everyone that wrote me to give their opinions on my last entry. I apologize if I came off as depressed and down on myself but for me writing is the best therapy I know.  I also got a bunch of emails from people that told me their own stories and it was nice to read.  Pro-Wrestling can be a real lonely life and it felt good to hear from them.  This chronicle will be more of a “what’s on Steve’s mind”.

 

When I returned to the Island after the last Japan tour I promised myself and the fans that read my column that I wouldn’t show up to any show the way I did at Korakean Hall against Otani-san on February 27 and I am sticking to that promise.  My new workout plan is going better then I thought it would and even though the shoulder is not getting any better (in fact it feels worse) I have changed my diet (nothing drastic, Rome wasn’t built in a day!) and trying to concentrate on working muscles around the injury to take some stress away from it. 

 

I got some great news though because I became an uncle for the first time!  My sister Cathy (Allison Danger) and her husband Marco (Ares) became the proud parents to a beautiful baby girl named Kendall Grace!  She is gorgeous.  I am so proud of Cathy and Marco and they are going to be great parents.  Colby and I can’t wait to meet our new family member. We are hoping to make it down to North Carolina to see them in a couple weeks.

 

Speaking of Colby, he is going to be coming down to Puerto Rico to spend his spring break! I can’t wait.  He is going to love the Island and to have an extra 5 days with him is going to be awesome for me.  I miss him so much when I am on the road and I am just so thankful for unlimited text messaging and email.  He is getting to that age where he is starting to grow up (he will be a teenager soon…too soon!) and his sense of humor is wise beyond his years.  Like his old man, he loves comedy and we both love to send jokes or links to comics and/or movies.  Grandma’s Boy is our new favorite and even though it is a bit (huge understatement) adult, we laugh our asses off.  I was young when my father, Big Frank, and I watched Cheech and Chong (dating myself huh? Well for you young people think of Harold and Kumar of the 70’s) so as long as he doesn’t live his life like these movies then it’s ok to watch.

 

The first weekend of March marked a big weekend for us on the Island as we held the “La Hora De La Verdad”, which translates to “Hour Of Truth” (I think).  Although they are advertised as bigger shows the reality is that they just have a name.  It was our regular roster plus semi-regulars Sabu and El Bronco.  What made it a big weekend is that attendance was up again for the sixth week in a row and this time is was a huge jump.  Things are really starting to come together for us at WWC. 

 

Our Jr. Heavyweight program is one of the best I have seen.  Ricky Reyes, Tommy Diablo, Angel, Carlitos, Tau, Johnny Styles, Ricky Rubio, and some of the semi-regulars are putting on amazing matches.  I truly believe that Reyes and Diablo are the glue that is sticking everything together.  Both guys are bringing out some amazing stuff from the babyface side and the fans are responding.

 

What is the reason behind the company starting to draw well again? There are a lot of factors but one that many fans in the States might not realize is one Mr. Mac, Guillotine LeGrande.  Now I might be bias because he is my friend and I have been a fan of his since I saw him in NY in 2000 at a HWA show on Long Island, but Mac is a textbook heel.  It doesn’t matter if he is a referee, wrestler, or manager; he knows what he needs to do to get fans angry.  And when I mean angry I am not talking about getting on the Internet message boards to bash the “work rate” of a wrestler but angry to the point where fans are throwing things at him and bringing derogatory signs about him.  I was always under the opinion that he was one of the main reasons that the Corino-Homicide feud worked so well and when he left it hurt the whole feud and I couldn’t get the same heat I had before.  Same thing in Puerto Rico.  I don’t want to sound like I am being cocky but one of the reasons we are drawing is because of me and Mac. Fans know that we are working our asses off and have pride in being a part of something special. Both of us want fans to remember us in the same breath as Abdullah The Butcher or Hercules Ayala when it comes to true bad guys.  And it also helps that we have some of the best babyfaces ever in Ray Gonzalez and Chicky Starr to work with.  Add that to guys like Rico Suave, Thunder, Lightning, BJ, Mr. X, and the juniors and things are really starting to look up.

 

But never in my career was I more proud of Chuck (Mr. Mac) then at the Saturday show in Bayamon when he took on the legendary Chicky Starr in a hair vs. hair match.  Everyone in the locker room knew it was going to be good but I could see that Mac was nervous.  The funny thing that people wouldn’t realize is that Chicky didn’t get to the arena until the middle of match number one and they were third.  The second Chicky entered his locker room, the look on Mac’s face changed and I knew that he knew that he was ready for action.

 

Rico and I went to the second level to watch the match and what we saw instead was a classic.  The moment that the music came on for Mac the crowd was in a frenzy! They wanted to see this trouble maker get his ass kicked and they let him have it.  Rico and I had goosebumps and then as Chicky’s music hit the place went nuts!  And they didn’t disappoint.  I was so proud of Mac as he took it to Chicky and they created the type of magic that made me fall in love with pro-wrestling when I was a little boy.  Even Sabu, who is not known to like anything (hehe), loved it.  It was the way that pro-wrestling should be.  I am so happy that the WWC let Mac be Mac and let him develop into the number one heel on the island.  He deserves it and I can’t wait to see what the future brings for him on the Island. I am sure he is going to be pissed off that I wrote about him but he needs to know how much all the boys in the WWC locker room respect him.

 

When I first came back to the WWC after a 12 year absence, Carlos Colon warned me that business was down but I wanted to come and be a part of something.  At least try and help business.  For some reason I thought I could.  Maybe it was my love for the style or maybe I was trying to prove to my critics in the States that Steve Corino, at my age and look, could be a real top-tier wrestler.  My gamble paid off and the WWC has become one of the most fun places to work.  Now that Evans is gone, the locker room is a united one.  No one talks about who is jumping or who is not happy, but everyone seems to be excited about the next weekend’s matches.  Am I the reason for this? No, but I am happy to be a part of it for as long as I am welcome in the WWC.

 

My V2 title defense of the Universal title against Sabu was a fun one.  Many fans and even wrestlers don’t realize that even though we both made our names in the original ECW, we never wrestled each other until I was the NWA World’s champion in 2001.  From then we have wrestled about a dozen times and I respect the shit out of him.  I can honestly call him a friend and I would do anything for him.  And my respect for him jumped ten fold after the show.  He called and asked what me, Mac, Reyes, and Idol were doing and we invited him to Denny’s (aka Gringo Office!).  As he talked to us he said that he was worried that the fans would have been mad at him because he didn’t do all of his signature moves.  After over 20 years and millions of crazy bumps that made his body full of pain, he still wants to go out there for the fans.  Not the money and not the fame, but for the love of the art form that we do.

 

Right after the WWC weekend, Orlando and I took off for Japan.  This was Orlando’s debut tour and I could see that he was excited.  And this would also mark his first matches back from shoulder surgery in September.  What better way to see if the shoulder would work then be in the ring with Shinjiro Otani and Ikuto Hidaka? 

 

After an easy flight, well as easy as a 16 hour flight can be, we arrived in Tokyo where Mr. Nakamura picked us up and took us right to Shin-Kiba for the March 10 show.  It was the first time that I actually flew into Japan and worked that same night.  Luckily I was just seconding my alter ego, the masked Mr. Wrestling 3 against Otani in a non-title match.

 

It was also great to be back on tour with Sonjay.  I don’t think I have seen him since we went to India together in October of ’07 and it was like we never lost touch.  TNA not re-signing him will prove to be a mistake for them in my opinion but its going to benefit the WPF and ZERO1.

 

On Wednesday night, we headed back to Shin-Kiba for the second of two nights of shows.  Me and Wrestling 3 wrestled a really good match with Masato Tanaka and Osamu Namiguchi.  There are probably five or six people in the whole wrestling world that can not have a bad match and Tanaka is one of them.  I love wrestling him because he is just so damn good.  Nami on the other hand is a kid that I have a huge soft spot for.  From the moment he started in ZERO-ONE back in ’03 I liked him.  His heart is the size of the world and after six years the company finally feels that he is ready for more responsibility.  His only negative is that he does not think for himself enough and take over. Maybe he feels that he is still a young boy and not a star yet but I beg to differ.  I slapped him hard in the face and in Japanese I told him to fight me and he did.  I loved it.  Of course it hurt like a bugger because he can bring those elbows but at the end of the match people started to believe that him and Sai had a chance to beat me and 3 for the Intercontinental tag team titles at Korakuen.

 

Orlando’s debut match was teaming with Sonjay against Otani and Hidaka.  And it was also the first time that Orlando was given the go ahead to be as vicious as he wanted to be.  He did not disappoint!  Puerto Rican fans are used to a clean Orlando and I think that he feels he has to work that style because of his family name but in Japan he just let loose and was more aggressive then ever.  He is going to get over like gang busters if he wrestles like he did at Shin-Kiba and Korakuen in Puerto Rico.  I get excited at the thought of Orlando and Ray against me and Mac or Rico Suave.  Many internet fans think that O is the Nightmare, but the truth (and I hope I don’t get in trouble for this) is that he isn’t.  It hasn’t been decided who that is yet and WWC is just waiting for the right time for Orlando to come back to TV. They want him to be 100% before he is wrestling three days a week again and I don’t blame them.  Training in the gym and taking a few bumps at a wrestling school is one thing but wrestling in front of fans for 20 minutes a night is another.  I think Orlando is ready to be the biggest star in PR.

 

Thursday was our first of three consecutive days off and we spent the early part of the day at the Dojo training.  The three of us trained with weights and then in the ring with MMA and Sumo training.  I loved the sumo style.  It was the first time doing it and it was enjoyable to learn a new style.  It also helped me with my balance.  Since my last head injury in November of ’07 I noticed that my balance is not what it was when I was younger.

 

Later that night the three of us traveled to the world famous Ribera Steak House.  It is a place that every foreigner wants to go to get their jacket and take their picture hoping that it will make the wall of fame.  While we were there a TV program was being taped as the two hosts were trying to take the Ribera challenge, a challenge that I have been saying that I wanted to try for the last eight years.  The challenge is that you have to eat three pounds of steak and three large plates of rice in 30 minutes.  If you do it you win 10,000JPY (about $97) and the steaks are free, but if you lose have to pay 9900JPY, the cost of the steaks.  It is a gamble but one day I will try it and video tape it for my website and Facebook.  The producers of the show recognized me and asked if we wanted to be a part of the show, which was a no-brainer.  We cheered on the guys as they tried but failed.  It was a fun time and Orlando got one of the new school jackets.

 

From there we took the subway over to Tokyo Dome City and tried out Fighting Café Colisseo, which the English website is done by ZEROONEUSA.com’s webmaster Matt, and met the owner.  It was like a bigger size Brainbuster bar.  It was boxing night so we jumped back on the subway and headed toward my old hangout, Roppongi, and the Brainbuster Bar.

 

For those of you that don’t read my columns (and why haven’t you???) Brainbuster is a small bar that holds about eight people, ten if it is packed.  There are six TV’s and the theme is pro-wrestling.  The original owner, Fuji-san, was one of the nicest and caring men I ever met but had to give up the bar in 2004 to take over the family business when his father got sick.  Those were the days. WOW, just now I had flashbacks of going in there almost every night and just having fun. It was more like hanging out a friends house that had a bar in his basement then a bar that is trying to make money.  We used to go in and tend bar or bring food for Fuji.  It was a blast. The new (I guess not so new anymore) owner is more about business and I understand that.  But we went in and watched Otani on Samurai TV plugging the Korakuen Hall show.  While we were there, my friend Mika came in.  She is right there with Amazing Kong as one of the toughest girls I ever met.  Last I heard she is 5-2 in MMA fights and now trying to convert into pro-wrestling.  Her English is not the best but she is super cool and I want to see her fight in person one day.

 

Friday and Saturday were relaxing days as the three of us trained at Gold’s Gym and went shopping in Akihabara, which is also known to foreigners as “electric city”.  While I was there I found a Japanese version of Kingdom of Hearts: Final Cut for Colby.  I also grabbed Fast Times At Ridgemont High and For The Love Of The Game for only 500JPY ($4.75) each! What a bargain. Orlando picked up “Best Of Super Juniors 2000” and I look forward to borrowing that one!  I am sure that is going to be the DVD of choice for next weeks Wednesday dinner.

 

The Korakuen Hall show was a 12 noon start, which means that report time is 9:30am. Can you imagine wrestling at noon? Gee, I wish every show started at noon!  But the three of us made a pact to train everyday and we decided to hit the gym at 7am.  We were met by two loyal fans that stopped and gave us gifts (I got an awesome winter jacket) and took pictures of us for about 15 minutes.  I took pictures of them taking pictures of Orlando for the new WWC site (www.LuchaLibreWWC.com).

 

Korakuen Hall is the “ECW Arena” of Japan.  It is no doubt my favorite pro-wrestling venue and there is no place where I feel more comfortable in the ring.  But with my shoulder feeling worse and worse everyday I have the ring doctor, Dr. Hayashi, shoot me with a cortisone and Novocain solution to help my injury.  I absolutely hate getting the shot. Orlando actually took pictures of the procedure because he thought fans should see the pain we go through. Doc H also thought it would be funny to step back, while the needle was in my shoulder, so that O could take a picture! They found it funny…I didn’t!!!

 

I was very proud of my match with my “Brother Of Evil” Mr. Wrestling 3 against Ryogi Sai and Namiguchi.  This time Nami took the fight to me and earned his victory.  He even KO’d me once with a running elbow. It was only for a few seconds. I heard the ref make the count, which I thought was one, but heard the crowd yell “two” and kicked out just in time.  If you get to watch the match on YouTube or my website, you will see for about two minutes after I am still trying to clear my head.  Nami is a great kid and deserved the tag team titles. I hope that ZERO1 books me vs. him in a singles match for the WWC Universal title on the next tour (late April for me) if I am still the champion.  I think that we can really kick some ass and I owe him one for knocking the crap out of me!

 

Sonjay defeated Hidaka after my match to win the International Jr. Heavyweight title. I was really proud of him because not only was the match beyond awesome, the title win meant a lot to him. Congratulations to the new champion.

 

The main event was for the ZERO1 world title between Otani and Orlando.  And once again Orlando shined and gave it to Otani as much as he gave it to him.  Both guys walked out sore and with bruises but the match was what a world title match should be. I am sure that both Orlando and Sonjay are going to have long careers in Japan.

 

After the show, me, Sonjay, Orlando, and my good friend Masa Horie went out for some Korean BBQ near the arena.  It was the first time in a while, maybe three years that I have eaten some KB and it was super.  I think I ate so much that I put myself in a beef coma!

 

Monday, March 16: Continental flight 6 (7:00am EST and I am somewhere over the Pacific Ocean)

I am loving this Continental flight.  Even though my fat ass is in economy the airline has the personal TVs where you can choose from over 300 movies and about 40 TV shows. As I write this, I am watching/listening to Austin Powers 2 (God, Heather Graham is hotter then piss in a microwave!).  The other good thing is that each seat has an outlet so I can plug in my laptop and not on a race to write before my battery dies.  This is going to make this 12 hour flight to Houston so much quicker.

 

I can’t tell everyone how excited I am to get home, even if it is for only three days. I haven’t seen Colby in almost three weeks and I need my boy!  I also have to pack boxes while he is at school for the move.  Not really a move. Since my marriage is over my apartment is empty most of the month and I am just wasting money.  God, I hate moving.  Most of the furniture I am going to give away except for stuff I will put into storage until my run in Puerto Rico is over.

 

My schedule has been luckily so busy the last few months and the upcoming months that I really don’t need a new place right now. Friday morning I will return to the Island for two weeks and then back in Philly for a week. 

 

While I am back on the mainland Colby and I are taking part in a charity tag team match on April 3 in Michigan City, IN for AWA Platinum Pro Wrestling against Erico and his son Taylor.  This should be a lot of fun because Colby is now 5’3 and getting bigger everyday. Shit, he is almost as big as some of the indy wrestlers out there!  The funny thing is is that he has not a huge fan of pro-wrestling over the last few years but can move in the ring.  Maybe he is a natural!  But his friends have their own little “backyard” federation where they practice and film it.  Its fun to watch and of course I tell them about the dangers and try to guide them a little bit so they don’t get hurt.  I think Colby is starting to get into it a bit more again because he was asking me about videos of Eddie Guerrero and Bret Hart because he likes their style.  It’s going to be so much fun hanging out with him all weekend and then we go back to Philly for a few days while he goes to school and then the two of us are off to Puerto Rico, where Colby will spend his spring break! April is going to be an AWESOME month.  It will also mark the 15^th Anniversary of me in pro-wrestling!  What better way of celebrating then to team with my son?  A big thank you to Platinum Pro Wrestling and the AWA/WSL for offering to do this match.

 

With my busy schedule unfortunately I can’t do some events that I originally planned. Because we are off from WWC during WrestleMania weekend, I have to be there to tape TV on March 28 and 29, which will knock me out for the autograph session in Allentown.

 

The show I am bummed that I have to miss is Francine’s ECW reunion show on June 27.  When she originally asked me, the big WWC Anniversary show was tentatively scheduled for the middle of July but I found out that they booked it now for the weekend of June 27.  I hope that fans really support what she is trying to do with this show.  Frannie is one of the coolest people you would ever want to meet and cancer really tore through her family the last few years.  Not only is she putting together a real ECW style show, she is raising money for a great cause.  And she is also raising awareness to what cancer is.  It kills me that some “fans” are shitting on it, speculating on the “lack of guys that draw” or “how much money goes to charity”. I don’t know what the expenses are but I do know that both me and CW Anderson were working for free.  I am sure other guys are too.  I would do anything I could to help Francine out. In fact I will be donating Steve Corino t-shirts, pictures, and a pair of trunks so even if you hate me please buy them to help her and the charity out. 

 

People have asked me for years why I don’t do the “reunion” shows and it’s because I left my ECW life when the company folded in 2001. The time I had there were some of the most fun times I ever had, but for me it was better to leave it in the past.  I was going to do the autograph session in Allentown because it would have been fun to hang out and it was only 45 minutes from my home and I was going to do the 1PW show in England because they wanted me and Masato Tanaka. Of course they canceled us after giving us their word that we were on it and even gave them a better price to help out.  This is the first “ECW Style” show I was looking forward to do because it was for Frannie and I believe 100% in what she is doing. I hope she makes it an annual event so that I can be a part of it in 2010.

 

I just noticed that I am right around the 4800 word mark, making this edition of the Corino Chronicles longer then last edition’s.  I know I get a little overblown when I write.

 

Also, please bear with me as I attempt to make CorinoWrestling.com bi-lingual featuring English and Japanese. I have always wanted to have part of my site in Kanji but my last webmaster told me it was too hard. He lied. Using the translator I have on my laptop I am going to post commentaries and everything else in both languages.  Learning to do my own site has been a lot of fun and everyday I am learning how to do new things with it.  At the end of 2009 I will not renew SteveCorino.com (which re-directs to CorinoWrestling.com) because I am hoping to expand the website not only to cover me but also my sister Allison Danger, my brother-in-law Ares, and Colby’s amateur wrestling stuff.

 

Saturday (Japan time) I read about the unfortunate passing of Test. At only 33 he was way too young.  He was always very nice to me and we trained together in the WWF’s Funking Dojo together in 1998.  I can’t say that we were super tight because we saw each other once every few years.  It’s sad that another pro-wrestler, and for that matter person, died before his time but what made me a bit angry was how some websites and people on Facebook/My Space dramatized his passing.

 

Test was never an internet favorite but within hours of his passing I got dozen of group requests and requests from websites and internet radio shows for comments. It made me really question the motive of these people.  Was it guilt that fans shit on him for years and now he is dead? Is it a way for low viewed websites or internet radio shows that no one listens to to get more exposure? The Wizard over at owie.ca took a lot of heat for what he posted on Facebook but he was right. If you were a true fan of Test or a co-worker and/or friend of his then my heart goes out to for your loss.  Like I said, he was a nice guy to me and I am sad to see him pass but to the fans and “writers” out there, please don’t use his death as a way to draw attention to your site or Facebook group. Be better then that.

The Corino Chronicles XIII: The Long And Winding Road

As a professional wrestler and even as fans, championship titles are commonly looked upon as an expensive prop, due to late ‘90’s WCW booking philosophies, or even looked upon as given to someone for political reasons. Maybe that is what it evolved into it. But somehow, at almost age 36, I missed the boat on these philosophies.

 

Fifteen years ago when I started my long journey into this great sport and art form, my goal was never to be a millionaire. And perhaps that was the wrong way to think. You see the “mark” in me never left even after 70 tours of Japan, two failed marriages, winning four World titles, spending weeks away from my son at a time, traveling the world, and getting to entertain fans for over 2200 matches (well I hope most times you were entertained). Heck, I even tried to retire twice but came back quicker then the retirement tour I planned. 

 

Pro-Wrestling is the most amazing and addicting drug in the world. Even the hardest critics of the sport that spend hours upon hours complaining on how bad wrestling is right now love it deep down inside. It’s a passion that all of us, fan or wrestler, have and no matter if we hate a certain direction that a company or wrestler takes; we still love the industry as a whole.

 

And that is what keeps me going. Looking back at 1994 when I started, I was 165 pounds and skinny as a rail. No wrestling background at all but just a will to learn and appreciate everything that I earned. Now, 15 years later, I am a broken down 250 pounds with a shoulder I can barely raise everyday and take shit from some fans for being “fat”, but it doesn’t bother me. It is someone’s opinion and they are entitled to it. But I am a survivor and very proud of that. I come to work every night and put on the best match I can produce and it doesn’t matter if you look like Triple H or Dick Murdoch, the name of the game is to entertain the paying fans.

 

In ’07 when I decided that it was going to be my last year in pro-wrestling I really felt there was nothing left for me to do. In January, I became the AWA World champion for a second time but knew I was only a transition champion for Takao Omori and after over 60 tours of Japan, I knew that I was pretty much near the end of my run. I had been the NWA Intercontinental tag team champion three times, the AWA World champion twice, and ZERO1 US champion twice. I had feuded and pinned everyone from Masato Tanaka, Shinjiro Otani, and Takao Omori to All-Japan Pro-Wrestling legend Toshiaki Kawada. What more could I do? I knew it was time to go soon.

 

But it was a fateful evening in January ’07 that got my mind going and thinking back now, if it wasn’t for that meeting, and one later in the year I might still be managing the Gold’s Gym in Royersford, PA or even finishing my degree and become a school teacher. It was when I met Mr. Wrestling II, Johnny Walker in Hawaii that it started to click. Wrestling II spent over 30 years being on the biggest babyfaces in the world. But it was when he put on the mask and was christened Mr. Wrestling II, the second version of Mr. Wrestling (Tim Woods) that it became fun for him. At dinner one night in Hawaii he told me that the money comes and goes but at the end of the day you have memories. At 72 years old at the time, he told me about meeting former President Jimmy Carter and feuding with the Masked Superstar and The Assassins, or how he would walk into a gas station after a match with his mask on (something you can’t do nowadays!) and also winning the Georgia heavyweight title. Although he drew a lot of money and made a lot of money, it was always about what he did. I never forgot about that because it was how I felt. When Wrestling II offered me the title of “Mr. Wrestling” he didn’t do it to make money for him and I am sure there was 1000 young wrestlers that didn’t have a name that would have benefited from being named the third incarnation of Mr. Wrestling but he asked me. He knew that I respected the sport as much as he did. I respected the history and the art form. I ended a eight year stretch with the “King Of Old School” moniker because I was so honored with what II gave me. Maybe that is why I get so hot when I see some kid in California promoting himself as “Mr. Wrestling 4”. Who gave him that name and why would he think he earned the right to name himself that? Look at the history of the Mr. Wrestling name and it wasn’t a name that was created, it was given. Tim Woods was given the name, he passed it onto Johnny Walker, who passed it onto me. Honor. Although I don’t get hot with Kevin Steen when he uses the “Mr. Wrestling” name because I know how much he respects the sport and also he never promoted himself as the next generation of the Mr. Wrestling series. Heck, there are even times when I don’t believe that I am even worthy of the moniker.

 

But I am getting off what originally made me write for the first time in a LONG time. As we approach the end of winter in 2009 I am still going. Still at it full time in an economy that almost makes it impossible. I truly am a survivor and that makes me feel good.

 

Where I am going is not burying some kid for being disrespectful. We could be here all day but this is about being awarded for hard work.

 

Puerto Rico is the last territory. Its different then the WWE, TNA, ROH, and every independent company. It’s a full time company that relies on house shows and television for revenue. In the WWE, the brand name brings in the fans. Ask any old timer that drew money and they will tell you that back in the day the marquee would say “World title match: Jack Brisco vs. Dory Funk Jr.” and the fans would flock to see it because it was their job to sell that match. Nowadays it is more about the brand name and that is fine. It is how the industry evolved. But somehow, Carlos Colon and Victor Jovica survived. Is the WWC what it was in the 80’s? Of course not and there are a million factors that fans don’t realize. When pro-wrestling was in the territory days, TV was localized and there were less channels. Less options. Today, you have 200 channels and a million different entertainment options. But like I said, the WWC survived.

 

I knew that houses were really down when I agreed to come down. Trust me, the money I make every week is less then if I would continue to whore myself out on the independents like some people, but I decided that if this was my last run I wanted to do everything I could to make a real impact. Both me and Mr. Mac (Guillotine LeGrande) decided that we need to re-invent ourselves and do everything in our power to draw money.

 

It would have been easy for Carlos to push me right away up to the top of the card because of my resume but he didn’t. I was happily the third wheel in The Family behind two guys that deserved to be on top, Ray Gonzalez and Tommy Diablo. But I knew that if the time came where I got a chance at the top I was going to take it and run with it. I never expected to be considered for a title run. I was just honored to be picked for a few week feud with Ray Gonzalez. It’s a shame that other “gringos” don’t get that in our company. They talk about knowing how to “work” and “do business” but do nothing but waste the companies time and raise the ire of the boys that are busting their balls to bring houses up. You see if we don’t draw it is reflected in our paychecks. That is old school. But people are into me and Ray. Why? Because I think that they see two passionate fighters that go out there and not only try to entertain the fans and try to attract more fans. When the time came and a change in the title was decided it was not decided because I was a former NWA, ECW, and AWA champion. It was because I was being rewarded for working hard and helping bring fans into the building and ratings up. Its crazy for some people to imagine but my two favorite titles I have won (and believe me, as a longtime fan, being the champion is the ultimate honor in ANY promotion) but winning my first ZERO1 United States title and now winning the WWC Universal championship rank up there as my favorites.

 

The WWC Universal title has changed 109 times since 1983 and if you go to wrestling-titles.com you will see some of the legends that have held the exact belt that is in my bag right now. For God sake, Carlos Colon, who will always be the biggest draw in the island’s history, held the title 26 times and every one meant something. Ray has held it 14 times and Carly Colon (Carlito from WWE) 11 times. This is what I do this for. Who knows how long I will be the champion but if the belt was taken off me one day after I won it, I would still know that I really deserved the nod. I hope that everyone after me that holds that title realizes that there are men that busted their ass for that nod.

 

It kills me to see guys take the opportunity that they are given by the WWC (or any company for that matter) and shit all over them. This past November a kid from Australia flew himself to Puerto Rico to get experience. But when he showed up not only did show up with a bad attitude, he maximized it with awful work and an ignorance of not researching what the WWC was about. As he left, he tried to put the blame on Carlos and Jovica but we told him that he was the shits and that it was his fault. Why can’t the guys from this day and age take responsibility. Who’s fault is it that I never got a run in the WWE? Vince McMahon? Johnny Ace? Dusty Rhodes? Nope. I didn’t get a run there because that was not my goal and I didn’t work for it. Why is it that TNA only used me a few times? Because my heart and determination was in Japan. Is that Jeff Jarrett’s fault? Vince Russo’s? Hell no. I bet you guys don’t know that I send Jeff and Russo an email every six months seeing if there is a spot open. I do, I will freely admit that. Why would I like to be there? I like the schedule and I like watching guys like Joe, AJ, Daniels, Shelley, Shane, and more get a chance to be a national TV star. Would I be upset if Jeff emailed me tomorrow and said “F.U, you didn’t want to be here in 2003 and now you are broken down.”? Nope. But it seems like today’s guys, and trust me I work with one of them, that thinks that the sport owes them something. They can’t be happy for anyone else and they think that “spots” shouldn’t be there’s. It’s total bullshit and I hate guys like this. I wish more spots were given to guys like Ricky Reyes, who has great work, excellent body, and an even better attitude then some of these guys that get released from WWE’s developmental area and pollute our company.

 

I could be defeated tomorrow for the title and I know that soon there will be another heel ready to take that top spot. Do I need to be jealous? Heck no. If he can draw better then me then he deserves the spot. And it helps everyone out. But trust me, I am going to keep working my ass off to be someone that Puerto Rican fans remember forever! 

 

February 24 or 25 (Depending on where the hell I am right now over the Pacific)

Delta flight 55 from Atlanta to Tokyo

Mood: I don’t know

 

Over the past ten years I have made a habit of writing. I am not good at it and never claimed to be. I just write. Although I talk about semi-personal things, I shy away from what really bothers me, what eats me alive everyday of my life.

 

At almost 36 years old I am smart enough to realize that my career is almost over. That doesn’t bother me because I am very proud of what I have accomplished. Sure, I wish I would have made more money but my memories are rich and no one can take them away from me.

 

My personal life on the other hand is something I wish I could do again. As most of you know if you have read my commentaries/live journal/blogs over the better part of the decade you know that my son Colby is the greatest thing I have in my life.

 

Wise beyond his years, he has the ability to find something good in everything. I wish I could be like him. Most kids want to be like their parents but for the past 12 ½ years I have wanted to be like him. People tell me that I am a good father but the reality of the situation is that I am not. A good father is there for his son every single day. Although I have been around the world dozens of times, wrestled everyone I have every dreamed about, and won championships in a dozen counties, I envy the fathers that get to come home everyday and see their kids grow up. Or kiss their wives. Take their son and their friends to the movies, be there when they are sick, and watch them go to school everyday knowing that they will come home even smarter.

 

Due to the WWC schedule and the need to make a living I stay pretty much full time in Puerto Rico. It is not economical to fly me from my home in Philadelphia every week for the company and if I want to go home I need to pay for it myself. If I am lucky I get home a few days a month. In the past seven or eight months I watched my marriage fail and wake up everyday in pain, both emotional and physical. 

 

I was not a good husband to my wife and she left. I can’t blame her. It’s a tough life being the wife of a professional athlete and/or entertainer. It’s lonely on both ends. I just hope that she will find the happiness in her life that she deserves. This is the second wife I have let go because I am selfish. What else could it be? Am I making Triple H money? Shit no but when I am at the arena, I feel like I am doing something good.  Entertaining people gives me the strength to get through the emotional and physical pain. But for that I have had to give up a lot of stuff in my personal life.

 

People ask me all the time on Facebook or even through my website, SteveCorino.com and CorinoWrestling.com, why I never tried my hardest to be a WWE or TNA superstar and I tell them that I am a career minor-leaguer. I am Crash Davis from the movie Bull Durham. A vet that had a cup of coffee in the North American major leagues and now I go from small town to small town, working my ass off to help the younger guys get over. And the money is not awful either. I can’t tell you honestly if I would do this if the pay was beginner level again. You know what? I could. I love our sport and art form. There is a line in Field Of Dreams where Shoeless Joe Jackson says “It was a game…I would have played for free.” And sometimes I do. I never made one dollar running my own promotions. In fact I would venture to say that I have personally lost over $75,000-$100,000 of my own money. Why did I do it? Because I wanted to do something special. I wanted my guys to entertain fans and attempt to create stars of the future. With all the money I have spent trying to get something started and failing I lost face with a lot of wrestlers. Some I consider friends. That is not how I want to be remembered. But it’s the choice I made.

 

With my job as an agent and middleman for Pro-Wrestling ZERO-ONE (and then Pro-Wrestling ZERO1-MAX and Pro Wrestling ZERO1) I didn’t think it would be right for me to crush the dreams of young wrestlers. I spent years taking videos and DVD’s over to the office, even if they were bad. And there have been more bad then good. But when the office can’t use or doesn’t want to use those guys I take the fall. Is it fair? No, but that is the way some pro-wrestlers think now. If it was my choice Josh Daniels, Joe Legend, The Heartbreak Express, The Mack Brothers, Ricky Reyes, and others would have been full time gaijin. I would have never wasted money and time on guys like Ghaffari and others that just wasted everyone’s time and money. But once again, it was never my choice. I had been lucky that I got a lot of my friends some tours. And some are even grateful so you have to take the good with the bad right? I do find it funny that when this year my job got cut due to the awful economy in Japan and everywhere else in the world there were three guys that actually said that they were sorry. Three out of the 72 I helped booked isn’t bad right?

 

The physical pain I am in everyday is the nature of the industry. I have a shoulder that needs an operation but I am smart enough to know that if I do take the time off to get it healthy I will lose my position. Once again, nature of the industry and I have no regrets. I have a knee that needs to be reconstructed again (I had two reconstructions the year before I became a pro-wrestler). So every time that you watch WWC on WAPA or on the Internet, the pain that shoots through my shoulder with every bump or a ducked clothesline is 100% real. Every time that Ray Gonzalez puts his figure four leglock on me, the pain is 100% to the point where I want to throw up. And imagine if Ray really wanted to hurt me? I wake up and do it because I love it. I love when fans cheer and I love when they boo. I love when they throw stuff at me in Puerto Rico or when they used to yell “Ichiban” in Japan. That is the greatest high I will ever know.

 

But last week was one of the toughest weeks of my life. And it came down to being helpless. My son started feeling sick and his mother, stepfather, and I thought it was a cold and maybe the flu. He has always been healthy so we didn’t think that it would last more then a day or two. But by Tuesday he developed a staph infection, something that nine other wrestlers on his team got (they ended up having to forfeit their last meet) and then caught the flu all at the same time. This poor kid just lied around for almost a week, NEVER COMPLAINING. Can you believe that? As I write this I feel like I have been hit by a truck because I caught the sickness and I complain all the time. Hell, I am complaining right now as I write this. But my boy felt awful and there was nothing I can do. Parents that read this understand this. I would have done anything to make him feel better. I can’t imagine how parents deal with their children that have terminal diseases. My heart just goes out to them. The worst part for me was that I had to take him back to his moms because I had to be at the airport at 5am. I stayed up all night racked with guilt because I had to go. I am so fortunate that his mother and stepfather are great parents and take care of him so well when I am gone. I envy them. More then they will ever know.

 

I have no idea how long I am going to wrestle for. I tried to retire twice and it didn’t work. I do know this time that there will be no retirement, maybe I will just fade away. Not today, but one day. Soon its time for me to get my shit together and just be a father. 

February 28, 8:10pm

Delta flight…hell, I don’t even know

 

As I write this, 30,000 feet in the sky, our show in Puerto Rico starts in 20 minutes and I still have an hour to go before touchdown. Due to the awesome scheduling of Delta Airlines my original flight from Tokyo to Atlanta got pushed back to combine with the 4:30pm flight. This meant that my arrival in San Juan went from being 5:30pm (which would have been tough to make the show on time) to 11:05pm knocking me out of tonight’s show. But the power of “stand by” was on my side and now I will arrive at 9:15pm, jump in the car, go 90 minutes to the show, throw on some boots and get out there for the main event. This is if everything goes 100% right.

 

Since Tuesday, I went from being as sick as I ever felt to flying 16 hours to Japan. Once I got there, I stumbled into the office to take a picture for the press and then back to sleep for another 11 hours. When I woke up Thursday I was still feeling worse then anything. Freezing to death but sweating like I was in a sauna.

 

Thursday night I wrestled my Japanese twin Kamikaze in a loser leaves town match, and sweat out another five pounds. I think in the last week I went from being 254 to 242, lost my whole tan, and looked worse physically then I ever have. I am disgusted with the pictures from the Korakeun Hall show because I just look sickly. I am sorry to all the Japanese fans for my appearance and promise not to repeat it when I return on March 10. It is very difficult for me to train because of the pain in my shoulder but there is no excuse for not being tan and being too fat. I will never look like Chris Masters but my appearance on Thursday and Friday was unacceptable. For that I apologize.

 

Friday’s match with Shinjiro Otani was one of great nervousness for me. Wrestling Otani is always very physical (no one chops harder) and he had just wrestled an unbelievable match against Yugi Nagata for the ZERO1 heavyweight championship. These guys go out and put on a clinic for over 20 minutes and then I am supposed to challenge Otani for the title right then and there? Are you kidding me? I was quiet but inside I thought that this had disaster written all over it because there was no way I was going to out do Otani vs. Nagata. But it went well. Better then I could have imagined. I only wish that I was in the physical condition that I should have been in. I am sure that I could have done better and next time I will.

 

I got a few emails from fans asking why they would sacrifice me so quick to Otani with no buildup. It is a good point but there is a big picture involved. This match was not about Corino vs. Otani, it was the real start to the WPF vs. ZERO1 feud. I have trusted the Japanese office for almost eight years now and I have been to the top of the card and then all the way back to the middle. Built up again and brought down again. I am just happy that they invite me back.

 

Some people are reading this wondering how it can take me over 4200 words to start talking about baseball. Well, spring training is here and I am excited about the chances of the Phillies repeating as World champions.

 

Locking up the team in multi-year contracts is going to help these guys grow even more together. You look at the dynasty’s of the pre-free agent era and one of the reasons teams won multiple championships is because they played together year after year. They were a well oiled machine.

 

What does get on my nerves is watching this piece of shit Manny Ramirez turn down contract offer after contract offer.  In these awful economic times, $25 million is not enough for him for one year? What is wrong with this guy? Has he become so out of touch with reality that he should be honored that one team would actually even offer it. I don’t see the Yankees, Angels, or any other big market team offering him the same. It’s an awful time for this guy to be making demands like this because who is it going to effect is the middle class people that are trying to buy tickets. Bobby Abreu wanted $16 million a year and he has the numbers to justify it but signed for $8 million. I have yet to hear him complain. I was never a Manny fan because I think the way he plays the game shows kids that you can lolly-gag 60% of the time and be such a brat that you force a team to trade you. This is why there are guys like JD Drew in the league. But like JD Drew and Chipper Jones, Manny Ramirez makes my list of players I will never pay to see. I hope other people feel that way too.

 

Now let’s get to A-Rod. I am sure all the haters love the fact that he admitted to taking steroids in 2003. When did baseball players become perfect? And why are we so hung up on it? Are these guys our fathers, mothers, brothers, or sisters? Wives, girlfriends, sons, or daughters? No. These are grown men who make bad decisions. How many independent wrestlers do you think try steroids so that they may get a shot at the WWE or TNA? Do you think that they inject it with the thought that they want to cheat the system? Sure, you can say that baseball and pro-wrestling are totally different and they are but the concept is the same: Pressure. A-Rod, Bonds, Giambi, JC Romero, and others have taken these drugs for OUR benefit. The better condition they are in, the better they entertain us. And the more they entertain us, the more money they make. It’s no different then wrestling. Do you think that I haven’t thought about taking steroids so that my body gets more cosmetic and thus make more money? Everyday. Because with my genetics and lack of will power in my diet, that is what it would take.

 

Baseball players are human. All I expect out of them is to play hard and be nice to fans. I don’t care how much weed they smoke, girls they have affairs with, or steroids they inject. They don’t need my judgment. I wish sports was 100% clean. I wish the economy wasn’t in the shitter. I wish that people would be nice to each other. It’s not a perfect world. Baseball is an escape for people, we don’t need to keep hearing the negative things. Is there anything out there that we are not trying to kill? Pessimism has take over this country instead of optimism. What a shame.

THE CORINO CHRONICLES XII: WINTER MEETINGS AND WHY THE PHILLIES HAVE TO RE-SIGN JAMIE MOYER…PLUS SOME OTHER STUFF

 

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

US Airways flight 1076, Philadelphia to San Juan

 

Even though I am still riding the super high of the Philadelphia Phillies winning the World Series and probably will for the next few years, its winter meeting time in Las Vegas.  This is a time when the owner, general managers, agents, and free agents gather to negotiate contracts, make trades, and make me tune into ESPN and begrudgingly sit through more football talk and which player got arrested this week (as you can tell I hate American Football!).  Its an exciting time, especially if your team has needs (which they really all do) and have money to spend (which most don’t..wink wink).

 

As I write this CC Sabithia just signed a 6 year-$140 million contract with the New York Yankees and the a-hole Mets signed Francisco Rodriguez to a 3 year-$37 million deal.  Lots of money right? Hell yeah, but who fared out better?  In my humble opinion the Yanks won out easily.  CC is a great left handed pitcher who went 11-2 after being traded from the Indians to the Brewers last season.  He is also a team player, who is as popular with his teammates as he is with the fans.  “K-Rod” on the other hand is a hot dog.  Sure, he had 62 saves last season, which is a single-season record, but how many of those saves were in hard situations?  Just ask ESPN’s Peter Gammons, who reported that almost 70% of Rodriguez’s saves came when the Angels had a three run lead.  And a good closer needs a great supporting cast that can get through the 7^th and 8^th innings.  He does not have that with the Mets.  The Mets blew 29 saves last year. 29.  Even if they only blew 15 of the 29 they would have won the NL East but they didn’t.  Once the starters gave up that ball in the 7^th, you might as well made the score 0-0.  What is this guy going to do when he has a three run lead cut to one almost every time out?  What is this guy going to do when the New York fans and press jump all over him after blowing a few saves?  That stupid display of “I’m awesome, I got you out” crap isn’t going to work in Queens.  I admit that Phillies fans are tough but we are tough on players that we don’t think are hustling.  Mets fans will eat this guy alive the second he starts screwing up. And he will.  Add to that Mr. K-Rod played in the very laid back AL West.  Does he realize that not only is he in the National League now but the NL East is probably the most intense division in baseball?  Not the best mind you, because the AL East have that but the NL East has Philadelphia, Atlanta (who as much as I hate them are always tough), the Nationals (who seem to be ready to spend some money), and the Marlins (who could have a payroll of $6.99 and they are going to play their hearts out).  There is no quit in the NL East and K-Rod’s padded 62 saves will turn into 30 saves, 7 to 8 blown saves, and a THIRD place finish for the New York Mets in 2009.

 

The Phillies are lucky and smart.  For the most part they have their nucleus together with Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Shane Victorino, Carlos Ruiz, Cole Hamels, Brett Myers, Brad Lidge, and Jayson Werth all back. The big question they have is if they are going to re-sign 46 year old Jamie Moyer for 2 years and $20 million.  My answer is YES they should. Why? First, let’s forget his age.  Jamie Moyer is a Philadelphia guy.  He grew up in Souderton, PA, he was a Phillies fan, and is a pitching genius.  Having Jamie Moyer in the dugout is like having a second pitching coach.  When Myers, or Kendrick, or even Eaton was starting where was Cole Hamels? Right next to Jamie Moyer learning how to pitch.  Having Moyer around Hamels is only going to make him better, in fact may make him the next Steve Carlton if I dare say so.  Moyer was 16-7 with a 3.71ERA.  How many other pitchers did that or better last year? Six.  How many over 40? NONE.  Moyer deserves two more years and then the Phillies need to prime him to coach.  Sure, Charlie Manuel is going to be around until 2011 and that is great but I think 2015 and beyond is going to be the Phillies under the management of Jamie Moyer.

 

The Phils do have a hole now in left field as it seems they are not going to attempt to re-sign Pat Burrell and I am fine with that.  Burrell was hot and cold his whole tenure in Philadelphia and I am just glad that he finally proved himself to the Phillies fans before he leaves.  Where will he end up? I see him being a DH or even a 1B for an American League team that can not sign Mark Teixera or Manny Ramirez.  Now where does that leave the Phillies?  There is the possibility of moving Werth over to LF and playing Jenkins everyday in RF but I do not like that.  Jenkins is on my personal list to get rid of for a young player at mid-season.  Werth proved that he can be an everyday player and clearly won out that RF spot last year.  I read in the Philadelphia Daily News that there is light talk of Ryan Madson for Cardinals LF Ryan Ludwick and I don’t like that.  Romero and Coste for Ludwick? Yes.  Madson really proved to be the 8^th inning guy for the Phillies and won the confidence of the players and Brad Lidge.  We need to keep him.  The guy I like is the Cubs’ Mark DeRosa.  He is a player in every sense of the word and can play some 2B while Chase Utley is recovering from hip surgery and then become the everyday LF.  He would be a good number six hitter especially if they would move Jimmy Rollins from leadoff to 5^th in the order.  I like a lineup that looks like this:

1.       Shane Victorino-CF

2.       Jayson Werth-RF

3.       Chase Utley-2B

4.       Ryan Howard-1B

5.       Jimmy Rollins-SS

6.       Mark DeRosa-LF

7.       Pedro Feliz/Greg Dobbs-3B

8.       Carlos Ruiz-C

9.       The pitcher

 

Who would the Phillies need to give up for DeRosa? Good question.  Let’s face it, the Cubs are not going to win the World Series (I am sorry Brian Fritz).  Jesus Christ himself could manage the Cubs and somehow they would choke.  And I am a recovering Cubs fan myself (1981-1994, The Sandberg Era).  With Kerry Wood not coming back to Chi-town, I would be willing to give them JC Romero for DeRosa.  JC is a great relief pitcher and might end up with 30 saves in Wrigley.

 

God I love baseball.  Spring training is only two months away!

 

OK, wrestling, wrestling, wrestling…ah heck there has to be some wrestling talk going on!

 

Last Saturday was the annual UWC Toys 4 Tots event in Pemberton, NJ and as always me and Colby teamed up!  We missed last year because he had a school wrestling tournament but this year he was back in the ring!!!  Below is the link to the Daily Motion website where you can see the Father/Son team joins forces against The Cremator and Dave Patera.  Enjoy. It was a lot of fun being out there for charity making the fans happy with my only son.

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7ok8q_steve-and-colby-corino-tag-team-mat_sport

 

3KWrestling will be starting our first Internet TV tapings starting this weekend at our Revolution Dojo.  Tickets are free and the tapings will be under the old school Georgia Championship Wrestling style (In a studio).  Though you need to email Ryan at 3KWrestling@GMail.com to reserve your tickets just so he has enough room.

 

I am finishing this kinda quick blog/live journal this week in my Denny’s in Isle Verde, Puerto Rico as we finish the 2008 season here for WWC.  They always end the year with a real big show that this year includes Sabu, Team 3D, Abdulllah The Butcher, BALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLSSSSSSSSSSS Mahoney, Elijah Burke, Shane, and more.  Should be fun and hopefully the crowd is super hot as they are starting to pick up here.

 

As I announced on my message forum, but I don’t know how many of you go there (hehe, start going!) I am now part of Bill Behnrens’ Show Business agency.  Independent promoters can now go directly to Bill for events.  His email address is SHOWBIS@aol.com.  Please do not inquire to me personally for events.  With my Puerto Rico and Japanese schedules being set it is just easier for Bill to take care of everything.  Thanks.

 

Also, finally, go to STEVECORINO.COM or CORINOWRESTLING.COM and get your Mr. Wrestling 3 t-shirts available now and for immediate delivery.

 

Until next time, have a happy holiday.

THE CORINO CHRONICLES XI: Japan/Puerto Rico/New Shirts!

 

10:49am, November 13 (Seat 5H on US Airways to San Juan)

 

Its time once again to travel down to Puerto Rico for a five week tour, with a week in Japan thrown in there too, and I am sitting here listening to Family Guy on DVD while throwing down some thoughts.  It’s actually the first time in a few weeks that I got the time to write.  Part of me has been too lazy to write and the only part of me has been busy with the latest Japan tour (which I will get into extensively in a bit), Puerto Rico television, and getting to be home for a little over a week.

 

Before I get started, how about them Phillies???  I love it.  The first time in 28 years my team has won the World Series.  I was sitting in an Internet Café in Tokyo talking with my sister and my son on line watching the game live.  It was one of those moments that I will remember for the rest of my life.  I was seven years old in 1980 when Mike Schmidt, Pete Rose, Greg The Bull Luzinski, Larry Bowa, and Steve Carlton won the series.  Hopefully it will not be another 28 years for another world championship.

 

The latest Japan tour was an interesting one to say the least.  It started out with the Pro Wres Expo events that were produced by Freebird International (FBI Japan) at Sumo Hall in Tokyo.  Unfortunately, these shows were doomed from the start.  The economy is getting worse and worse and pro-wrestling in Japan has been on a decline since 2004.  Its not that pro-wrestling is bad or the fans are turned off, there are just way too many companies and it thins out the attendance.

 

The Expo shows were an idea to bring peace to the world through pro-wrestling. I am not lying. That is what the producers wanted to accomplish and as hokey as it sounds it was a nice thought.  The guy that put the money up for these shows is a life long pro-wrestling fan and a real nice person.  It’s a shame that these shows were going to be a bust.  His thought is that he would bring in young talent from many different countries.  A major problem is that Sumo Hall holds almost 10,000 people.  Korakean Hall or Differ Arake would have been a much better choice.  FBI brought in New Japan legend Masa Chono as the head booker and also our company, First On Stage to help book agent the talent.  The talent was pretty much picked by Mr. Ono, even though the Internet blamed it on both FOS and Chono-san.  That was not the case.

 

I was thrilled that I could book Ricky Landell, Ricky Reyes, Alex Anthony, and referee Mike Kehner from 3KWrestling.  Landell was chosen by Mr. Ono after he saw him wrestle Kirby Mack at the Cauliflower Alley Club in June.  Reyes became “Cuban Assassin #3” representing Cuba and Alex Anthony became “Alex Marley” representing Jamaica.  Expo also brought Bambi Killer from Austria (who was in the best shape I ever saw him), Erik Isiken from Norway, Hartley Jackson from Australia, Paul Tracey from Ireland, Durango and Naruto from Mexico, some hump named Geronimo from wherever the piss he claimed to be from (more on this shithead later), a French guy named Henni who apparently has only been training for two months, and the worst of the worst Himalayan Tiger from Nepal.

 

Chono and First On Stage picked me to be the agent of the matches and to give instructions and finishes.  I never thought that actually taking bumps and getting hurt would be easier then dealing with some of these people.  I say some but really it was only four I had to shake my head at.  And you have to keep in consideration that the French kid only has two months of training.  But that is LA Dojo’s fault for bringing him over.  It’s a shame because of how green the French guy was, Paul Tracey didn’t get a chance to show what he could do.  Will that hurt him for future consideration for Japan tours? I hope not, but wouldn’t be surprised if it does.

 

The Himalayan Tiger was just awful.  Maybe it’s because he doesn’t get to wrestle much but even giving him instructions was like trying to give instructions to a four year old with ADD.  He was the laughing stock of the shows and I felt bad for him the first few days until I saw that he was only out for himself and not the show.  Here is Chono, who has drawn more money then all of us combined, telling us to give it our best even though the house would be really small.  But this guy just worried about himself and made a total ass of himself in the ring.  Let’s hope these shows are not out on DVD.

 

Unfortunately one of the guys that were a bust was one of my 3KWrestlng guys.  I will not mention his name but it’s just a shame what happened.  It goes to show how far attitude can take you and how once you believe you are better then everyone it can blow up in your face.  I helped this guy for years and at the end of the tour not only did he make me look bad but the ZERO1 office made me cancel him off the January tour where he was scheduled to wrestle in a major program.  It’s been almost three weeks and I am still pissed off and heartbroken.  Just a awful effort from a guy that I thought was better then that.  Over the last seven years I have tried to help a bunch of guys and most of them let me down but I never thought this guy would do it.  It’s a cruel business this pro-wrestling industry where friendships are ruined due to politics or money but this friendship is now ruined because of a lack of respect.  Later I will explain to everyone that reads this how to get booked in Japan and/or Puerto Rico through me.

 

The last guy was a douche named Geronimo.  I actually liked this kid and thought that he was getting the short end of the stick until he thought he would be cool, put on his internet muscles and bury me on his My Space page for something that I didn’t do.

 

This kid was one of the stinking points in practice and the first Royal Rumble.  Once Chono-san saw him in practice he changed the third show match from Geronimo being in the semi-main event to the first match.  He also decided to take him out of the second Royal Rumble and put him in a singles match with Osamu Namiguchi.  Namiguchi is now a six-year vet but I think this kid thought he should have won which was not going to happen.  He ends up having an OK seven minute match with Nami but it was due to Nami being able to make him look good.  It was after that match and another awful performance by Himalayan Tiger that Chono took them both off the third show.  Only the work of Kikutaro got Tiger back on the third show and I even asked both Kiku and Chono if we should put the Indian kid back on and I was told no.  So what does this jackoff do? He writes a My Space blog burying me for taking him off the show! Is that what they taught him at the LADojo? I think not.  Maybe next time you think about why you get taken off a show or passed up for a Japan tour maybe you should look in the mirror or watch a DVD of yourself and blame the person that really took you off the show…YOU.  I hope you are happy now asshole that you got to speak your mind about something you had no idea about.  And to think that Navaho Warrior and GQ Gallo didn’t get that spot when they would have been a million times better then you.

 

If wrestlers want to know why they are not in WWE, TNA, or a main spot in Japan they should take a look at the guys that are fixtures there.  The TNA guys on the Expo shows (Shelley, Sabin, Daniels, & Young) ran circles around the gaijin talent except for Ricky Reyes.  So next time you want to know why TNA is not beating down your door ask yourself if you look as good as these guys or can hang in the ring with them.  Its almost 2009 and you need the cosmetic part as much as you need the in-ring work.  I get 15-20 emails a day (yes, a day) of guys asking me to help them get booked in Japan and/or Puerto Rico and how many of them can take a look at themselves as say that they can handle it?  Even while I am trying to get back into shape do I feel confident enough to email Jeff Jarrett or Vince Russo for a spot in TNA? Nope.  Do these people think that Japan is going to throw tons of money to a guy that doesn’t have gear or work out or has an “I’m the best attitude”?  Shit no.  And it’s a shame that I have to say this because I was always the guy that would take VHS tapes and DVDs over to Japan no matter how bad the talent was.  I figured it wasn’t my job to crush the dreams of guys but even if you do that you are a dick if you can’t get them in.  For every Jake Manning, Heartbreak Express, Josh Daniels, or Kirby Mack that deserves a spot in Japan and/or Puerto Rico there is 100 other guys emailing about how good they are and how they should be there.  It’s starting to make me freaking nuts.  So from now on before emailing me or Charlie LeGrande or even ZERO1 think to yourself: Am I what the company could be looking for?  And if not then you need to figure out what you need to do to get to the next level.  Look like a star, get in the gym, get in the car and travel to as many shows as possible, and learn the styles.  If you are unprepared in Puerto Rico and Japan (and TNA for that matter) you are going to get eaten alive and that is no one else’s fault but yours.  Why didn’t I get a wrestling job with the WWE last year? Because I couldn’t adjust my style to theirs quick enough.  Who’s fault is that? Vince McMahon? Johnny Ace? Nope, mine.  I am lucky that the WWE was not my goal but if it was then I would be heartbroken that I let myself down.

 

On the positive side it was awesome to meet Danny Hodge.  What a nice guy and still strong as an ox.  Hartley “Jacko” Jackson from Australia was great.  He had a good look and his work was great for Japan.  He reminded me of a young Leo Burke (watch your tapes and YouTube kids!).  Mike Kehner did another super job refereeing and it was cool that Chono picked him to ref the main event of the third show.

 

But I think the best part of the Expo shows was something that only a few people could really dig.  Because the company name was “Free Bird International” they played “Freebird” before the shows during the opening ceremonies.  At one point me and Mike Kehner looked at each other and laughed.  We got to come out to “Freebird” in Tokyo.

 

After the Expo shows it was time for me to check out of the really nice (and I mean really, really nice) hotel near Sumo Hall and back to my Japanese home base, the Mita Kaikan.  I give the Mita Kaikan a lot of flack for being a shitty hotel (and it is) but I have gotten used to it over the last few years.  It is what it is.  But once we got there (Reyes and Alex stayed for the ZERO1 tour) we made the best of it and got ready for the next two ZERO1 shows.  We even found a Gold’s Gym two train stops away from the hotel so we actually spent a good amount of time in the gym.

 

Reyes, as Kimbos Rice, shined and got a spot in the Ten-chi Jr. heavyweight tournament, which originally he was not scheduled for.  It goes back to what I was speaking about earlier about doing what it takes to get to the next level.  We laughed at first at the name they picked for Reyes because of MMA fighter Kimbo Slice, but then they explained the Kimbos meant something like “golden fire” or something cool like that.  If you see how they made him up on zerooneusa.com it was awesome.  And his match with Minoru Fujita at Korekan Hall pretty much guaranteed him a few more tours with ZERO1.  A spot well deserved.

 

Alex Anthony, originally a student of CW Anderson’s before going into the Army and now one of me and Reyes’ 3KWrestling Revolution Dojo standouts, was made up to become Yaya Brazil.  I don’t know what it was either!  But Alex took the ball and ran with it.  He stood toe to toe with Sawa from BattleArts on the first show and then teamed with Mr. Wrestling 3 against one of the best tag teams in the world, Shinjiro Otani and Masato Tanaka and did great.  He got over with the fans and he will be the first to tell you that he isn’t even 25% of what he should and will be.  It takes hard work to be a standout in Japan.

 

Right from Japan I had to go to Puerto Rico and do TV against one of our young stars, BJ.  I don’t think he has a last name, even though I beg for one for him in every meeting!  This kid is good and will only get better with age and experience.  I was told that the attendance would be down because of the presidential election and also the local elections but never thought it would be that down.  Now with the elections done down in PR, its time that we get the houses up.  We have a good crew (lacking some babyfaces) and the TV ratings are great, its just getting people out to the live events.

 

Once I got home I traveled down to Raleigh, NC for Highspots/PWS show featuring Ric Flair.  I don’t know if the place was hard to find or it just wasn’t promoted right but the attendance was low.  It’s a shame too because there were some really good matches.  Goldust vs. Jake Manning was really good, CW Anderson vs. Charlie Dreamer and my brother-in-law Ares vs. Mike Lee was solid, and I thought me and Joey Silvia was pretty good.

 

Promoting is so hard and I feel bad for these guys that lose money every show.  I feel bad because I have been one of these guys for years.  I think about it and I imagine I have lost over $60,000 of my own money over the last seven years trying to promote PWF, WORLD-1, and 3KWrestling.  No one goes out there to lose money but it takes a lot of money to even begin to make money back.  It’s not an investment that pays back right away or sometimes ever.  With 3KWrestling we will be OK with Ryan and Reyes heading up a lot of the stuff and I will be back helping in the beginning of the New Year.  But it’s about finding the right building that is economical, keeping expenses down, and trying to get the word out about the show.  That was always the biggest problem I had with 3KWrestling.  I was trying to pay off the last shows losses while trying to promote the next show and money runs out quickly.  It’s a shame but it will get better as the economy gets better (hopefully).

 

6:48pm, November 15, San Juan

I figured I would take a few seconds to give people a look at the life of a pro-wrestler.  Not a WWE or TNA guy, but a young guy looking at the future or a grizzled vet keeping in the game.  That place would be Puerto Rico.

 

You can read about the pro-wrestling history of Puerto Rico but let me describe how we live, yes the little people.  They call us “gringos”.  I have heard Homicide us “F’n gringo” enough during our feud to know that its not good.

 

Most of us live in a 12x10 room, not unlike a prison cell (haha), and spend our days living a routine not unlike a prison.  For me its Denny’s in the morning for coffee and free wireless internet.  I get heat from the waitresses because my bill will only be $1.38 and I will be there for three hours. Then usually I eat lunch and hope that someone picks us up to go to a gym 15 minutes away but is free.  Yes, there is a gym within a 2 minute walk but the thought of paying $50 a month is not appeasing. Then it is off to the beach to the same guy that comps your beach chair if its not busy and you try to get as much sun (or in other words waste as much time) as possible.  Then its shower time and getting ready to go to the town.  We pack 4-6 to a car and put our lives in the hands of the driver, a young boy new to the world of professional wrestling and might have been a demolition derby driver before that.  The Puerto Rican traffic is bad but add on that people don’t care if they hit your car here.  I don’t know why anyone would ever buy a brand new car here. It’s only going to get dented within a matter of hours.  But after many close calls and not one word out of the young boy, we make it to the building.  Buildings in Puerto Rico are not air conditioned nor have the showers (if they are even there) been cleaned in years.  After your 15 minute match in front of eight year old kids chanting “asshole” at me the shower doesn’t look too bad.  After showering and putting on my suit (I always wear a suit to shows in Japan or Puerto Rico) I count down until I start sweating again because the locker room is a hundred and hell.  I know I will have to taken a third shower when I got back to my room because the after match shower just wasn’t going to take.  After a bumpy ride home (Puerto Rico does not repair their highways and its pothole heaven), I take a shower, make some ramen noodles (6 for $1 at Walgreens this week), and watch my two channels in English (USA & TBS).  Monday, Tuesday, Wednesdays are pretty much a catch up on the beach, gym, and watching TV.  What a world huh? I love it!

 

That’s what being a wrestler in Puerto Rico is about.  It’s not the most glamorous life but its also not bad either.  Think about it.  Where else can you wrestle three days a week (and we heard four days a week in ’09), go to the gym every day, and spend the rest of the day on the beach? It’s a place where you can either get in great shape or become a total slob.  I have chosen to try and get in shape.

 

Its almost Christmas time and that means it is time to get your Mr. Wrestling 3 & Steve Corino t-shirts!  3 Designs, $20 each or 3 for $50 plus shipping & handling.

The “Black Eagle” shirt is black or red with a white logo.  It is available in any size (Please add $1 for each size over XXL).

 

The “WPF MW3” shirt is white, grey, or red with a black logo. It is available in any size (Please add $1 for each size over XXL).

 

The “3 Black Eagle” shirt is available in black, royal blue, dark grey, or red.  It is available in any size (Please add $1 for each size over XXL).

 

You can PayPal your order to Steve@CorinoWrestling.com.  Please specify the design, size, and color of your shirt.  Orders are shipped out no more then 48 hours after processing.

 

Some of you are probably wondering what the “Black Eagle” is.  The Black Eagle is what the Japanese office is calling Mr. Wrestling 3.  Black for evil and the eagle for American.  Yep, an evil American.  I love it. 

 

Buy a few for your friends and family!! And hopefully the three pictures come out on the blog!

 

And that will end the 11^th chapter of The Corino Chronicles.  Enjoy and be good.

The Corino Chronicles X: Back To Basics

Welcome to the first edition of the Corino Chronicles available on CorinoWrestling.com. As you will see in the next 2500 or so words things are changing everyday for me. And in a good way.

Why CorinoWrestling.com? Well after 11 years of SteveCorino.com and two great webmasters (Jeff Bradley and John Simms) I decided that I wanted to learn how to update my website on my own. But why not SteveCorino.com you ask? Good question. SteveCorino.com is part of the same server that handles RickyLandell.com and also ZEROONEUSA.com. Mr. Simms still handles Ricky Landell’s website and Matt is amazing with what he has done with the English version of ZERO1’s site. The last thing I wanted to do was go in and try and update my site, while learning mind you, and screw up everything for Ricky and Matt. I came up with CorinoWrestling.com not only for me but everything that involves wrestling in the Corino Family. As most of you know my sister, Allison Danger, is a very successful women’s wrestler and her husband, Ares, is also a very, very talented pro-wrestler. But not just that, my son Colby will be starting his third season as a wrestler for Perkiomen Valley Middle School (Go Vikings!) and I figured that it would be fun to have a whole family website. For right now as I get used to updating the site and trying out new things I will pretty much focus on my stuff and then in early ’09 start putting updates from Allison, Ares, and even Cole on there. It should be fun. You can shoot me any comments on the new site at Steve@CorinoWrestling.com (new email address) or go to the official Steve Corino message forum over at Wrestling-Radio.com

What will happen with SteveCorino.com? Another good question. Right now it will direct you to CorinoWrestling.com and once I get confident enough to update that I will make SteveCorino.com and CorinoWrestling.com two separate sites.

This past week was a very hectic yet exciting week for me. On Tuesday night I took off for Europe with a three-day stop over in Helsinki, Finland. I was so happy to get some time with my wife’s family and it was actually the first time I got to see my mother-in-law since Saana and I got married in ’06. I scored big with my mother-in-law on this turn. When I was married to Colby’s mom, her mother was not so nice to either me or my ex-wife, and now I got the total opposite this time.

Finland is such an amazing country. I can’t tell you how much I love it. There is something about the clean air that just makes me feel like I am home. On Thursday night, instead of taking a taxi cab to the Fight Club Finland event that I was wrestling on, I decided to walk 20 minutes through the city to the arena. Helsinki has an old time feel to it and the people are just so nice. Most Americans don’t realize that people from other countries are not too fond of us due to politics and a belief that Americans are bullies to the rest of the world and spoiled. And let’s face it, a lot of people in the US feel the same way about Americans. But right now there seems to be a change due to the upcoming election. Up until last week I really didn’t follow it as much as I should because I had made up my mind who I was going to vote for, but almost every Finnish person I talked to wanted to talk about Obama. They are all under the belief that the presidency under Obama is going to help the US’s world image. Amazing how I can be 5000 miles away from home and people, that I don’t even know, want to talk about our politics. Damn, I was born in Canada and still hold citizenship there, and I can’t even tell you who the Prime Minister is.

The Fight Club Finland event took place in a nightclub called Gloria. I loved the set up because it kind of reminded me of a clean Elk’s Lodge (from the ECW days in Queens, NY) with the two levels. FCF and their champion Starbuck worked really hard to promote this event and it paid off. The fans were hot all night and the match between Starbuck and me really was enjoyable. I had never wrestled as anything else but a babyface in Finland before but I was in my element as a heel working with the crowd and doing whatever I wanted to Starbuck. And it also gave the fans and the young wrestlers a different style of match then what they saw of me vs. Starbuck from 2005.

On Saturday, I took off back to the UK for my return to 1PW for the first time in two years. If you read the 1PW message forum (1PWOnline.com) you would have thought that the devil was coming back to 1PW but I can’t tell you how surprised I was at the reception I received. Taken back is a better choice of words. There is/was a lot of speculation on why I left, the 3CW show last year, and why I came back. And I always kept quiet on most of the things that happened but since I have about 14 more hours on this flight and a fresh battery I am going to get into things that I have never revealed publicly before.

I flew from Helsinki to London Heathrow and then took a train up to Doncaster for the event. By the way, 66GBP is highway robbery for a train ticket! I really didn’t know what to expect when I got there because there were a few untrue stories that were out there about me. I am not saying that I am perfect in any way (as you will read on later when I speak candidly about 3KWrestling) but if I screw up, I take responsibility and also take it like a man. It’s the bullshit stories that make me (and I am sure anyone else) upset.

The first person I saw after I stepped out of the cab at the Doncaster Dome was Spud. I love that kid. When I was booking 1PW this kid would do anything to not only get himself over but get whoever he was working over. He was always one of my favorites. Then it became a reunion of sorts when I saw Steve Lynsky (referee and my favorite trouble maker), Keith Myatt, Ulf Herman, and Jonny Storm. Then I met a few of the new crew made up of the 1PW Academy, who were all very respectful. Even before I stepped into the ring I felt a lot better about the night. I had a feeling the match with Ulf, who I had never wrestled before, would be good (although the finish for the match was not to our, or the fans, liking but that is why pro-wrestling is the ‘never ending story’) and I was anxious to see how bad I would get booed.

For those of you that have followed 1PW over the last three years, it is a story of ups and downs and pretty much a crazy story in fact. When 1PW started in 2005 I was asked by the former owner to come to UK for a show to wrestle Al Snow. I had done a bunch of shows for the old FWA in the past, having a great feud with Alex Shane, but this one was being promoted as a “Super Show” and unfortunately super shows have tendency to bomb. But the 1PW show in October of 2005 was a lot of fun and it seemed like they were taking a step to be a player in British wrestling. At the time my friend Kingdom James from Canada was the booker and did a good job. If you know Kingdom, he loves the office side of pro-wrestling more than anyone I know and to be honest, is good at it. But he and the owner at the time Steven Gauntley had different ideas and Gauntley asked me to book in May of 2006.

For those of you that have not booked before it’s not as easy as it looks. Sure, putting matches and stories together is fun and I loved it, but you also have to answer to the boss. And the boss is the one paying the bills. Every idea I had, had to go through him and that was cool because it was his business. Steven had big dreams and had a big budget. A much bigger budget then he should have had because after a year, even though the crowds were getting bigger, he was not making any money back on his investment. I never knew this. I always thought that at the end of the shows we were coming out on top because the attendance kept rising and he seemed to be spending less. What I didn’t realize is that even though the shows were profiting, he was still paying off the first few shows (which the budgets were much higher for in fact).

I worked hard booking 1PW. I wanted a lot of the focus on the British talent and pushed really hard to have the 1PW tag team titles on Jonny Storm and Jody Fleisch. I forget who originally were going to get them, but I wanted a UK team to be the first champions. I (and you can believe this or not but I will explain in a bit) never wanted to be the 1PW champion while booking.

Hard to believe right? Now don’t get me wrong, I was honored to be considered for the title in the first place and I think Kingdom and Steven had made up their mind to switch the title from Abyss to me before I took over the book, but you have to realize that I was being made the champion because of a conflict with TNA and 1PW. I was never set to win the tournament and I remember the long term goal was to keep the title on Abyss for a year (if I am correct but Kingdom would know better). There was a worry that TNA was going to pull their wrestlers from 1PW shows and they scrambled to find someone they could put the belt on. I was that guy. Much like how I was considered for the ECW World title, I was the go-to-guy instead of the chosen one and that was cool. I understood that role in 2000 and 2006 was no different. But the reason I didn’t want to be the champion is because I was also booking. I know, I know, Jerry Lawler was Southern champion 37 times, USWA champion 26 times and owned the company and that is cool. I am not Jerry Lawler. Running my own small companies before (PWF and WORLD-1) I hated putting myself on top because I was always worried about the rest of the show and felt that I couldn’t give 100% attention to my match. I really wanted to put the 1PW title on Doug Williams and go into the first Anniversary show with Doug vs. Abyss as the main event.

Steven wanted no parts of this because he felt secure knowing that his booker and champion were the same. Why have two people to worry about when you can only worry about one? And that was fine but we also live in the Internet world where everything (like now) is revealed in time. It didn’t take long for the 1PW internet base (which I will get to in a bit) to know that I was booking. But there was also another problem: Abyss was rightfully upset that the belt was taken off him. And it’s not because Abyss didn’t want to lose or was a “belt mark”. He felt like he was lied to and I understood his feelings. I liked Abyss as champion and if I had my way (and also not wrestled on the shows) I would have had him hold the title until Anniversary where he finally would have lost it to Doug. I, with Steven in the room and in agreement, promised Abyss the title back at Anniversary. I planned out the feud and it drew. The house was always up and believe it or not a Steve Corino vs. Abyss program with a very strong undercard was hot. But there was another guy that no one expected was going to get hot and that was Sterling James Keenan. This kid did everything he could to get heat and the fans loved him more. As much as I was the top babyface, SJK was the Stone Cold Steve Austin of 1PW. Hell, I even had him beat up a handicapped guy and the fans cheered. It was awesome. Every show people loved him more and more. His feud with Spud (and mind you, Spud never beat him) was intense and fun to watch. I was so confident that 2007 was going to be a year of building up Abyss vs. SJK and hopefully having it climax at the 2nd Anniversary. But then things started to go wrong.

In September of 2006 Steven came to me and told me that he wasn’t going to be able to get a few TNA guys for the January 2007 event. TNA guys were drawing great for 1PW and he was worried that if we didn’t get a big draw the let down after Anniversary would hurt attendance and he was right. Look at house show attendance after WrestleMania’s. They always go down and then pick back up. Anniversary was 1PW’s WrestleMania but they didn’t have the TV to hold out for a bad show or two. There was talk between us about bringing Masato Tanaka from ZERO1 back in for the week and also brining in Shinjiro Otani (I would have loved to see a Tanaka/Otani vs. Smothers/Hamrick match) but Steven wanted a huge Japanese star and Keiji Muto’s name came up. You don’t get much bigger of a name in Japan and the rest of the world then The Great Muta! But the problem was is that I worked for ZERO1 and Muta worked/owned All-Japan Pro-Wrestling. Now there is a process on how business is being done in Japan when you are working for different companies. While most of the companies get along behind the scenes it is like a mafia movie. You can not go to someone else’s family to ask for help until you ask the boss first. I made an initial contact to a friend of mine in All-Japan to see if Muto-san would even be interested and once I found out he would I told Steven. I also asked him not to leak it to anyone because I wanted to talk to my boss before meeting Muto. I was also hoping that my boss would help me secure Muto for 1PW. A week or so before I left for Japan, I got an email from the Japanese office with a link to a story that had 1PW talking to Muto, and I was in trouble. My boss is one of my closest friends but he also has a boss and that boss was NOT happy. In fact I was fined a substantial amount of money. Say what you want about Steven Gauntley, but he took responsibility of the mess up that he caused and paid me for it. I will always remember that.

Once I get to Japan and smooth everything over with my boss, I met with Muto and asked him to be part of the January 2007 1PW event. Now, you have to also realize that Muto is a huge, huge star. Not only in wrestling but he makes money at every avenue. I think he gets money if he takes a shit, that is how much of a star this guy is! Steven gave me a number that 1PW could afford and I flat out told Muto that this is what we have and I understood if he couldn’t take it but we would love to have him. And this was a pretty good amount of money mind you. Muto told me that he makes more money doing an autograph session in Tokyo then what we offered but he would do the show to promote the legend of the Great Muta. Not only was I in awe of what he has done but I thought it was so cool that he would take a pay cut so that British fans could see one of the most successful wrestlers of our generation. This is where I wanted to mark out and play typical booker and put Muta vs. Corino. LOL, it’s true. But Muta told me because of my status in Japan he would want to wait and do that match in Japan first (we ended up wrestling each other last year in San Francisco and never got to have the Japan match). He also said that he wanted to be a heel, which I argued was never going to be possible because he was too famous, but he insisted and wanted to be put against a young guy that he could help elevate. There was only one person that came right into my mind: Sterling James Keenan. What made it even better is that SJK is a huge Muta fan (as a lot of the wrestlers are!) and I got more excited about a SJK vs. Great Muta match then even if I wrestled Muta.

I emailed Gauntley, told him the good news, and also told him that it should be a secret to everyone but him, me, and our video guy Brett, that Muta was coming. At the time 1PW had a “titan tron” that I used like it was the great and powerful Oz. There wasn’t a general manager or authority figure. There was a video screen that would pop up and make decisions or matches. Brett, who is amazingly talented, came up with this video that we decided we would play after SJK’s Anniversary match. The best part of it is that we never told Sterling! He watched with a packed house at the Doncaster Dome as 1PW announced that The Great Muta was coming to the UK to face SJK. It was magic to see his face. Just a genuine look of “oh my God, this is happening.”

But after Anniversary, the 1PW financial situation that I had no idea about, hit me. There were certain things that I was supposed to get that never came about and I was upset that I was lied to. I understand that no owner wants to tell their wrestlers that they are behind (I have had to do it a few times with 3KWrestling) but I just wanted to be told the truth. So about 10 days after Anniversary, I resigned as booker of 1PW and Steven chose Dean Ayass (I am sorry if I spelled that wrong) to replace me. Dean was perfect for the role and was a huge help with creative ideas while I was booking so I was happy that 1PW wouldn’t suffer. Sometimes a different booking style can help OR hurt a company. Steven wanted me to stay on as a wrestler and I agreed. I really wanted to be there for the long haul. But there were other things that were bothering me including the travel company was behind in money. Why did I care? It’s because it was the same travel agency we used for Japan and it looked very bad on me. I was more concerned with 1PW paying the travel agency then paying me because Japanese business is based on honor. Even if you can’t pay, you have to tell them. They at least consider that honorable.

Then Fight Club (I think it was 4) happened and I arrived early. That was the biggest mistake I could have ever made. During the day, someone went in and stole my briefcase. A briefcase that held my laptop, cell phone, date book, travel arrangements, and worst of all my wedding pictures and my passport. Gone. Just like that. There is nothing worse then a thief in the locker room. I just read a interview that Balls Mahoney did where he talked about someone stealing money from his bag and it made me sick. The locker room is supposed to be the safest place a wrestler can go. I was horrified. Defeated is actually the best word I could describe my feelings at the point. I had met with Gauntley earlier and we made a deal where I would come back for all of the big shows because he wanted to scale down the imports for the Fight Club series. We shook and even hugged. Once my briefcase was stolen I felt like I didn’t want to be around anymore. Was it Steven that stole the briefcase? Of course not but I just wanted the pessimists on the 1PW Forum to get that out of their minds. I don’t know who stole it.

I only wish they would have stolen everything but my pictures and passport. A laptop (which luckily I had insured) and a cell phone can be replaced. But wedding pictures and a passport hurt a bit more. Without a passport how was I to get home? I was so lucky that I had my wallet with me the whole time or I would have had no money either. I ended up having to take a train all the way back to London (about a 2 ½ hour journey) and spend all day trying to get a new passport. Ever try and get a passport on short notice? Try getting it in other country. I ended up having to pay over $300 in fees for that, $100 for a hotel because I would never be able to make it back to Manchester, and $200 for the flight change. And after replacing everything that was stolen I paid to wrestle at Fight Club 4.

But the final straw for me and Steven’s relationship came a week or so later when I was forwarded an email from Kingdom where he told him that he thought the whole bag stolen might have been made up. I couldn’t believe it. I was horrified. That whole day was one of the worst days of my life and now this guy, who was supposed to be my friend, thought I was working him. That is when I decided to quit 1PW. Its heartbreaking to read that there are a few fans on that message forum and they know who they are that actually post that I “lied” when I said I was going to stay in 1PW. Well guys, now you know why I left. Hope you are happy.

After I quit I informed the All Japan office that I had resigned and gave them all of Steven and Dean’s contact information. As pissed off as I was it was still a place for everyone to work. I never want to see anyone go out of business because it’s less work for the boys. The All Japan office thanked me and I couldn’t wait to hear about the SJK vs. Muta match. But then it all fell apart for 1PW. All of it was second hand, since I was no longer in the loop but most of you know that Steven’s financial problem got worse and the Muta ended up wrestling for (forgive me if I am wrong) RQW. This was not good for either me or my contact at All Japan because Muta was beyond pissed. To this day when I see Muta he always reminds me of the trouble. And I have to bow to him and say I am sorry.

As far as I knew I was done with British wrestling and I was planning on retiring/quitting at the end of 2007. That is when I was contacted by 3CW. We made a deal (at almost half of what I was getting at 1PW) so that I could have a last match in the UK. I thought it was an awesome gesture and that was one of the main reasons I made them the deal on the wrestling fee. I was excited to come. And it was cool because I was supposed to wrestle SJK. That was a match that I was hoping to do eventually in 1PW so I thought it would be cool to do it there if it was my last time in the UK.

Now the story you were given was that I never got on the plane. NOT TRUE in any way. How the promoter got that story is beyond me. In the post-9/11 world of airlines I find it so hard to believe that a customer service representative told them that I didn’t get on the plane. There is a kid on the 1PW Forum that will break it down like it was John F. Kennedy’s assassination hearing that I lied and was home when I jumped on MySpace (and maybe even my message forum) to post that I couldn’t be there due to the immigration service sending me home. Let me tell how this works and how this breaks down.

When you are wrestling in another country you need a working visa. If you don’t have a visa and you lie to them (which I have done in the past and would do so on this occasion) you are in trouble. The main reason for a working visa is so that you can pay taxes on the money you earn if you are not a citizen. If you look in my passport I have a ton of visas from Japan and even one from India. The UK actually has a process where you hand yours in which I love because then there isn’t a permanent stamp in your passport. You only have so many pages for stamps and visas and it costs money and time to get more pages.

Before I tell you the UK story let me tell you of the time I almost got busted in Japan for it. It was 2006 and my visa had expired a month before the guy (who is not there anymore thankfully!) in the office thought it did and by the time that he got me my new certificate of eligibility it was too late. And immigration in Japan was clamping down on “illegal work” and it was my time. When I got to Japan I told them I was not working and then challenged me. They had known that I was The Monster C for Hustle and took me into a room where they showed me as Monster C. I was dead in the water except for the little window of working I could do by telling them that it was Kamikaze and not me. It worked and I never entered Japan again without a visa. I felt like a total asshole because I lied to the country that paid my salary for so long.

I knew I would have to tell the UK immigration that I was only there to train and really didn’t bother with it much because SJK and I were the only imports and we were coming in at different times. I figured there wouldn’t be much suspicion. I couldn’t have been more wrong. I got there, they swiped the passport, and when I saw the immigration officer look at the screen I knew I was in trouble. They told me to wait for a moment while they checked something out. That is NEVER a good sign. I got taken into a room where they put criminals that they pull off planes and started asking questions. I tried to stay cool until they unfolded a flyer that they printed out from the internet with my picture on it. Now here is where it gets bad. They were tipped off and they also told me how much I was being paid for the appearance. By they way, it was no where near what they said. People always ask me if I thought it was Gauntley and to be honest I don’t know. Would he be the prime suspect? Of course, but I wasn’t going to blame him. If I was given the visa that I asked for at the time of the booking then no one would have stopped me through immigration. It was as simple as that. After a few hours I was put back on a plane back to Philadelphia. So do the math here. Seven hours to go to England, Three hours in detention hoping that I wouldn’t be arrested, and seven hours home. Did I mention that I had like 50 t-shirts and pictures in my bag to sell. So instead of having my last scheduled match in the UK and making some good money I spend an awful day not seeing the light of day. And I shit myself the whole way back to Philadelphia thinking that maybe I would be in trouble in the States. But these few kids on the forum think that I just made it up. Trust me, I have no-showed before (most times not on purpose mind you) and if I didn’t want to come to the UK I would have just sat at home playing Playstation all day and eating pizza. I loved wrestling in the UK and the fans energized me. It was the best babyface run I ever had in my 14 year career. And it’s a shame that a few people have to ruin it. If they hated me because they don’t like my wrestling or I nailed their sisters that is one thing, but to hate me because of something they have no idea about it just plain stupid. But I am sure they would find another excuse and twist words but I don’t care. The reaction I got from the 1PW fans on Saturday was amazing, yet much unexpected.

I had an idea of what I was going to say when I got into the ring but after the reaction I got from the fans I was speechless. It was then I got totally lucky when some kid on the left side of me yelled “Where’s your visa?” and it was on. And this kid was a real good sport too. I think he really wanted to hop the railing and come after me, which is always awesome. I also didn’t realize that Gauntley was the big heel in the 1PW crowd now. Fans had always found a way to either make excuses for him (even when he admitted mistakes) or just were blind. Once again I was stuck for words and if you are reading this, you know how much I depend on that microphone!

I was stoked to wrestle Ulf Herman for the first time and I thought the match went well up until the finish. I don’t know the reasoning behind it and either did Ulf but that is up to the 1PW bookers and I am sure they know what they are doing.

If you would have asked me on the taxi ride to the Doncaster Dome if I was back to stay I would have told you no. I figured I would be in and out and that would be it but I have to say it was a lot of fun being back and if 1PW wants me back, I will be back. And by the way, they got me a visa (LOL, just in case you were wondering!)

Its now 16:35 Japan time on Tuesday (shit, where the hell did Monday go?) and I am sitting in Terminal 1 of the Tokyo Narita airport waiting for Ricky Landell, Mike Kehner, Ricky Reyes, and Alex Anthony to go through customs. It’s the quietist I have ever seen this terminal. We are in town for the Pro Wres Expo events, which apparently aren’t very popular according to someone on my message forum. Let’s face it, Japanese wrestling has changed. For the better? No. But its still the best place to work. Back in the Inoki-Baba days you could go to one show and see 10-15 stars but now that it is broken down into 70 or so companies, you have to go to 15 shows to see one star. It’s a shame but it’s the nature of the business. And in this economy it just makes me happy that there are groups that still run regularly. I don’t know how many indies in the States are doing it. I know that I was feeling it with 3KWrestling.

I explained my temporary departure from ownership of 3KWrestling on my message forum and I am sure there are more stories out there (that are probably not true) but the fact of the matter is that 3KWrestling (or me since I was the owner) was in debt. And instead of going ahead and putting up more debt I decided to step back and pay back the bills that are due. And unfortunately that takes a little more time then I would like. Everything with 3K started out awesome with the shows and the Dojo but then I took a beating with two cancellations for sold shows in July. Instead of making money, we (I actually) ended up losing a bunch and that was the capital that was supposed to get 3K through the slower summer months. I also made a decision to go back to wrestling full time and leaving my job, which actually owed me money. I used to think that wrestling was bad sometimes for people owing you money but the real world isn’t that much different. But now I have a full schedule and the debts will be gone before Christmas. Will I come back to 3KWrestling as an owner? Maybe. I don’t know if Ryan and Rick will need me to be honest and with wrestling full time in Puerto Rico and back for regular tours in Japan, I don’t know if time will permit. I hope so though because I really enjoyed 3KWrestling and I owe it to young guys like Ryan Sawyer, Kevin Payne, Alex Anthony, and others to try and give them another avenue to get more experience. They have a bright future ahead of them and the more shows they can wrestle on, the better they will become.

Well lets get a little non-wrestling talk in…How about them Phillies? Oh my God, they turned my year around! Who knows if they will win the World Series but I am just glad they are in. Fifteen years is a long time and its cool that my son will get to see them in the big series for the first time in his life. I will have to watch the whole series in Japan, but that doesn’t matter. In 1980, when the Phillies won the first and only world championship I was seven years old. Seven. And I remember my father and I celebrating. Now I get the chance to do that with my boy.

Speaking of world championships, I think huge congratulations are in order for the new AWA World champion Ricky Landell. That’s right, my girl won the big prize that he has been groomed for over the past three years. Say what you want about the AWA, Dale Gagne, or the claim that it is the same AWA World title that Nick Bockwinkel held but the fact is that every champion in the new-AWA era (2005-today) has held that title with honor and made it an important title again. You never know, maybe Ricky (AWA World champion) and Yugi Nagata (new World heavyweight champion) will hook up to unify the two titles…you never know what’s in store.

Holy shit, I just checked the word count and we are up to 6000 words. Well I will leave you guys for now and check in later. Stop by the new site and let me know what you think.

As they say in England…..bye.

Steve

THE CORINO Chronicles VIII: The Extreme Horsemen Reunion

August 24: I don’t think you really know how much you miss someone until you see them again after way too long. For almost 14 years I have known CW Anderson as not only as a tag team partner but as one of the most loyal friends that you could ever ask for. A having a friend in this business is rare. If you have one true friend you have accomplished a lot. I am so fortunate to have a few guys that I can say our my real friends. At the end of my career, not retirement, that is probably the thing I will remember the most. But this story is about CW Anderson.

If you are a fan or mine or CDub’s you know that we are as close as two partners can be. But last year both of us decided that we were going to step away from this great sport of professional wrestling. At the time we both thought that we were done and it was time to move on. He has moved on and of course I can’t. Pro-Wrestling is in my blood and I can’t get it out. I used to think the opposite of CW. Up until Saturday night I thought that he could just walk away and not look back. That might be true but once I saw him and Ricky Landell come to the ring at PWA’s Global Warming event in Los Angeles, I saw the fire in his eyes again. The match that they had with Christopher Daniels and Kaz was tag team magic. I have always been a fan of tag team wrestling, which is weird considering that I have always been pushed as a singles wrestler, and watching those four artists go at it was so much fun. That is professional wrestling. And you have to remember that Daniels and Kaz have never worked with Landell before and CW hasn’t been in the ring in almost six months. I wish that more people would have been there live to appreciate this match. Call me old fashioned (ha you thought I was going to say old school) but this is something that TNA should look at. I am not saying main event status but stuff like what I saw on Saturday night would get older fans back into it.

But more than anything being back in the locker room and on the road with CW Anderson was the real blast. It had been almost a year since we had together. And add Ricky Landell, Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian, and Ricky Reyes in the locker room, it was non-stop laughter and good times. And we realized how old we were too after the show. In the old days we would drop our stuff off at the hotel, go to Roppongi in Tokyo where there would be tons of drinks and just as many girls and wake up with some regrets! Saturday was a pizza, soda, and watching an Adam Sandler movie! But we were just as happy.

Who knows when the next time we will all be together again. Right now its scheduled to be October 4 in Robersonville, North Carolina but when we all get together it reminds me why I love this sport so much.

Late last month I finally decided to add WWE 24/7 to my cable package. As a wrestling fan how can you not? As much as I don’t enjoy today’s product, the WWE puts out an amazing product on this channel. But sometimes you forget how good guys from the past were. Of course you always remember guys that you thought were excellent that were awful! You watch some of the NWA World Championship Wrestling TV shows from 1986 and realize that the style of television that they shot would work on a smaller scale today. I truly believe that.

On the other hand, the bad part (or should I say sad part) of 24/7 is seeing how many stars are gone. Davey Boy Smith, Kerry Von Erich, Andre, Eddie, Bossman, Pillman, and more. All way too young and it doesn’t matter if the deaths were natural or caused by lifestyle choices, these guys were amazing athletes and artists. As I am typing this I am watching Davey Boy Smith w/Andre The Giant in his corner vs. Earthquake and Joey Marella as the referee. All four of them are gone now and missed by the wrestling world.

Ahhh, the dog days of summer are upon us baseball fans and the race for the NL East is closer then I can stand. As of today (Tuesday the 26th) the stinking Mets are a ½ game ahead of my Fightin’ Phillies. Every day that the Mets are in first place is another day that I hate opening my emails wondering if stinking Mets fans like Ricky Landell, his lover Big Mike, or Max Capacity are going to gloat. I hate gloating. Well unless they are me of course.

Friday, August 29:
It’s the day after my son, Colby’s, birthday. Wow, 12 years old already. Every year I pretty much write the same thing about him getting older and older. But now he is so big. He is almost 5’2”. Tall and thin like his old man was. I said “was”. He actually will make his yearly return to the ring on December 6th at the UWC’s Toys For Tots show in New Jersey. Hopefully he will re-new his now 8 year rivalry with Don Montoya!

If you are a non-US resident reading this live journal/blog you probably could care less about US politics. Heck, a ton of people in the United States don’t follow our own politics. I guess we are all pretty much fed up with empty promises and only see higher fuel prices. But the naming of the Republican vice-president nominee really baffled me. Not because she was a woman or even from Alaska. But because John McCain has based his television ads on Obama’s lack of experience and then goes and chooses a first-term politician. I don’t get it. I also don’t get the war in Iraq but I guess that is why I am a pro-wrestler.

The Enforcer CW Anderson asked me to pass this along: HE’S BACK. That’s right promoters, the Extreme Horsemen are back! CW will now be taking weekend bookings again starting immediately. Promoters can book him either through his My Space page or by email at EnforcerCW@aol.com. Could we see a reunion in Japan??? Hmmm, it sounds good.

Does anyone remember the movie “Dragnet” with Tom Hanks? Dabney Coleman, who plays one of the top heels, sounds like Dusty Rhodes! I know most people can imitate the voice of the American Dream, but Coleman has it down. Makes you wonder if he studied some Championship Wrestling from Florida tapes!

Monday, September 8:
I really have to keep up with this journal. I say journal because I have decided to drop my MySpace page. It doesn’t do anything for me anymore whereas when a friend of mine convinced me to do one is was almost like a second webpage and it was a good marketing tool to deal with fans and promoters but for me it ran its course.

I will now spend more time updating SteveCorino.com by myself. Yep, this old man is going to do his own website. Or at least give it a helluva try. With wrestling now full-time with the WWC in Puerto Rico, promoters interested in booking me for events can go through my agent Cristy Lawson at CNLarson@WrestlingSuperstarsLive.com. For fans that want to email me questions or comments you can still catch me at SteveCorino@comcast.net and occasionally I will be online with AIM at CorinoZ1MAX. But don’t forget my official message forum over at Wrestling-Radio.com. You can talk wrestling with me or even talk about my Pro-Wrestling 3000 (3KWrestling) company.

Give me a few weeks to get the feel for doing my site. John Simms, my longtime webmaster, is showing me how to do it but its baby steps!

As I am writing this I am waiting for my wife to pick me up at the Philadelphia Airport as I return from the weekend in Puerto Rico. I should have taken a later flight because she attended the Conan O’Brien taping in New York City this afternoon with a few of her friends and now I am waiting. At least she had a good time though. Its funny (well at least to me) but Conan is mega-over in Finland, where she is from, and now she got to see him live. I will have to DVR it tonight to see if I can see her in the crowd.

Being back on the island was a lot of fun. I think the WWC product is really going to improve and deliver some good TV and house shows in the next few months. I have given them at least a six-month commitment and will be staying there pretty much full time. Heck, who knows I might be like Dutch Mantel and be there five-six years.

There is something I really love about wrestling and staying in Puerto Rico. Maybe it’s the true old-school style of pro-wrestling or the passion of the fans. And of course, you can’t beat the weather.

Being in Puerto Rico full time may have some people wondering what I am going to do with 3KWrestling and I am fully confident that it will run strongly while I am gone. Starting your own pro-wrestling company is tough, and stupid me has done it three times. But I enjoy 3KWrestling a lot more then I did with World-1. Of course you have the same growing pains, like advertising budgets and cash flow but I think once we get rolling it will do well. I have a great crew with veterans like King Kaluha, Kid America, and myself added to young vets like Ricky Reyes (who is an amazing trainer with the Revolution Dojo), Ricky Landell, Marcus Dowling (amazing mind), and a new generation of guys like Alex Anthony (the former Alex Balboa), Ryan Sawyer, Kevin Payne, Sean Haze, Vinnie Vertigo, The Monster C (not me under the hood sillies), Tommy Thunda, and Denver Street. God, I hope I didn’t forget anyone. And I think it can only get better. Just gotta weather the storm and keep plugging. Our next show is this coming Sunday at the Limerick Fire Hall with Jerry Lynn vs. Ricky Reyes for the 3KWrestling Openweight title on the line. I hope some people come out and have some fun with some good family-friendly entertainment.

Last Thursday I got to watch TNA for the first time in a while and actually enjoyed the show. It was much better then the migraine headache I had at the time and that isn’t a shot at them. I really enjoyed the stories and the wrestling. The segment with Davari (I am sorry, I forgot his TNA name) and Shane Sewell was well done. If you never saw any of Shane’s Puerto Rico work you are in for a treat. He is a great talent and one of the best pure babyfaces that I ever have seen and/or worked with.

American Football started yesterday. I hate football.

I am just looking at my upcoming schedule and I am really happy with the way it looks. Besides wrestling in Puerto Rico full time for the WWC I have Spain, Portugal, England, maybe Finland, and Australia all locked in before the end of the year. It would have been nice to make a return to Japan but it looks like its not in the cards.

The Corino Chronicles VII: On The Road Again

On The Road Again
Location: US Airways
Music: “Pretty Maids All In A Row” by The Eagles

Only in the world of Steve Corino does this happen. What you ask? After months of “semi-retirement” and living in the real world, managing a successful Gold’s Gym in Limerick, PA, I decided (or the universe informed me) that being an Average Joe is not for me. Hell, being Samoa Joe would not be for me either! I am a professional wrestler plain and simple. It must be the sickness that Roddy Piper always talks about or it might be the thought that at 35 years old I might have something left in the tank.

I think the trigger for me came on June 14th when I fractured my collarbone and separated my right shoulder in a match with Ricky Landell knocking me out of action for the first time ever. And I don’t expect a pat on the back but I am the same guy that worked through two broken hands, a broken jaw, compressed vertebrae in my neck, countless (well 8) concussions, and more. OK, I will take a pat on the back! I missed shows through canceled flights, no-shows (not 3CW assholes), cancellations to go to Japan, and promoters false advertising.

But after the doctor told me that it would take at least eight weeks to heal and I would be out of the ring that long, even on my lighter schedule, it scared the hell out of me. After a few weeks of being depressed about it I came to the realization that my injury came because I wasn’t giving 100% to my craft. Not the match, in fact the match that I got hurt in with Ricky was amazing. That kid has come so far I wish that TNA would take a look at him. There is money in Ricky Landell. I would consider him a young Terry Taylor.

Back to the original reason I started writing. It would just be my luck that on the eve and now day of my full-time return to the ring that I caught the flu. Yep, the F’n flu in mid-July. I wonder if it was something I ate.

For the last few days I noticed that I was a little more tired then usual and my stomach was blah. I figured it was a bit of nerves with leaving Gold’s, returning to wrestling 100%, and the regular BS that goes on in my personal life. But last night I awoke around 1AM and here comes dinner. Both ways. I was pissed (and then some). Here I am tired, sore, and now sick. I apologize to the people on the plane for the mess! Hehe.

But here I am now on the top floor of the Hilton in San Juan looking at the beauty of the ocean. It has been probably six or seven years since I have been on this gorgeous island. Way too long!

Puerto Rico is the last of the old school territories. Tomorrow night the WWC, who still run three to four shows a week, will celebrate their 35th Anniversary so what a better way to start the Reinvention II tour then in Puerto Rico?

Now there have been rumors that I have been given the booking position here and as much as I would be honored, it is not true.

Another goal I have in my Reinvention II tour is to return to my second home-Japan. When I left ZERO1 last July I was ready to leave for good. 66 tours in six years was more than I ever thought I would do and was honored to even do one tour. But at the end I was burned out and it became more of a job then fun. Now I am ready for a second run!

Will I end up back in ZERO1? At this time I really don’t know. I hope so because it is one of my goals to be the United National champion (the only heavyweight title I have not held in Japan). I do know that I would go anywhere Yoshiyuki Nakamura is or is going. For the last seven months I went from being semi-retired from the business, to starting up the Dojo (more on that later), creating 3KWrestling Fighting Athletes, to pretty much only wrestling for B4W and 3K, to going full circle and looking for a second shot at glory. You have to love the sport of professional wrestling. I will tell you this: There will be no more retirements. If you watched the Terry Funk and Steve Corino face off on RFVideo.com you will see that we said we will just say we are quitting from now on!!!

Is the WWE or TNA in my future? No, definite no. But I will be traveling around the world again, living the life, and just enjoying what I was put on this universe to do: WRESTLE.

Its now 7:01PM on Friday, the 18th and I am watching Harold & Kumar 2 from my hotel room and also watching the sun go down. It is absolutely gorgeous…gorgeous.

A big 36th birthday to my main man Kid America. Ok, I know that the question to non-3K fans is how can a 36 year old man call himself a “kid”. Easy. In the crazy world of professional wrestling this man represents America’s past, present, and future so if you consider that the United States of America is 232 years (Spirit of ’76 baby) then he is a kid. Like that explanation? Good, because I just made it up. But in all seriousness Kid America is our most over babyface in 3KWrestling and I couldn’t be happier. A lot of our crowd is made up of kids and they love to chant “U-S-A”. Jeez its like 1985 Russia vs. USA all over again!!!

Damn, once again Neil Patrick Harris steals the Harold & Kumar movie!!!

I am in search of a new webmaster for SteveCorino.com. Not really a new webmaster per say but someone that can design a new template for us. Pretty much something nice (and free) and easy (and free) so that I can update it myself (and free). My long time webmaster, John Simms, got a new job (Congrats buttface) and won’t be able to dedicate the time that I would like. Plus it gives me something to do with my laptop. If you are interested shoot (not work) either John or I (or both) an email at LandellWebmaster@Hotmail.com and/or CorinoPuroresu@Yahoo.com.

Well not being able to plug in my PS2 on this TV forces me to watch some regular TV and I stumbled on Smackdown. I actually loved Spanky’s new gimmick and the whole Edge/Vickie/HHH thing was hilarious. I think I wrote about it before but when Edge first turned heel all of his stuff seemed so forced but now he is stuff is GOLD! It’s the best part of the show. What a total shit heel he is. I love it!

Saturday, July 19 9AM
Location: Poolside at the Hilton Hotel in San Juan
Music: Take It To The Limit-The Eagles

Its so beautiful here. By the time you read this I will have already posted the pictures on MySpace.com/SteveCorino. Although I am still on Gold’s Gym time of waking up at 4AM I have tons of energy. Almost like a re-birth.

Hotel gym is $15. Don’t think so. But I did get the old Japan hotel workout of 100 pushups, 100 crunches, and 200 squats in. Boy its been a while since I did this workout. With my shoulder, the pushups are murder.

I spent most of the early morning at the pool getting Ricky Reyes dark and catching up with The Shane Twins, which was a lot of fun. Lots of Spanky stories (all fun) and lots of Dan Bobish stories (not so fun).

Saturday, July 19 4PM
Location: San Juan Coliseum
Music: Something In Spanish

The thing I always hated about big wrestling events is the old hurry up and wait. Getting to the building at 2PM for an 8PM start kills me! The worst was HUSTLE. At least today’s is catered. And did I destroy that buffet!!!

I understand why companies have to do it with the bigger shows because there is more staff and stuff to do.

Eugene and I drew the opening card match, which was awesome! I can’t remember the last I was on first. Oh wait, I was the “opening contest” (aka Dark match no matter what they say at the WWE) twice in December.

Being a baseball (OK, softball) player I always like to lead off a game rather then hit, say cleanup. Same with wrestling. Curtain jerking can be a little stressful because its your job to work up the crowd but I love it. It’s funny to think that most people dream about being the main event and I am the exception!

The show itself was fun for a few reasons. It gave me a chance to look at the newer Puerto Rican talent and also catch up with old friends like Rico Suave, Jose Rivera Jr., and the Cuban Assassin.

Notes from the show: Orlando Colon might, even at his age, the best of the Colon Brothers. I hope that the WWE lets his mature on the island before swallowing him up. His match with Noriega over the WWC Universal title was tremendous.

And it was great to see the “legend” reaction that the Puerto Rico fans gave Ray Gonzalez. The last time I was down there they were pushing him to be the next Carlos Colon and it didn’t seem to get over like it should. Now people look at him as thee vet of the crew and giving him the appreciation that he should get.

Sunday, July 20 2PM
Location: Poolside Bar-Hilton Hotel
Music: Peaceful Easy Feeling-The Eagles

As I spend my last two hours here before taking off to the airport, sipping (OK downing) some cold Coors Light (have to watch my girlish figure of course) I am relaxed and already looking forward to coming back. When will that be? Only Carlos Colon and the WWC know for sure. But in the meantime I am filling up my schedule with new dates and looking forward to getting out there again. August features WOW on the 2nd, a three day tour of Canada for the PWA, 3KWrestling on the 22nd (under new booker Mike Kehner), the 23rd for Joe Schmo in So Cal. And then I finish off August with a dreaded double shot in New Jersey for AWESOME and in New York for PWS. I say dreaded because it means double the stretching! Sucks to get old!!!

Actually my shoulder is still a mess and I am actually considering getting a shot of cortisone to loosen it up a bit. During the match with Eugene it felt OK but the time I went to bed it felt like Hashimoto came down from heaven and kicked me about 100 times in the shoulder!

Sunday, July 20 4PM
Location: San Juan Airport Sports Bar
Music: Some techno shit I can’t understand.

Damn, beer is expensive here. Or has it been so long since I have had a few “cold ones” that I didn’t realize the price. Or maybe I am just so cheap. I am sure it’s the cheapness.

Any who I chose Medalla Light. Not because of the taste (its actually good though) but because it was a whole quarter cheaper. And somehow I scored another upgrade to first class due to “overbooking”. I got it on the way here and back. If that isn’t the wrestling God’s telling me that I belong in the ring, I don’t know what does. Or it could be the sheer incompetence of USAirways but hell lets think positive!

One thing about the airlines that I can’t understand is this stupid bag charge. Don’t the airlines have enough heat with people? USAirways and others are charging $15 for the first bag and $25 for the second bag to check in. Wouldn’t it just make more sense to just add the $15 and/or $25 to each ticket rather then charge per bag? At least it wouldn’t be so much of an F-U to the passengers.

All of these extra charges create quite a dilemma that wrestlers and promoters face. You see, most wrestlers that have had any type of TV behind them charge a certain fee to wrestle plus hotel and airfare/gas-tolls. I used to have a 500 mile rule where up to 500 miles I would drive and only charge the promoter for gas and tolls after 125 miles. Now with gas being over $4 a gallon I am pretty much forced to charge for transportation for every trip. And where does that money come from? Yep, you the ticket buyer, so now less “big names” are on an event because of the high cost of travel. It sucks for the fans and the wrestlers. If a promoter can’t pay travel costs then the wrestler makes less money. If the promoter has to charge more for a ticket then it may and will hurt them at the gate. No one wins. And you would think that after five years plus in the war, the USA would find a way to stop screwing us with the gas issue.

Wednesday, 4:45PM
Location: My home office
Music: None, but Walk Hard on DVD

Well this is it for me for this week. I am enjoying the extra time at home while getting ready for B4W in Jackson, NJ this Friday and 3K in Binghamton, NY on Saturday afternoon (quick plug; 3PM Belltime).

I saw the new ECW title belt online today. Is it me or do you out there think it was a big F-U to have the “World Wrestling Entertainment ECW championship” unveiled in Philadelphia? The old backyard. It started in 1993 and died last night once and fore all. Granted it was dead in 2001, but the fans and the boys had hope when Vince brought it back.

The Corino Chronicles VI: Babe Ruth & Barry Bonds: Twin Brothers of Different Era’s???

Ok, that will raise some eyebrows right away. But I guess the question is what makes a role model?

With the All-Star Game in Yankee Stadium for the last time before they move I thought of this at length. Were Babe Ruth and Barry Bonds twin brothers of different eras?

We all know Barry Bonds’ story. The greatest baseball player of my generation (not my favorite) is and has been accused of taking steroids for the last few years. Pretty much anyone not in San Francisco hates him including players, fans, and media. But the crazy thing is for me is that he has never tested positive for steroids. Tested positive in a test? Yes, but those where for something different. Everything is still speculation. Do I think he took the gas? Sure as hell I do BUT he was never found guilty or tested positive for it. Do I think OJ Simpson killed his wife? Sure as hell I did but he wasn’t convicted of it. That means technically he is not a murderer. And technically Barry Bonds did not use performance enhancing drugs to bulk up.

Now let’s go to Babe Ruth. Remember that his era was in the days before the Internet, steroids, and baseball writers had a certain don’t ask/don’t tell policy so that they could ride with the team. Even then the stories of The Babe cheating on his wife and drinking are legendary. But guess what was illegal for a time? Alcohol. Yep, booze was illegal in the US for a time but The Babe still drank. Do you think that the great Babe Ruth would have used performance enhancing drugs to help him if he knew he could get away with it? Yankee fans and baseball purists would say no and be offended that I even brought up the question but if you read Mike Schmidt’s book he even admits that he would have probably done steroids. And Mike Schmidt is an admitted born again Christian.

I guess my point that I am trying to get at is that Barry Bonds is getting a raw deal. Until someone shows me a test that says positive, Barry Bonds is still the greatest baseball player I ever watched. And this is coming from a die hard Ryne Sandberg fan. Who cares if he is an asshole or if he cheated on his wife (Babe Ruth did). Its not like Pete Rose (who was the greatest hitter of the 70’s) who admitted he broke the rules. As much as I would like to see Pete Rose in the Hall it shouldn’t happen. If I got a vote for the Hall of Fame, I would vote Barry on the first ballot. I still haven’t seen a report that says steroids will guarantee you 760+ home runs. Has it been proved that steroid abuse will cause health issues? Yep. But if you had two pepperoni pizza’s a day for 20 years and had a heart attack at 45, wouldn’t that almost be the same risk?

How many guys in the WWE have tested positive for banned drugs? Dozens right? Do we take away their title reigns? OK, here comes the cop-out: Pro-wrestling is not really a “sport”. Bullshit. It’s a sport, its entertainment, and most of all it’s an ARTFORM. If it was fake then anyone could do it. So there is the answer to the cop-out response.

The bottom line is for me is that professional athletes are not role models. They are just human. The wake up the same way we do. They have the same responsibilities we do (sometimes more). Your parents need to be your role model. And if they are too stupid to be a role model then a youth leader or someone that can teach values, discipline, and a general kindness to people.

And that is my little baseball rant before I start my other rants!

Last weekend we held our first Shinya Hashimoto Memorial Tournament for 3KWrestling. I personally loved the whole show and we got some great feedback on it. With the shows at Gold’s Gym, I would say that 60% of the people that we draw are members of the gym who only casually watch pro-wrestling. Most of them couldn’t tell you who the WWE champion is right now but they come out to support a local product. I would say 3 or 4 of them knew who Shinya Hashimoto was but Friday was more for the boys. Of the eight guys in the tournament, six of us had worked for Hashimoto’s ZERO-ONE (Corino, Reyes, Lynn, Landell, Daniels, and LeGrande) and the two that didn’t (King Kaluha and Jake Manning) would have if he was still alive. And both Mike Kehner and Fred Richards worked for him as a referee. So it was all of us celebrating the life of a man that booked us, put money in our pockets, and let us achieve the dream of wrestling in Japan. That is and what will always be what the Shinya Hashimoto Tournament will be about. It will be a yearly event.

Figuring out who was going to win the first tournament was the hardest thing. Each guy would have been worthy. My first choice was CW Anderson, but I F’d up his ticket and he couldn’t make it. But even before that I had Ricky Reyes in mind. Reyes is one of the most under rated guys in the sport right now and has a dedication to his craft that internet fans could never see. He used to get a lot of shit over at the ROH Message Forum but the matches he has put on here for me and 3KWrestling are great. Plus he has done a magnificent job with the Revolution Dojo trainees also.

One of my favorite matches was the first round match between Ricky Landell and Chuck LeGrande. The Revolution trainees will be studying this match to learn how to get a heel over. LeGrande did an amazing job and in the process helped Landell become more of a heel then before.

The finals between Ricky Reyes, Jerry Lynn, and Ricky Landell were exactly what I thought it would be-GREAT. Pick this up on DVD when it comes out. Very enjoyable. JL is just one of the most professional and nicest people you can come across. And the guy just doesn’t have a bad match.

I loved my match with my sensei King Kaluha. It was actually the first time in 12 years that me and The King wrestled one on one. Back then I was 180 soaking wet and green as the weed that David Wright and the rest of those stinkin’ Mets smoke (that’s right I threw it out there! LOL). But being my first match back in five weeks couldn’t have been with a better person.

My buddy Steve Goff over at www.Voice-Work.com made a great dedication to Hashimoto-san. It almost made me tear up to hear. You can listen to it at www.voice-work.com/music/Hashimoto/

Mike Kehner takes over 3KWrestling as head booker starting this month and I know that he is going to do an even better job then what we have been doing.

Just a little note to Frank Goodman regarding his DOI column: Landell is definitely the taker, not the giver! But seriously, I am looking forward to getting back on the road and heading to Australia to work for Goodberg and Blake Mitchell again this fall. As much as I wanted to retire totally, I am a wrestler and need to be on the road. Crazy huh?

By the way, Redline Xtreme + a coffee chaser=7 trips to pee in the last 45 minutes…make that 8.

A big shout out for my official message forum at www.Wrestling-Radio.com. It is fun interacting with the fans there, even some of the 1PW faithful (more on that later). But for the most part there are some good questions and it is fun for me to do. I usually have my morning coffee and answer the board.

Speaking of 1PW, it’s a shame but I will not be returning there now or the near future. And for once I can not blame management. Just a few fans that play typewriter tough guy and make up shit that they claim as fact. And then when you call them on it, it’s the “Poor little old me. Big bad wrestler wants to beat me up” syndrome. Honestly, it’s just not worth the hassle. I had more fans write me and tell me not to listen to these people but it goes to show how a few assholes can ruin it for everyone. I am not a guy that needs to go to England and wrestle when I can wrestle for pretty much the same money in the States or even in Europe and actually enjoy it. I gave my heart and soul to 1PW when I wrestled and booked over there only to put up with this crap for a few nerds (that’s right a nerd calling another guy a nerd so you know its bad) to bitch and moan.
Go see Harold And Kumar 2. Funny is not the word and of course Neil Patrick Harris steals the show again.

Well, that is all for me for this edition of The Corino Chronicles.

I’m Steve Corino and The Mets and their fans (especially Landell) can suck it.