Journal 9
by Tony Kozina on 2000-01-26
After
weeks of constant emails, and phone calls back and forth
confirming, cancelling, renegotiating and finalizing everything,
I finally packed my bags and headed to the Portland International
Airport. I've heard wrestlers and promoters say in tv
interviews that they "negotiated for hours", and have
"finally reached an agreement" or "come to terms" on a
certain match that would take place, and I always thought
it was just hype for the show, which i'm sure in those
cases it probably was. In my case however, and especially
in the last week before I left, I was emailing, and
making phone calls for up to 6 hours a day preparing for
the trip. Oh sure, anyone who knows me would say I'm a
"Nervous Nellie" which I can't deny. My mind is constantly
going through all possibilities that could arise. Will
someone pick me up at the airport? What happens if my
connecting flight is cancelled? Where am I staying? Who
will take me to the matches? and so on... So I usually
whip myself up into a frenzy double, and triple checking
to make sure that all bases are covered. By the time I
boarded the airplane I was relaxed knowing that the good
folks at NWA East/PWX knew when I was arriving. And
I was more comfortable about traveling in general since
I had just done the Charlotte trip 4 months earlier.
I was still tense about the plane ride, because I still
have a tendancy to stare out the window waiting for the
wing to fall off, or the engine to start pouring thick
black smoke. On this flight however I enjoyed a great
conversation with a man who as it turns out is a head
professor at the Oregon Institute of Technology, and I
remained calm the entire flight. I arrived in Pittsburgh
and was greeted by Col. Payne and his wife. We went to
the Wrestleplex and I got to meet some of the fellas who
were just finishing working out. I stayed at Jim Miller's
house, and watched some NWA East/PWX tapes to get acquainted
with the talent, and their style. Friday night was the
big night. Kozina
vs. Kaplack- NWA World Junior Heavyweight title. I was
calm, rested and ready to wrestle. You know, the interesting
thing about indy wrestling is that you read names on the
net, or in magazines, and it leaves certain impressions.
Col. Payne for example. There are wrestler with similar
names, and in my mind, when I see the name, I think of
a certain style. When I see Col. Payne, I picture a Sgt.
Slaughter like gimmick. When I saw him wrestle I was blown
away at what I saw. Vince "Big Time" Kaplack is another
one. I had breifly met Vince in Charlotte, and between
him being a quiet kind of guy, and all of us running all
around preparing for a battle royal I never got a chance
to talk to him much. After our Pittsburgh match friday
night I was impressed beyond words at his ability and
professionalism, and look forward to wrestling
him again. After the friday night show I took off with
Chris Hero, who I met in Charlotte at the NWA 51st anniversary
show. We had kept in touch since then, and when we both
discovered that we'd be on the same shows, we made a plan
to hang out for a bit that weekend. So we stayed p until
7am talking, laughing, and watching video tapes. Saturday
was a day off, and it seemed as though there really never
was a saturday, because we slept until 5:30pm, woke up
and it was dark out, so we never saw the light of day.
Very strange, but a got some much needed rest for the
long day of tv tapings. Sunday orning I took off with
Jim Miller to the show at 9:30am. I wasn't scheduled to
wrestle for a few hours, so I hung out, watched some of
the other matches, and got to know some of the other guys
who were really cool and just as interested about the
west coast wrestling scene as I was about the east coast.
I had two matches that day, a battle royal, and shot a
few interviews too. My matches went very well, and I'm
hoping I can get a copy of whatever's on tape. The tapings
went on, and
on, and on, but I was having a blast. I met Preston Steel,
and talked with him for a while. I had heard of him for
years. He's about as nice a guy as you'll meet in this
business. I also talked quite a bit with Super Hentai,
who is another junior heavyweight that can really kick
some tail. I got back to Jim's house at 4am, showered
and konked out on the couch. Monday morning I was packed
and ready to head back home. At the airport I knew it
just wouldn't be complete unless I freaked out, so a quick
anxiety attack before the flight home made it all good.
I made it all the way to my gate, sat down, and then my
mind started running wild. Am I at the correct gate? Was
I supposed to get my boarding pass at the front counter?
What if they don't let me on the plane? and so on... Of
course it was all just fine. The ride home was smooth,
and I didn't even freak out when we landed in bad weather
at St. Louis for my connecting flight. After all is said
and done, I have nothing but praise for Jim Miller, NWA
East/PWX, all the wrestlers, and the way I was treated
there. I'm hoping that I can make it out there again before
too long, as well as every other NWA promotion. Well,
now thing's should get interesting. The workload has just
begun. Ooohhh, I was just informed of a tour of Vancouver
Island next month. That should be a wacky adventure, as
is always the case with those nutty ECCW. I should have
some funny stories from that one. Take it easy...
Archive: Please Select a Month to view
February 2004 |
December 2003 |
November 2003 |
October 2003 |
September 2003 |
August 2003 |
July 2003 |
June 2003 |
May 2003 |
April 2003 |
March 2003 |
February 2003 |
January 2003 |
December 2002 |
November 2002 |
October 2002 |
September 2002 |
August 2002 |
July 2002 |
June 2002 |
May 2002 |
April 2002 |
March 2002 |
February 2002 |
January 2002 |
December 2001 |
November 2001 |
October 2001 |
September 2001 |
August 2001 |
July 2001 |
June 2001 |
May 2001 |
March 2001 |
February 2001 |
January 2001 |
December 2000 |
October 2000 |
August 2000 |
June 2000 |
March 2000 |
February 2000 |
January 2000 |
December 1999 |
November 1999 |
October 1999 |
September 1999 |
August 1999 |
July 1999 |
June 1999 |
Quotes
from the boys:
Ed Moretti says "Relax there kid. Who's calling this match...them or us? They bought the tickets to see us, not the other way around". |