STATEMENT FROM STEVE ABOUT TURNBUCKLE PROMOTIONS CONVENTION
- 08/30/2007 (4:30:40 pm)
- Georgiann Makropoulos
Ken & Steve run K & S Promotions……
Georgie it was great speaking to you on Sunday at length with regard to
all the controversy surrounding Turnbuckle Promotions Megafest weekend.
First, it should be stated right here and now that Scott and Jason tried
their best to make a great weekend for all the fans. This was supposed to be
a great time had by all with no malicious intent by either Scott or Jason.
Both are good guys, who just got overwhelmed by an overbooked event. This is
the truth, contrary to what some people out there want you to believe. Some
websites and message board writers love a car wreck, but in the end this was
not as bad as they are trying to make it sound. That's why this will be
very, very long and I will try to cover, rebut and report the truth on as
much as I can. I don't want to give you all a fluff piece but I also don't
want to kill people like some websites do. So before I go any further, I
would like to thank some people who tried their best to assist me in making
this weekend a success.
I would like to first thank some good friends of mine and VIP members
Ben, Dan, Zig and Mike. At times they put aside getting their own items
signed in order to help me out and keep this event in order. VIP member &
Figs report Anthony for barely getting anything signed but still pitching in
big time all weekend. My son Conner for being at my side and helping
whenever needed. My partner Ken, Chris "Maestro", Joe, Jared, John, Mike &
Joey for handling all the crazy transportation situations. John, Chris and
Brian for always helping out K&S when needed. Danielle of Sports Time for
going way beyond her job to help us all weekend. And finally to the
security/polaroid staff that Scott Epstein put together -- Brandon, Jen,
Baby Scott, Greg, Teddy, Bob, Deanna and Jeremy. A final thank you to
anyone who lent me a hand this weekend that I may have left off this list,
as I have to move on since the people reading this are thinking enough
already.
I'm going to start from the beginning, so everyone understands how this
all unfolded. A few months ago Ken and I spoke with Scott and Jason about
helping them anyway we could with making this weekend happen. It was
decided that Ken & I would put out flyers at indy shows & in stores, Ken
would handle the transportation team, I would assist with the autograph
line, as Scott & Jason would have their hands full working out booking and
financial aspects of their show. As time passed Ken and I both became
concerned with the overbooking of this show, but we could only try by
voicing our opinions, since in the end this was Jason's show. As show day
approached, Jason became difficult with us about obtaining contact numbers
for the talent that needed pickups. This was a struggle until I spoke with
Scott about clearing up this problem, and finally we did get all the numbers
we needed. I believe Jason was trying to exert his control over the show
even though he really knew he was in over his head.
Thursday before the show came and Ken, Chris "Maestro" and myself took
care of a delayed-filled day of flight pickups, and by day's end we had all
our pickups complete. Did all go smoothly? No. Were there delays and
problems with directions? Yes. Were cars unairconditioined, adding stress
to a stressful situation? Yes. Were hotel reservations screwed up? Yes.
In short, we all did our best to make a bad situation better. A special
thanks to Terry Funk, Shelly Martinez, Scott Hall, Goldylocks and Baby Doll
for being class acts! No prima donnas in that bunch! Jason's lack of an
appearance on day one was a foreshadowing of things to come. We dealt with
Scott on pickups as Jason was simply not around when problems had to be
dealt with. I would have jumped ship then if I had known that this was the
calm before the storm. Of course that isn't true. I knew I had given my
word to help out and I would stick it out now matter what.
Friday morning arrived and the lack of order was evident right away. Jason
and Scott were both overwhelmed by this overbooked and understaffed show.
After speaking to both Jason and Scott, it was decided that I would be
running this show. With a strong security background, people-friendly,
diplomatic personality and my experience, Scott and Jason felt confident I
would be the best man for the job. Ken and his small crew's day would
consist of pickups and Jeff Jarrett & Killer Bees signings. Delayed flights
and long airport waits caused major headaches with the signing schedules.
Despite some claims of worker's being unreliable, the real problem was
understaffing. Bruno, Dan Severn (who was there and not a no show as falsely
reported) and Sika should be commended as they showed themselves to be true
professionals. Jason's dad, Bruce, tried his very best to handle the (yes)
slow moving registration table. Ben jumped in helping things move a little
better to get this day started. My day was very tough due to the lack of
experience of the staff, who clearly were not prepared to enter the lion's
den known as a convention autograph line. It was a tough go in the beginning
as the staff was confused about whether or not they needed to go to me, Scott or
Jason. As the morning progressed things started to come together as the
staff saw that we all had the same goal in mind, making this show a success.
These young adults did their very best to handle this unfamiliar situation.
Problems were made worse when we only had five polaroid cameras to work with
and not enough sharpies. This slowed the lines down even more as you can
imagine. When I spoke with Jason on this matter I was informed that this was
all he had and to do the best I could. At this same time Scott was being
pulled every different way on his end as Jason was indecisive and unsure
about most questions I posed to him. This was when I really knew that Jason
was totally overwhelmed and running scared. He clearly did not want to deal
with any problems at all. I decided then I would have to step up and take
charge of as much as I could in to give the fans the fun-filled weekend they
were expecting. I agree that lines moved slow, things were out of order at
times, polaroids took time and there was much confusion. To add to the
other confusion, the talent was unsure of their proper signing times and the
venue was just too small for the amount of talent that was there. Jason had
so many different deals with how and when the talent could sign on their
own, that control was constantly lost. Talent would come in whenever they
wanted and sell items on their own time to make extra money, causing even
more confusion for the fans and staff. I spoke with Jason on this matter
and received a blank stare. I had no choice but to let it be and deal with
it.
To add to our troubles the fire marshall got involved claiming the venue
was way to small to handle this event. Another key mistake by Jason. Ken
spoke with Jason many times about moving this show to a bigger venue, but
there was no changing his mind. Also, we had to keep clearing the room
after each session. After the second session the tennis courts were opened
up to handle signing three. So with the help of the staff, VIP friends and
other volunteers, we opened up two rooms for the signings for the rest of
the weekend. At least this made things move quicker. Again I agree we had
problems with this set up due to VIP+,VIP and GA all being mixed up at
times. The other main problem was Jason continuing pulling disappearing
acts all day and not wanting to deal with any of the major problems at hand.
If this day wasn't crazy enough the fun was really going to begin at the
start of session 3. Bruno arrived a little bothered due to having to wait
way too long at the airport. I found out later that the person that Jason
sent to get him, got to the airport, found out the flight was delayed and
then left without informing anyone. Not knowing this I had sent someone else
to get him and bring him to the venue. I met Bruno at the door and got him
settled for his signing and he was professional and appreciative. At the
same time Jason gave me his phone to speak with Dan Severn about picking him
up at the airport. This was another matter that Jason just couldn't deal
with. I told Dan that Ken would get him right away and he was very
understanding. When Dan arrived he needed to speak with Jason on how his
signing would be handled. Jason told me to take care of it as he had no
8x10's for Dan to sign and said it was fine for him to sell his own items.
The "Beast" was a gentleman and had a great weekend for himself. I went to
the tennis courts to try and handle the unhappy arrival of
Hall/Nash/Waltman/Lita. I was informed by the staff that Jason couldn't be
found to pay the Wolfpac as he made the deal to pay them before their
signing began. I tried to speak with them but it became a very difficult and
imposing matter to handle. I decided not to back away and get the same
respect from them as they wanted from me. This situation was kept under
control thanks to Scott Hall's input. The two of us maintained a great
working relationship this whole weekend. I told Jason about this problem
but again he deferred to me to take care of this problem, which I did. Even
though the Wolfpac was bothered by this situation they treated the fans
wonderfully, so hats off to them for that. Another dispute arose because
Lita was upset aboutl not receiving her pay. Lita and Waltman didn't want to
hear from me, only from Jason. Scott Epstein was brought to the room to
hash things out with them. We finished up a great signing with awesome
guests in Billy Graham and Bruno. Even late in the eventing problems kept
recurring with Lita & Waltman. I jumped in to see what I could due for them.
I took them to Jason and his mother so this matter could be resolved by them
as I didn't want anything to do with their situation any more. I was told
later that in the end all were made happy.
Saturday hit rock bottom at the start as Mrs. Blaustein, not really
understanding what was going on, attacked me and the staff accusing us of
allowing fans to take liberties with her son's show. I got into heated
discussions with the Blaustein family with regard to this unwarranted
attacks on our character. I decided to step away and let Mama Blaustein
handle the mess she just created. All control was totally lost when the
talent started arriving for unscheduled signings courtesy of Jason. Mrs.
Blaustein was handling this event by yelling at anyone that was in her way.
Jason was still hiding out and letting his mother make more of a mess of
this show. I told the staff that the Blausteins were now running this show
and not me. They were not happy about this turn of events but stayed on
board out of loyalty to Scott. I also stayed in the venue for Scott, staff
and fans. At the end of session one a distraught Mrs. Blaustein came to me
still not understanding why everyone was so angry with her. I set her
straight about how damaging her false accusations could be and how her own
son's refusal to responsibility for his own mess was at the root of all the
show's problems. She then confronted Jason and admitted all that what I had
told his mother was true. Mrs. Blaustein apologized for her remarks and
asked me to please take over again. I told Jason it wasn't too late to stand
up and take responsibility for all the problems of the show.
Things moved much better the rest of the day due to two rooms being used. I
heard Scott was having a problem with Nash due to a mistake in not booking
him a hotel room. Scott was trying his best to make Nash happy but nothing
seemed to work. Another problem arose as Rikishi needed his pay for the day.
He was very understanding when I explained my limited ability to help
because I was a middle man just trying to help solve his problem. I think
his friendship with the Godfather, who I recently worked with helped ease
things with Jason so he could take care of their problem. Jason was running
around getting items signed to sell after the show was over. Did he get some
of his own items signed? Yes he did but that is his right since he was
paying the bill. Even though he was doing this, he was around when I needed
him for the rest of the show.
I'm very sorry that this has become a novel but I'm really trying my
hardest to set the record straight about any misconceptions about this show.
I will rattle some stuff off at this time to cover as much as I can to end
this. Feel free to email me at [email protected] if I missed
something you would like a response on. Dealing with this much talent there
will be problems on every level. There were screw ups with hotels, talent
times, payments, waiting for rides, long lines, delays, not enough polaroid
cameras & sharpies, too many tickets & pictures made, too many different
VIP+/VIP/GA/Etc, not enough staff, too many different hotels, a small venue
and much confusion but it was not for lack of trying. In the end most was
taken care of and handled in the best possible way. I had many dealings this
weekend with fans, talent, agents, vendors, Sports Time and so much more but
in the end I think most were happy with the outcome. I'm not saying everyone
came away happy as I do know of a bunch of complaints and refunds owned.
Jason did make deals he thought he could keep, handle situations he couldn't
and was just so overwhelmed by the whole weekend. Mr. and Mrs. Blaustein
tried to help but were in way over their head. Scott was also overwhelmed at
times but tried his best to help where he could. Scott has also been trying
his best to fix any problems that have been brought to his attention. One
problem he handled was paying Christy Hemme the pay she was owed. Right now
Jason is still overwhelmed by the past weekend but I think he will try and
fix the problems brought to his attention. In closing my novel I would like
to do some word association since I had dealing both in front of and behind
the scenes with almost everyone. This might give you all a final idea about
what really goes on with these shows.
Terry Funk - My man & following his lead wrestling would be a better place.
D. Funk, Santana, Altas, Burton,Gail, Mia, Albano, Baby Doll & Daffney -
Nice.
Jarrett, Killer Bees, Snow, Tanaka, Jimmy Valiant, Afa, Hart, Superstar,
Luna & Bruno - Class acts all around.
Sabu - A kid had no money, so he gave him autographed shirt on him -Nuff
said.
Putski, Brandy, Jannety, Sika, Johnny Valiant, Samu, Rosey, Zybysko, Bass,
Cage, Blaustein, Talia, Missy & Doink - Ok.
Rikishi, Rocky - Tough but more then fair.
Severn - A gentleman's gentlemen and pleasure to spend time with.
Shelly and Nora - Sweethearts x 10 and joys to work with.
Goldylocks, Foley, Russo, Dawn Marie & Runt - Pleasures to be around.
Hemme - Went down the whole line & signed way after her time was over.
Scott Hall - Surprisingly easy to deal with and good to be around.
Nash, Lita & Waltman - No comment
Scott - Great guy who tried his best.
Jason - Good kid who just bit off more than he could chew
Man I'm beat. I hope this clears up some of the craziness that went on last
weekend. I probably didn't answer all the mishaps but I tried to let you see
what went on from where I stood. If I can give anymore insight in to
anything just drop me a email at [email protected].
Thanks to Georgie for printing this column for me and to all who read it.
Thanks Again To All
Steve
K&S Wrestlefest Promotions
www.kandswrestlefest.com (What the hell cheap plug. LOL)
Thanks Again To All
Steve
K&S Wrestlefest Promotions
www.kandswrestlefest.com (What the hell cheap plug. LOL)
Tags:
