TURNBUCKLE PROMOTIONS CONVENTION: MY TAKE
- 08/27/2007 (6:47:15 pm)
- Anthony Panarella
Also photo’s coming soon…
Turnbuckle Promotions Wrestling Convention:
Scott Epstein and Jason Blaustein presented this convention this past Friday and Saturday, capitalizing on the many fans converging in the northeast for WWE SummerSlam weekend.
It was an interesting weekend to say the least. I was originally attending this event as a VIP ticket holder. I walked into the event as such. I was also covering it for this site which I was most looking forward to doing. Sometime around 10:30 Friday morning, we began to help out Scott.
As soon as I'd say 11 am hit, that is when the disorganization became apparent to the fans. As it happened, I ended up helping out a great deal with a lot of the convention, so I can at least attempt to straighten out a few of the occurrences.
Before I even begin this, I would like to say that Scott Epsptein was great to work with and he tried as much as he could to have a handle on it, but in a lot of instances, it looked like he was running it alone as Jason was nowhere to be found at times and rarely had an answer when we needed him for something. I do not know if he has done anything involving professional wrestling besides knowing his uncle Barry Blaustein, but some of the decisions involving bringing so much talent and putting them up at certain places, people who were just volunteering knew things could go wrong.
I'd also like to give a big load of credit to K&S Promotions. Steve and Ken at times took over and if it wasn't for them, I think the show would have fallen apart. It came to a point where Jason's mother attempted to take over and got into the faces of Steve, the security, myself and as far as some of the talent! At that point, about half the staff were about to leave, but because Scott was trying his hardest and was doing the best with what he was dealing with, everyone took a breath and it went off.
Friday was going smoothly until mid morning. What happened was a lot of flights were delayed. Some of the divas who were scheduled to appear during the 9 am - 12pm session showed up at various times. Missy Hyatt came at around 11, but things were still going along ok. Then Christy Hemme's flight was delayed. She arrived at 1pm. That was supposed to be the breakdown time for the 2pm session. Well, just so happens the fire marshals happened to come and it just look liked a mess, so we had to clear out the room. During the day, more flights were delayed. Christian Cage ended up coming an hour late (through no fault of his own.) Several others. They had to then move them into the next session. So we thought. Myself, Scott and Steve realized that another incident like earlier couldn't occur or else the event would be shut down. They decided to hold off and tell the fans they would get to see them during the next session. However, we see them enter the room and were told Jason sent them in.
The talent was nothing but great to deal with and the fans seemed happy when getting to meet them. Most staying more than their allotted time when asked if they wanted to. I'd like to give special mentions to The Wolfpack (who at one point were thanked by Scott Epstein for showing up due to the problems and hearing Scott Hall tell him "We wouldn't screw the fans"), Sabu, "Superstar" Billy Graham (he took the time and spoke with many fans), Terry Funk (always a gentleman), Rocky Johnson (who it was an honor to meet and was a lot of fun), Ivan Putski, Barry Blaustein (who unlike Jason, had a word for everyone who came up to him and was very cordial), Christian Cage (who stayed longer than he had to on Friday night), Al Snow (who appeared with Head and was very patient with everyone involved, including a scene where I was told he was sitting upstairs with no one to come get him along with Ivan Putski and Rocky Johnson and he was happy to be there), Tony Atlas (who was making jokes with everyone who greeted him), Christy Hemme, Pat Tanaka, Lou Albano (another legend who is always a class act), Vince Russo, Dawn Marie, Tito Santana, The Valliant Brothers, Nora Greenwald, Talia Madison, Gregory Helms (who made a surprise appearance and greeted every fan who came up to him), Shelley Martinez, Goldylocks (another down to earth person who was enjoying greeting the fans), Brother Runt (just a joy to see every fan), Baby Doll, Luna Vachon (one of the classiest performers I have met), Jimmy Hart, Daffney (who was so sweet to every fan and took the time for each one as if they were a friend) and Mick Foley (who came last minute and was wonderful to fans and moving to different tables throughout his time.
The longest lines I saw during the weekend were of course The Wolfpack, Amy "Lita" Dumas, Bruno Sammartino, Christy Hemme, "Superstar" Billy Graham, Missy Hyatt, Mick Foley and all were accessible to the fans.
Again, I'd just like to put over Scott Epstein and thank him for all the hard work he put into this and K&S Promotions. Steve was such a professional throughout all of this, being thrown into the fire and taking charge many times during the weekend. I believe he wasn't even really supposed to be involved and if I am not mistaken, K&S were just representing Jeff Jarrett. So for him to step up and do this, he deserves a ton of credit. I'd like to thank everyone I had the chance to work with and talk to. The Wolfpack were a riot as usual, Goldylocks was a fun, sweetheart, Brother Runt (aka Spike Dudley) was nothing but classy, Vince Russo was great to all the fans, Tony Burton from the Rocky movies was a gentleman, Brande Roderick was very down to earth, Luna Vachon was great, Dawn Marie was a pleasure as she always is, Talia Madison it was a pleasure to meet and speak with, Shelley Martinez was really cool and down to earth, Christy Hemme was a lot of fun and a chill girl, Al Snow was his usual comical self, Pat Tanaka, Bill Apter was a great help to myself during the weekend and I have to give him a great thanks, Rocky Johnson I can't say enough great things about, Ivan Putski was a class act it was an honor to talk to him, Nora Greenwald who was such a sweetheart and last but never least, Daffney, she is such a great girl.
On a side note, I'd like to send my best wishes to the Hogan family and their family friend John who were in a serious auto accident over the weekend.
From: Anthony Panarella
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