Shining a Spotlight 5.06.10: Swimming With Piranhas

It’s always great when you can find an amazingly well-written book about the wrestling business. It’s even better when said book offers terrific and original insights you don’t often get from other. Swimming With Piranhas: Surviving the Politics of Professional Wrestling (ECW Press, $19.95) is just such a book. Howard T. Brody, former President of the National Wrestling Alliance, gives an amazing look at the business and his experiences in it. In this 412-page volume, Brody offers a fascinating look at the inner workings of wrestling and his clashes with people so corrupt that Vince McMahon comes off as the most saintly of the bunch. This book is an incredible story that may change your views on the business.
　

Openings

Brody’s introduction calls wrestling his “mistress” and he refers to it as a lady due to Hiro Matsuda’s statement that “if you treat her right, she will give you everything you want; mistreat her and she’ll make your life miserable.” He reveals the title by saying that lawyers have nothing on wrestling promoters and wants to educate anyone wanting to get into the business about how
rough it can be, despite its rewards.

Brody begins with his biography as he grew up in Brookyln, watching wrestling on TV. Often getting into fights, Brody felt he had to fight more to protect his tough-guy rep. He compares that to his idea that the world champion never fought on TV protecting his own reputation, showing how he was drawn to wrestling at an early age. It got into him for sure when he attended a wrestling show that nearly ended in a true riot. Brody cut back on his own fighting and things changed when he caught pneumonia, losing sixty pounds and his family eventually moving to Florida where he was soon caught up in their amazing wrestling scene.

In early 1982, while at college, Brody wrote a big thesis on what he saw as the future of wrestling: unifying the various titles; creating merchandise lines; a wrestling TV network; the use of 900 telephone numbers for news; and an all-color wrestling magazine. Brody does not go so far as to claim he was the first to invent this stuff as he’s sure there were dozens, if not hundreds, of others around the country with similar ideas. He also acknowledges that he was writing this off the idea that wrestling was one happy family behind the scenes. He then amassed tons of notes from around the wrestling newsletters and guides to put together a proposal for what would have been the first major published account of the industry but couldn’t find any takers. When he tried to put together an article for a wrestling mag on bus travels, he was jarred to be told that editors only cared for the in-ring stuff and angles, not the backstage dramas. Brody still contends that this was a case of guys going too far in “protecting the business” and points out that if that mentality stood, we’d never had Brad Meltzer’s “cheat-sheets” or even the IWC. Brody tried to get an article for Playboy but that was a no-go when Vince McMahon (then still working under his father) didn’t want to participate unless he knew for sure the article would be published.

An interesting job for Brody was working for the Jewish Journal but appalled at how his fellow Jews threw around slangs and insults as if they had no meaning. He soon managed to get back into wrestling writing, coming up with articles for WWF magazines. This led to a one-on-one meeting with Linda McMahon where he learned the truth about how planned wrestling was. There’s fun tidbits to that such as how the meeting didn’t go well but he did get a ride in Andre the Giant’s oversized limo. He was annoyed when he saw how George Napolitano wrote the very sort of wrestling book he wanted to do. Brody did do a few articles for WWF Magazine but that ended after they decided not to accept from free-lancers anymore. He tried then to do a radio wrestling show but couldn’t get enough interest from the syndication markets for it (Keep in mind, this was still the early 1980’s) and neither the AWA or World Class were interested in doing wrestling magazines.

But Brody was able to get involved in Florida’s wrestling scene as a ringside photographer. This includes his eyewitness account of the infamous Bruiser Brody-Leg Luger cage match which he cites as a “semi-shoot” in that Brody wanted to pound on Luger for leaving the territory but Luger was more annoyed than afraid as he walked off. Ric Flair doesn’t come off well here, snapping at Brody in the hallway and later banning him from ringside but Brody chalks that up to Flair already being annoyed by a late flight. An interesting bit is how Brody wanted to do a story on steroids in wrestling at a time when no one wanted to talk about such things. He got close to Gordon Solie during the man’s time working with the Global Wrestling Alliance, which was the first wrestling company that sold on the stock market, an idea before its time but fell apart when it turned out their main backer was a scam artist. Brody also met with Virgina Bowles, seemingly a kind-hearted lady who helped him out but a few years later, he discovered she was bad-mouthing him behind her back to others, the first (but far from the last) time Brody was played by someone.

　

WWOW

Brody does a nice overview of how the entire wrestling landscape changed in the 1980’s as Crockett and McMahon solidified their power. A highlight of this recap is Brody revealing the truth of the long-standing story of Bill Watts supposedly tricking Crockett into buying the UWF by lying about Vince planning to buy it. Brody then goes back to how he decided to get into the business himself. At first, he hoped to work with Dan Cone and Dan Fisher to make a play for buying the sagging Florida Championship Wrestling, which led to Brody first meeting Hiro Matsuda. That didn’t come about and Brody puts blame for FCW going under on Mike Graham demanding $2 million for a company so far in the red. Brody continued to work for Global, coming up with ideas he admits were pretty crazy but in some cases, ahead of their time, such as an all-black wrestler stable. More personal stories include meeting Boris Malenko who helped mentor Brody a bit.

Brody goes in detail for his creation of Wild Women of Wrestling, an all-female promotion he had hopes for. The first show is a comedy of errors to read about with lack of advertisement and a raid on the gentlemen’s club it was supposed to be held in forcing them to take part in a bar. Despite that, Brody was happy with the product but unaware of the massive struggles to come. Their financial backer, Mizlou, ran into legal issues and had to pull out. They managed to raise some money by hooking the promotion to a charity but still faced major problems such as a disastrous Key Largo show and the behavior of booker Luna Vachon, who could switch from sweet to nasty in a heartbeat. When she misunderstood a phone call he was making over not being able to pay the staff, Luna exploded at Brody in such a way, people got the wrong idea they were having an affair.

Brody shares a lot on Herb Abrams, the man who ran the short-lived UWF revival in 1990. It’s clear Brody wasn’t a fan of Abrams, a true bullshit artist of the highest order, the kind of guy who’d pay the tab for a huge lunch then call his credit card company to report his card stolen so he wouldn’t have to actually pay them. The high point of the discussion is after a UWF show as Brody was forced to attend a party with Abrams handing out marijuana and coke to various wrestlers who told dirty jokes as they snorted, an experience Brody cites as “everything that is wrong about wrestling.” Brody touches on the long-standing urban myth of Abrams faking his own death and how that might fit the guy perfectly.
　

Moving on

As WWOW died a slow death due to lack of investments, Brody fell into a depression for a while but managed to pull himself up. He went to work with Matusda on the proposed World Superstars of Wrestling, a venture that seemed good but ran into problems as Hulk Hogan refused to take part, citing reasons varying from lack of money to not wanting to work with Antonio Inoki, despite the fact Inoki wasn’t involved. They did manage to sell a show to Israel only to get hit with a lawsuit from WWF, claiming the name was too close to “Superstars of Wrestling.” WWF does come off bad with some attacks on Brody via lawyers. While hard, it does have some fun stories of Brody’s travels with wrestlers in Jerusalem.

1994 was a big year of change for Brody. He managed to get a one-on-one with Eric Bischoff and proposed a rather daring reorganization of WCW (which at that time could definitely have used it), basing the ideas on breaking the company into “franchises” that would use the old territories as their bases with bookings coordinated through a central office and local TV markets showing the individual “franchises.” Daring but perhaps too much so as Bischoff hated it, saying it was too “roller-derby.” Brody then shifted over to Eastern Championship Wrestling, coming on at the same time as Paul Heyman. Brody was truly impressed by how tight the ECW locker room was and the fan base being so passionate about it. He worked with both ECW and independents, including running a successful show in Miami that was well put-together. This led to Brody being invited to join the NWA. Literally right after doing so, he met with Tod Gordon, who let him know in advance the Shane Douglas NWA title incident that would change wrestling forever. Brody did his best to get ECW coverage in Florida but it didn’t quite take and Brody was annoyed at how Gordon and Heyman blamed him for not trying enough. All this was taking its toll on Brody’s marriage but the man is up front about how a lot of it could be blamed on him. He shares a story of how he lied to her about knowing Billy Joel when they first got together and, like a movie, when he came to town for a concert, she wanted to meet him and he had to pull favors for Joel to acknowledge him during the show. Afterward, he told her the truth and knew right then they wouldn’t last. It still hurt when she basically threw him out but he managed to recover with his work, managing to get ECW its first major video deal. But that was matched by a bad NWA Halloween show involving a bad-mannered Ed Leslie, a no-show Kevin Sullivan and Jake Roberts having issues.

Brody continued to work with World Superstars which led to a one-on-one meeting with Linda who once again asked them to change the name. But things really went bad when his financial backers were busted for (I’m not making this up) selling refrigerator coolant. Matsuda stepped in to become the new backer and put Brody on salary. They got the attention of LCI, the big merchandise player who suggested they be more “mainstream” in their wrestling before getting a toy deal going. Things went well as the new promotion became Ring Warriors but over at ECW, Brody was being stiffed for the money over the video deal he’d brokered with Heyman pulling some nice talk to get out of being sued. A great story has Brody there when Matusda meets with Inoki over Ring Warriors with Brody forced to wear an ill-fitting replacement suit. That’s followed by another wild story where Brody goes to meet with financial backer John Mese, only to find the man’s been arrested for kidnapping and attempted murder.
　

Warriors and Carnies

Brody devoted a large chapter to talking of Matsuda and it’s clear he truly liked the man. Ring Warriors was doing great in Europe in 1995, averaging four times the audience of WWF broadcasting. There’s a fun story of Brody at an NTAPE convention, meeting Bischoff bragging about beating Vince, then going right ahead to meeting Vince. That does lead to conflict as some in LCI were worried about a possible yakuza connection to Ring Warriors and the toy deal fell through. The chapter has a great bio on Matusda, a guy who really deserves a full biography book as Brody highlights his amazing life. It’s interesting to read of his relationship with Inoki, which was basically friendly rivals. Brody did a good job working with Hiro, despite problems such as Gil Cabot making it sound like Brody was a bully in meetings and Brody even turned down an offer to work for WWF because of his friendship with Hiro. However, Ring Warriors hit a big roadblock when their European TV deal fell through thanks to politics in Eurosport. They did have the idea of streaming their shows online but Brody (a self-admitted technology ignorant guy) failed to realize they weren’t getting the best quality. The fact that people didn’t seem that interested in paying to watch the shows didn’t help either. Yet again, a supposed trusted financial backer of Brody fell through as Keith Chessman turned out to be a con artist. You can’t help but feel affected when Brody talks of the emotions of Matsuda dying in 1997, sharing stories of the man and enjoying the lessons he taught him of never putting business in front of family and trying to keep them separate.

Brody then turns to talking of the always colorful Dennis Coralluzzo. The man is most famous to fans by being NWA President when Shane Douglas threw the title down and helped create ECW with Coralluzzo thrown by the double-cross. He and Brody were both annoyed that Dan Severn’s reign as champion generated no interest and helped create the Eddie Gilbert memorial shows. At the 1996 meeting, with fears the organization was going down, Brody proposed he be given a shot and became NWA president. He quickly went about organizing the company’s debts and financial planning. He proposed moving the belt to Dory Funk Jr. for six months but Sevren refused to do it. Coralluzzo is put over well by Brody, who notes how the guy could be hard-headed (such as giving fans Abdullah the Butcher’s phone number when he no-showed an event) but was passionate about the business and cared about his workers. Coralluzzo was obsessed with ECW, tearing down posters of shows and doing what he could to mess with them to the point of Tod Gordon saying “If he would’ve put half the energy into his own company that he put into trying to screw ours, he might have actually been successful.” He and Heyman did seem to break the ice with a meeting and handshake but then Heyman put out the story of Dennis still holding a grudge that ended any partnership. But then Dennis blew off Gordon’s attempts to work a storyline feud that had him leave. But while the man’s issues with money were troublesome, what got to Brody was when Dennis printed up cards with an insult and Brody’s real phone number. He was also pissed when Dennis threw a fit over a booking situation that caused Brody to miss a flight home to see his dying mother. Finally, the board decided to remove Dennis from the NWA but, since his own mother was quite ill, he played the sympathy card well and got Brody some bad heat. Coralluzzo tried to get a promotion going with his son and when Brody tried to block the man just because of his father, he realized he’d become “one of the piranhas I had spent so much of my time and effort trying to avoid.” Despite their problems, Brody does feel guilt over his feelings on Dennis and wishes they’d been able to make amends, mourning the loss of one of wrestling’s best character.

NWA Leadership

Seeing that the NWA board had no real direction, Brody tried to give them some with invites to the WWF that were ignored. Brody goes into a lot of issues such as getting Sevren and Dory Funk to work together which led to the two going at it after the show in the ring, while it was being taken down. It turned out the whole thing was really a work by the two, one so well done even Terry Funk didn’t know about it.

This leads to the brief WWF/NWA working relationship as Brody details the backstage goings-on and how they thought this would be a boon although getting the belt on Jeff Jarrett was a tricky task. It’s fun hearing Brody talk of how surreal it was to appear on RAW and it paid off as various small promotions decided to join the NWA banner. It was a bit jarring to Coralluzzo to realize he could no longer run the NWA as his personal fiefdom but Brody did his best to handle things, including a Florida promoter claiming to be in the NWA who wasn’t really a member.

However, the WWF deal fell through with things like Sevren fed up to Steve Blackman and the horrific Brawl for All even though the NWA benefited from some second-tier WWF guys at events. Brody tried to do another ECW angle but that didn’t connect, despite a good in-ring encounter with him and Rob Van Dam. He then set about doing the NWA 50th anniversary show, which ran into a huge problem when the local police decided to blockade the building for more money and Canadian promoter Ernie Todd was able to salvage the event. Then Barry Windham and Too Cold Scorpio no-showed while William Regal was spaced out on painkillers but the show was salvaged by some good bouts and appearances of NWA legends. Brody then linked a deal with Japan for a big match featuring Sevren and Japanese star Naoya Ogawa. Brody was worried about a double-cross and more freaked when he met with Inoki and realized the guys around them were members of the yakuza. The match went over well although Brody was jarred when he was paid the $10,000 in cash. This caused some bad blood with the board, especially Tony Rumble, who played political games to keep his own power base which caused problems. The late Rumble did play games with others, maneuvering Shelton Goldberg out of his New England territory although the man would bounce back with NECW, the biggest indie in New England.

It is hard hearing Brody trying to keep the NWA afloat in the early 2000’s as the wrestling boom begins to implode. He arranged for a big show in Florida highlighted by the Bushwhackers going back to being the bloody Sheepherders in a wild brawl with Brian Blair and Steve Keirn. However, Brody was angered to hear afterward of Keirn calling a black fan the N-word, forcing him to enact a zero tolerance rule on such behavior. Brody also made what he calls his biggest booking blunder by giving the NWA Florida title to a rookie by the name of Adam Windsor, off the advice of Dory Funk. The plan was for Funk to then win the belt from Windsor but Funk refused and Brody felt the kid was being pushed too young. At the same time, an NWA world title tournament was being set up and Steve Corino was going to job in the first round but Heyman called Brody, telling him to pull Corino as he was planning to make the man ECW champ and didn’t want him jobbing. Sevren also pulled out for the UFC and Dean Malenko due to injury. A fun story in this is how Brody jokingly suggested Chris Nelson and Vito DeNucci become the New Heavenly Bodies, who became three-time NWA tag team champions. While taking a break outside during the show, Brody was outraged to find Sabu smoking weed and more angry to hear it was Marti Funk who gave it to him. Brody says he doesn’t care what a guy does in his own time but it affects the show, it’s his concern.

Jim Barnett warned Brody that Windsor just didn’t have the makings of a star and said he was being manipulated too much by the Funks. Brody decided to follow a planned 45-minute Funk-Windsor battle with a cage match between Sabu and Mike Rapada for the world title and Marti hit the ceiling over two “drug addicts” following her husband although Dory agreed a cage match should always be last. The match had to be cut down to 20 minutes but Funk refused, despite the fact the two were stinking up the joint with a poorly received slow bout with one-third of the crowd walking out at the 30 minute mark. Brody was forced to call the match early for Windsor and Sabu decided to fire up the crowd by starting the match in the backstage before Dory and Windsor had left the ring to get attention. Brody swore never to work with the Funks again but did have to when co-writing Dusty Rhodes’ autobiography. Then, Funk said it wasn’t personal, just business and Windsor related how the Funks broke a promise to get him into the WWF and it took a while for Brody and the NWA to recover.

Brody discusses Bobby Rogers, who claimed to be WWF Light Heavyweight champion, complete with belt and once offered to cut his finger off at an ECW event, a move even Paul Heyman thought too crazy. The man was eventually arrested for various frauds. Brody runs through more events and promotions he helped forge, some successful, others not, such as handling Japanese wrestlers afraid to fly in the wake of 9/11 but then the match with Christopher Daniels that put AJ Styles on the map. He details the amazing Corino-Hashimoto bout and its wonderful setup that seemed to end in a controversial finish that was really a specially created work. But that was balanced by Bill Alphonso coming in without being booked and, told he wouldn’t be paid, attacked Brody.

Leaving

Brody acknowledges his ego was huge in that he figured without him, the NWA would fall apart. Brody championed his vice-president Bill Behrens as his replacement but in true wrestling fashion, trusted friend Fred Rubenstein switched his vote to Jim Miller. Miller immediately started to audit some of Brody’s expenses over the years and the board (who Brody suspected always had beefs with him) backed him up. Angered, Brody resigned from the NWA and tried to restart Ring Warriors but lack of funding ended it before it really started. As the NWA began to become more tied to TNA, Brody found his yearning for the business fading. Rubenstein eventually talked Brody into leading a revolt of the board to oust Behrns and Miller although Brody suspected it was to Rubenstein’s own designs as TNA got the public publicity and money while the NWA got shafted. Brody tried to organize a wrestling tour of China that’s great to read about but a second tour ended in various mishaps, such as a drunk Scott Hall. Yet another criminal passed Brody’s path as financial backer Michael Largue was arrested for criminal larceny. More hardships follow like his attempt to book shows in Israel for TNA only to have WWE tour first to drive off interest and working with a widow trying to keep her husband’s dream of a wrestling promotion alive.

Brody finishes the book with how he wanted to raise awareness of the risks in wrestling of drugs and injury. Not only was he rebuffed by WWE, TNA and ROH but also felt the IWC wasn’t interested in raising awareness either. Brody says he wasn’t surprised at Benoit and can’t feel sorry for a man who chose to live his life in drugs and pain ending up like that. But Brody says there are role models like “Rockin’ Robin” Smith, the former WWF Womens’ champion who endured injuries and losing her home to Hurricane Katrina but still goes on living her life with determination. Brody admits his failings in his quest to succeed but says he’s still happy with what he achieved and not upset about losing his love of wrestling. He has nothing to prove to it or himself and to him, it’s best to simply survive.

The book is wonderfully detailed, as Brody is a great storyteller sharing tales of his meetings with people. You can feel his frustration, an honest man in a dirty business and it’s jarring how so many of the guys he meets can be such scumbags. Again, it’s amazing that Vince McMahon comes off as downright virtuous compared to other promoters, even friends who wound up stabbing Brody in the back. But you can feel his pride at what he has accomplished and realizing that living the dream may be hard but still great being able to do it. As both a personal story and a look at the backstage goings-on of wrestling, the book is a terrific read and a great addition to any wrestling library.

For this week, the spotlight is off.