Greg Valentine No-Shows Randy Savage Tribute Show

[Lardlad]

Great North Wrestling President Devon Nicholson had the following to say after WWE Hall of Famer Greg "The Hammer" Valentine no-showed last Saturday night's Macho Man Randy Savage Tribute Show in Hawkesbury, Ontario, Canada:

“It is one thing to no-show a pro wrestling event. It is another to demand all your money up front, promise you’re going to come and then no show a huge event like the Macho Man Memorial Show.

Greg Valentine cost in the ball park of 2k for his payoff, plane ticket, and hotel room. That money all went to waste with him no-showing. Greg Valentine truly showed what scum he is this week. I would highly recommend that no promoter trust or book this man. He better hope he never crosses paths with me again. What he did was a horrible insult to me, Lanny, The Macho Man and most importantly the fans who paid to see him."

Additionally, Valentine called Great North Wrestling on August 31st, after negotiations for him to appear at the show had taken place, and demanded that they pay him more money. There is speculation that Valentine was drunk when he left the message, which he later apologized for, and below is audio from the voice message he left:



The following is a new YouTube video of WWE legend The Honky Tonk Man discussing Greg "The Hammer" Valentine's no-show at the recent "Macho Man" Randy Savage tribute show:



Lanny Poffo shoots on Greg Valentine for no-showing the Randy Savage tribute show:

[andrew8798]

From F4W

That Greg Valentine no-show last weekend is turning into an angle. Valentine made a statement saying that was sorry he used the language he did and was stressed out about travel, but the reason he no-showed was because that morning he got a phone call that his mother-in-law had two days left to live (as it turned out she made a recovery), so he flew to Nashville and missed the show. He said he called promoter Devon Nicholson about it. Nicholson said Valentine called him at 1:30 p.m. that day, which would have been before the show. So Nicholson probably shouldn't have buried him at the show the way he did.

Nicholson said Valentine called him later and said because of how it was announced at the event, he wasn't returning the money, which Nicholson claimed between the flight from Tampa, hotel, pay and photos he printed up to sell, it would come out to $2,000. In Valentine's statement, he apologized for no-showing and said he would be returning the money and did say he was mad that Nicholson didn't tell fans he was sorry he couldn't make it and the reason why, instead of burying him and putting tapes of phone calls on the Internet.

--This is going to turn into an angle with Lanny Poffo challenging Valentine to an MMA match on 12/30 in Gatineau. The angle will be that Poffo will pay Valentine $1,000 if he can beat him. Everyone can debate at which point the angle started.

[Kris]

A sixty plus man and fifty plus man having an MMA match? Sign me up.

[fuzzywarble, squat cobbler]

From Hammer:

Here is my official statement on the Canada booking (Please read below)

I was booked for the Macho Man Memorial Show in Canada. That's true. I told the promoter I was coming. That's true. I received my deposit from the promoter. That's true. Now let me clear some things up...

A few days before the scheduled booking, my mother-n-law had to go into the hospital for an emergency surgery. I sent my wife, Julie, to Nashville to be by her side. I stayed back in Tampa to continue with my weekend booking schedule. I called the promoter when I saw my flight itinerary. He had me on a 715 flight to Miami from Tampa, then Miami to Chicago, then Chicago to Ottawa, then a couple hour drive to the show, plus going thru customs when I land...which can take an hour for me to get thru.

When I saw this, I called the promoter and left the message that many of you heard. I asked for the remainder of the money if I was going to be jumping on THREE different airplanes to get to this event. And yes, I promised him I would be there. Now what you need to understand is this... My message to him was stern. I was angry. My wife was a bundle of nerves because she is seeing her mother suffer. I was not with her, and I now have a flight schedule that is beyond crazy. Last time I went there I didn't need to go on THREE planes to get there. So, with all that being said, I was stressed out, and I do apologize to the fans who heard the voice mail that I left. The pressure got the best of me and I used language I shouldn't have. We all make mistakes.

This is what then unfolded as the reason I did not show up... The promoter sent me the remainder of the money as I asked. I was going to his booking as I promised him...even though I was under a lot of pressure with what has been going on with my mother-n-law (something that the promoter knew about). The morning of the booking came, I was still going. I then got a call from my wife in Nashville that her mom was given 2 days to live. That did it for me. How can I, as a husband, NOT be with my wife and mother-n-law, and the rest of the family? What would you do? If you were a son or daughter of adult age, and had a vacation scheduled, but your Mom or Dad was given two days to live...would you still go away on your vacation, or put things in priority order, and be with your family?

As I write this to you, I am with the family in Nashville, filling my days with my wife and the rest of the family at my mother-n-law's bedside. It's been 2 days already and she is still with us, but I attribute that to the many fans and friends who have been praying for her. I have received numerous emails expressing your concern and support in my situation.

If the promoter is angry, and out to try and hurt my reputation, shame on him. I called him and apologized for not being able to come, and TOLD HIM I was not going to make it because of the news we got from the hospital the morning of the show... that her death was expected. I even went as far to tell him that I would return the money he sent...all of it, and I STILL stand by it. When I return to Tampa, I will be heading to my bank and mailing him the money. This was never the issue, so why he had to go off and try to hurt me at a time where we are having a tragedy in our family, I don't know.

What tends to hurt me the most, is that I asked him to please tell the fans that I was sorry and that i was not going to be able to make it to the event. I purposely made sure that he would express that to the fans who came out to see me, and to celebrate the life of Randy Savage. Instead, he tells everyone that I pulled a "No show". He didn't give any reason for my absence, just told people I didn't show up. This is not how I operate. However, when push comes to shove with family, family will always win out.

That is the truth. This is what happened. Yes, I did not like the flight itinerary, and I did ask him for the balance of my payoff, but that had nothing to do with me not being there. It was getting the news that my mother-n-law was about to die that caused me to decide not to go the day of. As stated earlier, my mother-n-law seems to be doing better, and I thank you all for praying. I believe that is the only reason why. For those that got offended, I do apologize, and I do hope to see you again one day soon. Thank you for your support throughout this time, and for being such dedicated fans and friends.

[Lardlad]

Wait a second, isn't Great North Wrestling President Devon Nicholson the same guy who said he get Hep C from Abdullah?

And he's turned many works into shoots before just to draw attention?

I'm starting to wonder if he's getting Poffo to do this to draw some attention for his new wrestling show, and there's nothing more to it than that....

[Cam]

Lanny Poffo vs Greg Valentine in an MMA match?

Many buys....

[Stone Coke Miami Watson 🥃]

Well, congrats for Greg for putting his family as a priority before anyone or anything else....hell, all of us would've done the same thing he did.

Plus, I would watch that MMA "fight" only if Lanny said a poem prior....and Greg wore his shin guard

[Lardlad]

Sept 11, 2011 7:27:11 GMT -5 Stone Coke Miami Watson 🥃 said:

Plus, I would watch that MMA "fight" only if Lanny said a poem prior....and Greg wore his shin guard

And Lanny did a moonsault....

[Deleted]

Sept 11, 2011 7:33:23 GMT -5 Lardlad said:

Sept 11, 2011 7:27:11 GMT -5 Stone Coke Miami Watson 🥃 said:

Plus, I would watch that MMA "fight" only if Lanny said a poem prior....and Greg wore his shin guard

And Lanny did a moonsault....

Was that Koko rocking the High Energy pants?

[skulldouggory]

Prime example of what i stated in the last Scott Hall no show thread. Promoters would rather act the victims and say that a guy just no showed, rather than risk people ask for a refund and admit they knew that said wrestler was'nt able to make it beforehand.

[Deleted]

Why would you make an "angle" out of this?

Wrestling has no perception of reality.

[jason1980s]

Funny thing about Koko in High Energy type pants is I don't think he ever wore red during the run. He probably just had them made for the gimmick on the indys.

I think Greg has a pretty solid reputation of showing to indy events or signings. He even did the ring in the backyard show a few years ago. Of all shows, a tribute to Randy he probably wouldn't no show unless serious, as he put in a thoughtful letter. Now I can't listen to sound on my computer so I can't go by the videos above but I think Valentine, he has wrestling in his blood, loves wrestling, and for having a sort of grumpy demeanor at signings I think he has a respect for the fans based on the letter and thanks for prayers. A guy who would show up to a house with a ring in the backyard (was it his neighbor?) would probably not no-show a show, a tribute to one of the greatest, unless it was very important.

[Deleted]

Was the Tribute show some sort of benefit show? Otherwise it could be argued that the promoter was just capitalizing on Macho's popularity.

[Deleted]

The fact that Valentine hasn't given the money back is rather snakey(provided the promoter is being truthful). This story is pretty all around unfortunate. Valentine's reasons for not going sounds legitimate, but give the money back then! The promoter has a reason to be upset, but there's definitely a classier way to deal with that. Lanny Poffo just looks flat out retarded. Why not just make the best of the people who did show up to this Randy Savage tribute show, instead of making the story of this whole supposed tribute about you challenging Greg Valentine to a shoot fight? Why does every Macho Man tribute in the indies seem to have some scandal attached to it?

[probable]

Dear God, he really is a grumpy old man isn't he. Has the face of a bulldog sucking a lemon to match.

[Vice honcho room temperature]

Did they not have a bell and he just went ding in the mic like the last tribute show?

["Playboy" Don Douglas]

I knew this was becoming a work. The only thing is, is Valentine in on the work or not?

Regardless, I think it's pretty stupid and kind of sick and sad.

[Spankymac is sick of the swiss]

Meh, as long as he gives the booker his money back, no harm, no foul, way I see it. Up until then, though, it makes Valentine look a little shady to me.

[Threadkiller [Classic]]

I'm more on Valentine's side with this, although the whole "If you were about to go on vacation but you found out a family member had two days to live, you wouldn't still go on the vacation" explanation doesn't wash, since it wasn't a vacation, it was work for which he was being paid. Now, if he had made a business trip analogy, that would have been more germane to the situation.

My thoughts and prayers are with Valentine's family and his "mother-n-law" as he calls her. I also hope that this business mishap all blows over and that they can at least make some decent money off of turning this into an angle.

[jason1980s]

As someone else noted the Savage tributes do come with scandal unfortunately. I wonder if Savage would've cared for a tribute. These promoters are probably just looking to make some money off his name. Why not just bring the wrestlers in like a normal event and post a kind, simple photo of Macho with "thank you macho..." or "rest in peace." The name Macho Man Randy Savage probably brings in some extra fans that might not otherwise come.

There are some wrestlers who no show (Sid, Ashley Massaro) or show up in poor condition (Scott Hall and Jake Roberts). Now, the promoters keep trying to use them but I think there will come a time when it gets to be too much, they aren't worth the risk.

I saw some interview where Valentine said WWE was looking to get in touch with him but didn't have his address and he said he'd been at the same address for 20 years. To me that sounds like a guy who probably is good with business or money management. Abdullah also comes off as a guy who knows his money. I don't think Abdullah would risk potential money from shows by wrestling with hepatitis and giving a wrestler the disease. I don't think Valentine is the type to lose future earnings by no showing without good reason. He may be able to bank on his name like Sid, Hall and Roberts and keep collecting money for no showing or showing up in poor condition but I'm sure he would know there would come a time when the promoters will eventually realize he won't be worth the risk.