Post by kswolf on Oct 28, 2007 14:16:29 GMT -5
Bryan Alvarez gives a pretty complete story of the disastrous wrestling and MMA convention at the Cow Palace last weekend.
Is there any legal business sleazier than pro wrestling?
Originally Posted by Figure4Weekly
F4W~!#644 - COW PALACE DOOM - October 29, 2007
What is believed to be the biggest disaster in the history of wrestling conventions took place this past weekend in San Francisco. I wish I'd been there.
Now, don't get me wrong, I feel really bad for everybody involved, and I heard some horror stories that were really pretty heart-wrenching. But in other ways I'm sad that I wasn't able to be there for such a legendary, Titanic-level disaster. Nobody died, thankfully, although there was a heart scare, a sit-in strike, money allegedly stolen right out of autograph table boxes, an MMA event canceled after selling just 23 tickets, strong-arm tactics, multiple run-ins with the police, and in the end the only fight of the weekend involved Don Frye and the boxing trainer of Dog the Bounty Hunter's son, and it was unsanctioned.
The people in charge of the convention were Jay Cohen, Chris Salisbury and his wife Jasmin of "Sports Promotions USA". The belief is that Cohen was the more diabolical of the two, and that the Salisbury's may have simply gotten in over their heads, and then when things started to go downhill they managed to dig the hole even deeper. At this point all three are missing and Mike Lano, who was hired in the last week to provide "last minute emergency PR" is attempting to get a police investigation started. A ton of checks bounced over the weekend, the key ones being those given to the two host hotels. Bouncing checks to wrestlers is one thing, but bouncing checks to hotels in California opens you up to major-league legal trouble. When it was discovered that the checks had bounced, all the wrestlers were kicked out of their rooms on Sunday afternoon. On the bright side, if you want to look at it that way, everyone was allowed to sleep in the lobby.
Several stars, including Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Sid, Vampiro, Rey Misterio Sr., Missy Hyatt, Dan Severn, and Mike Quackenbush and the CHIKARA guys all pulled out well in advance. Vampiro and Misterio had pulled out weeks in advance and were continually advertised. Sid talked to Hall and Nash and found out what they were making and refused to come unless he was paid the same. Hall and Nash both allegedly wanted $3,000 more apiece. They were told it would cost $2,000 to FedEx them the extra money (
). Hall, of course, noted that it shouldn't cost more than $200. All three ultimately pulled out. Severn was one of many who gave up in the week before the show due to an inability to communicate with the promoters. Everyone was told not to e-mail them with questions, but to call. Then when they called, nobody answered. Several guys, including Road Warrior Animal, arrived, waited around for hours at the airport (Nikolai Volkoff was apparently stranded for eight hours), and when they finally met Salisbury and discovered he hadn't brought any cash with him as agreed to beforehand in their deal, got right back on the plane and flew home. Randy Couture was also billed as appearing, but of course he was in South Africa filming the Scorpion King prequel. His people were contacted and it was determined that he was flying home on the Friday of the convention. That's the good news. The bad news was that they had not been contracted to make any appearance at the Cow Palace.
Salisbury had contacted a number of people in the months leading up to the show asking if they were willing to invest $50,000. He got one sponsor, an energy-drink maker, to put up several hundred thousand. (It should be noted that this guy is trying to start up a promotion called GCW built around Orlando Jordan, Rikishi, Black Pearl, Steiners, and Powers of Pain.) Where all this money went is up for debate. Obviously the Cow Palace had to be paid, but the promoters took out almost no advertising until about a week before the show, the hotels received nothing, and many of the wrestlers received nothing. Some were told to fly in on their own dime to be reimbursed when they arrived (red flag alert), and of course they never got their money. Some were given checks and told not to cash them until Monday, and of course on Monday every single one of them bounced. Lano helped arrange a sit-down strike on Saturday morning so guys could try to get some cash. Salisbury, in his room, repeatedly called downstairs saying that his wife had to drive two hours to the bank since they'd forgotten the money, then called saying she was pulled over, then called saying she had gotten a flat tire, etc. Goldberg and Roddy Piper, who had been paid in full, joined the strike until the promoters threatened to sue Goldberg, saying he'd been paid and was contractually required to be at the autograph session. Piper had actually been given a check and he refused to accept it (another story claimed he accepted it, immediately tried to cash it, and it bounced), demanding to be paid in full in cash. They ended up stationing Scott Norton by Salisbury's door to make sure he didn't get out without paying everyone at least something. Goldberg eventually talked the guys into going and signing autographs so at least the fans would get something for their money. Salisbury was later allegedly to have gone into the convention every half hour or so, surreptitiously grabbed photo money out of the cash boxes while the wrestler's backs were turned, and walked out with it. Steve Williams and Scott Norton ended up stationed by the doors and grabbed him during one of the attempts, snagging $400 that he'd been trying to take with him. Scott ended up shaking him down and eventually getting paid everything he was owed. We're told legitimate security was pretty much nonexistent until the third day.
There was a wrestling show scheduled for Friday night. Keith Lipinski of our site, Kevin Kleinrock, Dave Marquez and the guys at Big Vision Entertainment, who were contracted to film the entire weekend, ended up putting the card together all afternoon. There were wrestlers coming up to them all day asking about the convention payment information, and Big Vision had to explain that they were just helping out with booking and had nothing to do with the rest of the convention. Fans were also asking them why there were skinny dudes in bodysuits all over. These were actually the MMA guys weighing in for Saturday on a scale purchased at Bed Bath & Beyond. The wrestling show drew about 250 fans. Results of the re-booked show saw Steiners beat Team 3-D (Bubba and D-Von wanted to get out of there early, and Bubba was one of the guys who ended up being paid because he found Salisbury and strong-armed him, so being a bully isn't always a bad thing), Gail Kim beat Traci Brooks and Cheerleader Melissa in a good match, Blue Meanie & Al Snow beat Alcatraz & Luke Hawxx, Warlord & Barbarian beat Kamala & One Man Gang (with Slick), Shark Boy & Abyss beat Lance Hoyt & French Stallion (a Lance Storm trainee who looked good), Vampire Warrior & Black Pearl & Rikishi beat Orlando Jordan (reports were he was a "total dick" over the weekend) & Babi Slymm (Dragon Gate) & Vic Grimes, there was a 34-man battle royal won by SHANNON RITCH (seriously, the MMA fighter with perhaps the worst major league record in the history of MMA) that involved Chavo Guerrero Sr., who tried to get into a fight with a fan afterwards, Great Valentine & Brutus Beefcake beat Steve Williams & Koko B. Ware, Ultimo Dragon beat Billy Kidman in a good match, and Great Muta beat Steve Corino (with Francine) and Sandman (with Baby Doll) (~!) when DDP ran in and gave Corino the Diamond Cutter. We're told some of the TNA guys were prepaid in advance and made out fine, while others (Bubba being one) were not and either strong-armed cash out of Salibury or ended up ****ed (and those who got physical with him only ended up getting about 10% on average). Nobody from Big Vision got paid a dime, and there are conflicting reports about whether ROH was paid. Our best information suggests they were not. They did sell the first several rows of Sunday's show themselves, so they made some cash, and I presume they can turn the show into a DVD. Big Vision has all the footage they shot on Friday and Sunday which they will also be turning into a DVD.
Lex Luger also had a health scare on Friday night. He was rushed to the hospital and on the way there people heard him saying that he couldn't feel his hands. We got reports that he'd suffered a stroke and was paralyzed from the waist down (which is not usually what happens in a stroke, it's usually the right or left side of the body), and the report that it was more likely a heart attack. He was taken to Stanford Hospital and the doctors came to the conclusion that he had not actually suffered a heart attack or stroke. He was feeling better and asked for all of his stuff to be taken to the hospital. It was later determined that he'd suffered a nerve impingement in his back, perhaps as the result of an infection, and this is what caused all of his issues.
Roddy Piper was scheduled to do a stand-up show on Saturday, but apparently the turnout was so low that he ended up doing a Q&A instead. I believe there was also an Eric Bischoff charity dinner in here that I actually heard nothing about except that there was no food available at this dinner. Fitting for the former head of WCW. The "private VIP afterparty" with the wrestlers, which some fans paid big money for, ended up being getting to hang out with the wrestlers at the Sheraton hotel bar, which anyone could have done for free. The second biggest complaint of the weekend behind everyone not getting paid was that the bar was horribly understaffed and the service was terrible, which after all the other bull**** was a pretty major deal.
The MMA show from Saturday night was cancelled for a number of reasons. According to most reports, the biggest issue appeared to be that the cage structure they were going to use was deemed unsuitable by the California State Athletic Commission. What actually appears to have happened is that the cage the CSAC looked at was an "exhibition cage" or something of that nature, and that the problem was that the real cage never even showed up. The CSAC wasn't about to let the fights take place in the exhibition structure. There was also the issue that only 23 tickets were sold (an all-time record, perhaps), which made the Commission leery about the potential of guys being paid, and that so many matches had been cancelled (due to fighters pulling out in advance, including Mia St. John, Nick Diaz (who actually was never booked, though he was advertised) and Leland Chapman, son of Dog the Bounty Hunter) that the show may not be of appropriate length (a one-hour show, for example, would have been considered unacceptable). The promoters also had put out almost no advertising, the show was taking place within 90 minutes of a gigantic BJJ convention in Santa Cruz, and it was taking place at the same time as UFC 77. After it was shut down, first-time (and probably last-time) MMA promoters Phil Flathers and David Huerta, apparently tried to explain that since there was no show the guys weren't getting paid. The fighters took great exception to this. It ended up with a meeting in a room at the hotel.
According to the best information we have, a ton of large fighters and wrestlers, nearly 30 in total, were all crammed into a small room with Flathers. Don Frye was there and decided to act as an intermediary. He asked everyone to please leave the room and he'd call the guys in one at a time to get squared away as best as possible on cash. There were unconfirmed accusations that Salisbury had somehow stolen the money that the MMA promoters were supposed to use to pay the guys. Somewhere in here, Sonny Westbrook, the boxing coach of Leland, got into Don's face and started poking him vigorously in the chest. Don, who had been drinking, told him if he wanted to discuss this they should step outside. According to most of the stories, as Don's back was turned Sonny sucker-punched him twice. What happened from here is up for debate. One side claims that Don single-legged him and was pounding on him from the mount, and the other side claims that Don was on the ground getting pounded on. Regardless, it was broken up and both sides sequestered their man away since the cops were called. In the melee, Flathers, who was supposed to be paying the guys, allegedly ran off (literally, on foot) and disappeared.
Sometime later, Don was outside getting a breath of air and who should he run into but Sonny again. Sonny punched him in the face and knocked him on his ***, then turned and started running. Don told him to stop being a little girl and come back and talk. Wasn't happening. So Don, who had been knocked out in either the first or second fight or both, got up to give chase. Scott Norton was among the guys who screamed at him to stop, and then they dragged him away. The cops showed up again and said if they were called one more time they were going to evacuate the entire hotel (it should be noted that this Sheraton was super fancy and also hosted two weddings that weekend, so you can imagine the lobby filled with folks from wedding receptions mingling with a bunch of pro-wrestlers). Apparently, at some point they found Sonny and he spent a night in jail for disturbing the peace. Don, who opted not to press charges, ended up back in the hotel bar after both incidents, drinking away and sporting a shiner.
Sunday ended up being the best day of the three. All the main promoters had long since disappeared. Many of the wrestlers stayed, though many also ended up going home, being driven to distant airports by Lano and others the night before (they were all flown into places other than San Francisco to save on flight costs). Many of them were devastated, including Jimmy Snuka, and Ted DiBiase said he'd never in his life been treated this poorly and was greatly considering whether to ever do a convention again. The wrestlers remaining, rallied together by long-time event promoter Scott Epstein, did the best they could. Many hadn't been paid, but had enough gimmicks and such to sell to make some money. Steve Austin showed up and was debriefed by Mike Lano. He ended up deciding to go inside, and somewhere in here a Cow Palace administrator told Lano that he was not allowed inside the building because the rumor was he was trying to "sabotage the event". Lano claimed she said it was a directive from Salisbury, who was long since gone, and said it was ridiculous. After being asked at least twice he finally left of his own volition. I don't think he was paid a dime the entire weekend. About 400 people showed up in total and most who were there had a good time, and it was said the best was made of a bad situation.
ROH results from the 4:00 PM afternoon show saw Chris Hero beat Human Tornado in a good opener, Roderick Strong beat Claudio Castagnoli with the Gibson Driver, Adam Pearce beat Karl Anderson, Brent Albright beat Delirious, Davey Richards & Rocky Romero beat TJ Perkins & Tony Kozina in a match where Davey and Rocky looked good, Age of the Fall beat Davey & Rocky in a match with a lot of crowd brawling, Bryan Danielson beat Austin Aries with a small package in a great match, and Nigel McGuinness beat Jay Briscoe in eighteen minutes with a WRISTLOCK to retain the ROH Title. Now that sounds awesome. They drew around 300 or so, about half hardcores and about half casual fans. It was over and done with in two hours, very tightly booked and run with no intermission. Show got good reviews. Dave Meltzer noted that in many ways it was an old-school show, I guess because they were in the Cow Palace in San Francisco.
It has since been alleged that Salisbury has used the aliases "Chris Cramer" and "Chris Kramer" in the past when perpetrating other scams. He owns a home in Manteca/Tracy, CA and has equity in it, so there is an attempt to try to get some money out of him that way. Jay Cohen is from Monterey and/or Marina, CA. Lano is stating that he and Epstein will be spending the week trying to step up police involvement.
What's sad is that there is the possibility that this could badly hurt convention business in the US in the near future. The reality is that although this was an unmitigated disaster, there are good promoters out there and there are good conventions that may or may not come out ahead financially, but at the very least everyone involved gets paid what they were promised. I feel bad for everyone who got ****ed, but I personally knew months back that this was almost certainly going to be a disaster, and that was from merely talking to a handful of people who were "booked" for the show but hadn't been able to get a single straight answer about anything from the promoter. The old saying is that if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. In the world of pro-wrestling and conventions, if you see a red flag, or in this case a number of red flags, it's probably best to not take your chances. If a guy offers you a spot and he has a long track record of promoting events, and you talk to some guys that have done work for him before and you're given a positive report, sure, go for it. But when you hear of a first-time promoter that is trying to book a giant event at a place like the Cow Palace, and he asks you to fly yourself in on your own dime, and then you have great difficulty getting hold of him and note that the links on his website don't work, and all rumblings in advance and signs point to it being a gigantic flop, it should be common sense to bow out early and cut your losses.
F4W~!#644 - COW PALACE DOOM - October 29, 2007
What is believed to be the biggest disaster in the history of wrestling conventions took place this past weekend in San Francisco. I wish I'd been there.
Now, don't get me wrong, I feel really bad for everybody involved, and I heard some horror stories that were really pretty heart-wrenching. But in other ways I'm sad that I wasn't able to be there for such a legendary, Titanic-level disaster. Nobody died, thankfully, although there was a heart scare, a sit-in strike, money allegedly stolen right out of autograph table boxes, an MMA event canceled after selling just 23 tickets, strong-arm tactics, multiple run-ins with the police, and in the end the only fight of the weekend involved Don Frye and the boxing trainer of Dog the Bounty Hunter's son, and it was unsanctioned.
The people in charge of the convention were Jay Cohen, Chris Salisbury and his wife Jasmin of "Sports Promotions USA". The belief is that Cohen was the more diabolical of the two, and that the Salisbury's may have simply gotten in over their heads, and then when things started to go downhill they managed to dig the hole even deeper. At this point all three are missing and Mike Lano, who was hired in the last week to provide "last minute emergency PR" is attempting to get a police investigation started. A ton of checks bounced over the weekend, the key ones being those given to the two host hotels. Bouncing checks to wrestlers is one thing, but bouncing checks to hotels in California opens you up to major-league legal trouble. When it was discovered that the checks had bounced, all the wrestlers were kicked out of their rooms on Sunday afternoon. On the bright side, if you want to look at it that way, everyone was allowed to sleep in the lobby.
Several stars, including Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Sid, Vampiro, Rey Misterio Sr., Missy Hyatt, Dan Severn, and Mike Quackenbush and the CHIKARA guys all pulled out well in advance. Vampiro and Misterio had pulled out weeks in advance and were continually advertised. Sid talked to Hall and Nash and found out what they were making and refused to come unless he was paid the same. Hall and Nash both allegedly wanted $3,000 more apiece. They were told it would cost $2,000 to FedEx them the extra money (
). Hall, of course, noted that it shouldn't cost more than $200. All three ultimately pulled out. Severn was one of many who gave up in the week before the show due to an inability to communicate with the promoters. Everyone was told not to e-mail them with questions, but to call. Then when they called, nobody answered. Several guys, including Road Warrior Animal, arrived, waited around for hours at the airport (Nikolai Volkoff was apparently stranded for eight hours), and when they finally met Salisbury and discovered he hadn't brought any cash with him as agreed to beforehand in their deal, got right back on the plane and flew home. Randy Couture was also billed as appearing, but of course he was in South Africa filming the Scorpion King prequel. His people were contacted and it was determined that he was flying home on the Friday of the convention. That's the good news. The bad news was that they had not been contracted to make any appearance at the Cow Palace.Salisbury had contacted a number of people in the months leading up to the show asking if they were willing to invest $50,000. He got one sponsor, an energy-drink maker, to put up several hundred thousand. (It should be noted that this guy is trying to start up a promotion called GCW built around Orlando Jordan, Rikishi, Black Pearl, Steiners, and Powers of Pain.) Where all this money went is up for debate. Obviously the Cow Palace had to be paid, but the promoters took out almost no advertising until about a week before the show, the hotels received nothing, and many of the wrestlers received nothing. Some were told to fly in on their own dime to be reimbursed when they arrived (red flag alert), and of course they never got their money. Some were given checks and told not to cash them until Monday, and of course on Monday every single one of them bounced. Lano helped arrange a sit-down strike on Saturday morning so guys could try to get some cash. Salisbury, in his room, repeatedly called downstairs saying that his wife had to drive two hours to the bank since they'd forgotten the money, then called saying she was pulled over, then called saying she had gotten a flat tire, etc. Goldberg and Roddy Piper, who had been paid in full, joined the strike until the promoters threatened to sue Goldberg, saying he'd been paid and was contractually required to be at the autograph session. Piper had actually been given a check and he refused to accept it (another story claimed he accepted it, immediately tried to cash it, and it bounced), demanding to be paid in full in cash. They ended up stationing Scott Norton by Salisbury's door to make sure he didn't get out without paying everyone at least something. Goldberg eventually talked the guys into going and signing autographs so at least the fans would get something for their money. Salisbury was later allegedly to have gone into the convention every half hour or so, surreptitiously grabbed photo money out of the cash boxes while the wrestler's backs were turned, and walked out with it. Steve Williams and Scott Norton ended up stationed by the doors and grabbed him during one of the attempts, snagging $400 that he'd been trying to take with him. Scott ended up shaking him down and eventually getting paid everything he was owed. We're told legitimate security was pretty much nonexistent until the third day.
There was a wrestling show scheduled for Friday night. Keith Lipinski of our site, Kevin Kleinrock, Dave Marquez and the guys at Big Vision Entertainment, who were contracted to film the entire weekend, ended up putting the card together all afternoon. There were wrestlers coming up to them all day asking about the convention payment information, and Big Vision had to explain that they were just helping out with booking and had nothing to do with the rest of the convention. Fans were also asking them why there were skinny dudes in bodysuits all over. These were actually the MMA guys weighing in for Saturday on a scale purchased at Bed Bath & Beyond. The wrestling show drew about 250 fans. Results of the re-booked show saw Steiners beat Team 3-D (Bubba and D-Von wanted to get out of there early, and Bubba was one of the guys who ended up being paid because he found Salisbury and strong-armed him, so being a bully isn't always a bad thing), Gail Kim beat Traci Brooks and Cheerleader Melissa in a good match, Blue Meanie & Al Snow beat Alcatraz & Luke Hawxx, Warlord & Barbarian beat Kamala & One Man Gang (with Slick), Shark Boy & Abyss beat Lance Hoyt & French Stallion (a Lance Storm trainee who looked good), Vampire Warrior & Black Pearl & Rikishi beat Orlando Jordan (reports were he was a "total dick" over the weekend) & Babi Slymm (Dragon Gate) & Vic Grimes, there was a 34-man battle royal won by SHANNON RITCH (seriously, the MMA fighter with perhaps the worst major league record in the history of MMA) that involved Chavo Guerrero Sr., who tried to get into a fight with a fan afterwards, Great Valentine & Brutus Beefcake beat Steve Williams & Koko B. Ware, Ultimo Dragon beat Billy Kidman in a good match, and Great Muta beat Steve Corino (with Francine) and Sandman (with Baby Doll) (~!) when DDP ran in and gave Corino the Diamond Cutter. We're told some of the TNA guys were prepaid in advance and made out fine, while others (Bubba being one) were not and either strong-armed cash out of Salibury or ended up ****ed (and those who got physical with him only ended up getting about 10% on average). Nobody from Big Vision got paid a dime, and there are conflicting reports about whether ROH was paid. Our best information suggests they were not. They did sell the first several rows of Sunday's show themselves, so they made some cash, and I presume they can turn the show into a DVD. Big Vision has all the footage they shot on Friday and Sunday which they will also be turning into a DVD.
Lex Luger also had a health scare on Friday night. He was rushed to the hospital and on the way there people heard him saying that he couldn't feel his hands. We got reports that he'd suffered a stroke and was paralyzed from the waist down (which is not usually what happens in a stroke, it's usually the right or left side of the body), and the report that it was more likely a heart attack. He was taken to Stanford Hospital and the doctors came to the conclusion that he had not actually suffered a heart attack or stroke. He was feeling better and asked for all of his stuff to be taken to the hospital. It was later determined that he'd suffered a nerve impingement in his back, perhaps as the result of an infection, and this is what caused all of his issues.
Roddy Piper was scheduled to do a stand-up show on Saturday, but apparently the turnout was so low that he ended up doing a Q&A instead. I believe there was also an Eric Bischoff charity dinner in here that I actually heard nothing about except that there was no food available at this dinner. Fitting for the former head of WCW. The "private VIP afterparty" with the wrestlers, which some fans paid big money for, ended up being getting to hang out with the wrestlers at the Sheraton hotel bar, which anyone could have done for free. The second biggest complaint of the weekend behind everyone not getting paid was that the bar was horribly understaffed and the service was terrible, which after all the other bull**** was a pretty major deal.
The MMA show from Saturday night was cancelled for a number of reasons. According to most reports, the biggest issue appeared to be that the cage structure they were going to use was deemed unsuitable by the California State Athletic Commission. What actually appears to have happened is that the cage the CSAC looked at was an "exhibition cage" or something of that nature, and that the problem was that the real cage never even showed up. The CSAC wasn't about to let the fights take place in the exhibition structure. There was also the issue that only 23 tickets were sold (an all-time record, perhaps), which made the Commission leery about the potential of guys being paid, and that so many matches had been cancelled (due to fighters pulling out in advance, including Mia St. John, Nick Diaz (who actually was never booked, though he was advertised) and Leland Chapman, son of Dog the Bounty Hunter) that the show may not be of appropriate length (a one-hour show, for example, would have been considered unacceptable). The promoters also had put out almost no advertising, the show was taking place within 90 minutes of a gigantic BJJ convention in Santa Cruz, and it was taking place at the same time as UFC 77. After it was shut down, first-time (and probably last-time) MMA promoters Phil Flathers and David Huerta, apparently tried to explain that since there was no show the guys weren't getting paid. The fighters took great exception to this. It ended up with a meeting in a room at the hotel.
According to the best information we have, a ton of large fighters and wrestlers, nearly 30 in total, were all crammed into a small room with Flathers. Don Frye was there and decided to act as an intermediary. He asked everyone to please leave the room and he'd call the guys in one at a time to get squared away as best as possible on cash. There were unconfirmed accusations that Salisbury had somehow stolen the money that the MMA promoters were supposed to use to pay the guys. Somewhere in here, Sonny Westbrook, the boxing coach of Leland, got into Don's face and started poking him vigorously in the chest. Don, who had been drinking, told him if he wanted to discuss this they should step outside. According to most of the stories, as Don's back was turned Sonny sucker-punched him twice. What happened from here is up for debate. One side claims that Don single-legged him and was pounding on him from the mount, and the other side claims that Don was on the ground getting pounded on. Regardless, it was broken up and both sides sequestered their man away since the cops were called. In the melee, Flathers, who was supposed to be paying the guys, allegedly ran off (literally, on foot) and disappeared.
Sometime later, Don was outside getting a breath of air and who should he run into but Sonny again. Sonny punched him in the face and knocked him on his ***, then turned and started running. Don told him to stop being a little girl and come back and talk. Wasn't happening. So Don, who had been knocked out in either the first or second fight or both, got up to give chase. Scott Norton was among the guys who screamed at him to stop, and then they dragged him away. The cops showed up again and said if they were called one more time they were going to evacuate the entire hotel (it should be noted that this Sheraton was super fancy and also hosted two weddings that weekend, so you can imagine the lobby filled with folks from wedding receptions mingling with a bunch of pro-wrestlers). Apparently, at some point they found Sonny and he spent a night in jail for disturbing the peace. Don, who opted not to press charges, ended up back in the hotel bar after both incidents, drinking away and sporting a shiner.
Sunday ended up being the best day of the three. All the main promoters had long since disappeared. Many of the wrestlers stayed, though many also ended up going home, being driven to distant airports by Lano and others the night before (they were all flown into places other than San Francisco to save on flight costs). Many of them were devastated, including Jimmy Snuka, and Ted DiBiase said he'd never in his life been treated this poorly and was greatly considering whether to ever do a convention again. The wrestlers remaining, rallied together by long-time event promoter Scott Epstein, did the best they could. Many hadn't been paid, but had enough gimmicks and such to sell to make some money. Steve Austin showed up and was debriefed by Mike Lano. He ended up deciding to go inside, and somewhere in here a Cow Palace administrator told Lano that he was not allowed inside the building because the rumor was he was trying to "sabotage the event". Lano claimed she said it was a directive from Salisbury, who was long since gone, and said it was ridiculous. After being asked at least twice he finally left of his own volition. I don't think he was paid a dime the entire weekend. About 400 people showed up in total and most who were there had a good time, and it was said the best was made of a bad situation.
ROH results from the 4:00 PM afternoon show saw Chris Hero beat Human Tornado in a good opener, Roderick Strong beat Claudio Castagnoli with the Gibson Driver, Adam Pearce beat Karl Anderson, Brent Albright beat Delirious, Davey Richards & Rocky Romero beat TJ Perkins & Tony Kozina in a match where Davey and Rocky looked good, Age of the Fall beat Davey & Rocky in a match with a lot of crowd brawling, Bryan Danielson beat Austin Aries with a small package in a great match, and Nigel McGuinness beat Jay Briscoe in eighteen minutes with a WRISTLOCK to retain the ROH Title. Now that sounds awesome. They drew around 300 or so, about half hardcores and about half casual fans. It was over and done with in two hours, very tightly booked and run with no intermission. Show got good reviews. Dave Meltzer noted that in many ways it was an old-school show, I guess because they were in the Cow Palace in San Francisco.
It has since been alleged that Salisbury has used the aliases "Chris Cramer" and "Chris Kramer" in the past when perpetrating other scams. He owns a home in Manteca/Tracy, CA and has equity in it, so there is an attempt to try to get some money out of him that way. Jay Cohen is from Monterey and/or Marina, CA. Lano is stating that he and Epstein will be spending the week trying to step up police involvement.
What's sad is that there is the possibility that this could badly hurt convention business in the US in the near future. The reality is that although this was an unmitigated disaster, there are good promoters out there and there are good conventions that may or may not come out ahead financially, but at the very least everyone involved gets paid what they were promised. I feel bad for everyone who got ****ed, but I personally knew months back that this was almost certainly going to be a disaster, and that was from merely talking to a handful of people who were "booked" for the show but hadn't been able to get a single straight answer about anything from the promoter. The old saying is that if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. In the world of pro-wrestling and conventions, if you see a red flag, or in this case a number of red flags, it's probably best to not take your chances. If a guy offers you a spot and he has a long track record of promoting events, and you talk to some guys that have done work for him before and you're given a positive report, sure, go for it. But when you hear of a first-time promoter that is trying to book a giant event at a place like the Cow Palace, and he asks you to fly yourself in on your own dime, and then you have great difficulty getting hold of him and note that the links on his website don't work, and all rumblings in advance and signs point to it being a gigantic flop, it should be common sense to bow out early and cut your losses.
Is there any legal business sleazier than pro wrestling?
