Post by KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! on Sept 19, 2013 8:08:08 GMT -5
Basically, it took place in the dying days of ECW in 2000/2001, but for some reason the parts of my life featured in my dream were from 2005 or so when I would have been around 17 or 18. basically, in the dream I applied to Kohl's months earlier at my local mall, The Meadow Glen Mall in Medford, MA. I actually worked there in real life beginning in early 2006 after having applied months earlier and hearing nothing for a long time before getting a call out of the blue. In my dream though I went to the store to check on my application and they had me down to start tomorrow. In my dream I knew I couldn't do it because I had school/college that day, but then I found out that the reason I was starting was because they needed extra help for an ECW show as ECW had rented out the store to run a free show in. I say I could work as much as I could, but would probably have to leave the show at some point to go to class.
I then meet another person signed up to work the show who for some reason is inexplicably there despite the show not being until the next day. We seem to get along really well and he hands me a flyer and some other info for the show. We then sit down in the break room with three other people scheduled to work the show. I look over the flyer and see that the whole show is like a wicked long fan fest and is something like eight hours. However, there is only three matches on the card and are matches like Tommy Dreamer vs. some local guy no one ever heard of and Steve Corino vs. some local guy no one has ever heard of. I then blast ECW talking about how why the hell would anyone go to an eight hour show with only three matches especially matches featuring wrestlers with barely any national exposure against other wrestlers no one ever heard of. I looked over the materials the first guy had given me to see if they were having legends come for panels or something, but there wasn't anything about it. So presumably there would just be a few matches and then people hawking ECW merchandise in Kohl's for the rest of the time. I crack a few jokes about Paul Heyman's poor business skills and how this show makes no sense as ECW will probably just lose more money on it. I mean heck I was a huge wrestling fan and I hadn't even heard anything about it until the day before and that was only because I was scheduled to work for it.
Throughout the time in the break room the first guy I met keeps trying to defend ECW and at one point brings me a completely different flyer for the even, which features completely different matches. This one features about five matches, this time with all no name local talent (no Dreamer or Corino on this one). However, The Sandman was listed in the main event against a no name guy (Sandman wasn't on the previous flyer at all). I explain that this match list is even worse because there are less ECW guys on it and Sandman was out of control and out of shape (this was supposed to be around the time he flashed a crowd and stuff like that). The ECW defender finally storms off and the other three still find everything I'm saying true and funny.
Moments later though I get confronted by no less than Paul Heyman himself! It turns out that the ECW defender was Paul Heyman's nephew! I immediately try to back peddle by saying I was an ECW fan and I was just giving my honest opinion, but still loved his product. Heyman isn't having it though and is PISSED. He says not only will I not work the Kohl's Show, but if he sees me even in attendance he'll have me thrown out or sent to jail. I try to protest a bit since I figured this would be my first day working at Kohl's in general (not just for an ECW show) and I needed the extra cash and if I didn't show up the first day they probably wouldn't hire me. Heyman still, isn't having it though and just keeps yelling as I leave.
The next day I decide to go to the show anyway, but go a couple of hours late. My thinking was it would be better to go there late than never and that, that way maybe I could avoid Heyman and work for one of the regular people at Kohl's. I go in the store and it is a piss poor showing. Parts of the store have been sectioned off with temporary walls so they look more like rooms. In the biggest room there is just a handful of people sitting at a few tables looking bored. At first I can't even find the room where the wrestling ring was supposed to be in, but then duck my head in one room and find it. The room is tiny and only has enough room for maybe 20 seats, about half of which are empty. There is actually a match going on featuring two guys I'd never seen before in my life. I think to myself, "lame" and decide to look around some more.
I go back to the main room and find a girl I knew from school there. I tell her about what happened yesterday and how I was right since this show would probably be a huge financial loss for ECW. I say how practically no one is even in the store. She tries to argue that when the show first started there was a whole bunch of excited fans so maybe it would make money. I say, "Well, then where are those fans now" and explain there is no way ECW could make money from this since they have to cover the cost of renting Kohl's, workers (well knowing Heyman probably not, but I was trying to win an argument), etc. I say unless they sold a ton of merchandise there is no way they could even break ever and I haven't even seen any merchandise stands. She says there is one around so I decide to check it out.
The set up to the merchandise stand is actually pretty good and looks like one you'd see at a WWE show. There are maybe like one or two people buying things and a small crowd of fans (maybe like four or five) standing around talking. It turns out to be a big mistake that I went there because as soon as the last customer is finished buying something I notice the person at the stand is Paul Heyman's nephew. He ends up threatening me and Paul Heyman soon comes out from the back. Heyman berates me even more and says he is going to get mall security. I tell him fine, but I'm not leaving because I want to work. He ends up getting mall security and I talk to the mall officer. The mall officer doesn't really seem to give a shit, but is still trying to shew me away because he doesn't want to have to do more work than he has to. I explain that I was there to work and Heyman should have no control over Kohl's.
The mall officer tells Heyman that the mall officer just can't make him leave so they'd have to let me stay unless Heyman wanted to get the police involved. Heyman isn't backing down though and demands the officer get a real police man. I then just wait there and Heyman continues to yell and berate me. I finally have enough and either push him or smack him, which makes Heyman leave in a puff. The police officer than comes and is actually a pretty cool guy. Heyman is not there, but his nephew still is so the officer gets some info from the nephew and then talks to me. I explain my side of the story and the police officer said I would have to leave. He says they wouldn't arrest me or do anything else if my answer to the next two questions were no. He asks me if there was any physicality involved and I lie and said no since the nephew evidently did not mention it. He then asks me if anyone did anything to embarrass the other person in front of a large group. I say if anyone was guilty of that it was Heyman. I am then free to go and just leave with some resentment toward Heyman, a guy I previously respected for his ECW work.
So I guess the takeaway from the story is that as bad of a business man as Heyman could have been he could have been THAT much worse what with the holding a grudge against a low level Kohl's employee, renting out a huge store for a free show in an obscure mall and not even bothering to book the well known ECW talent who would have worked for him for pennies.
I then meet another person signed up to work the show who for some reason is inexplicably there despite the show not being until the next day. We seem to get along really well and he hands me a flyer and some other info for the show. We then sit down in the break room with three other people scheduled to work the show. I look over the flyer and see that the whole show is like a wicked long fan fest and is something like eight hours. However, there is only three matches on the card and are matches like Tommy Dreamer vs. some local guy no one ever heard of and Steve Corino vs. some local guy no one has ever heard of. I then blast ECW talking about how why the hell would anyone go to an eight hour show with only three matches especially matches featuring wrestlers with barely any national exposure against other wrestlers no one ever heard of. I looked over the materials the first guy had given me to see if they were having legends come for panels or something, but there wasn't anything about it. So presumably there would just be a few matches and then people hawking ECW merchandise in Kohl's for the rest of the time. I crack a few jokes about Paul Heyman's poor business skills and how this show makes no sense as ECW will probably just lose more money on it. I mean heck I was a huge wrestling fan and I hadn't even heard anything about it until the day before and that was only because I was scheduled to work for it.
Throughout the time in the break room the first guy I met keeps trying to defend ECW and at one point brings me a completely different flyer for the even, which features completely different matches. This one features about five matches, this time with all no name local talent (no Dreamer or Corino on this one). However, The Sandman was listed in the main event against a no name guy (Sandman wasn't on the previous flyer at all). I explain that this match list is even worse because there are less ECW guys on it and Sandman was out of control and out of shape (this was supposed to be around the time he flashed a crowd and stuff like that). The ECW defender finally storms off and the other three still find everything I'm saying true and funny.
Moments later though I get confronted by no less than Paul Heyman himself! It turns out that the ECW defender was Paul Heyman's nephew! I immediately try to back peddle by saying I was an ECW fan and I was just giving my honest opinion, but still loved his product. Heyman isn't having it though and is PISSED. He says not only will I not work the Kohl's Show, but if he sees me even in attendance he'll have me thrown out or sent to jail. I try to protest a bit since I figured this would be my first day working at Kohl's in general (not just for an ECW show) and I needed the extra cash and if I didn't show up the first day they probably wouldn't hire me. Heyman still, isn't having it though and just keeps yelling as I leave.
The next day I decide to go to the show anyway, but go a couple of hours late. My thinking was it would be better to go there late than never and that, that way maybe I could avoid Heyman and work for one of the regular people at Kohl's. I go in the store and it is a piss poor showing. Parts of the store have been sectioned off with temporary walls so they look more like rooms. In the biggest room there is just a handful of people sitting at a few tables looking bored. At first I can't even find the room where the wrestling ring was supposed to be in, but then duck my head in one room and find it. The room is tiny and only has enough room for maybe 20 seats, about half of which are empty. There is actually a match going on featuring two guys I'd never seen before in my life. I think to myself, "lame" and decide to look around some more.
I go back to the main room and find a girl I knew from school there. I tell her about what happened yesterday and how I was right since this show would probably be a huge financial loss for ECW. I say how practically no one is even in the store. She tries to argue that when the show first started there was a whole bunch of excited fans so maybe it would make money. I say, "Well, then where are those fans now" and explain there is no way ECW could make money from this since they have to cover the cost of renting Kohl's, workers (well knowing Heyman probably not, but I was trying to win an argument), etc. I say unless they sold a ton of merchandise there is no way they could even break ever and I haven't even seen any merchandise stands. She says there is one around so I decide to check it out.
The set up to the merchandise stand is actually pretty good and looks like one you'd see at a WWE show. There are maybe like one or two people buying things and a small crowd of fans (maybe like four or five) standing around talking. It turns out to be a big mistake that I went there because as soon as the last customer is finished buying something I notice the person at the stand is Paul Heyman's nephew. He ends up threatening me and Paul Heyman soon comes out from the back. Heyman berates me even more and says he is going to get mall security. I tell him fine, but I'm not leaving because I want to work. He ends up getting mall security and I talk to the mall officer. The mall officer doesn't really seem to give a shit, but is still trying to shew me away because he doesn't want to have to do more work than he has to. I explain that I was there to work and Heyman should have no control over Kohl's.
The mall officer tells Heyman that the mall officer just can't make him leave so they'd have to let me stay unless Heyman wanted to get the police involved. Heyman isn't backing down though and demands the officer get a real police man. I then just wait there and Heyman continues to yell and berate me. I finally have enough and either push him or smack him, which makes Heyman leave in a puff. The police officer than comes and is actually a pretty cool guy. Heyman is not there, but his nephew still is so the officer gets some info from the nephew and then talks to me. I explain my side of the story and the police officer said I would have to leave. He says they wouldn't arrest me or do anything else if my answer to the next two questions were no. He asks me if there was any physicality involved and I lie and said no since the nephew evidently did not mention it. He then asks me if anyone did anything to embarrass the other person in front of a large group. I say if anyone was guilty of that it was Heyman. I am then free to go and just leave with some resentment toward Heyman, a guy I previously respected for his ECW work.
So I guess the takeaway from the story is that as bad of a business man as Heyman could have been he could have been THAT much worse what with the holding a grudge against a low level Kohl's employee, renting out a huge store for a free show in an obscure mall and not even bothering to book the well known ECW talent who would have worked for him for pennies.
