Rebel stated in a recent phone interview with Backseat Boy and former-CZW wrestler Johnny Kashmere that on that particular night ( back in September 2003), Zandig only told Rebel, Rebel´s wife, and Philadelphia State Athletic Commissioner Frank Talent part of what was going to transpire, and that consequently there ended up being " more birthday surprises for everybody else because he didn´t tell us everything that was goin´ on..
As a result of Zandig´s actions, Rebel and his wife had to spend $500 of their own money on a lawyer to help them deal with Philadelphia State Athletic Commission representative Greg Sirb, who - because of the 9/13 hanging incident - was threatening to confiscate Rebel´s promoter´s license. After supposedly intense discussions, Rebel convinced Sirb to allow CZW to continue to run in Viking Hall, but warned him that nothing like that better happen again.
As far as the 9/11 incident goes, a couple of Internet fans have reasoned that there shouldn´t have been such a problem with the woman´s actions, seeing as how Jasmin St. Claire and The Blue Meanie´s 3PW promotion ( which also uses Rebel´s license to operate in Alhambra Theater) has featured " wet t-shirt contests´ on its shows. However, there´s a difference - according to Rebel - in how 3PW and how CZW approach such a segment:
" If 3PW does a wet t-shirt contest, they tell everybody what they´re doing, from start to finish of the show, and they tell everybody ahead of time. John - you know - he wants to give everyone a surprise and tell everybody at the last minute what the hell´s goin´ on.´
In the instance on 9/11, however, the female´s pasties were removed, which caused - Rebel said - " a city ordinance [to be] broken with nudity for minors.†The mother who complained to Greg Sirb about the incident threatened to contact the District Attorney´s Office in Philadelphia, saying that " this girl pulled her pants down and showed her ass, and they got to see a part of her…frontal area ( breasts)."
And that wasn´t even the only problem on CZW´s 9/11/04 show. A flaming table spot in a match between Necro Butcher and Wifebeater also broke a local law, apparently, something that Rebel indicated in the Kashmere interview happened far too frequently on CZW events.
Even more interesting is Rebel´s statement - in regards to both of these incidents - that CZW ( Zandig, more specifically) " knew exactly what they were doing. They totally deceived my wife. See, I found out through the grapevine that [the stripping and fire incident were] were all planned before the show, that they were gonna´ distract my wife, that they were gonna´ distract Frank Talent, and they were gonnna´ distract the doctor, so nobody saw what was goin´ on."
Each time that CZW " would break the rules" of the athletic commission, Rebel would " have to be the angel to cover their @$$ all the time." ( Kashmere conceded that he´s " definitely seen that happen on many occasions" during his tenure with CZW.) The breasts/butt-baring incident a few Saturdays ago was the final straw with the Philadelphia State Athletic Commission. Rebel stated firmly to Kashmere that he " gave [Zandig] months, months, months of fair warning…and told ‘em…‘Any more bullsh*t [and CZW´s run at Viking Hall is] all over.´"
And now it is over, at least as it relates to Rebel´s affiliation with CZW. Rebel - who obtained Nate Hatred his spot in the promotion - will continue to regularly wrestle for the Philadelphia area independents such as 3PW, ROH, PWU ( Acid and Kashmere´s new promotion), and CCW, only CZW - from now on - will no longer be included on his list of employers.
As he insisted to Kashmere in the much publicized interview, it´s no exaggeration to claim that Rebel stepped up to the plate for CZW countless times. Last December at CZW´s annual Cage of Death supercard, he broke kayfabe and made a speech to the fans, asking for them to talk to him if they had any issues with the appropriateness of CZW´s product, instead of calling the athletic commission ( since it had already been inundated by CZW-related complaints). However, according to Rebel, Zandig never showed any thanks for what Rebel did - he " never got a Christmas present from the guy for helping out."
Then, a couple days after Kashmere´s initial conversation with Rebel, the Backseat Boy conducted a followup interview with Rebel, which can be heard in full at ProWrestlingUnplugged.com. Rebel indicated to the listeners - just as he did to me in our April interview - that he had warned Zandig for months that CZW´s over-the-top antics were getting far too numerous, and that if his license was taken away, then CZW would find itself in a difficult predicament if it wished to continue holding shows in Viking Hall:
" I gave them months, months, months of fair warning, you know, and told ‘em, you know, any more bullsh*t, [our run in Viking Hall is] all over."
Yet John Zandig never took any of these hints. Instead of keeping his insolence centered toward Rebel, it multiplied towards a number of other CZW wrestlers. As I reported many times before, " Doomsday" Danny Rose and Greg Matthews´s departure had nothing to do with creative problem ( as Mike Johnson reported on PWInsider.com) and everything to do with their being tired of Zandig´s rude treatment of them ( Rebel verified this fact in his second ProWrestlingUnplugged.com interview). The specific reason that Rebel gave me for Matthews´ fallout with CZW was that he " was tired of dealing with John´s sh*t." The Backseat Boyz´ departures from CZW also were based for the most part on heat that Zandig initiated with them.
However, unlike those four ( among others who quit CZW for similar reasons) Rebel remained patient and tried to give the situation some time to develop. He emphasized in the second Kashmere interview that when Sirb was threatening to seize his license after Zandig´s hanging incident, " I could have walked away from it and not fought for CZW to keep them going because it would´ve been over for good back then." Instead, though, Rebel displayed " loyalty - I…stuck it out with them, tryin´ to be the nice guy that I am, business-wise." However, when the sh*t recently hit the fan, Rebel knew that it was time to step down from CZW. When I interviewed him in April, I got the gist that he had been unendingly patient with Zandig, yet had gotten anything but constant disrespect in return.
As of now, the political influence in CZW´s locker room is as prevalent as ever, especially after Smart Mark Video head Mike Burns resigned from his booking position in CZW this past August because he got tired of the promotion´s locker room politics. That left Zandig as CZW´s sole booker, which isn´t a good sign when one considers his history of talent relations with both homegrown wrestlers and big-name workers. Rebel indicated to me in April that CZW´s political situation ( he specifically mentioned Zandig´s name as a significant source of the turmoil) at the time was preventing the physically smaller wrestlers - such as Derek Frazier and Chri$ Ca$h - to be elevated to the upper level of the card, despite being substantially over with the CZW fans.
Zandig has also failed to endear himself to many CZW non-regulars who could´ve used their name value to garner CZW a great deal of publicity. For instance, during a tag team match in January 2004, the CZW boss used a staple gun on the side of New Jack´s head, without ever approving the spot with the former-ECW Tag Team Champion beforehand. Then, when Jack retaliated with some legitimate punches, Zandig unleashed an unusually stiff chairshot onto Jack´s head, leaving a monstrous welt. That incident effectively abruptly ended CZW´s dealings with New Jack and his storyline in the promotion.
Similarly, Sabu almost didn´t agree to compete for CZW earlier this year, due to some past issues between himself and Zandig. The heat between those two stems back to a public shoot interview Sabu did at the Insane Clown Posse´s " Gathering of the Juggalos" convention in 2002. There, Sabu explained that he wasn´t fond of Zandig´s repeated insinuations over the years that he and Sabu were best friends, when in fact they had never even met one another. Two years earlier in mid-2000, negotiations with Terry Funk ( perhaps the potentially biggest draw in CZW´s history) ended before they even started, thanks to Zandig never fulfilling the agreement to pay " The Funker" in advance for a proposed CZW/Big Japan interpromotional Pay-Per-View.
To be fair, Zandig recently succeeded in something almost as important as maintaining a healthy locker room atmosphere in CZW - according to Rockin Rebel and Frank Talent, he has obtained his own promoter´s license in Philadelphia, which will allow CZW to continue running shows at the former-Viking Hall. The promotion´s show at the building next Saturday will be the first time that CZW runs in Philly on its own, without using Rebel´s license.
Most of the indications point to this being CZW´s last shot at Alhambra Theater before the Philadelphia State Athletic Commission kicks it out of the area ( as New Jersey and Delaware has already done to it). This time, if any controversy generates regarding the commission´s regulations and CZW´s compliance with them, the responsibility for preventing action from being taken against CZW will presumably sit on Zandig´s shoulders, now that Rebel is no longer there to soothe things over between CZW and the commission.
The October 9 CZW show, entitled " Let the KAOS Begin," will be headlined by a long-awaited showdown between former-XPW mainstays The Messiah and " The Rock Superstar" Kaos. Check out CZWWrestling.com for more info.
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