Post by LWPD on Dec 6, 2012 20:08:04 GMT -5
The Newark Star Ledger (New Jersey) recently produced a documentary on the lives of four local Indy wrestlers from National Wrestling Superstars. The video link is below (runs about 25 minutes).
Courtesy of Newark Star Ledger
Documentary: The Bottom Rope: Inside the world of independent wrestling
By Michael Monday
"The Bottom Rope: Inside the world of independent wrestling" - In high school gyms and VFW halls in New Jersey, there exists a place where pro-wrestlers are made - and where former stars go to hang on. Over the course of 60 nights a year, National Wrestling Superstars spotlights these die-hard showmen and their unwavering desire to practice their craft. The Bottom Rope goes beyond the ring to look at four wrestlers, their stories, and what keeps them coming back for more."
Courtesy of Star-Ledger
Star-Ledger documentary 'The Bottom Rope' looks at independent wrestlers far from WWE glory
Danny Inferno stands in the center of a wrestling ring, microphone in hand.
Sweat drips from Inferno’s tasseled black hair down a 6-foot-1, 250-pound frame stuffed inside black wrestling briefs. The word "heel" is sprawled across the back.
"I respect everything you’ve done, and I want to go into this match man vs. man," growls Inferno, 35, pointing his heavily taped fist at Marty Jannetty.
The scraggly blond 52-year-old from Lakehurst is a legend inside the ring. Jannetty was one-half of the Rockers and a WWF star in the early ’90s, selling out the main event at arenas around the world. But this is one of the few moments he doesn’t think about past fame and fortune. He glares back at Inferno.
"It’s gotta be, unless you’re a girl," Jannetty spits back.
This is all part of the performance.
"I’m going to send my very best friend to the back," says Inferno, pushing aside his young teammate for the night, Nicky Oceans. "I respect you enough to where I’m going to beat you in the middle of this ring by myself."
This is a scene from "The Bottom Rope," the newest Star-Ledger documentary, which takes you deep inside the world of independent wrestling, the "indies." The film delves into what it takes to become a World Wrestling Entertainment wrestler — and what happens when the glory fades away. Through candid conversations with former and emerging stars, we learn about fighting’s toll on the body, the heartbreak that comes from broken dreams, hitting rock bottom and finding a way to stay in the game.
On Friday and Saturday nights across the state, a few hundred fans shell out $20 for a seat inside VFW halls, church auditoriums and middle school gyms. What they’ll see is a collection of dreamers, has-beens and never-weres "fight" in staged events by the National Wrestling Superstars, the state’s best-known independent organization.
A dozen years ago, Danny Gimondo of Lyndhurst was starting out as Danny Inferno. He was just like Nicky Oceans then, a tanned upstart with a bright future.
He and his childhood friend Chris Ford, aka Crowbar, traveled up and down the East Coast performing to larger and larger crowds, working for the biggest promotions in wrestling. But on this night, Gimondo remains in the center of the ring, while Ford is several towns away at his Wood-Ridge home with his wife and two children. When Ford wrestles now, he does it for fun.
Inside the ring, Inferno looks back at Jannetty from his dark eyes, covered in black eyeliner.
"I’m going to show everyone that I’m better than a legend," Inferno boasts. "I’m better than a WWE superstar. I’m better than you, Marty Jannetty."
To fans of television pro wrestling, everything seems familiar: the scenes, the lines, even some of the superstars. But on this Saturday night last December, the three wrestlers are setting up the main event inside a Knights of Columbus hall in Dunellen. Empty seats dot the room as about 200 fans — many of them families — watch in amusement.
Behind the scenes, the strings are pulled by a promoter who calls himself Dapper Johnny Falco. He books the venues, hires the wrestlers and creates the scripts from his Hazlet basement office. Call the organization’s printed number and it goes to his home phone and his cell.
The wrestlers who form part of Dapper’s world will tell you it’s the crowd that keeps them coming back: the ability to draw cheers or boos with a microphone; to feel that "pop" when they hit a big move.
But the reality is that it’s wrestling’s bottom rope.
The "indies" are the beginning and the end of a career. And nearly everyone wishes they were somewhere else.
It’s the guys in their teens and 20s who think they’re on the way up, like Shaun Redding (known as Nicky Oceans). Guys like Gimondo and Ford, in their 30s and pushing 40, still hoping to be noticed. And aging former stars, like Jannetty: on the wrong side of 50 and held together with dreams of former glory.
"I would love to support a family and make a living doing wrestling," says Redding, 24, of East Brunswick, who first started wrestling when he was 14. "As of right now, I can’t. So I have to work a regular full-time job and do it."
Nearly every one of them fantasizes of performing in the WWE, which counts on millions of TV viewers around the world and hosts the dazzling pay-per-view live event. "Wrestlemania" makes its home at the Meadowlands in April 2013.
But for now, these wrestlers are here. And for most, this is where they’ll stay.
Courtesy of Newark Star Ledger
Documentary: The Bottom Rope: Inside the world of independent wrestling
By Michael Monday
"The Bottom Rope: Inside the world of independent wrestling" - In high school gyms and VFW halls in New Jersey, there exists a place where pro-wrestlers are made - and where former stars go to hang on. Over the course of 60 nights a year, National Wrestling Superstars spotlights these die-hard showmen and their unwavering desire to practice their craft. The Bottom Rope goes beyond the ring to look at four wrestlers, their stories, and what keeps them coming back for more."
Courtesy of Star-Ledger
Star-Ledger documentary 'The Bottom Rope' looks at independent wrestlers far from WWE glory
Danny Inferno stands in the center of a wrestling ring, microphone in hand.
Sweat drips from Inferno’s tasseled black hair down a 6-foot-1, 250-pound frame stuffed inside black wrestling briefs. The word "heel" is sprawled across the back.
"I respect everything you’ve done, and I want to go into this match man vs. man," growls Inferno, 35, pointing his heavily taped fist at Marty Jannetty.
The scraggly blond 52-year-old from Lakehurst is a legend inside the ring. Jannetty was one-half of the Rockers and a WWF star in the early ’90s, selling out the main event at arenas around the world. But this is one of the few moments he doesn’t think about past fame and fortune. He glares back at Inferno.
"It’s gotta be, unless you’re a girl," Jannetty spits back.
This is all part of the performance.
"I’m going to send my very best friend to the back," says Inferno, pushing aside his young teammate for the night, Nicky Oceans. "I respect you enough to where I’m going to beat you in the middle of this ring by myself."
This is a scene from "The Bottom Rope," the newest Star-Ledger documentary, which takes you deep inside the world of independent wrestling, the "indies." The film delves into what it takes to become a World Wrestling Entertainment wrestler — and what happens when the glory fades away. Through candid conversations with former and emerging stars, we learn about fighting’s toll on the body, the heartbreak that comes from broken dreams, hitting rock bottom and finding a way to stay in the game.
On Friday and Saturday nights across the state, a few hundred fans shell out $20 for a seat inside VFW halls, church auditoriums and middle school gyms. What they’ll see is a collection of dreamers, has-beens and never-weres "fight" in staged events by the National Wrestling Superstars, the state’s best-known independent organization.
A dozen years ago, Danny Gimondo of Lyndhurst was starting out as Danny Inferno. He was just like Nicky Oceans then, a tanned upstart with a bright future.
He and his childhood friend Chris Ford, aka Crowbar, traveled up and down the East Coast performing to larger and larger crowds, working for the biggest promotions in wrestling. But on this night, Gimondo remains in the center of the ring, while Ford is several towns away at his Wood-Ridge home with his wife and two children. When Ford wrestles now, he does it for fun.
Inside the ring, Inferno looks back at Jannetty from his dark eyes, covered in black eyeliner.
"I’m going to show everyone that I’m better than a legend," Inferno boasts. "I’m better than a WWE superstar. I’m better than you, Marty Jannetty."
To fans of television pro wrestling, everything seems familiar: the scenes, the lines, even some of the superstars. But on this Saturday night last December, the three wrestlers are setting up the main event inside a Knights of Columbus hall in Dunellen. Empty seats dot the room as about 200 fans — many of them families — watch in amusement.
Behind the scenes, the strings are pulled by a promoter who calls himself Dapper Johnny Falco. He books the venues, hires the wrestlers and creates the scripts from his Hazlet basement office. Call the organization’s printed number and it goes to his home phone and his cell.
The wrestlers who form part of Dapper’s world will tell you it’s the crowd that keeps them coming back: the ability to draw cheers or boos with a microphone; to feel that "pop" when they hit a big move.
But the reality is that it’s wrestling’s bottom rope.
The "indies" are the beginning and the end of a career. And nearly everyone wishes they were somewhere else.
It’s the guys in their teens and 20s who think they’re on the way up, like Shaun Redding (known as Nicky Oceans). Guys like Gimondo and Ford, in their 30s and pushing 40, still hoping to be noticed. And aging former stars, like Jannetty: on the wrong side of 50 and held together with dreams of former glory.
"I would love to support a family and make a living doing wrestling," says Redding, 24, of East Brunswick, who first started wrestling when he was 14. "As of right now, I can’t. So I have to work a regular full-time job and do it."
Nearly every one of them fantasizes of performing in the WWE, which counts on millions of TV viewers around the world and hosts the dazzling pay-per-view live event. "Wrestlemania" makes its home at the Meadowlands in April 2013.
But for now, these wrestlers are here. And for most, this is where they’ll stay.
