| Summer Time!!! |
[Aug. 8th, 2005|04:41 pm] |
I’m feeling great today so I figured I come here and post something.
This summer has been great! So much has happened I thought I just jot down some things that come to mind.
1. I have been able to balance my personal life & wrestling life much better this year. I have made time to ride my motorcycle much more than last year and have seen some great places. The group I ride with is great, they are like a family. We have some more rides coming up and I plan on riding well into the winter until it snows or my body can’t take the cold no more!
2. I solidified my spot in IWA, I am a mainstay there (now we just have to make sure they are a mainstay!). IWA is great, I have never worked for a company that has that level of talent. I have learned a lot and hope to learn more. The more I learn the more I can pass on to my students.
3. I have had some real good matches, ones I’m proudest of are with Boz at the NWA show and McClure at Hammond. I also had a tag match last Saturday in Hammond I am real happy with.
4. I worked some dates with WWE and that is always fun. The first night was great because my “newer” friends were there and it was their first time backstage. The Second night was great because I was with my “older” friends, the crew I came up in the business with, so it was just like old times!
5. I got to see my niece and nephew this summer. I hadn’t seen them in over a year!!! They are great kids and I wish they lived closer so I could be more a part of their lives.
6. I made some life changes to get myself better organized in all aspects of my life. It was hard but I am on the right track and it shows. There is a lot less stress in life when you know you are on top of everything.
There is still some stuff Jax wants to do this year so I know the good times will keep coming. Plus, I have Priestapalooza coming up, no official date but it will be soon!
There have been some tough stuff this summer too, life can be tough, you lose people, and relationships don’t always jive but over all it’s been a great. I’ve found that you can’t focus on the bad parts of life, it you do you will never be happy. You can’t change people, you can’t make everyone see things the way you do. But if you focus on the good and treat people right good things do come. Smile are contagious, sounds cheesey but it’s true.
So, everyone go out and have some fun! Be with people tat make you happy and try to return the favor!
Peace |
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| Random |
[Jun. 15th, 2005|10:27 am] |
Holy crap it’s been a while!
So much has happened. I’ll start off with my AAW debut. Wrestled twice, had some fun and it looks like I’ll go back. They are really trying to put on good shows and bring in more experienced talent. The production was good but they had a few bugs in the system.
While at the show I get a call from Marco Cordova saying he has been invited to RAW to work as a security guard for tv. Then I hear a bunch of the boys are going, including Chandler McClure. I can’t tell you how pumped I was! I remember my first time being backstage and being on tv and it was surreal. Having two of my closest friends have this opportunity was awesome, it felt like my first time again!
We all decided to make a weekend of it. Me, Brad, McClure & Cordova all went to Randy’s show on Sunday, then drove up to Green Bay that night for Raw on Monday. Tuesday Brad and I hooked up with Cabana and Punk and headed to Milwaukee for Smackdown.
I got to have a try-out match with Silas Young in front of Arn Anderson. This was our second one, the first was awful. The first time was a few months back, we were just hanging around the ring and Fit Finley says, “Hey, you two, get in the ring and give us 5 minutes”. We were both totally unprepared and it showed in the ring.
This time we were prepared and it went pretty well. It’s hard working in front of a couple people whose purpose is to judge you. There is no crowd to play off of and gauge your performance. But Arn said he liked it, so I’m happy.
The next night it was me and Cabana who got to play security guards on Smackdown. We got a little bored backstage so me, him and Punk thought it would be fun to start taking pictures. Punk has some more but I don’t know If I will be getting them from him.
I really enjoy being backstage, mostly for the food. They always have great food and oatmeal after 4! Milwaukee had the best oatmeal bar I have ever seen! Bananas, raisons nuts, the whole shebang!
Unfortunately when I got there, the bananas were gone! And I love me some bananas so I asked a lady that works there if they had more. Luckily she had no idea that I am a nobody and came back with my own bowl of bananas! It was awesome. I ate about 2lbs of oatmeal, three bananas, half a cup of brown sugar and a pint of milk in about 3 minutes. For some reason I started to feel a little sick.
All in all it was a great time. I was happy to spend some time with Punk, Brad & Cabana, guys I don’t see all that much of anymore. And it was really cool have four Steel Domain guys backstage at the WWE.
It was also great for my other friends who got to be back stage for the first time. I hope the keep on the WWE and get more opportunities.
Peace! |
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| Chris Candido |
[Apr. 29th, 2005|01:25 pm] |
I'm sure all of you know by now that Chris Candido passed away on Thursday the 28th. Chris was loved by a lot of people and I know there will be much said about him in the coming weeks. I won't pretend I was best friends with him, but over the last 6 months I got to know him pretty well and I considered him a friend and mentor.
Chris was one of the hardest working guys in the business. He gave his all to the fans and to his opponent every time he was in the ring. I remember reading a story about Chris that Lance Storm wrote. He talked about a show they did in front of 12 people. Most guys would take it easy and not risk injury for a crowd of 12. Not Chris, he was bumping his ass off, taking ridiculous bumps for the fans that paid to see him work. At one point, Lance said Candido asked to be suplexed out of the ring. Lance said "no", but chris was adamant. He actually started to suplex himself out while Lance was trying to keep him in the ring. Chris did'nt care if there were 2 people or 2 million people, he gave his all every time.
I saw this first hand when I worked him at the Jeremy Bosi memorial show. I was in the turnbuckle and Chris told me to backdrop him out of the ring, so i did. I expected him to land on the apron, like most people. Nope, no Chris. He took the backdrop out of the ring to the floor, landed on his head with no mats.
Chris truly cared about the younger guys coming up. A lot of old school psychology has been lost in the last 10 years and Chris took time to watch the younger guys in the ring and teach them how to be better wrestlers. Everything I ever heard him say was pure gems, and all of us are truly at a loss because we would have learned so much more from him. He did'nt have to do that either. Many vets who have been around are happy to just sit in the back and be by themselves and there is no problem with that. But Chris truly wanted to help the business and others.
I can't tell you how much respect I have for Chris with were he has been and what he has overcome. Chris worked so hard to get his life back in order and he did. I can't imagine have to go through all that. And in the end he got himself back to a level were he was on tv again, he was backstage helping, he was climbing back to the top. Johnny Candido put it best when he said Chris went out the way he would have wanted, bleach blonde, tan and on top of the world.
My last email to Chris was right after he broke his leg. I told him that all the Chicago boys were thinking and praying for him and that we all looked up and respected him. I told him Chicago was boring without him and to come back soon. I did not receive a response from that email but I hope he got it and knew what he meant to us.
We will all miss you brother. |
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| My Weekend |
[Apr. 4th, 2005|11:38 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  amused | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Eminem | ] |
Last weekend I had a double shot for IWA in Herrin, IL and Salem, IN. Herrin is about 5.5 hours from home, Salem is 4 hours from Herrin. Then its 5.5 hours back home from Salem. All in all, it’s a good amount of travel time for 2 days (not quite as bad as Brandon, Silas and Josh Abercrombie had).
The plan was to drive down with the Iron Saints & Brandon in Sal’s Aztec. Sounds pretty good, lots of room, plus the Saints have a portable DVD player so there would be much movie watching going on!
When I get to the Saints crib our conversation goes something like this:
Priest: So, how are we on trunk space? (I have a lot of luggage)
Brandon: Oh, there is plenty…in the back of Vito’s pick-up.
Inside Priests head: Vito’s pick-up? What the f@ck do mean Vito’s pick-up?
Priest: I thought we would be taking Sal’s car.
Brandon: Sal need to take it to the shop for some work so we have to take Vito’s truck.
Inside Priest’s head: Are you out of your friggin mind? We have like 15 hours of travel time. A frigging Pick-up truck? And I’m a guest so I can’t say $hit. Are you friggin kidding me?
Priest: Oh, ok.
Vito: Ok, you guys ready?
Priest: Yeah, hey do you guys have any duct tape or a bungee cord? I’m afraid the lid will fall off my merchandise box in the back of the truck?
Vito: We will work something out.
We all go outside to load up the truck.
Inside Priests head: Look at the size of that truck, it’s not even a full size! This is gonna be friggin awful! Dude, this is not happening.
Sal: Shotgun!
Inside Priests head: Shotgun? SHOTGUN? Did that Mother F@cker just call F@cking SHOTGUN???? The back seat is like 10 inches, I’m 6’2”!!!!! Oh, kill me now, sweet lord take your servant home!
In the back of the truck, I look at Brandon and give him the “this sucks” look.
Brandon: Tell me about it, this is bullshit! Just kidding, we’re taking Sal’s car!!!
So everyone has a good laugh at the ol’ Underwear models expense!
Dickheads. |
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| Up-dezate! |
[Feb. 17th, 2005|11:00 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | enthralled | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Anything Flogging Molly | ] |
Well now then!
What’s new? It’s that time of the year all motorcycle enthusiasts love, time to make modifications to you bike and curse yourself for being a bad mechanic!
Yes, it was my birthday a few days ago and I got some sweet presents, including new stainless steel lines for my bike. I also got money to send stuff out to be chromed. Last night I took everything apart on my bike, now in five weeks, I just have to remember how everything goes back together! I am so screwed.
This weekend Jax and I will be filming some of my work, we call it “Not and American Chopper”. I am hoping to get it aired on The Discovery Channel, if not, I will throw on the site for everyone to see.
I also put up a link to my Garage at Hellriser Customs. If anyone out the is into bikes and want to make some mods, check out www.hellrisercustoms.com they are awesome to work with and give you a real good deal.
Wrestling wise, I am having a blast. I had a fun match with Samoa Joe and some fun tag matches with and bunch of guys. I am very happy to be working with IWA. I should have tried to work for them a long time ago. I’m also having a blast with the boys on the road. We run into the weirdest people.
Coming up, I am looking forward to my next RCW match against Brandon Thomaselli. He is a very good up and coming worker so it should be fun. Also I hear I may be wrestling Jimmy Jacobs for No Limits in March, That should be an interesting match.
Sorry for all the motorcycle stuff, it’s just really on my mind and will be for the next 4 months!! Deal with it.
Priest-out |
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| TTW Part 2 |
[Jan. 14th, 2005|11:14 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  giddy | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Kid Rock "Rock N Roll Pain Train" | ] |
As the show got closer and closer I was really getting nervous, Everyone had this funny gimmick and I didn’t think Dick Simons was gonna work for me. Then one night I noticed I missed a phone call, no message was left though. So I called the number back and got some guys voicemail, the message was quite confusing. Something like “Hey, this is Goldberg leave Joey a message or else”. So I’m all “Huh?”. Turns out Joey Eastman, being the mark he is, stalked Goldberg and got him to leave that message, pretty funny actually.
So I finally get a hold of Eastman and he says we have a problem. The WWE is introducing a character named Simon Dean, who happens to be a personal fitness expert. Joey is convinced the WWE has ripped this gimmick off from us because Adrian Serrano had been talking the Dr. Tom (the WWE scout at the time) about he show. This kinda freaked me out. Now, I’m the first guy willing to make an ass of himself for a laugh, but I kinda thought this show would be under the radar and no one of importance would know about it. I mean come on, it’s a ridiculous show! Now I hear Dr. Tom not only knows about it but knows what silly gimmick I’m doing! Then it gets listed on 1wrestling.com! CRAP!!!!! Oh well, what can ya do.
So I tell Joey that I had heard of this WWE gimmick a long time ago and it was just a coincidence that they were doing it the same time we were. The name is a rib on Dean Malenko whose real name is Dean Simons. But now neither one of us want to do the gimmick. So I pitch a couple things like being CM Prep, the complete opposite of CM Punk, could be funny if the audience gets it. Then I say, how about Chester the Molester? I could tell Joey is a little uneasy about it but he gives me the green light.
Now, to create the character! Now to me, nothing says child molester better than a bushy mustache and aviator sunglasses, so those were a must. Now onto wardrobe, maybe some short shorts? Sure, but ya gotta have them short enough so the pockets hang lower than the shorts. Something is missing though. I know, I’ll cut a hole in one of the pockets so I can get my hand out and do my thing! NICE! But I can only do it to one pocket cause I need the other one to hold candy to give to the kids. I also wore a cheesy Playboy shirt I had bought on clearance years ago but never wore. Yeah, I was digging it!
The day of the show rolled around and I was amazed at what I saw. Everyone went all out, the costumes the comedy, it was fantastic. It was so bad it was good. Carmine from MAW summed it up best when he said, “We have officially ruined wrestling”. I was laughing so hard my fake moustache kept falling off!
I ended up working Chris Hero and Colt Cabana ( as Twinkie the Kid ). We really didn’t set anything up before hand, figured between the three of us and the midget ring announcer our options were endless! I was disappointed by one thing though, there was a chubby kid in the front row I kept hitting on and chasing around the ring. We tried to get him to then chase Twinkie the Kid but had no luck! I think if he had I would have lost it, I don’t think I could take any more.
I really can’t get in to too much detail on the show, it was kinda like a sensory overload, it was all great and there is way too much to type here. Bottom line is we had a ton of fun and I didn’t hear of one person who wasn’t thoroughly entertained by the show.
Now if you want to see all the action you will soon be able to purchase the DVD of the show that was “The Greatest Show Ever” and this summer you can see the second TTW show which will be called “Sorry About The Last One, This Time We Really Mean It!”. When Joey has the DVD ready for purchase I will post a link to his site. Until then, here is a link to the picture page for TTW: http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=4070658&a=31382681&f=
That’s it for me,
Priest-out |
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| Totally Tool Wrestling |
[Nov. 22nd, 2004|10:19 am] |
Way back in the day, at the first MSPW shows in Round Lake, there was a group of boisterous idiots that would come to the shows. Quite honestly, if it weren't for them, the shows would have been silent, not too many wrestling fans in that neck of the woods. Well after being harassed by them for a show or two, DDS labeled them the East Side Tools (they always sat on the east side of the ring). Later it was shortened to simply "The Tools".
The Tools became mainstays at shows all throughout the Midwest always making their presence felt. The 1 Man Orgy (Joey Eastman) even became a ring announcer and works just about every weekend. Some people hated the tools for their silliness, feeling they took attention away from the shows. Some people find them liberating, giving them the courage to interact with the wrestlers. Like them or hate them, the Tools were a force.
One night at a MAW show Eastman approached me and asked if I would work a show for them. I thought it was a joke. He explained the idea he and Joe Herro had was to get known Midwest wrestlers to play ridiculous characters in a comedy wrestling show. I thought, great just what we need more bad wrestling. But I listened anyway.
They spoke of making Marco Stylz, who is a tough, Taz like individual, wrestle as an Egyptian magician. Metal Head Steve Stone as Norman the Mormon. Brandon Blaze as Whylde Sohn and Eric Priest as Dick Simons, Personal Trainer.
The more we spoke the harder I laughed and the more willing I was to be apart of this disaster. In the back of my mind though, I was not comfortable with the Dick Simons character, I wasn't sure I knew how to make him funny.
In my next post I will talk about the show and my transformation into Chester the Molester.
Priest-out |
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| Bunch of Crap |
[Oct. 28th, 2004|11:13 am] |
WOW a ton has happened since I last updated the site.
I opened a second location for the camp I run. I am very hopeful that it will work out well for all parties involved.
I filmed a movie recently written and directed by Kevin Quinn. I had a blast filming this, even though it was time consuming and I was sick for a lot of it. I really wish I had had some more time to dedicate to the movie, it was a lot of fun. I will let everyone know when it debuts and how they can get a copy of it. It is a low budget comedy starring Christopher Daniels, myself and a bunch of local actors and friends. I really think everyone will enjoy it.
Side note, why is it that when I am unprepared, I am always asked to perform. Then when I am prepared all people want me to do is sit on my ass? I guess I should take a lesson form Bruce Willis in "The Last Boy Scout" when he said "always be prepared, that's my motto". Oh well, maybe next time.
I started the summer off riding my bike a lot, lately I just haven't had the time. it's a shame because in a few weeks it will probably be to cold to ride & I will have to wait until spring. It is the best feeling though when you finally get the bike out after a couple months of storing it.
Wrestling wise, I am rehabbing my knee and should start working again in mid November. Looking forward to the next few months, I have a lot of fun show coming up, I guess that means I should update my schedule.
Until next time,
Priest-out |
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| Test |
[Oct. 28th, 2004|10:00 am] |
Gonna see if my lazy ass can update the commentary section via live journal. Let's keep our fingers crossed!
Priest |
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