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When guards change so does the culture; An open letter from Joey NOX
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Topic Started: Mar 1 2012, 07:21 PM (300 Views)
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Joey NOX
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Mar 1 2012, 07:21 PM
Post #1
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OVER 9000!!!
- Posts:
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- March 2, 2009
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PRW Offices recently received an email from Joey NOX containing a letter to the fans of PRW. He requested that it be posted on the PRW website and after little consideration, we obliged. We have asked Mr. NOX if he would like a weekly platform on the website but have received no further responses from him.
Good Morning PRW Fans!
Forgive me if it seems like my lettering skills are somewhat out of touch, it's been a while since I've had to write a letter to anyone. After all in today's technological age of instant communication, it's hard to imagine anyone caring about a letter. Be that as it may, I wanted to take a moment out of my day to address some of the concerns and grumbling I've heard in PRW-land recently. I would've done your standard camera filled promo but getting a PRW camera man these days seems to be impossible. I guess we have more "exotic locations" to visit so people can prattle on for hours about nothing. Whatever, such is life in PRW-land.
The reason I'm sitting here typing up this email is to discuss with our hard earned fans the current PRW landscape. Much has been said about an old guard or a new guard or whatever terminology you wish to use to describe the ever evolving scene. Fans are more in tune with what happens behind the scenes than at any time before. The more fans know, the more they want to know. Nobody cares if so and so has heat with so and so, they only care why. Why do they not get along? You want the gritty truth. The details. The big information. Why does Alex hate Sylvia? Why does NOX hate Logan? Why does Sean hate everyone? All of this leads to my discussion today on the "old guard" and why so many of us PRW Superstars find ourselves sitting at the proverbial crossroads. This is going to be long so bare with me...but it's my intention that when this is through, you'll be able to see the light with a clarity you didn't have previously. After all why go to the dirtsheets to get the dirt when I can tell you upfront?
See once upon a time in PRW-land, there were tyrants who ruled the scene with an iron fist. The "old guard" as some called them were a group of politically savvy animals who were out for themselves and not the good of the locker room. You can probably guess who was apart of what so there's no point in mentioning names. These guys were great athletes and superstars but left something to be desired in terms of professionalism. Again, I don't think we need to sit and prattle on about who was what or who did what. Just know that there was an old guard and they ruled PRW. I, unfortunately through choice or by birth, was not a member of this prestigious group. No matter, just put your head down and grind it. Eventually you'll get their respect, you say to yourself. At some point, those people will grow to see your talent, you say. You come up with reasons internally as to why you're not getting through, even though you know the reasons why yer stuck on the ground floor of the PRW pyramid. If you didn't know, the "old guard" was more than happy to tell you....if by telling you, it meant telling other old guard members behind your back and hoping word got to you.
For some guys, like Sean Aries, it was that they weren't serious enough. "How can a guy who smokes pot all the time and weighs like 200 lbs soaking wet be respectable in the eyes of the public?" On the other end of the spectrum there were guys like Alex who were too serious. "How could you trust such a loose cannon who cusses and rants?" For Serial, it was the mask and the ties to other organizations. For me? Well I just didn't stand out to them. To them, I was the Jannetty to Alex's Shawn Michaels and that was all I was ever going to be. If I had a nickle for every time an "old guard" lackey from the office came up to me and told me to be more like Alex, I'd have enough money to buy the company from IQ or enough to pay for some Henry Winkler appearances. Nevertheless, that was the PRW landscape for many years: a caste system headlined by an "old guard".
Hop into my delorian for a minute and fast forward to now. The "old guard" has for the most part vacated the premises. Art McClellan and Chaos The Clown were ushered into retirement for the most part. Godfather took a boating trip and never came back. Matthew Logan has been humbled to the point where we can actually talk in the locker room now. Does that make us friends? Not really but it's a start. The rest of the old guard members either make sporadic "PLEASE REMEMBER US!" appearances so they can collect a quickie paycheck or hide out in their own created utopia; the equivalent of the Boys Only clubhouse that the jocks hung out and looked at BeaverHunt in while the rest of the boys are actually asking girls out. Nonetheless they found a home of their own to rule and conquer. They've found their paradise and I hope it's everything they wished it to be, even if I have no interest in ever joining it.
As the old guard left, the guys who weren't serious enough, too serious or just downright bland and generic have flourished. The Marty Jannetty of the duo won the PRW Undisputed Strap before Shawn Michaels and had the longest title reign in quite some time. Alex LeBlanc, the man who was too serious, has held the top belt twice and is a major leader in the company. The man who was never serious enough to be champion WAS champion---twice. Aries' Accountablibuddy Tournament is a big deal here these days. We openly book talents from other organizations, no longer isolating ourselves from the wrestling landscape. PRW is different. Good or bad, it's different. It's a brand new scene.
Unfortunately, as one class descends, another has to rise. Whether we want to admit it or not, the Aries' and Alex's and NOX's of the world have been thrusted into the top seating. Even guys like Patrick Slaughter can fit into this group; the formerly oppressed guard of wrestlers who have now been forced into this new slotting as the PRW upper echelon. Wrestlers don't come to us to work matches with anymore. Now they come to us asking if we can watch THEIR matches and critique them. When there's a locker room conflict, guys don't go to management; they come to us to get a solution. All of this new responsibility wasn't something we asked for...it was just sort of given to us. That's not to say we're neglecting our duties of course, we just didn't ask for them. The PRW's go to authorities are the guys they never wanted to begin with.
This whole new line of responsibility has been thrown down at our feet. Rather than help us, IQ has stepped back and said "OKAY GUYS! HAVE FUN!" Once an old guard, always one I suppose. Whether we wish to admit or not, we've become the alpha dogs and dare I say it, we've become the old guard. Now we run PRW for a lack of a better term and as such, there's a pressure amongst ourselves not to become what we decried for years. We don't want to be political monsters nor do we want to live in the spotlight. There are those of us who operate under the belief that no matter where we're slotted, we can still be the main event. If competition only breeds success, why would we be intimidated? Unfortunately, years of backbiting have left some of us bitter and disillusioned as to the keys to running a successful empire. The same way you can't immediately solve years od spousal abuse, you can't immediately correct the mental and emotional abuse. You can't fix things overnight.
I've been in the back with the boys watching some of the undercard guys and it's always a dangerous line. We'll say 10 things we think this person could work on...followed up by 30 things they do moderately well. Just to cover our ass. When we get critical, perhaps to the point of overly critical, we cover it up with niceness. We want to be honest..but we don't want to be corrupted. We want to help...but there's still a small voice telling us that this person doesn't have it or perhaps has too much of it. We don't want to hurt our fellow talent but we don't want to hurt ourselves either. That's what power and abuse do to people, even the sanest. It morphs your thinking and poisons your mind. It's like getting addicted, you never really know how much it takes for you to get hooked. We're fighting it every day and it's like a war. Some days you win and some days you lose. Failure seems a day away while victory seems years off. Some of us help then feel betrayed when those we help take a different path to the top.
I've always enjoyed working with new talent and seeing them prosper. Recently I've found myself conflicted with that idea. I really love working with guys who deserve their break and seeing the crowd finally take to them the way I have. The problem is now I find myself poking holes rather than finding strengths. Take my opponent at Blackout for example. Ninja MAGIC is a tremendous athlete who I've battled on two separate occasions. Both times I leave the ring thinking "that guy ain't shit." Both times though, Ninja MAGIC has taken me to my limits. I leave the ring feeling as i'm world's better yet at the same time, I leave the ring absolutely exhausted and sore. I've done a lot of rewatching our matches and some days I say he got lucky. Other days I'll say I got lucky.
So who's right? Is he really that good and I'm underselling his abilities? Am I declining in the ring to the point where I'm skidding and fumbling through my matches against mediocre opposition? Or has the status of an "alpha dog" and "old guard member" blinded my vision?
I guess that's why have Blackout, isn't it?
Until next time---if there is one,
Joey NOX
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Hot Dawg!
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