So, here we are, “The Book of Legend”.
Catchy, no?
Since this is my first posting here, I suppose I should formally introduce myself and give a little background in order to reinforce the idea that I actually know what I’m talking about and am not just some cement-head who bought a new computer and needs to see his name in some form of print to validate his existence.
I’ve been going under the name of “Joe E Legend” for most of my career. However I have been the guy who has been saddled with some of the worst gimmicks in wrestling history and I’ll go in to detail shortly as to why I believe that to be the case.
I have wrestled all over the world and still do today. So, after 16 years in this business in so many countries, I believe I’ve seen the business evolve in both good ways as bad from the unique perspective of a performer who does this full-time (no secondary income) WITHOUT a major contract… though I’ve had a few.
Most notably with WWE and with TNA.
Do you remember “Just Joe”?
How about “Red Shirt Security”?
GAWWWD I HOPE NOT!!!!
I’ve been signed based on my work rate to some decent deals, but when guys in the office can’t take credit for something, they’ll alter it to TAKE credit for any success, and YOU take the blame for any failures that a bad gimmick might incur.
And those gimmicks were ABJECT failures!
So, I’ve had to re-start my career a couple of times over because of other peoples incompetence.
It’s VERY frustrating when you put your efforts in to something and a bone-head with a bruised ego comes along and screws all of your hard work up, just to try and get a laugh out of the guy writing the paychecks.
Even when a laugh is NOT REQUIRED, but rather would ruin a solid angle!!
But perhaps that would be a good subject for a full column.
Maybe the next one!!
But, I digress…
I have had a hand in training some of the best talents in this business. Guys like:
-Edge
-Christian Cage
-Alex Shelley
-Chris Sabin
-Petey Williams
and several more who are on their way up. The thing to notice here is that EVERY ONE OF THEM is essentially working as a WRESTLER! There is no stupid gimmick to short change their work or take away from the fact that THEY are getting over because THEY are QUALITY!!
They might have story-lines surrounding their characters, but it’s their work that makes them the STARS they are!!
Now, everyone understands that internal politics plays a role in who gets the push. But I don’t think people see just how HUGE being a good politician is in this industry.
Edge- EXCELLENT politician
Joe- AWFUL politician
EDGE- millionaire champ for WWE
Joe- doing well, but NOT a millionaire!!
But once again, this is an excellent subject for a future column and far to broad a subject to deal with in this first column.
But an interesting subject none-the-less!
Essentially, I’m an honest person in a very egregious business and I guess that’s where I’ve made my mistakes. But the best lessons you learn are from your mistakes rather than your successes and I guess I’ll have a lot of wisdom (learned the hard way) to pass along in upcoming editions of this column.
If there is a specific subject anyone wishes to tackle, lemme know! I can talk about the main event of WrestleMania as easily as I can about the Benoit situation (and by the way, I’ll tackle THAT one shortly. Believe it or not, I can’t say it’s all McMahon and it’s DEFINITELY NOT STEROIDS!) or why I believe certain people deserve better pushes and why.
I’m not really concerned about whether or not I “bury” people, but I will be respectful of their personal lives. Example:
Jarrett- scumbag
Jarrett’s family- So sorry for the loss of his
wife. His children should NOT
have to deal with such an awful
heartbreak in their lives.
So, I guess that sums everything up right now. As I write this column I’ll try and give updates from the various countries I go to on a regular basis (ie. Russia, France, Italy, England, Kuwait, Canada, Caribbean, Austria, Germany, Ireland, Wales, South Africa, Scotland, Japan etc.) and give a little bit of the flavor of the audiences and styles of the wrestlers from around the world. Names you know, names you WILL know and names you SHOULD know!
So, check back in later in the week for an update.
All the best and God Bless.
Joe E Legend
www.legendwrestling.com
