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| SHOW REPORTS |
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| December 18, 2007
GAEC Chairman, J. J. Biello opened the meeting by asking for public comments limited to five minutes per speaker. Jerry Palmer from NWA Anarchy was the first to speak. Palmer said he didn’t envy the position of the GAEC or the wrestlers. He said there was lot of emotion and confusion surrounding the proposed regulations. Palmer said that by Kelly Farr’s own admission, the GAEC had not done their due diligence. He stressed that wrestling was very different from boxing and MMA. Palmer said regulations should come into effect, not because of what other states had done, but because it was the right thing to do. Palmer challenged the Commission members on their knowledge of terms like heel, babyface and shine. Board member Cary Ichter knew the meanings. Palmer said the proposed regulations not afford protection to the fans, they would have the opposite effect by forcing them to attend outlaw shows. Palmer said both side have unclear and inaccurate information. He urged the GAEC to be sensible and get the facts before regulating. Daniel Mayne, the CEO of Flatline Wrestling in Augusta said strict regulation would devalue wrestling. He said their tickets were priced to low and middle income families, who would be driven to attend backyard shows. He suggested an advisory board of promoters. Revered Rob Fields (Rob Adonis) of Ultimate Christian Wrestling requested an exemption from the regulations. He stated UCW did not charge admission for their crusades. Biello told Fields that exemptions would be addressed after passage and he needed to address the rules. Fields said pro wrestlers were entertainers trained how not injure opponents. He said if the GAEC was going to regulate wrestling, it would be discriminatory not to regulate theater in the same way. Fields contended that he had gotten more injuries playing drums or climbing stairs than he had in pro wrestling. The legendary Thunderbolt Patterson spoke on behalf of Tony Evans’ Kingdom Championship Wrestling. T-Bolt was all over the map. Patterson said he was working with KCW trying to bring people to the Lord. Patterson compared the cutthroat nature of the wrestling business to Hollywood. He said backyard wresting needed to be shutdown. He said nobody in the wrestling community had asked him nothing. Then he talked about coming to Georgia in 1972 and how he ended up not being able to get a job with anybody. Biello told Patterson he needed to be more about the rules. Patterson told the commissioners he wanted to sign up to be on their board. He said the wrestling side wanted to be in compliance. “Tell somebody. Call somebody,” he said and I had a flashback to Georgia Championship Wrestling. He finished by saying, “This ain’t right. God can do it.” The wrestlers popped for seeing a Patterson promo. Next up was Scott East, promoter of Southern Extreme Championship Wrestling in Villa Rica. East said he had no problem with regulations and licensing, but the wrestling industry needed equal representation on the board. East disputed the need for the EMTs and ambulance at all shows. Bill Behrens contrasted the proposed regulations with 2005 Georgia law governing boxing, MMA and pro wrestling, much as he did in his letter to the GAEC. Behrens said the law specified that wrestling was entertainment and distinguished it from MMA and boxing. He said wrestler are trained to protect not hurt, and due to the difference in the nature of the activity, the safety concerns were dramatically different. Behrens said he had consulted with EMS units and learned that average response time was more than adequate to deal with the safety concerns. Behrens said officials of the 911 system in Georgia had informed him that they could not spare EMT units to cover wrestling shows, nor could the private providers. The only incident at a wrestling show recalled by the EMS personnel was a diabetic fan with a blood sugar reaction. Behrens challenged the GAEC to document major injuries. He brought up Ray Gunkel dying of a heart attack as the only one that came to mind. Patterson said that was in 1972. Behrens said the rules imported from other states were a mismatch with Georgia law. Farr said his time was up, but Biello said he another minute. Behrens concluded by stating that he was involved the process that led to the 2005 law, and the interpretation in the proposed regulations was not the intent of those who created and passed it. Darrell Gower, who had a long career in Georgia as Steve Lawler, was next. He focused on the rule that would ban verbal aggression towards the fans. Gower talked about the value of making people forget about their worries for 15 minutes. He said wrestling was a camaraderie and a fraternity. As to the demise of opportunities to wrestle independently, Gower said, “Whose fault is it? I’ll get a mirror and we’ll all look in it.” Biello advised the remaining speakers that the Commission got that wrestling was entertainment, so they could skip that part in their remarks. John Johnson, television announcer for NWA Anarchy was next. He said that changing the in-ring rules was like adding a second director to a movie. He also said wrestling people were needed on the Board. Jason Findish, who wrestles as “Unknown Soldier” represented SSCW in Tifton. He was anti-backyard wrestling. He mentioned that a surety bond cost him $237 for a show he ran. Findish said the EMTs, MD and ambulance were going overboard. He stressed the positive relationship SSCW and GCW had with Fort Benning in providing care packages to troops in Iraq. Todd Wiley (Todd Sexton) said NWA Anarchy was not a large corporation and being required to have an MD and an ambulance would make it too costly to run shows. Frank Aldridge of WWA4 in Atlanta was next. Aldridge said most of his trainees came from other states and countries and that business would be lost if the regs went into effect. Aldridge said he used to own a bar, and he had more fights there in a week than he’s had in all of his years of promoting wrestling. Aldridge explained the difference in cushioning in a boxing ring versus a wrestling ring. Aldridge was the only speaker to refer to Chris Benoit and the “media hysteria” surrounding the Benoit tragedy. “You guys got hysterical…We don’t hurt. It’s all a big, big act.” Biello cautioned Aldridge to address the rules. Aldridge brought up the proposal to change the referee’s count from 5 to 10. He said the rules were established within the industry for safety and changing them would increase the likelihood of injuries. Aldridge said the rule stating that nobody under the age of 18 could be alone in the venue outside the seating area was “silliness.” Aldridge said the Board needed to get promoters involved to come up with rules that wouldn’t kill the business. Fallon Waddell of Flatline Wrestling said their shows gave parents a chance to have quality time with their kids, and they wouldn’t be able to afford the costs imposed by the new rules. Edward Chastain, better known as Iceberg, was next. He cut a hell of promo for a guy whose character never speaks. He asked why the Commission’s rules were written for competitive sport if they understood wrestling was entertainment? Iceberg compared what the rules would take away from wrestling to Chairman Biello, who uses a wheelchair, without a ramp. Iceberg said his goal in a match is to make sure he and his opponent come out unscathed. “Just like Clint Eastwood never killed anybody in a movie. I never stabbed anybody with a fork.” A commission member questioned a comparison Iceberg made to Tom Cruise. ”I’m pretty,” he said, which got a huge pop. Rocky King of BWA said they needed to have a black guy on the Board. He said the promoters could not run with the proposed rules. Curtis Hughes, head trainer for WWA4 was the final speaker. He said lots of guys want to be wrestlers because they can make big money and they don’t get hurt. Hughes said nobody at his school has been hurt at a wrestling show. “This wrestling sport is phony, phony as a three dollar bill.” He asked how wrestlers could take punches in the face and have no swelling. He said the use of blood capsules wouldn’t work. “What’s a little scratch. You bump your head every day. It’s all fun and make believe.” Hughes said the serious health problems suffered by wrestlers occurred on their personal time not in the ring. Biello said 26 states have rules and the intention of the GAEC was to protect the health and safety of the wrestlers and the fans. Ichter said his 10 years of involvement in pro wrestling did give him a knowledge base. (In addition to representing Michael Benoit, Ichter represented several wrestlers in a racial discrimination lawsuit against WCW.) Ichter said the GAEC was not there to ban wrestling and he considered what had just transpired to be part of the Commission’s due diligence. Ichter stressed that the Commission hadn’t passed anything, and they were there to be educated on how the regulations would impact the wrestling industry in Georgia. Commissioner Phil Hunnicutt made a motion to postpone vote on the new rules. Ichter seconded. Ichter advised that the Commission should focus on passing rules to license the wrestling organizations and that once they were identified, the Commission could dialogue with those organizations regarding regulation. Biello said they needed to establish a time frame. The motion was amended to delay 60 days, until the February meeting. Biello asked Farr if he had anything to say. Farr declined. The motion passed unanimously. Biello went on to suggest that in the meantime, he was available to meet with a group representing the wrestling side. The wrestlers adjourned for an informal meeting in the lobby with Behrens taking the lead. Behrens said the wrestling side should focus on three things: 1) regulations that actually provided protection to the wrestlers 2) educating the Commission and 3) ensuring that any regulations were in synch with the law. |