How important is the role of a 'plant'? A guy who..the company knows(or employs) who sits in the crowd and rags on the heels and gets the chants going for the fan favorites? For a place like WWE some people may not consider them important, but in a smaller indy company? They're a great help.
That role for me just kind of fell into place when I got my start in Sivano Sousa's Atlantic Wrestling Federation. before I actually got my start I was just the guy who after my friend Dave got me a ticket to this group, was the guy who biught his ringside seat, and because I was a sheet writer I had this little black mini tape recorder that I put results and notes of each match/angle/etc for a reference points when i wrote a column about it. I wasn't one of them guys who sat in an easy chair, eating pizza saying "yeah, I can do that, I can wrestle". No, I couldn't and can't do half the shit I've seen guys do in a ring so writing was the talent. My knack for having a big mouth, helped since the 11 year old fan that was still inside me was always coming out.
It happened at a show in Manchester, NH. Outlaw Jim Cote had said something about hating being in NH every month, how the people of NH stink, etc etc. and there was this little lull in the noise, it lasted more than a few seconds and I just went ahead and yelled "hey if you don't like it, leave it".
The fans popped big on that and Cote and his manager Chris Grande came over and gave me a ton of shit. Dave was jubilous because we had alot of attention thrown at us, and at the time we weren't associated with the company, we were just as much a paying fan as everyone else sitting there.
Acouple months later Dave and I became part of 'the show', the article I wrote about this company that got printed in Wrestling World was passed around the locker room. Antoine Roye was one of the guys came out and thanked me for what I wrote, he said it, "You coming in is a breath of fresh air because nobody ever yelled stuff at us, we just had the usual cheers and boos and had to really work for some heat. You come in out of nowhere it seemed and yelling all sorts of stuff, the fans level went up thanks to you".
Sousa didn't know who was the one yelling, that night he was right where the wrestlers come thru the curtain and he's hearing me yell all sorts of stuff. Chris Grande had a field day right before the main event which was a cage match between steve bradley and 'the graduate' tim mcneany, who wore a graduation outfit like Lanny Poffo did in the WWF as the 'genuis'. so I think I yelled sometrhing like 'you're no Lanny Poffo" and Grande went on this tangent about me needing rogaine and minoxidil. Which he got in good shots which really, is the point, for him to get over on me and establish who the 'heel' guy is.
After the show as I'm helping Dave put his camcorder and stuff away Sousa comes up, "Was that you doing all that yelling tonight"? My voice, at the end of each night (which became like a running joke with alot of the guys, 'Bill lose his voice yet'? Bill still able to yell at us"?) was like Froggy from the Little Rascals, all scratchy and barely there I said "Hell yeah, that was me, sorry, I just do what comes natural cause I'm a fan first". Sousa I thought maybe was gonna have something to say about it, said "well the guys like it so keep it up".
I rarely at that time went into the locker room at shows except to pass a message to someone, hand a tape to say Chris Grande, I wasn't sure it was 'ok' or I wasn't sure if I 'belonged' back there, know what I mean? So nothing was ever set up for what I'd yell, I stuck with whatever the first thing that came to my head was, I yelled it. That became really better than trying to set something up. I used that thru the WWA and EWA, the one night I went to NCW in Natick, and went to a Northeast Wrestling show in Danbury,CT.
Alot of times just getting your basic chants of 'so and so sucks' was all that was needed but there are times when that works, and times when it falls flat. The AWF for alot of reasons was a great training ground for me, and for doing the 'plant' thing, it was a great place to learn 'timing' of when to throw something out there and have fans join in or go with it. 'working' the fans into getting them to chant what you want some nights, was hard while most nights was real easy.
Sousa ran a show in Nashua, NH(which in another article here I mentioned was, truly rival territory) When I blew McNeany's promo about going home with someone's ol lady(telling him he can have my wife, she's such an f'n bitch you'll save me money on aspirin if you take her, etc) and as a gift for my birthday, Grande bringing out Bundy and bringing him right directly to me, that remains a highlight especially after I told Bundy off and he goes into the ring, gets a mic and totally crushes me verbally. Something clicked that I'm doing something right, My mother said my big mouth wouldn't get me anywhere. well, she's kinda changed her mind alittle on that.
Acouple weeks later when I saw Bundy at the Night of Legends show in Haverhill, Mass. the first thing he said was "Bill you took that like a pro in Nashua" and I explained the point was for him to get over, not me. So when the show started and he did an in ring promo with Chris Grande before his match against Mike Hollow they were making fun of the fact that haverhill was considered the seventh safest place to live in the country, so I threw the same 'if you don't like it, leave it' cxrack i always used on Cote in Manchester. The fans took to it and when Bundy yelled at me to 'shut up' I started a 'bundy sucks' chant that went over well, everyone caught it and went with it. Mr. Fuji who also was on the show no sold everything people yelled at him, I think he was just there to stand there, get paid, and not much else.
In Manchester when Roye would wrestle he'd delibertly either look for where I was at when coming to the ring or circle all around the ring looking for me so i could yell something at him, that way he could do the 'threaten to come thru the ropes, out of the ring' deal. he never did that with anyone else and my friend Dave was the one who noticed it. We were dubbing shows over for Sousa and Dave said "He never threatens to leave the ring to go after anyone but you, every show in Manchester he works it's always you he does that for". he didn't know why. The only answer I could think of at the time was this, which we found out later when I told dave to just ask him, I actually set Dave up so he could ask him(one of the many times I set Dave up thru our time working indys because he learned alot and was brought up a level to get smartened up, which is what I wanted, I wanted him to be considered on the same level of conversation I was when speaking to both name guys and indy guys, I wanted Dave to feel 'part of'.). Was very close to what I said, which was "He and guys like Mcneany and Grande know I know 'the code'. I'm not gonna try getting into the ring, I'm not gonna try swinging on them or spitting at them or any of that. They know that so the trust factor is there for them to have some fun". Sometimes though, I had to do alittle more than be the plant bercause fans who are marks can and do at times get out of hand.
An example of this was a night in Manchester. I had positioned myself on the stage that St Cecelia's Hall had. Dave was filming the show and I put myself on the stage for a few matches as my voice seemed to carry well from there. Now take note there's no guard rails here, no security rope and the only thing resembling 'security' was the one manchester cop who just stood at the front door all night and never moved an inch.(as compared to the show I locally promoted for WWA in Rochester that had two cops that always were circling around the middle school gym). Chris Grande goes to get a steel chair as part of a match, he was getting it to give it to McNeany so he could use it against steve bradley(This was a top feud in the AWF). A fan gets up and yanks the chair from Chris's hand, Chris simply goes and gets another chair, the fan, is threatening to hit Chris with the chair he got from him. I'm watching this going "oh shit' and the great cop had no clue that this wasn't part of the show. What do you do...you can't let a fan get the drop on him, no time to run to the back and down the stairs to get someone, seconds count in a situation like this.
Without thinking I jumped off the stage and came up behind the fan and yanked the chair from him. That could've gone bad in many ways and I didn't have anything 'ready made' to say, this was winging it as best I could with whatever I had for the safety of Chris, that was all I was worried about because what if other fans decided to join in I had the worst thought going so I wasn't caring if I got chewed out by Sousa or anyone else, safety for a member of the show was the priority. The fan turned and I just blurted things out like 'if anyone should have a right to whack Chris with a chair it's me for all the shit he's said to me, but I'm not gonna do it now, my time will come'. something like that I don't remember the exact wording but along those lines, and I threw the chair to the floor, Chris made it back to ringside. The fan sat down saying something like I was right I should have a shot at him first. to say my heart was going at a hundred miles an hour during that is an understatement. I had heard about fans getting into it, seen fans fight with each other at shows but I up until that time never saw something like I just mentioned. Scared? Fuck yeah! Dave left the camera and came to join me just in case,After I tossed the chair to the floor my heart was absolutely racing and all I remembered on my way back to the stage was Karen, who's Matt Bloom's girlfriend, saying "Nice move, you did the right thing". karen always stood in one spot by the stage to watch the shows.
After the match I went thru the curtain cause there's a back door there, I went outside and started literally chain smoking to calm myself down. I could hear acouple of the guys inside and downstairs saying "Bill had it covered" "Bill just jumped off the stage and confronted the guy". It wasn't me trying to be a hero of the day it was the simple fact that if these guys weren't here having shows I wouldn't be having the chance to live my dream so it's how can I put it, 'be true to the crew' sort of thing..Sousa came out I could tell he was gonna blast into me for what I did, it turned out to be one of the rare times I actually yelled at him. I said "Man don't even fucking start.. I did what I felt was right at that moment". Sousa was worrying about a possible lawsuit had it gone bad, and he said "What if it would've went the other way"? And then that's when I laid into him. I said "Your cop that you're paying for didn't get involved like he's paid to do, what was I supposed to do, just let a fan hit a worker? Fuck that, that's not supposed to happen, you have no security, an unreliable cop, and the fan snuck up behind Chris, something had to be done and fast, if you think i was wrong for trying to protect a member of the company, then to you I'm wrong, but I'd fucking do it again in a heartbeat, and I'll do it again if something like that happens again. You would think, that a promoter would be happy to have an added insurance policy like that...After the show Sousa and I talked and he agreed that under the circumstances, something was better than nothing and had I not did that, it would've been bad....
Dave and I were getting the gear in his jeep when Chris, Bryan Walsh(another very good wrestler that should've gotten more due), Bulldozer and someone else, don't remember come across the street to where their cars were parked. Chris says "The guy who jaws at me the most is the first guy there to protect me". and I joked saying "yeah, how fucked up is that", which brought a bunch of laughter. I think that act really solified me with alot of the guys because they now knew they were 'in good hands with allstate' knowing I'd break from my usual thing if shit went down.
The next month back in Manchester was Dave's turn. Dave was an EMT and always had this big clunky ass bag full of medical equipment in his jeep, I know I must've cracked about that at least a dozen times, but when a fan had a seizure during the show, it was the perfect thing. The fan collapsed and I ran from the other side of the hall and dave ran out, across the street to the parking lot and got his bag. I'm trying to keep people back and the cop, same cop as last month, wasn't doing much, he did start getting mad cause dave came in with his bag and started opening up. I looked at the cop and said "He's more fucking qualified than I am since he's an EMT, so an ambulance might be a good thing about now".
The ambulance came and they went thru the guy's pockets and found medication, so the guy was having a seizure. Dave knew exactly what to do and this was his enviroment, he was calm and cool thruout and just kicked into his EMT mode. The paramedics Thanked Dave for what he did, the cop had a snarl on his face and Sousa was very thankful Dave was on hand. We were all thankful wasn't worse like a heart attack or something. See how two guys that started out as fans, became part of a company, and while filming and doing the plant deal, actually became helpful when things happened?
When I moved on to the WWA... in Milford,Mass the night before the shows I had put together in Rochester, I was doing my plant thing and was having a cig near the locker rooms between matches. Sgt. Slaughter, George Steele and Walter Kowalski were on this show too. Jim Cote opens the door and says "Bill, you can come in here you know". Like I said at that time I wasn't sure it was 'ok' to do and didn't want to infringe where i didn't 'belong', so i slowly went in and Cote said "Bill's afraid to come in, all the local guys asked why. And George Steele was eying me as I explained about even though I work for the company I wasn't sure I 'belonged' or whether it would be a 'good thing' if I came back here cause I'm not a worker..don't go in unless asked which is like don't speak unless you're spoken to... George said "That's a nice philosiphy, who taught you that". I told him it was just how I felt. Walter then taps me on the shoulder and says "You the one who got the shows together for tomarrow in New Hampshire"? I of course answered yes, trying to be calm and cool because the fan inside me is yelling "OH MY GOD YOU'RE STANDING NEXT TO KILLER KOWALSKI AND GEORGE'THE FUCKING ANIMAL'STEELE'! Walter then said "We heard how hard you fought to get them shows together, you had an uphill battle and you got it, so you're as welcome in here as anyone else in this room". After that, I had no real 'fear' about going into locker rooms.
Just about every WWA show featured Brandi Alexander vs Brittany Brown, I remembered mentioning to both that this 'feud' has gone on about as long as Bambi vs Peggy Lee Leather..Brandi liked the reference and Brittany who always gave me shit(in a joking way) said "How the hell you know about that"? I reminded her about my tape collection and how long I've been into wrestling. "That's right, you're the tape guy, the sheet writier guy, the local promoter in NH guy, and especially the loud mouth guy at ringside". They loved it cause I'd get the "Brandi brandi brandi" chants going and the "Brittany sucks" chants going at just the right moments in their matches. Brandi actually circled the ring one night saw me and said "get it going, what's taking you so long". LOL!
The Armory in Wittman, Mass was great for doing that, they had this indoor fire escape so Dave propped his tripod on a landing and after trying it in acouple other places I went up next to him and my voice just soared...WWA usually did Lynn and then Wittman back to back so one night in Wittman after they did Lynn the night before while I'm watching Dory Funk jr. and Tom Pritchard conduct a WWE Training Dojo session in the ring, Bruce Pritchard comes up and sits next to me. Again..just trying to be calm and cool because the little fan inside me is going "that's a former NWA World champion, one half the legendary Funk Brothers along with Tom Pritchard, former Smokey Mountain tag team champion, champion in Continental, etc etc and now i have brother love next to me". So I nodded to Bruce and said "How ya doin".
Bruce looked at me and said "For a guy who's all calm and cool right now you sure yell alot when the show starts". I chuckled and said "yeah, I do, you want me to stop"? he quickly said 'NO...You're a great help in what we're trying to do, and we got a kick out of what you did to Andrew last night". The night before they were starting the late Andrew Martin on the 'test' gimmick. Now I had seen him come up in an SUV and in the passenger's seat so when he came out with a mic and kept saying 'test, test, test, you losers will call me test and respect me". I went on this rant..."Test? What kind of test, math test? Spelling test? Urine test? I know you didn't pass the driving test because you didn't drive here today". Stuff like that just came to me, never planned it out and had no clue what they were going to do, always better to find out like the fans did and roll with it that way, for me, it made it more fun to come up with stuff to yell..I introduced Dave to Bruce and Bruce told Dave, "I was mentioning to yiour buddy here about how we like what he yells during the shows". Dave laughed and said "Listening to Bill my side hurts all the time from laughing, I can't come up with things like he does and his timing to me is great, he gets me to help him and when we get chants going he knows just when to do it and a whole section joins us". It's all about listening for luls of silence with the crowd and just coming up with something to get fans reaction and hopefully, back into the match. Not that I'm an expert mind you I just became good at noticing the lulls of silence and knew something should be said or else the lull will get longer and that's no good on any wrestling show. Bruce then mentioned that a certain someone didn't like the fact I yell alot during the shows. "Let me guess, fred's brother mike"? Bruce nodded and I said "I don't answer to him, I answer to Fred and if fred says something then it'll matter, actually I may in a way answer to you because the dojo is a main part of these shows". Bruce shook his head and said, "I'm not gonna say stop, do your thing, I can't stop you from yelling and getting fans into it I can't stop you from what you write in your newsletters, you're helping put guys over why would we want you to stop"? Even Andrew Martin after the dojo session was over thanked me for yelling shit at him. "I was trying so hard not to laugh I just let you finish yelling at me before I told you to shut up, that was a nice add on with the driving thing, only you would know that since you were the parking attendent yesterday, nice sutle shoot on me you almost cracked me with that". To some they may consider someone like me yelling not making much of a difference but when you're trying to get a guy over, good or bad, and have guys in the business compliment you for your attempts, to me that meant something.
Sgt. Slaughter came with a training dojo they did Salem, Mass, Newburyport and another town, Salem Sarge was cheered when they announced his name, Newburyport? Booed him, sssooo...fan fave one night, heel this night...Chris Grande finds me before the show and says "Sarge wants to see you". I'm like wwhhaattt!"..what the fuck did i do to piss him off, why's he wanting to see me? On the way to the locker room I'm trying to think of everything I ever asked him before and now that may have gotten him angry..came up with zero zilch and nada thing. Som I get back there and Sarge says "You're the one who likes shouting at the bad guys"? I answered yeah, "Good, make sure you shout something at me tonight". I knew I would but having Sarge say that was pretty cool. Later that night I got a chant of Slaughter sucks going that went all the way around the armory, LOUD! and he comes over and said "shut up you toothless maggot".
After the show? I'm gathering some stuff i left in the locker room and Fred Sparta the owner asked me what Sarge yelled at me, and Sarge, and others were standing there, and thankfully they noticed my sarcasm when i said, "He called me a toothless maggot, that's great, just great, I've had Bundy call me a balding hillbilly, sarge here calls me a toothless maggot, all we need now is for someone like terry funk or abdullah the butcher try attacking me, and we can roick in the new year(that brought alot of laughter),Gee I don't know Fred, i get paid to be insulted, I'm not so sure this is becoming such the dream job I had hoped for".
Everyone cracked up laughing and Fred said, "he's always like this, making jokes and you can't tell he just went thru a bad divorce". I said "I joke on that too...One headache's gone and I replaced it with a worse one, like going from using bayer aspirin to advil". that brought out more laughs and I added "I sure know how to pick em, but that's what I get when i go shopping for dates at Crazy Chicks R Us..If the bedroom walls are padded with rubber, it's a sign, if her favorite jacket is a straightjacket, take the hint, if her head turns like linda blair in the excorcist cause she's not taking her bipolar meds? Time to go". While that was good for a ton of laughs, the reality of that was, I never took the hint that it was time to go, not for several years..what is it about some of us irish/polacks and our lust for loopy latino women, I'll never know.
When I got to the EWA? part of it was the same, where I did the same thing I had done in AWF and WWA but...one pair of guys changed the landscape alittle bit for me..Thank God for The Damned...Mad Dog and Draven(and yes I know their real names) when they debuted and became part of the Hardcore Institute, they changed or raised the bar because they didn't just stay in the ring to yell at me, they came out of the ring, and right in my face...no guard rails like WWA, just a little security rope but, EWA had security guys that actually got up off the chairs and got between wrestlers and fans...The first time I yelled at them and they first threatened to come out of the ring I thought, "Ok, same thing as in WWA and Sousa's group", wrong...They came right out and at first I was like "holy shit, this never happened before". Josh Shea then followed up as he was a heel manager with the Partners in Crime stable. Josh used to hear me yell something, then run all the way around the ring to get in my face and yell back at me. Now the bar was raised and really, to me that was the challenge. What could I say to get enough reaction to where they'd want to come over and get in my face. For me when guys like the Damned and Josh did that, it really rejuvinated my wanting to yell stuff, it was another facter that the EWA had that made it fun again to be living the dream. No political bullshit between promoters no haggling on dates for shows or this or that that the WWA was becoming because of a thing between sousa and Mike Sparta. The EWA in many ways at that time, was a battery charge I needed, being part of a group that reminded me of old ECW in some ways yet had that old school territory feeling and actually had storylines, plus throw in how they really got into fan reaction, in some ways I wished I would've known about them sooner, but things happen as they do for a reason.
In my early days in the EWA on a show in Mass. one wrestler's girlfriend was sitting a few seats away from me and she wasn't 'clued in' as to who I was or that I worked with the company and that me yelling was part of the deal. almost everything I tried she was fucking with until intermission, she's getting in my face about shit and I can't exactly let her know what was up, that these guys came to expect me yelling insults, booing them getting chants going. she thought I was just some asshole fan she can mouth off at. Intermission time comes she's really nailing into me and if I was a guy who believed in smacking women, I would've probably given her a slap. Mad Dog comes up and asks if I'm off my usual game tonight and I said "I was on it, but see that chick over there? She's fucking everything up, the fans in my section are more into her insulting me than what I'm trying to do, it ain't working".
Acouple of the guys tried to smarten her up but she wasn't 'getting it'. So I just changed sections after intermission, we all did and and bam, things clicked...her b/f apologized to me before the end of the show and he finally was able to get it into her head that I'm 'supposed' to yell insults at the heels...but the damage was done, we never did see her again and the wrestler in wuestion I think was let go..some people though, I tell ya....
One night I remember was fun was at the Multipurpose Center in Lewiston,Maine. Precious Lucy had turned heel and joined the Partners in Crime...I wanted to find 'something' to see if I could go one step further in my yelling screaming insulting deal. I got to the place which was different than the armory I had gotten used to...and while screwing around with my tape table I came up with the idea to make a sign..I had no clue where a store was that sold cardboard or school supplies so after asking 'nate'. he told me of a place not too far away, so i went got acouple pieces of cardboard and a black marker. Still had no real concrete plan of what to write for a sign but figured something may pop up, if not, just put the stuff in the back seat of my black mustang and use it next time...Lucy was in a mixed tag match and while she was waiting for a tag, it hit me, and I wrote out "Partners in Slime", and raised the sign up.
her and I had been having words during the match and when she saw the sign, you wanna talk about a woman "snapping', LOL! She came racing off the apron, took my sign and ripped it to shredds bitching me out, perfect thing to get her over as a heel with the fans there. Dave was doing security that night and he had to get between me and her, me and Draven, me and, me and..Dave was working his ass off cause of my antics, lol. I said something to Draven, made some sort of reference to the crow-city of angels and he got in my face, "you wanna say it now now what do you have to say". other fans would get into it then and that, was the goal, get the fans into it and get the guys over. I did notice I seemed to have more creative freedom in EWA than WWA but then again WWA was always relying on their connection to WWE for alot of talent thru third party contracts, EWA really didn't have to do that thus...plus I think because it was more loose there I felt the doors open so to speak to try and experiment with other stuff.
I think it was Lewiston again but not real sure. The early time of the Hardcore Institute they had these kids running around the ring, white shirts, egging on the fans. young guysd like 18 years old I think...anyway I wanted to try being a 'pissed off fan', get so mad that it seemed like I really wanted to clobber someone(like someone my size, lol). So when the HCI came out and one of them kids kept coming at me insult and run away then do it again, I 'lost it'. threatened to come over the security rope, was screaming and swearing, "YOU LITTLE MOTHERFUCKER I'LL KICK YOUR PUNK ASS RIGHT NOW, I'LL DROP YOU AND BEAT YOU TO THE FUCKIN GROUND, BITCH"! I'm paraphrasing mind you but you get the meaning...what I didn't know was, my face was turning beet red, red, as a stop sign and this kid thought I was serious...dave thought I was serious too as he's telling me to calm down and I whispered in his ear as he grabbed me to 'keep me' from jumping the rope, "I'm fine, I'm cool, I'm just selling the fact I'm pissed". Dave said to me "Well you're doing a good job because your face is so red right now". I'm like, 'are you serious"? "Go in the men's room and look in the mirror, it's almost purple". I went to the men's room and sure enough, my face was red. Scott King one of the soon to be new owners came up as I came out and asked if I was alright, "he thinks you're really gonna beat him up Bill". I had to go into the locker room to convince him i wasn't gonna kick his ass and the kid was pretty scared. I remember what it was now, he made a crack about my mother and I yelled "you wanna fuck my mother you're gonna need a shovel cause she's dead you dipshit, the best you can get is a dead fuck" and then I went into threatening to beat him to the ground swearing and all that stuff..truth is...my mother's alive and well, LOL. I had to tone down the angry fan routine a few notches. lol. I really wasn't mad, not even close but I got so into being that that it showed, I guess, alittle too well, LOL! I never brought it up to that level again but man, it sure felt nice to channel some anger in a positive direction, LOL. I joked at the kid "If I really was gonna beat you up i would've thrown my chair at you or shoved dave out of my way and charge you". I forgot who it was but the following month I was asked 'who you gonna scare this time Bill"? lol.
When Chris Venom came to the EWA that was awesome because he loved working the crowds as a heel. Several times he improvised stuff in matches and promos around things I said, "SHUT UP! Don't be getting your friends to chant that", and what would happen, the chants got louder. But I also started getting that serious burnout feeling so I could tell my passion was slowly going. With the divorce final, new relationship being the shits and other stuff mixed in, the enjoyment was leaving and seaping out.
They say all good things come to an end. It may have ended and I haven't had the heart I once had because of how wrestling has evolved and most indies now just copy the WWE style. I never could get my heart into it again like it once was, but I'm not complaining because I was in a position that I know alot of people I knew wished they could be in. As I like to say, I lived the dream, which is more than some people sitting being an armchair critic, can ever say.
