Well, it's here! The first set of TV tapings for Rocky Mountain Pro, go down this Saturday night at the JeffCo County Fairgrounds in Golden, Colorado. To be honest, as I sat across the table from Matt Yaden, the owner of Rocky Mountain Pro, at a Village Inn restaurant at about 1:15 am this morning, I had to keep asking myself . . . .HOW THE HELL DID I GET BACK INTO THIS !@#$%^!
Truth is, I never had any real desire to get back into the "business" of wrestling, once my podcasting took off and it began to pay the bills. Being on both the RELM Network and PodcastOne was GOLDEN for me. I had actually come full circle and was where I started in pro wrestling in 1991. From the start, I never WANTED to get into wrestling, I just needed a job at the time. I did, however, always want to do what my idol Howard Stern did, and that was to just be myself and entertain-- somehow, some way--over the air waves.
But, TV deals just don't come every day in wrestling. Nobody has worked harder than my old friend, Jeff Jarrett, to get his Global Force Wrestling on the air---but---it just hasn't come easy. This opportunity to be on the Hunt Channel (Dish Network, Channel 266) starting October 9th, at 6:30pm est, was nothing short of a miracle from the Almighty One Himself. There was never a "goal", or even a "dream" to bring our little regional wrestling company to the world, but when an opportunity like this presents itself--you can't walk away---even if your head is SCREAMING AT YOU to do so.
Why? Good question. The problem lies in THE HEART, and for me my HEART has always been in professional wrestling no matter how loudly, or repetitively I scream that the WWE STINKS . . .nowadays . . . any way. That undying passion comes from two places---the wrestling fans, like me, who have just stopped watching, and the boys/girls who are heads and tails better then the material that they are currently being given. That's what drives me. I want the fans to come back to wrestling, and I want the boys/girls to all succeed. I go through all this madness on a weekly basis---FOR THAT. The BS, the ridicule, the hate, the negativity, the pole references, Cornette . . . all of it.
I want wrestling to succeed. That's what I've always wanted. I want the boys/girls to have jobs and I want the casual wrestling fans to come back and watch what they used to watch with their fathers, and grandfathers. I want to once again be PROUD to be a wrestling fan. I want the masses to ONCE AGAIN tune in to see the most unique, intriguing, entertaining and athletic show on television. I want people to actually be TALKING ABOUT wrestling again. That's what I want . . . that's what I've always wanted.
So . . . what if I fail? That's an easy question for me to answer. If I fail---I fail. All that matters is that I'll know that I once again took my balls in my hand and made the decision to MAKE A DIFFERENCE, rather than just flap my gums like so many others do. I'll know that I put my reputation on the line for all those who deserved it---the athletes---and the true wrestling fans. If I fail, I fail with them . . . and I fail for them.
That's all that matters to me. It's not about the money, it's not about the headlines, it's not even about wanting to shove it up everybody's !@#$%. It's about DOING THE RIGHT THING, no matter what the consequences may be. With that being said . . . I hope you watch Rocky Mountain Pro. And, I hope you watch a company that if nothing more . . . will put the passion back into a business we would all die for.
You can catch Vince Russo every Friday on the Fightful.com Podcast.
