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January 29, 2003
Long time, no write. Lot of reasons -- busy;
haven't felt like it; busy. Also for a reason that JR
mentioned in his very last Ross Report....that no matter how hard
you try, someone, by mere omission of his or her name,
feels slighted. Well, that having been said, I'm going to mention names. I know I'll miss someone that's
deserving of mention, but it can't be helped.
It's impossible to please all the people all the time and the
coming to terms with that has made my life a whole lot easier.
First and foremost, Todd "Tood Kenealy" Keneley,
who has stepped up to the plate in every way imaginable.
Writing, booking, commentary (where he is a true first-rate
talent), etc., etc. Todd and I even spent 6 long, but kind
of fun, hours last week writing something to pitch to WWE for Evan
"Joe Millionaire" Marriott, which may or may not come to fruition.
Yeah, some may say that Todd's contributions are of a "selfish"
nature; after all he's looking to use UPW as a springboard to WWE.
Well, I say -- more power to him! While "using" UPW, Todd
has time and again aided our efforts in a completely unselfish
fashion. So, in my eyes, he deserves the best. I hope
that WWE will take a serious look at Todd soon, as he would be a
big asset to them in any of several capacities, especially "on the
stick."
And of course, one of my best friends and one of
this business' greatest talents, Tom Howard, who has supported me
each and every step of the way; and who is looked up to,
rightfully, by so many mutual friends, many of whom have been, are
or will be significant players in the game.
Ultimate University:
Two Ultimate University students that have made
huge strides are Shane Roberts and Melissa Coates. They both
have very obvious physical gifts and that natural "it" factor, but
as with so many bodybuilders before them, came into wrestling
questioning every little thing and generally being too hard on
themselves; to a point where their progress was being
hindered. I'm happy to say that they've both put this behind
them and gotten down to work and as a result have made some very
significant progress. I now truly like both their chances.
Van Ayasit, Nate Nickerson, Sam Culver, James
Lukash and Erica Porter continue to astound me with their
consistency in making virtually each and every practice, week in
and week out, no matter what obstacles they encounter (like injury
and having to make a living). Add New Jersey native Nikki
Tsongares to this list of "most consistent," and Kevin Zacaula who
is coming very close. I'm wondering why this consistency is
so astounding. If someone really wants to make it in
pro wrestling, shouldn't they as a matter of course attend every
class? Is that a rhetorical question?
Well, it is, but here goes anyway -- There are
those who like to complain or make excuses or question about their
lack of progress. If you're one of those people (whether
here at Ultimate or training anywhere else in the world), you're
taking the wrong path. Here's what you should be doing:
make every practice and work hard at each one
take every single opportunity you can to
improve each and every aspect of your game
no matter your God-given height, weight,
body-style, etc., do the very best you can with what God
gave you!
listen to and respect those who have been in the
business longer than you and follow their direction
keep a positive attitude at all times; you can
try to "fake it," but if you're not positive, it will come back
to haunt you
By the way, here's a partial list of guys (and
girl) that did everything right while they were at
Ultimate:
The five people "bullet-pointed" above were
more-than-consistent in the five bullet-pointed items above their
names.
I'd like to welcome aboard new students Kjell
Hansen, Mosey Humphrey, Mike O' Hearn and Midajah. Kjell's a
youngster with that always-welcome new enthusiasm; Mosey comes
from a solid background and I look forward to him being a regular
roster contributor soon; Mike O'Hearn is the most successful
fitness and muscle mag model of all-time, and a former American
Gladiator and Battledome regular. He's also an extremely
tough individual. Mike had a near start with
us a couple of years ago and I'm glad to say he has now dedicated
himself to training. He is one of the most naturally gifted
individuals I've ever seen at the beginning of his training.
Frankie Kazarian and Ryan "Keiji" Sakoda have been
pitching in and picking up classes on a regular basis, especially
with Tom Howard away in Japan so often. It's great having
them both there, as they set the example of that afformentioned
(extremely) positive attitudes and each adds his own unique perspective to the UU curriculum, as do
regular instructors Shane & Shannon Ballard, Aaron Aguilera and of
course, head instructor Tom.
WCW star and Scott Steiner valet Midajah has also
joined Ultimate University. I think I share the surprise of
many others at how Midajah conducts herself. A+ all the way!
Here's an individual who had a big $$ guaranteed contract at WCW
and who didn't even have to train to get that contract in the
first place. Now, she's paying to train and busting her butt
in a very dedicated fashion. She's established a firm path
of following those five bullet-points above and I'd be surprised
if WWE did not take a serious look at her sometime this year.
Just for the heck of it, here is a list of
former/current UU students, and wrestlers I've had a hand in
training, that are/were the "most natural I've ever seen" (in no
particular order):
Van Ayasit (slated to relocate to Zero-One dojo
in Tokyo)
Steve "Sting" Borden
Ed Brock (the first American Indian - pre Jim
Hellwig, in Power Team USA)
Mark Coleman (NHB legend)
Justin McCulley
Mike O'Hearn
Scott Wells (one of the very bests prospect I've ever
seen - should have stuck with it.)
We're back doing regular Saturday Night "Lite
Shows" at UU. I believe this is the single best learning
opportunity on the West Coast at this time. We book
matches on the fly and then "critique" (i.e. tear them apart from
top-to-bottom) afterwards. No one that is serious about
progressing should miss them. The critique afterwards is mainly
psychology-geared and new students who aren't yet ready to do
matches are welcome to attend as well. Call time for workers is
6pm and "show time" is 7pm. Admission is free.
Mike Mizanin (MTV's Real World "The Miz") is doing
better and better. Mike has a busy personal appearance
calendar which keeps him out of practice more than I'd like, but
hey, you have to make a living! Nonetheless, he is
progressing rapidly and I look forward to future opportunities to
showcase him to the "powers that be." Speaking of the powers
that be:
WWE:
It's great to be working again with the folks from
Titan Towers. They've helped in so many ways recently, as I
like to think we've been helpful to them as well.
Getting the Nathan Jones immigration deal solved
was a major undertaking but it looks as if all that work is
destined to pay some major dividends, and quick. For the
first time ever,I got to
participate in the creative process, where his introduction
vignettes are concerned. I couldn't be more excited about his
impending debut and BIG push.
UPW is off to an excellent start in 2003 getting
its talent showcased at WWE events. January 6 in Phoenix saw
Hardkore Kidd V Tommy Dreamer, Horshu V Al Snow and an all-UPW dark match of Keiji Sakoda & Navajo Warrior V Hollywood & Outlaw
Mike Nox. The crowd was very hot for it, which is exactly
the opposite of what usually happens in dark matches. That
was Keiji, Navajo, Nox, Hollywood and Robert "Ghostwalker" Gallo
and Derrick Neikirk you saw as judges that night in the HHH V
Steiner bodybuilding contest.
Mike "Kid Vicious" Balasis had
his match with Johnny The Bull scratched at the last minute (which
happens, but too bad, because I bet it would have been good)) but had "the pleasure" of going mano-a-mano with Bill
DeMott the next night in Tucson. Horshu and Harkore Kidd
worked again too, in tag team outings and Keiji worked against
Chuck Palumbo. Horshu is, in my opinion, a vastly underrated
talent by the local fans. I think the tide of opinion will
change if/when he gets his much-deserved shot.
With WWE coming to Los Angeles and Bakersfield in
February, UPW will field a strong contingent of hopefuls:
Joelle Ward, Erica Porter, Mike "Outlaw Marshall Knox" Kirkhart,
Televise "Skulu" Masalosalo and Mark "Bison" Smith,
and with Keiji,
Hardkore and Outlaw returning for more in-depth looks.
As has often been advertised on our website and
discussed on the internet, UPW has now sent 15 of our talent to
WWF/E. I think 2003 will be a record year for these types of
signings!
WWE was also gracious enough to send Prototype and
Victoria back to where they started -- UPW, for our 4th
Anniversary show, along with WWE Talent Relations Executive, Dr.
Tom Prichard. Tom's appearance marked the first time we've
had WWE with us in an official capacity in nearly two years. It
was an absolute pleasure to spend time with Dr. Tom, who uncannily
resembles his brother Bruce (whose visits we really miss!) in
voice and mannerism. This is a good place to segue to....
UPW Live:
We pulled out all the stops for our
Anniversary outing,, including the mistake --which I'll take full
(dis)credit for-- of overbooking. (We'll heck, I just wanted
everyone to get his/her day in the sun!) Aside from the show
going an East Coast-like 4 hours(!) long, I feel it was a
tremendous evening. Sonicfish, with the assistance of Todd
Keneley, really out did themselves this time. The video they
produced not only set up the night's action (as it usually does in
its excellent fashion) but also took our fans --and those of us
watching the monitor in the back-- on a trip down memory lane.
It's hard to believe we've actually made it through 4 years.
Sometimes it seems like 40! And other time, especially
lately, it's the greatest thing. Josh Waldrop, Tim "Murphy"
McDermott and Marty Rubalcaba made their usual and
ever-growing crucial contributions to the evening's success.
It was great seeing Aaron Baker on stage for our UPW Champion's
Recognition Ceremony and it was very special having both Pete
Doyle and Brett "Big Schwag" Wagner back. I hope/think that
Brett and Pete will be a regular part of upcoming shows.
All in all, UPW fielded 11 matches that night, with
55 competitors and it was a great night, for our fans, for all of
us who work so hard behind-the-scenes and for many of our guys and
girls, as they continue to solidify their prospects for a real
career in this business.
We're collecting ourselves for a return to our
Orange County stomping grounds, likely not until April. I'm
no longer in a rush these days to get shows on the calendar,
especially those we produce ourselves (i.e. financial risk!).
Each one has to make sense, plus we keep setting the bar higher
and higher, so each has to be special. That having been
said, April's "home" show should be bigger and better than ever.
I'd love to return to the ring myself, in either of my long
dreamed-about matches -- the dreaded all-midget Battle Royal
(can't imagine where I'd find my opponents though!) or one on one
with the great ??????. It would be an honor to get
into the ring with one of the greatest personalites in the history
of the biz. Promoted properly, I really think this match
would draw too! (The UPW insiders know who I'm talking about
here!)
Other live UPW action will see us in several
casinos this Spring and Summer, throughout California and in
Washington, Oregon and Nevada, including The Edgewater In
Laughlin. Stay tuned to upw.com for specific show
information.
Misc:
Have you checked out the
UPW store lately? Sonicfish continues to produce what I'm confident is the very
best video in independent wrestling in the world today.
Mark "Smelly" Bell has relocated himself to
Louisville, KY, to train at Ohio Valley Wrestling. Out of
the hundreds that have trained at Ultimate University and UPW
(Mark is the first 2-time UPW Champ!) over the years, Smelly has
likely improved more than anyone since the beginning of
training. His physique, in-ring, psychology and stick work
are light years ahead of where he started just 3 short (long?)
years ago. He is also a true gentleman. Mark, in my
opinion, would make an excellent to the WWE roster and I wish
him the very best at OVW, and beyond.
Erica, Midajah, Frankie and Horshu have been book
for WWA's May tour of Australia and New Zealand.
Daredevil opens next month nationwide. Look
for UPW-booked Horshu, "German Power House" Stefan Gamlin and
Evan Marriott as bodyguards for Michael Clarke Duncan and Tom
Howard as Jennifer Garner's bodyguard (tough gig, Tom!)
I mentioned Tim "Murphy" McDermott
above.
If this website has looked better than usual lately, it's
largely because of Tim's good work. I'm also pleased to
say that Tim has become a welcomed member of our Creative team.
It's pretty wild seeing ex-UPW figures (and
current friends) Evan "Joe Millionaire" Marriott and Diane &
Elaine Klimaszewski (aka "The Coors Light Twins) show up
virtually everywhere you look. I'm really happy for their
successes and look forward to watching them to continue to climb
the ladder of fame and fortune. Who knows, maybe we'll see
them on a UPW show sometime soon!
This one's way off, but we've just booked Roddy
Piper as the emcee for the World Arm Wrestling Championships in
Atlantic City on June 14, to be shown on Fox Sports.
Last and certainly not least.....
Zero-One:
As with WWE, so much revolves around what we do
with our good friends from the Far East. They recently put a
beautiful program that includes photos of everyone that has
appeared with them over the past year and one-half. 25 of us
are in that book!
With TV imminent for this smart and growing
company, Zero-One is providing opportunities to Americans (and
particularly, I'm happy to say, UPW Americans) to get that
much-needed touring, TV and pay-per-view experience that will
serve them well in WWE, or make them career-long stars for
Zero-One itself in Japan.
Tom Howard, Sylvester "Predator" Terkay and Skulu
are currently on Z1's January-February tour and by all reports,
are going great guns. Sylvester has been offered a contract
and we're working out the details on that one. All 3 are
already well on their way to becoming serious players in pro
wrestling and before the dust has settled, all three will be major
stars.
We're hopeful as well that Z1 boss and legend
Shinya Hashimoto will soon make an appearance in a UPW ring as
well.
To all of those who have supported UPW over the
past 4 years....a heartfelt THANK YOU! We would not
have made it without you and your being there year in and year out
is appreciated. We'll continue to endeavor to bring you the
very best we can.
See you soon,
Rick
Just because I like this picture!
(l-r: with ORIGINAL UPW girls
Carnidge, Savvy, Looney & Miss Delicious) Ultimate
Update Archives:
January 29, 2003
November 20, 2002 - It's a shoot!
October 25, 2002
October 3, 2003
September 16, 2002
September 5, 2002 August
1, 2002 July
1, 2002 -- Ultimate University June
21, 2002 May
25, 2002 -- Japan and more
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