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My thoughts on Wrestling for a Cause, and other issues in wrestling!
hello to all,
the opinions expressed in this session are mine and mine only. i do not believe in all of this separation that is going on in florida wrestling. if you want to delete this post, go ahead. i will post it wherever i can.
it has been a long while since i have been on the boards to talk or respond to anything. i have been pretty busy with life recently and have not had much time for wrestling at all. this is why i was very happy to be wrestling over the last couple of weeks. it all started with a great tag match with Vito against Phi Delta Slam in CCW. it was excellent, i was very happy to be there in front of a great crowd with a great promotion, and a great tag team partner. it is really fun to work with guys that helped me break in 18 years ago and have been friends of mine since then. everything they do is top notch. dave johnson runs the locker room like a pro and the show is so smooth from start to finish.
after an emotional saturday morning at the nursing home visiting my Grandmother, it was off to temple terrace to work for Wrestling for a Cause. this is a promotion that is pretty much a fundraiser for many different causes, most of all children in general. since i work with delinquent teenagers, i am always there for a good cause. while driving there, i started to doubt myself. i was going to be working without the security of knowing that my partner of 11 years, Vito, was right by my side. needless to say, i think i was scared. i am not a singles worker anymore, and surely not against Buck Quartermaine. Buck and i have been working each other since 1992. we had the hottest feud in florida in 1997-1999, bar none. i knew that wrestling purists and smarks alike were going to be expecting nothing but the best, and with 3 crushed disks in my back i did not know if i could deliver. on top of that, i did not want to embarrass myself or one of my best friends Buck, let alone Wrestling for a Cause. so, I was nervous and doubting my abilities given my current state. i always get excited when i come back to tampa to wrestle. tampa is where i started my career pretty much as well as won my first world tag team title. tampa is the meca of wrestling to me. the alpha and omega, if you will.
after seeing my good friends Jeff Bradley, Buck, Madison, Capone, Cannon and Rumble i was feeling much better than i was on the drive over. i was ready and prepared for the night, actually excited to do battle with my favorite foe. after a few prayers with Buck, it was time for the night to start. locker rooms are really different than they were 18 years ago. There is no more "brotherhood" in my opinion. you still have a good majority of the boys who hang together, but there are one or two people who need extra chairs so that their ego's can have a seat too. to me, this kind of stuff spoils my night and actually makes me wanna gag. i mean, we as wrestlers are egotistical. i am "Classy" Chris for God sakes. however i save my ego for the crowd and the show. in real life, I am Chris Tipton, not Chris Nelson. some wrestlers live their gimmick 24/7, and it is kind of amusing but yet disgusting. more on this later.
the show was absolutely great. what a great job Buck and Steve do promoting and putting together a first class show. it is always nice to be able to walk out of a curtain, or on a stage and play to a gathering of people that want to see you. i was expecting to be third match, but to my surprise, Buck and i were semi main event. i know that Buck is a huge babyface in tampa and i did not want to let him down. the show was filled with talent that i love. Mike Sullivan, Michael Patrick, Craig Classic, Chris Jones, Capon, Jerelle Clark, Prince Iakeau, Mr. Vandall and so on. good young talent mixed in with the "old guys". a perfect mix of the 90's and today, all working together for a good cause. Barney Rumble ref'd all of the matches and did and excellent job with it. i was impressed with him and will always be a mark for barney. the crowd was good. not as big as the last one, but very loud and into the event. i enjoyed watching Nick Primo for the first time. he is very talented and i expect good things from him in the future. all was good, then, it was time for me. when my music hit, i was ready. the heat was good and instant. after my abusing of the crowd on the mic, the heat was furious. as Buck entered the arena, the place exploded! this was the first time in 10 years Buck and i had been in the ring together, and it was special to me to be there. the match went off as planned, but better than planned. Buck is such as super worker and babyface that he could put a broomstick over and make it look like a million bucks. while i was out there i remembered my old motto from the 90's..."AIN'T NOBODY GONNA OUTSHINE ME". i wanted to live up to that with this match. i wanted to make the main event work hard to top what we were doing! i knew Mike Sullivan was up for the challenge too! he always delivers and is a top babyface for the past decade. i was very happy with the crowd response and for a minute it seemed almost like 1995 again. as Buck dropped the leg off the top i remember laying there and thinking, God please let this go on for a few more hours. Buck sold to the crowd when he pinned me and they were electric for the victory they had just seen. i want to thank Wrestling for a Cause for having me at this event. i proved to my self and my doubters (you know who you are) that i still have it. and to those people i say, "Follow That, Killer". maybe you should watch people like Buck and me work more often. Pull some tapes from his and my earlier days and watch them hard before you ever make a remark about my work. you can not lace my boots now, then or ever! that is not ego, just fact.
people are more concerned with getting themselves over now, and that is all. me, me, me, me, me. wrestling is no longer about having a good match and working for the match and for the show and for the promotion. it is all about me and "my gimmick". if that kind of thinking continues, it will only be "You" standing there because the fans, wrestlers and supporters will all be long gone. it used to be about "us" and being a brotherhood. does anyone understand that it needs to be that way again for wrestling to survive these bleak times? i am for good wrestling, in front of good fans, who pay good money to see a show, put on by wrestlers, wrestlers who are there for the show. not for the "all about me" factor. that does not sell tickets and alienates a lock room and a business. sucks it dry, i say. shame on you who do that, shame. i have been very lucky in my career, and i thank God for making me that lucky. but besides luck it took hard work and struggle. trying times and misery, but it has all been worth it. when i have guys like Vandall and Jones come to me after the show and talk about my match for 15 minutes it reminds me of the way it should be. the way it used to be. i used to be that kid, sitting there with the vets asking questions, begging for knowledge, wanting to learn. every wrestler in this state should be asking vets questions about how to work the crowd and how to work, period. every vet should be taking their time to show these kids what it is all about. the vets of the 80's did it for me in the 90's and i do it for the kids of the 2000's. shame on every newcomer who does not want to learn from the past and shame on every vet who does not yearn to teach these new guys the ropes. let's get back to the way it was and make it just like it used to be! FUN, EXCITING, MONEYMAKING, LEARNING AND SATISFYING! Most of all a BROTHERHOOD, not a "Me" show. Shame, shame, shame. Let's change it for the better, one last time for good. Stop playing fed against fed. we are all in this business together, lets act that way.
Thank you CCW, thank you Wrestling for a Cause. thank you for helping me be me again and giving me a renewed faith in my abilities. thank you for helping me dig down and find them again. thank you Buck and Bradley, Sullivan Capone, Cannon and Rumble. you guys are my hero's! Thank you Buddy Valentine for teaching me how to work and for teaching me all of your tricks! I love you my brother! Most of all, thank you fans for 18 years of loving to hate me. you guys are the real reason i do this still, bad back and all!
see you all at the matches!
"Classy" Chris Nelson
the opinions expressed in this session are mine and mine only. i do not believe in all of this separation that is going on in florida wrestling. if you want to delete this post, go ahead. i will post it wherever i can.
it has been a long while since i have been on the boards to talk or respond to anything. i have been pretty busy with life recently and have not had much time for wrestling at all. this is why i was very happy to be wrestling over the last couple of weeks. it all started with a great tag match with Vito against Phi Delta Slam in CCW. it was excellent, i was very happy to be there in front of a great crowd with a great promotion, and a great tag team partner. it is really fun to work with guys that helped me break in 18 years ago and have been friends of mine since then. everything they do is top notch. dave johnson runs the locker room like a pro and the show is so smooth from start to finish.
after an emotional saturday morning at the nursing home visiting my Grandmother, it was off to temple terrace to work for Wrestling for a Cause. this is a promotion that is pretty much a fundraiser for many different causes, most of all children in general. since i work with delinquent teenagers, i am always there for a good cause. while driving there, i started to doubt myself. i was going to be working without the security of knowing that my partner of 11 years, Vito, was right by my side. needless to say, i think i was scared. i am not a singles worker anymore, and surely not against Buck Quartermaine. Buck and i have been working each other since 1992. we had the hottest feud in florida in 1997-1999, bar none. i knew that wrestling purists and smarks alike were going to be expecting nothing but the best, and with 3 crushed disks in my back i did not know if i could deliver. on top of that, i did not want to embarrass myself or one of my best friends Buck, let alone Wrestling for a Cause. so, I was nervous and doubting my abilities given my current state. i always get excited when i come back to tampa to wrestle. tampa is where i started my career pretty much as well as won my first world tag team title. tampa is the meca of wrestling to me. the alpha and omega, if you will.
after seeing my good friends Jeff Bradley, Buck, Madison, Capone, Cannon and Rumble i was feeling much better than i was on the drive over. i was ready and prepared for the night, actually excited to do battle with my favorite foe. after a few prayers with Buck, it was time for the night to start. locker rooms are really different than they were 18 years ago. There is no more "brotherhood" in my opinion. you still have a good majority of the boys who hang together, but there are one or two people who need extra chairs so that their ego's can have a seat too. to me, this kind of stuff spoils my night and actually makes me wanna gag. i mean, we as wrestlers are egotistical. i am "Classy" Chris for God sakes. however i save my ego for the crowd and the show. in real life, I am Chris Tipton, not Chris Nelson. some wrestlers live their gimmick 24/7, and it is kind of amusing but yet disgusting. more on this later.
the show was absolutely great. what a great job Buck and Steve do promoting and putting together a first class show. it is always nice to be able to walk out of a curtain, or on a stage and play to a gathering of people that want to see you. i was expecting to be third match, but to my surprise, Buck and i were semi main event. i know that Buck is a huge babyface in tampa and i did not want to let him down. the show was filled with talent that i love. Mike Sullivan, Michael Patrick, Craig Classic, Chris Jones, Capon, Jerelle Clark, Prince Iakeau, Mr. Vandall and so on. good young talent mixed in with the "old guys". a perfect mix of the 90's and today, all working together for a good cause. Barney Rumble ref'd all of the matches and did and excellent job with it. i was impressed with him and will always be a mark for barney. the crowd was good. not as big as the last one, but very loud and into the event. i enjoyed watching Nick Primo for the first time. he is very talented and i expect good things from him in the future. all was good, then, it was time for me. when my music hit, i was ready. the heat was good and instant. after my abusing of the crowd on the mic, the heat was furious. as Buck entered the arena, the place exploded! this was the first time in 10 years Buck and i had been in the ring together, and it was special to me to be there. the match went off as planned, but better than planned. Buck is such as super worker and babyface that he could put a broomstick over and make it look like a million bucks. while i was out there i remembered my old motto from the 90's..."AIN'T NOBODY GONNA OUTSHINE ME". i wanted to live up to that with this match. i wanted to make the main event work hard to top what we were doing! i knew Mike Sullivan was up for the challenge too! he always delivers and is a top babyface for the past decade. i was very happy with the crowd response and for a minute it seemed almost like 1995 again. as Buck dropped the leg off the top i remember laying there and thinking, God please let this go on for a few more hours. Buck sold to the crowd when he pinned me and they were electric for the victory they had just seen. i want to thank Wrestling for a Cause for having me at this event. i proved to my self and my doubters (you know who you are) that i still have it. and to those people i say, "Follow That, Killer". maybe you should watch people like Buck and me work more often. Pull some tapes from his and my earlier days and watch them hard before you ever make a remark about my work. you can not lace my boots now, then or ever! that is not ego, just fact.
people are more concerned with getting themselves over now, and that is all. me, me, me, me, me. wrestling is no longer about having a good match and working for the match and for the show and for the promotion. it is all about me and "my gimmick". if that kind of thinking continues, it will only be "You" standing there because the fans, wrestlers and supporters will all be long gone. it used to be about "us" and being a brotherhood. does anyone understand that it needs to be that way again for wrestling to survive these bleak times? i am for good wrestling, in front of good fans, who pay good money to see a show, put on by wrestlers, wrestlers who are there for the show. not for the "all about me" factor. that does not sell tickets and alienates a lock room and a business. sucks it dry, i say. shame on you who do that, shame. i have been very lucky in my career, and i thank God for making me that lucky. but besides luck it took hard work and struggle. trying times and misery, but it has all been worth it. when i have guys like Vandall and Jones come to me after the show and talk about my match for 15 minutes it reminds me of the way it should be. the way it used to be. i used to be that kid, sitting there with the vets asking questions, begging for knowledge, wanting to learn. every wrestler in this state should be asking vets questions about how to work the crowd and how to work, period. every vet should be taking their time to show these kids what it is all about. the vets of the 80's did it for me in the 90's and i do it for the kids of the 2000's. shame on every newcomer who does not want to learn from the past and shame on every vet who does not yearn to teach these new guys the ropes. let's get back to the way it was and make it just like it used to be! FUN, EXCITING, MONEYMAKING, LEARNING AND SATISFYING! Most of all a BROTHERHOOD, not a "Me" show. Shame, shame, shame. Let's change it for the better, one last time for good. Stop playing fed against fed. we are all in this business together, lets act that way.
Thank you CCW, thank you Wrestling for a Cause. thank you for helping me be me again and giving me a renewed faith in my abilities. thank you for helping me dig down and find them again. thank you Buck and Bradley, Sullivan Capone, Cannon and Rumble. you guys are my hero's! Thank you Buddy Valentine for teaching me how to work and for teaching me all of your tricks! I love you my brother! Most of all, thank you fans for 18 years of loving to hate me. you guys are the real reason i do this still, bad back and all!
see you all at the matches!
"Classy" Chris Nelson
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ricky Romeo on -
Great read and thank you Uncle Nelly! My one regret is that we didn't get to keep that angle going in AWF with you, Spanky, and Beez vs Tauris, Bobby Buthol, and myself... That would have been amazing! Thanks for everything you have done, and the advice you have given me in the past..
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Permalink Reply by Florida Wrestling Fans on -
I don't know why anyone would be offended by this. Great post. I think the one thing that always sticks with me is that some people get it, some don't, and that's that, and don't waste energy on retards.
You can't make someone understand what wrestling should be, or how they should act and feel about it and those who have gone before them.
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Permalink Reply by Craig Classic on -
Chris,
Thank you, It was such an honor to sit down and chat backstage at last saturdays show. During Chris and Buck's match everyone in the backstage area came out to watch and give surport. The energy and emotion that came from the crowd during the match was truly amazing. Chris you are a true maestro of professional wrestling and if there was anyone in the state to learn from there is nobody better then "Classy" Chris Nelson.
Thank you Chris!
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Permalink Reply by Chris Nelson on -
Thank you Craig! It was great to spend time with you also! You are a great talent my friend! I look forward to more meetings with you real soon!
There is a person who thought that I started this post due to him. It was good to talk to you and get it straight. I am glad that we were able to talk this afternoon!
Thanks for all of the support, Florida!
Chris
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Permalink Reply by Neil on -
They don't call him "Classy" Chris Nelson for nothing. One of the best posts ever on any message board. Chris and Buck put on a wrestling clinic last Saturday and I had high expectations and wasn't disappointed at all. We need more matches like that one.
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Permalink Reply by Jeremy on -
Chris you are a class act. i can rember seeing you and Dennis Allen wrestling Keirn and B.Brian blair here in Deland at a CCW Event. man you still have it and thank you for always being great to the fans.
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Permalink Reply by Bobby Wohlfert on -
Uncle Chris, this was nothing short but a phenomenal read & I always look forward to reading your words of wisdom. I've been so very blessed to have had you to talk to on numereous occassions & seek advice from not to mention how humbled I was (and still am) to have had you as my final opponent before leaving Florida. That still means the world to me. I've had the true pleasure to have been able to get advice & listen to so many of the veterans on this board but you took me under your wing while still VERY wet behind the ears starting at the TAP show in Tampa. I can't thank you enough for the numerous talks we have & the lessons you continue to give me on a weekly basis.
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Permalink Reply by Adam Avivi on -
Excellent read
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Permalink Reply by Rico Casanova on -
Love you CCN
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