The Corino Chronicles XIII: The Long And Winding Road

[Black Widow]

As
a professional wrestler and even as fans, championship titles are
commonly looked upon as an expensive prop, due to late ‘90’s WCW
booking philosophies, or even looked upon as given to someone for
political reasons. Maybe that is what it evolved into it. But somehow,
at almost age 36, I missed the boat on these philosophies.



Fifteen
years ago when I started my long journey into this great sport and art
form, my goal was never to be a millionaire. And perhaps that was the
wrong way to think. You see the “mark” in me never left even after 70
tours of Japan, two failed marriages, winning four World titles,
spending weeks away from my son at a time, traveling the world, and
getting to entertain fans for over 2200 matches (well I hope most times
you were entertained). Heck, I even tried to retire twice but came back
quicker then the retirement tour I planned.



Pro-Wrestling
is the most amazing and addicting drug in the world. Even the hardest
critics of the sport that spend hours upon hours complaining on how bad
wrestling is right now love it deep down inside. It’s a passion that
all of us, fan or wrestler, have and no matter if we hate a certain
direction that a company or wrestler takes; we still love the industry
as a whole.



And
that is what keeps me going. Looking back at 1994 when I started, I was
165 pounds and skinny as a rail. No wrestling background at all but
just a will to learn and appreciate everything that I earned. Now, 15
years later, I am a broken down 250 pounds with a shoulder I can barely
raise everyday and take shit from some fans for being “fat”, but it
doesn’t bother me. It is someone’s opinion and they are entitled to
it. But I am a survivor and very proud of that. I come to work every
night and put on the best match I can produce and it doesn’t matter if
you look like Triple H or Dick Murdoch, the name of the game is to
entertain the paying fans.



In
’07 when I decided that it was going to be my last year in
pro-wrestling I really felt there was nothing left for me to do. In
January, I became the AWA World champion for a second time but knew I
was only a transition champion for Takao Omori and after over 60 tours
of Japan, I knew that I was pretty much near the end of my run. I had
been the NWA Intercontinental tag team champion three times, the AWA
World champion twice, and ZERO1 US champion twice. I had feuded and
pinned everyone from Masato Tanaka, Shinjiro Otani, and Takao Omori to
All-Japan Pro-Wrestling legend Toshiaki Kawada. What more could I do? I
knew it was time to go soon.



But
it was a fateful evening in January ’07 that got my mind going and
thinking back now, if it wasn’t for that meeting, and one later in the
year I might still be managing the Gold’s Gym in Royersford, PA or even
finishing my degree and become a school teacher. It was when I met Mr.
Wrestling II, Johnny Walker in Hawaii that it started to click.
Wrestling II spent over 30 years being on the biggest babyfaces in the
world. But it was when he put on the mask and was christened Mr.
Wrestling II, the second version of Mr. Wrestling (Tim Woods) that it
became fun for him. At dinner one night in Hawaii he told me that the
money comes and goes but at the end of the day you have memories. At 72
years old at the time, he told me about meeting former President Jimmy
Carter and feuding with the Masked Superstar and The Assassins, or how
he would walk into a gas station after a match with his mask on
(something you can’t do nowadays!) and also winning the Georgia
heavyweight title. Although he drew a lot of money and made a lot of
money, it was always about what he did. I never forgot about that
because it was how I felt. When Wrestling II offered me the title of
“Mr. Wrestling” he didn’t do it to make money for him and I am sure
there was 1000 young wrestlers that didn’t have a name that would have
benefited from being named the third incarnation of Mr. Wrestling but
he asked me. He knew that I respected the sport as much as he did. I
respected the history and the art form. I ended a eight year stretch
with the “King Of Old School” moniker because I was so honored with
what II gave me. Maybe that is why I get so hot when I see some kid in
California promoting himself as “Mr. Wrestling 4”. Who gave him that
name and why would he think he earned the right to name himself that?
Look at the history of the Mr. Wrestling name and it wasn’t a name that
was created, it was given. Tim Woods was given the name, he passed it
onto Johnny Walker, who passed it onto me. Honor. Although I don’t get
hot with Kevin Steen when he uses the “Mr. Wrestling” name because I
know how much he respects the sport and also he never promoted himself
as the next generation of the Mr. Wrestling series. Heck, there are
even times when I don’t believe that I am even worthy of the moniker.



But
I am getting off what originally made me write for the first time in a
LONG time. As we approach the end of winter in 2009 I am still
going. Still at it full time in an economy that almost makes it
impossible. I truly am a survivor and that makes me feel good.



Where
I am going is not burying some kid for being disrespectful. We could be
here all day but this is about being awarded for hard work.



Puerto
Rico is the last territory. Its different then the WWE, TNA, ROH, and
every independent company. It’s a full time company that relies on
house shows and television for revenue. In the WWE, the brand name
brings in the fans. Ask any old timer that drew money and they will
tell you that back in the day the marquee would say “World title match:
Jack Brisco vs. Dory Funk Jr.” and the fans would flock to see it
because it was their job to sell that match. Nowadays it is more about
the brand name and that is fine. It is how the industry evolved. But
somehow, Carlos Colon and Victor Jovica survived. Is the WWC what it
was in the 80’s? Of course not and there are a million factors that
fans don’t realize. When pro-wrestling was in the territory days, TV
was localized and there were less channels. Less options. Today, you
have 200 channels and a million different entertainment options. But
like I said, the WWC survived.



I
knew that houses were really down when I agreed to come down. Trust me,
the money I make every week is less then if I would continue to whore
myself out on the independents like some people, but I decided that
if this was my last run I wanted to do everything I could to make a
real impact. Both me and Mr. Mac (Guillotine LeGrande) decided that we
need to re-invent ourselves and do everything in our power to draw
money.



It
would have been easy for Carlos to push me right away up to the top of
the card because of my resume but he didn’t. I was happily the third
wheel in The Family behind two guys that deserved to be on top, Ray
Gonzalez and Tommy Diablo. But I knew that if the time came where I got
a chance at the top I was going to take it and run with it. I never
expected to be considered for a title run. I was just honored to be
picked for a few week feud with Ray Gonzalez. It’s a shame that other
“gringos” don’t get that in our company. They talk about knowing how to
“work” and “do business” but do nothing but waste the companies time
and raise the ire of the boys that are busting their balls to bring
houses up. You see if we don’t draw it is reflected in our
paychecks. That is old school. But people are into me and Ray. Why?
Because I think that they see two passionate fighters that go out there
and not only try to entertain the fans and try to attract more
fans. When the time came and a change in the title was decided it was
not decided because I was a former NWA, ECW, and AWA champion. It was
because I was being rewarded for working hard and helping bring fans
into the building and ratings up. Its crazy for some people to imagine
but my two favorite titles I have won (and believe me, as a longtime
fan, being the champion is the ultimate honor in ANY promotion) but
winning my first ZERO1 United States title and now winning the WWC
Universal championship rank up there as my favorites.



The
WWC Universal title has changed 109 times since 1983 and if you go to
wrestling-titles.com you will see some of the legends that have held
the exact belt that is in my bag right now. For God sake, Carlos Colon,
who will always be the biggest draw in the island’s history, held the
title 26 times and every one meant something. Ray has held it 14 times
and Carly Colon (Carlito from WWE) 11 times. This is what I do this
for. Who knows how long I will be the champion but if the belt was
taken off me one day after I won it, I would still know that I really
deserved the nod. I hope that everyone after me that holds that title
realizes that there are men that busted their ass for that nod.



It
kills me to see guys take the opportunity that they are given by the
WWC (or any company for that matter) and shit all over them. This past
November a kid from Australia flew himself to Puerto Rico to get
experience. But when he showed up not only did show up with a bad
attitude, he maximized it with awful work and an ignorance of not
researching what the WWC was about. As he left, he tried to put the
blame on Carlos and Jovica but we told him that he was the shits and
that it was his fault. Why can’t the guys from this day and age take
responsibility. Who’s fault is it that I never got a run in the
WWE? Vince McMahon? Johnny Ace? Dusty Rhodes? Nope. I didn’t get a run
there because that was not my goal and I didn’t work for it. Why is it
that TNA only used me a few times? Because my heart and determination
was in Japan. Is that Jeff Jarrett’s fault? Vince Russo’s? Hell no. I
bet you guys don’t know that I send Jeff and Russo an email every six
months seeing if there is a spot open. I do, I will freely admit
that. Why would I like to be there? I like the schedule and I like
watching guys like Joe, AJ, Daniels, Shelley, Shane, and more get a
chance to be a national TV star. Would I be upset if Jeff emailed me
tomorrow and said “F.U, you didn’t want to be here in 2003 and now you
are broken down.”? Nope. But it seems like today’s guys, and trust me I
work with one of them, that thinks that the sport owes them
something. They can’t be happy for anyone else and they think that
“spots” shouldn’t be there’s. It’s total bullshit and I hate guys like
this. I wish more spots were given to guys like Ricky Reyes, who has
great work, excellent body, and an even better attitude then some of
these guys that get released from WWE’s developmental area and pollute
our company.



I
could be defeated tomorrow for the title and I know that soon there
will be another heel ready to take that top spot. Do I need to be
jealous? Heck no. If he can draw better then me then he deserves the
spot. And it helps everyone out. But trust me, I am going to keep
working my ass off to be someone that Puerto Rican fans remember
forever!





February 24 or 25 (Depending on where the hell I am right now over the Pacific)

Delta flight 55 from Atlanta to Tokyo

Mood: I don’t know



Over
the past ten years I have made a habit of writing. I am not good at it
and never claimed to be. I just write. Although I talk about
semi-personal things, I shy away from what really bothers me, what eats
me alive everyday of my life.



At
almost 36 years old I am smart enough to realize that my career is
almost over. That doesn’t bother me because I am very proud of what I
have accomplished. Sure, I wish I would have made more money but my
memories are rich and no one can take them away from me.



My
personal life on the other hand is something I wish I could do
again. As most of you know if you have read my commentaries/live
journal/blogs over the better part of the decade you know that my son
Colby is the greatest thing I have in my life.



Wise
beyond his years, he has the ability to find something good in
everything. I wish I could be like him. Most kids want to be like their
parents but for the past 12 ½ years I have wanted to be like
him. People tell me that I am a good father but the reality of the
situation is that I am not. A good father is there for his son every
single day. Although I have been around the world dozens of times,
wrestled everyone I have every dreamed about, and won championships in
a dozen counties, I envy the fathers that get to come home everyday and
see their kids grow up. Or kiss their wives. Take their son and their
friends to the movies, be there when they are sick, and watch them go
to school everyday knowing that they will come home even smarter.



Due
to the WWC schedule and the need to make a living I stay pretty much
full time in Puerto Rico. It is not economical to fly me from my home
in Philadelphia every week for the company and if I want to go home I
need to pay for it myself. If I am lucky I get home a few days a month.
In the past seven or eight months I watched my marriage fail and wake
up everyday in pain, both emotional and physical.



I
was not a good husband to my wife and she left. I can’t blame her. It’s
a tough life being the wife of a professional athlete and/or
entertainer. It’s lonely on both ends. I just hope that she will find
the happiness in her life that she deserves. This is the second wife I
have let go because I am selfish. What else could it be? Am I making
Triple H money? Shit no but when I am at the arena, I feel like I am
doing something good. Entertaining people gives me the strength to get
through the emotional and physical pain. But for that I have had to
give up a lot of stuff in my personal life.



People
ask me all the time on Facebook or even through my website,
SteveCorino.com and CorinoWrestling.com, why I never tried my hardest
to be a WWE or TNA superstar and I tell them that I am a career
minor-leaguer. I am Crash Davis from the movie Bull Durham. A vet that
had a cup of coffee in the North American major leagues and now I go
from small town to small town, working my ass off to help the younger
guys get over. And the money is not awful either. I can’t tell you
honestly if I would do this if the pay was beginner level again. You
know what? I could. I love our sport and art form. There is a line in
Field Of Dreams where Shoeless Joe Jackson says “It was a game…I would
have played for free.” And sometimes I do. I never made one dollar
running my own promotions. In fact I would venture to say that I have
personally lost over $75,000-$100,000 of my own money. Why did I do it?
Because I wanted to do something special. I wanted my guys to entertain
fans and attempt to create stars of the future. With all the money I
have spent trying to get something started and failing I lost face with
a lot of wrestlers. Some I consider friends. That is not how I want to
be remembered. But it’s the choice I made.



With
my job as an agent and middleman for Pro-Wrestling ZERO-ONE (and then
Pro-Wrestling ZERO1-MAX and Pro Wrestling ZERO1) I didn’t think it
would be right for me to crush the dreams of young wrestlers. I spent
years taking videos and DVD’s over to the office, even if they were
bad. And there have been more bad then good. But when the office can’t
use or doesn’t want to use those guys I take the fall. Is it fair? No,
but that is the way some pro-wrestlers think now. If it was my choice
Josh Daniels, Joe Legend, The Heartbreak Express, The Mack Brothers,
Ricky Reyes, and others would have been full time gaijin. I would have
never wasted money and time on guys like Ghaffari and others that just
wasted everyone’s time and money. But once again, it was never my
choice. I had been lucky that I got a lot of my friends some tours. And
some are even grateful so you have to take the good with the bad right?
I do find it funny that when this year my job got cut due to the awful
economy in Japan and everywhere else in the world there were three guys
that actually said that they were sorry. Three out of the 72 I helped
booked isn’t bad right?



The
physical pain I am in everyday is the nature of the industry. I have a
shoulder that needs an operation but I am smart enough to know that if
I do take the time off to get it healthy I will lose my position. Once
again, nature of the industry and I have no regrets. I have a knee that
needs to be reconstructed again (I had two reconstructions the year
before I became a pro-wrestler). So every time that you watch WWC on
WAPA or on the Internet, the pain that shoots through my shoulder with
every bump or a ducked clothesline is 100% real. Every time that Ray
Gonzalez puts his figure four leglock on me, the pain is 100% to the
point where I want to throw up. And imagine if Ray really wanted to
hurt me? I wake up and do it because I love it. I love when fans cheer
and I love when they boo. I love when they throw stuff at me in Puerto
Rico or when they used to yell “Ichiban” in Japan. That is the greatest
high I will ever know.



But
last week was one of the toughest weeks of my life. And it came down to
being helpless. My son started feeling sick and his mother, stepfather,
and I thought it was a cold and maybe the flu. He has always been
healthy so we didn’t think that it would last more then a day or
two. But by Tuesday he developed a staph infection, something that nine
other wrestlers on his team got (they ended up having to forfeit their
last meet) and then caught the flu all at the same time. This poor kid
just lied around for almost a week, NEVER COMPLAINING. Can you believe
that? As I write this I feel like I have been hit by a truck because I
caught the sickness and I complain all the time. Hell, I am complaining
right now as I write this. But my boy felt awful and there was nothing
I can do. Parents that read this understand this. I would have done
anything to make him feel better. I can’t imagine how parents deal with
their children that have terminal diseases. My heart just goes out to
them. The worst part for me was that I had to take him back to his moms
because I had to be at the airport at 5am. I stayed up all night racked
with guilt because I had to go. I am so fortunate that his mother and
stepfather are great parents and take care of him so well when I am
gone. I envy them. More then they will ever know.



I
have no idea how long I am going to wrestle for. I tried to retire
twice and it didn’t work. I do know this time that there will be no
retirement, maybe I will just fade away. Not today, but one day. Soon
its time for me to get my shit together and just be a father.



February 28, 8:10pm

Delta flight…hell, I don’t even know



As
I write this, 30,000 feet in the sky, our show in Puerto Rico starts in
20 minutes and I still have an hour to go before touchdown. Due to the
awesome scheduling of Delta Airlines my original flight from Tokyo to
Atlanta got pushed back to combine with the 4:30pm flight. This meant
that my arrival in San Juan went from being 5:30pm (which would have
been tough to make the show on time) to 11:05pm knocking me out of
tonight’s show. But the power of “stand by” was on my side and now I
will arrive at 9:15pm, jump in the car, go 90 minutes to the show,
throw on some boots and get out there for the main event. This is if
everything goes 100% right.



Since
Tuesday, I went from being as sick as I ever felt to flying 16 hours to
Japan. Once I got there, I stumbled into the office to take a picture
for the press and then back to sleep for another 11 hours. When I woke
up Thursday I was still feeling worse then anything. Freezing to death
but sweating like I was in a sauna.



Thursday
night I wrestled my Japanese twin Kamikaze in a loser leaves town
match, and sweat out another five pounds. I think in the last week I
went from being 254 to 242, lost my whole tan, and looked worse
physically then I ever have. I am disgusted with the pictures from the
Korakeun Hall show because I just look sickly. I am sorry to all the
Japanese fans for my appearance and promise not to repeat it when I
return on March 10. It is very difficult for me to train because of the
pain in my shoulder but there is no excuse for not being tan and being
too fat. I will never look like Chris Masters but my appearance on
Thursday and Friday was unacceptable. For that I apologize.



Friday’s
match with Shinjiro Otani was one of great nervousness for
me. Wrestling Otani is always very physical (no one chops harder) and
he had just wrestled an unbelievable match against Yugi Nagata for the
ZERO1 heavyweight championship. These guys go out and put on a clinic
for over 20 minutes and then I am supposed to challenge Otani for the
title right then and there? Are you kidding me? I was quiet but inside
I thought that this had disaster written all over it because there was
no way I was going to out do Otani vs. Nagata. But it went well. Better
then I could have imagined. I only wish that I was in the physical
condition that I should have been in. I am sure that I could have done
better and next time I will.



I
got a few emails from fans asking why they would sacrifice me so quick
to Otani with no buildup. It is a good point but there is a big picture
involved. This match was not about Corino vs. Otani, it was the real
start to the WPF vs. ZERO1 feud. I have trusted the Japanese office for
almost eight years now and I have been to the top of the card and then
all the way back to the middle. Built up again and brought down
again. I am just happy that they invite me back.



Some
people are reading this wondering how it can take me over 4200 words to
start talking about baseball. Well, spring training is here and I am
excited about the chances of the Phillies repeating as World champions.



Locking
up the team in multi-year contracts is going to help these guys grow
even more together. You look at the dynasty’s of the pre-free agent era
and one of the reasons teams won multiple championships is because they
played together year after year. They were a well oiled machine.



What
does get on my nerves is watching this piece of shit Manny Ramirez turn
down contract offer after contract offer. In these awful economic
times, $25 million is not enough for him for one year? What is wrong
with this guy? Has he become so out of touch with reality that he
should be honored that one team would actually even offer it. I don’t
see the Yankees, Angels, or any other big market team offering him the
same. It’s an awful time for this guy to be making demands like this
because who is it going to effect is the middle class people that are
trying to buy tickets. Bobby Abreu wanted $16 million a year and he has
the numbers to justify it but signed for $8 million. I have yet to hear
him complain. I was never a Manny fan because I think the way he plays
the game shows kids that you can lolly-gag 60% of the time and be such
a brat that you force a team to trade you. This is why there are guys
like JD Drew in the league. But like JD Drew and Chipper Jones, Manny
Ramirez makes my list of players I will never pay to see. I hope other
people feel that way too.



Now
let’s get to A-Rod. I am sure all the haters love the fact that he
admitted to taking steroids in 2003. When did baseball players become
perfect? And why are we so hung up on it? Are these guys our fathers,
mothers, brothers, or sisters? Wives, girlfriends, sons, or daughters?
No. These are grown men who make bad decisions. How many independent
wrestlers do you think try steroids so that they may get a shot at the
WWE or TNA? Do you think that they inject it with the thought that they
want to cheat the system? Sure, you can say that baseball and
pro-wrestling are totally different and they are but the concept is the
same: Pressure. A-Rod, Bonds, Giambi, JC Romero, and others have taken
these drugs for OUR benefit. The better condition they are in, the
better they entertain us. And the more they entertain us, the more
money they make. It’s no different then wrestling. Do you think that I
haven’t thought about taking steroids so that my body gets more
cosmetic and thus make more money? Everyday. Because with my genetics
and lack of will power in my diet, that is what it would take.



Baseball
players are human. All I expect out of them is to play hard and be nice
to fans. I don’t care how much weed they smoke, girls they have affairs
with, or steroids they inject. They don’t need my judgment. I wish
sports was 100% clean. I wish the economy wasn’t in the shitter. I wish
that people would be nice to each other. It’s not a perfect
world. Baseball is an escape for people, we don’t need to keep hearing
the negative things. Is there anything out there that we are not trying
to kill? Pessimism has take over this country instead of optimism. What
a shame.


myspace.com/prideofthemask

[DUKE NUKEM]

wow thanks for the read Ryan