Monday, June 10, 2013

Lucha Libre/FSW Joint Show Has Money Issues

Masters, one of the aggrieved parties from Saturday
Photo Credit: WWE.com
Via PW Ponderings via The Site That Shall Not Be Linked

Fighting Spirit Wrestling co-promoted a show with a fledgling lucha libre promotion known as Amaro Productions for a show this past weekend. I couldn't tell you how the show went while in the ring, but apparently, there was a huge blowup backstage regarding money. The first report stated no one got paid, and then a follow-up stated that FSW promoter Joel Maximo cut checks for all of his talent as well as Blue Demon, Jr., which left the Amaro guys, which included Brian Cage, Chris Masters, and an in-attendance-but-not-wrestling Andy Leavine (winner of the most recent iteration of Tough Enough), unpaid.

One report, which again, this entire thing is a "rumors, hearsay, and conjecture" type deal so take it with a grain of salt, had Leavine and others blocking the entrance and holding the actual ring hostage. Amaro Prod. blames FSW and Maximo for stealing part of the gate, while Maximo claims no financial responsibility for the Amaro wrestlers, and that there was no theft. Rather, Maximo took the whole gate because he claims Amaro stiffed him on the cost of the arena. Regardless, the whole thing stinks to high heaven.

I don't know what the lesson is here though. I would make a blanket statement that if you can't afford to pay guys period, especially from across the country, then don't book them, but that's a given, right? I guess this is another chalk mark on the "bookers behaving badly" side of the ledger. That, and well, anyone who wants to business with anyone else should probably have a better vetting process at the very least.