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Ed Chuman was dying when I first met him. This was 1999. Yesterday he finally finished the process of leaving us. It was not a surprise. We all knew we would get the phone call some day. But, of course, that didn’t make it any easier to hear. Our friend was gone and all we had left were our memories. We did a quick ten bell salute for him at the Mach 1 Wrestling event last night after David Marquez got on the mic and briefly explained to the fans in Anaheim just who this Chicago legend was that we were mourning. We lost a good man, a good promoter and most importantly, a good friend.
I’m not kidding when I say that Ed was dying when I met him. He had an oxygen tank with tubes in his nose… and a cigarette in his hand. This was a site that I saw on more than one occasion over the next decade. I’m not the only one, including Ed himself, who was expecting him to accidentally blow up one day. He had so many illnesses and health scares that I couldn’t even really say what was most wrong with him. There were several times that I was informed that “this is probably it” for Eddie and I would call or email him to offer support and send love, but basically to say goodbye.
The last time I did this was about a year ago and I was sick of it. I told him something to the account of “Eddie, I don’t believe it and I’m not having it. After all this time I realize now that you are indestructible and you will never die!” His response was as Chuman as it gets, “Ah s@&% kid! I sure hope that’s not true! Another decade of not dying is gonna kill me!” Eddie was comfortable with his own mortality. He knew his time would come and he was as ready for it as one could be. He also knew that he was loved. No one can be ready to go, but Ed was as prepared as you could hope for.
I could tell a ton of Ed Chuman stories. I’m sure for the next few weeks that you will hear several people tell their own and I am going to enjoy reading and hearing them as well. The one Ed Chuman story that I want to tell would seem to be more about someone else, but to me it’s really about Eddie. Sorry to those few fans I have who are used to me being mean and heartless. You may want to stop reading now.
In June of 2006 my father passed away less than two years after I lost my mother to lung cancer (kids – don’t smoke, for realz). Shortly after the funeral I had to return to Chicago to do one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. I joined a couple of my brothers in cleaning out our parent’s house of 25 years. Heart wrenching doesn’t begin to cover it and everyone I have talked to who had to go through this process has said the same thing. It was as emotionally draining as anything I could imagine. It was way worse than the funerals and wakes and at the time I didn’t think that was even possible. I had friends come over and take me out to try and cheer me up, but not much was really helping. Since I was going to be in Chicago for a while I finally decided that I was going to call Eddie and try to have lunch with him. His response, “F%#& lunch! Wanna have diner with the Iron Sheik?”
My diner with the Iron Sheik is the kind of thing that defines “you had to be there.” I’ve told several people about it and they all sit and stare with wonderment as I recall the tale of that evening. The Iron Sheik is, above all else, a performer. What he longs for more than anything is an audience and that night he had a captive one. The dynamic of that diner was amazing. Sheik sat at the head of a long table. On his right was “the office” of Ed Chuman and myself. Ed had introduced me as being from the New Japan office in LA, which I was, so Sheik immediately liked me. “I almost always wind up work for Mr. Baba, but every time Sheiky work for Mr. Inoki (Eye-A-Know-Keyz) he treat Sheiky very, very good!” To Sheik’s left was his audience. Four young local wrestlers sat with eyes and ears wide open and jaws dropped even wider as Sheiky regaled us for about three hours with various stories of why he hated everyone who ever crossed his path.
What made the evening so amazing to me was that Sheik kept treating the situation like he, Ed and I were on the dais and the “kids” were in the crowd. He kept turning to Ed and me and winking, nodding, elbowing like we were in on his stories. Of course we knew that so and so was a no-good, son of a this and that. And clearly, we were already aware never to trust this person and that that person was less than dirt. It got to the point where the kids would throw out names and Sheik would look at us, throw his hands up in agreement, and then explain why this new name was the worst human who ever lived. This went on and on and never got old for a single second.
Sheik was in rare form and all Ed and I had to do was sit back and soak it in. I won’t share Sheik’s actual stories because A. as nicely as I can say it, they were not meant for you and I respect that and B. because this is a family friendly website and there is very little I could get away with actually telling. Suffice as to say, it was a surreal experience that I will never, ever forget. As the evening wound down and Sheik had explained why this latest person was even worse than the 304 that he talked about before him, Ed stopped Sheik and said “Sheiky, I gotta ask. Is there anybody in wrestling that you DID like?”
Sheik smiled wider than ever and said “Skeiky love them all! Wrestling is family! Only family can piss you off so!” And everyone laughed because he was right. Sheik wouldn’t tell so many stories with such ferocity if he didn’t genuinely care about all the people he was talking about. It was quite the fitting commentary for me as well as I was dealing with the loss of my father who, at times, had frustrated me to no end, yet loved me unconditionally.
As I said my goodbyes I wanted to thank Ed so much. Before I could even get the words out he smiled at me and said “You’re welcome kid!” It meant the world to me that Eddie brought me with, put me over and gave me an experience that I would never forget. I was in probably the worst emotional place I had ever been in and Eddie gift-wrapped a once in a lifetime evening that pulled me out of my funk.
Ed Chuman was there for me when I needed a friend. I don’t know what higher praise I could give him.
Ed, if they get the internet in heaven; we love you, we miss you, we will see you again…
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Hello Onionheads and welcome back to the Vander Zone. Right into the Vander Zone!
Let me start by saying that if I never hear the song “Danger Zone” by Kenny Loggins again it will be too soon. Several Australian residents of NWA House decided that December was going to be the “December Zone” during which time they were going to watch the movie Top Gun or at least blast the theme song while in the car… EVERY… SINGLE… DAY!!!!
…sigh…
Oh, NWA House. As I briefly explained in my last blog, I am more than just the best manager in professional wrestling – which I am – but I also work in the office for NWA Pro Wrestling. One of the things that I do is run NWA House in lovely San Bernardino, CA. I play Mrs. Garrett to the various wrestlers who have come to us from across the globe. Wait… you seriously don’t get that “Facts of Life” reference do you… go look it up on Wikipedia! Damn… I’m old.
Over the past three years, wrestlers from across the U.S. as well as Canada, Ireland, France, India, England, Louisiana (technically a part of the U.S., but well… you know) and Australia – especially Australia – have come to stay at NWA House. They train at Jesse Hernandez’s world renown School of Hard Knoxx and sometimes at the AWS or Mach 1 schools. They also get the opportunity to wrestle, if spots are available, on the plethora of wrestling cards here in Southern California.
I have always believed that nothing teaches wrestling like wrestling. Getting matches under your belt against a variety of opponents is the one of the best ways to develop as a wrestler. Marcius Pitts of NWA Pro’s EPW in Perth, Western Australia is a prime example of this. In over two years wrestling before coming to America, “Muffins” as his friends call him, wrestled a total of 21 matches. In his first three-month stay at NWA House he wrestled 22 total matches, plus a couple battle royals. You didn’t have to be an expert to see the world of difference in him in just 90 days. The different training plus the constant barrage of new opponents and styles, really helped him develop into a complete fighter. Now, Muffins is the exception to almost every rule that has ever existed… pausing to let those who know him take that in… and not everyone who comes here gets that many matches so PLEASE don’t think that is a normal total. However, we do our best to get the visiting wrestlers around as much as we can.
Now I don’t want you to think that NWA House is for just anybody. In order to come here you have to be an experienced and active wrestler. While all the schools out here will take new students, NWA House itself is for those already in the business looking to hone and advance their skills as well as get exposure and make contacts. Plus, if you’re lucky and you come at the right time, Dave Marquez might take you to Disneyland! If you’re not lucky, you may wake up to find Willie Mack or Brandon Parker sleeping on the couch. Yeah… that happens… a lot…
NWA House is the opportunity to eat, sleep and drink wrestling 24/7. About 30-40 wrestlers have come out and spent anywhere from a week to 8 months. I can honestly say that if you put the effort and the time into the system we have here and you do not leave a more polished and capable wrestler, then you simply didn’t try.
It is also the opportunity to witness the absurd. Here are just a few things that have made NWA House so ridiculous…. Sigh…
- The time Chance Prophet went insane from being stuck in the middle of Bobby Marshall and Drake Wallace’s “Hanger Wars” where literally dozens and dozens of plastic hangers became flying weapons. This was shortly after I came home one night and found the couch in the stairwell after “Couch Wars”
- “Chase Patrick Day” when Chase had the spectacular ideas of a late night trip to IHoP and an even later night road trip to Vegas! Every year from noon on Halloween to noon on November 1st is to be known as “Chase Patrick Day!”
- “The Twinkie Challenge” who can eat 20 Twinkies the fastest or the most Twinkies in 10 minutes! The winner only ate like 4 and a half. Apparently Australians don't like Twinkies after all. And no, I did not participate... but I enjoyed the leftover Twinkies!
- The time we threw a surprise birthday party for Chris Kadillak and squeezed over 40 people into the living room. Later in the evening, Icarus Eagle (who, like me, doesn’t drink) chugged a beer boot full of milk. It stayed down less than 30 seconds. Luckily I made sure the path was clear and the door was open to the back porch (note: human’s cannot digest that much milk at once. Don’t try this at home kids!)
- A drunk and unnamed Australian first trying to sled, then doing lucha rolls down the stairs while texting his girlfriend back home, knocking down pictures and eventually violating my poor, defenseless Christmas tree
- Damian Slater’s undying love for the old lady that came around selling Mexican corn out of a shopping cart
- The B.B. gun incidents. Sigh… I am still finding those things all over the house!
- The English kid Jamie and his inability to do squats. Wow. Some stories just cannot be done justice in a blog.
- The time Sean Waltman spent a week hanging out between shows. For six months I had neighborhood kids knocking on the door asking “Yo! Is X-Pac home?”
- Nelson Creed building a “Grapefruit Catcher” on the back porch
- Gregory Sharpe’s cheesecake obsession and David “Flex” Frazier’s continuing war against shirtwear
- Waking up and finding Joe “DK” Murphy on my couch. “Joe, what are you doing?” “Oh, Kevin Escondido is the best coolest guy ever! We hung out all last night talking. Man is he cool! Then he insisted that I stay here cuz I was too drunk to drive home! Great guy! Kevin Escondido is awesome!” “Do you mean Chris Escobar?” “Oh… is that his name. I like him!”
- The endless, endless viewings of the “Sexy Chino Battle Royal”
- When Lando punched stuff into his wrist computer and Lobot woke up. Wait… that wasn’t NWA House… My bad.
Suffice to say, there are plenty more stories. I’m sure that the moment I post this I will think of 5 more things I should have mentioned. NWA House has taken on a life of its own and everyone who has come through here has their own set of stories. If you are interested in learning from the best and want information on NWA House, write to
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and they will get the information to you.
I have to go now, I think Bobby Marshall is trying to bring back "Knife Bowling" Sigh...
Until I blog again… Go Cubs!
C.E.V.P.
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Welcome back Onionheads.
2010 has started out with a head cold and migraine headache combo that has pretty much left me in bed since the year began. I hope everyone out there has had a better start to their decade. Except you Blue Demon. I wish you stubbed toes, head lice and tainted poultry. But fear not, things are starting to get better. Andre Dawson is in the MLB Hall of Fame and the Buffalo Sabres lead their division by 7 points at mid-season.
But I digress. Now back to what you are here for, my incoherent ramblings on wrestling. Specifically the handing out of grades to the four NWA Pro associates here in sunny Southern California. If you haven’t read part one of this, click the link on the side and do so now. We’ll wait… Oh, you’re back? Let’s continue, shall we?
Mach One Wrestling
F is for Flexibility
I spoke to M1W owner Jon Ian and he would prefer if F stood for Funky Fresh as in “Funky fresh dressed to impress, ready to party!” You can tell I’m a bit sick right now as I’m making MC Lyte references. But in reality there is no better word to describe what Mach One has been about than flexibility. Including the Long Beach Comicon and the weekly “Friday Fight Night” events that followed, M1W has used 52 different fighters in under three months. There are 10 more getting their shots in the next two weeks as the tournament gets underway to crown the first M1W Tag Team Champions.
Think about that for a second; 62 different wrestlers in just over three months. Sure, there are several wrestlers who appear on the majority of M1W events. But Jon Ian has bent over backwards to give as many different men and women as possible an opportunity to prove what they can do.
It is no big secret that I do more than just manage Adam Pearce and Joey Ryan. I work here in the office for NWA Pro Wrestling and I help in many ways including the development of the younger wrestlers. The way I see it, I am biased towards Adam and Joey, but the better the NWA does on a whole, the more money there is for me to make. Jon Ian and I have a standing agreement that on any of his cards, I can add a match if I have some guys that could use the exposure or the ring time, or if there were visiting wrestlers in town looking for work. EWF, AWS and SCP have always been open to this and I couldn’t tell you the amount of times they have gladly added fighters to an event for the NWA. But they have also had occasions where they were simply so full (and I am not saying this is a bad thing) that they couldn’t add a match if they wanted. Jon and Franchise Josh (Jon’s right hand man) always make sure that their cards are set up so that, if need be, there can always be that one more match so an opportunity isn’t missed. That is flexibility. That is really, really helpful when you are developing as many talented wrestlers as we are lucky to have here in SoCal.
SoCal Pro Wrestling
F is for FUN!
I don’t know if I’ve made it clear through my words or actions over the past 8 years, but I have a lot of fun out there as a manager. I get frustrated. I want to hit people. I do hit people. They hit back very, very hard. But for the most part, since I manage the best wrestlers in the world (who are also two of my best friends), how could I NOT have fun? And yet somehow, whenever I head down the 15 Freeway there is an even bigger smile on my face. I simply have a blast at SoCal Pro shows.
A large part of it is because I got my start in San Diego and the shows down there remind me of a simpler time. A simpler Vander Pyle, if you can believe it. A time before Babi Slymm knocked out my accent. Before that stretch when I had blonde hair. Before World Titles came into the picture. SoCal Pro is a very professionally run organization, with some outstanding fighters and a very loyal fanbase. But deep down, the kid in me just wants to leap out when I’m there and dance a jig.
Maybe it’s SCP owner Jeff Dino and his sideburns. Seriously, try not to stare at them! They are as hypnotic as Drew Brees’ birthmark. Maybe it’s the Dynamic Brothers and the fact that after all this time I don’t even know their names. I just refer to them as 1 and 2 depending on which one is closer to me. Maybe it’s Tommy Wilson, who has been there in San Diego since I started, and all the NSFW stories he has told over the years. Maybe it’s guys like Herb or Troy Stone or the ooooooooover-enthusiastic Jeff Resnick (he’s like a puppy on Jolt Cola!). I feel like I am shafting SCP a bit by not really explaining my grade, but how about this - I DARE you to go to one of their events and not have fun. Not possible.
Ok, that’s all for now. Next time a track-by-track discussion on why Maceo Parker’s Live On Planet Groove is the greatest album of all-time. Or, maybe something else.
Until I blog again… Go Cubs!
C.E.V.P.
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Hello Onionheads and welcome to my blog.
While I intend to touch on a wide variety of subjects with my little corner of the interweb here, I figured it would be best to start off by talking about what I know better than anyone, the Southern California wrestling scene. Yesterday I attended and did commentary for “United Forces 2” a joint venture between NWA Pro associates AWS and EWF. The main event was an over 40 person Battle Royal that also featured representatives from our other two SoCal promotions, SCP and M1W. It was a fantastic event with lots of fun and surprises as well as some damn fine wrestling.
Each of the four SoCal promotions has their own flavor. They have their own history and traditions similar to how the Dodgers, Angels, Padres, Giants and A’s are all a part of MLB in California, yet each team has it’s own personality. The four NWA groups in SoCal are very different from one another. Our fifth California group, Northern California’s Pro Wrestling Revolution and that wacky Gabe Ramirez, is another story for another day. But before I get into my description of the differences of the companies, I am going to give them all a grade… and each one of them gets an F!
I know what you are thinking. How can they all fail in my eyes? Well that’s why you are dumb and I am Vander Pyle. You are thinking an F as in a traditional grading scale. I think outside the box. To me, they each get an F because there is a word that starts with F that perfectly describes each associate.
EWF – Empire Wrestling Federation
F stands for Family
I realize that I look at wrestling differently than other people, but the thing I notice the most at EWF events, is the presence of family. I see Jesse Hernandez and his wife, son, daughter-in-law and grandson (who is still afraid of me after I scared him 2 years ago) at each and every show making sure that everything runs smoothly. I see Tim Lovato’s mother sitting in the crowd trying to be supportive but holding her breath and cringing at every single thing Tim does. I see Miss Rose and her gang of grandkids sitting in the front row – sometimes cheering, sometimes booing, but always having a great time. I see announcer Lalo Gonzalez’s two young daughters screaming their lungs out as they sit with the wives, mothers, girlfriends, sisters, brothers, etc of the wrestlers in the crowd, allowing Lalo to concentrate on his job while knowing that his children are safe. I see Chris Kadillak do his “Hi Tiff!” leg drop as he shows his wife that even in the middle of battle he is still thinking of her. I see cameraman and announcer Timmy and Larry Pena… well, being Timmy and Larry Pena! I see “The Moms,” a group of the mothers/wives of wrestlers, referees and trainees who are always there to support and lend a hand in any way they can.
We try to make all NWA sanctioned events family friendly. EWF, however, goes above and beyond to do this and I dare say there is no group that defines family friendly better than the one that Jesse Hernandez and Cincinnati Red have assembled. But it’s not just the atmosphere they have created. It is the actual families as well as the large virtual family that makes EWF what it is. Besides, would Jesse call everyone “Brothaaaa!” if it wasn’t one big family there?
AWS – Alternative Wrestling Show
F stands for Freedom
It has taken a while for me to say this, but I actually like the fact that AWS is outdoors. I know its kinda silly to say that. Sometimes it gets way to cold or way to hot for wrestling. I know that shows have been rained out. I know that there is an abnormal amount of stray cats running through the locker room. Shanesphotos has told me how hard it is to get good shots with his main light source, the sun, constantly changing throughout the course of the show or not being out at all for night shows. There are the occasional spiders to deal with as well. But in all honesty, I think that the AWS Arena/Parking Lot is one of the things that makes AWS what it is. It allows for the freedom and the creativity that has made AWS so great for so long.
When AWS Kingpin Bart Kapitzke first started running, he wanted to make an alternative to the wrestling scene that already existed. That is why the name fit so perfectly. AWS was not your typical wrestling show and that is one constant that has continued to this day. And while many things have been completely improvised, it has been the freedom that Bart has given to everyone that has allowed AWS to be such a creative outlet for so many wrestlers. Human Tornado and Scorpio Sky want to do the Michael Jackson “Beat It” dance at the beginning of their match? OK! Adam Pearce and Babi Slymm want to do AWS Idol where they sing before the match that crowns the first AWS Champion? OK! And now that we are outside there have been; water balloon fights; people hit with and fighting in the back of trucks; wrestlers thrown into port-a-johns; pinfalls on top of the roof of the AWS store; wrestlers going to get tacos in the middle of matches; wrestlers running away and getting into cars and driving off; enough room for a 3-Ring, 60-Man, World War III Battle Royal; Lil Cholo (who is NOT little anymore damnit) jumping off the top of the roof onto completely innocent managers who were doing nothing more than cheering on Al Katrazz! And don’t even get me started on the L.A. F’ers and the Leaning Tower of Lucha!
AWS has always allowed and encouraged creativity. I mean… could the phenomenon that is Sexy Chino really have worked anywhere else? Now when we show up and there is no roof, there really is the feeling that the sky is the limit. Awwwww…
Wow. I didn’t think my blog was going to be this cheesy. Oh well, it’s my blog and I’ll write what I want. When it is time to be mean, cruel and evil I shall come through, have no fear. Next time, I will continue giving Fs out as I turn my attention onto SoCal Pro and Mach 1 Wrestling.
Until I blog again… Go Cubs!
C.E.V.P.
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