"In order to get from
Point A to Point B, you need to map out each step that you will need
to take to get there.
The hardest part is taking the first step." - Tony Robbins
Growing
up in Latrobe, Pennsylvania in the 80’s and 90’s, professional
wrestling was a huge part of my life. It wasn’t exactly considered ‘cool’ to
be a wrestling fan in those days, but I never let anyone else tell me what
I should or shouldn’t like. I made that decision for myself. I was
(and am) a huge pro wrestling fan. From the first time I saw Andre The Giant
on late-night TV Wrestling, I was hooked. From Hulk Hogan beating The Iron
Sheik for the championship, into the explosion of wrestling’s popularity
of the 80’s, I was into all of it. Once wrestling started losing it’s
popularity in the early 90’s, It didn’t loose popularity with
me. I never missed a Saturday morning, a Monday night or the occasional
Friday and Saturday Night. During this time, my fascination with championship
belts began. It was February 5, 1988 and Hulk Hogan was wresting Andre The
Giant on national TV in the rematch of the century. Hulk did a prematch
interview wearing the heavyweight belt, but when he came to the ring, he
had a brand new, completely redesigned belt which has become known as The
Winged Eagle. Earl Hebner (posing as Dave Hebner) prominently displayed
the championship up for grabs. Myself and best friend would rewind
and pause this part of the show a hundred times to check out the new design. This
was definitely the point for me when I became a belt mark.
My aunt worked
for a bank and she would bring me the scrap computer paper, which in those
days was basically 100 feet of paper, perforated and folded every 11 inches. If
I could find 3 sheets that were still connected, I was golden…just
the right size to draw a Heavyweight Championship belt on, cut out and fit
perfectly around my 11 year old waist! I’ve
searched and searched, but I don’t seem to have any of these original
creations anymore. Gone but not forgotten.
At some point in the late
80’s, my parents decided we needed some
new aluminum siding and a new roof on the house. Little did I know
that, once again, one person’s scrap would be my treasure. The
scrap siding could be sanded down and have a silver look to it. The
rubber roofing that goes on the roof before the shingles is a PERFECT simulation
of leather (at least it was to me). I started cranking belts out left
and right. My first belt was pattered after the then World Wrestling
Federation® Tag Team belts. I picked that one because Ax & Smash
were the champs at the time and they were on the cover of a magazine posing
with the belt, a perfect picture to go by. To me, this was the ultimate;
a belt, not made out of paper, with a metal plate attached (with hot glue,
which I found out doesn’t stick to rubber very well) this was
just like the real thing. John’s Roofing in Latrobe, the company
that put our roof on, was kind enough to frequently drop off scraps to me
to use for more belts.
I eventually moved up in the world and would use brass
door kickplates for the metal which gave the belts an even more ‘authentic’ look.
Instead of just painting on the artwork, I would use a handheld metal engraver
and engrave the art by hand. I went through about 4 engravers a year. I
needed to wear ear protection because of the noise they would make. My
parents probably wished they had ear protection as well! As you
can see most of my belt designs were not very original, just replicas of
the King’s creations.
As my high school years ended and college
years began, my love of pro wrestling did not change. I still never
missed a Saturday, Sunday or Monday of quality wrestling programming. I majored
in Graphic Design which would later play a HUGE role in being able to create
my belts. During my freshman
year of college, I truly realized for the first time the meaning of fate. I
tell everyone this phrase, ‘Everything happens for a reason, Even if
you don't know why or don't even consider why.” Of all the colleges
that I had to pick from and I could have went to, my college chose to have
an indy wrestling show as a fundraiser. I knew about the indies, but
up to this point, I never knew they were prevalent in the Pittsburgh area. Now,
if this weren’t good enough, a good friend of mine lived next to a
kid who was best friends with the referee for the wrestling show coming to
our college. (another important lesson in life - It's not as important WHAT
you know as it is WHO you know) This referee introduced me to the promoter
Rob Mazzie. Rob wrestled briefly in Smokey Mountain Wrestling as The
Mummy. Rob is a great guy. This show was my first meeting with
some guys that would become very good friends to this day. Lord Zoltan – Ken
Jugan, a jobber from 81-83 WWWF, T. Rantula, Cody Michaels (former USWA Tag
Champ w/Jeff Jarrett) Preston Steele and others. Also appearing on
this show were Superfly Jimmy Snuka, the always undertaining Virgil and a
masked star know as The Ninja-Turtle who later gained fame by becoming WCW
referee Mark Curtis – Brian Hildebran. I talked to Rob about breaking
in to the business. I’d always wanted to be a manager. He told
me of couple shows that were coming up in the area. I never knew there were
so many indy shows just in Pittsburgh!
I went to the shows that Rob told me
about, where I met fellow wrestling manager Notorious Norm Connors (current
promoter of IWC wrestling out of Pittsburgh). Norm and I hit it off
right away. We became great
friends. He and Lord Zoltan took me on the road with them to West Virginia,
Ohio and every po-dunk town in between. We had a great time and I broke
into the wrestling business. I was still wanting to make belts and
always took the time to marvel at any belts that the wrestlers that I got
to meet on the road would have.
I was able to commentate, manage, referee,
ring announce and eventually promote shows. This spawned another business – www.ProWrestlingPosters.com While
I promoted wrestling shows for many years, I was able to easily make all
of my own posters, tickets and flyers because I worked in the printing industry. Most
promoters don’t have that luxury and it can be a major pain and expense. I
streamlined the process for promoters so they can easily purchase quality
posters & tickets without the hassle they once previously had.
I had done
a little bit of everything in the business. I still wanted to make belts
though. A very good friend of mine once told me, “You
can talk about wanting to do something forever and never do anything, or
you can stop talking and just do it.” It wasn’t easy, I
had to do months of research and make a lot of mistakes along the way, but
I eventually came up with a streamlined process of making my championship
belts. The relationships that I built over the 10 years that I had
been in the wrestling business definitely helped. Thanks to people like The
Blue Meanie, Steve Corino and Beth Phoenix, their word of mouth advertising
afforded me the ability to kick-start my business and have it grow to where
it has today.
"When someone tells you that you can’t
do something,
use that
as motivation to prove them wrong." - Andrew Lazarchik