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HOT NEWS: Exclusive - Interoffice ROH memo obtained exclusively by PWTorch - Gabe Sapolsky story cracked open
Oct 28, 2008 - 8:21:30 PM
By Wade Keller, Torch editor
PWTorch.com has obtained a top secret interoffice memo sent by Gabe Saplsky to ROH owner Cary Silken. We present this exclusive breaking revelation below...
ROH INTEROFFICE MEMO:
TO: Cary Silken
FROM: Gabe Sapolsky
SUBJECT: Publicity stunt idea
DATE: October 20, 2008
TIME: 4:05 a.m.
Hey Cary,
As you know, I've been pretty worn out lately. Maybe, dare I say, even a tad bit moody. This has been a long run of brilliant booking I've produced, but even brilliant minds fatigue after six-plus straight years.
You've hinted in recent months that I could use a couple months off. I must admit you're right. But I can't totally walk away. Nobody could do what I do, obviously, and who knows what shape the company would be in after missing me for three months.
However, maybe if I cut back my hours, stopped going on the road, and just oversaw booking from home for a few months, we could make it work. It'd give me a chance recharge a bit. Rather than announce I'm on vacation, though, let's have some fun with it. Let's turn this into a p.r. stunt!
Interest in ROH is down right now. Message boards are pretty down on the product right now. Fans just don't appreciate us like they should. I have to be honest, I think there's a sense our fans have that I'm burned out, and they're pre-determining that I'm not producing as good of a product as I once did. They're not giving us a chance these days. So here's my idea: How about you fire me and hire... uh, say, Adam Pearce as my replacement. Then let's change the direction of ROH into something some will like and some might hate, just try something to see if it sticks. Let's announce we're taking ROH back to the 1970s! It'll be like when Bill Watts took over WCW and immediately banned moves off the top rope and ripped the blue mats off the ringside area.
We can cut back on the number of wrestlers we use. Adam can book "his guys" using "his style." Some will like it, but some will hate it.
Then, after two months, give or take, I'll come riding in on a white horse with a core group of wrestlers who had been left off cards by Pearce and we'll be the invading force to try to wrest control of ROH from Pearce.
I have more thoughts on this I'd like to discuss on the phone. A key to this working is to keep wrestlers out of the loop, though. In fact, I'd like to know what people really think of me, and if they think I'm fired, it'd be interesting to see how many people come out against me publicly. At least I would get to know who my real friends are and those who just kiss up to me because I'm in control of their destiny.
We'll also have to work the wrestling media. Not that we haven't done it before. They'll bite and really help us sell this storyline.
Like I said, let's talk on the phone about more details, but drop me a line and let me know what you think. I think it's the spark we could use right now to get us on the covers of the newsletters and back on the radar of the websites.
Gabe
The Hot News has been a staple of PWTorch dating back to the first edition of the Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter in October 1987. It's a "breaking news" format that presents plausible and sometimes implausible situations under the temporary guise of actual news with a satirical bent, sometimes to just have fun and other times to illustrate an editorial point and irony.
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