Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel
No pro wrestler may be more eager to see Sicko than Carlos “Konnan” Ashenoff.
The new documentary finds acclaimed director Michael Moore taking a critical look at the U.S. health-care system, a view Ashenoff shares after his recent medical problems. While preparing to undergo hip-replacement surgery last year, Ashenoff was told he also would need a kidney transplant.
Unable to procure health insurance independently or through Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, Ashenoff traveled to Mexico for his hip procedure and will do the same once a kidney donor is finalized. Ashenoff said his hip replacement cost $30,000 in Monterrey, rather than the $80,000 to $90,000 price tag he was quoted in the U.S., and that he will save even more on his kidney transplant.
“This just shows how much corporate greed there is,” Ashenoff, 43, said. “You see it at all levels. They prey on the fact people are sick, and nail you for as much as they can.”
Such outspokenness has helped make Ashenoff one of pro wrestling’s most controversial yet popular characters. When TNA wrestling told Ashenoff it wouldn’t cover the cost of his kidney replacement, longtime wrestling fans Anthony DeBlasi and Georgiann Makropoulos spearheaded a fundraising drive that has generated more than $14,000 for his medical expenses. The Mexican-based Asistencia Asesor’a y Administracion promotion, where Ashenoff works in the front office on weekends, will pick up most of the remaining costs.
Another wrestling fan has helped Ashenoff find a potential donor who is being tested within the next two weeks for surgery in early July.
“All I can say is, ‘Wow!’ ” said Ashenoff, who isn’t sure what triggered his kidney problems. “All the sacrifices I’ve made – the holidays I’ve missed because I had to work, the times I got screwed over and lied to by promoters – this made it worth it. The fans came through for me when my own company (TNA) didn’t.”
TNA, which lent Ashenoff the money for his hip surgery, has continued to book Konnan on television tapings and pay-per-view shows despite his health woes. A wheelchair-bound Ashenoff has sizzled on the microphone during interviews to promote his LAX tag-team of Nelson “Homicide” Erazo and Shawn Hernandez on TNA Impact (7 p.m. Thursdays, Spike TV).
But despite LAX’s popularity, TNA has toned down its push of the act amid concerns Ashenoff ultimately may be leaving for full-time work for AAA. Fresh off a red-hot feud with Team 3-D (aka The Dudley Boys), LAX is relegated to a midcard match against Terry “Rhino” Gerin and Brandon “Senshi” Silvestry on Sunday night’s Slammiversary pay-per-view show emanating from Nashville.
“I always thought talent should override (backstage) politics, and obviously it doesn’t,” Ashenoff said. “We’re at a crossroads. TNA can use us and draw the Latino audience they so desperately need, plus feature someone that got popular. You’d think businesswise it would behoove them to promote us. But right now, they think I may leave so they’re really not promoting us like they should.”
After achieving mainstream stardom in Mexico during the early 1990s, Ashenoff returned to the U.S. and had successful stints in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling. Behind the scenes, Ashenoff was influential in bringing high-flying lucha libre performers like current World Wrestling Entertainment star Rey Mysterio into the U.S. grappling scene.
Ashenoff is now trying to organize a pure lucha libre promotion for the U.S. to capitalize on the genre’s popularity among the sizable number of fans that have emigrated from Mexico.
“I’ve always said whoever opens a Latino promotion in the U.S. will be a very rich man,” said the Cuban-born Ashenoff, who was raised in Miami and lives in the San Diego area.
Even with his current health woes, Ashenoff said he hopes to resume wrestling by year’s end. Ashenoff said he would focus on performing in Mexico because “you don’t need to do as much as in the U.S. The Latino population (is) more sympathetic to its heroes as they get older. At this point in my career in Mexico, they just want to be able to say they saw me.”
Fans wanting to contribute to Ashenoff’s medical fund can e-mail getwellkonnan@aol.com for more information.
• Brock Lesnar’s impressive mixed martial arts debut earlier this month on the Dynamite USA pay-per-view show has caught the eye of Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White. Lesnar, a former WWE champion, scored a first-round TKO over judo specialist Min Soo Kim.
“I’m interested in Brock Lesnar and would really love to do something with him,” White said. “He’s an incredible athlete and it would be interesting to see how he would do against the world’s best (fighters).”
• Duff Doyle versus Paul Diamond headlines a Fusion Pro Wrestling show at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Mile High Event Center, 5155 E. 64th Ave., Commerce City. Information: 303-564-8307 or fusionprowrestling.com.
