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Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Supreme Chapionship Wrestling drops AWA!
This is a warning to anyone considering using the AWA sanctioning. It also is to let people know where we stand and how the AWA operates.
In 2003 I received a letter from AWA promising me that if I join I would only have to a pay $199 a year and by getting in on the “ground floor” this would be a “lock in rate” that would never change. They made promises that they could get talent here for a discounted rate and dropped a few names. They made promises that if someone were to “invade my territory” that they would be here and co-promote using their stars until the problem was solved. They talked of their lineage to the old AWA mentioning Lawler, Henning, and Bockwinkle. All the while claiming to be the legit grandson of Verne Gagne, and claiming that he was indeed a legit Gagne.
This all sounded good, but really all I wanted was the legal right to the logo. Early into my sanctioning, I discovered that the talent at a discounted rate was a lie. The names they mentioned Honky-Tonk Man, King Kong Bundy, and Larry Zybisco just to name a few all gave me a price when I called them, but when I told the I was an AWA sanctioned territory they laughed and actually a few of them actually said they would want MORE money from an AWA territory. Zybisco went into to detail how Mr. “Gagne” was a scam artist. I guess I kind of knew this, but didn’t care.
In about 2005, I had a problem with an outlaw show coming in, tearing my flyers down, and replacing them with their own. I called “Mr. Gagne” who told me that I just need to keep providing a quality show and I will overcome the other promotion. I did, he was right, but that was not what our agreement said he would do in this situation.
Twice AWA has ran their “big shows” in Indianapolis and didn’t invite any members of AWA-Supreme to the shows, which is ridiculous since we were the Indiana Sanctioned AWA.
2005 sanctioning fees came out and they $250 not the $199 I was promised. 2006 it went up to $300, and 2007 $350, and now they are asking for $500 in 2008. Not a chance! This guy’s real name is Dale Ganger, which is where the middle initial in his gimmick name comes from (Dale R. Gagne). I was later to find out that Dale had no rights to the lineage to the old AWA, all he has is copyright to the logo. Through all this, I had no heat with him. Even if he was a con man, and even if he was trying to “work the workers”. Everything this man had promised was a lie, but I really liked that logo.
I called Dale yesterday, after he had called me several times. He was calling me leaving messages wanting me to re-sanction for 2008. I was calling him to tell him that I was NOT going to re-sanction. I told him why I didn’t re-sanction; I was nice and polite about it. He even said if I change my mind, AWA would welcome us back anytime. Through the years, we were part of AWA; he emailed and called me often to tell me how great we were doing, and how we were a staple in the AWA being the longest running sanctioned promotion. Now saying all this here is where the heat starts. Dale had the balls today to post a message on AWA-Supreme’s website saying that they released us, as if it was HIS CHOICE. It was MY choice to drop the AWA, NOT the AWA’s choice to drop us
For those who didn’t know, the rights to the old AWA history belongs to Vince McMahon and The WWE. Not to Dale Gagner. If you are an associate with AWA, I strongly suggest you put a lot of thought into it every year before you send your sanctioning fees in. I know that if you just want to be a part of “something bigger” or sanctioned by a “world-wide sanctioning body” that there are better ones. Cheaper ones.
I think sanctioning is a great idea. I think having a “World Champion” representing several promotions is a good idea. I have looked into another, cheaper, and newer sanctioning body. I will talk more about this later, once I get the details.
