Post by James Gilmore on Dec 11, 2018 20:40:09 GMT
”THE TIDAL WAVE”
~Issue #2: “In The Beginning, Part II”~
DECEMBER 10, 2018
Written by
JAMES GILMORE
=====
Written by IWF wrestler James Gilmore, The Tidal Wave is a monthly series of columns that will give a raw, real, and uncensored take on his life in and out of the ring. The first three issues of the series, under the collective title In The Beginning,” will focus on his development in the wrestling business, from his behind-the-scenes beginnings to his current IWF run. In part two, he delves into his first taste of success as a tag-team specialist in the now-defunct Redemption Wrestling.
Please note that the opinions expressed by Mr. Gilmore do not, in any way, reflect the views of the Imperial Wrestling Federation and its many employees.
I had an idea in mind to talk about the Fan’s Choice Awards for 2018, but I wanted to talk about something far bigger than a subjective nomination and selection process that, to any wrestler, should not be the determining factor in the success (or decline) of their career.
It’s something much bigger than that.
It’s a little something called ”company value.”
The premise of being successful in pro wrestling comes from two different facets: how you build yourself as a character, and how a promotion sees you. It’s a pretty cut and dry process in theory, but in practice it’s more complex than anything I can begin to describe. IWF Legends like Andrew Jacobsen or Jessica Reed, for example, built themselves on hard work and selflessness at all costs. Others, like Spike Kane, built themselves on pure, ruthless aggression. The company sees those names as marketable the world over, for those are the names that paved the way for it to grow and blossom into what we see today.
You’ve got the Pack, the Best Friends Club, and the Age of Gods creating something special as 2018 slowly, but surely, comes to a close. Yet as I look back further in my life to when my career first took off, I’m reminded of the very principles that Jack Gaither once told me prior to my entering the business full-time six years ago.
“You work your ass off in that ring non-stop, and you hit them HARD in front of the people that watch you every day.”
“You go out there and EARN the right to make noise after taking your whippings like a real man.”
So in 2012 I started working full-time for the St. Louis-based promotion Redemption Wrestling under my former pen name “John Gillmen,” which would later turn into “Johnny Gillmen.” Admittedly, I floundered at first as I tied to adjust to life on the inside. It wasn’t easy at first, adapting to the notion of paying your dues, getting knocked around for nothing else but stale peanuts, and all that good mess. One night while I was sitting in a hotel room, my phone rang; to my shock, it was Tim Bowman on the other end of the line.
I remember that night like it was yesterday.
Timbo and I go way back to the 5th grade. We used to walk to a local Midlothian, Texas video store to try and procure black gumballs from a gumball machine, which meant we’d get free video game rentals. So that night, we started trading barbs over the Cowboys and Texans--I’m a Cowboy fan, he’s a Texan fan--and the thing got louder and louder. At the end...we laughed our asses off, and it was at that moment when I gave him an idea.
On that night during the spring of 2015, the idea of the Grumpy Young Dudes--inspired by the movie Grumpy Old Men--was born.
Timbo and I weren’t wrestlers in the traditional sense. We were hardcore brawlers, and we were supposed to be heels that pulled shit to win matches. We’d snipe back and forth between one another, fooling our opponents into thinking we were coming apart, then we’d shock them with some surprise/devious/accidental move that would score the win for us. When The Sex Pistols’ “No Feelings”--our theme at the time--played, fans knew they were going to be in for a good time. They were supposed to boo us as bad guys, but then...something incredible happened.
They started buying our merchandise.
They started cheering for us--when we were heels, no less.
On October 29, 2015, three years after I entered the ring full-time, Timbo and I became Redemption’s tag-team champions. Sure, having the belts put on us was nice and all that, but for the first time in my own life, I felt as if I had the magic inside of me. Nothing could have made me more prouder to be a wrestler more than stepping into that arena and hearing cheers and boos as our music played. Yet having the belts meant having a great responsibility to build them up and give them a sense of credibility; so we didn’t sit on our butts and get complacent with our run.
We took the ball and ran with it.
We evolved, we rode the wave.
We killed that tag-team division.
And it wouldn’t have happened without that one phone call.
We still held the titles even as Redemption closed for the first time, touring the indy circuit with them and working with some great up-and-coming talent along the way. When Redemption opened its Redux era in 2017, we proved to the brass and ourselves that we were its rightful champions. Sadly, all good things had to come to an end.
After having a combined 157-day reign as ta champs, Redemption closed for good. Timbo and I dropped the belts before the final closure happened, but for us to be considered a great asset to a promotion like Redemption was truly something special. I’m grateful beyond words to have gotten the opportunity to showcase a unique blend of entertainment and physical prowess that, frankly, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to recapture again.
Yet as I embarked on my IWF career, the memories of those days would never escape my mind. Little did I know, however, I was about to enter into the darkest point of my life.
Until next issue...have yourselves a wonderful and blessed Christmas, Hanukkah, or whatever holidays you feel like celebrating.
Next month, part three of “In The Beginning” will focus on James Gilmore’s current run in the Imperial Wrestling Federation. He will also talk about the incident that nearly ended his career and his life, about how he is still villainized to this day by a court of public opinion that refuses to even acknowledge his desire to clean up his image and make his career mean something again.
~Issue #2: “In The Beginning, Part II”~
DECEMBER 10, 2018
Written by
JAMES GILMORE
=====
Written by IWF wrestler James Gilmore, The Tidal Wave is a monthly series of columns that will give a raw, real, and uncensored take on his life in and out of the ring. The first three issues of the series, under the collective title In The Beginning,” will focus on his development in the wrestling business, from his behind-the-scenes beginnings to his current IWF run. In part two, he delves into his first taste of success as a tag-team specialist in the now-defunct Redemption Wrestling.
Please note that the opinions expressed by Mr. Gilmore do not, in any way, reflect the views of the Imperial Wrestling Federation and its many employees.
I had an idea in mind to talk about the Fan’s Choice Awards for 2018, but I wanted to talk about something far bigger than a subjective nomination and selection process that, to any wrestler, should not be the determining factor in the success (or decline) of their career.
It’s something much bigger than that.
It’s a little something called ”company value.”
The premise of being successful in pro wrestling comes from two different facets: how you build yourself as a character, and how a promotion sees you. It’s a pretty cut and dry process in theory, but in practice it’s more complex than anything I can begin to describe. IWF Legends like Andrew Jacobsen or Jessica Reed, for example, built themselves on hard work and selflessness at all costs. Others, like Spike Kane, built themselves on pure, ruthless aggression. The company sees those names as marketable the world over, for those are the names that paved the way for it to grow and blossom into what we see today.
You’ve got the Pack, the Best Friends Club, and the Age of Gods creating something special as 2018 slowly, but surely, comes to a close. Yet as I look back further in my life to when my career first took off, I’m reminded of the very principles that Jack Gaither once told me prior to my entering the business full-time six years ago.
“You work your ass off in that ring non-stop, and you hit them HARD in front of the people that watch you every day.”
“You go out there and EARN the right to make noise after taking your whippings like a real man.”
So in 2012 I started working full-time for the St. Louis-based promotion Redemption Wrestling under my former pen name “John Gillmen,” which would later turn into “Johnny Gillmen.” Admittedly, I floundered at first as I tied to adjust to life on the inside. It wasn’t easy at first, adapting to the notion of paying your dues, getting knocked around for nothing else but stale peanuts, and all that good mess. One night while I was sitting in a hotel room, my phone rang; to my shock, it was Tim Bowman on the other end of the line.
I remember that night like it was yesterday.
Timbo and I go way back to the 5th grade. We used to walk to a local Midlothian, Texas video store to try and procure black gumballs from a gumball machine, which meant we’d get free video game rentals. So that night, we started trading barbs over the Cowboys and Texans--I’m a Cowboy fan, he’s a Texan fan--and the thing got louder and louder. At the end...we laughed our asses off, and it was at that moment when I gave him an idea.
On that night during the spring of 2015, the idea of the Grumpy Young Dudes--inspired by the movie Grumpy Old Men--was born.
Timbo and I weren’t wrestlers in the traditional sense. We were hardcore brawlers, and we were supposed to be heels that pulled shit to win matches. We’d snipe back and forth between one another, fooling our opponents into thinking we were coming apart, then we’d shock them with some surprise/devious/accidental move that would score the win for us. When The Sex Pistols’ “No Feelings”--our theme at the time--played, fans knew they were going to be in for a good time. They were supposed to boo us as bad guys, but then...something incredible happened.
They started buying our merchandise.
They started cheering for us--when we were heels, no less.
On October 29, 2015, three years after I entered the ring full-time, Timbo and I became Redemption’s tag-team champions. Sure, having the belts put on us was nice and all that, but for the first time in my own life, I felt as if I had the magic inside of me. Nothing could have made me more prouder to be a wrestler more than stepping into that arena and hearing cheers and boos as our music played. Yet having the belts meant having a great responsibility to build them up and give them a sense of credibility; so we didn’t sit on our butts and get complacent with our run.
We took the ball and ran with it.
We evolved, we rode the wave.
We killed that tag-team division.
And it wouldn’t have happened without that one phone call.
We still held the titles even as Redemption closed for the first time, touring the indy circuit with them and working with some great up-and-coming talent along the way. When Redemption opened its Redux era in 2017, we proved to the brass and ourselves that we were its rightful champions. Sadly, all good things had to come to an end.
After having a combined 157-day reign as ta champs, Redemption closed for good. Timbo and I dropped the belts before the final closure happened, but for us to be considered a great asset to a promotion like Redemption was truly something special. I’m grateful beyond words to have gotten the opportunity to showcase a unique blend of entertainment and physical prowess that, frankly, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to recapture again.
Yet as I embarked on my IWF career, the memories of those days would never escape my mind. Little did I know, however, I was about to enter into the darkest point of my life.
Until next issue...have yourselves a wonderful and blessed Christmas, Hanukkah, or whatever holidays you feel like celebrating.
Next month, part three of “In The Beginning” will focus on James Gilmore’s current run in the Imperial Wrestling Federation. He will also talk about the incident that nearly ended his career and his life, about how he is still villainized to this day by a court of public opinion that refuses to even acknowledge his desire to clean up his image and make his career mean something again.
Well howdy there pardner.