March 20, 2025 • 20 mins
In this special episode of Eyes Up Here with Francine, “The Queen of Extreme” takes us back to 2009, reliving the journey that led to her booking Legends of the Arena at the historic ECW Arena on June 27th. Hear the behind-the-scenes details of how the idea was born, the emotional drive behind it, and the challenges she faced bringing together ECW’s most legendary names for one unforgettable night. From phone calls to old friends to securing the perfect venue, Francine shares never-before-told stories of the build-up to this epic event. Don’t miss this deep dive into a labor of love that became a true ECW reunion!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome in here today, Isaac, are perfectly right about too long,
I as well, am perfectly a twin twinning. You know,
it's just regular Thursday attire for me. I don't know
what to say.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Let me explain what's going on with me first, real quick.
So this week is kind of crazy for us because
you're seeing it later obviously, but this is the weekend
where Chad and I are on the road and we're
with Team Extreme and Lovely Liz is coming with us
as well Ruth, and we are in Albany and New York.
(00:41):
And so I'm sitting here and we were recording on
a Thursday this week and you couldn't get a guest
because the time was just crazy. And then I thought,
why don't we do it on the road. Why don't
we get the boys and we'll just randomly talk to
people and that would be fun and it'll be something different.
So today we only have two segments to record, and
(01:02):
I said, Brook, hey, I want to jump in the
pool ram from this. I'm not getting all dialed up.
So here I am perfectly rated and with this cool
Bandanda on my head to cover my grace because I'm
not going to die. My hair until Saturday, so it's
pretty clever.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
I think it's great. I'm not going to die my
hair until Friday.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Oh, Saturday morning, I would die it, wash it, do it,
and out the door.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
What a day to be perfectly rated. Though I'm looking
forward to it, I'm not sure what I'm going to
do in terms of the order. I might actually run
this early and then our other stuff later for editing purposes.
So I'm just I'm eager to get into this today.
This is the second consecutive week of Francine requested watch Lungs.
This is an idea that you had about a month
(01:49):
or so ago. We were just chit chatting about watching stuff.
We had seen, some pretty pretty i would say, pretty
cool stuff that we weren't really you know, like we
were kind of digging out some randoms. Last week we
watched DDP and just Incredible. And this week we're gonna
dig into our first series as we're gonna We're gonna
delve into your show, The Legends of the Arena.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
My show, my one and only show, because it almost
brought me to the brink of death via a heart attack.
Let me just tell you, running a show is no joke.
You ran conventions, you know, you kind of get the gist.
Running the show takes a special type of person.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
I was not prepared, and I'm not gonna name names.
I know y'all want me to, but I'm not gonna
name names. But let me just tell you about the
fucking cry babies I had to deal with ridiculous. They
wanted certain I mean divas. You think the girls are divas.
These guys, I had a handful of them. You know.
(02:56):
It was a charity show, Okay, so it was. It
was supposed to be for a cancer. We went with
the American Cancer Society. I called them. I wanted somebody
to come so we could do the you know, the
presentation that the check. They were hesitant about it. They
I had to like fill out paperwork and jump through
(03:17):
hoops for the American Cancer So then I scratched them
and I was like, okay, we're just gonna write to
check the Saint Jude a lot easier. I liked that
charity a lot more. Let's do it. Not only was
five thousand dollars stolen from the gate, but I was
told two things. I was told Atlas was not allowed
(03:37):
to work, so I had to use their guys, the
arenas guys number two. I wanted to use Rob Feinstein
to record it and smell it. Rob was not allowed
in the building. Now Rob is always there, so something
worked out between money talks. Obviously, at that time they
did not want Rob in the building, so I couldn't
(03:59):
use Rob. So I had to use their guys to
film it.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Do you remember who it was that filmed it? Yeah?
Was it Smart Mark Video?
Speaker 2 (04:09):
It might have been. All I know is the next
day it was for sale.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Oh damn that talk about it.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Boom it was up there and I can't remember who
told me, but they're like, oh, your show's already online.
And I was like, what do you mean. I didn't
even get the footage yet to edit it. And they
were like, no, it's for sale, which means that they
stole the footage and they were trying to profit from it.
So I called. I threatened to sue the guy. The
guy wrote me a check for everything that was sold
(04:37):
and then he sent me a box with all of
the DVDs in it. So I don't want any.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Problems, right So now let me ask you this. So,
in terms of the ownership of the footage, you own
this footage.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Yeah, it's my show.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
So we have to then move this somewhere where you
can then have the access to it from it, right
because I mean, you know, I casually found it on
YouTube under you know, a different clever you know typing,
which I'm sure people can get around stuff left and right.
But still this should be on your platform in some way,
shape or form. It really should. But I feel like,
(05:15):
you know, whoever put out the DVD is gonna fight
you because people are assholes.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
I sold it to Rob later. Now you know, Rob
and I are friends. Like if I were to post that,
he would never say it.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Like exactly, I'm broken.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
The guy who did this to me. At first, it
was not his show to sell to anyone.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
He just filmed it, so he thought I could just
do whatever I want.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Yeah, he distributed it and was trying to make a book.
Plus he also took five thousand dollars from the gate.
So I you know, between I was eight months over
eight months pregnant. That is a house. It was a lot.
It was a lot of work. My husband was running
around and he doesn't know anything about the business, you know,
(06:04):
besides you know, being a fan of what he sees
and what he reads like. If I couldn't do something,
I was sending him to do stuff. People were complaining people.
I mean, I had I had catering. Now it wasn't
Filet Mignon, you know, but I had food. Complained about
the food, complained about it's hot in here, complained about
(06:26):
I had printed eight by ten z out for everyone
because we did a huge If you bought front row,
you get an autograph from each person. But I let
everybody sell their own gimmicks too, right, And I didn't
you know, I don't want to any take the money.
I don't care, but you at least have to give
one away for free to anybody coming. They complained about that.
I mean, it was anything I did was wrong, and
(06:50):
there were guys that were beautiful and did it for free.
And I went around afterwards and handed out money that
we had because you know, the gate was there's five
thousand dollars missing. So that was new. You know, it's
it's it's a lot of work.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
All right. Let me ask this. So it was your
husband's first foray into a wrestling event on that.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Side of it, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
And what was his impression coming out of it.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
I think his mind was blown because I think he
felt bad for me, because I mean, I told you
it was like one hundred and ten degrees in there.
I'm super pregnant, I'm tired. I woke up super early.
I had to deal with people not showing up. Right.
We won't get into that. You can tell on the
(07:38):
film if we can make it out. I can tell
the story then if it comes up. But I you know,
I woke up that morning at like, I don't know,
four thirty five o'clock. We had to get Jerry lynnon
last minute because Jerry was one of the first people
I called for this, but he was already.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Booked, right he was at the time. I don't know
for's in indie booking.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
I don't I don't remember. I know. I remember Rhino
was TNA because they the office called me about him
and didn't want him to go on after Blood. And
my argument was Rhino's Rhino's like the only guy here employed,
like everybody else is not employed here. I need Rhino
in the main event, and they wouldn't let me. So
(08:22):
Rhino offered to give me. You know, he had to
get paid according to the office, and he's like keep
my money and I said, no, no, no, this isn't
your fault. And I paid him what they asked for.
I gave him his money, but I had to put
him on like fourth in like a squash or something.
I don't even remember what.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
We did, but people at some point, people.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
Were changing things, complaining, cutting promos against my friends that
I didn't approve of. Taz wasn't there. You'll you'll see, you'll.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
See right right. We'll get into the meat and potatoes
of those stories as they unfold. One question I have
is where did WWE stand in the running of this,
because you obviously went out of your way to never
mention the letters ECW. Did you get any sort of
warning prior No, you just did that on your own.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Yes, okay, yeah. I tried to get talent from WWE
to come in. They weren't allowed. That's the only thing
I reached out to, like a couple of people here
and there, like can you do it? And they were
like no, because we work for WWA, And I understood that,
you know. So I got everybody I possibly could. Some
(09:36):
were great, some were not too great.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
Okay, Well here's the rundown. So it's June ninth, two
thousand and nine, and.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
I had my daughter on July twenty eighth.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Yes, you were eight months pregnant, and you know when
we we could see that, you know, you were very
pregnant and all the things it says about the show,
it reflects you were pregnant. You were pregnant, You're pregnant,
says it over everything. I pulled up the Mike Johnson
review of this show from p W Insider, and also
an interview that you did in April of two thousand
(10:10):
and nine hyping up the show on the Wrestling Epicenter
Interactive show. Okay, I'm sure you don't remember it.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
But I know the channel, I know the thing, but
I don't remember the interview.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Yes, I just want to point this out because hosts
Patrick Kelly, James Walsh, and Nick Nole. There's a little
little little aster saying that Patrick Kelly's wife was also
pregnant at the time. So happy birthday to Patrick Kelly's dog.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
And I'm sure Mike Johnson was complimentary.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Yes he was, he was, but he also but he
does dive into who was and who wasn't there. So
that's it.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Well, there you go.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
I don't have you don't have to. It's already. It's
in the headline. I'll just say that it's the headline.
Legend of the Arena. E CW Reunion quote e CW
Reunion Live report, Why Shane Douglas didn't appear. Taz responds
to being called out and more news and notes from
(11:10):
the ECW Arena event.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
So what, okay? Can you just go ahead a little bit?
And why did not? What?
Speaker 1 (11:17):
Okay? Let me see here, let me skim just to
see where it was. Terry funk, Come on, where's about?
Where's the blurb? I need the blurb? Hold on, bear
with me. Jeopardy music and I.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Hate rehashing stuff because him and I are good right now,
but back then I wanted to kill him.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Can I Can I say the Taz thing? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (11:45):
If you found that, I know what you're referring to.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
So so yes. So there was a comment made by
Crowbar about Taz, and Taz actually went online and responded
via his face Facebook page. In two thousand and nine,
apparently at the ECW Legend show promoted by Francine Yours
truly was called out and not that I wouldn't work
(12:09):
the event, an event which I was invited to well. First, foremost,
I would like to say that I command Francine. I'm
putting on an event for such a great charity. I
know the charity effects her great Personally. I apologized I
couldn't make the event, but I had several reasons why
I couldn't be there, which included spending my ninety days,
which he had just been let go by WWE in
a yeah, inequality, spending my ninety days in equality, time,
(12:33):
quality fashion with family. If that offends anyone, I greatly apologize.
Just for the ECW fans who did not attend the event,
I believe there were several other ECW original acts that
were not at the event. I saw the talent list
who performed on the show, and it seemed to be
an excellent lineup, and I hope a lot of money
was raised for a great cause, a cause that my
wife and I have donated money to in the past
as it affected our family. Also, honestly speaking, it was
(12:55):
a charity show and if you wanted to put a
guilt trip on me, you did.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
And I really hope that he and we I don't
think we discussed it after and I hope he understands
that it was not me because I didn't tell Crowbar
to cut a promo that evening. He went out there
and just said whatever he wanted. I kind of gave
the boys free rain that night. I was like, you know,
I set up the card, I did the finishes and stuff,
(13:22):
but I said, you know, you do make it fun,
have fun out there. It wasn't anything serious. He went
out there and shot on Taz, and I didn't like
that because Taz and I have always been like friends, right,
So you know, I was hoping that Taz didn't think
that I wrote, you know, here's this promo, goo shoot
on task because he didn't show up. That's not the case.
(13:44):
So and like to this day, like Taz and I
are cool, So I don't think he thinks it was me.
It was Crowbar. He just went out there and did
his own thing, and I just rubber standing in the
back going. I was so mad. I was so mad.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Yeah, has had just been released by Wwe hadn't debuted
in TNA yet, so that this is in between. Al
Snow was scheduled the Wressell Shane Douglas who no show.
This is per I'm reading Mike Johnson's words I'm not
creating any narrative. You're not saying anything. I'm reading Mike
Johnson from two thousand and nine. Yeah, Al Snow was
scheduled Wressel. Shane Douglas, who know showed Snow blamed the head,
(14:24):
saying he was responsible for all their losses to Shane
in the past, and now that Al had a chance
to beat him, had pulled this, so Al blamed the head. Brilliant, brilliant.
The lights went out, and when they returned, Jerry Lynn
was in the ring. The arena popped like Donald Trump
had refunded their ticket price. How about that for a line.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
Listen. Jerry was so scared that morning we went and
we got him from the airport and or somebody picked
him up, and I forget what happened, but we were
with Jerry, me and my husband, and Jerry kept saying,
what if they don't pop for me when the lights
go on? I was like, Jerry, they're a good He
was so nervous, and when when it happened, that place
(15:04):
erupted and there was a chant of fuck you Shane,
yes something like that.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
It was it was fuck Shane Douglas. Okay, Yeah, it
didn't look, you want me to keep reading, It's up
to you. Okay, So it says this led to a
great twenty minute match out the other. A few minutes
after it started kicking into high gear, the crowd began chanting,
fuck Shane Douglas. In the end, Snow Snow slowly turned
heel with a low blow. All right, we won't spoil that.
In regard to Douglas, he was scheduled to fly in Friday,
(15:32):
as did all the talent, and claimed he missed his flight.
The word of the show was that when he attempted
to rebook for Saturday, Douglas called, claiming an issue at
the airport, saying he was there and couldn't rebook the flight.
Somehow that led to him not coming to the show,
although the word going around the locker room was he
was also claiming he was in a cast from his
ankle injury at the TNA pay per view he didn't
(15:54):
want fans to see him in the cast, which quote
sounded ridiculous, but I've heard from multiple sources. Okay, Douglas
had a plane ticket and a hotel paid for it,
just didn't come In the back was a banner made
by the Arena to put Douglas into the Hardcore Hall
of Fame, which was originally announced. The decision was made,
it just announced Douglas couldn't make it, as they didn't
(16:15):
want to bury anyone on what was supposed to be
a feel good show for a good cause. There were
a lot of people eye rolling at the Douglas issue,
but it worked out since Lynn had been edited at
the last minute as our oh didn't need him in
the Midwest, so he was with Ring of Honor.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
I will tell you I cried my eyes out, and
I was so nervous because him and I, you know,
we had our ups and downs, and we were just
starting to mend everything, and I kind of felt like
he did it on purpose to get back at me.
That's how I felt at the time. The story didn't
(16:52):
make sense. What everything that he was telling me didn't
make sense. If you miss your flight on a Friday,
you know, you come up on a Saturday, and I
have to buy you a whole new ticket, you know
what I mean. I would have had to buy him
a whole new ticket, and I think I said I
would have did that, and then his response to me was,
I don't have my driver's license, but then he wanted
(17:15):
to rent a car.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
It was just then there's a wrinkle about Roger in here.
Him then throwing in his two cents about Shane and
booking the Arena for another Reunion show.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
Apparently Shane wanted. That's another reason why I think that
he did an on purpose because he and I hate
doing this. I hate saying this. He called me he
wanted the arena that weekend for I don't know was
it his hardcore.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
Rin was let me see it was a postponed November
to remember, Okay.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
He wanted the arena, so he asked me if we
could do a joint show and I said no because
mine's a charity event and I had it booked first.
He got mad at me, So I believe. I still
believe that it was done on purpose, that he showed me.
But I you know, I said, water under the bridge.
(18:12):
I'm life is too short. I'm not gonna hold a grudge. Yeah,
and I let it go. But now you're making me very.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
An all this stuff. I'm reading it again. This is
not any of this is just coming from Mike to
the heats with Mike Johnson. Then, because I'm reading his bow.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
Just reliving it, you know, being so pregnant as I was,
and just trying to get everything situated. And then seven
o'clock in the morning you get a phone call I
can't come, and I'm just like, why can't you come?
You know yesterday you said you were coming. I mean,
it was it was a mess. It was a mess,
(18:48):
and I never talked to him about it. We there
are so many things that Shane and I have not
like found closure to and I always tell him, you know,
we should really sit down and talk, so we never have. Yeah,
it's just kind of like, Okay, it's over, let's just
drop it.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
So interesting, we'll wrap it up here for today for
the Queen of Booking Extreme Matches one and only show.
This is the Chad Star. We will catch you on
the flip side.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
Yeah, Francine Francis franc Queen Extreme on the Extreme Odds
up here and head the Queen Extreme podcast ees up here.
Speaker 4 (19:39):
Heah, it's the Queen Extreme Podcast. It's the Queen of
Extreme Luny and the legacy is the Woman of your dreams.
Lettend on the scene Francine podcast. What you mean please
your tram place to show you what you need just
find the stand of Queens from the beginning of time.
Odds here our heart radio, shine only head and tell
you a story from the where the legend.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
Odes up here.
Speaker 4 (20:01):
The Queen Nobody's like fresh scene eyes up here here here.
The Queen Extreme Podcast odes up here here here, The
Queen Extreme Podcast odes up here here Here, The Queen
Extreme Podcast odds up here here, The Queen Extreme Podcast
(20:26):
Podcast
Welcome in here today, Isaac, are perfectly right about too long,
I as well, am perfectly a twin twinning. You know,
it's just regular Thursday attire for me. I don't know
what to say.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Let me explain what's going on with me first, real quick.
So this week is kind of crazy for us because
you're seeing it later obviously, but this is the weekend
where Chad and I are on the road and we're
with Team Extreme and Lovely Liz is coming with us
as well Ruth, and we are in Albany and New York.
(00:41):
And so I'm sitting here and we were recording on
a Thursday this week and you couldn't get a guest
because the time was just crazy. And then I thought,
why don't we do it on the road. Why don't
we get the boys and we'll just randomly talk to
people and that would be fun and it'll be something different.
So today we only have two segments to record, and
(01:02):
I said, Brook, hey, I want to jump in the
pool ram from this. I'm not getting all dialed up.
So here I am perfectly rated and with this cool
Bandanda on my head to cover my grace because I'm
not going to die. My hair until Saturday, so it's
pretty clever.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
I think it's great. I'm not going to die my
hair until Friday.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Oh, Saturday morning, I would die it, wash it, do it,
and out the door.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
What a day to be perfectly rated. Though I'm looking
forward to it, I'm not sure what I'm going to
do in terms of the order. I might actually run
this early and then our other stuff later for editing purposes.
So I'm just I'm eager to get into this today.
This is the second consecutive week of Francine requested watch Lungs.
This is an idea that you had about a month
(01:49):
or so ago. We were just chit chatting about watching stuff.
We had seen, some pretty pretty i would say, pretty
cool stuff that we weren't really you know, like we
were kind of digging out some randoms. Last week we
watched DDP and just Incredible. And this week we're gonna
dig into our first series as we're gonna We're gonna
delve into your show, The Legends of the Arena.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
My show, my one and only show, because it almost
brought me to the brink of death via a heart attack.
Let me just tell you, running a show is no joke.
You ran conventions, you know, you kind of get the gist.
Running the show takes a special type of person.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
I was not prepared, and I'm not gonna name names.
I know y'all want me to, but I'm not gonna
name names. But let me just tell you about the
fucking cry babies I had to deal with ridiculous. They
wanted certain I mean divas. You think the girls are divas.
These guys, I had a handful of them. You know.
(02:56):
It was a charity show, Okay, so it was. It
was supposed to be for a cancer. We went with
the American Cancer Society. I called them. I wanted somebody
to come so we could do the you know, the
presentation that the check. They were hesitant about it. They
I had to like fill out paperwork and jump through
(03:17):
hoops for the American Cancer So then I scratched them
and I was like, okay, we're just gonna write to
check the Saint Jude a lot easier. I liked that
charity a lot more. Let's do it. Not only was
five thousand dollars stolen from the gate, but I was
told two things. I was told Atlas was not allowed
(03:37):
to work, so I had to use their guys, the
arenas guys number two. I wanted to use Rob Feinstein
to record it and smell it. Rob was not allowed
in the building. Now Rob is always there, so something
worked out between money talks. Obviously, at that time they
did not want Rob in the building, so I couldn't
(03:59):
use Rob. So I had to use their guys to
film it.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Do you remember who it was that filmed it? Yeah?
Was it Smart Mark Video?
Speaker 2 (04:09):
It might have been. All I know is the next
day it was for sale.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Oh damn that talk about it.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Boom it was up there and I can't remember who
told me, but they're like, oh, your show's already online.
And I was like, what do you mean. I didn't
even get the footage yet to edit it. And they
were like, no, it's for sale, which means that they
stole the footage and they were trying to profit from it.
So I called. I threatened to sue the guy. The
guy wrote me a check for everything that was sold
(04:37):
and then he sent me a box with all of
the DVDs in it. So I don't want any.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Problems, right So now let me ask you this. So,
in terms of the ownership of the footage, you own
this footage.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Yeah, it's my show.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
So we have to then move this somewhere where you
can then have the access to it from it, right
because I mean, you know, I casually found it on
YouTube under you know, a different clever you know typing,
which I'm sure people can get around stuff left and right.
But still this should be on your platform in some way,
shape or form. It really should. But I feel like,
(05:15):
you know, whoever put out the DVD is gonna fight
you because people are assholes.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
I sold it to Rob later. Now you know, Rob
and I are friends. Like if I were to post that,
he would never say it.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Like exactly, I'm broken.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
The guy who did this to me. At first, it
was not his show to sell to anyone.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
He just filmed it, so he thought I could just
do whatever I want.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Yeah, he distributed it and was trying to make a book.
Plus he also took five thousand dollars from the gate.
So I you know, between I was eight months over
eight months pregnant. That is a house. It was a lot.
It was a lot of work. My husband was running
around and he doesn't know anything about the business, you know,
(06:04):
besides you know, being a fan of what he sees
and what he reads like. If I couldn't do something,
I was sending him to do stuff. People were complaining people.
I mean, I had I had catering. Now it wasn't
Filet Mignon, you know, but I had food. Complained about
the food, complained about it's hot in here, complained about
(06:26):
I had printed eight by ten z out for everyone
because we did a huge If you bought front row,
you get an autograph from each person. But I let
everybody sell their own gimmicks too, right, And I didn't
you know, I don't want to any take the money.
I don't care, but you at least have to give
one away for free to anybody coming. They complained about that.
I mean, it was anything I did was wrong, and
(06:50):
there were guys that were beautiful and did it for free.
And I went around afterwards and handed out money that
we had because you know, the gate was there's five
thousand dollars missing. So that was new. You know, it's
it's it's a lot of work.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
All right. Let me ask this. So it was your
husband's first foray into a wrestling event on that.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Side of it, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
And what was his impression coming out of it.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
I think his mind was blown because I think he
felt bad for me, because I mean, I told you
it was like one hundred and ten degrees in there.
I'm super pregnant, I'm tired. I woke up super early.
I had to deal with people not showing up. Right.
We won't get into that. You can tell on the
(07:38):
film if we can make it out. I can tell
the story then if it comes up. But I you know,
I woke up that morning at like, I don't know,
four thirty five o'clock. We had to get Jerry lynnon
last minute because Jerry was one of the first people
I called for this, but he was already.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Booked, right he was at the time. I don't know
for's in indie booking.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
I don't I don't remember. I know. I remember Rhino
was TNA because they the office called me about him
and didn't want him to go on after Blood. And
my argument was Rhino's Rhino's like the only guy here employed,
like everybody else is not employed here. I need Rhino
in the main event, and they wouldn't let me. So
(08:22):
Rhino offered to give me. You know, he had to
get paid according to the office, and he's like keep
my money and I said, no, no, no, this isn't
your fault. And I paid him what they asked for.
I gave him his money, but I had to put
him on like fourth in like a squash or something.
I don't even remember what.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
We did, but people at some point, people.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
Were changing things, complaining, cutting promos against my friends that
I didn't approve of. Taz wasn't there. You'll you'll see, you'll.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
See right right. We'll get into the meat and potatoes
of those stories as they unfold. One question I have
is where did WWE stand in the running of this,
because you obviously went out of your way to never
mention the letters ECW. Did you get any sort of
warning prior No, you just did that on your own.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Yes, okay, yeah. I tried to get talent from WWE
to come in. They weren't allowed. That's the only thing
I reached out to, like a couple of people here
and there, like can you do it? And they were
like no, because we work for WWA, And I understood that,
you know. So I got everybody I possibly could. Some
(09:36):
were great, some were not too great.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
Okay, Well here's the rundown. So it's June ninth, two
thousand and nine, and.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
I had my daughter on July twenty eighth.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Yes, you were eight months pregnant, and you know when
we we could see that, you know, you were very
pregnant and all the things it says about the show,
it reflects you were pregnant. You were pregnant, You're pregnant,
says it over everything. I pulled up the Mike Johnson
review of this show from p W Insider, and also
an interview that you did in April of two thousand
(10:10):
and nine hyping up the show on the Wrestling Epicenter
Interactive show. Okay, I'm sure you don't remember it.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
But I know the channel, I know the thing, but
I don't remember the interview.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Yes, I just want to point this out because hosts
Patrick Kelly, James Walsh, and Nick Nole. There's a little
little little aster saying that Patrick Kelly's wife was also
pregnant at the time. So happy birthday to Patrick Kelly's dog.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
And I'm sure Mike Johnson was complimentary.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Yes he was, he was, but he also but he
does dive into who was and who wasn't there. So
that's it.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Well, there you go.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
I don't have you don't have to. It's already. It's
in the headline. I'll just say that it's the headline.
Legend of the Arena. E CW Reunion quote e CW
Reunion Live report, Why Shane Douglas didn't appear. Taz responds
to being called out and more news and notes from
(11:10):
the ECW Arena event.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
So what, okay? Can you just go ahead a little bit?
And why did not? What?
Speaker 1 (11:17):
Okay? Let me see here, let me skim just to
see where it was. Terry funk, Come on, where's about?
Where's the blurb? I need the blurb? Hold on, bear
with me. Jeopardy music and I.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Hate rehashing stuff because him and I are good right now,
but back then I wanted to kill him.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Can I Can I say the Taz thing? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (11:45):
If you found that, I know what you're referring to.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
So so yes. So there was a comment made by
Crowbar about Taz, and Taz actually went online and responded
via his face Facebook page. In two thousand and nine,
apparently at the ECW Legend show promoted by Francine Yours
truly was called out and not that I wouldn't work
(12:09):
the event, an event which I was invited to well. First, foremost,
I would like to say that I command Francine. I'm
putting on an event for such a great charity. I
know the charity effects her great Personally. I apologized I
couldn't make the event, but I had several reasons why
I couldn't be there, which included spending my ninety days,
which he had just been let go by WWE in
a yeah, inequality, spending my ninety days in equality, time,
(12:33):
quality fashion with family. If that offends anyone, I greatly apologize.
Just for the ECW fans who did not attend the event,
I believe there were several other ECW original acts that
were not at the event. I saw the talent list
who performed on the show, and it seemed to be
an excellent lineup, and I hope a lot of money
was raised for a great cause, a cause that my
wife and I have donated money to in the past
as it affected our family. Also, honestly speaking, it was
(12:55):
a charity show and if you wanted to put a
guilt trip on me, you did.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
And I really hope that he and we I don't
think we discussed it after and I hope he understands
that it was not me because I didn't tell Crowbar
to cut a promo that evening. He went out there
and just said whatever he wanted. I kind of gave
the boys free rain that night. I was like, you know,
I set up the card, I did the finishes and stuff,
(13:22):
but I said, you know, you do make it fun,
have fun out there. It wasn't anything serious. He went
out there and shot on Taz, and I didn't like
that because Taz and I have always been like friends, right,
So you know, I was hoping that Taz didn't think
that I wrote, you know, here's this promo, goo shoot
on task because he didn't show up. That's not the case.
(13:44):
So and like to this day, like Taz and I
are cool, So I don't think he thinks it was me.
It was Crowbar. He just went out there and did
his own thing, and I just rubber standing in the
back going. I was so mad. I was so mad.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Yeah, has had just been released by Wwe hadn't debuted
in TNA yet, so that this is in between. Al
Snow was scheduled the Wressell Shane Douglas who no show.
This is per I'm reading Mike Johnson's words I'm not
creating any narrative. You're not saying anything. I'm reading Mike
Johnson from two thousand and nine. Yeah, Al Snow was
scheduled Wressel. Shane Douglas, who know showed Snow blamed the head,
(14:24):
saying he was responsible for all their losses to Shane
in the past, and now that Al had a chance
to beat him, had pulled this, so Al blamed the head. Brilliant, brilliant.
The lights went out, and when they returned, Jerry Lynn
was in the ring. The arena popped like Donald Trump
had refunded their ticket price. How about that for a line.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
Listen. Jerry was so scared that morning we went and
we got him from the airport and or somebody picked
him up, and I forget what happened, but we were
with Jerry, me and my husband, and Jerry kept saying,
what if they don't pop for me when the lights
go on? I was like, Jerry, they're a good He
was so nervous, and when when it happened, that place
(15:04):
erupted and there was a chant of fuck you Shane,
yes something like that.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
It was it was fuck Shane Douglas. Okay, Yeah, it
didn't look, you want me to keep reading, It's up
to you. Okay, So it says this led to a
great twenty minute match out the other. A few minutes
after it started kicking into high gear, the crowd began chanting,
fuck Shane Douglas. In the end, Snow Snow slowly turned
heel with a low blow. All right, we won't spoil that.
In regard to Douglas, he was scheduled to fly in Friday,
(15:32):
as did all the talent, and claimed he missed his flight.
The word of the show was that when he attempted
to rebook for Saturday, Douglas called, claiming an issue at
the airport, saying he was there and couldn't rebook the flight.
Somehow that led to him not coming to the show,
although the word going around the locker room was he
was also claiming he was in a cast from his
ankle injury at the TNA pay per view he didn't
(15:54):
want fans to see him in the cast, which quote
sounded ridiculous, but I've heard from multiple sources. Okay, Douglas
had a plane ticket and a hotel paid for it,
just didn't come In the back was a banner made
by the Arena to put Douglas into the Hardcore Hall
of Fame, which was originally announced. The decision was made,
it just announced Douglas couldn't make it, as they didn't
(16:15):
want to bury anyone on what was supposed to be
a feel good show for a good cause. There were
a lot of people eye rolling at the Douglas issue,
but it worked out since Lynn had been edited at
the last minute as our oh didn't need him in
the Midwest, so he was with Ring of Honor.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
I will tell you I cried my eyes out, and
I was so nervous because him and I, you know,
we had our ups and downs, and we were just
starting to mend everything, and I kind of felt like
he did it on purpose to get back at me.
That's how I felt at the time. The story didn't
(16:52):
make sense. What everything that he was telling me didn't
make sense. If you miss your flight on a Friday,
you know, you come up on a Saturday, and I
have to buy you a whole new ticket, you know
what I mean. I would have had to buy him
a whole new ticket, and I think I said I
would have did that, and then his response to me was,
I don't have my driver's license, but then he wanted
(17:15):
to rent a car.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
It was just then there's a wrinkle about Roger in here.
Him then throwing in his two cents about Shane and
booking the Arena for another Reunion show.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
Apparently Shane wanted. That's another reason why I think that
he did an on purpose because he and I hate
doing this. I hate saying this. He called me he
wanted the arena that weekend for I don't know was
it his hardcore.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
Rin was let me see it was a postponed November
to remember, Okay.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
He wanted the arena, so he asked me if we
could do a joint show and I said no because
mine's a charity event and I had it booked first.
He got mad at me, So I believe. I still
believe that it was done on purpose, that he showed me.
But I you know, I said, water under the bridge.
(18:12):
I'm life is too short. I'm not gonna hold a grudge. Yeah,
and I let it go. But now you're making me very.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
An all this stuff. I'm reading it again. This is
not any of this is just coming from Mike to
the heats with Mike Johnson. Then, because I'm reading his bow.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
Just reliving it, you know, being so pregnant as I was,
and just trying to get everything situated. And then seven
o'clock in the morning you get a phone call I
can't come, and I'm just like, why can't you come?
You know yesterday you said you were coming. I mean,
it was it was a mess. It was a mess,
(18:48):
and I never talked to him about it. We there
are so many things that Shane and I have not
like found closure to and I always tell him, you know,
we should really sit down and talk, so we never have. Yeah,
it's just kind of like, Okay, it's over, let's just
drop it.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
So interesting, we'll wrap it up here for today for
the Queen of Booking Extreme Matches one and only show.
This is the Chad Star. We will catch you on
the flip side.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
Yeah, Francine Francis franc Queen Extreme on the Extreme Odds
up here and head the Queen Extreme podcast ees up here.
Speaker 4 (19:39):
Heah, it's the Queen Extreme Podcast. It's the Queen of
Extreme Luny and the legacy is the Woman of your dreams.
Lettend on the scene Francine podcast. What you mean please
your tram place to show you what you need just
find the stand of Queens from the beginning of time.
Odds here our heart radio, shine only head and tell
you a story from the where the legend.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
Odes up here.
Speaker 4 (20:01):
The Queen Nobody's like fresh scene eyes up here here here.
The Queen Extreme Podcast odes up here here here, The
Queen Extreme Podcast odes up here here Here, The Queen
Extreme Podcast odds up here here, The Queen Extreme Podcast
(20:26):
Podcast
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com