Dan Goes Ga-Ga Over George

6/24/08 I know it's been awhile since I wrote a column but this one is going to make it brief. To all promoters out there rather then using overused talent, jobbers, 70 year old men who no longer look like what they looked like or from promtions like WCCW, Florida Championship, Georgia Championship, UWF and other lousy promotions. I'm here to help you out WOMEN DRAW if you don't believe me you were not at Fanslam as all these no name vendor guests had nobody on there line. Howard Finkel - I could do his job, Jerry Jarrett - please, Balls Mahoney - over used, Missy Hyatt - old & ugly and Super ticket guests - lousy. The women Gorgeous George, TNA Knockouts Awesome Kong and Angelina Love had the ONLY long line all day and the overused Freebird Buddy Roberts got to watch the entire show. P.S. If you want George's number DON'T ASK I'm not giving it up because she can't draw. If I gave you her number I'll let you know right now IT'S FAKE so let me know who you talk to. Note from Steve: These are the the opinions of Danthemark and Dantehmark only as I myself think he has lost his mind.

Signamania II And So Much More

4/24/08 Let's see where should I start? How about the day before Signamania 2. Yes, that's it, I left for Philadelphia Airport to pick up Ben (Bestman) and arrived right around the 2:30 pick up time. After finding a parking spot I walked into the airport and bang Ben was right there the easiest pick up at an airport ever. Then again Philly airport isn't as big as Newark or the New York Airports. Then we headed to our hotel rooms. Once we got there Ben met his two friends also from England as they were here for Wrestlemania. I was in the parking lot when K&S showed up. We then headed over to the other hotel where the wrestlers were staying. Ken and I waited as Steve was at the airport to pick up Meng and Bill Alfonso. Then Steve called and invited Ken and I to meet him at a diner to eat with Meng and Fonzie (so for the first but not last time in this article I'm eating with the wrestlers). After we brought them back to the hotel we saw more of the wrestlers check in we then headed to bed and got ready for the next day. The next morning we got up and headed over to the signing. Who was there? Everyone as over 600 fans showed up so I'm not going to list everyone I knew there but I may mention a few here and there. The Super tickets guests were Steiners Brothers, Nasty Boys, Magnum TA, Nikita Koloff, Road Warrior Animal, Sunny, Greg Valentine, Koko B Ware, Kamala, Jerry Lawler, Christy Hemme, Paul Orndorff and Bill Alfonso. Sabu was scheduled but did not make it. The vendor guests were: from Greg Price aka NWA Legends Father James Mitchell, Wrestling Ink brought in the Blue Meanie and Steve McMichael (who let me wear his super bowl ring I now have that over Dan Marino, Barry Sanders and countless others), The Brutal Truth brought in Roxxie Laveaux and K&S gave us Chief Jay Strongbow, Haku (Meng) and Mr. Bob Backlund who had a very large line that didn't stop and Bob was great to all the fans. In all a great convention and can't wait until Signamania 3. Then later in the week on Thursday to be exact I headed to Ridgewood, NJ to Bookends for a very rare Jesse Ventura book signing. Zig got there at 9am and saved us the first two spots on line. The line was not as long as everyone expected, less then a hundred. Who was there you may ask? Joe, Ed, Steve (class), John, Rob, Jack, Ray, Taylor, Howie, Lucas, Tim, Terrence from LOTR and a few more sorry if I'm forgetting you. They said for every book you bought Jesse would sign one other item so I bought 5 books. It started with a quick Q&A then he signed everything we gave him. From there Zig, Tim and myself went to have a bite to eat. Then the next day I left work really early and headed to Lowell. Ma. for TNA. The night started off with me having dinner for over two hours with Mike Tenay and Don West (that's the second dinner). After they went up to their room I had a drink and watched the Yankees game with LAX member Homicide (who I've known from JAPW). From there I talked and had drinks with a few more of the wrestlers as they piled in the bar. Then next morning was TNA fanfest they gave us a floor plan and it was over from there. Besides Zig and Mike I didn't know anyone on the line until I went to the end and saw John and Rob and brought them to the front of the line with us. Fanfest included all the stars of TNA except Sting, Booker T, Sharmell and Tomko. So basically for $40 I got over 80 auto's not too bad which included many road agents, unbooked stars and others. Then Sunday I headed over to the Arena with Mike, Rob and John for Lockdown which I thought was a really good show. Then this past weekend I did four more thing (yes I said four) Friday night I headed to Edison, NJ for ECPW there I met Ken & Steve who were there with the Bushwacker Luke and Al Snow. Also on the card was former ECW Original Justin Credible. The following morning I got up and headed for the first time to George's Collectibles in Levittown, PA for the Al Snow and Bushwacker Luke signing. Then that night to Rahway, NJ for JAPW which featured TNA Stars LAX, The Rock N. Rave Connection, Frankie Kazarian, Roxxie Leveaux and Teddy Hart. Not one of there better shows but OK. Then the next day to Lake Hiawatha, NJ for WSU Women Superstars Unleashed (OK Class316). Which featured all the top women of the indy scene. Well, that's it for now I'll be back after Legends of the Ring.

Dan Is Back With A Month Full Of Marking Out.

3/25/08  Hello everyone and welcome to this edition of Marking Out with Signamania two weeks away and some stuff accomplished it's time for one last edition before things get heated up.  So where did we leave off we will start on Friday Night February 22nd for the TNA House Show in Westbury, NY.  It was snowing  all day so the three people I was supposed to go with couldn't make it so I went it alone.  It was a very good card for a house show.   I saw LAX  (Homicide and Hernandez) Vs Rock and Rave Infection (Jimmy Rave and Lance Hoyt)  without Christy Hemme, X-Division title Match Champion Jay Lethal Vs Sonjay  Dutt, Knockout title match Champion Awesome Kong Vs Gail Kim, Motor  City  Machine Guns (Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley) Vs Team 3-D (Brothers Ray and  Devon), AJ Styles Vs Samoa Joe, Eric Young Vs James Storm and Jackie Moore and  the main event was for the world title Champion Kurt Angle Vs Christian.   When the tickets went on sale it was supposed to be Booker T but they changed it  and despite the weather the place was sold out except for the three seats next  to me. After the show Kurt Angle took Polaroid's with fans for $20 and the  rest of the wrestlers signed around ringside.  I saw John Sig and Brett  Schwan there but I didn't stay for the autos because I had just seen them all in  Ohio and the weather didn't help.  The following day I went to Bud Carson's  wrestling store in Allentown, Pa for K&S Terry Funk signing.  It was a  real good signing as it was the most people ever at a Carson signing.  Then  that night I went to the ECPW Arena in Lake Hiawatha for an indy show  there.  The next I wasgoing to go to New York for a CM Punk signing but I  didn't make it which was OK as I had seen him before.  The following  weekend I kept it simple once again as I went back to the same ECPW Arena In  Lake Hiawatha, NJ for another ECPW show.  Though he only has big stars on  his big shows I enjoy Gino Caruso's show and it is only five minutes from my  home.  Then on Wednesday, March 5th I headed to New York the Hawaiian  Tropic Zone for a WWE Playboy signing with new cover girl Maria.  I got  there nice an early and was about 25th on line as they were only giving out 92  free ones.  I saved a spot in line for Joe Velez and once again it was an  OK signing but you couldn't get anything else signed besides the magazine.   Then on Saturday, March 8th was one of the biggest days in Independent Wrestling  as so many shows were running the same day: WSU, JAPW, CZW, WXW, VPW, ACE and  maybe more so an easy decision had to be made. So in the afternoon I went  to WSU (Women's Superstars Unleashed) One Year anniversary show.  This show  featured TNA Women's Champion Awesome Kong, former ECW WWE Diva Dawn Marie,  Missy Hyatt, Nikki Roxx (Roxxi LaVeaux in TNA), the first east coast appearance  of Lacey Von Erich, Alexa Thatcher, Becky Bayless, Amy Lee Mercedes Martinez,  ECW's Angel Orsini, Cindy Rogers, Annie Social, Soul Sisters, Roxxie Cotton and  more, TNA Knockout Angelina Love couldn't make it because flight snowed  in.  It was a real good show.  Then from there Me, Joe, Joey, the boys  from New York Mario,  Rob and Dave as well as Paul headed to Jersey City  for JAPW (Jersey All-Pro Wrestling)  This card featured Homicide and  Hernandez LAX, Vs Teddy Hart and Samoa Joe in a steel cage as well as Archadia  Vs Grim Reefer in a cage plus Low-Ki, Frankie Kazarian, Monsta Mac and Havoc,  Danny Demanto, Devon Crowbar Storm, Bandido, Jr., Xavier, Slyk Wagner Brown, NEW  JAPW Champion: Kenny Omega and some masked wrestler with a stupid gimmick fans  seem to get a kick out of.  Then on Saturday, March 16th I headed back to  Allentown, PA for WCCW reunion again hosted by K&S.  They had World  Class Managers Gary Hart, Skandor Akbar and Bill Irwin who signed and did a  Q&A for all the fans I got there late so I had to wait until after the Q&A to get my stuff signed.  Then I heard on Monday that Gary Hart had  passed away and I send my condolences and RIP as he seemed to be a very nice  man. Then after briefly talking to Ray there I headed back to NJ to pick  up Joey and Gina (Joe's wife) and we headed to Torrington CT/ for NEW (North  East Wrestling) there we saw as expected Zig and his nephew and with over 1200  fans there it was tough to get to the autograph lines but I always find a way  and met Booker T, Jerry the King Lawler, Velvet Skye and Romeo Roselli as once  again AJ Styles did not come out.  It was a decent show with AJ Vs Booker  in the Main Event.  Then this past Saturday, I went to Neptune, NJ with Joe  and saw the NWS/WSU Womens J-Cup in which Mercedes Martinez won and also  included Dawn Marie and Sunny.  Well, that's all for this time and if  Muddytush thinks there's not enough comma,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,  he can write the next one himself  LOL.  So I will be back after Signamania 2.  Signamania 2 features the Steiner Brothers, Road Warrior Animal, Magnum  TA, Nikita Koloff, Nasty Boys, KoKo B Ware, Kamala, Sunny, Christy Hemme, Paul  Orndorff, Sabu, Bill Alfonso, Jerry Lawler and Greg Valentine on the Super  tickets with Vendor Guests Bob Backlund, Chief Jay Strongbow, Meng/Haku, Steve  McMichael, Blue Meanie and Roxxie LeVeaux.  so I'll see you all  there.

Indy Scene, The Wrestler & Fantasy Tournament

2/19/08  It's time for the recent edition of Marking out.  It hasn't been to busy but it will be in the coming weeks.  To start off I'd like to say I hope the movie "The Wrestler" flops real quick more on that later and secondly in case Vince McMahon reads this nobody over the age of 10 likes John Cena (except Howie) so stop pushing him. Now on to the last three weeks of indy wrestling. We start out on Saturday February 2nd in Union City, NJ for Jersey Shore Wrestling (JSW). This is the sister or minor league promotion of JAPW. It is a lot smaller with no major stars. They did have a Royal Rumble style match called a Tidal Wave Match to declare the 1st ever JSW Champion and the winner was the biggest star on the show former WCW Hardcore, Tag Team and Cruiserweight Champion Devon "Crowbar" Storm. The crowd was small and they used a lot of silly gimmicks all in all not sure if I'll be at the next one or not. The following Saturday I picked up Joe and Joey and headed to Philadelphia for Combat Zone Wreslting (CZW). This was there 9th year anniversary show so the crowd was large 800-900 possibly. Once again no major stars as they use there own home grown talent. It was a very goood show except for one problem it was 5.5 hours long. Why was it that long because the stopped the show 3 times to shoot scenes for the movie "The Wrestler" starring Mickey Rourke you should be able to rent the DVD in April 2009 as it is supposed to hit theatres in March 2009. Joe did get his DVD signed by Rourke no idea which one. Finally this past Saturday I headed to Rahway, NJ for Jersey All-Pro Wrestling (JAPW) anothe huge crowd for them over 1,000 for the second time. They usually have the loaded shows as well and this on was no different the had TNA Stars Black Machismo Jay Lethal, LAX Homicide and Heranadez, Motor City Machine Guns Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin as well as Teddy Hart, Devon Storm and finally former WWE Hearthrob Romeo Roselli and former NWA TNA World Champion Ron "The Truth" Killings who wrestled each other for that movie again. The good part was the movie didn't keep us late this time and Ron Killings signed everything you threw at him for nothing. Well that's it for this edition but we got some great signings and Live events coming up. Also to Steve great job on the Fantasy tournament great idea but where did the seedings come from? Just kidding Steve: The seeding were decided by who got the most votes from the fans.  If there were ties I did my best to be fair.

Flair, Torrie, ECPW, CZW, TNA and Jesse

2/2/08 Hello wrestling fans and welcome back to your favorite wrestling article the highly anticipated Marking Out.  When I last left you  we were  finishing up January and I'll admit up to this past last week January was not  that exciting and that is why I waited until now to write this.  The first  week of January I went a show in Lake Hiawatha, NJ for ECPW Showcase run by Gino Caruso for his local fans.  The following week Joe, Joey and I headed to Philadelphia for Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW).  A very good show with a  crowd close to 400 once again Owner/Promoter John Zandig only uses his home  grown stars but it was exciting as they had a Championship match turn into a 6 way at the end  with returning stars Eddie Kingston and Devon Moore.   The following week I missed  my first JAPW show in over 3 years as I made previous plans to go a hockey game.  Then the fun begins on Wednesday,  January 23rd Joe, Joey, Mike, someone for the rest of this article will be known  as a Man With No Name (MWNN) and myself headed to Washington, DC to see the  Nature Boy Ric Flair and Torrie Wilson.  We left NJ around 8am and got  there around 1130-45 am.  When we got to the auto show we had to search out  the entire huge place to find out where the signings would be as the people there knew nothing.  Finally we found the Torrie Wilson line there was only one person on that line Jesse (more on her later).  Continuing our search  for the Nature Boy line we headed down to the other side of the building and we  found the Flair signing. There were about 6 people on that line already at  1130am for a 7pm signing.  So what we decided to do was split up into 2  groups.  Mike and Joe who didn't need Torrie waited on the Flair line,  while MWNN, Joey and I waited on the Torrie line.  So while waiting for the  signings to begin MWNN and Joey went on a Jeep ride it was an auto show.   Joey also got his photo taken with a white Teddy Bear but would not for the  Easter Bunny or the 7 foot tall robot.  While waiting online and Joey's 4  jeep rides we met many people we knew starting with Jesse, then Tim from Pa. with his son and neighbor showed up we met other people as well such as Frank  from Maryland a guy who's name I can't remember from Maryland also (cl)ass 316  Steve showed up.  Torrie finally arrived she signed  the 3 items I had  for her 2 photos and 1 figure all the people I talked to got everything signed  they brought so far so good.  Tim. Mike and MWNN also got auto from Curly  Neal of the Harlem Globetrotters.  So now Myself, Joey MWNN, Frank, Jesse and Tim's gang headed down to meet the rest of the gang at the Flair line.   What a huge line it was Joe and Mike had met some other new friends as well like Vince who came from California just for this and wrote a nice article on www.wrestlingfigs.com with my photo in it.  We also met there Sean (Joey styles fan of board fame), Eric Simms, Bill Paley, Dan from LOTR and a few more I probably can't remember.  Now  the bad part when Flair finally arrived to one of the longest lines I've ever  seen at a signing they told everyone only 1 item each.  Now me of course  having many items had to decide what to get signed.  So I got my WWE  Japanese program signed then deciding 1 item was not enough I jumped on again by  Tim and got a Classic figure signed not my top choice but at least it was something.  Mike found a way to get 6 items signed.  Then when leaving we decided Jesse should not walk out to her car alone at night in an unknown  town so we walked her out to her car to find out her car was locked up for the  night.  We eventually got her car out and headed home.  Then the  following I headed to Troy Ohio for a TNA house show (for results and who was  there check out the K&S message board) got some autos there but as usual not the ones I needed lik Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, Booker T, Tomko and Kong.  Then  the next day I headed to Youngstown, Ohio for the second TNA house show same  results as the first day few more autos.  BTW did I mention I got a hug and  Kiss from Traci Brooks?  Well, that's about it but stay tuned as the months now are going to get very exciting in the weeks to come. Steve from K&S.  I only questions I have are: 1) Was Jesse hot?, 2) Where is she from?  and 3) Did anyone get her number?

He's Finally Back And Boy Did We Miss Him!!!!!!

1/4/08 Where did I leave off?  Oh yes, Happy Holidays from all of us here at Marking Out better late than never.  I will now go over a pretty busy month of  December. Where do  we start 12/08 in Rahway, NJ For Jersey All-Pro  Wrestling (JAPW) coming off there anniversary show for there final show of the year.  There last show drew over 1200 fans for the first time.  Could  they do it again?  Not quite but over 800 fans loaded up the JAPW  Arena.  Once again another great show which featured TNA Stars AJ Styles  (who keeps getting away without signing anything), Jay Lethal, Sonjay Dutt, Kaz,  Senshi and LAX Homicide and Hernandez.  It also featured former WCW Star Crowbar, Teddy Hart as well as the retirement of B-Boy.  There I saw Joe  and Joey, Marty, Paul, Howie, Lucas, Big John and many more.  The following  day I went to Lake Hiawatha and the ECPW Arena for Pro Wrestling Syndicate  (PWS).  This is a new promotion only holding there 3rd show and first that I'm attending.  I would say they couldn't have had more then 200 because thats all the building holds for a star studded show. This show featured  former ECW Stars Sabu & Justin Credible as well as Dr. Death Steve Williams,  Captain Lou Albano, Jay Lethal, Teddy Hart and the Necro Butcher.  The  following weekend I headed down to Philadelphia for a double. On Friday night we had Womens Extreme Wrestling (WEW).  This was an all women show  headed by former stars like Jazz, Daffney, Bobcat, Francine and yes Bill Alfonso.  There were also some local strippers who had a climb the pole match and other goofy stuff.  These shows get worse everytime I go but the usuals are always there and I'll probably keep going to see if it gets any  better.  Then the next in the same ECW Arena in Philly I saw Pro Wrestling  Unplugged (PWU).  Where  once again these shows get worse by the month and the crowd goes down as well.  They do have a star studded show though  as it featured Sandman, 2 Cold Scorpio, Gangrel, Pitbull Gary Wolfe, and the  original Diva Sunny.  Then the following weekend I went back to Lake  Hiawatha for Women Superstars Uncensored (WSU) for as you can tell by the name another all womens show.  Its not that I'm a fan of women wrestling that much it just works out that way, plus both womens shows I had free tickets.  This show featured former ECW star Angel Orsini, TNA star Nikki  Roxx (Roxxi Leveaux)  NWA ECW Star Missy Hyatt, plus Becky Bayless, Alexa  Thatcher, Amy Lee, Cindy Rogers, Annie Social the retirement of Alicia and the NEW WSU Champion Sunny.  It was a decent show with a great ending.  Then after Christmas on Wednesday the 27th I headed to Lodi, NJ for a WWE  Autograph signing featuring John Morrison/Nitro.  The crowd was small and the autos were $25 each and it was run very smooth.  The promoter who ran  it was named Anthony and has Mr Kennedy " Kennedy" sorry I couldn't resist,  Scott Steiner and Booker T coming up in future weeks to come.  At the  signing I saw Joe, Joey, Eric, Tim, Lucas and Howie.  Then this past weekend first I headed to Edison, NJ for East Coast Pro Wrestling (ECPW).   This show had around 400 fans and featured former WWE I-C Champion Tito Santana and K&S promoted Powers of Pain Warlord and Barbarian as well as all the regular ECPW Stars such as Mike Reed, Dan Da Man, Jeff Coleman, Andrew Anderson, Red Hot Russ, Crazy Ivan, Gino Caruso and many more.  There I saw Marty,  Ray, Pete and Tim as well as Ken and Steve.  The next morning I headed to Allentown, Pa. for another autograph signing at Bud Carsons World of Wrestling  store (which by the way I love to shop at).  Who was signing there the Powers of  Pain the Warlord and the Barbarian who I had seen the previous night but since I like going to all shows and seeing Ken and Steve again I went to this one, plus  Joe wanted to go with me as he had never been there.  It was another great signing and another great day of shopping.  Then that night back to Lake Hiawatha and ECPW as I saw the same wrestlers as the night before with out the legends to see how the night before's feuds finished out good show packed place.  Well that's all for this time so until next time Happy New  Year.

Dan Goes All Over The Indy Scene In This Weeks Report

12/1/07 It's time for another edition of Marking out with Danthemark, when we last left you we were talking about the number 1244 now we are going to talk about 4 other events that didn't top 1244 combined.  We start on Friday night November 16th in Garfield, NJ for Bodyslam Wrestling Organization (BWO).   This was there Super show of the year it drew around 500+ fans and got a lot  more then expected. These shows never have stars you have heard of but this time  they promised a former TNA/ECW Superstar.  I got there and met Paul "give  it to him" Roes and we found our seats.  Finally after all the suspense we  found out the mystery superstar was Julio Dinero and his Valet Miss  Michelle.  This was only there second show I've been to and it was a lot  better then the first. On some side notes at intermission I had my picture  taken by Robert "Stiff Shot" Payes with get this KNS (a two female music  group).  The following night I picked up Joe and Joey (btw don't ride with  Joey he always gets the shivers) and we headed down to Philadelphia the Old ECW Arena for Pro Wrestling Unplugged (PWU).  Now this show I thought would  outdraw the previous night but it didn't in fact 225 would be a high number and  I thought it would be a much better show it was not.  It had a lot more  stars 2 Cold Scorpio, Joey (Mercury MNM ) Mathews, Sunny, Pitbull Gary Wolfe,  Ian Rotten and more but Sandman and  Gangrel were advertised and no showed.  One of their worse shows to be honest but they kind of admitted it and promised better next time.  The following weekend was Thanksgiving  weekend once again this time alone I headed back to  Philadelphia for Collectoberfest at the ECW Arena once again.  This was a  fanfest of Horror, Comic Book and Wrestling variety with many different wrestling guests.  When I first walked I saw Ken and Tim the promoter of  the show the crowd wasn't huge but it was decent and Tim told me he lost  no money. First I went over to see one of  my North Carolina drinking  friends TNA Knockout Christy Hemme.  Talked with her for a bit then headed  to the other three TNA stars Abyss, SoCal Val and Leticia Cline.  After  getting stuff signed by them I headed over to the K&S table to see Steve who  was patiently waiting for Brutus "the Barber' Beefcake.  Brutus was very  friendly told us some great stories and signed everything for all the  fans.  Side note #2 He doesn't like Diamond Dallas Page (damn him).   Other wrestling guests at this show included Dawn Marie, Sunny and as usual Jasmine St. Claire didn't show up.  Then the  following Friday I headed to Wayne, NJ PAL building for East Coast Pro Wrestling  (ECPW).  I got there early and thefirst person I saw was Tim from the previous week then finally Paul and Joe minus Joey got there.  This was his  usual fan friendly show with former WWE Superstars Superfly Jimmy Snuka, Salvatore Sincere and the Patriot.  It was a decent show what really made  the show was the Main Event War Games 2 Rings 1 Cell in the battle of team ECPW  (Gino Caruso, Andrew Anderson, Johnny Thundar, Red Hot Russ and Dan Da Man) vs  Team Black Hand five wrestlers wearing all black which inlcuded masks.   Saturday night birthday party no wrestling so until next time so  long.

1,244 It's In the Number: WWE Has Nothing On Dan And K&S

11/14/07  1,244 that is the number I want to start this edition of Marking out with, Why you ask?  OK then I'll tell you on October 27th Jersey All-Pro  Wrestling held there 10th Anniversary show in Rahway, NJ and 1,244 were there in attendence.  For ten years the promoter Fat Frank has wanted to break the  1,000 fan mark and on that night he finally did.  This night started out  with Hall of Fame ceremony that included Former JAPW wrestler and Current WWE  Star Charlie Haas.  This was followed up by one of the greatest Indy shows  you could  have ever attended.  It included TNA X Division Champ Jay  Lethal, LAX Homicide and Hernandez, Frankie Kazarian (Kaz), AJ Styles, Senshi  (Low-KI) as well as former WCW Tag Team Champion Devon "Crowbar" Storm, former  WWE Stars Cryme Tyme and finally the returning Teddy Hart.  So all I have  left to say if you have not been to one of there shows get there.  Then on  Monday I went and did something I thought I wouldn't.  I went to Bookends  in Ridgewood, NJ for the Batista book signing.  I wasn't going to go  because I didn't really want the book and I'm not a fan of his but while at work  that afternoon Zig called me and told me he was going.  So I suprised him  and showed up so I really went to see Zig not Batista but I did get a book  signed (that Zig bought me thanks again) but at this signing you could not get anything else signed.  Then the following morning I headed to the Best Buy  in Long Island City, NY for WWE Diva signing of Torrie Wilson.  While  waiting on line I met Joe Velez aka Joe from Nutley of the clothesline crew.  When we got to the front of the line I asked Torrie "how many items can I get signed she said "what did they tell you"  I said "they  didn't" so she then replied "Then I'll sign whatever you have" So I gave her my  8 items and she signed them all for nothing. Then I asked her if I could get a  picture she said "of course"  So I went around the back and had my photo taken with her. Then as I was leaving I petted Chloe who was in her purse and  woke up as I went back there.  I would like to say this is the 4th time  I've seen her and she is the hottest wrestling female I've ever met (Sorry  Traci).  The following weekend I worked all weekend.  Then this past weekend I headed to Coplay, Pa. for WXW the promotion ran by WWE Hall of famer Afa the Wild Samoan.  This weekend they had there annual Womens Elite 8 tournament.  This tourney had no big names but every year they crown a new  womens elite champion this year it was one by Cindy Rogers who defeated Annie  Social in the finals.  While I was there I ran into Ed Darcey, Avenger (of  K&S boards) and Crazy Larry.  Well thats all this 27th edition of  Marking out. Is this column great or what.  I enjoy reading Dan's stuff every week.  He is great to have on your team and I'm glad I have him.   Steve

Another Weekend On The Run

10/30/07 Hello wrestling fans and welcome to the 26th edition of marking out as this is the first full weekend I've had off in a long time.  I'm going to start  on Friday night October 12th.  That night I left work and headed to  Centereach, LI, NY for Victory Pro Wrestling (VPW).  This is a small  promtoion ran by promtoer Johnny "5" Lynch and I told him I'd come to his show so I ordered a ticket and took the drive.  This show is not a star show but  an upcoming wrestlers show.  The Biggest Stares were Grim Reefer, Azriel,  Mack Daddy Flexx, Javi- Air, Jason Static and a few more.  This was the  night they were going to crown their first heavyweight champion in a tournament.  The Finals was amatch between Static and Reefer in which Static won to become there 1st champion. They had around 200-250 fans mostly kids and only one vendor Tim plus the table that sold there own  merchandise.  The following morning I got up picked up Joe and Joey and  headed to Levittown, Pa for signamania 1.  We got there and met up with  Mark who came down from Canada eh, as well as Mike, Ray (no Taylor),Tim and  Dale,  Howie (Very helpful thanks again) and most the usual convention  goers except Zig.  This show was ran very well for a first time show. The guest included: Mick Foley, Ron Simmons damn, Butch Reed to complete theDoom reunion, Jim Neidhart, NewJack, Sunny, Jimmy Snuka, Buff Bagwell, Tom Brandi,  Francine, King Kong Bundy with hair, Al Snow with head, Honky Tonkman, Nikolai  Volkoff, the Iron Shiek and Johnny Rodz.  Venor Guests included Mr. Hughes,  Barry Horwitz and the Barbarian brought in by K&S (you might have heard of  them), Bill Paley brought in  Nick Bockwinkle and Eugene as well as Cryme Tyme, Justin Credible, Lou Albano, Bill Apter and Prime Time Amy Lee.  From  there Joe,Joey, Mark and I headed to Philadelphia for Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW)  another crowd of around 200 or so another show without the names but they had there usuals Necro Butcher, Toby Klein, BLKout, Drake Younger, Brain Damage, and the rest.  Mark's first appearence at the former ECW Arena we had a good time though and left to go back home.  Well that's all for this edition I'll be back the weekend of the 27th with come real good stuff as the following week I worked all weekend and did nothing.

Dan's Been Busy Busy At Work.

10/9/07  Hello wrestling fans and welcome to a late edition of Marking out.   Due to work I haven't been going to as many shows as usual but I do have a three  week special in store for all.  It started on Saturday September 22nd in  Lake Hiawatha, NJ at the ECPW Arena.  The show was WSU (Womens Superstars  Unleased) it was an all women show.  This show featured TNA Knockout  Christy Hemme (who did remember me from North Carolina), former WWE Star and  original Diva Tammy "Sunny" Sytch, Former WCW ECW First Lady of Wrestling Missy  Hyatt and former ECW star Riptide who now goes by Angel Orsini.  This show  also featured many women wrestlers from the independent promotions such as: WSU  Champ Alicia, Becky Bayless (ROH), Mercedes Martinez, Amy Lee, Alere Little  Feather, Cindy Rogers, Alexa Thatcher and a few more.  It was a double DVD  Taping with 2 seperate shows which included a WSU Title match Alicia vs Christy  Hemme with Sunny as Special referee.  The following week on Saturday the  29th I headed to Union City, NJ for the former AWA now called ACE (Amercian  Championship Entertainment).  This is the promotion that is doing the NWO  gimmick I really like there are no big stars as most of the wrestlers are newer  but it does have appearences by TNA Star Jay Lethal who trains wrestlers  there.  Then this past weekend I went to Amherst, Ma. at the Unniversity of  Massachussets for Full Throttle Wrestling presents PRO Wrestling Live.   This was a star studded card that had to lose good money since there was no more  then 600 fans there in a building that seats over 8,000.  The line up  included a Main Event of Diamond Dallas Page vs Buff Bagwell.  It also  featured Eric Bischoff, The New Age Outlaws, Heart Throbs, Maven, Test, Spike  Dudley, Justin Credible, Eugene Dinsmore, Daffney, Scotty 2  Hotty, Elix  Skipper, Billy Kidman, as well as Talia Madison, Angel Williams and Nikki Roxx  (Roxxi Leveaux) also Gregory Helms was there.  A very solid show with a  nice meet and greet at the beginning and intermission where I got some stuff  signed by DDP, Eugene, Kidman, Maven, and of course the ladies.  Well that  is it for this week and next week it looks like I will be able to make  Signamania so I hope to see everybody there and I hope to have a report next  week so until then keep supporting wrestling. P.S. Not that I want anyone to get injured but I am happy John Cena has finally had to relinquish the WWE Title

He's Back And We Missed Him

9/21/07  Hello wrestling fans and welcome to the 24th edition of Marking out.  Of course that does not include the two special editions and this does not count  as a double anymore (since Ken doesn't like it LOL).  I do have two star studded weekends to talk about though.  The first one was Saturday night in  Rahway, NJ for Jersey All-Pro Wrestling.  I got there early as there was a  little problem with our tickets but after getting that resolved Joe, Joey, Paul,  Marty and I got in our seats.  Now how often do you go to an Indy Show and  get 8 TNA stars on it.  Main Event saw LAX Homicide & Hernandez defeat  Samoa Joe and Senshi (Low-KI) the rest of the card also saw Black Machismo Jay  Lethal, Sonjay Dutt, Frankie Kazarian and Roxxi Leaveaux (Nikki Roxx)  representing TNA plus all the JAPW regulars.  The best part of the entire  show was getting some stuff signed by Lethal and Samoa Joe for Zig though as I  completed what could not be completed at NWA Fanfest.  Then this past  weekend in which I knew K&S was in Edison, NJ for ECPW with the Barbarian, I  instead made the trip I thought I had no time for to the former ECW Arena in  Philadelphia for PWU (Pro Wrestling Unplugged) 3rd anniversary show.  There  I met once again Paul, Marty and this time Jay from New York.  Once again  another star studded show but not TNA wise.  This show included former  3-time WCW World Champion Diamond Dallas Page, former NWA & UFC Champion and  WWE Standout Dan "the Beast" Severn, Joey (Mercury) Mathews from WWE's MNM,  former WWE Original Diva Tammy "Sunny" Sytch, WWE Star Gangrel. ECW, WCW and  Japans 2 Cold Scorpio, ECW TV and Tag Team Champ Pitbull Gary Wolfe, original  ECW owner Todd Gordon, WWE Hall of Famer Nikolai Volkoff and the night ended  with the surprise (not to me)appearance of the returning Sandman.  Another  very good show.  So that is it for the last two weeks as I've been working  a lot at my job and too many shows are not an option.  Before I leave I  just wanted to let everyone know I did get #26 for next years NWA Legends  Fanfest in NC.  So that is all until next time keep up with your  wrestling. P.S. K&S order your hotel room early this year in NC going  fast.

Turnbuckle, LOTR V And Summer Slam - Good God!!!

8/30/07 Hello wrestling fans and welcome to my second straight special edition then next I will follow up with my usual weekly spots. Before I start I'd like to say everything in this article is my opinion and has nothing to do with the website I'm writing it for. Now NWA Legends fanfest was easy to write about and this is going to be a lot more difficult as a lot of people gave there opinions on Turnbuckle Promotions and now I will. As always all conventions have good and bad as most know already this one had more bad then good. What was the bad and what was the good lets see, we'll start with the bad First before you even walk in the building you find out one of the main draws for a lot of people Jesse "the Body" Ventura is not there and replaced by an overused Mick Foley. The second large mistake made was selling VIP Plus and VIP tickets it should have just been one. Third was having too many guests should have saved some for the possible second convention. Fourth was the lines without proper security therefore people with basic general admission were actually ahead of some VIP Plus on some of the autograph lines. Fifth a lot of the wrestlers didn't come out when they were supposed too so people coming just for certain wrestlers could have gotten there and the wrestler was gone or could have waited a long time to see the wrestler they came to see. There is a lot more like VIP's not in number order, wrestlers not wanting to be there, fans being removed from the building from the fire marshall and more. The good not as much one good thing was of about 50 VIP guests only 3 didn't show (on Friday) Sika the wild Samoan, Jasmine St. Claire and Romeo Roselli plus NON-VIP Jesse Ventura as I stated earlier. The best part of the entire promotion was the job by Steve from K&S Promotions taking over like it was his and the great job he did. He had help from all of us (Myself, Mike, Zig, Ben, Sean and Ray) setting up the second and third session especially the third with the separate rooms for all the tag teams. Another good part was the job by Ken (K&S Promotions) and the Maestro running there separate signings with Jeff Jarrett and the Killer Bees. Also I thought the Superstar Billy Graham signing was done OK even though people complained it was also not in number order. How did I do? Well, actually I did great I got autographs from everyone I wanted and a few more. From Turnbuckle (I must add this story in) I gave Mike a ride to the Radisson hotel in Carteret where he was staying for the convention the next day. When I dropped Mike off I had to go in to use the men's room so looking for the men's room I went into the bar and heard someone say "Hi Dan" I turned around and sitting there having a drink at the bar was Ms. Traci Brooks being there for the convention the next day so after getting my hug and kiss I left to go back home. Then Saturday morning I got up and headed to my second convention Legends of the Ring in Carteret and who is the first person I see Buck Denero. As expected this convention was run a lot smoother as everyone went through in number order. The first signing had Tatanka, the Beverly Brothers, Lenny Poffo, John Nord (The Berzerker), Slick, Bobby Heenan, Ron Bass and Lex Luger. The second signing consisted of Vader, Cowboy Bob Orton, Traci Brooks, Tom Brandi (Salvatore Sincere), Goldust (in make up) Bret Hart and Dangerous Davis. The only no show was Jim Neidhart. The Vendors Mambo and Jim Paley also did a great job with there guests Scotty 2 Hotty, So Cal Val, Rick Martel, Tony Garea, Tito Santana, Francine and Ivory. Tammy "Sunny" Sytch and the Giant Silva were also there as guests. When that convention was over Ray, Taylor and I headed to Union, NJ (on Muddytush's dad favorite road in the entire world Stuyvesant Ave) to see WWE commentator Good Ol' JR Jim Ross. We got there early and there was no line we were about ninth online I never saw more then maybe 25 fans online. JR was very nice and signed anything you had. Then from there as the longest weekend ever continues we headed back to Carteret for the live wrestling show NWS. Six matches featuring the stars of the previous convention like Goldust (in full gimmick), Salvatore Sincere and Traci Brooks as well as Lex Luger, Vader and Ivory there signing autographs as well as former ECW star Danny Doring, WWE stars Antonio Thomas, Giant Silva, The Patriot as well as Monsta Mac, Bison Bravado, Nikki Roxx (Roxx Leveaux in TNA) and many more Then Sunday I headed to East Rutherford, NJ for the Big Time WWE Summer Slam got there early as there was a 4PM Meet and Greet with four WWE Stars. They were Chris Masters, Cryme Tyme and Matt Striker. For $10 you were allowed one autograph from each star after that was over we headed in for the PPV. I though the show was average as we saw the return of Triple H and Rey Misterio Jr so we knew they were going to win the return of Stone Cold Steve Austin in a beer drinking contest. We saw Khali retain due to DQ when he hit Batista with a chair to set up another no DQ match, and we saw WWE Champion retain over Randy Orton as the fans were not happy about that. Well, fans that's it for this long weekend and I'll be back in two weeks as next weekend with the holiday is very slow. Once again GREAT JOB STEVE FROM K&S.

Dan And NWA Fanfest A Great Combo

8/20/07  I'm going to start this latest and special edition of Marking out a little differently. This one will be about the NWA Legends Fanfest in Charlotte, North Carolina the past weekend of August 8-10. For starters all Fanfests, Meet and greets, autograph signings or whatever else you want to call them are different and they all have good things and bad things especially ones that go over a three day span. Like this one but this one had way more good then bad so congrats to Greg Price for another great show. We will start with the bad that I don't think is as bad as most. First off he brings in over 30 guests and only 1 no show (Tommy Rich) 1 out of 30 is pretty good to me. 8x10 photos he didn't have all that were advertised of some of the harder to find guest (Penny Banner, Rip Hawk, Judy Martin, Joe Blanchard to name a few). Hey it happens he has hundreds of things to worry about for this weekend and I'm sure that was not on top of his list. Programs same as the photos I think he should not have mentioned them and people would not have been in an uproar about them. So then fans are saying they have nothing for certain wrestlers to sign. Well, in all four signings a boy in front of me for all four Brian took two Legends Fanfest T-shirts and got them signed by every wrestler so instead of complaining he had nothing for them to sign he got everyone twice without spending anything extra and he never complained. Other complaints all the VIP numbers did not get through the lines. For starters wrestlers can only sign so many autographs in 3 hours so all I can say to that is order your VIP ticket earlier and hats off to Dustin Rhodes even though his block was over he went down the line and signed for everyone so despite all the bad things heard about him I saw what he did and thought he was great all weekend. Photo OPS as I'm not a big photo Op person and I know some are and the complaint there was that the photos were not coming out in time to be signed. Well, all the wrestlers would have signed them in the hallway or anywhere in the hotel if you ran into them if not at least you have your photo with them as I went home with a few unsigned it happens. Finally the TNA trio fiasco, for starters they are under contract by a wrestling organization and have to do as they are told. If they were picked up late and angry about it they have big egos now and don't want to sign they don't. Now for the good, a great weekend all together 3 days of hanging out with wrestling fans from all over the world alone is great enough. Then to meet all the legends, getting two nights of live wrestling a great hall of heroes dinner banquet where you got to have dinner with a wrestler and the great rates at the hotel and so much more. First hanging out with wrestlers from all over the world? I hung out with Mike, Zig, Brett (from www.wrestlingclothesline.com) where if you haven't read his article on fanfest its a must, his crew member Kevin, Joe and Joey, Ray and his daughter Taylor, Ben from England, Mark our new friend from Canada, Mike Johnson, Joe and his family from Albany, Jack, Evan and there gang and John Sig and his crew all the vendors and whoever I may have forgot. I thought all four meet and greets for me were great (of course I did have a low enough number to get through very easily) as I had two thing to get signed for most wrestlers and at least 1 by all. The live wrestling was great where the 1st night was all the legends including a Midnight Express victory over the Rock N Roll Express and Tully Blanchard's last match against Dustin Rhodes. The second match featured top Indy wrestlers from around the world including Brian Danielson, Brent Albright, Claudio Castignoli and a WCW legends match Buff Bagwell Vs Lodi (who I was the only person to pay for his photo op). Then the Hall of Heroes Dinner Banquet Zig, Mike his wife Christine (who did a great job on photos all weekend) myself and two others sat with former NWA manager the very talkative Gary Hart. Now onto Vendors who ALL did a great job bringing in other great stars as well as selling very rare items. As I told them there (and I'm not just saying this because it is there website) I though K&S did the best job of the weekend bringing in quality guests such as: Paul Orndorff, The Warlord and Barbarian, Terry Taylor, Skandor Akbar, Black Bart and the Ragin Bull Manny Fernandez. Lines were long and happy all weekend long. Terrance from Legends of the Ring also did a good job with his four guest Corporal Kirschner, One Man Gang, Ron Bass and the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time the Honky Tonkman. Main Event Wrestling brought in the Star of the Weekend former Four Horsemen member Arn Anderson. They also brought in for the entire weekend Talia Madison who with her comes current WWE star Gregory (the Hurricane) Helms. So my question is how many people got FREE autographs from Helms. I got three things signed by him where if you saw him at a signing that would have cost between $60-75 so why keep complaining. Bill Paley brought in Sgt. Slaughter here comes my complaints but not at his prices at all to the fans who complained about them. Slaughter autos were $20 as were Arn Andersons. Fans complained about Slaughters price being too high but nobody complained about Arns. For starters both Slaughter and Arn are Vinced (under WWE contract) So they both cost about the same to bring in therefore since people needed Arn more and his line was full no one complained but since Slaughter was not as popular people complained. I had no problem with Slaughters price because I know the vendor needs to make his money too. Overall though great weekend Greg Price I'll see you next year with hopefully a lower VIP number at whatever location you decide to have it. Also former four horsemen member Ole Anderson was the star of the fanfest. Sitting in his chair all weekend signing for everyone all weekend long. Also the star of the Q&A with the four horsemen members Tully Blanchard, JJ Dillon and Ole I also sat in on the Ted DiBiase Q&A not the best as soon as they were about to talk about the NWO the host cut him off and had fans ask him stupid questions. Well that's all for the fanfest but to steal something from David Letterman I'm going to give you my top ten' Question 10 things we learned at NWA Legends fanfest: 10) Ole Anderson was the star of the Fanfest 9) Greg Price always puts on a great show  8) If little Joey says something funny don't laugh or you'll hear about it all weekend 7) Don't invite K&S out to eat 6) TNA Stars have big egos 5) Ray's daughter Taylor is more helpful the Joe's son Joey at an autograph show 4) Dustin Rhodes is OK after all 3) Brett Schwann is very funny 2) This is my best Marking out to date 1) Traci Brooks is in love with me (I hope she reads this) That's it until next time Steve's response:  Dan it's always a pleasure hanging with you, as you are great guy and ture wrestling FAN.  I truly look forward  and enjoy your columns every week.  On to your top ten list.  Ole and Greg couldn't agree more, Joey's a good kid , we were at Apple Bees - you were late and I'm really SORRY, TNA ego's that stinks, Ray and Taylor are a great team, Dustin ?, Brett funny ? buster yes, all columns are great and Traci yours NOT - she's all MINE please.

Dan's Getting Ready For Charlotte

8/2/07 Hello wrestling fans and welcome to the 23rd and final edition of marking out before NWA Legends fanfest. That some of us have been planning for 8 months or so. As I mentioned in the previous article I was going to try and do a triple live wrestling show and a signing as well. I made a double of live shows and the autograph signing. It is just too hard to make a Wednesday show so I skipped that one. So it started this past Friday night July 27th in Union City, NJ for AWA wrestling. This is the promotion that I said is running a perfect NWO angle this week they had the main face (Hulk Hogan) turn heel and then the main Heel (Kevin Nash) got 1 finger push to win the AWA title. The AWA is very inexpensive as these are wrestlers still in school most trained by TNA Star Jay Lethal. about 4 times a year they have a supershow with TNA Stars. Then Saturday morning I headed to Allentown, PA to Bud Carson's wrestling world for an autograph signing with Bill Eadie (Demolition Ax, Masked Superstar and Super Machine) and Barry Darsaw (Demolition Smash, Repoman and Krusher Krushchev). They will be at fanfest but I figured I had three items of each and since they only allow two per person I'd go there and get some figures signed. Two less to bring to Carolina for an already packed car. This as usual was a fan friendly run show with great prices and about 100 fans in and out all day. Then from there I headed to Philadelphia the New Alhambra Arena for PWU (Pro Wrestling Unplugged) the promotion run by former ECW owner Tod Gordon. There was close to 1,000 fans there to see the main event between two former WWE, WCW, ECW stars. 2 Cold Scorpio (PWU Champ) Vs Sid Vicious. The card also featured Former WWE stars Gangrel, Joey Mercury, former ECW star Pitbull Gary Wolfe and so many more. Intermission they all signed autographs and took Polaroid's with the fans. Overall there best show ever. Well, that is it for now as this week coming up I have no wrestling planned as I continue to get ready for Fanfest weekend. So stay tuned for that awesome long weekend report.

Dan's Back After Hanging With The Ladies- Hell Yeah!

7/25/07 Wrestling fans welcome to the 22nd edition of marking out. I have two weeks of Wrestling to tell you about and it's mostly ladies this time.  So if you like ladies wrestling you'll like this article if not wait until next time. It started out on a Thursday night on July 12th for WEW (Womens Extreme Wrestling) in Philadelphia, Pa at the New Alhambra Arena. It's a 2 PPV taping with a crowd of around 300. I went alone this time but I met Marty and TNA mark David there. It had former WWE Womens Champion Jazz, former WCW star Daffney as well as former ECW standouts Francine, Angel Orsini and (the only man on the show) Bill Alfonso. It also included some of the better Indy women wrestlers like Simply Luscious, ODB Jessica Dalton, Prime Time Amy Lee, Black Barbie, Annie Social, Missy Sampson and a few more. They've had better but not a bad show. Then that Saturday night rather then traveling back to Philly for CZW best of the best I stayed local and went to WSU (Wrestling Superstars Unleashed) in Lake Hiawatha for a free double shot. Once again went alone but met Mike Coons, Ed Darcey and John Fallon there. This show had a few of the same females as the other show and many different. It starred another former WWE Star Luna Vachon and former WCW and ECW valet (former guest of K&S) Missy Hyatt as well as NEW WSU Champion Alicia, Nikki Roxx (Now in TNA with VKM), the Soul Sisters, Diva Killaz, Liz Savage, Amy Lee, Missy Sampson, Alexa Thatcher, Alere Little Feather, Missy Sampson and a few more. Actually a better show then Thursday night. Then this past Saturday I headed to Carteret, NJ for JAPW (Jersey All-Pro Wrestling fund raiser for the little league. It was not one of there big shows because they were just raising money but they did have TNA stars Senshi and Gail Kim as well as many of there usual local stars like Monsta Mac, Arcadia, Ariel, Grim Reefer the SAT, Danny dement, Bison Bravado and a whole lot more. Good show for a fund raiser especially the rumble since I got the winners right LOL . Right Joe? Well, fans that is all for this week but this week coming up I have a triple in live matches and possibly a signing so until Buck Denero writes another article (doubtful) or next week I'll see you then and also only 3 weeks until NWA Legends Fanfest in Charlotte, NC hope everyone is there.

Two Weeks For The Price Of One

7/9/07 Hello wrestling fans and welcome to the 21st edition of   Marking Out.  Once again I'm Danthemark and I'm going to let everyone know  what has been happening in the world of wrestling. On Saturday, June 30th I picked up Joe and his son Joey and we  headed to Philadelphia at the New Alhambra (old ECW Arena) where we met Marty, Paul and  all the guys from New York for IWA-Mid-South Wrestling.  This is  the promotion ran by former ECW Wrestler Ian Rotten that usually runs out of  Indianaand Illinois but every other year or so they put on show for the East  coast fans.  The show the put on two years ago was better then this one, but it was not bad.  It featured TNA stars Low-Ki, Homicide, Jay Lethal,  former ECW Star Tracy Smothers, as well as Black Out members, Chris Hero and  Claudio Castignoli, Necro Butcher, Human Tornado, Matt Sydal, the Thomasellis,  Toby Klein and so many more. Then this past weekend on Saturday, July 7th I had three choices,  ECPW title tournament in Lake Hiawatha, NJ, NWS in Dunellan, NJ with TNA Knockout Traci Brooks and the Patriot or AWA in Union City, NJ which is the one  I decided on no big stars or anything but as I said in one of my previous articles they were running a NWO like angle that I really enjoy.  They are  doing the angle really well so far but the are called Hollywood Inc. For everyone knows this time of year not as many promoters run  because of hot buildings and people going away for the summer so my schedule is slower. That is OK though because we have the three big conventions coming  up NWA Legends Fanfest (K&S bringing 7 guests Powers of Pain Warlord and  Barbarian, Skandor Akbar, Paul Orndorff, Black Bart, Manny Fernandez and Terry  Taylor) in Charlotte, North Carolina.  Then we have Turnbuckle Promotions  in Lynbrook, NY and Legends of the Ring in Carteret, NJ.  All in August as  well as Summer Slam  so business will pick up soon.  So until next time keep supporting wrestling and ask Ken and Steve (nicely) if my article can be on the top of the website  LOL. Steve: Dan I love your articles and you are tops in my book.

PWU, WSU And AWA

6/25/07 Hi Wrestling fans and welcome to REAL 20th edition of Marking out. I did not send one in last week so once again you get a double shot for this week as I wanted the 20th to be special for you. It starts out on a very upsetting note as I just heard Chris Benoit and his wife Nancy (Woman) and son have been killed. I send my condolences to the rest of the family and friends. On March 16th I headed to Philadelphia to the ECW Arena or Alhambra arena for PWU (Pro Wrestling Unplugged) Crazy 8 there super show of the year with over 800-950 loud fans. I went there with Joe and his son Joey (on a quick note his daughter Cassie Baginsky missed her first PWU show) and met Paul, Marty and the guys from NY there. Very good show as it featured 2 Cold Scorpio, Test, Pitbull Gary Wolfe, Joey Mercury, the Nasty Boys, Sunny and all there top stars as well as a special Hall of Fame induction for the late Johnny Grundge of the Public Enemy and the Hardcore Icon the Sandman. Then this past week on Friday the 22nd I went to WSU (Wrestling Superstars Unleashed) in Lake Hiawatha for a small but exciting independent show the only real big star was Senshi (low-Ki) of TNA but did have more stars such as: Human Tornado, Xavier, Eddie Kingston, B-Boy and so many more. The following night I headed to Union City, NJ for AWA Crossroads for there Super Show which featured TNA Stars Alex Shelley, Sonjay Dutt and Gail Kim as well as Azriel, Archadia, Wes Draven, Alexa Thatcher, Envy and many more. Over 225 fans rocked the building for another great show. On a side note AWA has a great NWO type of angle running there so I'll be sure to be going back. Also this past weekend featured a Comic-Con in NYC which featured Roddy Piper, Jimmy Snuka, Lou Albano, Tony Atlas, Rocky Johnson, Jasmine St. Claire and Missy Hyatt. I was going to go until Tank Abbott and Ms. Jones were canceled. On Sunday I was going to go to Pro Wrestling Syndicate but through my sources I heard Buck Denero was going to be there so I changed my mind LOL. Next week I'm heading to IWA-Mid south for there very rare Tri-State appearance at the ECW Arena the promotion led by former ECW star Ian Rotten who brings in Necro Butcher, Tracy Smothers, Jay Lethal, Homicide, Hernandez, Low-KI and many more but until next time good bye.

UWF, JAPW, WWE & NWA Fanfest...Busy Busy Busy

6/15/07 This week started out on Friday in Philadelphia at the New Alhambra (ECW Arena) for UWF (Universal Pro Wrestling)the promotion ran by Hermie Sadler. The meet and greet started at 6pm and the wrestling would begin around 7. This card featured former stars of  WWE, WCW, ECW and current TNA as well as other independent wrestlers. They had a bad showing only 43 people bought the meet and greet ticket. The first half of the meet and greet featured Danny Doring, Joey Mathews (Mercury), Rick Steiner, AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels and April Hunter and JD Michaels. The second half featured Team 3-D (Dudley Boyz), Steve Corino, Dustin (Goldust) Rhodes, Low-Ki, Sabu and a few more. The Main event on the show was very good as Team 3-D defeated Daniels and Styles in a Philly Street fight in the match Rick Steiner interfered as him and his brother were the original opponents for the Dudleys but Big Poppa Pump was injured in other matches Low-Ki beat Joey Mathews, Sabu over Danny Doring and Dustin Rhodes over Steve Corino in a bullrope match. The overall attendance for the show was around 250. On Saturday I headed to Rahway, NJ for Jersey All-Pro Wrestling (JAPW) for another great show by them. There double Main event featured LAX over Jay Lethal and Azriel in the tag team match of the year and JAPW Champion Lok-KI (Senshi) over AJ Styles. This show also featured Samoa Joe. The attendance for this show was around 450 which is not bad considering Ring of Honor was in Manhattan and CZW was having there tournament of death. Now I'd like to mention other things in wrestling first off Vince McMahon is not dead (Sorry if I ruined something for you) but it is true. What he did do though was get everyone's attention back on wrestling all a cross the world and showed the Sopranos that he has the number one cable TV Show. As for the Draft excellent job. Raw got Booker, Lashley, Kennedy and Snitsky. Smackdown got Khali, Ric Flair, Chris Masters and Torrie Wilson, while ECW got Boogeyman and Chris Benoit (next ECW Champion and 2nd ever WCW, WWE and ECW Champion behind the Big Show). Now to our final stop the convention scene. I'm glad to see NWA Legends finally announced a few more stars such as Lex Luger, Nikita Koloff, Tommy Rich, Midnight Express with Jim Cornette (again), Ricky Morton and Bill Eadie AKA Masked Superstar (again). So there we have 18 out of 30 Plus the vendors have some great guests as well such as Main Event Wrestling with Arn Anderson, Legends of the Ring with One Man Gang (Akeem) and are very own K&S have announced there first four of seven guest they are Powers of Pain Warlord and Barbarian, manager Skandor Akbar and Black Bart. Three more to go and if you are wondering who the last three are NO I don't know - not privileged enough for that information not that I would tell you if I did know. Show also features Christy Hemme, Traci Brooks (yes another hug), Christian Cage, AJ Styles, Samoa Joe and Buff Bagwell as well as the first 10 guest announced. Well, folks that's all for now until next time try and figure out who Killed Vince McMahon.

Wrestle Reunion 5

6/11/07  Well, wrestling fans here's the report we've all been waiting for Wrestling Reunion V in Carteret, NJ this past Saturday. I arrived in the parking lot around 9am, and there were some fans already lined up and ready to go in even though the doors were not going to open until 10. I got there and met up with Joe Baginsky and his son in line. From there we were me by Mike and Zig. When the doors finally opened we all went straight to the super pass line. As for some reason Thomas “Mambo” Rivera the promoter does not give out numbers which may be the only bad thing about his shows. After we got our spot in line we went around the banquet hall with somebody always holding our spot online. The first stop I made was to K&S Vendor table to go meet the Godfather and Ahmed Johnson though I didn’t have anything for Ahmed to sign. I had two 8x10's and a Raw magazine for the Godfather to sign. He is a very nice man as he asked where you wanted everything signed and what color I wanted it signed in. The line was very long for them so I think they did pretty good. >From there I was checking out some other vendors and guests I got a photo signed by Johnny Valliant who was sitting next to Nikolai Volkoff. RJR brought in Jimmy Snuka and ESS promotions brought in the Iron Sheik. I also went over and saw RF Video and Highspots. Some of NJ Sports people were early so I then went over there and got Jay Lethal, Christy Hemme and Dangerous Dan Spivey. From there it was Super ticket time. As I was going over I saw Brett, Joe and Frank from _www.wrestlingclothesline.com_ (http://www.wrestlingclothesline.com) and I let Joe jump into the super ticket line with us. The super ticket line started around a half hour late but that was OK as we are now ready to go. The line started out with The Islanders Haku and Tamu they were cool as I has a photo of Tamu in his 1st match he liked it so much Joe gave him my extra. Second in the line was the masked men from Mexico Mil Mascaras and Doc Caras got photos by them and continued to the third wrestler Madusa Micelli she was also great got 2 thing signed by her (as I had two super tickets), then moved on to former WCW world champion one my all-time favorites as a wrestler and convention signer Diamond Dallas Page as always awesome, from there another former WCW and WWE world champion Sid Vicious. After Sid was TNA Knockout Gail Kim and finally finished off with former WWE world champion Olympic Gold medalist and current TNA Superstar Kurt Angle. After I finished that line I then went back and got the rest of NJ Sports other guests Kimberly Page, Jackie Moore and Shelley Martinez (Ariel in new ECW). I also got a magazine signed by Missy Hyatt at the very end that was also signed by Bill Apter who walking around as a fan. Other guests who were there who I may have missed Pedro Morales and April Hunter. Nicole Bass due to health reasons didn't show. Overall great show and a great time. I also met some people from the message board like Ben Bestman from England, Avenger and Joey Styles Fan. If I missed anyone I'm sorry big week of live wrestling this week as I saw none last week so I hope you come back and read next week report but until then support wrestling.

Getting Ready For WR5.

6/4/07 Hello wrestling fans and welcome to a double shot of Marking out. I have been real busy lately so my columns are falling behind but if you are counting this is 16th and 17th edition.  So I'll start on Friday night May 18th Holy Cross High School Flushing Queens, NY for WSU (Wrestling Superstars Unleashed). I went there with my friend Paul and met Mario, Dave, Mark and Mike Coons there. It was a good show with a solid card it had former WWE star the Ugandan Giant Kamala, TNA Star Alex Shelley and WSX Stars Human Tornado, Matt Sydal, B-Boy and many more great independent stars. The show had over 400 fans in attendance, great show I suggest taking in one of the future shows. Then the next night Saturday, May 19th I went to Carteret, NJ for JAPW (Jersey All-Pro Wrestling), The usual Rahway venue was changed for one month but the show was good as always. It featured from TNA Jay Lethal, Low-Ki (Senshi) the JAPW Champion, Necro Butcher, Eddie Kingston and many more. The next show AJ Styles goes after Low-Ki's title and Samoa Joe will also be there. Moving to past this Memorial weekend I kept it light as we are saving up for Wrestling Reunion so I went to only one show AWA in Union City, NJ. Decent show with all the indy stars that have been mentioned in earlier articles. On June 23rd AWA is having a Super Show in Union City with Alex Shelley, Sonjay Dutt, Azriel, Jay Lethal and Gail Kim. Well, fans that all for this week but coming up this weekend on Saturday, June 2nd Wrestling Reunion 5. It is a huge convention in Carteret, NJ. It features Kurt Angle, Diamond Dallas Page, Maduas, Mil Mascaras, Dos Caras, Gail Kim and The Islanders Haku (Meng) and Tamu. There will also be many vendor guests such as K&S Bringing in Ahmed Johnson and the Godfather aka Papa Shango, RJR Jimmy Snuka, BP Pedro Morales, ESS Iron Sheik, Scott Epstein Missy Hyatt, and NJ Sports has Kimberly Page, Danny Spivey, Christy Hemme, Jay Lethal, Jackie Moore, Nicole Bass, Nikolai Volkoff, Johnny Valliant, Shelly Martinez aka Ariel from the new ECW and April Hunter. Hope to see you all there and have a great week until next time.

Just Wrestling No Signings?

5/17/07 Hello wrestling fans and welcome to the 15th edition of Marking out. This was an average week but did see a lot of legends. The week started out on Friday night back to the former home of NWA Cyber space the Wayne PAL building for ECPW. It was a solid show with a lot of legends such as: King Kong Bundy, Tony Atlas, Tito Santana, Rocky Jones and Promoter Gino Caruso. It also had some very good current indy stars like MO Sexy. Andrew Anderson, Red Hot Russ and fan favorite Creeper. Then on Saturday I headed to North Middletown, NJ for a company I don't go too much NWS (National Wrestling Superstars). They had there former ECW stars Danny Doring and the Equalizer with Indy Standout Slyk Wagner Brown vs TNA's Kip James (WWE's Billy Gunn) and former WCW Superstar Kevin Sullivan in a 2 on 3 handy cap match. As well as other great stars. I got a few thing signed by Sullivan during pre show meet and greet. Then on Sunday for my triple I headed to White Plains, NY for a Smackdown/ECW house show. The main event saw Edge and MVP Vs Batista and Chris Benoit. Also on the card RVD Vs Marcus Cor Von, Kane Vs Finlay, Tommy Dreamer and CM Punk Vs Elijah Burke and Matt Striker, Crystal Vs Jillian Hall a 3 team tag match with Gregory Helms and Chavo Guerrero Vs Deuce and Domino Vs Paul London and Brian Kendrick. Average show but what you expect from house show but I did sit in the front row That was it for this week. In the upcoming week I'll be heading to Queens, NY for Jac Sabboth's WSU (Wrestling Superstars Unleashed) promotion with such stars as Kamala, Alex Shelley, the SAT and a former ECW Champion my guess Justin Credible they want you to think recently released Sabu. Then on Saturday I'll be heading to Carteret, NJ for my favorite promotion JAPW (Jersey All-Pro Wrestling) for a show with Senshi, Jay lethal and Homicide from TNA and many more great Indy Stars. Well, that's all for this week and I'll let you know how this week goes, until next time keep watching wrestling.

Hogan, Sheik, Warrior and WEW

5/10/07 Hello wrestling fans and welcome to the (Real) 14th edition of Marking out. It was not the busiest week like last week, but it was an excellent week. This week started out on Saturday night WEW (Women's Extreme Wrestling) in Philadelphia, Pa at the New Alhambra (ECW Arena) where the fans were treated for a night of women's wrestling. I got there early to meet Bret, Joe and Frank from www.wrestlingclothesline.com to hit are favorite philly gentleman's club Cheerleaders as only Joe and myself went there. While we were there we met Dave and Rob from New York as Mario did not come in. After that we headed back to the Arena for WEW. When we arrived I also met there Paul, Marty and Mr. female photographer himself Ed Darcey. It was not there best show ever but decent. Some of the stars on this show were: Jazz from WWE, Francine and commissioner Bill Alfonso from ECW, Daffney from WCW, Sirelda from TNA as well as April Hunter, Amber O'Neal, Lacey, Rain, Amy Lee, Becky Bayless and the new WEW Champion Talia. Then on Sunday morning I got up and headed to Edison, NJ for Triumphsports football spectacular. Despite the fact it was a football show it had 4 former WWF/WWE World Champions signing autographs: Hulk Hogan, the Ultimate Warrior, Bruno Sammartino and the Iron Sheik. When I got there I saw Ray D and his daughter Taylor online so I stayed with them for the afternoon. We were on the Hogan autograph line but he was in the photo opp and by the size of the line we knew he'd be there awhile so we decided to go wait on Warrior line first. Excellent move on our part as we had numbered tickets for Hogan and not Warrior. We got to the front of the Warrior line he was very friendly and talkative got a few things signed and went back to Hogan's line. We were not online when Iron Sheik slapped Eric Simms as we were finished by that time. Then having a low number for Hogan we jumped right in there and got some stuff signed by him as well not as friendly as Warrior but could have been promoters fault as he rushed people through a little. After that I did not need Sammartino or the Sheik so I left. Yes, Hogan did sign my favorite item my NWO Shirt. That was it for my expensive weekend but coming up this weekend a lot of options, such as on Friday night 2 choices ECPW at the Wayne PAL with King Kong Bundy, Tony Atlas, Tito Santana and more or BWO at Garfield High School with a Steel Cage match. Then on Saturday you Wildcard Pro Wrestling debut Show in the afternoon in Philadelphia with former ECW star the Blue Meanie and that night Combat Zone Wrestling at the ECW Arena or you have AWA Wrestling in Union City, NJ or NWS with Kip James (Billy Gunn), Danny Doring and Kevin Sullivan in South River, NJ. Then on Sunday I go BIG TIME (Pay attention Mr. Denero) WWE Smackdown/ECW house show in White Plains, NY at the Westchester County Center. Well, fans that is all for this week and check out next week for another edition of Marking out.

Sleepless from Seattle?

5/3/07 Hello wrestling fans and welcome to the 12th & 13th edition of Marking out (I know Buck Denero claimed his was his 16th edition but I think he counts by 4's). Since I was away and Sleepless in Seattle you now get the honor of getting a double this week. We start out on Friday night April 20th in Lake Hiawatha, NJ for Gung-ho Wrestling. This was held at ECPW Arena and was a very fun show. Not a lot of fans attended (around 65) but a fun show nevertheless. The opening contest could have been the main event as Monsta Mac battled Corporal Robinson in a very bloody battle. The night continued with many more matches around 12 with many of your favorite Northeast Independent stars. Then on Saturday morning I got up and went to Allentown, Pa. to Carson's Wrestling World for two signings. The first was promoted by K&S as their 2 year anniversary special featuring former WCW/NWO And Japan star Scott Norton and WCW Rocker Van Hammer. This signing was held from 11-1 and as always run very smoothly. You got to spend all the time you wanted with the wrestlers talk shop and another great event run by K&S Promotions. There is also a rumor going around that the Polaroid photographer at this signing was really awesome but that is just a rumor. Just as this signing ended the second one began from 1-3 Bud Carson and Eric Simms of ESS Promotions presented former WWE Superstar David Sammartino. Once again run very smoothly I went right up and got my item signed and did not stay for the entire signing but from the time I was there it was very good. From there I left for Rahway New Jersey for my favorite independent promotion Jersey All-Pro Wrestling. This was a very good card it had TNA Wrestlers such as: Samoa Joe, Senshi as Low-Ki and Homicide from LAX. There was over 600 screaming fans for this very solid card the main event saw Low-Ki defeat Samoa Joe to retain the JAPW Heavyweight Championship. On Sunday there was a Chikara Pro Wrestling show at the Old ECW Arena in Philadelphia it was a Lucha Libre style show that I did not attend due to the fact I was flying to Seattle for my "real" job which pays a little more then this one. Then on to the following Saturday morning with very little sleep and a lot of Jet lag. I headed to Carteret, NJ for Legends of the Ring 4. If you ever wanted to see a huge crowd that was run to perfection what a convention. This may have been one of the greatest conventions I've ever been to. Terrence great job keep up the great work. I got there I had pre-purchased a VIP Super ticket I had #14 so I went in the first lot of signings from 1-20. The first set of wrestlers were: Steve Lombardi (Brooklyn Brawler), Sherri Martel, Harvey Wippleman, Big Bully Busick,the Mountie, Roadd Dogg Jesse James/BG James, Billy Gunn/Kip James and Bart Gunn. After going smoothly through that line I went to the vendors to say hello to everyone. I then went to the Vendor guest Tammy "Sunny" Sytch to get a few things signed. The other vendor guest was Spike Dudley/Brother Runt who I didn't need anything from. Then I got on line again for the second set of wrestlers on the autograph stage. The wrestlers on the second set were the Nasty Boys (my personal favorites), Corporal Kirchner,Barry Darsaw (Smash of Demolition and Repoman), Bill Eadie (Axe of Demolition and Masked Superstar), Captain Lou Albano and Y2J Chris Jericho. Once again absolutely great show and no complaints at all. I would list the people I knew at the show but it was over 100 and it would be way too long. From there I went home to take a nap got up a short time later and headed to Clifton, NJ for NWA Pro wrestling card run by Ricky O. Another small crowd at a very fine run show with talented wrestlers from Virginia as well as the Northeast area. Well, fans that is all for this week I hope you enjoy it I'd let you know about this weeks events but time is running out on my deadline to finish this. I will let you know though Friday North Plainfield NWS with Traci Brooks, Saturday WEW all women's show in Philadelphia and Finally on Sunday Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior in Edison. I will also let the fans know this I recently purchased the Four Horsemen DVD and it is the best WWE dvd I have ever watched I highly recommend it. Thanks for Reading Danthemark

Jericho, Hybrid, BWO, Lockdown and a look at next Weekend

4/16/07 Hello wrestling fans and welcome to the 11th edition of Marking out with Danthemark. It was a decent week would have been even better if the weather cooperated a little more. I started out Friday afternoon leaving work and heading to Chiller Theatre in Parsippany, NJ to meet former WWE Champion Chris Jericho. I know I'm going to see him at LOTR in a few weeks but I had a lot of stuff for him to sign so I figured I'd lighten my bags a little for that show and get some stuff signed early. There wasn't that many people their as he was going to be there all weekend and Friday is usually the smallest so I got right in and right out. As far as Jericho goes one of the nicest wrestlers you'll meet very friendly and talkative especially for a younger wrestler. Then from there I went straight to Lake Hiawatha for the debut show of Pro Wrestling Hybrid at the ECPW Arena. Not the greatest attendance you'll get but a very fun show over 10 matches for only $10 no real big names but a fun show nevertheless. It had such Indy standouts as Grim Reefer, Kevin Mathews, Bandido, Jr., Steve "Monsta" Mac (who used me on the show), Gran Rhea Akbar, Ref Hansen, Danny Demanto and so many more. I'm not sure if they are going to have a second show or not but it was a good time as I met Paul and Marty there. Then on Saturday after deciding not to go to Ring of Honor just because I hate that building where if you don't sit in the front row you can't see anything, I instead decided to go to BWO (Bodyslam Wrestling Organization) in Hasbrouk Heights, NJ. A larger crowd then the night before but not great since ROH was running close the same night but not bad. This promotion is very Hardcore Wrestling so if you like that kind of wrestling I'd Check it out. A decent show and very entertaining. From there I went to a Gentlemen's club oops this is a wrestling website we can talk about that some other time. On Sunday I was going to go to WXW (World Xtreme Wrestling) in Allentown, PA run by WWE Hall of Famer Afa the Wild Samoan but due to the weather I didn't go. I did however buy TNA PPV Lockdown which I thought was very good except for the blindfold match with Americas Most Wanted. If you didn't see it Sting won the Lethal Lockdown match and gets the next title shot against Christian Cage and Team 3-D won the tag team titles to become the first team to win the WWE, WCW, ECW and NWA tag team belts as they are now 20-time tag team champions. Christopher Daniels, Chris Sabin, Gail Kim, Senshi, James Storm also won their matches. So the week ends with one good signing and two decent Indy shows and a PPV OK for this week. As for next week it starts out on Friday again for Gung-ho Wrestling in Lake Hiawatha. Then on Saturday morning we head to Allentown, Pa for Bud Carsons Wrestling Store as K&S presents Scott "Flash" Norton and Van Hammer both from WCW/NWO fame for their two year anniversary special right after that Bud presents David Sammartino son of Bruno for a signing. From there its either Rahway, NJ for JAPW (Jersey All-Pro Wrestling) with Samoa Joe Vs Senshi or Philadelphia for PWU (Pro Wrestling Unplugged). Then on Sunday there is a Chikara Lucha Libre style show in Philly once again but I will not make that as I'm leaving for Seattle the next morning for work. Well, that's all for this week and keep supporting wrestling.

No Signing but that's OK

4/11/07 Hello wrestling fans and welcome to the 10th edition of Marking out. I'm Danthemark and I had a pretty decent weekend two live shows no signings but got some stuff signed. This week started out on Friday in Edison, NJ for ECPW (East Coast Pro Wrestling)  for  Spring Bash.  I was there with Joe Baginsky and his son Joey and met Tim from Allentown, Pa and Howie there. Like the last ECPW Show in Suffern, NY this show had Legends, WWE/ECW stars, a former WCW star and some great Indy stars. The legends were former WWE stars The Patriot and Salvatore Sincere, the current ECW stars are Little Guido and Simon Dean the former WCW Hardcore chmapion was Crowbar and the indy stars were a plenty including the longest running Indy Champion Jeff "the future" Coleman. During intermission and later after that Guido and Dean signed some memorabilla for everyone that asked the Patriot and Crowbar would have also signed anything. The following night with Joe and his son again I headed to Philadelphia, Pa the old ECW Arena for CZW (Combat Zone Wrestling). This weeks show was better then last months and like most of their shows no big names just there own local indy stars. There was a real good loser leaves CZW match between Eddie Kingston and Chris Hero in which Kingston won and then got fired anyway. That's all for this week on the calendar for next week and most of April is huge. On Friday I hope to head to Chiller Theatre in Parsippany, NJ to see former WWE Champion Chris Jericho former WCW Champion David Arquette is also there from there I'll head down the road to Lake Hiawatha, NJ for a new Promotion called Pro Wrestling Hybrid. On Saturday back to Edison, NJ for ROH (Ring of Honor), then on Sunday to Allentown, Pa for WXW (World Extreme Wrestling) the Promotion run by new WWE Hall of famer Afa the Wild Samoan. Well that's all for this week and I'll see you next week.

Ms.Brooks And Mania What A Weekend

4/3/07 Hello wrestling fans and welcome to the ninth edition of Marking out with everyone's favorite writer Danthemark. This week we went to some signings as well as an Indy show. The week started out on Friday the 30th where I headed to Ridgewood, NJ at Bookends to see The New Age Outlaws and Chyna aka Joanie Laurer. Actually I only went to see Chyna as the Outlaws will be in Carteret on 04/28/07 at LOTR but more on that when it gets closer. Prices were $20 an autograph but $40 for 3. So of course I got $75 for 6 all Joanie. The crowd was suprisingly small 50-60 at the most which really surprised me. Saw a few people I knew including Thomas "Mombo 'Rivera from Wrestling Reunion as he handed out flyers for his show on June 2nd in Carteret. At that Show K&S will be bringing in the Godfather (Papa Shango) who the fans are very excited to see. Then on Saturday night after a very long and lousy drafted fantasy baseball draft, I headed to Deer Park, Long Island, New York. I actually went to Long Island to See TNA Knockout Traci Brooks brought in by K&S. Since I couldn't make the earlier signing in Allentown, Pa. To be honest I saw only a little of the wrestling as I got there a little late but I did see former ECW Triple Crown winner Mikey Whipwreck and Current TNA Star Jerry Lynn as they were the biggest stars on the show. When I got there I got to see Ken and Steve from K&S, Brett, Joe and Frank from www.wrestlingclothesline.com, Jay from Long Island and my favorite women's wrestling photographer Ed Darcey. I got some nice stuff signed by Traci, she is always so nice and remembers my name lol. It was a very fun night. Then on Sunday (sorry Buck Denero I'm going big time here) I watched Wrestlemania 23. I actually got 6 out of 8 matches right missing on the money in the bank and Women's title. I thought it was a very good Mania as well I thought the money in the bank was good except for the fact I picked King Booker. Undertaker winning was good, Vince head shaving, knew Cena would win because both titles weren't going to change hands. Thought Ashley would win since she did playboy, and I knew Khali was going to destroy Kane. Coming up this week in Edison, NJ ECPW (East Coast Pro Wrestling) Spring Slam with WWE/ECW Stars Little Guido (Nunzio) and Nova (Simon Dean) plus Crowbar, Salvatore Sincere the WWE's Patriot and the longest running Indy Champion Jeff Coleman. Then on Saturday in Lake Hiawatha ECPW returns with Adrenaline or you can got to Philadelphia, Pa and see Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW). Well, that's all for this week and we'll see you next week to see how we did.

Two Weekends Updated

3/27/07  Hello folks and welcome to the 7th & 8th editions of Marking out.  Sorry I didn't get one in last week for you but my work had me busy. So Ill catch you up this week with a double shot. It starts out on Wednesday, March 14 back to Little Ferry, NJ for ECW signing at MVP Collectibles with CM Punk and Kelly Kelly. As I reported in an earlier report they are a little expensive at this venue. It was a decent signing as there had to be about 80 fans there (more for Punk). As I had number 68 and there was a few more behind me. Then again a Wednesday signing at 3pm what more can you expect. I met Joe from www.wrestlingclothesline.com there. I also knew a few more in line including somebody from Rhode Island (No I'm not kidding). Both wrestlers very friendly and signed whatever you gave them. As Joe said though $30 for a Polaroid was a little to steep. Friday's shows were all canceled due to the weather, so we move on to Saturday for my favorite Independent promotion Jersey All-Pro Wrestling (JAPW). It was held at the usual Rahway Rec Center in Rahway, NJ. This was a real good show it featured 5 TNA stars Rhino, Frankie Kazarian, Homicide (LAX), Jay Lethal and the New JAPW Champion Low-Ki (Senshi). A great show great wrestling and you should check out there next show same place on April 21st (after you go see Scott Norton and David Sammartino at Carsons in Allentown, PA) featuring TNA Samoa Joe for more info go to JAPW.net. Now we move on to this past weekend there were no signings I attended but did get some stuff signed (more on that later) This past Saturday I picked up the entire Baginsky family except Joe he had to work and we headed down to Philadelphia, Pa for Wicked Hanuman Wrestling 1st show (and probably last) at the former ECW arena. The show had once again 4 TNA stars and one recently released WWE star. After the show and before many signed they are from TNA Jerry Lynn, Sonjay Dutt (surprise didn't bring my new figure), Low-Ki (Senshi) and Raven plus former WWE/ECW Superstar Andrew Test Martin. Only about 150 fans showed up probably about 100 paid and that's why it is probably their last show. I heard on another website they lost around $8,000. Test alone was $2,000. This week coming up starts on Friday as the New Age Outlaws or the James Gang or Voodoo Kin Mafia and Joanie Laurer AKA Chyna are signing in Ridgewood, NJ. Then on Saturday at Carson's wrestling world in Allentown, Pa K&S presents TNA Knockout Traci Brooks make sure you attend. Then that night you have a choice of 3 WXW in Allentown AFA the Wild Samoan has a show for you or in NY the NYWC (New York Wrestling Connection) has a show in Deer Park, NY or in Union City, NJ AWA has a show with the TNA X-Division title on the line Champ Chris Sabin defends against Jay Lethal. So it looks like a busy weekend we'll let you know next week how it went and to Brett from www.wrestlingclothesline.com NWO4life.

Foley to ECPW to CZW What a Weekend to be a Mark

3/13/07  Hello folks and welcome to this 6th edition of Marking out. It was a real good week for this Mark and looks to be a good one coming up. This week started out on Thursday evening in Ridgewood, NJ at bookends. Former WWE Champion and hardcore legend Mick Foley was signing his new Book Hardcore Diaries. There was about 50-60 people there. I met my friend Joe Baginsky his wife Gina, son Joey and daughter Angela there as they saved me a spot. What was different was they had chairs for people to sit down and prior to signing the book Mick did a half hour or so Q&A with everyone and told everyone about his book. Once you got to the front of the line Mick signed the book and anything else you wanted free of charge so overall this was a good signing. The next night on Friday I picked up my friend Paul and we headed to Suffern, NY for ECPW (East Coast Pro Wrestling). This was one of the largest crowds I've ever seen for and Indy show. Once we got there Paul an I met Joe from www.wrestlingclothesline.com and John. This show featured everything from Legends Tito Santana, the Honkytonkman, Rocky Jones, Jim Powers, The Kodiak Bear and promoter himself Gino Caruso. It also featured former WCW star Crowbar, ECW Star Julio Dinero with Miss Michelle (subbing for former WWE Star Heidenreich) as well as current WWE stars Little Guido (Nunzio) and Simon Dean (Nova) as well as current TNA star Brother Runt (Spike Dudley). What this tells all promoters in the area book a few legends few current stars promote well and at least 1600-1800 fans in attendance. All the stars signed autographs for everyone some free some not. Saturday night I drove down to Philadelphia, PA and Met Paul, Marty and Tony at the ECW Arena for CZW (Combat Zone Wrestling). It was not CZW's best show but there's been worse as well how many did they draw 200-250. The only really known star the fans would know TNA'S Sonjay Dutt and he wasn't even announced. Necro Butcher and Messiah did not show but the show did finish with a barb wire tag team match. Well, coming up this week Wednesday CM Punk and Kelly Kelly in Little Ferry. With prices of all WWE Stars tripling for Auto signings recently this may be the last WWE signing for a while. Friday in Lake Hiawatha Gung-Ho Wrestling or NEW in Danbury, CT with a great card. Saturday JAPW (Jersey All-ProWrestling) in Rahway, NJ or PWU (Pro Wrestling Unplugged) in Philadelphia, PA with Raven, the Rotten brothers and Gary Wolfe. On a side not Sunday's World-1 Promotion in Pottstown, PA was canceled. Till Next Week This is Danthemark

Around The Indy Scene

3/7/07 Hello everyone and welcome to the 5th edition of Marking Out. Once again I'm Danthemark and I'll let you know about the exciting weekend of a wrestling fan and what's in the future. I'm feeling a lot better now so the encounters are picking up and will only get better as we go along. On Friday night in Centereach LI, NY Victory Pro Wrestling (VPW) had another solid show that I did not attend but heard was very entertaining with their usual packed and loud crowd. I was going to go but I had big plans for Saturday so I skipped that one. So on Saturday afternoon my friend Joe Baginsky from Carteret and his son Joey picked me up and we were off to Lodi, NJ for Wrestling Superstars Unleashed (WSU) all women show. This show started around 4pm and had 7 matches. The Main Event was former WCW Scream Queen Daffney Vs Talia from the tag team TNA. It was not a large crowd but very loud and into it. Some of he people in the crowd were Joe, Joey as previous mentioned, Ed, Marty, Paul, Pete and his mom, John Fallon, Jr., and from NY Mario, Rob, Dave and Mark plus the four usual stalkers from PA at every women show. Ref Sean Hansen & former WCW, ECW and UWF manager Missy Hyatt did commentary for the DVD and Missy also did a Missy's Manor with Daffney. There were also many Indy wrestlers in attendance such as Too Cocky Kevin Mathews, Danny Demanto, Deranged, former ECW Ring announcer Steve DeAngelis and as the big surprise Gregory Helms (the Hurricane) from the WWE. Joey did get a figure signed and had his photo taken with Helms. From there Joe, Joey, Marty and myself headed to Jersey Shore Wrestling (JSW) the sister (brother) promotion of Jersey All-Pro Wrestling debut show. It was Held in Union City, NJ only 19 minutes away. It took us over an hour to get there but that is a story for a different day. It was a very good debut show 10 Matches no big stars just the stars of the Indys. Crowd was around 100 and very loud and vocal once again. After every match they had an interview with the winner like the days of Georgia Championship Wrestling. I suggest taking in both shows in the future. Now we move onto this week what's on the schedule? It possibly starts off on Thursday in Ridgewood, NJ for a book signing from former WWE champion the hardcore legend Mick Foley. Then on Friday I'm heading to Suffern, NY the high school for ECPW for a huge event with former WWE Superstar Heidenreich, current TNA Star Brother Runt (Spike Dudley), former WCW Hardcore Champion Devon "Crowbar" Storm plus former WWE Legends Tito Santana, Jim Powers, the Honkytonkman, Masked Superstar and Rocky Jones plus some great indy stars like Josh Daniels, Judas Young, Paul E Normus and Scotty Charisma. Then on Saturday there are once again three choices Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) in Philadelphia, PA, AWA wrestling in Union City, NJ and Northeast Wrestling (NEW) in Torrington, CT. with WWE Legends Jim "the Anvil" Neidhart and Jerry "the King" Lawler plus current TNA Stars Samoa Joe and Jay Lethal plus more. Then on Sunday a doubleheader in Pottstown, PA from World-1 Wrestling a 2pm belltime for an all women's show then at 6pm a great show with former ECW Champion Steve Corino, Ricky Landell, King Kahlua, WWE's Patriot, Ricky Reyes, Claudio Castignoli, the Backseat Boys and much more. Well, that's all for this week folks but come back next week and you can find out which of these shows I made and how they were.

Harley Race And Mania What A Combo

2/26/07  Hello fans and welcome to the fourth edition of marking out. Once again I'm Danthemark and I apologize for not having an article last week but I was in the hospital recovering from surgery. Which is why once again this week I didn't do as much as my usual standards but I did a little. Starting next week though I have big plans and these articles are going to get even better (if that's possible). So we will start out this week telling you about my weekend then we will finish up with some Wrestlemania News and predictions. So Saturday morning I got up and left for Allentown, PA Carson's wrestling world the same venue that held the awesome UWF reunion to see the former 8 time NWA World Champion Harley Race. I have seen Race on two other occasions but since I had a Classic figure and one more really nice 8x10 photo I needed to see him one more time. The signing started at 12 noon and it was a very good showing as Race signed for about 2 hours straight. They were only charging $10 for your own items which I though was a great price for a former 8 time champion. As always Bud (store owner) offered free refreshments for anyone who paid to see the wrestler. I saw some people at the show I always see like Tim, Dale, Ray (who's birthday it was and Harley was brought in to celebrate his birthday) and of course Terrence from Legends of the Ring who is having his big show in Carteret, NJ in April which we will talk about as it gets closer. Also Harley Race and the Living Legend Larry Zbyszko were at MVP Collectibles the next day in Little Ferry, NJ and all there auto's were $15. So I decided to go to Carson's instead because I also had nothing for Larry to sign. For all interested Carson's next show will be on Saturday, April 21st time to be announced live in person David Sammartino son of Bruno. That night there were once again 3 independent promotions I thought about going to in Philadelphia Pro wrestling Press (PWP) was putting on there 2nd show which featured The Honkytonkman, Larry Zbyszko, Pitbull Gary Wolfe from ECW and more. New York Wrestling Connection (NYWC) in Deer Park, NY which featured Jerry Lynn and Mikey Whipwreck. Finally once again there was my local promotion East Coast Pro Wrestling (ECPW) right in Lake Hiawatha, NJ featuring former WCW Hardcore Champion Crowbar. But as I said early due to my condition I didn't make any. Next week though I do plan to do at least a double header on Saturday 3pm Lodi, NJ Wrestling Superstars Unleashed (WSU) all women show featuring Missy Hyatt and the former WCW Scream Queen Daffney and all the top women in wrestling. From there I plan to head to Union City, NJ to see the debut show of Jersey Shore Wrestling (JSW). Next week I'll let you now how they were and if they are worth checking out. Now lets talk Wrestlemania a little we know some of the matches for the World Heavyweight Championship (C) Batista vs the Undertaker I got Undertaker winning. Then for the WWE Championship (C) John Cena vs Shawn Michaels I'm going to go with Cena because I don't see both titles changing hands. Hair vs Hair battle of the Billionaires Vince McMahon with his wrestler Umaga vs Donald Trump and his Wrestler ECW champion Bobby Lashley with special guest referee Steve Austin. I'm going to go with Lashley costing Vince his hair because of Austin. (MITB) ladder Match so far we have Edge, CM Punk and King Booker so I figure we need one more from each program so I'd say Randy Orton prob. over Jeff Hardy this week, Mr. Kennedy and Rob Van Dam and I'm going with King Booker to win. We are also probably going to get The Great Khali vs Kane lets go with Kane there. We are also going to get WWE women's champion Melina vs new playboy cover girl Ashley where Ashley will win the title. Well, that's all for this edition of Marking out but until next time WATCH WRESTLING.

UWF & Indy Gurlz What A Weekend

2/14/07 Hello wrestling fans and anyone else who reads my articles, and welcome to the third installment of Marking out. Once again I'm Danthemark and I'll be telling you about my weekend as a mark. The weekend started off on Saturday morning. I headed out to Allentown, PA. (about an hour and a half from my home). I went there for the UWF Ringside Reunion hosted by K&S promotions and held at Carson's world. This was an autograph session the wrestlers signing were "Dr. Death" Steve Williams, "Freebird" Buddy Roberts, "Hollywood" John Tatum and Missy Hyatt. All the wrestlers were very nice and would sign anything you asked and the show was ran excellently with fans going up in order you get there. After the signing was over they had a great 2 Hour Q&A where the wrestlers answered all the fans questions. Check out this DVD when you get the chance. After finishing up there I started to head to my next venture except I started to feel sick once again (My surgery is this week so this will end soon) so I just headed home rather then going to any of the three indy show I had on my list Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) in Philadelphia or BWO or NWS in New Jersey. I knew I was going to a show the next day so I didn't need to overdue it. Now it is Sunday Afternoon and I'm ready for IGW (Indy Gurlz Wrestling) yes I spelled girls correctly there. This was at 3PM in Boonton NJ. The show was short but very good I went there and met my friends Joe and Brett (www.wrestlingclothesline.com) ) , Ed, Paul and Marty. We saw 6 excellent matches with some of the best female wrestlers in the world. The Likes of: April Hunter, Lacey, Mercedes Martinez, Nikki Roxx, Ariel, Daizee Haze, Cindy Rogers and more. I suggest checking it out next time you get a chance just go to (www.indygurlz.com) . Jason who runs the show is great and sells great DVD's at great prices. Welll that's all for now folks but as I said earlier I'm going for surgery on Friday so I'll send in something it just will not be from a live event. So until next time So long.

Marking Out With A Little Ease

2/7/07Hello folks and welcome to the second edition of Marking out. I hope you enjoyed the first one or at least read it. It was a slow week this week for Danthemark mostly because I've been sick and next week is big. On Monday I watched Raw saw most of what I was expecting tag team titles lost by team RKO setting up Cena Vs HBK for Mania good show though. Then on Tuesday instead of the usual ECW I switched to MTV to watch the Debut show of WSX (Wrestling Society X) and I really enjoyed it. It's too bad it was only a half an hour but it was very exciting plus I got to see Indy wrestlers and wrestlers I haven't seen in a long time like 6-Pac, Vampiro and Justin Credible. I recommend watching it. Then on Friday afternoon around 3:30 I left to go to MVP Collectibles in Little Ferry, NJ to see Mr. Kennedy..... Kennedy sorry I couldn't resist. The signing was supposed to begin at 5pm but as I got there they said he was running late due to snow in Minnesota and was taking Stephanie McMahon personal jet to make the appearance. There could not have been more then 100 fans all together as I had #41. There are good things and bad about signings at MVP Collectibles as this was my 2nd signing there. The good things are numbers everyone attending gets a number as I said I had 41 and they send in around 5 at a time in number order. Second good thing they give you good time with the wrestlers where you could talk to them ask them questions whatever. Lastly photos if you buy there Polaroid they let you take additional photos with your own camera. Some of the bad things are they are a little overpriced $25 for your own item signed and $40 for a Polaroid seemed a little steep to me. Secondly there is no place to park or wait luckily I got there early enough to park right in front of the building and waited until it started because it was raining. Also Mr. Kennedy did get there around and hour and  15 minutes late. That is all I did this weekend with the Super Bowl and everything, but I have a big weekend planned for this upcoming one. Saturday morning UWF Reunion in Allentown Pa (Missy Hyatt, Steve Williams, Freebird Buddy Roberts and Hollywood John Tatum) make sure your there. After that I will go to one of three Indy shows CZW in Philly, NWS in Kearney, NJ or BWO in Hasbrouk Heights, NJ. Then on Sunday afternoon Indygurlz is running a show in Boonton, NJ so I will give you a recap on all those events. So until next time this is Danthemark saying so long.

Weekend as a Mark

1/28/07  Hi all, this is my first of hopefully many articles I will bring to you. Starting out I call my self Danthemark, why you ask because every weekend I try to attend at least two wrestling live shows and any possible signings in the area. So how did I do this weekend average not one of my better but got some stuff done. Saturday morning I got up and went to Massapequa, NY and headed to NY Sports Works at the Sunrise Mall for a WWE signing. The wrestlers signing were Team RKO Edge and Randy Orton (how often can you