A Rightful Legacy: The Second East Coast War

Wildfire1324 · July 28, 2022

"And remember to use the code VIBERT to save 10% on your new Casper mattress. Casper Mattresses, they're changing the way people sleep. Well, that's our show for this week everyone. Thank you again to my special guest, Mitch Naess, the owner of Pittsburgh Steel Wrestling. Mitch, before we sign off, where can people find you on social media?"

"Thanks Phil. it's always a pleasure to talk with my old boss. You can find me on Twitter under @MitchNaess. That's really the only one I use these days."

"No Tik Tok for you?"

"Um....no. Definitely not Phil. I'll leave the Gen Z dance routines to you."

"And on that frightening visual, this has been Vibert's Voice. I'm Phil Vibert, and until next week, remember gang......Greatness exists outside your comfort zone."

The young and clearly overworked show producer gestured at the host. I can't imagine how much of a pain in the ass working for Phil Vibert like this would be. Well, I mean, I could imagine of course but I digress.

"We're clear Phil. Good show sir."

Phil Vibert leaned back in his chair. "Thanks Naveen. So Mitch, talk to me. Now that we've fed the marks, you want to tell me what's eating you? What's really going on with your company?"

My former mentor could always read me like a book and it annoyed me even to this day. My poker face clearly hadn't improved over the years like I thought it had.

"Nothing too big Phil. Just that we're heading into the holidays and Alex is giving up the book, wants to spend more time with him family and less time figuring out storylines. So I need to figure who is next to take over before our January show. I'm at a loss for who though. I talked briefly with Pistol Pete Hall about it but he politely told me he hates our product. A bit of a pain this time of the year but nothing I can't sort out. I might let Johnny Martin run with it for a bit."

Phil Vibert took a big swig of his iced coffee and sat in silence for an uncomfortably long moment, staring at me the entire time. "So you've gone from Braun, to Tyler and back to Braun the last few years right? And where are you for it? Johnny's not gonna change that either. Johnny's a warrior, he really is, but with all the wear and tear on that guy physically and mentally, he's not the answer. You know I love all these guys but they're just booking the bare minimum basics and figuring all the hardcore stuff will be what sells the tickets. You've gone from booker to booker and PSW really hasn't made much of an impact on the scene. I've even seen fans online calling it Pittsburgh Stale Wrestling. "

I won't lie. That one hurt. I've been busting my ass trying to continue the legacy of what we had built when I was working for him back in the day. His words just cut me down to size, like a disapproving father. Or step father. Or an uncle. I don't know. Our relationship was always complicated. He could be an asshole but I loved him regardless, so this hurt.

"I'm not saying this to be an asshole Mitch. I mean, we both know I AM an asshole but there is no one I want to succeed in this business more than you. But if you want to do more than just tread water there, something has to change. Even the strongest swimmer can only tread water for so long before they get exhausted and drown. You've been at this for over a decade now without a whole lot to show for your work. Something has to give. You need a man of vision, a man of perspicacity to take over the booking."

Wait. Was arguably the greatest wrestling mind of the last thirty years implying he wanted to come and book Pittsburgh Steel Wrestling?

"Phil.....I'm honored you'd want to come and join us and obviously I would love to have you on board but I don't think I could afford you."

Phil Vibert let out a sharp laugh. "Mitch, you definitely can't afford me. You think you can top the money I'm making from Dollar Shave Club and Zip Recruiter? And that's not even factoring in the absolutely stupid amount of money Spotify is giving me to pump out this crap. Here's a little secret, Eisen couldn't even afford me at this point, let alone you."

"Eisen's busy trying to stay out of jail."

"Well whichever one of his idiot kids is running the show, they couldn't afford me either."

"I'm confused then. Who are you suggesting for the gig?"

Phil Vibert rubbed his temples and sighed. "You, you dense son of a bitch, you! It's your company, you're the one who needs to book it. You were my right hand man for years so you've probably forgotten more about this business than half the bookers working today will ever know. You don't need another burnt out DAVE veteran booking your territory.No one is going to save PSW but you. You've already got a big hand in the roster construction, yes?"

"Well yes I do but...."

"Okay so let me ask you this.....what the hell is this roster?"

"What do you mean?"

"It just makes no sense Mitch! You have all these high level indy guys like Callum and Youngman and Ash and Logan and Xavi, not to mention some high end tag teams that you could build a real promotion around assuming they don't all get snatched up by one of the bigs, but the rest of the roster is just has-beens, spot monkeys and third rate hardcore wrestlers. I know a lot of them are young and cheap but they're not the caliber of worker you need. Not to mention the style is just dated as hell these days. I know you're trying to honor the legacy of what we did but if I was still running the company today, there's no way DAVE would still be what it was in the early 2000's. It would have naturally evolved into something new and more modern. Not to mention, with what we know now about concussions and CTE, having your workers kill each other with chairs and kendo sticks is a losing proposition these days."

"Look I know we're not close to what DAVE was but we must be doing something right Phil. We're the biggest indy group east of the Mississippi. The Confederation has practically begged me to join several times."

"Considering your competition, that's not terribly impressive. Vessey is running his usual 1970's dumpster fire and Keith sold out to TCW so he can mold the trainees of the clear third of the so-called big three promotions. You're lucky CZCW isn't in your neck of the woods or they'd be eating your lunch. And don't get me started on the COTT! But here's my point kid....."

"I'm forty three years old Phil."

"Still a kid in this business as far as I'm concerned but here's my advice. Take the book yourself and stop playing nice with New York. I know you love Pittsburgh but you're going to make a hell of a lot more money promoting in Vessey's backyard. I'd take him out like the outdated garbage his promotion serves up and by that point, I guarantee MAW's deal with TCW will have fallen apart under the weight of Sam Keith's ego. Then you can pick up the pieces of both companies best talent to try and help minimize the inevitable raids from the bigger promotions. Before you know it, the eastern seaboard will be yours. You'll be the super indy of the east coast with room to grow from there. Forget DAVE's legacy or my legacy. Go claim your rightful legacy in this business. And if you can't book this company yourself, maybe it's time to call it day before it bleeds you dry financially and you can do something else with the rest of your life."

That's the problem. With the roller coaster of highs and lows that this business was, there's nothing else I wanted to do with the rest of my life. Sure, I was an announcer, and a damn good one at that. One of the bigger groups would hire me in a second if I tapped out of PSW but I didn't want to work for someone else. I couldn't work for someone else after all these years. Phil knew all of this which is why he just threw that punk card down at my feet and dared me to pick it up. What he was suggesting was going to cause absolute chaos in the local scene. Did I want to be the one to start a second East Coast War?

"Phil, can we re-record that final segment? I've got a few announcements I need to get out there."

"Attaboy. Naveen, fire everything up again."

The show producer sighed. He was so close to being done for the day, so close. "Yes, yes of course sir."

Wildfire1324 · July 28, 2022