The Vanderhoff Chronicles Part 9

I know winning belts on an independent level shouldn't be a big deal but once Truck and Nova won the tag titles I felt pretty good. Take that EWF for never making me a manager! Take that ACW for booking my guys to fail! I'm Reginald Vanderhoff damn it, and now I have the gold to back my play!

Ok maybe I'm going a little overboard. But hey this CPW thing was working. People were coming up to me at restaurants around and saying hello to me and wanting to know when the next show was. I was getting stopped for autographs at the mall. People were coming to the store where I worked and actually bought those damn action figures I couldn't peddle at the show. I think my boss saw the potential of my "celebrity" bringing in customers and allowed me to hang up posters advertising the show. I passed out flyers. I was legitimately excited.

And then the crème de crème came. In January 2004 I entered the North Charleston Coliseum not as a spectator but as a participant. Somehow CPW landed a deal to put on a four match show after a South Carolina Stingrays hockey game. I was excited as hell and called my father and he came up from Beaufort.

But before that...more drama. Tank wanted to win the belts back at the Coliseum. Now I didn't really care who had the belts but try to follow my logic here. The rematch was scheduled for two weeks after the Coliseum show. If we give away the title win, for free I might add, what incentive did the fans have to come to the paid show? Solitude agreed with me. Was Tank thinking if he got pinned at the Coliseum that it would make him look bad somehow?? He never explained at least to me why he wanted the title switch but that's the feeling I got.

So I've been KO'd by drag queens, put in a dress, and stripped to my boxers about a dozen times. Rock bottomed, drop kicked, diamond cut, took an X-factor from a 90 lb. woman, took a bump from the ring apron to the floor for the same woman, and beaten the three times I participated in an actual match. Solitude was a guy that let me slap him in the face, boot him in the ribs, spit in his face, beat him with a cane and took just sums of punishment trying to make us look good. And here was his partner pulling a Velvet.

I just wouldn't stand for it. If Tank had insisted I probably would have bolted the promotion. I was that convinced I was in the right here. Somehow we talked him into a double countout. That was fine. Hell I would have taken a DQ loss, I just didn't think it made sense to drop the straps.

The night of the show, I had just left my father and his girlfriend in their seats when a guy walks up and says do you mind if we do an interview. I didn't know who he was. Wait, we're getting TV coverage too? Damn right you can interview me! I called over Mack and Nova and we rolled with it. I did OK but Mack stole the show. I think he's probably been in front of a camera more than I have. I hadn't done any kind of TV in two years and certainly not where the guy is holding a mic and the cameraman is standing a foot away. But we were getting to the camera guy. His face was turning red and he was holding back the laughter. To me that's always a good sign.

Is this how the big time feels, I thought? I had walked through the back just like the WWE guys have done. I just cut a promo for TV. This is pretty damn cool. And we had an autograph table about 10 feet from Ric Flair. I don't know how life in wrestling could be any sweeter unless Vince himself walked through the door and offered me a contract.

So naturally the fans try to provoke a fight between me and Flair. This is probably the most stupid thing I've ever done but after hearing about 20 or 30 people telling me that Flair could whip my ass I screamed "If that old man wants to fight, tell him to walk on over!"

Of course Flair ignored me much as I knew he would. Ok I know I sound like a total mark revealing all this. I have only one explanation for my actions. Flair was just there to sign autographs. He was leaving at nine. I had to go on in two hours. I felt if I didn't look like half the star Flair was that the people would piss all over what we were going to do. What would have stopped them from just leaving? Sure it was a bonus attraction that didn't cost anything but what incentive did they really have to stay? I learned a long time ago just because you have the word "wrestling" on the marquee that doesn't guarantee you will draw. We didn't have any stars on our card. So if they think I'm challenging Flair and it will entice them to stay, screw it.

The hockey game ended and they were only giving us a 60 minute block...that included ring set-up. I think a dozen guys pitched in, I've never seen that damn ring go up so fast. While the ring was going up guys went out to talk to the crowd. I think the Foundation went out third. Hey this is good, the crowd is actually booing and we haven't said a word yet. We got on the mic and ripped the city of North Charleston and their hockey team a new one and left. It must have got the job done, people were beating on the glass and one drunk just above the entryway was cussing me. He nearly spilled his beer on me. I said something about hanging onto that glass because I doubt he could afford another one and walked to the back.

The first match went on Krazy K and Dexter Poindexter vs Paul Phoenix and Alex Stone. I could hear the crowd and they were popping. We didn't have a monitor but I could tell by the noise that things were going well.

Velvet and Rick Dreamer went out second. After about a minute or two total fucking SILENCE!

What the hell were they doing out there? If the crowd is dying and you can't get them back, get the fuck out of the ring! Go to the damn finish! I was hot! Mack and Nova looked at me and said now we have to get them back into it again.

We went out to Queen's "We Are the Champions". Great suggestion by Deni. It was cheap heat but after Dreamer/Velvet killed the crowd I'd take all the heat we could get. It seemed to work. There were a few dead periods but we did what we could. Nova threw Tank to the floor and I went for the cane shot. Then the unexpected happened.

The Coliseum floor was made of ice. There was a covering to protect the ice from the ring but there was nothing at ringside where we were walking. I slipped and busted my ass trying to swing the cane. The crowd erupted. My only regret was I didn't sell it better. I should have tried to get up and slipped again but I was so surprised I jumped up and just yelled at the crowd not to laugh at me.

Now when people talk to me about that show all they remember is that damn slip! The injustice! My mother got a dozen phone calls from friends, hey was that your son at the Coliseum? Person after person came into the store I worked and said, hey we saw you on TV. Man, this recognition thing is really cool! I'm a freakin' celebrity!

For some reason the rematch show got cancelled. We didn't have a follow-up show until March. We should have struck as soon as the Coliseum spots hit TV. I don't know what the hell happened but we were going to do the Music Farm which was a nightclub downtown which I felt could be interesting. Only problem was weekends were big bar nights and Thursday night was all they had. We drew about a hundred people. But why should people watch CPW for ten bucks when you can watch Smackdown for free on TV? The cool thing was Molly Holly was in town and actually stopped by to watch the show. That and the place did have this ECW type feel to it maybe because the ring had to sit in the dance floor pit and it had two balcony sections.

We dropped the belts as planned. But the match was kind of disappointing. The finish got botched somehow and Nova was upset at himself. I think everyone just got overboard in trying to impress Molly.

I tried to salvage it. The storyline behind the match was that if we lost the belts Solitude got me in the ring. So I slowly got in. Solitude stood there and was like come on little man, give me what you've got. I had told him earlier no matter what I did don't sell a damn thing no matter if it hurt or not. I basically stole a spot I'd seen Sting and Flair perform a hundred times. I slapped him in the face. Nothing. I chopped his chest as hard as I could. Solitude stood his ground. Another chop. Solitude is smiling. Five punches to the midsection. Is that all you've got, he says. I stomp around like a little kid and then try a surprise haymaker. He blocks and hits me with a shot of his own. I bump and stagger back to my feet. Solitude hits me with a clothesline from the front and Tank hits me with one from the rear. I stagger into another Solitude clothesline and then roll out of the ring. Mack truck saves me from further punishment. He picks me up like you carry the bride over the threshold. I catch Molly Holly out of the corner of my eye and she's laughing. This is great but I don't want to lose it. So I bury my head in Mack's chest to conceal my laughter. Truck is trying to get me through the narrow passage between the floor and the stage. We both won't fit. I tell Truck just dump me on the stage. He sits me upright and then I just fall backward. Nova and Truck then both carry me out. It was probably one of my better spots. And hey Solitude took all that shit from me and I felt like I owed the guy.

Despite the small draw I still felt like we had momentum. The Music Farm manager said that was the best Thursday business they'd had in months and wanted to bring us back in the future. CPW was here to stay, I thought.

I couldn't have been more wrong.