I've come to the conclusion that tribute shows for the late "Macho Man" Randy Savage must be cursed. In July, Dino Puglia ran such a show with the blessing of Savage's brother Lanny Poffo, but the event was such a disaster thanks to a combination of false advertising, poor attendance, performers failing to be paid and even the lack of a ring bell to do a proper ten bell salute for Savage, that Poffo disassociated himself with Puglia after the event:
I know Dino, and when he said he wanted to do the event, I said 'go ahead'. This was the first time he's ever asked me to work for him, and I can tell you this is the end of the relationship. He used my brother's name to promote an event and then he turns it into a disgrace. I'm sorry Randy's name was involved, but I know that it won't tarnish his legacy.
The latest memorial show for Savage, ran by Devon Nicholson's Great North Wrestling promotion didn't fare much better thanks to the scheduled headliner, WWE Hall Of Famer Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, no-showing the event.
If the name Devon Nicholson rings a bell, then it should. He has sued another WWE Hall Of Famer, Abdullah The Butcher, over his belief that Abdullah gave him Hepatitis C in a bloody wrestling match. You would think after that experience Nicholson would be more wary of using a veteran in Valentine who has a bad reputation for double booking himself, holding both promoters up for more money and no-showing the event that offers him the least extra cash, but obviously that wasn't the case. A similar story happened here, as days before the event a drunken Valentine called Nicholson, complained about his flight itinerary ("if Lanny Poffo is on that same flight, then he's a bigger idiot than I am") and said he wouldn't board the flight if more money wasn't sent to him upfront. Nicholson claims he did as Valentine asked and thus was livid when he didn't live up to his end of the bargain:
It is one thing to no-show a pro wrestling event. It is another to demand all your money up front, promise you're going to come and then no show a huge event like the Macho Man Memorial Show.
Greg Valentine cost in the ball park of 2k for his payoff, plane ticket, and hotel room. That money all went to waste with him no-showing. Greg Valentine truly showed what scum he is this week. I would highly recommend that no promoter trust or book this man. He better hope he never crosses paths with me again. What he did was a horrible insult to me, Lanny, The Macho Man and most importantly the fans who paid to see him.
All I can say is that it's a good thing that Nicholson has wealthy parents who can afford to bankroll his vanity indy shows and take such a hit.
Here's where everything becomes really wacky and suspicious. An upset Lanny Poffo has responded to Greg Valentine's drunken telephone message that Nicholson published on YouTube with a YouTube video of his own (both of which can be seen after the jump) where he challenges Valentine to a "mixed martial arts match". This may be the worst worked shoot promo of the year, as it's so over the top you can't take it seriously with Poffo calling Valentine a "mangina" and a "pussy", saying he might leave in a body bag and throwing cash he got from his recent inheritances to bait Valentine into the fight.
It should be noted that Nicholson has a track record of weird "shoot" situations happen to him, the most infamous of which was a match with Tommy Dreamer in Montreal on December 11th, 2010, where Nicholson (who was the promoter of the event and has trained in MMA) put Dreamer in a real chokehold in a "shoot" finish after Nicholson had kicked out of the planned DDT finish that he'd only agreed to as Dreamer insisted he went over. Of course, there was a film crew that was backstage filming things for Nicholson's documentary "Don't Bleed On Me - Wrestling's Hepatitis C Secret Revealed". Um, what are the odds of lightning striking twice in the same wrestling city? And now this "shoot" situation between Valentine and Poffo? Something smells a bit fishy.