Don’t you like when everyone goes home after having a house full for a few days? I had a couple friends down to hang for the last 10 days or so. I like visiting with friends, don’t get me wrong, but I enjoy my alone time. I’ve got an odd schedule that tends to conflict with most everyone else. A ton of fun was had and we did a lot of things including a full day of shooting in Tampa.
We gathered to watch two new movies that came out: Shazam and Avengers: End Game.
I thought Avengers was a bit long and had a lot going on. My preference was Shazam over End Game. I found the humor in Shazam was my type and was more engaged with the story. The theatre didn’t seem prepared for the huge crowds that came out this weekend. It took forever to get our concessions and the place was a mess. Still had a great experience though.
The shoot went well once the wheels started picking up speed. It seems to be rough getting the first few matches up to full steam, but it always works out (hope that didn’t jinx me). We got a later-than-normal start, which I thought would be beneficial as most of the guys are night owls. The line-up for the shoot was huge. I’d say 13 to 14 wrestlers. About 9pm we’d reach our time limit for the facility I was renting, but things were going well and I wanted to get at least 4 more matches, especially with Zach Altovito & Ronnie Pearl. We couldn’t stay longer due to a Ring of Honor wrestler training one-on-one with an Impact Wrestler & former WWE Superstar. I thought the night was gonna be over and with so much potential left on the mat.
Luckily Nick Justice made a quick call and found another ring only 3 miles away. The crew had shriveled down to a crowd of a half dozen wrestlers, give or take. The Florida heat was great as almost all the guys were drenched in sweat, except for Z-Man. I’ve never seen the dude sweat and the discussion that evening was that no one else has either. We ended up shooting from 10pm to 3am at the second location. Everyone was having a great time for the most part. Lots of socializing off-camera and the matches in the ring were great. I was even impressed by the rookie wrestlers. Speaking of the rookie wrestlers, it was weird that they all showed up. I had 4 new faces, well 5 at one point, and they all were impressive in their debuts. Definitely going to use some again.
Funny story. I hired a guy for a shoot in Orlando off the internet. He showed up, seemed cool with everything then asked to go to his car for something. Long story short, he ever came back. Fast forward to the recent shoot in Tampa. I find this dude online and ask him if he’s interested. He says of course. He shows up, I introduce myself and he says we’ve already met. A quick refreshing of my memory and I realized who he was. A few moments later I see him hanging out by his car chatting to someone. I later look for him so he could get suited up and do a match. Nowhere to be found. Shot him a text. No response. It’s strange that people do this. Oh well. Made for a cute little story.
Somewhere in my travels that evening, I lost 1 out of 4 memory cards, which had one full match and two halves of 2 matches. I’m going through all my gear right now hoping it’ll pop up and I’ll swing by the facility to see if I can find it hiding somewhere. It seems like it may be lost forever. If you happen to be in the Tampa area and find the memory card out in the wild then I’ll provide an award…or an ass kicking, whichever you prefer.
I had a custom match get lost so I’ve schedule a re-shoot with some guys on May 8th. So far I’ve scheduled Jacob Van Acker, Seth Jackson, Drew Harper and Joey Nux. As well, I possibly will be using Iceman, Austin Cooper and/or Cole Cassidy.
I’ve updated the Shopify store with all the gear. Reduced some prices and at the next shoot I’ll be snapping photos to upload of more gear. If you’ve seen something on the site that you want to own, shoot me an email and we can discuss. So much room is being taken up by all these wardrobes and I’d like to shrink my collection to what I use most. Some of this stuff hasn’t been worn in years. I’ve got boots, trunks, shoes, socks, superhero costumes, underwear, etc.
https://wrestler4hire.myshopify.com/collections/all
The fan contest has had lots of submissions. Many of them were very plausible ideas and I am having trouble just picking one. With that said, I’m wondering should I pick just one “winner” or should I do a collection of “winners.” Say 4 or 5?
It’s concert season and I’m planning to hear a lot of good music this summer. Any suggestions on whom I should see? I dig most types of music, so if you recommend someone send me their best (or your favorite) tune for me to check out. In between the concerts, I aim to slay a whole lot of fish and do some exploring. Will be around the Boston area most of that time, but plan to hit California and the Midwest. Maybe Upstate New York and one of those beach towns that are popular with the tourists. Heck, it’d be cool to see Montauk on Long Island. Ever been there?
I’ve got to go now. Lots of speedos to wash and dry. Would be nice to have a slave to do all this for me while I lifted weights and practiced my wrestling skills.