Wrestler Court?

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Mdizzle9000
Mdizzle9000 Members, Writer Posts: 8,319 ✭✭✭✭✭
edited August 2011 in Off The Turn Buckle
long but interesting:

While Storm description describes "Wrestler Court" in a nut shell, I'll take some time to elaborate on the topic and share with you some modern day occurrences as well as imitations stemming from this practice.

To start at the start, wrestlers are viewed as being members of a fraternity. This train of thought dates back to the days of the Carnival shows. There is a tight circle of people that are let into the circle of knowledge and it doesn't leave that circle. This spawned Kayfabe, earlier known as "Carny Speak". Now, wrestling's inner circle of knowledge has been ? out and improperly practiced across the country all the while damning it's storied history.

Despite popular belief that Kayfabe ended when Vince McMahon in the early 90's came out in the open and said that wrestling had predetermined finishes, there is still closely guarded secrets and practices that still remain in tact.

When in the mid-90's when wrestling was starting to go on the up swing, several wrestlers started opening up wrestling schools all across the country. In the old days there was only a set number of people that would be permitted to train would be wrestlers and those were people who had either been affiliated with the NWA council or an established promotion that survived the end of the territory days.

Training back then was a privilege because you determined who would be inducted into the fraternity. You would break the spirits of any and all people who walked through your door and you humbled them until they proved that they really wanted to be a wrestler. Guys like Boris Melenko would train his guys with 6 months of extreme workouts and cardio fitness training before even allowing them to step foot in the ring. Being a wrestler back then was a big deal.

For those that survived that training long enough to get in the ring suffered a new set of challenges. This would range from anything from intentionally being hurt to being bullied in and out of the ring from the vets. Times are very different now though so anyone considering being a wrestler can rest a little easier. Although I will let you know that certain people try to practice some of the old school tactics but it's not authentic. This is where the ? out comes into play. I'll get into that in a minute.

You have to keep in mind that while these wrestlers where giving these up and comers a real hard time to get into the sport, they had gone through the same thing on their way up and once your in, you'll seldom find a bond like these wrestlers share/shared.

With regards to the ? out of this tradition, several wrestlers who weren't nearly qualified to train started to open schools across the country. While some would train with somewhat good intentions, they would utilize the traditional methods of training as a means of earning cash. What they would do is get payment upfront and then butcher the guys who got in the ring so much so that they quit. Wouldn't you know it that they didn't have a refund policy.

At some point later I will share some indie stories of the typical weekend warrior as well as some of the names of certain name recognizable wrestlers that practiced the wrestling school scam. In the same article I will address the Tom Brandi/Patriot problem as well as other people claiming to be famous masked wrestlers.

Seeing as that we have demonstrated how someone gets into the "Wrestling Family", I'll now fill you in on "Wrestler Court", how it came about and what role it plays today.

In recent months there has been talk about the Raven/WWE lawsuit to which Raven was claiming that WWE had their wrestlers under contract but their actions dictated that they were actual employees and not Independent Contractors per WWE's contract with the talent. With that, WWE enforces certain policies within it's locker room but it's the wrestlers themselves that formulated their own type of justice.

First and foremost, these wrestlers are of a single unit. It's a rule of thumb that if you have a problem or a complaint, you don't run to management, you deal with it internally. Back in the late 80's and early 90's certain wrestlers were over exercising their power and pull in the back which made things very one sided in the locker room. Out of this situation arose the formation of the "Wrestler Court".

In "Wrestler Court" any and all problems among the "Boys" would be handled internally and the punishment for these infractions would be ruled and carried out among their peers. Undertaker was appointed Judge of the court primarily because he was universally liked among the talent but also had a history of providing guidance to the younger talents while still keeping the respect of those before him.

"Wrestler Court" takes place before shows. In fractions that are tried can range from Seat Assignment as noted by Lance Storm to the execution of a rib by a younger talent on seasoned vet. When a wrestlers commits an infraction, they can either represent themselves or they can appoint someone to speak on their behalf. The person who speaks on their behalf must be a veteran and must be present at the time the infraction occurred. The prosecutor is usually the person to which was affected by the defendant's actions or they are represented by a vet as per the criteria stated before.

The trials last no more than 30 minutes and it operates independently but WWE does see merit in these actions and a lot of the times will help endorse the ruling. Some of the punishments that are handed down include having to carry the bags for the person you offended to doing an embarrassing act in front of the live crowd. It should be noted though that these acts are reserved for Live Events only and not at TV event.

As noted by Lance Storm, JBL has on many occasions served as a prosecutor
and Bubba Ray has served as the defense attorney on more than a fair share of "trials". Wrestler Court is still actively practiced in WWE and a lot of smaller indie shows have tried to incorporate it into their own locker room.

That being said, Lance had stated that he didn't know of any other places that held "Court" but I can tell you that the practice has indeed made it's way to TNA. It was initiated by some of the WWE cast offs that now found a home in TNA. One of the first cases to held in TNA was between Matt Bentley and Alex Shelly. The Judge at the time was Jerry Lynn and both wrestlers represented themselves. The case was based on the fact that Shelly didn't agree to any of the spots in the match that he would have to take and he tried to make several changes to the layout of said match. Bentley didn't take to kindly to that and had a very intense scuffle with Shelly right at the base of the then Heel Entrance Ramp. Jerry Lynn was the agent for the match so they decided that Jerry should serve as the judge. This case didn't go very well.

The end result was that that Shelly popped off at the mouth again as he is prone to do which caused Bentley to haul off and take a swing at Shelly. Bentley was stopped mid-swing and this ended the "trial". Jerry told the both of them that he was out of it and they had to settle this on their own. He added that if they wanted to exchange blows in the ring and work stiff with one another then have at it so long as it doesn't interfere with the quality of the Match. It was also stipulated that if one hits the other first they must agree to accept the others receipt but if they chose to take that route they both had to agree that after the match the issue would be considered closed. Should something happen going beyond the match it was stated that they would both be talking with Jarrett and it wouldn't end well for either of them.

Back to the WWE side of things, when the brand "Split" the wrestlers needed a new judge. Depending on the circumstances a judge was appointed on a case by case basis. One of the more widely reported issues that was tried in "Wrestler Court" was the altercation between Goldberg and Jericho. This was when Goldberg attempted to bully Jericho and ended up being choked out for his troubles. Triple H served as the judge in that trial and well, things didn't end well with that. Triple H said that Goldberg had no respect for the sport and those who worked hard for him to get the paycheck he was given. He was found guilty by his wrestling peers for attempted bullying of a veteran of their locker room but his punishment not that big of a deal. All he had to do was apologize to Jericho and state that Jericho was the superior wrestler among the two of them.

As a side note, Goldberg was a not a fan of wrestling court at all. He was used to being protected and treated as an untouchable talent but his peers didn't share those feelings.
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  • G.R.I.P. Money $$$
    G.R.I.P. Money $$$ Members Posts: 18,939 ✭✭✭
    edited April 2011
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  • ShencotheMC
    ShencotheMC Members Posts: 26,051 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 2011
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    Back to the WWE side of things, when the brand "Split" the wrestlers needed a new judge. Depending on the circumstances a judge was appointed on a case by case basis. One of the more widely reported issues that was tried in "Wrestler Court" was the altercation between Goldberg and Jericho. This was when Goldberg attempted to bully Jericho and ended up being choked out for his troubles. Triple H served as the judge in that trial and well, things didn't end well with that. Triple H said that Goldberg had no respect for the sport and those who worked hard for him to get the paycheck he was given. He was found guilty by his wrestling peers for attempted bullying of a veteran of their locker room but his punishment not that big of a deal. All he had to do was apologize to Jericho and state that Jericho was the superior wrestler among the two of them.

    As a side note, Goldberg was a not a fan of wrestling court at all. He was used to being protected and treated as an untouchable talent but his peers didn't share those feelings.

    LMAO, please tell me Jericho didn't put that big ? in a sleeper hold. Goldberg just lost respect for that ish
  • ShencotheMC
    ShencotheMC Members Posts: 26,051 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 2011
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    Damn I just looked up some more cases and this ish is wild:

    This was back in 05'
    Several weeks ago, Lance Storm warned prospective Ohio Valley Wrestling call-ups about the backstage atmosphere in WWE. Known for ribbing and other juvenile conduct, those close to the situation definitely support Storm's decision to warn future wrestlers about the WWE lockerroom. However, his warning caused a problem with two key WWE "lockerroom leaders."

    In his speech, Storm specifically targeted the SmackDown! lockerroom, which has a more "old school" atomosphere (more ribs and immature behavior). Specifically, JBL and Bob Holly run a "Wrestlers' Court," where talent can be sentenced to do humiliating tasks to appease the veterans.

    Johnny Jeter reportedly ended up getting in trouble with the wrestler's court for complaining about being stuck in a tag team. "Judge" JBL ruled that Jeter would have to supply the former champion with beer and also watch hours of tag matches to gain a better apprecation for the pro wrestling tag team.

    Storm was not at all pleased and told Jeter to ignore the sentence. During WrestleMania weekend, Bob Holly and JBL expressed frustration with Lance Storm's comments to Jeter. Bob Holly told Storm to "f*ck off" and JBL actually challenged the retired wrestler to a fight. Storm settled the confrontation without punches, which caused a mixed lockerroom reaction. At heart, WWE roster members believe Storm was in the right, but the fact that he 'backed down' from a fight didn't help his reputation.

    This is some stuff supposedly from the Hardy's book:
    The night The Hardy's won their first Tag Team championship, their manager at the time Micheal Hayes was in a cocky mood. When they were on a plane going to their next venue, Hayes wanted first class seats on the count of being the manager of the tag champs. So they went up to the first class, but and found three seats. One of the seats belonged to Kane who wasn't sitting in the seat at the time because he was waiting for D'lo Brown at the gate with D'lo's plane ticket. Hayes told the Hardys to take the seat and when Kane came to his seat he found Jeff sitting in his seat. Jeff got up to give it to him but Kane refused saying "No no, you take it" and sat in the lower classes. Some of the wrestlers got word of this and I think Bradshaw came up to them and told them they were to go to wrestler's court. Undertaker also talked to them as they were getting off the plane, saying that he knew it was Micheal Haye's fault and that they weren't going to be getting into serious trouble, but they still had to attend wrestlers' court.
  • ShencotheMC
    ShencotheMC Members Posts: 26,051 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 2011
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    Also found a story about Brian Christopher which had him tied-up, naked in the shower area and bawling out of fear JBL was going ? him (JBL was playing the part). He was then let go with the understanding "know you know how the girls feel". I think it was either Droese or Christopher who got busted slipping GHB into chick's drinks or some ish

    EDIT: It was Grandmaster Sexay(brian christopher) who got charged for date ? bitties
  • G.R.I.P. Money $$$
    G.R.I.P. Money $$$ Members Posts: 18,939 ✭✭✭
    edited April 2011
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    ? i wish storm woulda beat jbl's ass..
  • gucci7383
    gucci7383 Members Posts: 3,093 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 2011
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    ? i wish storm woulda beat jbl's ass..

    jbl would have killed mr boring lance storm
  • Trollio
    Trollio Members Posts: 25,815 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 2011
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    shenco wrote: »
    Also found a story about Brian Christopher which had him tied-up, naked in the shower area and bawling out of fear JBL was going ? him (JBL was playing the part). He was then let go with the understanding "know you know how the girls feel". I think it was either Droese or Christopher who got busted slipping GHB into chick's drinks or some ish

    EDIT: It was Grandmaster Sexay(brian christopher) who got charged for date ? bitties

    guess he wasnt too cool huh
  • G.R.I.P. Money $$$
    G.R.I.P. Money $$$ Members Posts: 18,939 ✭✭✭
    edited April 2011
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    gucci7383 wrote: »
    jbl would have killed mr boring lance storm

    you would think goldberg would whup jericho ass too, but ? happens...

    no sign on lance being boring..at least in ring..
  • Mdizzle9000
    Mdizzle9000 Members, Writer Posts: 8,319 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 2011
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    shenco wrote: »
    LMAO, please tell me Jericho didn't put that big ? in a sleeper hold. Goldberg just lost respect for that ish

    i heard about goldberg getting beat up by jericho way b4 i read about wrestlers court so i'm sure its true, i also heard that booker t whooped batistas ass behind the scenes as well, not sure if it was "wrestler court" related though
  • Gnawledgeable
    Gnawledgeable Members Posts: 1,768 ✭✭✭
    edited April 2011
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    I thought The Blue Meanie was the one JBL tied up and humiliated. Yea I heard Booker T beat up Batista too.
  • Mally_G
    Mally_G Members Posts: 2,927 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 2011
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    i heard about goldberg getting beat up by jericho way b4 i read about wrestlers court so i'm sure its true, i also heard that booker t whooped batistas ass behind the scenes as well, not sure if it was "wrestler court" related though

    This is the report from when the fight happened.
    Booker T's victory in the fight with Batista has earn him extra lockerroom respect. One source stated that Booker T dominated Batista due to having more street fighting experience.

    Booker T did take a very personal verbal shot at Batista, however, one source said that it did not come until the situation became very heated. No one blames Booker T for what he did, as the general feeling backstage is that Batista has become very arrogant since wining the World Title.

    The latest on the Booker T-Batista fight at the commercial shoot for Summerslam 2006 is that it was real. Batista's face was apparently cut up after the incident with Booker T having a black eye that was visible on SmackDown! last week. A close friend of Batista informed everyone it was a work, but many speculate it is just so Batista can save face since Booker T was the clear winner of the fight.

    Batista was supposedly rubbing people the wrong way while talking about how SmackDown!'s ratings has dropped since he's been gone and basically making it like he was the only attraction on SmackDown! The SmackDown! locker room has always had heat on Batista since Batista did interviews where he would be praising the RAW show and putting down SmackDown! to great lengths. Many have gone so far as to say that JBL sand-bagged his three matches with Batista as a way of paying him back for the insults. Batista did hang out with Eddie Guerrero backstage shortly before his death and that won him over some friends, but the fact that Batista thinks he's a star as big as The Rock or Steve Austin doesn't help matters. Batista does not carry himself backstage like Triple H or The Undertaker, but he does act superior to midcard veterans who have yet to receive a main-event opportunity as he did.

    WWE.com reported that the fight lasted five minutes, though the brawl itself only lasted thirty seconds. From the time the argument started till they were broken up though, five minutes had passed. Booker T got into an argument with Batista over his comments and Booker T apparently gave him many opportunities to back off, as he's a laid back person by everyone's standards, but Batista kept going with the argument. Rey Mysterio was there during the argument trying to act as a peacemaker as he most often does backstage and after the fight, the roster shot Batista many ? looks which left Batista visibly upset since no one stuck up for him.

    So far, neither wrestlers has been punished or reprimanded.

    Source: pwrestlingnews.com


    I thought The Blue Meanie was the one JBL tied up and humiliated. Yea I heard Booker T beat up Batista too.

    Nah, JBL gave Meanie an eye jammie during the big brawl during one of those ECW One Night Stands. JBL sucker punched him when he wasn't looking for it and thought it was a big joke because he was WWE and Meanie was a temp, so he thought nothing would come of it; but Meanie threatened to sue and the WWE punished JBL by having him do a job to Meanie, wrote Meanie a nice check for his troubles and sent him on his way.
  • dalyricalbandit
    dalyricalbandit Members, Moderators Posts: 67,918 Regulator
    edited April 2011
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  • Stack Money
    Stack Money Members Posts: 994 ✭✭✭
    edited April 2011
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    Maaaannnnnn ? that ? , I don't know why any of these ? go along wit them ? "backstage rules" and this ? ass wrestler's court. All that old school wrestlin ? is mad pretentious. As a grown man you should tell them to go ? theyselves and do whatever the ? you want to do, this ain't college you can't be lettin these ? punk you like that. ? a fraternity. And if Goldberg wasn't a fan of it and was untouchable wit management then why did he go thru wit the court to begin wit? Big ups to Lance Storm and the rest of the muhfuckas who ain't put up wit dat ? but them other wrestlers are ? ? for not standin up for theyselves. ? disgustin b.
    ? i wish storm woulda beat jbl's ass..

    gucci7383 wrote: »
    jbl would have killed mr boring lance storm
    CmonSon.jpg JBL got knocked out by Joey Styles
  • ShencotheMC
    ShencotheMC Members Posts: 26,051 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 2011
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    CmonSon.jpg JBL got knocked out by Joey Styles

    Nah I heard Joey Styles caught him off some sucker punches while they were both being restrained
  • dalyricalbandit
    dalyricalbandit Members, Moderators Posts: 67,918 Regulator
    edited April 2011
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    Taker that ? tho
  • Mdizzle9000
    Mdizzle9000 Members, Writer Posts: 8,319 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 2011
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    Taker that ? tho

    word he gotta be the most respected dude in the locker room. that wud b ill if he was in character/outfit during court tho lmao
  • Stack Money
    Stack Money Members Posts: 994 ✭✭✭
    edited April 2011
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    shenco wrote: »
    Nah I heard Joey Styles caught him off some sucker punches while they were both being restrained
    FOH neither one of em was restrained at the time, they was both goin at each other and Styles knocked him the ? out. JBL knew he took a L fair and square thats why he ain't say nothin to nobody.
    Taker that ? ? tho
    fixed
    he gotta be the most respected dude in the locker room.
    Don't know why since he be tryna punk ? out, them dudes are ? for not ? him up.
  • G.R.I.P. Money $$$
    G.R.I.P. Money $$$ Members Posts: 18,939 ✭✭✭
    edited April 2011
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    gawd damn i forgot about joey styles, that ? wasnt goin..he bout was still mad about ecw folding, i would be too..
  • ShencotheMC
    ShencotheMC Members Posts: 26,051 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 2011
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    FOH neither one of em was restrained at the time, they was both goin at each other and Styles knocked him the ? out. JBL knew he took a L fair and square thats why he ain't say nothin to nobody.

    Sorry bruh, I can believe Jericho choking Goldberg out, but not lame ass Joey Styles putting them hands on JBL in a fair one. I mean I can see Joey snapping and snuffing him, but not taking on JBL in a fair one. Even in the video you dropped says they got pulled apart. I mean all this is some he say she say ish, but we don't believe you, you need more people my mans
  • G.R.I.P. Money $$$
    G.R.I.P. Money $$$ Members Posts: 18,939 ✭✭✭
    edited April 2011
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    didnt jbl come on tv with a black eye round that time??
  • Stack Money
    Stack Money Members Posts: 994 ✭✭✭
    edited April 2011
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    shenco wrote: »
    Sorry bruh, I can believe Jericho choking Goldberg out, but not lame ass Joey Styles putting them hands on JBL in a fair one. I mean I can see Joey snapping and snuffing him, but not taking on JBL in a fair one. Even in the video you dropped says they got pulled apart. I mean all this is some he say she say ish, but we don't believe you, you need more people my mans
    CmonSon.jpg
    In the video it says they got pulled apart but JBL broke free and they either let Styles go or he broke free too and Styles dropped him, you one of them JBL stans that can't accept the fact that your wrasslin ? got knocked the ? out by "Mr. OH MY ? !!!"
  • ShencotheMC
    ShencotheMC Members Posts: 26,051 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 2011
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    False! I'm just saying if they actually squared up and shot the fair, I can't see Joey Styles putting hands on JBL like that
  • Stack Money
    Stack Money Members Posts: 994 ✭✭✭
    edited April 2011
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    shenco wrote: »
    False! I'm just saying if they actually squared up and shot the fair, I can't see Joey Styles putting hands on JBL like that
    Don't matter what you can see, the whole lockerroom been sayin he did and JBL ain't once deny the ? . Ain't the first time or the last that a lil unathletic guy ? up a big physical guy.
  • ShencotheMC
    ShencotheMC Members Posts: 26,051 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 2011
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    Don't matter what you can see, the whole lockerroom been sayin he did and JBL ain't once deny the ? . Ain't the first time or the last that a lil unathletic guy ? up a big physical guy.

    Source? All I'm saying is if they squared up and shot the fair, I doubt Joey Styles of all people was able to knockout JBL like how they're saying without something else getting in the way. I can see Jericho choking out goldberg, but not Joey Style one hitter quitting JBL. But at the end of the day idc about any of this as much as you do so...*shrugs*
  • Stack Money
    Stack Money Members Posts: 994 ✭✭✭
    edited April 2011
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    shenco wrote: »
    Source? All I'm saying is if they squared up and shot the fair, I doubt Joey Styles of all people was able to knockout JBL like how they're saying without something else getting in the way. I can see Jericho choking out goldberg, but not Joey Style one hitter quitting JBL. But at the end of the day idc about any of this as much as you do so...*shrugs*
    [IMG]http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kHUrjDp0-Uk/TIeSjIGW3GI/AAAAAAAAD3o/ORVoAn7-rhA/s1600/? _please.jpg[/IMG] @ bolded, you the one in here puttin on the cape for JBL so you care more than anyone. These "sources" are from wrestlers who was there and saw it, if the ? was a lie one of em mainly JBL woulda said so by now. Anyone can catch em no matter how big n/h specially if we talkin bout dat one hitter quitter.