First A Commercial Message (imagine the Shamwow guy making the pitch): "Gabe's Book Of Secrets" DVD available now for pre-order with a January 13th release at KayfabeCommentaries.com. There is so much info in this shoot and then you can go to Gabe's myspace and tell him he sucks in real time. You will spend $150 on coasters every month, instead you can place 2, 3 cups of coffee at a time on the reusable DVD box. I don't know, it pays for itself. Read about the subject matter of this extensive interview at the end of this blog. Click this link to order and for info on the "signature" series: http://www.kayfabecommentaries.com/DVD_SP_Sapolsky.html
 
Now to our regularly scheduled program:
 
I am pretty b-b-b-b-b-b-bad to the bone. In fact, I am so badass that even in the land of misfit toys known as the original ECW, where debauchery and depravity ruled supreme, I forced Paul Heyman to fine me on multiple occasions. "I'm a loner, Dottie. A rebel."
 
The funny thing is those fines carried a lesson that would comeback and haunt me as the biggest mistake I made with how I handled my former job at Ring Of Honor.
 
The original ECW office, an adequate space for 2-3 people with a little dust and no sunlight, was located from January 1995 until around the middle of 1997 in the upstairs of Tod Gordon's store in Center City Philadelphia, roughly 20 blocks from my old South Philly Broad Street bachelor pad. Tod graciously took me in like a son and provided a place for the fledgling promotion to do business. Unfortunately, he opened the doors of his store to the public at 8:30am. I've never been a morning person.
 
At 23 years old and 150 pounds soaking wet, I was pretty good at getting around the city on my bike. Every morning I would drag my second hand, sticker covered blue mountain bike down the stairs to bolt through the bustling streets to Tod's store (and I will still track down the person that stole it one day and get my revenge). I deftly avoided the hazards of the concrete jungle swerving around pedestrians, racing past cars and navigating the potholes. Unfortunately, I did that about 10-20 minutes too late on a regular basis.
 
Tod always greeted me with a smile and a warm "good morning" as I hurried in the door huffing and puffing, lugging my dirty ride through his nice store as his customers tried to do business. Paul Heyman would not greet me so cordially. It was inevitable that the phone would ring from that 914 number and Heyman would not be too happy about my arriving 10-20 minutes late. "The store opens at 8:30 am. I expect you to be there at 8:30 am," Heyman would repeat annoyed more often than he should have had to.
 
Then the conversation would happen again, usually in the middle of the night forewarning me to get to work on time the next day. I started to think to myself: "when does this guy sleep?" It didn't take long to realize that Heyman devoted himself 24 hours a day to ECW. He lived and breathed the product. He worked at all hours, whether it was early morning, late night or mid-afternoon. He expected that dedication from everyone since he put it in himself.
 
My tardiness, sometimes only by a few minutes, continued despite my best efforts to beat the clock on an everyday basis. Heyman was done talking now. He was instituting a method he must have learned from Bill Watts. One week I got my paycheck and to my surprise it was short by $5. The memo line said, "-$5 fine, 8 minutes late to office."
 
Ok, so maybe being a few minutes late to an office job doesn't make me a badass, but it sounded good at the beginning of this blog. Hey, I was probably one of the most fined people in ECW history. That has to count for something. Right?
 
The penalties would continue as I sweated through the heat or battled the morning chill to make it to 10th & Samson when the doors opened. Sometimes they would be as much as $15 and on a few occasions as little as $3 for being only two minutes late. The lesson here was not to be on time to work. It really didn't matter if I was five minutes late. Heyman was teaching discipline. Not just discipline in getting to work on time, but he was showing the dedication needed for the young ECW to grow and thrive.
 
When Ring Of Honor started I approached the job with that unwavering dedication to the point of being overzealous. I took Heyman's lesson a little too far. I remember seeing something on NFL coaches and how they would spend 24 hours a day during the season, barely sleeping, devoted to watching film, coming up with strategies, analyzing things and just getting prepared for Sunday's opponent. One quote that always stuck in my head from a coach whose name I can't recall was "I would feel like if I spent a minute thinking about something other than the team I was wasting my time and disappointing the team." I failed to realize until recently that these coaches get an offseason.
 
So for the last seven years or so (6 1/2 years of shows and the time before our first show) I have lived that way. Despite the heartfelt advice and pleads from my wife, friends, family and even people in the office, I devoted my life to ROH without coming up for air. I lived and breathed the product. Everywhere I went I looked for new influences, whether it was the rally towels at the "Undeniable" PPV taken from the Phillies or thinking of several chapters of the CZW feud while watching High On Fire play at the First Unitarian Church. My identity was defined by ROH. All aspects of my life were immersed with red and black. It was always there.
 
Now I see that it is no way to approach the job for mental health, longevity and even optimal performance. I am not saying that I will now be a slacker and never get excited to work on anything again. In fact, just the opposite. If anything, I have learned how to be more effective. Most importantly, I have discovered the difference between enthusiasm and obsession, which leads to being possessive. I now clearly see the importance of taking a real vacation once in a while, pacing myself and sometimes putting down the "booking book" to read a regular book. I would not hesitate to devote myself again to a future project the way that I did to ROH. I would approach another concept with the same commitment, love and loyalty, but I would balance it. Balance is the key. One thing I can say is that now I know how to handle it ALL better. Sometimes lessons are learned a little too late.
 
Speaking of lessons, I talk about some that I learned since being fired and even try to give a few in the "Gabe's Book Of Secrets" DVD from the fine folks at Kayfabe Commentaries (release date this Tuesday). Now keep in mind this is a concept interview so it is not your basic bitch-and-moan-about-the-past shoot. It focuses on what my vision was for ROH from 10/26/08 until the end of the year, including where everyone on the roster was heading into 2009. Yes, it is just fantasy booking at this point, but now that all those ROH shows are history in real life it can be interesting to compare what really went down vs. my fictional world.
 
I cover a wide variety of subjects so it isn't all just fantasy booking of what might have been. I explain my firing, including some reasons why I think it happened and a few ironic twists. There is an overview of some of my basic philosophies about booking ROH, including the much debated character and storyline topic. Of course, I have to talk about pacing the cards and long shows (and by the way there were plenty of shows under three hours under my watch). These are only a few things I discuss before we get into the steak and potatoes of the interview. I don't want to give it all away here.
 
The bulk of the shoot then examines in depth my plans for every ROH event from 11/7/08 in Montreal to 12/27/08 in Manhattan. This is when I really put all my cards on the table as my methods, theories and formulas for booking ROH are purged out of my system and exposed. I go into great detail on everything from the opening bout in Canada to the finishing sequence of the World Title Match at the Hammerstein.
 
I also discuss making cuts, my thoughts on Adam Pearce replacing me and a wide selection of names. I have to admit that it felt a little funny to open up my "booking book" to let the camera shoot its contents, including my now fantasy talent roster. I talk about all the ROH regulars, plus many other names come up like Rob Van Dam, Mike Quackenbush, Rain and who I wanted as a regular from NOAH in 2009. Finally, the interview wraps up with me talking about who I book for and saying farewell as I close the door on the ROH chapter of my life. Cleanse.
 
"Numbness Escapes, Willing To Face The Pain
Your Rebirth Demands A Part Of You Dead
The Longing In Your Heart For Transcendence
Something Greater Than That Which We've Become"
 
-Neurosis "Raze The Stray"