Sunday, August 1, 2010

Weasels of the Week: Next Era Wrestling & Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi

You had to know that, inevitably, the cast of MTV's Jersey Shore would have a case where their sudden fame had gone to their heads. The New York Daily News reports today that Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi unleashed a profane tirade against the police after she'd been arrested on disorderly conduct charges on Friday in Seaside Heights, NJ. Ms. Polizzi was already three sheets to the wind from boozing all morning, and there was a photo showing her lying face down on the beach. While being fingerprinted and booked, Little Ms. Snookums thought that being a TV star might let her off the hook. Sorry, missy, that's not the way the game is played. The way the story's been told in the papers, "Snooki" is making Lindsay Lohan look like a Girl Scout by comparison with her diva behavior. There was a report that certain of the cast members, presumably including "Snooki", were asking $100 for people to have their pictures taken with them. Success, then, has spoiled these kids.

Add to that the recent revelation that most of the Jersey Shore kids are actually from New York, creating tension between NJ Governor Christie and NY's embattled Governor Paterson, and it creates the perception that the 2nd year "reality" show isn't quite as real, an accusation leveled at another MTV series, The Hills, which just ended its run, as it's supposed to be.

Meanwhile, while "Snooki" was getting her card punched into the Hall of Shame, the honchos at Next Era Wrestling in Rochester demonstrated a blatant lack of class and professionalism, leading to the cancellation of a house show in Troy that was supposed to take place last night.

I reported before how the show was originally booked for July 10, then moved back for unknown reasons. On Friday, I walked into the Boys & Girls Club, looking to buy a ticket for the show. I was then informed that Next Era never sent any tickets to the Club to be sold, nor did they pay a deposit on renting the building for the show! The promotional poster had been taken down, and the Club, which was going to be short-staffed if they went ahead with the show, reached the conclusion that it wasn't going to happen at all. Next Era never did any follow-up work, not even calling the Club to confirm the date, not buying air time on local radio or televsion. The poster didn't advertise anyone that the casual local fan might know from either WWE or TNA, though Colin Delaney, who spent six months with WWE in 2008-9, is listed on their talent roster according to the Next Era website. Someone dropped the ball, and it wasn't the Boys & Girls Club!

Suffice it to say, by comparison, In Your Face Wrestling, out of Ballston Spa, has been able to buy air time on Friday Night Smackdown to promote their shows, but they know they aren't quite ready to take their talent on the road just yet. Just the same, they're letting people know they're out there, something Next Era just couldn't do.

A pseudo-reality TV star goes on a drunken rampage and demands the police release her because she's a celebrity. A small-time wrestling promotion books a show at a upstate Boys & Girls Club, then seemingly forgets about it, leaving potential customers----and the Club---in the lurch. Equally offensive enough to merit both getting the weasel ears.

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