Post by Tito Capaci on Jan 7, 2007 4:35:43 GMT -6
POWER ON WRESTLING STAFF
Announcing/Interviewing Crew
Alex Pilgrim[/b]- Play by Play announcer for all POW shows.
Bio- Alex had the distinct privilege to wrestle in the Central States territory between 1969 and 1975 and worked with icons of the industry such as Harley Race and Ric Flair. He never accumulated much popularity with the fans but was, and still is, highly respected by his wrestling peers. Alex quit wrestling in 1975 to concentrate on writing a newspaper column syndicated in various newspapers throughout the region on wrestling in the territory. His knowledge of the sport and his ability to get inside information made the column widely successful and soon he was offered to be a sports reporter for a local radio station in Omaha, Nebraska. He served KBAT from 1978-1980. He then took an opportunity to join a television station based in Denver as a news producer. After twenty-six years of distinguished service with Denver's CBS affiliate, Pilgrim is excited to move back to the area of the country he loves and to go to work in the business he loves.
Alex's on-air experience, intimate charm, love and extended knowledge of the sport made him the perfect choice for play by play commentator for POW programming. He undoubtedly is the most knowledgeable member of the POW staff in the history of wrestling in this area.
Tony Almanti- Color commentator for all POW shows.
Bio- Tony Almanti is a New York City native with a long record of successful ratings on both radio and television. Tony caught his big break at the age of fifteen when he lied about his age to the general manager of WBVR in Rochester and got a job working the midnight to five am shift playing mostly "bubblegum" rock in the 1970's. His quick wit and and lightning jabs at music and people in the news quickly made his show the most listened to radio program for his shift. Almanti was promptly promoted to the morning shift where his new "The Tony A Show" won several regional awards. Almanti became a celebrity in upstate New York and in addition to his morning program, he hosted a sports talk show that hosted many professional wrestlers called "Just Give Me the Damn Ball Starring Tony Almanti." Both were wildly successfull until POW offered him a job to be the color man for all POW events. Tony also recently signed a long-term satellite radio deal and will broadcast his show from a station in Kansas City.
Tony's innate ability to make people laugh will set new standards for wrestling television. Tony has been a wrestling fan for years and his off the cuff and bold statements match his cool persona. While the in-ring action may take your breath away, Almanti may be the one stealing the show.
Richard Huff[/b]- In-ring announcer for all POW shows.
Bio- Richard Huff is a Kansas City native. Richard grew up a huge sports fan, but in the 3rd grade he was diagnosed with a heart murmur and would never be able to participate in competitive athletic activities. Richard still enjoyed going to see the Chiefs with his father on Sundays. On Saturdays, however, they went to Woodlands Race Track to watch the ponies run. Richard was a top-notch handicapper by the time he was 18 and legal to place bets. Woodlands figured if they're going to pay him, they might as well give him a job. He worked as the track announcer at Woodlands for thirteen years. In 1999 he got offered a job to work at Ameristar Casino in Kansas City to teach patrons the intricacies of handicapping horse races. In addition to that, Richard has signed on with POW to provide all the in-ring announcing for their events.
Greg Kilgreen[/b]- Interviewer for POW.
Bio- Greg is a young man looking to make a name in the wrestling business. A recent grad out of Saint Louis University with a degree in Mass Media Communications, Kilgreen took a job with Ameristar Casino in 2003 in their advertising department. He has written and directed several of their advertisements that have aired in their target markets. Greg grew up a child of the late 80's and early 90's and regional wrestling is a new concept to him. His intrigue for learning more about regional wrestling combined with his desire to someday work for a global wrestling promotion and to work for one his favorite wrestlers, Tito Capaci, led him to interview for the job. He ultimately we be conducting the interviews from this point forward.
Referee Team
Benny Lawson- Head referee for POW.
Bio- Benny Lawson (44) has been officiating wrestling events for over twenty years. A Jefferson City, Missouri native, Lawson has worked with two global wrestling promotions. Benny started officiating matches in the Kansas City area for Harley Race when he was part owner of the Kansas City territory in 1983. Lawson officiated several championship matches and was the most requested referee in Kansas City and Topeka in the 1980's. He got a job to referee for a global promotion in early 1990 and switched to their rival promotion in 1999. Lawson was the official in over a dozen world title matches and many more championships of various kinds. He recently had decided to retire from the wrestling industry because of the intense travel and time away from his wife and two children. A man of his experience and reputation as a "right down the line" official doesn't go long without offers and POW jumped on the chance to have him sign on as head referee for the company. Doing the job he loves while being able to stay relatively close to home was an offer Benny Lawson couldn't refuse.
Nathan McElvoy- Referee
Bio- Nathan McElvoy grew up a pro wrestling enthusiast in St. Paul, Minnesota. He joined a small promotion that worked exclusively in the twin cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis and worked as a stage crew member. He quickly gained the favor of the head booker and after pleading with him, was allowed to officiate a match at the bottom of a card. The experiment was successful and Nathan officiated more than 100 matches. The company, unfortunately, could not stay in the black and was forced to close down. McElvoy found out about POW over the net and sent a tape with some of the matches he had worked. Impressed with the youngster, POW signed him up to as a full time referee.
Tanner Dutton[/u] Referee
Bio- Tanner Dutton is more than a wrestling fan. He is in all senses of the word, a fanatic. Tanner (22) wanted more than anything to be a pro wrestler. He worked as hard as he could toward this goal, but his lankiness and nonathletic body wouldn't allow it to happen. After several failed tryouts out Harley Race's wrestling academy, Race decided to give Dutton a chance to do something less strenuous- refereeing. He paired Dutton up with one of his finest officials and Tanner learned things like positioning and how to handle unruly wrestlers. Tanner worked on an on-call basis with Race for one year before signing on with his new local promotion, POW. Tanner is the most inexperienced of the referees on staff, but his heart and intensity more than make up for it.
Manny Salazar[/u]- Referee
Manny Salazar has is well versed in all styles of wrestling. He hails from a small town outside Monterrey, Mexico. His family takes great pride in being a wrestling family. His brother wrestled all over Mexico for many years. His father wrestled and worked as a booker for various small wrestling troupes in Mexico. Salazar never got into the competition, but jumped straight to working as a referee and found plenty of work along the Mexico-United States border. He worked on both sides of the border. In the United States, good referees were needed in Laredo, Corpus Christi, San Antonio and Brownsville. Hotbeds of wrestling in Mexico near the border were places like Monterrey and Satillo. His reputation grew and he was selected to be part of a group of Mexican workers to travel to Japan to showcase lucha wrestling to that market in 1974. He stayed and officiated in Japan for four years before accepting an offer from a highly distinguished Canadian promotion that offered him a lucrative deal as head referee. He stayed in Alberta, Canada until 1989 where he moved to New Brunswick to be head booker for a promotion that Incorporated several different styles under one roof. In 2001 Salazar move back to Mexico and opened a school for future referees. The endeavor lacked the clientele needed for survival and in 2004 Salazar closed the doors of his school. Salazar signed on with POW in late 2006 and hopes he will get the chance to reopen his school in Kansas City under better circumstances and with better results.
Training Team
James Gagne[/u]- Head Trainer for POW
Bio- James Gagne, known by wrestling fans in the Pacific Northwest as Olaf Taktarov, is as American as baseball or apple pie. He brute size (6'10" 340 lbs) and striking facial features made him a monster in the ring and an excellent draw wrestling as Russian Communist in the late 1960's. His athleticism and size destroyed opponents in the ring and James was well on is way as a superstar in the business before his knees quit sustaining the huge weight they supported as many as 5 nights a week. James loved the business too much to let it go and began booking matches shows around Seattle and Spokane in 1966. He started training wrestlers with Portland Wrestling in 1971 and stayed with Portland Wrestling until 1991 when the company closed his doors. James moved back to Seattle and opened a wrestling training academy of his own in 1992. The business is thrived for two decades before Gagne finally decided to call it quits. After two years of booking small shows in the Seattle area, Gagne returns to his training as he teaches POW grapplers the tools of the trade.
Bret Andreychuck[/u]- Apprentice Trainer
Bio- Bret is still a young man growing up in the wrestling business. He grew up in Vancouver, learning and working with his father, but his his father recently passed away due to a heart attack. His father wasa trainer since the day Bret was born and Bret knew more about training wrestlers at 13 years of age than a lot of trainers know when the retire. Even at 22 years of age, Bret knows all the moves and all the best techniques. He has potential to be one of the best trainers in the industry but because of his age, most wrestling promotions wouldn't consider him as a full time trainer. Bret is considered an apprentice to James Gagne, but has full reign when training POW wrestlers.