What up DOI fans and welcome to a special McInterview. A few months ago, I interviewed my following guest, Bob C.
You can see it at http://www.declarationofindependents.net/doi/pages/interviews/jcwbobc.html
Since that interview, a lot of things have changed for him and for JCW in general.
I just re-interviewed Bob Cassidy, former booker and co-owner of Jersey Championship Wrestling (JCW). While working for JCW, under Ricky O, Bob learned a lot about wrestling from Ricky. Recently, Bob quit JCW to little fanfare. In other interviews Ricky O made some comments about Bob, which Bob would like to refute and discuss. The following interview is very lengthy and discusses a lot about the inner workings of JCW, Ricky O and Bob C. Any feedback on this can be sent to BULLSMC@aol.com or posted on the DOI message board. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: How have you been since the last time you did an interview with the DOI?

Bob Cassidy: As far as my family goes everything is going great. The boys have brought us more joy than I could have ever imagined. Growing up I was unsure if I wanted to have kids but now I could not imagine my life without them.
As far as my wrestling life goes most people know that I am now just a fan and no longer involved in JCW.

Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: Why did you quit JCW?

Bob Cassidy: Their were a number of reasons that I decided to end my partnership in JCW. The first being that I felt like I was no longer wanted there by certain people. I was no longer being included in any decisions involving JCW, I was no longer being involved in booking matches or writing story lines, and at the last JCW show despite my having arrived early to set up my equipment I was told that someone else would be doing all of the music for the show.

I just got fed up with not being a part of the company that I helped build with Ricky O and decided to leave rather then lose my friendship with Ricky. Unfortunately that is not the case as evidenced by Ricky's recent Wrestling Clothesline interview and his hateful statements on Goodman's hotline.

The second reason was because I got tired of having to apologize for Ricky's actions and statements. As I said in my first DOI Interview Ricky is very passionate about JCW and that causes him to act and say things that do not always seem professional. I was the one who would try to resolve things after he reacted to something without thinking of the consequences. Or else he would just lie about things. One of the most recent situations was the bus trip incident from this year's Jersey J-Cup. After I did the first DOI interview letting people know my role in JCW Ricky got upset because he thought is was putting him down in the interview. I didn't see it that way as everything I said in the interview was to show people how strong a company JCW was and what a great friendship & working relationship Ricky & I had. I tried to explain this to Ricky but he was still upset, which led to him not talking to me for the whole week leading up to the J-Cup. I had considered not going to the J-Cup but decided that I had put to much time, energy, and money into JCW to let his ego keep me from being a part of our biggest show of the year. Before the show started Ricky informed me that the bus never showed up to pick up the fans in NY. He told me he was sending Devin Sturgis to pick them up and we were going to start a little later then we had announced. Now anyone who had been attending JCW shows before this knew that we had been starting right on time, thanks to me, and I wanted to continue this but I understood the reason and was fine with it. I kept asking Ricky for updates while we were filming promos and getting ready to start the show and he kept saying that he was working on it.

Fast forward to after the show and we are unloading the truck at my house. I asked what happened with the bus trip because I knew we were going to have some negative publicity and I wanted to know how to handle it. RIcky informs me, and this is in front of the other guys unloading the truck though I am sure they would deny it now to protect Ricky, that he had canceled the bus trip without telling anyone. Obviously I was not happy about this but there was nothing I could after the fact. That night I signed on to check for any reviews and started reading all the negative posts on the DOI & Death Valley Driver message boards. I talked to Ricky and we both agreed to apologize and offer free copies of the J-Cup to anyone waiting for the bus that did not show up. Now Ricky received his copy of the J-Cup from Smartmark within 3-5 days but did not send one copy to any of the fans that had let us know they were waiting for the bus. It was up to me to provide copies of my version to these people so that JCW would not have a negative opinion of JCW. I handed copies to the Mic personally and mailed copies to the people that had contacted me by email. Their were many situation similar to this but this was the most recent and most blatant.

The third reason is because I just could not afford putting money out for JCW when I had 2 new boys and my company was starting to lay people off. I was putting out up to $800 a show and not making anything in return so I could not keep doing it.

Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: How did you get involved in JCW in the first place?

Bob Cassidy: I started out just helping out doing security, setting up the ring & chairs, and doing anything that needed to be done. Over time Ricky & I became close and when he was asking for people to invest in JCW I decided to do it. I invested in the JCW school and things just grew from their. I've said it before and I will continue to say it Ricky O helped me to live a dream. I have been a wrestling fan since 1982 and to be given the opportunity to book matches, write scripts, and run not only the live shows with Ricky but to be able to create a weekly TV show is something that most wrestling fans will never get to experience. I am very lucky that I will have these memories to look back on.

Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: What are your feelings about the message board posts about Ricky O?

Bob Cassidy: I used to hate them because it was people posting that had no idea what type of person Ricky was and I wanted to respond to every one of them defending him. I honestly thought Ricky was a great guy when he wasn't being Ricky O the wrestling promoter and that people just didn't know the real man. As a professional I knew their was no point and it would just hurt JCW so I didn't do anything about it. I know there is no way to win a message board war. Now after reading and hearing Ricky's comments about me I have to think they were right.

Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: Have you ever posted anything about Ricky O?

Bob Cassidy: After reading his interview on the Wrestling Clothesline I was shocked by his lies but I did not post anything on any message board about him. Even when people asked me about the situation I still said positive things about Ricky, I said he lied but that was just stating the facts. I have never bashed Ricky O publicly or privately to anyone, stating facts is not bashing someone. The first post I made was the one to let people know that Ricky had gone too far on Goodman's hotline and I was going to do this interview.

If anyone wants to check my IP address against anything posted on the DOI site they are more than welcome to and they will see that I have not posted anything about Ricky. Speaking of IP addresses the web master of JCW, a few months ago, made a category on the JCW message board for posts about the JCW TV show that I was the creator of. Now I will be the first person to admit that I never had any training in video editing but everyone tells me to my face that they like my work whether it was the TV show or the full card shows that I was making before we started the TV show. My J-Cup 2003 tape was the top selling item, not just video, on Highspots for a few weeks (cheap plug) so obviously I have some talent. Anyway their was a really nasty post on there saying how horrible the TV show was and right below it was a post from Ricky O saying how I was trying my best and it wasn't that bad. Here is the interesting part, both IP addresses where the same, so I asked a few people and they all said it was about a 95% chance that it was the same person. Ricky denied it and blamed it on Dave Greco, Damian Dragon, or Shawn Sheridan because he got them all jobs in Hackensack Hospital and that is where it was posted from. I can not guarantee that it was Ricky but the evidence is pretty clear.

Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: How do you feel to be accused of posts by Ricky O accusing you of posting things?

Bob Cassidy: It hurts my wife & I as my family took Ricky in and gave him unconditional love. That means we did not expect anything in return from him and it also means that we stick by him through the good & the bad. No matter how much he lies or hurts us with his statements I will still care about him as a friend because of everything we shared over the last 3 years. As I stated my son is named after him and he's his Godfather, there is nothing that can erase that.

Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: There was a post on the DOI message board, featuring a racy picture of Ricky O with ex JCW valet Extacy, that was supposedly taken at your house. According to others, you are the only one to have this picture. Were you the one who posted it? Why was that picture even taken?

Bob Cassidy: First of all I would never try to hurt Ricky, Andrea, or his daughter Kasey by posting a picture on a web site or by sending it to his wife directly, I don't have her email address even if I wanted to send her something.

Second of all the pictures were taken during a photo & video session at my fomer home that we shot because Extacy was unhappy with how the Wrestlingvixxxens site was treating her and wanted us to make a site for her. I actually just received an email yesterday stating that Missy Hyatt is now suing the webmaster for ripping her and the other girls off. The picture was taken during a break in filming and nothing inappropriate was going on.

Everything that we shot was with her complete agreement and was meant to be used on the future web site. Our webmaster at the time decided he did not want to be in wrestling anymore so the web site was put on hold. He did receive the pictures on a CD before he quit JCW.

When Tim, Noel's husband, offered to run the JCW web site he was given the same pictures so that he could make a future site for Extacy who was still in agreement that she wanted to have the site run by us. We were trying to set up some dates to shoot new pictures and video but scheduling conflicts prevented us from doing that.
I have no clue who would have posted it but I was told by Ricky that Noel accused me, which I do not believe.

Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: What are your thoughts about Noel in regards to being called a "rat" and deleting the JCW website?

Bob Cassidy: In my opinion Noel is not a rat, she is a mother and a very nice person. We have had many conversations about wrestling and raising a family over the last year & a half and never once did she ask for any special treatment. Their was one time when she asked that a column that was written by Foxxy, in character, not be put on the web site and we honored her request. Other than that she was always open to whatever Ricky, Simon, or myself suggested to her. If people want to bad mouth her now that she is gone that is up to them but not one person has given any proof that would back the "rat" accusation up.

As far as her deleting the web site goes I personally would have given Ricky time to have someone else take over but I am not going judge her actions because I do not know what happened between her & Ricky nor do I know the exact agreement between them concerning the web site.

Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: What are your thoughts about Devin Sturgis?

Bob Cassidy: I like Devin a lot and am sorry that he got pulled into this by Ricky. We had one problem when, at a show for kids with cancer, he decided to do an in-ring promo with some foul language but he apologized and everything was fine. He is a great manager and the inventor of the term "the fifth ringpost". I'm sure he will go far in this business and I still consider him a friend. Let's include Dirty Money in here and say that I think he is a trmendous talent and I was happy that Ricky put the TV belt on him at my suggestion. At first Ricky thought Dirty Money wasn't ready but Money showed us that he was by having a great match with Reckless Youth when he won the belt.

Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: What are your thoughts on The Solution and John Shane?

Bob Cassidy: Let's start with John Shane. I truly believe he is the best manager working on the indy scene today. He has a great mind for this business, he knows how to play the crowd, and he makes you believe in his character. We became very close over that last 2 years and shared a lot of ideas which came to life on the JCW TV show and on the live shows. He was another person who believed in JCW and did whatever it took to make whatever he was doing work for the best of the company. He never complained about an angle or a storyline and always came up with a better variation then Ricky or I could for his character. I wish him all the best and still consider him a friend.

The Solution are 2 guys that I really believe in and want only the best for. The problem between myself and the Solution goes back to the beginning of the year. Ricky, Simon Diamond, and myself had a 4-5 hour meeting to plan out the future of JCW. The biggest decision we made was to not get involved in the politics going on in NJ between the various wrestling promotions. We were going to stick to ourselves and just concentrate on running great shows. As soon as I got home from the meeting Ricky O tells me that Jac Sabboth is going to start up again and he is going to use some JCW guys. He wanted me to tell our workers that they could not work for Jac and if they did we would not use them anymore. I was completely against this because these guys need to work wherever and whenever they can to make money and get their names out there. Even though I was against it Ricky is the final decision in JCW so I had to back him 100% whether I agreed with him or not.

The first person I talked to was Jay Lethal and he was unsure of what to do because he did not want to burn any bridges. I explained how we felt and told him it would be his decision on what he wanted to do.
Next I spoke to Havoc of the Solution and we got into a heated argument for the very reasons I listed above. He felt that we had no right to tell him who to work for. I completely agreed with everything he said but again I had to back Ricky's decision 100%. The conversation ended but I knew their were bad feelings between us and I was not happy about it. A day or two later Ricky tells me he told all the guys they could work for Jac as he was just testing them to see who was loyal. So because he wanted to test the guys I ended up having a great relationship damaged. I had thought we worked things out but I hear now that they think I am the one that was trying to hurt them even though it was Ricky cursing them out after the last show and blaming them for writing on our cars in permanent marker. I still wish them the best and hope the read this and realize that I always had their back.

Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: You have been accused of dividing the JCW locker room in half. Can you let us know if this is true?

Bob Cassidy: This is completely false as anyone who has been in the JCW locker room will tell you. Ricky stated that I hated his boys Inferno, Wenzel, Simon Diamond, Reckless, & Montoya.
Let's start with Inferno. Inferno and I had a few problems when I really stepped up and started running the live shows with Ricky but like a true professional he sat down with me and we worked everything out. He has been to my home and was always open to any ideas I had for him. He knows that I backed him in everything he did in JCW and the day after the Wrestling Clothesline interview was posted he told me he had no idea what Ricky was talking about and he considered us friends.

Next is Wenzel. Wenzel and I had one problem and we worked it own in a courteous & professional manner. In the middle of a TV taping he called Ricky to see if Ricky still wanted him to show up, he had double booked our show & a show for Afa. This was at 8:30 and the show had started at 7:30. Ricky told him no and said we were not going to use him anymore. The next time I spoke to Wenzel I explained to him that their were workers at the building at 4PM, the day of the show, and it wouldn't have been fair to give their spot to him if he showed up 2 hours late. Again like a true professional he understood and since then we have had a great relationship.

Third is Simon Diamond. A great worker and friend that has been to my home and someone I have had many conversations with on-line about JCW and wrestling in general. We have had no problems but Ricky did have a problem with him when Simon was emailing me because Ricky would not return his phone calls. Lets just say Ricky did not have very nice things to say about him yet he says that I hated him. Completely false.

As far as Reckless Youth and Don Montoya go they were complete professionals every time I dealt with them and despite Reckless Youth no-showing one of our biggest shows because of his injured back I never had one bad thing to say about either of them.

Lastly if anyone goes back and reads the interviews with JCW workers over the last 2 years they will see that every worker praised how well our locker room was run and how much of a family atmosphere we had. I think that speaks for itself.

Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: What did JCW mean to you?

Bob Cassidy: I can not put into words how much Ricky O and JCW meant to me over the last 3 years. I gave my heart, my soul, and a lot of my bank account to both of them even at the expense of putting my family second to the company. If I ever had a conflict with anyone while I was in JCW it was because of my love for the company and my desire to make it the best it could be. I do not regret anything that happened during my time in JCW and still thank Ricky for giving me the opportunities he gave me.

Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: Where do you see JCW going in the future?

Bob Cassidy: I wish the company only the best in the future but if they go back to the old way of running things then I don't see them lasting very long.

Back in Nov-Dec. of 2002 I told Ricky that I wanted us to write the whole card out in advance, book the workers in advance, and set the payday in advance. This way their would be no way that we would go over budget, we could develop storylines that fans could follow on TV and at the live shows, and the workers would know exactly what they were going to make ahead of time.

Previously Ricky would book 2-3 matches and then he would wait to see who would show up to fill out the rest of the card. The problem with this was it was he would end up writing the card until 8PM when the show was supposed to start at 7:30. He would book all the workers that just showed up and expect me to put out $500-$800 a show for guys that we did not book nor would have booked if we had booked the card in advance. The other problem was he would not tell anyone what they were getting paid except the top guys and the other workers would be upset when they did not make what they thought they should have.

With the new system we had no workers just showing up expecting to work and we receive great reviews for our shows and the storylines. When Ricky stopped following that system is when the storylines stopped and the bad reviews started. This is not to say that my way was better than his but in my opinion it was more professional and I believe the reviews speak for themselves.

Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: Who were the easiest people to get along with in JCW?

Bob Cassidy: Everyone was easy to get along with for the most part. The problems came when Ricky would be less than honest about a worker or not want to pay a worker. One example, out of many, is when Crowbar was working for us back at the end of 2002. We ran a show where it was Crowbar vs. Simon vs. Inferno. Crowbar showed up with his girlfriend and when it came time to pay everyone Ricky told me that he didn't book Crowbar's girlfriend so I shouldn't pay her. I went to her and informed her of what Ricky said and she said that she was booked and she should get paid. I told her I would talk to Ricky and we would work it out. Ricky said that if she gave me a hard time to pay her but he was done with both of them. When I went back to give her the money Crowbar pulled me aside to find out what was going on. I handed him her pay and he started telling me off because we tried to not pay her. I explained to him it was just a miscommunication problem and we had no problem paying her. I did not appreciate the way he spoke to me as one of the owners of the company but I understood where he was coming from. Interestingly enough Ricky happened to be walking by so we called him over and he denied trying to stiff her right to both our faces. Their were so many times that he told me not to pay someone that I lost count but I would never do it even to the point of sending a check to the person, from my own personal account, just so they would know that JCW was a professional company.

Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: Who were the hardest people to get along with in JCW?

Bob Cassidy: Again there was really no one that was hard to get along with unless I was told something by Ricky that was not true.

One example, out of many, was after this year's J-Cup. Ricky told me not to pay the local guys like Rob Eckos, Dan Barry, Johnny Ova, Jay Lethal, etc. I wouldn't do it because these guys busted their ass for us and deserved to be paid. I paid Dan Barry and Rob Eckos but could not find Jay or Johnny. I was told later by Ricky that Dan Barry cursed Ricky out because he didn't get paid enough and that Ricky was not going to use Dan Barry anymore. He said the Barry's actions were witnessed by both Johnny Ova & Rob Eckos. I was upset because Barry was not booked for the J-Cup initially, I begged Ricky to give him a spot, and I paid him more than usual. I walked out of the J-Cup with nothing in my pocket to make sure he and the others got paid so no one should have had any complaints. I spoke to both Johnny Ova and Dan Barry afterwards and neither one had any clue what I was talking about. Situations like that were the cause of any conflict that I personally had with workers.

I’d just like to add that Dan Barry was always a complete professional in his dealings with myself & JCW.

Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: Let's go back in time to the Road Dogg incident where Road Dogg no-showed the JCW show and according to Ricky cost him the building and caused Ricky to provide refunds to the 400 people who pre-paid for tickets? What really happened on your side?

Bob Cassidy: We can start with the fact that the day of the show was the day I returned from my honeymoon. I dropped my wife off and went right to the show (that's dedication to your company) because I knew it was going to be a big one and I wanted us to be as prepared as possible. When I got there Ricky was very upset because the Road Dogg had been in an accident and was not going to make it to the show. The show ran without him and I think it was a great show.

Bottom line is we did not have 400 pre-sold tickets nor did we give anyone a refund. The real reason we lost the building is because Ricky did not pay the Rexplex for a future show, it had nothing to do with the Road Dogg.

This was also the same day that he told me not to pay Tracy Taylor yet when she asked him for her pay he sent her to me saying I would pay her. He would do that a lot, he would tell me not to pay someone and then send them to me when they asked for their pay.

Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: What are your thoughts on Ricky O today?

Bob Cassidy: As I stated above I will always love him as a friend but unfortunately right now I have nothing but contempt for him and his actions. I still wish him and his family the best in life and I still have the picture, from my wedding, of Ricky and I with our arms on each others shoulders on top of my entertainment center and one hanging in my back entrance with the other pictures of family members. They will stay up in the hope that one day he will see that what he is doing is wrong and will apologize to my family & I for hurting us. When I gave my friendship to him it wasn't just for the good times. It was for the good and the bad, so the door will always be open for him to return and be a part of my family.

Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: Is there any chance to reconcile with Ricky O and will there ever be a chance you will return to JCW?

Bob Cassidy: Before I agreed to do this interview I wanted to give Ricky a chance to explain why he would lie about me and say such hateful things, especially after we became like family. I tried speaking to him on line and he told me he'd be right back but never did, this was the night before I heard the Goodman hotline. After I heard the hotline I called him and he asked me to hold on and then hung up on me. I called back and left 2 messages for him giving him a chance to explain his actions to me before I did this interview. He never called back but he did sign on and we talked for a few minutes. During this conversation he actually had the nerve to lie about me to me, which I should not be surprised by but I was.
Now I was trying to give him more respect than he gave to me but since he does not seem to care who he hurts I have no problem stating the facts as they happened.
So no I do not see us reconciling anytime in the near future despite my attempts to do so over the last 2 days and I will not be returning to JCW in any manner.

Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: Will you ever return to wrestling?

Bob Cassidy: I have been asked to work with another well-known company here in NJ but for now I am just a fan and am going to devote my time to my wife and 2 boys.

Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: What do you want to say to anyone reading this?

Bob Cassidy: I would have been more than happy to just leave JCW and not respond to Ricky O's lies but he wanted to continue bringing my name up and accusing me of things that I would not do to someone I called my best friend, someone that I took into my family, and someone that stood up in church while holding my son and said that he would help my wife & I bring him up, Ricky's godson, to be a man who respects people and does things to help people. Well if this is how Ricky shows his respect for people, by lying about them and saying hateful things, then I guess it is a good thing that he is out of my famiy's life because I would not want either of my sons anywhere near him.

The one & only reason I did this interview was to get the facts out and let people know that Ricky is lying about myself and others. I understand he was upset by the way I quit JCW but he had no right to say the things he did in the Wrestling Clothesline interview or on Goodman's hotline and he needs to be held accountable for his actions and his words.

Everything that I have stated in this interview is a fact and it is in no way meant to bash Ricky, as I stated above stating the facts is not bashing someone.

Now that the facts are out my family & I are going to move on without JCW or Ricky O in our lives but, just like I told him, we are going to miss him a lot. He was a major part of our lives for 3 years and that doesn't just go away overnight. As of now JCWBobC is retired from wrestling and as such I will not respond to anything or anyone dealing with JCW or Ricky O.

This interview isn’t meant to change anyone's opinion of Ricky or meant to influence people to work or not work for Ricky. It is just about stating the facts as the actually happened and not as fiction or in a hateful manner the way Ricky stated them concerning me.
Thank you to everyone who supported me while I was in JCW and I wish you all the best in life.

Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: Thank you Bob for your time.