Sean "The MiC" McCaffrey: Why did you want to get involved in pro wrestling?

Gabe Sapolsky: I always loved pro wrestling. I was captivated by it the moment I saw it and like almost everyone else in the business it just got into my blood. I used to count the minutes to 6:05 every Saturday night growing up.

Sean "The MiC" McCaffrey: How did you get involved in pro wrestling?

Gabe Sapolsky: I was very fortunate to be in the right place at the right time. I heard that ECW was just starting in Philadelphia and I got Tod Gordon's address. I wrote him a letter asking if I could write a newsletter. This was before the internet was big so they needed people and they weren't getting hundreds of emails a day. I just grew with ECW from that point on and did anything I could. I'll never forget the fact that Tod answered my letter.

Sean "The MiC" McCaffrey: Did you always aspire to be a booker or a promoter, or did you want to be an on air performer, whether it be a wrestler or a manager?

Gabe Sapolsky: I never, ever wanted to be on air talent. I have no talent and no one wants to see me! I always dreamed of booking even when I didn't know what a booker was or did. I was always fascinated with the creative side of things and putting a show together.

Sean "The MiC" McCaffrey: You were involved in ECW. What was it like working there? What do you think could've been done to keep the company afloat today?

Gabe Sapolsky: ECW was one of if not the greatest experience of my life. It was so much fun and nothing will ever be like it again. It was like going to college and grad school for wrestling and there wouldn't be ROH without ECW. It changed my life forever. If it wasn't for ECW I wouldn't have met my wife. There was nothing like being a part of that and I consider myself very lucky to have experienced the things I did with ECW. Obviously a lot of money would have kept ECW afloat, but unfortunately we just didn't have the support from the network, PPV and fans that we needed. It really all comes down to that I guess, but I wasn't privy to much on the business side.

Sean "The MiC" McCaffrey: There have been alot of promotions, around the Northeast, for being too ECWesque. What are your thoughts on those promotions? Do you think trying to rehash old memories or nostalgia is good for wrestling?

Gabe Sapolsky: It's hard to answer without knowing what promotions you are referring to and even if you do name names I don't really follow any other organization enough to comment on their product. I personally believe that no one will ever duplicate the magic of ECW and deep down I don't think fans want an imitation of ECW.

Sean "The MiC" McCaffrey: What's your favorite beer?

Gabe Sapolsky: I don't really drink often.

Sean "The MiC" McCaffrey: What is your role in RF Video?

Gabe Sapolsky: Well, my role is mainly with Ring Of Honor now although I do things like the mailing update, tape write ups and some other small jobs at RF Video.

Sean "The MiC" McCaffrey: You must've answered this a thousand times, so here's a little twist. How did ROH begin, and what are the company goals today?

Gabe Sapolsky: Basically we needed to create some product for RF Video. We tried hooking up with several promotions, but they weren't quite filling the void that ECW left with RF Video. We had the best training you can get with our years with ECW, the contacts and the knowledge of what our customer base wanted plus we saw a chance to create a unique and fresh product so we figured lets give it a try. Our goal today is to stay in business and survive and always grow and evolve.

Sean "The MiC" McCaffrey: ROH has made alot of waves in indy wrestling and is the "smart mark" dream promotion. Do you think that ROH will be able to bring in casual wrestling fans into wrestling, on a regular basis?

Gabe Sapolsky: Yes. I say that without a doubt. I can't tell you how many times I've had someone say "I brought my friend to a live show who isn't a wrestling a fan and they want to come to every show now" or "I showed a tape to my friend who used to watch WWE, but doesn't watch it anymore and they loved ROH." ROH is about putting on a quality product that is exciting and athletic and not like anything you've seen anywhere else before and that will appeal to all kinds of people. If you want storyline, we have it. If you want blood, we have it. If you want innovation, we have it. If you want strong production values, we have it. If you want old school, we have it. If you want technical wrestling, we have it, but most importantly we have an exciting show that will hopefully keep you entertained and give you your money's worth from beginning to end. I think the main thing we have to concentrate on now is reaching those people who aren't about to give indy wrestling a chance. That lack of exposure is the main thing holding us back, not the fact we are just for smart marks. Going on a tangent, I hate the term marks. We are all fans or we wouldn't be reading this, asking the questions or answering them.

Sean "The MiC" McCaffrey: Who would you rather party with Christina Aguilera or Britney Spears?

Gabe Sapolsky: It depends on what their idea of a party is, but a lust after Britney so she gets the nod. Christina went right down the toilet when she died her hair black, but hey who am I kidding I'm not picky. Line them both up!

Sean "The MiC" McCaffrey: 2/1/03. The ROH riot. What was going through your mind as it went down, and what are your feelings of it today?

Gabe Sapolsky: I was thinking "damn this is crazy!" and praying it didn't get too far out of control. I am very proud of the riot. We created something no one will ever forget and something very real that touched on real nerves. We saw the debut of Julius Smokes and the start of the Low Ki/Smokes/Homicide angle out of it. It gave us a series of more violent brawls that helped ROH evolve creativity and it slowly changed our fanbase expectations to where they will accept blood feuds, when before they just wanted 8-10 Japanese style matches. If we were still doing 8-10 Japanese style matches, we would be very stale now so we had to change the audiences expectations somewhat. ROH had almost too pristine of an image before the riot and as Christina would say we got "dirty" with the riots and showed an unpredictable and darker side to ROH. I'm tempted to say some stuff that will break the illusion, but I'll just bite my tongue. I wouldn't count on anymore riots though, that was about all my heart could take.

Sean "The MiC" McCaffrey: What are your thoughts on ICP, Konnan and Jeff Hardy?

Gabe Sapolsky:
ICP- They sold us 25 tickets.
Konnan- His heart was in the right place.
Jeff Hardy- Nice guy and very professional with us.

Sean "The MiC" McCaffrey:11/1/03 was billed as "Main Event Spectacles" However after the show, people were talking more about Teddy Hart and his backflips then the Main Event. What are your feelings on the whole Teddy Hart situation, now that it's over with? What were your feelings as it was going down?

Gabe Sapolsky: The thing that upsets me the most about the whole thing was that Teddy recklessly put other workers in danger when he did the shooting star off the cage on Special K and they weren't expecting it as well on that dive to the floor after the match. I've never seen a worker put other workers in such reckless danger. I really don't understand the whole thing because Teddy was great to do business with and listened to everything and then it seemed that something just snapped in his head to make him do that. I didn't see it live because I was behind the curtain waiting to thank everyone for what I believe is a historic match. Then next thing I know all hell is breaking lose. It was crazy. I will say the one major positive was seeing our locker room bond together the way they did. That was something special. If I had actually seen what happened I probably would have yelled a lot more at the show, but instead I ended up yelling in my living room when I finally saw the tape. Teddy is such an amazing talent and a nice guy, but I'm really ashamed he has gotten the attention he has over this incident since its almost a reward for putting his fellow workers in danger. The crowd went from chanting "ROH! ROH!" meaning that EVERYONE in the match got over to chanting "Teddy" meaning only Teddy got over to no chant meaning they were burned out. To me its wrong that Teddy has gotten so much attention for being selfish and putting his brothers in danger. I wish people would talk more about the outstanding efforts of Loc, Devito, Trent Acid, Johnny Kashmere, The SAT, Hijinx, Angel Dust, Hydro, Jack Evans and yes even Teddy DURING the match because that match was something special and everyone in it put on an incredible performance.

Sean "The MiC" McCaffrey: What were you thinking when MLW booked shows the day before ROH in the same buildings? What do you think now, that MLW has relocated back to Florida? Also what is the ROH-MLW relationship if any?

Gabe Sapolsky: I thought WTF. I mean they blindsided everybody. They didn't even tell the boys where the shows were so I think they knew what they were doing was wrong. I'm happy to see them in Florida and I hope they have a lot of success there and come up with some creative ideas of their own. I never really understood why they tried to leave Florida in the first place since they seem to draw good crowds. I talk to Court Bauer on a semi-regular basis and we have a good relationship now. He's a good guy and his love for the business is obvious.

Sean "The MiC" McCaffrey: How many people inquire about working for ROH to you daily?

Gabe Sapolsky: Not a lot, but we aren't really seeking anyone.

Sean "The MiC" McCaffrey: What is your side of the whole Low Ki incident, and is there a chance Low Ki will ever return to ROH?

Gabe Sapolsky: Well I don't really want to get into the whole thing because its a long story and I don't want to make it public now. You can never say never in this business, but right now I don't trust Low Ki enough to bring him back. I mean the guy canceled on two main events this year and on 11/1 he didn't even have a Japan commitment and in fact I've heard from a couple of very reliable sources that he wasn't even in Japan on 11/1, but he was back home. Basically we saw a six month storyline with Homicide flushed down the toilet and I don't want to see that happen again. There needs to be some healing on our side and I really don't understand what is going through Brandon's head anymore. Honestly, I'm really hurt and disappointed by the whole thing because we had a great relationship at one point and Brandon did some incredible things in the ROH ring that I, him and the fans will never forgot. I mean how many other matches has he had in other places that made him cry on a shoot? I hope one day we can all move forward together, but that time isn't coming soon and who knows if it will ever happen. I really am just hurt by the whole thing although I will never forget how much of a factor Low Ki was in building ROH and I will always be in debt to him for that.

Sean "The MiC" McCaffrey: Why do you think ROH has been able to become so successful?

Gabe Sapolsky: Thanks for the compliment. I ask you though, how are we successful? Creative wise or business wise? Businesswise we aren't successful until we don't have to watch every penny and struggle to survive so I wouldn't call us a success there. Don't get me wrong, we are not about to go out of business, but we are still at the point where every penny counts. I want to be swimming in money while keeping creative integrity! Creative wise I feel that we have been successful in presenting something unique and something that never stays the same and I am proud of what we have accomplished there. We have a lot of great minds in the ROH locker room from Rob Feinstein to Doug Gentry to a good majority of the boys and I spend a great deal of time thinking of stuff for ROH. I never like to say we are successful creative wise because then you get complacent and we can never let ROH get stale or complacent.

Word Association

Rob Feinstein
- Businessman and friend.

Doug Gentry
- Doesn't get the credit he deserves for both his booking ideas and editing.

Jasmin St Claire
- Glad to have made peace.

John Zandig
- Survivor and has his own unique vision, which I always respect.

Rob Black
- Who?

Fat Frank
- I enjoy his product

Frank Goodman
- A good guy

Jim Kettner
- The king of indies and maybe the most underrated booker ever.

Paul Heymen
- Genius, the man I learned almost everything from and a person who has watched out for me since day one and honored every deal with me since day one when he didn't have to.

Vince McMahon
- Needs to get in touch with his audience.

Vince Russo
- Why is a run-in and other angles that have been done for years now "Russo Angles"?

Homicide
- Carried ROH on his shoulders in 2003 and a class act.

AJ Styles
- One of the best in the world and a true professional.

Samoa Joe
- Everything a champion should be in and out of the ring.

Chris Daniels
- As professional and good as they get.

Low Ki
- What happened?

Deranged
- All the potential in the world.

Allison Danger
- I wish we had a locker room full of Allison Dangers.

Becky Bayless
- Very underrated performer.

Dana Dameson
- Potential is there and perfect for Special K. Can you get anymore illegal looking?

Briscoes
- They will be a force in 2004.

Jim Cornette
- Genius. I try to pick his brain and learn as much as possible from him everytime he comes in. My goal is to say I was mentored by Heyman and Cornette.

The role of the internet in wrestling
- It's great for promotion, but bad if people analyze things too much.

Roadtrips
- Always a good time

Teddy Hart
- Enough already!

Steve Corino
- If it was the 80s he'd be the #2 Horseman behind Flair.

Jeff Hardy
- Gave us his best.

Roddy Piper
- It will be a honor to have him in ROH if only for one night.

Puroresu
- I don't really see any at all now, but the All Japan stuff of the early 90s has a huge influence on ROH.

Lucha Libre
-Never really followed it.

Bastion Booger
- Iceberg is better

Giant Gonzales
- Bill Alfonso has some great stories on him

Declaration of Independents
- Great site and thank you very much to everyone who voted us promotion of the year. I can't tell you how much we appreciate it and how much it means to us.

ROH
- My life

Sean "The MiC" McCaffrey:Currently ROH has been in 6+ states. (NY, NJ, MA, OH, CT, PA) With a Chicago show coming up, does ROH plan to elevate themselves to a national level?

Gabe Sapolsky: We just want to keep doing what we have to in order to survive. If that means running Philly every other week or if that means going to a different city every weekend we'll do it. It is all about surviving with us and taking things one step at a time. We aren't in a race with anyone, we aren't in competition with anyone, we just want to put out the best product we can while surviving.

Sean "The MiC" McCaffrey: Obviously, the WWE is the number 1 promotion in the USA today. Who do you think is number 2, and do you think ROH could ever compete with the WWE on a national level?

Gabe Sapolsky: I don't believe that there is a #2 promotion today and ROH will never be able to compete with WWE unless someone hands us a billion dollars.

Sean "The MiC" McCaffrey: What has been your top 5 ROH matches?

Gabe Sapolsky: I hate to make lists because there are so many and its so hard for me to narrow it down to just a few. There are some like Carnage Crew vs. Mase & Hotstuff Hernandez from 3/22 that probably won't be on anyone's list but it is on mine because the match perfectly showcased everyone's strengths, everyone did exactly what was asked of them and they executed it perfectly so that everyone in the match got over what they needed to. The Christopher Street got in their entertaining stuff, Carnage Crew looked like badasses and Hotstuff Hernandez looked like a monster. It got Hotstuff over to the point we could do him vs. Samoa Joe on 4/12 and it would mean something when Joe choked out the bigger man. It was a real team player match and showed how everyone on the card is a piece of a puzzle and when they all execute their part everyone gets over the the product gets over. That is a five star match in my book.

Sean "The MiC" McCaffrey: What do you think has been the best show in ROH?

Gabe Sapolsky: That would be impossible for me to answer. I am proud of things we've done on every show and the evolution of our product. As long as we never put on the same show twice, they are all my favorites.

Sean "The MiC" McCaffrey: How hard is it building up careers like Alexis Laree, Paul London, Spanky and others, and then losing them to the WWE, and watching them on Velocity in 3 minute matches, when they are capable of so much more?

Gabe Sapolsky: Losing someone is always sad just because I enjoy working with everyone so much and its hard to know that you won't be working with them anymore, but I'm always happy to see someone make money and achieve success. I enjoy the opportunity to push new people when old ones sign to other places. There are actually a lot of times when I sit here wishing someone gets a Japan tour or signed to WWE so that spots open up and I want to see workers make a real living in the business. It's what keeps ROH fresh. It is a crime that London and Spanky aren't given more of an opportunity to shine, but don't forget it took the Hardys a year or two before they were pushed in WWE so hopefully they'll get their chance one day. In the meantime you can watch their greatest matches on ROH tapes and DVDs. Cheap plug lol.

Sean "The MiC" McCaffrey: Where do you see the ROH product at the end of 2004?

Gabe Sapolsky: Wherever the fans take us. Right now I have a rough idea for the first six months of 2004 that I'm very excited about. I wish it was summer already so everything has come to pass. If the ideas are good, the fans will support us and take ROH to bigger and better things. The talent is incredible and so dedicated so its all up to the creative direction we go in and how the fans react to it.

Sean "The MiC" McCaffrey: What do you like to do in your free time?

Gabe Sapolsky: I listen to a lot of music and watch TV. I like a lot of heavy bands that put creative freedom first and don't really fit into any one category like eyehategod, The Melvins, Neurosis and lately I've been listening to a lot of Unsane, JJ Paradise Players Club and The Hidden Hand. I compare ROH a lot to the music I listen to. I like to make mix CDs and play them before ROH shows so fans have to listen to my music lol. Sometimes I'll play a lot of Playstation like when I recently got Manhunt. That game is sick. I am usually thinking of ROH though or doing something ROH related all the time. It's not really work to me. I like to have sex too.

Sean "The MiC" McCaffrey: Who are your favorite ROH wrestlers?

Gabe Sapolsky: They are all my favorites or they wouldn't be in ROH! I am the biggest fan in the world. I am always in awe at how good everyone who steps in the ROH ring is whether its a great technical wrestler, someone who knows how to play to the crowd, someone who is perfect with their gimmick or someone who just does some great, athletic moves. I enjoy everyone's performances so much and am always amazed that those guys and women are able to do what they do in that ring.

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

Gabe Sapolsky: We have released a whole bunch of DVDs lately and are caught up all the way up to our 8/16/03 show. ROH survives on your support whether it is coming to a show, buying a tee shirt or getting a DVD or tape. We can't thank you enough for your support and we will always strive to give you more than your money's worth. I'm proud of all our shows and recommend you check out one that looks interesting to you if you've never seen ROH. I really hope people just start with the first show and watch them in order to see how the characters, storyline and product progress and evolve. The places to go are ROHwrestling.com, RFVideo.com or call 215-891-9404. We also try to update ROHwrestling.com all the time with new matches, storyline updates and other stuff so keep checking it. Thanks everyone.

Sean "The MiC" McCaffrey: Thanks for the interview.