Jac Sabboth

What’s up everyone and welcome to an exclusive McInterview. I was lucky enough to catch up with Jac Sabboth, who runs ICW, Impact Championship Wrestling. (There are a few plugs in this interview for the website.) Jac has been the talk of many people and at the center of many rumors. I asked all the questions that people wanted to see, and Jac stood up and answered them all. I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did.

Sean “The MiC?McCaffrey: How did you get into pro wrestling? Did you always want to be a promoter, or did you want to be a wrestler?

Jac Sabboth: At first, I wanted to be a wrestler, I realized I sucked as a wrestler and I loved the promoting end of wrestling so I decided to give promoting a shot. ICWZONE.COM

The MiC: Alot of people talk on the message boards about you "stiffing" or unpaying wrestlers. There's also mentions of your incidents with Crowbar, Balls Mahoney and many others. What do you have to say about this being out there, and is it true? Also, what do you have to say to these people who post this information, when it's none of their business?

Jac Sabboth: OK, I have ALWAYS paid every wrestler that has worked for me, and that’s a long list which can be seen in the roster section at ICWZONE.COM. "Stiffing" someone actually means NEVER paying them, I’m still running shows, still conducting shoot interviews, still working with the same people I started with. Now, onto the Crowbar situation. It was at a convention where there was only 10 people in the room "at that time". Crowbar blew the whole thing out of proportion. He was on a previous ICW show, the show was over and we didn’t update the website yet, we were advertising the next show, but we didn’t take his name down yet, so in his eyes it looked like we were advertising him without booking him, THAT’S ALL. He felt he had to get on the mic in front of 10 people and say something. He never came to me 1st. or ask me why his name was still there. I booked Crowbar a few times, we did a shoot interview with him which is available in the merchandise section at ICWZONE.com, so him saying something without even talking to me was very unusual. That’s about it with the Crowbar situation. The Balls Mahoney situation was simply I owed him some money for a past show, he was paid, it did take a bit longer for me to pay him at that time, but none the less, he did get paid, he didn’t get "stiffed". Balls Mahoney & myself have no heat, we are very cool with each other and we will do business together in the near future. The Balls Mahoney shoot interview can also be puchased at ICWZONE.com. About people posting about me on message boards, just get the name right.

The MiC: What do you think has been the best card you ever promoted?

Jac Sabboth: The best card ICW ever promoted was probably the September 14th. 2001 show at the elks lodge which is also available at ICWZONE.com. That was a very special show, it went about 3 hours. We ran a FREE show. There was about 200 people at the elks, it was 3 days after 9-11, so those 3 hours took people to another place and got them to smile a bit. Everyone was very emotional that night. The show was actually VERY GOOD. The MiC: With wrestling in a down period, what can be done to stimulate interest, in the WWE and the indies? If you were a booker in the WWE, what changes would you make?

Jac Sabboth: Honestly, im not sure if I know what would make the business better anymore, on May 16th. ICW ran a show at the elks lodge with one of the best cards we can put together, the May 16th show was VERY HEAVILY advertised. It was the most advertised show we did, and we drew 250 people. Personally, I think the elks lodge is burned out, and the crowd is burned out, but we should have at least had 400-500 people in the building that night. The WWE should not be doing the brand expansion. They should also do more with RVD. I think that’s a start, also more wrestling, less talking.

The MiC: There's a rumor that a verbal fight broke out between ICW booker, Harry Slash, and USA Pro owner, Frank Goodman. Being that this happened at your show, can you comment on this, and let the people know what really happened?

Jac Sabboth: Yes, I can comment on that. We ran an angle between The Boogie Knights and Monsta Mac of Da Hitsquad, where Danny Drake thanked Monsta Mac for almost killing him at a JAP show, Drake said, "what didn’t kill us, made us (Boogie Knights) stronger. After that Frank Goodman asked me "who told you about the angle?". He didn’t accuse us from stealing an idea, he just asked who told you. Apparently, he was going to do something similar. Him and Harry did have words, they were both very heated, but both men are professionals and the situation did not escalate. It’s actually pretty funny when I think about it now. It was one of those nights.

The MiC: When you run a show, who are the first few guys that you usually go to, to see if they're available for your show?

Jac Sabboth: I usually go to my core ICW group. Low-ki, Xavier, The S.A.T.'s, Red, now Justin Credible, Boogie Knights, CSC, Divine and more. There are alot of young up and comers in ICW. Dru Blood & Devin Moore are making alot of progress, they are a very young team, but they have alot of potential. "Hotstuff" Eddie Guapo is constantly improving, he WILL be a major star in ICW. The DRS are great also. A.M.I.L. also has a great future. You can see their progress at ICWZONE.com

The MiC: What does ICW offer to fan looking for an alternative wrestling promotion?

Jac Sabboth: ICW offers WRESTLING, not alot of talk, purely wrestling.

The MiC: How do you handle criticism from fans, wrestlers or other promoters?

Jac Sabboth: Promoters don’t bother me, some of them make me laugh, I'll get to that in a bit. I like criticism from the wrestlers & fans, the wrestlers are the ones in the ring, doing their thing, I believe the wrestlers should have a hand in booking their match, they know what they can & cant do. The fans are the ones we want to hear from. The fans are the ones that keep ICW going. The fans can voice their opinions on the ICW message board at ICWZONE.com

The MiC: At the last ICW show, USA and PWF titles were defended. How come ICW defended other promotions titles, instead of creating and establishing their own belts?

Jac Sabboth: We did defend our titles at our last show, we are working with Steve Corino’s promotion and we did a USA pro tag title match at our show just to give the fans a little extra. That’s all that was. ICW is a separate entity from any other promotion.

WORD ASSOCIATION

Frank Goodman-Frank is a business man, 1st. and foremost. He works very hard, and it shows in the attendance at USA Pro.
Ricky O-ok, I’ve been quiet about Ricky O, but at this point all I have to say is, at the last 2 jersey shows we had, (where everyone was paid), I heard from VERY RELIABLE sources that Ricky O was going around and telling people I stiffed everyone. I personally think there is nothing but lies that come out of that part in Jersey. I really don’t think much of Ricky, at one point we were cool with each other, but he started acting up when ICW decided to run a few shows in Jersey. Well, ICW will be back in Jersey in the near future.
Fat Frank-I like Fat Frank, don’t know why he called me a "gypsy", still trying to figure that one out, but I like the JAP product, I even went to a few shows and was very entertained.
Harry Slash-Great mind for the business with a twist. An "uncle" to many. Smokes too much.
Vince Russo-Don’t know him, but makes himself visible as much as he can.
Vince McMahon-THE MAN
Frankie Starz-I realized I sucked as a wrestler, he should also. The highlight of my short wrestling career was when I speared him through a table at a USA pro show. Never liked him, he talks too much and doesn’t know how to back it up, he’s another message board bitch.
Deranged-I think Deranged is great. I was using him in 2001, before many others were. I just didn’t like the fight him and Demanto got into, I think it should have taken place after the show, not during a match.
Danny Demanto-He’s so green, he’s yellow, LOL. Danny is a good friend of mine, we had to fire him and Damian Dragon for the best of the company. Danny has alot of heart, but not enough smarts yet. He is still very young, and he is improving everyday. I heard a Mexican stabbed him. It will be a long time until Danny sees action in ICW. Same thing with Damian Dragon.
Masked Maniac-Funny as hell, loved the way he stuck a hotdog in (Darkfires, Randy, Adolf) butt, then made him eat it.
Ticket sellers-whether they sell tickets before hand or have people buy them at the door, they are very necessary, as long as they can "work".
Grim reefer-Reefer is the future of ICW. He’s great, cant say enough good things about him. The next RED.
Xavier-He’s a great friend, the backbone of ICW and The Dynasty. He's been there with me from day 1 and will be with ICW for a long time, unless the WWE picks him up. He’s a new daddy, congratulations.
Justin Credible-The current ICW Heavyweight Champion. Great guy, he’s all business. Goes above and beyond.
Homicide-The best indy wrestler in my opinion. Great trainer, did alot of good things for the indy scene, did alot for ICW.
Ms. Sinful-she sells tickets, right? I think she’s good friends with Danny Demanto & Kevin Matthews, that’s what they told me.
Message Board posters-Love them, keep posting.
Steve Corino-he’s awesome, very nice guy, also goes above and beyond.
Alexis Laree-Very talented
Crowbar-already talked about him, I do think he’s very talented, he’s a great wrestler.
Balls Mahoney-One of the toughest guys in the business.
Johnny Ova-He is very talented, he’s in a 3 way on the next ICW show against Dan Barry & Mike Mayhem.
Indy wrestling Today- Indy wrestling is the backbone of wrestling. The major federations need indys for a feeding. The indys is where up and coming wrestlers get noticed, get experience. Actually, I do want to say something about indy wrestling. Alot of young wrestlers get caught up in this whole "pay" thing in indy wrestling. There really isn’t a "pay" thing in indy wrestling. Experience is what comes with indy wrestling. The payday is The WWE, Japan, not the indys, some more established wrestlers can make a living on the indy scene, but the new guys have to worry about exposure and not a payday.
Internet critics-everyone is entitled to their opinions.
Tim Arson-Great wrestler, big heart, BIG MOUTH, he will also never see action in ICW. His mouth wrote checks he cant cash (no pun intended). Tim Arson will have to "pay" to get into ICW!!!!!!!
Adolf, Randy, Darkfire- I heard he’s gay and does favors for rides home. He should do something about the way he smells.
Declaration of Independents-its about time. ICWZONE.com
Jac Sabboth- I’m just taking things 1 day at a time.

The MiC: Where do you see the future of ICW?

Jac Sabboth: The future of ICW is not known, ICW is making an IMPACT 1 day at a time.

The MiC: There's a rumor that is 99% confirmed that the Elks Lodge will be closing and that the July 18th show will be the last ICW show in the Elks. What can we expect on that show, and for the record, what have you heard about the Elks Lodge?

Jac Sabboth: I think the rumors are true, I think they are shutting the doors, so July 18th. Will be the LAST ICW show at the elks lodge. ICWZONE.COM

The MiC: What do you have to say to anyone reading this?

Jac Sabboth: All I have left to say is, keep watching wrestling, keep supporting the indys, check out ICWZONE.COM everyday for daily updates, see everyone on July 18th, as ICW presents "MAXIMUM IMPACT

The MiC: Thank you Jac for doing this interview.

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