I attended the Three Count Promotions in conjunction with several other vendors, "Legends of the Ring" convention this past Saturday. The convention was held at the Radisson Hotel in Carteret, NJ. For convention fans, the hotel is located literally 3 minutes away (in walking distance) from the Holiday Inn in Carteret, which has hosted previous conventions. For indy fans, it is located about 2 miles from the Rahway Rec Center, where JAPW hosts their big events.

Conventions are hard to predict, attendance wise. Several conventions in this area have bombed badly, which is probably due to the lack of promoting by those parties involved. There are really only two major convention promoters in this area and that is the Legends of the Ring group and Mambo's "Wrestle-Reunion" brand. Unlike some wrestling promoters who bicker and fight over every little thing, these two groups do business together, help each other, and in turn, do great business. For all the crap that goes on in the indy scene, several people could learn from these two groups, as those conventions always do well, are smoothly operated and tons of fun for the wrestlers and fans.

LOTR, who was running their fourth convention, had Y2J Chris Jericho, the reunion of Ax (Bill Eadie aka. Masked Superstar/Bolo Mongol/Super Machine) and Smash (Barry Darsow aka Repo Man/Blacktop Bully/Hole in One/numerous others) of Demolition, the reunion of Brian Knobs and Jerry Sags of the Nasty Boys, Sensational Sherri Martel, The Mountie Jacques Rougeau, “The Brooklyn Brawler” Steve Lombardi, Harvey Wippleman, Mike Barton aka Bart Gunn, Kip James/Billy Gunn, Road Dogg Jesse James/BG James, Corporal Kirchner, Captain Lou Albano, Tammy Sytch aka Sunny, Spike Dudley/Brother Runt and Big Bully Busick signing autographs and taking pictures with fans.

The convention, in my estimation, drew anywhere from 400-500 people. Like I said above, it's hard to guess how these conventions will do, but I knew this convention was going to do well on late Friday night, when I found out that three hotels in the area (Radisson/Holiday Inn/Fairfield Suites) were all sold out. Rahway isn't really a terrorist attraction (Who wants to vacation near a major prison?), so I was guessing that alot of people were in town for this event.

Like previous LOTR's, all guests showed up. The biggest pops were for the Nasty Boyz, Demolition and Jericho, which was to be expected. I'd say Jericho got the loudest pop when he was announced, with Demolition a close second, and the Nasty's just a hair behind in third place.

LOTR really takes care of the talent and makes these events fun, and it really shows when the talent comes out. There is no bullshit to report. Every guest was friendly, signed and took pictures with a smile. It looked like they wanted to be there. Sure this is just a payday for the wrestlers, but it looked like they were having fun reminiscing with fans and with each other. Even Demolition, who were said to have heat for such a long time, seemed to be in good spirits, and were seen in the bar together before their signing.

LOTR's only real challenge on Saturday was keeping things flowing. There was a huge ass line wrapped around the building for Y2J. LOTR was lucky that we had good weather, and were able to put people outside. The only negative thing you could really say about this convention was that the venue was too small to accommodate such a large amount of people. However, if you're drawing 400 people with supertickets at $200 a pop, having to negotiate space with fans is a problem anyone would take. And it's not even to say that anyone complained either. Every fan I talked to had a fun time and understood that when you have a great reputation and a great line-up, it will take time to get pictures and autographs with everyone. LOTR really executed in the giving the fans their monies worth.

Personally, I enjoy these conventions as you get to talk to people in length that you normally don't get time to talk to at shows. Even old lemon head Eric Simms isn't that annoying when put in this setting. There were several people in the wrestling business and who cover the wrestling business at this convention. When you are getting people from the business to come out and check your show at, it is an indication you are doing something right.

Overall, there is not much else I can say except that if you're looking for a good convention in this area and want to deal with reputable people, look no further than Legendsofthering.com. LOTR will also be represented at Mambo Rivera's WrestleReunion Convention, which takes place on 6/2. For info on that show, check out http://www.wrestlingreunion.com/

Sean "The MiC" McCaffrey
BULLSMC@aol.com