McPinions
By: Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey

Let me start off this column by just saying "Wow", because all I could say is "Wow" when looking at about 75 or so documents, from NWS Head Honcho Gino Moore, concerning the NWA NJ controversy. I saw these papers about a month ago, and admittedly I should've written this column sooner, but it was so much information to absorb. I also wanted to give the NWA an ample amount of time to respond to me and give me their version of the events. After seeing these papers and documents, I went to see what the NWA had to say about all these papers, that Gino Moore had, proving that Gino Moore and his SEGI group were the rightful owners of the NWA NJ name. All the NWA could tell me, is what they have been saying for the past few months, and that was just a statement from Ernie Todd, which reads as follows:
Pro Wrestling Organization, LLC, doing business as National Wrestling Alliance/NWA, recognizes Fred Rubenstein as the only authorized NWA member in the state of New Jersey. The official list of all NWA members can be found on our website at www.nwawrestling.com.
ERNIE TODD, President
National Wrestling Alliance

For those of you who have been following the war of words between both sides, concerning the NWA NJ name, then no introductory paragraph is needed for you. Eric Simms and Eric Walker have both written debating columns about the rightful use of the NWA New Jersey name. Both of those writers are employed by the rivaling groups, as Eric Simms works for NWS and Eric Walker works for NWA. (NWA Florida). I found Eric Simms's columns very biased, yet straight to the point. I thought alot of his insults at Fred Rubenstein hurt his credibility. I thought Eric Walker made a great company-oriented column, but did not give the full side of the story. The purpose of my column, is to give you an unbiased look at the situation, as I am not employed by either organization. With that said, for those of you who don't know the deal, let me bring you up to speed.

To understand how this all got started, we must look to the past. Before there was an NWS, there was a NWA NJ, and that name was owned by Dennis Corraluzo. Dennis Corraluzo was a controversial man and you either loved or hated him. Not too many people had mixed feelings about him. Unfortunately, Dennis's life was cut short, as he died at the age of 48, in July of 2001, after suffering massive bleeding in the brain. After Dennis Corraluzo's death, the NWA NJ name was vacated. Shortly thereafter, Joe Panzarino and Fred Rubenstein, who was acting as Joe's attorney, became the joint owners of the NWA NJ name. Joe, who trusted Fred as his lawyer, had Fred handle most of the paperwork at that time. Later on down the line, Fred Rubenstein, joined up with Joe and Gino Moore, of SEGI, creating a 3 man partnership.

Things between Joe, Gino and Fred worked out fine for a while. As stated above, Fred was the attorney of the group. It was an accepted fact that Fred was an attorney. It would be several years later that Gino and Joe would find out that Fred lied to them, and was never an attorney. Keep this fact in mind, because it becomes vital in this story later on. Fred's excuse to Gino and Joe, according to Gino, was that he was licensed in NY, but not in NJ. Not knowing that Fred was untruthful to them, Fred, acting as a lawyer, became the go-to-guy or pointman, of the NWA NJ name. This gave Fred all the power when it came to making NWA NJ decisions. Gino and Joe didn't know that Fred did that, and I believe Gino when he told me that for one simple reason- Why would you invest all your money and time, just to have someone else own the name and make 100% of all the decisions? It just doesn't make sense. Gino Moore has been called alot of names and has been accused of doing alot of nefarious activities, but one thing you won't hear is someone call Gino Moore dumb. The guy knows the ins and outs of the legal system and is a good businessman. There is no way I can believe that Gino would just give up his time and money, just to have Fred 100% solely own the NWA name. That is why I believe that Fred either lied, or didn't tell Gino all the facts, when signing off on the NWA NJ name.

Fast forward a few years to around 2002-2003. Gino and Joe, who were sick of hardcore and smart mark wrestling, were running successful shows as National Wrestling Superstars aka NWS. NWS are family geared shows. As Ricky O once put it to me, "NWS stinks (For smart marks) but nobody has loud crowds like them." I can't really argue against Ricky's comments, as NWS doesn't necessarily stink, it's just not for internet fans, and NWS doesn't want their products for internet fans. There's a reason why NWS can run 50+ shows a year, and that's because they run family geared shows and buildings want them back. It was also around this time that Gino and Joe, as the NWS, broke away from Fred Rubenstein, when they found out that Fred was lying to them and doing alot of wrongdoing.

When Gino and Joe split away from Fred, they had no clue that they were written out as being owners of the NWA NJ name. It was at this time that they found out that Fred screwed them over. Luckily for Gino Moore, Gino kept every document and has photocopies of every document, including signatures from Fred and people in the NWA, naming Gino's group, the SEGI, as the rightful owners of the NWA NJ name. Gino wisely used these papers in court, as there was a court ruling in North Carolina, that ruled in the favor of Gino and his SEGI group, giving Gino the right to run shows as NWA NJ. Gino also found out at this time that Fred Rubenstein was also a bus driver. I don't know about anyone else reading this, but I don't know too many bus driving attornies. When I asked Fred Rubenstein about this, all he could tell me was:
Pro Wrestling Organization, LLC, doing business as National Wrestling Alliance/NWA, recognizes Fred Rubenstein as the only authorized NWA member in the state of New Jersey. The official list of all NWA members can be found on our website at www.nwawrestling.com.
ERNIE TODD, President
National Wrestling Alliance

So after all this, this takes us to today. In October of 2004, Fred Rubenstein teamed up with Bandido's UWA promotion, and renamed it NWA North NJ. Obviously by calling it "North" NJ, Fred had some doubts and knew he was guilty if he called it NWA NJ. When asked why he did that, all Fred could say was:
Pro Wrestling Organization, LLC, doing business as National Wrestling Alliance/NWA, recognizes Fred Rubenstein as the only authorized NWA member in the state of New Jersey. The official list of all NWA members can be found on our website at www.nwawrestling.com.
ERNIE TODD, President
National Wrestling Alliance

Whenever you ask Fred about anything all he could do is keep referring and referring to Ernie Todd's statement. Whenever I asked Gino or Joe anything, they gave you the facts and showed you the paperwork to prove it. It is my opinion that Fred Rubenstein did swindle the NWA NJ Name from Joe and Gino, and it's only a matter of time and a few lawsuits to prove this. Fred obviously has no papers or documents proving his ownership because all he can do is refer me to the Todd's statement time and time again. The NWA told me, on Todd's behalf, to check out the statement as well. The statement does nothing for me. Gino and Joe will show anyone willingly, and will show a court of law, their proof of ownership of the NWA NJ name. Fred Rubenstein can not and has not done this at all.

Some writers have said that Gino and Joe started this NWA NJ name war, but I think if Fred never teamed up with the UWA and started promoting as NWA North NJ, then I wouldn't be writing this column. Gino and Joe were pissed that Fred would do this, and Fred woke up a sleeping (legal) monster. When you think of it all, how stupid is this? The 2 shows that Fred promoted under the NWA name didn't even draw 100 fans combined. Is this really all worth it for Fred or his NWA NJ group? Is any legal war worth getting into, when the thing you're fighting for can't even give you a profit? Plus, the combined 80 or so fans who went to both of these shows don't care about the NWA NJ name. They just went to the show because wrestling was in their area. It doesn't matter what letters you use, it just matters how you promote your product. Fans care about the product, not what letters are on the banner. For example, USA Pro just changed their name to UXW. It is my opinion, and from knowing the presale as proof, that UXW will draw the same amount, if not more fans, as a USA Pro show. Fans know the product and know the wrestlers. When you slice it, Fred Rubensteins shows are not great, and are only good for fans who don't know about anything else. If any of those fans knew about a JAPW, they'd go to that then sit through a Rubenstein show.

I have seen the proof of who owns the NWA NJ name and to me, the rightful owners are Gino Moore and Joe Panzarino. With that said, my opinion is not what matters here, it is the opinions of the court that matters. When Gino and Joe finally go to court with all this, there is no way that a court will rule in favor of Rubenstein nor the NWA. It also known that the NWA, did in fact see Gino's proof, and backed away from Gino. That's right, the NWA was going to sue Gino Moore for claiming ownership of the NWA NJ name, but after seeing Gino's proof, they realized they had no case. What's going to happen once Gino goes to court? He obviously can sue for damages and emotional stress in all of this. His reputation did take a hit in all this as well. Gino might not wind up owning not only the NWA NJ name, but he might have a case against the whole NWA. This case is bigger than everyone thinks, and once it goes to trial, the DOI will cover it.

After seeing about 60 or so documents proving that Gino owns the NWA NJ name, I also saw 15 affadavits signed and notarized speaking against Fred Rubenstein. The people who wrote these affadavits are people who were screwed and lied to by Fred Rubenstein. 12 of the 15 affadavits are very similiar and prove how Fred lied to them. One or two people who say Fred lied to them about being an attorney might not hold up in court, but 12 people will. There's not a shot in hell Fred will be able to win a court case against Gino or Joe, and in brings me back to my original point- "What's the point in fighting and creating this mess when you can't even draw 50 people a show?"

So that's where we are today. In this time, the NWS have added SSCW, JCW and a promotion in Delaware to their wrestling family. The NWS will promote the J-Cup, and allow Ricky O to book it. NWS will book the first SSCW show on 12/28, using the SSCW letters. Yes, Carmine Sabia won't be there, but surprisingly neither will SSCW booker Simon Diamond. SSCW will run SSCW shows beginning in early 2005, but will allow NWS to run shows as SSCW in the North NJ area, as is evident by this 12/28 show. NWS plans to expand their territory, and by getting the NWA NJ name, they will be able to profit, as they will be able to sell NWA NJ affiliate names, and this is what this whole case is about.

Gino Moore and Joe Panzarino are more than welcome to speak out and send anything they want to the DOI, if they have anything to add to this situation. The same goes to Fred Rubenstein, but I'm sure all I'll get is a:
Pro Wrestling Organization, LLC, doing business as National Wrestling Alliance/NWA, recognizes Fred Rubenstein as the only authorized NWA member in the state of New Jersey. The official list of all NWA members can be found on our website at www.nwawrestling.com.
ERNIE TODD, President
National Wrestling Alliance

With that said, let me say that this column is an abridged version of the events. There are so many other things to get into, and there is so much more that went on, that it is just mind boggling and will just confuse you if I explained it. This column was meant to hit all the straight points and keep all the DOI readers up to speed on what's going on about this whole NWA NJ saga. I have to admit I was baffled and awestruck when I saw all the proof Gino had. These aren't papers he just made up either. There are alot of things Gino possesses right now, and once a court of law sees it, there is no doubt in my mind that Gino and Joe will be the owners of the NWA NJ name. And once that happens, maybe Fred Rubenstein can send me another statement, because the one I keep getting emailed will mean nothing in a court of law.

In closing, let me say that I don't agree with all this fighting. The NWA is not the same name it once was. It has been tarnished, and even good promotions that use the NWA letters, such as NWA Wildside or NWA Florida, have trouble drawing good crowds. Wrestling is in a decline, hell Linda McMahon admitted that herself in a recent press conference when she said that WWE was focusing alot of their time on movies. It is the product that draws, not the letters in front of it. Of course there is fan loyalty to letters, as is evident by ECW, ROH, CZW and others, but is the product that made the fans loyal. I understand why Gino and Joe will fight this battle, but I can't understand why Fred would. The DOI will continue to recoginize Fred Rubenstein and the NWA's stance on this issue, but we will also have no problems putting up any NWS press release where they call themselves NWA NJ, until an official court ruling is made on all of this. Once a court ruling is made, in the favor of either side, we will no longer post the losing groups press release with themselves falsely misidentifying themselves as NWA NJ.

For more on NWS, check out http://www.nwswrestling.com

For more on NWA, go to http://www.nwawrestling.

Sean "The MiC" McCaffrey
BULLSMC@aol.com