For a lively discussion on this topic check out Perception Is Reality - Wednesday November 20 at 7pm Disclaimer: The views and opinions e...
For a lively discussion on this topic check out Perception Is Reality - Wednesday November 20 at 7pm
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed below are solely those of the credited independent contributor, and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of GeorgiaWrestlingHistory.com or any of its entities.
From Stephen Platinum:
Full Disclosure: I am adding this paragraph for the benefit of anyone who read part one and thought that I was off the mark somehow. I just watched the Raw match debut of Xavier Woods, who teamed with R-Truth against a team led by Heath Slater. You guessed it, all guys who came through Anarchy/Wildside. I’m currently listening to an audio book by Sarah Silverman, who was a writer on Saturday Night Live (which I didn’t know before she talked about it on the audiobook, actually).
Let’s jump into more categories:
Even People Who Had Bad Experiences Claim Them One of the surest signs of SNL’s influence and importance is even people who became wildly famous who had an overall negative experience (Chris Rock), hated their time there (Janeane Garafalo), or never did anything of real note (Sarah Silverman who wrote for the show, but not one sketch she wrote made it on air) still talk about their time at SNL, and acknowledge that getting there was a dream come true in and of itself. Anarchy, through its various incarnations has done any number of things, including running shows on a Friday night at one point. These shows are not really considered being a part of the main show, but anyone who even so much as got squashed on a single Friday night show will claim Wildside lineage. And it’s how it should be. What you accomplish at Anarchy simply counts in a way that doing something at another fed does not. There are wrestling groups in Georgia that have been running as long or longer (such as GIWA) but achieving a level of success there simply doesn’t matter as much. There are wrestlers that may achieve notoriety elsewhere, but their lack of success in their time at Anarchy paints them as guys that didn’t hack it. Is it fair? It is what it is. Raven talked once about how even though he could have written his own ticket at WCW at one point, he took a worse deal at the WWF/E because “I always wanted to make it in New York.” If you are a comedian or a writer or both, you dream and work towards collecting an SNL paycheck. If you are a wrestler in Georgia, you should aspire to have a run at Anarchy. Simply getting there is a goal in and of itself, and anyone who thinks otherwise is either lying to themselves, stupid, or lacks ambition.
It’s Where You Go To Learn and Help Shape and Define Your Career Everyone who talks about Lorne Michaels talks about how much they learned from him, how they admired him. They talk about his habits, weird quirks, the breakneck schedule he demanded, the way he imposed his will, and regard him as a genius. The men and women that came through Saturday Night Live learned how to be stars. They learned how to produce. Lorne was fond of saying, “We didn’t get the writing done because it’s perfect, we got it done because we go on at 11:30.” He took comedians and writers from divergent backgrounds and varying work ethics and got the show done every time. Countless careers were not only launched by virtue of being at SNL, Lorne Michaels himself was responsible for producing movies to help the careers of SNL loyalists, and famously Lorne Michaels used his influence to take a former well-liked SNL writer and push him into getting a late night spot (the previously unknown Conan O’Brien). Subsequently, Anarchy means you’ve worked with Bill Behrens. People that learned from Bill Behrens comprise most of the significant people on the Georgia scene. The great booking at Empire Pro Wrestling can give a nod to Behrens and Anarchy. The often maligned “Behren’s Boys” are currently enjoying their greatest successes right now…now because they are getting unwarranted help, but because they have learned, they work hard, and Behrens guides them well. Wrestlers that have gone on to work TNA, WWE, ROH and other places where they made money are quick to credit what they learned at Anarchy/Wildside and heap praise upon those they learned from – Bill Behrens, Brody Chase, Jeff G. Bailey, etc. It is reality. And no matter how some may try to downplay it, it’s a simple fact that no other wrestling group in Georgia has put out more top level, money making talent. No training group can claim as many success stories. And no group continues to reinvent itself and stay TRULY relevant better than Anarchy, its associated training school, and has done so for over a decade.
Achievements Immortalized How many “Best of” versions exist for SNL? Tons. Individual star Best Ofs. Decade Best Ofs. Reruns. Youtube moments that are watched millions of times. Anniversary shows. When SNL does something great, it’s water cooler talk and people talk about and imitate their favorite moments. People often say “I haven’t watched SNL for a long long time” yet if you bring up any of the biggest, most popular SNL things, everyone knows about them. As for Anarchy, here are the TV Stations:
Rank - Station - City
5 KHPK Dallas
5 KJJM Dallas
11 WLPC-LP Detroit
12 KKAX LP Phoenix
14 KHCV Seattle
18 KQCK Denver
22 WBGN Pittsburgh
28 WAUG LP Raleigh-Durham
28 WARZ-LP Raleigh-Durham
29 WRNT-LP Hartford & New Haven
29 WESA-LP Hartford & New Haven
33 WOTH(LP) Cincinnati
35 KCBU(DT1) Salt Lake City
38 WWCI West Palm Beach
43 KEGS Las Vegas
47 WBII-CA Memphis
55 KGMC Fresno
56 KKKYK Little Rock
62 WRCX Dayton
64 WOBZ Lexington
64 TV 10 Cable Lexington
67 WDRL Roanoke
69 KCTU Wichita
72 WMNT-CA Toledo
74 K26GS Springfield, MO
75 KQUO Spokane
75 KIDQ-LP Spokane
77 KQUP(TV) Spokane
77 KIDQ-LP(LP) Spokane
81 WNDR Syracuse
89 KWWF(TV) Cedar Rapids-Wtrlo-
90 WXMS Jackson, MS
94 WBTR Baton Rouge
118 WKNI-LP Montgomery-Selma
120 KTVC(TV) Eugene
120 KTVCDT(DT1) Eugene
123 KDCG-LP Lafayette, LA
126 KVEW DT3 Yakima-Pasco-Rchlnd-Knnwck
127 KQEG La Crosse-Eau Claire
129 KXPX CA Corpus Christi
132 WTVO DT2 Rockford
136 KEJB Monroe-El Dorado
143 KTIV-DT Sioux City
145 KSPJ-LP Joplin-Pittsburg
147 WRDE-LP Salisbury
150 KYVA Anchorage
152 WBGR-LP Bangor
155 WVVA & DT Bluefield-Beckley-Oak Hill
157 KOSA DT2 Odessa-Midland
160 WKFK-LP Biloxi-Gulfport
161 KXII DT2 Sherman-Ada
162 WGFL Gainesville
164 KXVA Abilene-Sweetwater
169 WISF-LP Utica
170 KTVQ DT Billings
172 WTVY DT2 Dothan
173 WETM DT2 Elmira (Corning)
178 WHSV DT2 Harrisonburg
191 KIDA Great Falls
194 KXLF DT Butte-Bozeman
198 KQCK Cheyenne
204 KXTS Victoria
210 KXGN Glendive
Hundreds of shows in the can, and you can download old episodes. Best of performer DVDs. Best of certain feuds. Big shows of the past are available. And when Anarchy has a big show, reviewers are there to cover it, and have been from the beginning. When most leagues in the state do something, it doesn’t matter except for the people who happened to be there. There is no video…and if there is, nobody is watching it except the boys. There are no reviews, certainly none of note. Even Rampage that had television is rumored to have saved NONE of their footage from years of television. Unbelievable. Disgraceful, really. But then again, for there to be a record, someone really had to care about recording those events and have the archival footage. SNL is not only the standard bearer, they have the history, the legacy, the lineage. Anarchy is the same.
This isn’t to say there aren’t problems and issues. There are. And that will be covered as some of part three….
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