Thursday, July 14, 2011

Weasel of the Week: Dino Puglia

Some of us have heard the horror stories about dishonest independent promoters in the wrestling business. This week's Weasel takes the cake, and then some.

Dino Puglia organized a tribute show to honor the late "Macho Man" Randy Savage, who passed away a few weeks ago. Problem was, the organizations he'd designated to receive the proceeds from the show, including St. Jude's Children's Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., were never contacted nor consulted, and most of the wrestlers advertised, including Savage's brother, "Leaping" Lanny Poffo, and the Honky Tonk Man, never appeared at all. Poffo & Honky in particular had stated beforehand that they weren't going to be there, which suggests that, apparently, Puglia never really contacted them, either.

Worse, there was no ring bell. Puglia would simply intone "Ding!" into the house mic. When it came time to pay the talent that did show up, Puglia claimed a "cardiac emergency", and ran like, well, a thief in the night. He wanted to exploit the memory of Savage, a cherished icon of the 80's & 90's, not honor it. He knew Honky and Poffo wouldn't be there, but he also had to know he was running the risk of being exposed for what he really is, a low grade con artist. Very low grade.

In truth, a proper tribute show dedicated to Randy Savage would require several more weeks to prepare, including contacting interested talent, especially people who had worked with Savage in either the then-World Wrestling Federation, WCW, or, at the end of his career, TNA. One such event would likely take place before the year is out, but you can be sure that a scammer like Dino Puglia would be nowhere near it. By then, he'll likely be in a more appropriate locale----a jail cell.

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