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Three companies wash hands of Wrestlemania Showdown
The intrigue and controversy surrounding the staging of the highly-anticipated Guyana Wrestle Mania Showdown deepened even further on Wednesday when three entities offered their comments on whether the event will indeed come off.
The event which is being sponsored by the Regional Wrestling Federation is expected to be staged on Saturday August 15, at the National Park.
It is billed to feature some of the top wrestlers from the USA headed by Big Daddy V.
Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony, said that other than what was reported in the newspapers, no one had approached him or even informed him of the event so his knowledge of the affair is nil.
Asked whether he knew that the promoter had applied for use of the National Stadium, Providence, Dr. Anthony answered in the negative, but outlined the process that applicants who desire use of the venue have to abide by.
He added that they are usually given a draft contract which clearly states the conditions under which it is rented and the deadline for submission of intent so as to lock in the date (s) required for its use.
He said that as far as he knows no one has written to his Ministry officially pertaining to the use of the Stadium or even made mention about the event which is the situation usually.
Managing Director of Game Express, Nazeema Henriques, admitted to this newspaper that her entity was approached by the Promoter for promotional assistance since June, but after requesting certain information which the promoter could not furnish decided not to get involved in the event.
She said that she asked the promoter to provide copies of the contract signed by the wrestlers, but they were never supplied with the information.
“He had given us copies of the ads and we passed them on to at least three television stations, but never approved them due to the lack of information concerning the contractual agreements or confirmation of the event,” she disclosed.
According to her husband, many other suspicions arose subsequently. Mr Henriques spoke about the steady change of dates, the change of names of those to appear, non-support of some of the major local companies and his insistence to print the tickets in England instead of Ticket Master in the USA.
The man said that he was asked to furnish the airfare for the Promoter to travel.
“When you have a major show, you just have to look at the sponsors, you will get an indication if it is genuine or not,” he said.
Mr. Henriques also pointed out that another development that prompted his suspicion was when the promoter visited his office and his cell phone rang and the ring tone bellowed ‘an idiot is calling’ which immediately begged the question of how could someone serious install such a ring tone in his phone.
“I’m 90 per cent certain that it is a fraud and I’m 100 per cent certain that there will be no wrestling in Guyana.”
He insisted that his company is in no way associated with the event.
Over at Phone Depot on Middle Street, Sales Representative Damion Dorwish told this newspaper that the entity is merely assisting with the ticket sales.
“We have no other part to play in this process,” Dorwish said. The representative disclosed that Phone Depot began selling tickets last Monday, but the response is not that alarming.
“The tickets are selling, but not at a fast rate.”
One of the organisers, Dennis Adonis, is insisting that his programme is above board, he said that yesterday he took all his documents to the police.
He also said that he would be paying the rental for the National park on Monday and that the wrestlers would begin arriving on Tuesday.
The stage would be constructed next week and by Thursday the nation would have no doubt that the wrestling fest would be well and truly on.
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