I'll speak (just for now) about what happened vis-a-vis Bill Behrens.
Disclaimer: Over the decades, Bill and I worked together and we butted heads a few times. No one with the moxie to tell the truth can deny that Bill did a ton for the NWA during the Brody era and afterward. Bill Behrens has his own ways about him. So do I and everyone else in this world.
It was at the time that the TNA deal was developing. Bill brought that in; Bill Behrens and nobody but Bill Behrens. Nonetheless, many had quarrel with the way Bill ran things over the preceding year when he was NWA President.
A ton of wheeling and dealing went on behind the scenes. True to years past, a "midnight meeting" was held among the "friendlies" to decide how we would vote as a majority. The "price" of some votes was an expansion of that member's turf. Most of those expansions were laughable - - states that never were ran and were hundreds of miles from that promoter's base.
Of course, the rationale that year was that the TNA deal would make the brand valuable. No one knew that a year or so later, in vintage NWA tradition, we would f*** the TNA deal up and part ways. That's whole other yarn!
So we sat in sealed caucus carving up the states and provinces that were vacant at the time. We finally selected my dear pal Ernie Todd to succeed Bill. I was given VP.
The most hilarious part was that we believed we might be short by one vote. Another hilarious tradition was the annual search for Jason Rumble. Jason always arrived late from the Boston area. We were going bonkers trying to call him with zero success. We were confident Jason would play ball.
It was a restless night with some of us pacing the floor like expectant fathers. The next morning - about 15 minutes before the Annual Meeting convened - a bleary eyed Jason showed up. As it turned out, we already had the votes so his was "insurance." Ernie became President, etc.
Footnote:
I watched as Bill walked out of the meeting. I could tell by the look on his face that he was disgusted and a bit heartbroken. Both of those emotions were understandable. At first, I wanted to snicker. A moment later I felt quite bad. I was not a fan of Bill's time as President. However, I believe he gave it his all.
As Bill sometimes couches it:
And so it goes...
