Update

Banned in Gorham

By Tim O'Sullivan

Apparently no one has let Gorham city officials in on a little fact of life: professional wrestling is fake.

Last week the Phoenix reported that the Eastern Wrestling Alliance of Maine had changed ownership and is now being operated by the wrestler's themselves. The story included profiles of some of EWA's wrestlers, including Dr. Everette Payne, the essence of pure evil and leader of the Hardcore Institute. But because of comments made by the wrestler -- namely that Gorham is "the bunghole of Maine" -- the EWA is having some real problems. Their show planned for September 22 at the Shaw School in Gorham has been canceled by city officials as the result of Dr. Payne's disparaging comments.

"I'm very disappointed that the superintendent, recreation department, and other town officials could not see that the comments were made as a pro wrestling character," says Steve Rand, one of the owners of the wrestling organization. "His comments are not indicative of what he or the EWA think of Gorham."

Gorham city officials have not responded to inquiries made by both the EWA and the Phoenix regarding the cancellation.

Nate Parent, a Portland resident, plays the character of Dr. Payne. He was both apologetic and disappointed upon hearing about the show's cancellation. "I feel terrible that a lot of people were expecting to see a show and now they won't because of something I said as my character," he explains.

The most disturbing aspect of the controversy is the fact that the city of Gorham promised the EWA the use of the Shaw School in return for services already rendered. The EWA played two shows in Gorham as part of a family festival in August. The alliance ran the shows at no charge to the town of Gorham or any of the fans. In exchange for delivering the free shows, the EWA was to receive a facility at no charge to produce an event in September. The two free shows and the cancelled show add up to a major financial loss for the fledgling business owners.

Joshua Shea, another of the EWA's owner/wrestlers, is doing his best to make lemonade out of the lemons dumped on him by Gorham officials. "Obviously, this is pro wrestling, so we need to market what happened the right way. We're going to be playing the University of New England on Stevens Avenue in Portland on October 21. Right now, I'm tentatively planning on titling the show `Banned in Gorham.' "

The cancellation is so bizarre, Shea says, that some followers of the EWA think it's just another piece of the storyline.

Shea had one final comment for the public: "The EWA feels that the fans in Portland are the finest in all the world, and that they are exceptionally compassionate and benevolent. We would never say anything bad about the great city and people of Portland."