THE POWERS THAT BE #1 - The Maestro

To counterbalance the vision of the NEW BLOOD OF THE FINAL DAYS series on TheBigBangMay6.com, I’ve decided to talk about the first era of Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara after coming over from the World Wrestling Federation in October 1999.

Many people don’t realize a lot of the sudden changes that came into WCW after The Powers That Be came in. After the Summer of 1999, Russo and Ferrara arrived with one objective: to turn around WCW’s fortunes and bring their unique CRASH TV format to both Nitro and Thunder.

With that said, it meant a new creative vision for the company. With a new direction meant a renewed direction for the midcard, in which Mr. Russo never gets the credit for. THE POWERS THAT BE really helped give young and underrated talent a chance to thrive, especially when WCW’s talent roster was thin due to age, injuries, and misuse of performers.

In this first edition of this series, I wanted to cover someone that was primarily used during this time period as a focal part of the show and maximized their minutes on-air. 

There is no one better to start off with than the MAESTRO.

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In researching Maestro for this article, I realize I knew of him longer than I realized.

A die-hard reader of the Pro Wrestling Illustrated magazines my old man would bring home, I remembered in the 1993 Year in Review that, under his government name Robbie Eagles, he was runner-up for Rookie of the Year.

The power of the “Apter Mags” holds no bounds.

Basing himself out of Smoky Mountain Wrestling in the beginning of his career, Mr. Eagles made his presence felt,  winning the “Beat the Champ” Television Title on January 10, 1994, defeating former ECW Tag Team and NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion Chris Candido.

In 1995, once Smoky Mountain started slowing down, Eagles made his way to the infamous United States Wrestling Association, based out of Memphis, TN, and changed his persona to Gorgeous George III.

Mr. Eagles was the great-nephew to the legendary Gorgeous George. George, who has been documented as being pro wrestling’s first villain, inspired his nephew immensely, down to his long blonde hair and similar demeanor.

By 1999, after continuing his journey across the South, as well as stints in Puerto Rico for the World Wrestling Council and AAA in Mexico, Gorgeous George III signed a contract with WCW. 

The story I gathered throughout the years was that World Championship Wrestling purchased the Gorgeous George name from Mr. Eagles, so that the “Macho Man” Randy Savage’s brother, Lanny Poffo, would take over the name.

HOWEVER, in spite of signing Lanny to a multi-year deal in WCW, he was never used. Instead, the name Gorgeous George went to the girlfriend of “Macho Man” instead. According to reports, Gorgeous George III was so infuriated by this that he raised Hell, ultimately gaining himself a contract with the promotion for himself.

Now with a blank canvas to create his persona, Mr. Eagles went to work. And on the October 7, 1999 edition of Thunder, with a lot of inspiration and work with then-WCW President Eric Bischoff, as well as “the Mouth of the South” Jimmy Hart, the MAESTRO made his WCW television debut!

Although in a losing effort to an also-debuting Dale Torborg (the future KISS Demon), the Maestro made an immediate impression.

Entering the arena to the tones of classical piano, he took his time down the aisle, conducting the crowd to adhere to his whims, which they sadly did not. With his long-flowing blonde hair and flamboyant outfit, complete with flares on the bottom of his tights, he truly came across as a mix of his great-uncle and the eccentric Liberace. Also, although he had a basic in-ring style, his mannerisms and facial expressions made him stand out.

On the following week’s Thunder, Maestro went one-on-one with Norman Smiley. His smug demeanor almost carried him to victory; however, he fell into a Norman Conquest and was forced to submit.

Two weeks later on Thunder, the Maestro finally picked up his first victory, defeating Prince Iaukea, submitting the former Television Champion with an STF. The victory was music to his ears, and frustration to the fans’ psyche.

Not only that, prior to the match, the evil classical pianist had an even more epic entrance. He had explosive pyro and had laced the entire ringside area with bubbles.

In the coming weeks, the more elaborate Maestro’s entrance became, the more braggadocious he was to the fans. And they wanted to see him get beat up.

The next few Thunder episodes helped Maestro’s record, picking up back-to-back wins over Brian Knobs in a hardcore match, thanks to the aforementioned Smiley, and cruiserweight Evan Karagias, thanks to an accidental assist from Madusa.

With the Maestro on a winning streak, he started getting more recognition, especially from the ladies. The following Nitro on November 29, Maestro got himself a beautiful valet, simply known as SYMPHONY.

Throughout the night, the classical pianist was providing his new amore with gifts, from flowers and chocolates to a stuffed bear. Finally, as Symphony went to go visit the mat musician in his locker room, she was completely caught off guard, realizing a crazed David Flair was sitting on the bench, wearing a blond wig and a sparkly robe. He opened up the piano, and showed a terrified Symphony a beaten-up and unconscious Maestro.

December 2 was a wild night on Thunder, as the Maestro, without his Symphony, thanks to Flair’s scare tactic, lost to Japanese standout Kaz Hayashi via countout. Flair, still deranged over how women had treated him over the past several months, was still looking for Symphony. Maestro, distraught, ran off to look for her. The referee counted out the Stro and Hayashi was the victor.

Eventually, young David kidnapped Symphony and beat the holy hell out of Maestro with his own out-of-tune piano on the December 6 Nitro. When the Schroder of the Squared Circle went looking for her, he entered the boiler room of the building, and “Lightning Foot” Jerry Flynn, who was hanging out in there, beat the everloving Hell out of Maestro. Poor guy.

Symphony was thankfully saved by the great Diamond Dallas Page, and she was able to get back to her man. 

Due to the beat-down, Maestro was off the following Thunder, but returned for the December 13 Nitro, losing to The Artist Formerly Known As Prince Iaukea, who had changed his name after his loss several weeks back to Maestro. What was most noticeable about this match was NOT the in-ring action; it was the entrance.

It was the ultimate display of grandiose, as Maestro, playing his piano, was lowered down from the ceiling and into the entranceway. The sheer decadence of it all was way ahead of its time and, in my opinion, one of wrestling’s most underrated entrances.

The next two television shows following Starrcade, December 20 and 23 respectively, Maestro picked up two big time wins, pinning former Cruiserweight Champion, and heartbroken, Karagias, and BAM BAM BIGELOW, thanks to interference from his former Jersey Triad partner Chris “Champagne” Kanyon.

The year ended surprisingly flat for Maestro, as he was scheduled to team with his crazed rival Flair in the first round of the Lethal Lottery Tag Team Tournament for the WCW World Tag Team Championships on the December 27 Nitro against Karagias and Vampiro. However, once Crowbar, a former gas station attendant, attacked Maestro as he made his entrance, he was out and Flair and Crowbar would team and get the duke. Ultimately, Flair and Crowbar would win the tournament and the belts.

2000 began slowly for the “Stro”, but after a big win on Thunder on January 26 against Norman Smiley in Las Vegas, in front of the Las Vegas showgirls, things began to look up.

Maestro and Ernest “the Cat” Miller began a rivalry, thanks to Miller stating that he was friends with worldwide entertainer and dancer extraordinaire James Brown. The Cat kept saying that he was going to bring “the Hardest Working Man in Show Business” to SuperBrawl 2000 on February 20, 2000 at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, CA.

Maestro was like everyone else, believing it wasn’t possible. Well, if you manifest it, it will arrive. In front of a stunned audience, the “Godfather of Soul” came out and danced his butt off, absolutely humiliating and humbling the classical pianist in front of the world.

The final televised match of Maestro was on the March 25, 2000 edition of Saturday Night against Frankie Lancaster, picking up the victory with a schoolboy rollup, thanks to an assistance from Symphony.

The Maestro actually continued wrestling on WCW live events into April, wrestling his last match on April 9, 2000, losing to Ernest Miller at the Von Braun Civic Center in Huntsville, AL.

The next day was April 10, 2000 - “The Night The World Changed”. It was the first Nitro under the control of both Eric Bischoff and Vince Russo. Maestro was actually on camera, wondering what his future held as it came to WCW.