Posted by Reginald Vanderhoff on 10/14/2004, 1:07 pm The conclusion I've come up with is this: You need not do anything because the SCAC is a sham! A friend of mine was sanctioned by the AC and fined $500 because he worked on a show where a promoter didn't have the proper licenses. For some reason he above all other workers on the show was singled out despite the fact that he had a wrestler's license. Somehow the AC made up this rule about fining individual wrestlers despite the fact that 1) the legislature was not in session, 2) It was never incorporated into the SC Code of Laws, 3) It was never approved by the Governor Sanford. I was told by the HEAD of the AC that it would take an act of legislation (change the laws) to dissolve the AC. Yet the AC seems to have no problem making up legislation i.e. raising fees on its own despite the fact it needs to be approved by both houses of State Congress in order to become law. I called a SC senator complaining about the AC. She was not even aware that such an entity existed. A House member told me it was in place to protect children from "wrestling deaths from backyard wrestling". Uh ok, name one "backyard promotion" that has been shut down due to the wonderful work of our AC. And while you grow old and gray searching for the answer I'll tell you that the AC doesn't have the resources to find you unless you sign up for a license. Only then do you get added to their database. I found a court case where a promoter won a judgement against the AC because the judge ruled the AC had no authority over pro wrestling because it was not a legitimate sporting event. The "legislation" to get rid of the AC was introduced by Robert Ford to the state senate in Dec 2003. No action has been taken on the bill since Jan 2004. Pro wrestling doesn't exactly rank high on the priority scale when your state is running under a 5 million dollar deficit. As a matter of fact, the AC receives less and less state supported funds for that very reason. The AC boils down to one thing: MONEY If Jason ran in any other city besides Columbia the SOB's wouldn't even show up. In 2003 I was booked on 45 different shows in the state of SC. The AC showed up to one! And it was only because it was "investigating" the friend of mine mentioned above. They used to come into Jason's show trying to strongarm in the name of the law. It was BS. They quoted regulations that didn't even exist. If I'd known now what I knew then I would have advised Jason to go to court. He would have won and could have sued the lot of them into bankruptcy. My advice to anyone running shows: Run your shows and if a commissioner shows up slip him/her a $50. They'll sit ringside and tell you what a great show you have. A lot cheaper than the licenses they want you to buy.
64.53.5.72
I understand Jason's fustration with the AC. I spent six months exhaustively searching for a legal solution to rid our state of this problem.
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