Dan Curtis dead at age 37
Brian Gorie
DANIEL E. CURTIS
(1961-1998)
-------------------------
I learned this morning that one of my closest friends in this business,
Daniel E. Curtis of Royal Oak, Michigan, passed away this past Tuesday
of a massive heart attack in his apartment. He was 37 years old. Dan was
diabetic, and complained Monday evening to referee Brian Gorie that he
had the flu, and needed Brian to update his wrestling hotline for him
while he was sick. After Monday evening, no telephone calls or E-mails
to Dan were returned and we began to grow worried about his health. Dan
had been hospitalized a few months ago and jokingly told close friends
that he "almost died" but was never specific with any of us as to what
exactly happened. Personally, neither Brian nor I, who were two of the
people closest with Dan in wrestling circles, knew he was diabetic until
this morning, and if that had anything to do with his death.
Dan was the co-promoter of the new Hellfire Wrestling promotion that ran
its first event in front of about 1,000 fans at The Majestic Theater in
downtown Detroit, Michigan this past Sunday evening, 12/27. That was the
last time we saw him, and he looked in good health all night. Dan
promoted Hellfire along with Psychopathic Sports, which is Joe Bruce
"Violent J" of Insane Clown Posse and the head of Psychopathic Records
Alex Abbiss.
Dan was also the co-promoter of the Northern States Wrestling Alliance
which ran in Detroit from July 1997 to May 1998, along with partner Art
Marshall. Dan worked as manager "The Gypsy" for numerous promotions
ranging from Malcolm Monroe's Insane Championship Wrestling to Mike
Kelly & John Muse's Great Lakes Wrestling, and was part of Motor City
Wrestling several years ago with Coach Kurt, on a promotional end.
Dan is one of those guys who devoted much of his life to the wrestling
business and never really saw anything in return, other than smiles on
the faces of wrestling fans who attended his shows, or watching young
workers who went through his locker room hit the big time. Dan never
made it as a manager or promoter in this business past the independent
level, but he gave it his all and never lost sight of his goal... to
please wrestling fans in Detroit, and help young workers make their mark
on the sport and gain experience. He updated a free wrestling news
hotline every day for the past several years which he made absolutely
nothing off of... he did it for the fans.
It's a shame that not many people in the business know who Dan Curtis
was outside of the Detroit area, as he was one of the most intelligent,
dedicated people I've come across in this business, and contributed so
much to it over the years. I hope that each of you can in some way let
wrestling fans know who Dan Curtis was, and that the wrestling fans of
Detroit and everyone who ever worked with him feel a great loss in his
passing.
Dave Prazak
Assistant Booker, Hellfire Wrestling
-----------------
FROM: DAVID ST. ONGE (a.k.a. BOBBY LEE)
TO: ALL PRO WRESTLING FANS EVERYWHERE
This morning I received a disturbing phone call from a long time friend,
Bob Blair, he informed me that a friend of over 10 years had been found
dead at his apartment. This friend whom I met while wrestling on a Iron
Mike Anthony show at some fairgrounds. He would be the timekeeper for
the show, back in those days it was required by the state. He introduced
himself to me and said he had seen me wrestling on the old WCCW. After
talking about my experience in Texas we went about our business.
As time would go by Woody and I were wrestling as The Nightmares and we
needed a manager. We were also working for Coach Kurt at this time. Kurt
ran Motor City Wrestling, along with Dan Curtis and Kurt Nile. We did
several shows with Dan as our manager and when we dropped the hoods and
became the Bounty Hunters, Dan stayed on as our manager. As time went on
Tommy Starr started the CWF and along with Johnny Diamond and myself we
had a good thing going. Dan first came in to help out in the dressing
room as well as a manager for a lot of the guys. Soon there after Dan
had as much insight as to the direction of the CWF he was brought in as
a co-partner. After that Dan had a short run in Malcolms ICW, before
starting the NSWA with Art Marshall a.k.a. Johnny Diamond. Dan loved
being part of pro wrestling in any aspect of it, whether he was in front
of the crowd or behind the scenes, he loved his hotline The Pro
Wrestling Ringside Report. All in all Dan was loved by all his peers and
by most of the fans as well.
Last Sunday Dan did what he loved the most, he Promoted a wrestling show
that had a sold out house, this is what Dan Curtis was all about.
Back to the call from Bob, he asked me if I was sitting down, I told him
yes, he told me that Dan Curtis a.k.a. The Gypsy had been found dead in
his apartment. I called the Royal Oak police and found out that they had
found a body in his apartment complex but would not confirm anything
else. I have found out that he died Tuesday between 4pm and 12am. Dan's
current girlfriend took the police over to his apartment Friday night
where they discovered his body. I will get more information on the net,
as it becomes available.
Anyone wishing to send cards can e-mail me and I will tell you where to
send them. Dan will be sorely missed by all that knew him. I'm sure he
is promoting an event for all up in heaven to see. We are still trying
to locate Dan's family and until all of them have been notified we will
not know any of the funeral arrangements. Please do not think this is a
work, it is not, nor is this a wrestling angle, this is the sad truth.
Sincerely,
David St. Onge
------------------------------
"Dan Curtis is gone...Dan Curtis is gone...Dan Curtis is gone"
That one little sentence keeps going in and out of my head and I still
can't belive it.
This past Sunday, Dan Curtis & ICP brought to the fans of Detroit the
debut event of Hellfire Wrestling, which sold out The Majestic Theatre
in Detroit, MI.
I remember a few weeks back, Dan mentioned to me that if Hellfire was
the last thing he ever promoted, he'd die a happy man. Ironic, huh?
The last time I spoke with Dan was this past Monday night and he called
me durning RAW & NITRO, saying "Brian, I'm really sick, can you do the
hotline for me tomorrow"? I replied sure and asked what was the matter?
He said he had the flu, quickly said he had to go, and hung up.
That 15 second phone call will go through my mind for years to come.
After doing his hotline from Monday to Thursday, I expressed concern
talking with Dave Prazak because it was quite weird I hadn't heard from
Dan.
Then, Saturday morning at 11:18 am, I got the call. Dave St. Onge
informed me of Dan's death and all I could think was....FUCK. How, when,
where, and most importantly, WHY? Dan Curtis was the nicest person I had
ever met through the wrestling business and he didn't deserve to die at
such a young age. Dan had his whole life ahead of him and in the matter
of minutes, it was stolen from him.
Hmm...God works in weird ways, huh?
Dan had a birthday coming up too...Jan 11. He would have been 38...too
sad.
I will miss him...not only was he my best friend in wrestling, but he
was one of my best friends in life in general.
Dan- When it's all said and done, the crowd frigging pops.
With tears in my eyes and rolling down my cheeks, goodbye and rest in
peace, brother.
-Brian Gorie
----------------------
The following interview with Dan was conducted in April of 1998 for the
NSWA Newsletter.
Q: How did you get into the professional wrestling business?
A: Back at WrestleMania 3 in 1987 in Pontiac, MI I was a photographer
for a NY based wrestling magazine. Q: How did you get involved in
promotng wrestling? A: Back in the early 1990's, Kurt Nyle and myself
decided to hook up and the infamous Motor City Wrestling was born!
Q: Didn't Coach Kurt promote MCW?
A: Kurt Nyle and myself starting MCW was a good idea but getting "Coach"
Kurt involved was plain stupid. We thought of Coach Kurt as being a good
media outlet for the company and with his sources, it seemed like a good
idea. After a while, Nyle left MCW and it was just Kurt and me promoting
it. After 2 years, I realized I didn't like his business practices and i
quit MCW. Some of those business practices included taking credit in the
sheets for other peoples shows and publishing shows which never ever
took place(ex- The Barn in Saline). I got to the point where I was not
promoting professional wrestling but instead was making exuses for my
partner. At this point, I got out of the promoting business.
Q: Where did you go from there?
A: I managed for several Midwest indy groups like
BCW,GLW,GWA,MWCW,ICW,and others.
Q: How did you get involved with the CWF(Championship Wrestling
Federation)?
A: Kurt Nyle was refing for the CWF and mentioned
that I wanted to get back into wrestling to one of the promoters(Johnnie
Diamond). After being their a short while, his partners Bobby Lee and
Tommy Starr offered to bring me in as a partner. Q: What went sour with
the CWF? A: Too many problems and too many egos as JD and I wanted to
take the promotion one way and TS and BL wanted to go another. This
couldn't go on much longer and shortly after that, the CWF folded. Q:
How did the NSWA evolve from this? A: JD and The Gypsy started the Pro
Wrestling Ringside Report back on Monday, April 14 and 3 months later,
the NSWA was born! 3 month's later, we had a pretty good idea of what
Detroit wrestling fan's want! Combining Michigan's top indy workers
along with top independents from around the USA and with former WWF
wrestlers who carry name value, the NSWA quickly became one of the
hottest indies around!!
Q= What are your future plans for the NSWA?
A= To run frequent shows and to venture into brand new markets. After
drawing 700 people in Jackson, MI back in March, JD and I plan on trying
to top that figure when the NSWA returns to Jackson Community College on
Saturday, July 18. JD and I are expecting big things to result from our
debut in Ann Arbor, MI on June 12 at Pioneer High School. We're
currently working on a lot of big shows to happen throughout the next
few months and don't forget, continue to improve on our bi-monthly
events in Westland, MI.
Q= Why did you decide to join Dave Prazak's East Coast Invasion?
A= It's an angle, brother!
Q= How did the NSWA hook up with Insane Clown Posse and how did Strangle
Mania Live come about?
A= I've known Violent J of ICP for many years and as ICP put all their
energy into making music, i think he realized he missed the wrestling
business. Violent J is a huge fan of the Pro Wresling Ringside Report
and would call the hotline while he was on the road touring. The NSWA
and ICP had a brainstorm to hook up the hottest indy promotion going
today with the hottest band in music and Strangle Mania Live was born.
Q= Any thoughts in closing?
A= I feel blessed to be in the position i'm in with the NSWA. JD and I
are living out a dream and we're doing what we want to do and exactly
how we want to do it. This area has the greatest wrestling fans in the
world and I'd like to think we constantly give them the best value for
their dollar.
--------------------
R.I.P.
DANIEL E. CURTIS
(1961-1998)
-----------------------------------------------
SabuMcMan
>From: bgo...@webtv.net (Brian Gorie)
>Date: 1/4/99 1:11 PM Pacific Standard Time
>Message-id: <4860-36...@newsd-133.iap.bryant.webtv.net>
This smells like a WORK dont you guys agree?