JPWA Editorial

Critics are a kind of freebooters in the republic of letters, - who like deer, goats and divers other gramniverous animals, gain subsistence by gorging upon buds and leaves of the young shrubs of the forest, thereby robbing them of their verdure, and retarding their progress to maturity — Washington Irving DISCLAIMER: I have no connection whatsoever with the JPWA organization or any of the news services mentioned. Even though I call this an editorial, I've tried to be as objective as possible. All of my own personal comments are in the black boxes. I'm not trying to make up your mind. I'm trying to show how the media can jump on a story when no story may have existed in the first place.	The Junior Professional Wrestling Association (JPWA) was created out of a need to help one young man. It ended as a need to help another. In 1994, a young man was paralyzed after a car accident. Being from a poor family, medical expenses started to pile up. Father Glenn Davidowich and others thought of an ingenious way to make money for the charitable organization. Much like Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, they decided to ‘put on a show’. In fact, several shows...the wrestling type. The matches were recorded and sold through their own website. It was hoped that one day JPWA would be able to help others someday and not just the Tomas Mejia Fund. But things didn’t turn out that way. After 50 tapes were released JPWA closed down. Quickly and quietly. Or at least that’s what the internet community thought. In reality, the true story behind JPWA’s closing had more twists and turns than a	corkscrew roller coaster. And in this case...none of the wrestlers enjoyed the ride. How do you separate fact from fiction...ineundo from rumor...the truth from the half-truths? I honestly don’t know. What I do know is that there have been several sources on the net which have provided information on the demise of this wrestling organization. And when you compare all of their stories one thing seems to be clear. No good deed goes unpunished. When we cannot act as we wish, we must act as we can. — Terrence

1994 Tomas Mejia became paralyzed after a car accident. Fr. James Curran sets up and became administrator of the Tomas Mejia Fund.	The Philadelphia Weekly... "Father Davidowich set up a Tomas Mejia Fund..."	According to JPWA... The Philadelphia Weekly's assertation that Fr. Davidowich began the fund was incorrect.

1998 JPWA, Junior Pro Wrestling Association, was founded after Fr. Curran asked Fr. Glenn Davidowich to come up with ideas to make money for the fund. (Later, Fr. Curran tries his hand at creating his own wrestling organization named Cos Ganas. They only released a few tapes.) Previously, Fr. Davidowich had success in producing live pro wrestling shows as fund raisers.	When joining his new parish, Fr. Davidowich came into conflict with the woman who served as housekeeper, cook, etc. for the past decade. She was upset that he showed her no special favor like the previous Father had. She began to undermine many of the efforts of the other parishioners. Remaining impartial, the Father continued his efforts toward the good of the whole parish and not just one woman. Seeing that the parish’s powebase had shifted, the woman became less and less involved in church activities. She eventually quit the parish.	According to JPWA... The wrestlers and production crew donated their time as well as receiving stipends for some of their work. Release forms were signed as well as parental consent forms for those wrestlers who were minors. This applied to an estimated 25 of the 110 men who wrestled for JPWA.

1999, March 05 JPWA is incorporated as a for-profit corporation. This was unintentional and was later corrected to nonprofit in 2000.	The Philadelphia Weekly... "...[Father Davidowich] loves wrestling--big men in tights slamming their bodies together on the mat and rolling around in a sweaty knot of tangled limbs, grunts and testosterone."	The same could be said about the priests at Notre Dame. But you don't see anyone writing articles about their choice of sport.

2000 Some matches took place in wrestling rings (one location was The Monster Factory, a well known professional wrestling school) or rooms which were rented out.	According to JPWA... (from The Phoenix).. "...eight of the wrestling matches were taped in the St. Michael rectory.... Davidowich realized it was poor judgment to film on parish property, and told the (JPWA) board no further taping would take place on parish property..."	Let's do the math. They put out 50 tapes... About 4 matches per tape... 200 matches total... This means 96% of their matches were not taped on church property.

Donation checks made out to the Tomas Mejia Fund were sent to Fr. Curran’s rectory. At this point, $2000 a year had been sent to the Fund even though JPWA was in the red and owed Fr. Davidowich for costs he paid for out-of-pocket.	The Phoenix... "[Father Val] Ramon said Rev. Curran was never associated with the [St. Joseph's Church in Placentia, CA]...He (Rev. Curran) used the address of the church without our permission...Curran...was never associated with the church."	FOXNews... "...Mejia's mother [said] she has not received money from either wrestling organization...Curran did pay some of the family's bills several years ago..." The Smoking Gun... "...Curran...was not certain how much money was donated [by JPWA]..."
The Philadelphia Weekly... "...[Father Davidowich's] only crime is that he violated one of the cardinal rules of common sense: the separation of church and porn. Well, that and fraud."	According to JPWA... (from The Phoenix)... "... JPWA contributed at least 6 checks for a total of $5750 to the Tomas Mejia Fund. Checks were never mailed directly to the family--they made out to the "Tomas Mejia Fund" and mailed to Fr. Curran, the administrator)..."

Fr. Davidowich was concerned with how much time he was spending with JPWA. So, the organization redistributed duties to free up his schedule.	After seeing a car with the vanity plate “JPWA” on it, Fr. Davidowich’s former cook and her daughter did an internet search. They found the JPWA site and images which they identified as having been made inside the rectory. She contacted the bishop and the JPWA organization.	According to JPWA... A JPWA staff member was visiting Fr. Davidowich. This was months after the last taping on church property. In an attempt to be respectful of the sensibilities of the woman who had contacted them, any images that may have been considered 'objectionable' were removed from the site. One mother whose son was in some of the 'objectionable' images wanted them put back up.

2001 Fr. Davidowich voluntarily resigned as director after conflict-of-interest issues were brought to his attention by Bishop Andrew Pataki. After he stepped down, the Pennsylvania Department of State incorrectly listed him as still being the director.	She went door to door trying to get parishoners to back Fr. Davidowich's removal. But it didn’t work. Most of them knew and approved of JPWA and the charitable work they were doing. The Phoenix... "A woman brought pictures here. My husband looked at them. He said 'I don't see anything porno about this'."	According to JPWA... The other parishoners knew her motives were more personal than altruistic. Only about two households actually backed the woman's claim to remove Fr. Davidowich. The Bishop acknowledged there was nothing illegal or immoral about Fr. Davidowich’s conduct. His main concern was that a priest’s energies should be with his parish and not outside ventures.

2002 A phone message from The Phoenix, Phoenixville's paper of record, was left for the Father while he was on retreat. (It was widely known this was where he would be for several days.) If he didn't call back in five hours an article about JPWA would be printed without rebuttle.	The Philadelphia Weekly... "...[The Phoenix reporter] drove out to the rectory at St. Michaels in search of an explanation. All he got was Father Davidowich screaming "No comment! No comment!" at him from behind a screen door..."	According to JPWA... At this time, the former cook's daugher was a freelance reporter for The Phoenix. (from The Phoenix)... "...The Phoenix ran it's first "story" without giving my organization a reasonable chance to respond--they didn't even initially contact the JPWA directly..."

2002, May 02 The Phoenix The first article is printed. Mainly it discussed the website and how anonymous parishoners are against Fr. Davidowich being connected with JPWA.	The Phoenix "...several parishioners of the church complained about the coverage, stating that the article was nothing more than sensationalism..."	According to JPWA... The Phoenix pushed the priest, porn, and payoff angle to it’s full extent while they soliciting the story to other news agencies. Unlike what was reported in The Philadelphia Weekly, The Phoenix reporter did not go to see Fr. Davidowitch until after the first article was printed.
		The people against the 'pornography' want to remain anonymous. But the people who are supportive of Fr. Davidowich don't mind having their names associated with him. In this day and age, if there was even a shred of truth behind the claims wouldn't it be the other way around?
2002, May 13 The Phoenix "...Father Davidowich's title as Chief Executive Officer was replaced by Tony Karl, the director and webmaster of the JPWA.."	The Phoenix "..."soft-core pornography," included photos of a young man, wearing only a Speedo bathing suit... "Satanosphere... "...underage wrestlers wearing little more than speedos in provacative poses..."	According to JPWA... They tried pro trunks but they were too large for the smaller men..."The first priority was for everyone to be comfortable in what they were wearing, and the second was for them to look good in it--and this was easily decided by the guys themself." (from The Phoenix)... "...The majority of our wrestlers are athletes who are proud of their healthy and fit appearances, and feel they are dressed appropriately for wrestling entertainment..."
The Smoking Gun... "...young men using names like HardKore Kid, David Goliath, Sven, Latin Heat, and Bad Brad (you could be excused for mistaking those monikers for porno star handles..."	Check WWE, WCW, and ECW rosters over the years and you'll be able to easily find the wrestler(s) they based their names on. (By the way, what's sexually suggestive about Sven?	Maybe TSG is remembering something that happened to them at band camp.
The Smoking Gun... "...None of the grapplers is wearing headgear, traditional wrestling singlets, or even shoes and socks....[We] might think Junior Professional Wrestling Association products were geared towards an audience other than amateur wrestling aficionados..."	If they were geared toward amateur wrestling then instead of the "P" for Professional it would be "A" for Amateur. Thus it would be JAWA? Or maybe they did think of using this name but were afraid they'd be sued by George Lucas.	In one image of the site it was obvious the wrestler was wearing underwear underneath their trunks. This is exactly what many pro wrestlers do. Also, during most, if not all, of his pro career legendary grappler Kevin Von Eric wrestled wearing only spandex and/or speedos during the 1970's-1990's. And just like 1950's wrestler Antonino Rocco, he wrestled barefoot.
The Philadelphia Weekly... "...One of the many odd things about the JPWA is that their matches...were not open to the public. "	According to JPWA (from The Phoenix)... "... There are two kinds of matches, ring and mat," Sarro said. "The ring matches have always been public...This is usually just for wrestlers' friends and families... If they are minors, the parents are there during the matches. None have complained about their children being exposed to anything."	Even during the room matches they didn't mind the girlfriends being around. Many of which could clearly be seen sitting on the sidelines or even holding the cameras.
The Philadelphia Weekly... "... one wrestler applying clothespins to the nipples of his opponent...one wrestler beating his opponent over the head with a dildo...photos of a young man clad only in a Speedo with a dog collar around his neck"	According to JPWA... No minors were in the matches/photos which included what the press called questionable material. By the time these later matches were released, almost no minors were involved in the JPWA. More minors had been involved initially because they were friends or relatives of the other wrestlers. (The majority of the initial core were college students). The JPWA never actively recruited or 'scouted' minors to wrestle. Those minors who did had complete Consent & Release forms signed by their parents. Most that were under 18 when they started with JPWA continued to wrestle after they turned 18.	There was no dildo. Period. The actual photos in question contained a wand massager that in no way, shape, or form looked like a phallic object. In fact, I'll go on the record and say that a male or female porn star would have had a tough time using it in the fashion The Philadelphia Weekly was implying.

2002, May 18 The Phoenix The second article is printed. It mainly concerned the financial aspects of JPWA and the Tomas Mejia Fund.	According to JPWA... Fr. Curran was transferred and closed the fund down without telling JPWA. Thus, the final check was returned uncashed. No official claims of illegal or immoral conduct against Fr. Davidowich or JPWA have ever been made by law enforcement authorities.	If the Mejia family didn’t receive any money, and JPWA has proof they forwarded funds...then why didn’t anyone require Fr. Curran to produce his canceled checks or explain what happened to the money? A non-profit organization by law is required to open their books to the public. So why hasn't any state agency investigated so this matter could be put to rest?

2002, May 20 The Phoenix An editorial is printed reiterating their position that Fr. Davidowich should dissasociate from JPWA entirely.	The Phoenix... "If he wants to leave and be a wrestling photographer, then he should do so," she said. "If he wants to be a priest to the people, he should do that. You cannot live life on two opposite ends of the spectrum."	If sports and religion are at opposite ends of the spectrum then why is there such thing as a team prayer? Should I bring Notre Dame up again?

2002, May 29 Message on JPWA's website "On May 29th, 2002, the JPWA Board of Directors decided to close the JPWA Web site. The JPWA has always been devoted simply to wrestling entertainment; unfortunately, some in the media are selectively choosing certain images and making incorrect generalizations and assumptions about our organization. Although we feel that we committed no wrongdoing of any kind, the Board felt that it was in the best interest of all parties involved to close the site. The JPWA Board and wrestlers would like to extend our gratitude to everyone who has shown support to our organization through our existence, and especially to those who have expressed their support in the past month." 2002, June 02 Associated Press The story hit the news wire.	2002, June 04 The Phoenix Another article published after the closing of the organization. FOXnews The cable news channel included this story on their website.	Some of the information JPWA offered in their defense was not published by The Phoenix until the June 04 article which was about two weeks after their first. And five days after JPWA closed their doors.

2002, June 12 The Philadelphia Weekly Printed an article on the situation. which included a proof sheet of various photos considered questionable.	2002, July 20 Satanosphere The website did their own take on the story which implied JPWA was offering videotapes and 'other services'. But did not mention what they were referering to or what their source was.	2003 JPWA has spent the past year trying to pay off their debts without having their key source of income.

FOXnews	Direct Links To The Articles Mentioned Above	The Philadelphia Weekly
The Phoenix	Satanosphere	The Smoking Gun

1954 - The U.S. Senate Subcomittee on Juvenile Delinquency looked into whether comic books directly influenced children's subversive behavior. One of the sources used was a book called "Seduction of the Innocent" written by Dr. Fredric Wertham. An interesting point this book tried to make was that there was violent, graphic, and sexually explicit (and sometimes obscure) references in comic book artwork. A scantily clad woman, a man whose eyes were looking in a certain way...all of this was intentional every single time without exception. "For those who know how to look" was a key theme in translating a harmless image of the front of a car into a woman and her 'headlights.'

JPWA may have been a victim of the same narrow vision. Below are some of the JPWA images which were considered inappropriate by some. They are on the left. On the right are images I found on well established freestyle wrestling websites. All were found in less than 30 minutes of web searching. In fact, some were taken directly from official high school pages. Remember, one of the claims was that the JPWA had minors wearing questionable attire being put in questionable positions. Which image would you consider the most questionable?