During the long and boring flight to Iraq for the Tribute to the Troops show last December, Abi, one of the WWE backstage audio crew, decided to get smart with Vince McMahon – never a good idea. I can’t even remember what Abi said or did, but when he did it, Vince just looked at him with an evil grin and said, “OK smartass, now I owe you one.”

(Full disclosure: Sitting right there and being just as bored as everyone else, I just might have had something to do with instigating Mr. McMahon’s reaction to whatever it was that Abi said, but I can’t really remember…)

And that was it. Nothing happened for months, but every now and then, Vince would remind Abi about how he ‘owed him,’ sometimes walking up behind Abi and smacking him, saying, “Don’t forget. I still owe you. And that little smack wasn’t it.”

Tuesday night in Boston, Mr. McMahon decided it was finally time for Abi’s payback. There is a sort of unwritten rule in the WWE that states when you are in your home town, chances are good you might end up being embarrassed somehow. Abi, a former native of Boston, was a victim of this unofficial policy.

Without giving away too much of the plot of the show (airing Friday night at 8 PM on the CW network, for those interested in watching this very public humiliation), the first scene of the show is a gigantic Punjabi wrestler called The Great Khali in the ring with a bunch of other Punjabis dressed in festive costumes. The Great Khali is offering gifts to the Big Show before their big match at the next Pay Per View. Well, during rehearsal, Mr. McMahon had an idea, and sent people backstage to find Abi. When he showed up at ringside, Vince told him that they needed one more Punjabi in the scene to actually deliver the gifts – some water, some scotch, a live chicken and a live goat – from a table in the ring to the Big Show, and since he’d fit right in with the scene to ‘Get the hell up in the ring!’

Payback is a bitch, as poor Abi can attest. At that point, you have two choices, do it, or start looking for a new job. Abi was a good sport, and took his punishment like a man – like the Great Punj-Abi Sta-Puff Marshmallow Man that is! Abi figured that he’d just have to suffer the ridicule of rehearsal, and that would be it. But it went farther than that. When Vince asked the show’s producer what he thought about Abi’s performance in the rehearsal, his fate was sealed.

“Well, to be honest, I think it’s perfect! He looks like he’s straight out of Central Casting, and even better, if one of the microphones breaks during the scene, he’d be right there in the ring to fix it. Let’s put him in costume and have him do the show!”

And the rest, is history, very embarrassing history.

The rest of the pictures from this excellent rib can be found here.

Author: frenchy

3 Responses to “A Star is Born”

1. Anonymous says:

   April 13, 2008 at 12:15 PM

   I think you may have caught Abi at his BEST!!! 🙂

   anusha

   Reply
2. Marco Polo says:

   April 12, 2008 at 10:01 AM

   Well, that seals it…..I am a mute whenever I am out on a show with you guys again!!!!

   Gotta give Abi credit though! Does he have groupies yet?

   -Mark

   Reply
3. Mitch says:

   April 10, 2008 at 5:20 PM

   Wow,
   Seven Punjabi and a pudjy.
   poor Abi.
   – M

   Reply