I would suspect that yesterday’s challenge to the Vancouver media to afford more coverage to pro wrestling surprised some people in the business when I included ECCW. After all, I haven’t appeared for that company in more than two years and I’m currently recognized as a champion for the rival All Star Wrestling promotion. Why did I do that?
The independent wrestling scene, for all of the conflicts and politics involved, is still a pretty small (albeit dysfunctional) family. From inside, we are each focused on our own projects and career paths – and from that perspective, even some of the smallest decisions seem to carry a much heavier significance. But from the outside looking in, most casual fans and sportswriters see us all as one big group – “minor league” wrestlers.
When an independent promotion presents a solid show with great talent – that’s good for the business. Fans tell friends about their positive experience and we can start attracting a following again. Inversely, if one company presents a weak card or damages a building, or disrespects the ticket buyers, we collectively pay for these offenses against the business.
In this business, we each have a responsibility to respect and protect our industry to the best of our ability. We should each carry ourselves with the dignity and respect that our roles require. We are, after all PROFESSIONAL wrestlers! While we may express our brand loyalty through our work, common courtesy should prevail among markets to collectively promote the industry – even when that might include a pro-active helping hand for another brand.
Celebrate in each other's successes and carer milestones. When you know about someone marking a significant anniversary in their career, do what you can to acknowledge that. When someone makes steps to move ahead in the business, congratulate them on their success. When people accomplish things that are positive for the business, we should encourage that and recognize the positives. As I have said before, it is always easy to find (and dwell on) the negatives.
Consider the fragility of promotional “empires”. I have written a book which identifies the rise and fall of about ONE HUNDRED promotions over as many years. (SHILL: Remember “Wrestling in the Canadian West”, slated for release May 1st). There were wrestlers whose careers were cut short because of promotional wars, others who were blackballed and abused because of promotional regimes and smear campaigns. Think of the business first, you can pretty much weather anything beyond that. I have.
Over the past several years I have made no secret of my belief that Winnipeg is the toilet bowl of Canadian wrestling. There is no respect among promoters there (spend five minutes on the Moondog forum and you’ll see what I mean). These guys spend so much time discrediting each other both under real and assumed names, that it’s no wonder why the scene can’t pick up steam there. These guys waste all of their creative energy tearing each other down. How can a casual fan get excited about wrestling AT ALL in that context? I’d say it’s pretty well impossible.
Overall, I am personally encouraged by what I see on the horizon in Canadian wrestling. No matter what banner, there are some remarkable talents in the ring that are worth the price of admission and it’s frustrating to see how little press these guys are getting – through the wrestling trade media or the mainstream press. You don’t have to be educated in wrestling to recognize the ability of Gurv Sihra, Kyle O’Reilly, T-Bone, Bobby Fox, Alex North, or Ice (just for starters). These guys are all a credit to the business. Similarly, there are a number of promoters that seem to be on the right track as far as building a following and offering great shows. I hope that they can maintain that momentum.
Think about how many guys fill the locker rooms on cards that you attend. If each of those people did ONE thing to promote the business for that company per day, how much more market awareness would be created for independent wrestling as a whole? How many more people would be buying tickets to see YOU? How would that translate in dollars and cents?
I have a great deal of respect for anyone that has ever paid dues and made sacrifices to stand among our ranks. If I have the opportunity to help promote that talent – to show that wrestling, despite its in-fighting and quarrels is still making advances to elevate the standards of wrestling at this level – you can bet that I will. If we each approached our dealings with the business community, the media, and our fans the same way, I think that we would all see things begin to improve in our business.
Inversely, if we see something wrong, I think that we each have the responsibility to speak up and hold each other accountable. Certainly, whenever the wrestling community believes that I have spoken out of turn, they seek me out and confront me directly. I don’t post on message boards, but I do speak out loudly and widely, always under my own name and always in a forum to which I can be held accountable. If I see someone do damage to our business, I’ll speak out. I will continue to do so for as long as I am a part of this business.
It is important to the future of our industry that we recognize our shared challenges and support one another. Monopolies at this level of the business, especially when there isn’t a single Canadian company that can provide a wrestler with a full time income, are a farce. If you want to move ahead in the business, the advice you’ll get from the top is this: Get in a ring whenever you can, wherever you can. Don’t concern yourself with exclusivity, just learn from anyone and everyone you can. Only by doing this can you make it to the top tier in our business.
Fans – both diehards and casual fans, I strongly encourage you to get out to any and all independent cards in your area. There is a ton of great talent working their way up, and you never know when you might get a chance to see a talent that goes on to greater heights in our business. What a treat it will be for you to say: “I knew that guy when he was just breaking in!”
Outside of our ranks, nobody truly appreciates the struggle of being a Canadian independent wrestler. It is up to us to support one another, build our promotions, and build the business.
Who’s with me?
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By the way:
Friday’s blog about the truth behind the legitimacy of NHL hockey has been picked up by the mainstream media. You can see that re-printed in today’s issue of the White Rock Sun at www.whiterocksun.com Don’t believe me, now it’s in the newspaper – so it must be true!
I recently picked up a book that I strongly recommend:
“THE RASSLER FROM RENFREW” is a new book by wrestling historian Gary Howard which chronicles the 34 year run of Larry Kasaboski’s “Northland Wrestling Enterprises” in Ontario. Great book with a ton of history. You can find it online through the General Store Publishing House. www.gsph.com
Vance Nevada