Friday, January 25, 2008

WWE World Class DVD; NECW SNOWBRAWL, Best of Polls and Year End Awards & 2008 Notes

First off, let me wish you all a happy, healthy and prosperous 2008. Thank you for taking the time to read this stuff as your support is very much appreciated.


I finally got a copy of WWE's Triumph and Tragedy of World Class Championship Wrestling last week, and it was well worth the wait. While the WWE's version does not have the same emotional power of Brian Harrison's Heroes of World Class DVD, which you can get from Big Vision Entertainment, it has a lot that Heroes didn't have, such as commentary from Michael Hayes, Buddy Roberts and Jimmy Garvin and a good selection of matches.


The story of World Class Championship Wrestling is something the likes of which will never be seen again. A wrestling territory so far ahead of its time, so hot, so innovative destroyed by unimaginable tragedy after tragedy. It is a story so incredible, if it were not fact, it would never pass as fiction as it would be too implausible.


I will spare you the detailed review, but both the Heroes of World Class DVD and the WWE's Triumph & Tragedy deserve a place in your DVD collection.

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NECW has SNOWBRWAL coming up this coming Saturday night in Quincy, MA and it will be a barnburner of a card. We have a terrific 8 man tag team elimination match on top with NECW Triple Crown Champion, Big Rick Fuller, D.C. Dillinger, "Die Hard" Eddie Edwards and Antonio "The Promise" Thomas on one side and "Straight Edge" Brian Fury, Alex Arion, Bobby Fish and Max Bauer on the other. This one is contested under elimination rules and it is an absolute must-see.

We have 7 other bouts, including two title rematches as Brandon Locke defends the TV title against Handsome Johnny and Lexxus puts the gold on the line against "The Portuguese Princess" Ariel. Check out http://www.necwwrestling.com/ for the complete card and ticket info, but I want to see you there!

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This is the time of year for all the "Best of 2007" polls. The granddaddy of them all is the Wrestling Observer Awards. Dave Meltzer does the most complete job of this. And while it is a flawed awards list, it has become the standard by which all other polls of this sort are judged by.

I have issues with a lot of stuff in the Observer awards, though this year Dave did a much better job of separating the pro wrestling awards from the MMA awards. I've always maintained that the two are different animals and should not be judged side by side.

It's worth going out of your way to get, especially if you are either in the business or a serious student of it.

We do not do any sort of "Best of 2007" awards for NECW. There is a message board site that primarily covers the New England scene that has a year end poll, but it is so flawed in so many areas that it can't be taken seriously.

If I were to give you my own NECW "Best of 2007" winners, some might be offended because it's like telling you which of my children I like best. We will be coming out with a "Best of 2007" DVD in the next couple of months. In fact we have 3 releases in process right now: the 2007 IRON 8 Championship, BIRTHDAY BASH 7: Caged Fury and The Best of 2007, which will again be a 2 disc set. There will be a best of WWW DVD too in the not too distant future.

Without calling this a "Best of 2007 Awards," here are some of my thoughts on the year just passed:

You judge a wrestling company best by who it's champion is and what they have done. By that standard, D.C. Dillinger proved himself to be the top independent wrestler in New England. Dillinger toppped more sellouts than any other NECW Champion ever. His feud with Brian Fury was everything a great wrestling feud should be - hot issues, great promos, a great chase until the final conflict in a cage.

Brian Fury held up his end very well and delivered the goods in his role. Fury had a chance for the first time to play out a long program and he grew in that environment.

"Die Hard" Eddie Edwards and "The Infamous" Bobby Fish had a phenomenal series of matches in 2007 and those two are as good as any workers anywhere on the face of the planet.

Brandon Locke had a fantastic year and became a big fan favorite very quickly. Some workers need you to build them up to get the desired reaction. Brandon had the people almost immediately. This is a guy with great talent and finally the stage to show it.

Rick Fuller was such a solid performer for NECW in 2007. He finished the year winning the Triple Crown, but Fuller has had a tremendous positive impact on the promotion all year. If anyone deserves a big run on top, it's Fuller.

Michael Sain and Antonio Thomas have done great work in NECW in the latter part of the year. Sain was one of the better NECW Champions and has become a very good student of the business. Antonio Thomas is one of the best workers New England has ever produced, and his latest work is some of the best of his career. If you haven't been watching NECW TV and his promos, you are missing something special.

On the women's side, Tanya Lee grew tremendously as a performer as WWW Champion. One of the true rewards of promoting wrestling is seeing people get better when given the stage and the spotlight. Tanya Lee is going to get even better as time goes on. I cannot say enough good things about Lexxus. This is a girl who so totally upped her game in taking the WWW title in August, it's amazing.

This is the strongest roster in NECW history and I think we delivered an excellent product - one that I am so very proud of.

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As we look to 2008, we have some huge things on the horizon. We will be announcing some pretty interesting shows and relationships in the coming months that are really going to elevate the company.

We will be doing the Hot Dog Safari again this year. That takes place on Sunday, June 1 at Suffolk Downs in East Boston.

We will be launching a new web site in March that I think is going to be as good as anything on the net.

It's going to be an exciting year for NECW and WWW and I look forward to seeing you at the matches.

Monday, January 07, 2008

WALTZ Notes, Thoughts on 2007 & 2008

The NECW year 2007 came to a close on Friday night, December 28th with the annual TOXIC WALTZ. You can read the complete results at the NECW website, and watch highlights on this week's NECW TV, but I thought I would share a few notes on the show.

The big news of course is Big Rick Fuller being crowned NECW Triple Crown Champion. Fuller is a long time veteran and a guy who deserved a big run in this business. It would not shock me if he got that run somewhere, foriegn or domestic, within the next year or so.

Max Bauer was the 2007 TOXIC WALTZ winner, and it was Bauer's night to shine. Max is a tremendously gifted kid. He's got size and power, but also is intelligent, well-spoken and a student of the game. Now that he is out of the shadow of T.J. Richter, look for Bauer to have a huge impact on NECW in the coming year.

2007 was a great year for NECW. It may well have been the best year as far as the in-ring product goes in the history of the company. Guys like Dillinger, Edwards, Fish, Fury, Locke, Fuller, Frost, Arion and so many others have had consistently good matches. Michael Sain coming back on the scene in dramatic fashion at BIRTHDAY BASH 7 was a highlight. The NWA Championship Tournament Matches were so memorable, especially the return to NECW of "Prince" Fergal Devitt from Ireland, who is now full time in New Japan Pro Wrestling.

2008 looks like it could be an even bigger year with the emergence of some talents like Max Bauer and Antonio Thomas.

Our focus right now is to examine our business and look for ways to improve every aspect of what we're doing. Much is in the works, and I can promise you that you will see a bigger and better NECW in 2008.

One thing to mark on your calendar and look forward to is the return of World Women's Wrestling on Sunday, March 9 at Good Time Emporium in Somerville, MA. This will be the second anniversary of WWW and you can look forward to seeing some great action on that date, including familiar faces and new talent as well.

While you won't see as many WWW shows as this past year, we have some big plans for that as well.

I got an e-mail this past week asking me about DVD releases. Right now, we have the 2007 IRON 8 in production. After that will be BIRTHDAY BASH 7, Best of 2007 and one or two WWW releases. We hope to step up DVD production and bring you some great releases in the new year.

Thanks for your support. I will have more later in the week.