I'm told the event was really terrific, and if you missed it, it will be available on DVD on March 20th both online and at all of our NECW live events.
The highlight of the night was the crowning, in very controversial fashion, of a new NECW Triple Crown Champion in "The Real Deal" Brandon Locke, dethroning Max Bauer, who held that title for a record 23 months. In this day and age, to hold a pro wrestling championship for that length of time is quite the achievement. Locke has all the tools to carry the ball splendidly. I don't expect Bauer to exit the title picture easily, as frankly he was robbed in Pembroke, MA. He knows the culprit and has a rematch clause to boot.
For all the results, visit http://www.necwwrestling.com/.
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The Mouthpiece Wrestling Show, which I host along with Joe Matterazzo and Mike Johnson, has been doing a lot of moving around lately, due to some of the sports currently aired on the WWZN 1510 The Zone in Boston.
To be honest, I can't count how many times the show has changed time slots, but thanks to the miracle of podcasting, we have kept a loyal audience and the numbers in that regard have been healthy and steady.
The show is also part of a 3 hour "fight block" combined with a Mouthpiece MMA show and the original Mouthpiece show - the Mouthpiece Boxing Show, hosted by station GM, Anthony Pepe. The Fight Block, which was Pepe's concept, has been gaining steam this year and sponsor interest has been building.
In order to preserve the integrity of the 3 show block, we're moving to a more permanent time slot on Saturday nights from 9 PM to midnight, starting March 20th. Mouthpiece Wrestling will kick things off at 9, followed by MMA, then Boxing.
The best news is that there will be more of an opportunity to be live with the move. We will still be doing our monthly live shows from the world famous Golden Banana Gentlemen's Club on Route 1 in Peabody, MA and our next live show there will be this Thursday, March 11 starting at 7 PM. You are welcome, and in fact, encouraged, to come out in person and check us out live, along with the gorgeous dancers. Live from the Golden Banana is usually a wild night of radio, but even better experienced in person .
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New England Championship Wrestling is into its 3rd month on Comcast On Demand in New England and is doing quite well so far. Numbers are encouraging, both in terms of viewership of the shows and live attendance. Fan feedback has been great.
There has been a lot of speculation as to why the shows are not airing on Comcast SportsNet as was the original intention. We did announce some technical problems with the first few episodes, but during that time, CSN informed us that they could not live up to the originally contracted Friday afternoon time slot for the term of the contract. Moving the show to the On Demand platform was a mutual decision made in the best interests of our company and our fans.
This is the first time a weekly pro wrestling show has been distributed in this manner and is another pioneering effort by NECW, similar to when NECW began offering weekly original wrestling programming via the Internet more than 5 years ago, long before there was a You Tube or a Hulu.
NECW is now available to roughly 2.2 million Comcast subscribers in portions of 5 of the 6 New England states. For those that are not Comcast subscribers, the shows are being made available online through our website, so pretty much anyone who wants to see it can see it in some way.
One of the hallmarks of NECW has been thinking outside the box and using new school devices to push the old school foundations of our product. Like all pioneering efforts, there are bumps in the road and fixes to be made along the way, but make no mistake about this, New England Championship Wrestling on Comcast On Demand has been a success so far and we are only scratching the surface of its potential.
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Speaking of NECW on Comcast On Demand, I have been very impressed with some of the newer talent we have been featuring. Names like Vinnie Marseglia, Julian Starr, Biff Busick and Marco Mac, along with others may not be familiar to NECW fans, but these are kids who have brought a lot to the table, even in efforts where they didn't walk away with a "W."
There is a pretty healthy pool of wrestling talent in the area and all the more reason to watch every week.
I was sad to hear of the passing of the Poffo Family patriarch, Angelo Poffo the other day. Apparently, he had been ill for some time and my deepsent sympathies go out to his family and friends.
I met Angelo on a few occasions and he was always nice to me, thanks to our mutual friend, Phyllis Lee.
Poffo was famous for a lot of things in wrestling - other than his offspring Lanny Poffo and "Macho Man" Randy Savage. Poffo once set a record for most sit up performed by a human being at one time in 6,033. In fact, he would wear that number on the back of his ring attire in later years.
Poffo, when he managed his sons in later years, was known as 'The Miser" as he was also famous for being, shall we say, tight with a buck. Mr. Poffo did indeed live that gimmick, and it served him well in his later years.
Again, my deepest sympathies to his family and friends.
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