Friday, July 30, 2010

10 Years of New England Championship Wrestling

On August 7 & 8, New England Championship Wrestling, the promotion I founded and currently operate with 3 fantastic partners and the help of numerous others, celebrates it's 10 year anniversary with a 2 night spectacular you can learn more about at http://www.necwwrestling.com/.

This post is not about hyping these events, although it may additionally serve that purpose.  This post is about its title "10 Years of New England Championship Wrestling."

NECW has run consistent live events for a decade.  It has produced weekly original television distributed via the Internet for more years than there has been a You Tube or a Hulu and was the first to do so.  It is currently producing original weekly television that can be seen throughout New England on Comcast Video On Demand - another first in the industry.

On Saturday, August 12, 2000, I stood in front of a group of young men in a former arcade in Wethersfield, CT and told them, "This company is about making you guys the stars.  I live and die with you guys."

At the time, that was a radical statement.  The conventional wisdom at the time was that TV stars drew the fans, and if you didn't have those stars, you weren't going to make it.  In fact, I remember after our 3rd event, which took place at the old Good Time Emporium in Somerville, MA, our then ring announcer sat me down, looked at me and said, "If you don't start booking the big names, you'll be out of business in six months."

Keeping that promise was not easy.  It took years before people started to believe that "local wrestling" was a viable way to conduct business.  It still isn't easy.  But today, when I call the matches for TV and see young men and women who are bound together by a near irrational love of pro wrestling and the burning desire to make it in this profession, and the audiences, no matter how large or small, touched by their in-ring stuggles, I continue to be inspired and priviledged to have had a hand in making those dreams into reality.

The list of athletes that have benefitted from the stage NECW has provided over the years is a long and impressive one.  Whether they worked for one night, a few months or a numerous years, all had a part to play in the history and legacy of New England Championship Wrestling.  Whether they were local or made the trip to our area from across the U.S. or overseas, they sought NECW out because it provided that stage that gave them credibitlity and exposure.

Some of NECW's alumni include, John Cena, Beth Phoenix, Trinity, Doug Williams, Sumie Sakai, "Die Hard" Eddie Edwards, "Prince" Fergal Devitt, Nikki Roxx, Mercedes Martinez, Antonio Thomas, Rebecca Knox, Jonny Storm, Jody Fleisch, The All Knighters, and many, many, many more.

The local stories are often the most compelling.  When NECW decided to seriously promote women's wrestling and created the Wordl Women's Wrestling brand, Nikki Roxx, tapped to be the company's first champion appeared in every major local newspaper on radio and TV, garnering more press than any other wrestler - male or female - in New England wrestling history.  It was a springboard to a tryout in WWE and a run in TNA.

Speaking of women's wrestling, this Sunday the World Women's Wrestling brand returns with a very unique main event - WWW Champion, Mistress Belmont vs. Alexxis Neveah for the title in a steel cage.  These two women have improved so much since they started with us to the point that they are two of the best women in pro wrestling bar none.

Next weekend, as we celebrate 10 years and embark on our second decade, I hope you will make it down and share this extraordinary promotion and experience with us.  I can say with every confidence that New England Championship Wrestling takes a backseat to nothing and no one.  It has absoultely made an impact on this sport we call professional wrestling.  If you've followed us at all, come back and you'll remember why.  If you've never been to NECW live before, come down and be a part of a very special event and a very special group of people.

Thanks for reading and thanks for your support.

Sunday, July 04, 2010

Happy 4th of July! Random Thoughts on NECW, WWE, TNA, Lesnar/UFC, Heyman

Hope everyone is having a great 4th of July weekend.  We are overdue for an update and there's lots to cover, so let's get to it.

We are getting closer and closer to a huge milestone for New England Championship Wrestling - our 10th anniversary.  We are cerebrating with a huge 3 night spectacular with a banquet on Friday, August 6, the main Bash 10 event on Saturday, August 7 and a combination World Women's Wrestling event and NECW TV taping on Saturday, August 8 at 1 PM.  Everything takes place in Quincy.  All the details, as well as a tremendous 3 event discount package, can be found at http://www.necwwrestling.com/.

If you are a wrestling fan, you really don't want to miss NECW live.  We're back in Quincy this coming Saturday night and the action of late in the company is on a par with anything we have ever done.

If I have one frustration, it is that I believe NECW is the single most underrated wrestling promotion in the country.  We made a choice to specialize in local wrestling.  Maybe some people think that isn't sexy enough, but I would put this company up against anything out there and I believe those who haven't seen it would absolutely find it worth their time and money.

I am lucky that I get the best the seat in the house to call the matches for TV and home video and having watched wrestling for as long as I have, I can confidently say that if I weren't involved in putting this on, I would be following everything and buying tickets.

Not only do I think its great wrestling, its a great value too.  With tickets normally well under $20, you can't go wrong, especially if you have a family and want to bring your kids out for a great night of action and fun.

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I want to apologize to our fans in New England who had to wait until later in the week to see the latest episode of New England Championship Wrestling on Comcast On Demand.   Comcast has technical issues on their end and the show did not get up correctly until Friday.  The shows aired as scheduled online, and all previous shows are available on Vimeo.

If you have Comcast On Demand, live in New England, and aren't seeing NECW on your menu, or if there are technical issues with the show, please e-mail me directly at NECWOffice@aol.com, because I want to know.

I'd also like to hear your thoughts on our On Demand series.  This is another innovation for NECW, as there has never been another original wrestling program made available in this way. 

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WWE has been raising eyebrows with the NXT program and the rookie invasion dominating RAW.  The company sees the need to elevate young stars and this is an ideal vehicle to do it.

Whatever criticisms I have read about the way the company has presented this, I applaud them for the effort and find a lot to be interested in.

Pro wrestling is a talent driven business.  To keep people interested, stars have to be made.  Talent needs to be developed and brought to the top of the roster effectively.

With MMA siphoning off some of the best young fighting talents, pro wrestling in general and WWE specifically, needs to address how to recruit top athletes and develop them.  We are in an age when the territory system no longer exists and instead we have "developmental."   I am happy to see that Jim Ross will be back involved in the developmental area, because of the top stars in the company today, Ross recruited most of them.

I want to see WWE, as well as TNA succeed.  As someone in the business of professional wrestling, when the top players do well, that interest trickles down.  What is good for WWE & TNA is good for NECW, ROH, etc.

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TNA has been struggling of late after the aborted move to Monday nights.  There are rumors of Paul Heyman being courted to be the "savior" and frankly, pro wrestling needs a mind like Paul Heyman's actively working in it.

Heyman was in Brock Lesnar's training group at UFC 116 last night, and I happened to see a video interview with him.  Heyman claimed his days in pro wrestling are over and that he's got a couple of book projects and other things going on in addition to his Heyman Hustle website.

Do I think Paul Heyman is done with pro wrestling?  No.  Do I think he'll be picked up by TNA?  I would say that for Paul to jump in there, he would have to have a very lucrative deal, one where he would be able to execute his concepts fully.  Control is a tough thing for any company to give up, so we'll see what happens.  If anyone could make TNA more competitive, it would be Heyman.

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Amazon Video Recommendation

Andy Kaufman's run in Memphis Wrestling was so far ahead of its time.  "I'm From Hollywood" chronicles the story of Andy run vs. Jerry "The King" Lawler in a feud that changed pro wrestling forever.

This is a DVD you'll want to watch again and again.  An absolute 5 star classic!

More thoughts later in the week!