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!

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