Hot Dog Safari Notes and IRON 8 Preview

Yesterday was one of those days that makes all the hard work and sacrifice worthwhile.

NECW & World Women's Wrestling were part of a day long charity event called The Hot Dog Safari, which took place at the Suffolk Downs racetrack in East Boston, MA. This event, which benefits The Joey Fund (to battle Cystic Fibrosis), raised over $500,000, which was then matched by one of the track owners. So, in excess of $1,000,000 was generated for a very worthy cause yesterday!

Our gratitude goes out to the people responsible for this wonderful event: Eddie Andelman, the O'Donnell family, Anthony Pepe, Jo Ellen Coen, Bill McColgan and many, many others. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to be part of this extraordinary event. We will always be in your corner whenever you need us.

The stars of NECW and WWW really stepped us yesterday. Everyone gave 110% and a few went way beyond the call of duty. Congratulations to Handsome Johnny who won the annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest and to Nikki Roxx who actually came in second! Both took a dietary hit for the team and it is appreciated beyond words.

Most importantly, we are grateful to all the fans who came out to support this great cause and enjoyed tons of free food and drink and great NECW and WWW action. A lot of our regulars were in attendance and I was thrilled to make a lot of new friends who will hopefully become fans.

The weather may not have been the best, but that did not deter anyone. Thank you all!

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This coming Saturday night is the 4th annual IRON 8 Championship. It takes place at the National Guard Armory, 98 Montauk Road in Brockton, MA with a 7 PM bell time.

The IRON 8 is one of my favorite NECW events of the year. It is a unique twist on the 8 man tournament that has sort of become a cliche after ECWA's Super 8 started the trend. What's different about the IRON 8 is the structure of the tournament. 8 men are chosen and paired into 4 one on one match ups. The winners then go on to face each other later that night in 4 way, 45 minute iron man match, with the wrestler scoring the most pinfalls or submissions declared the winner and that year's IRON 8 champion.

The IRON 8 is a real athletic test. You have be able to go for an hour and be able to out think and out maneuver your opponents in the finals. The final is guaranteed to be a classic match up just by the nature of what it is. Add a skilled field of contestants and you have something very special.

This year's field is one of the strongest in the brief history of the tournament. "Die Hard" Eddie Edwards, last year's winner, is on his way back from Japan. Edwards is a tremendous, tremendous talent and if he can focus himself on the task at hand, could walk away with this year's trophy. "The Infamous" Bobby Fish, another strong contender, has shot up the ladder in NECW like a rocket and is one of my favorites to win it all. Jason Blade has all the tools, but his recent spate of injuries could hold him back. If Blade is healthy, he is a favorite. "Straight Edge" Brian Fury might be the man with the most desire to win, because a victory is a shortcut directly to a Triple Crown title match with D.C. Dillinger. Antonio "The Promise" Thomas was a finalist last year and, in my mind, the most underrated singles competitor in the field. "The Real Deal" Brandon Locke, fresh off a non-title pinfall victory over D.C. Dillinger this past Sunday, showed me that he is a real threat to win this year. If anyone is rapidly coming into his own in NECW, it's Locke. Handsome Johnny is the biggest competitor in the tournament and conditioning might be an issue, especially after winning Sunday's hot dog eating contest, but the Handsome One is a true talent and this will be a great showcase for him. Last, but not least, Gary Cassidy, representing NWA Ireland, made his American debut yesterday with an impressive win over "The Talent" T.J. Richter. Cassidy beating Richter is no small feat. Cassidy is young, but in great condition and very skilled and will be a great addition to the IRON 8.

More later in the week.

Catching Up: MIT, Mega Month, NWA & more!

I've had a crazy schedule this past couple of weeks so this is a catch up blog.

Monday, May 14, I had the honor of speaking to Sam Ford's MIT class on pro wrestling. I was accompanied by "Mad Dog" Matt Storm, "The Human Nightmare" Evan Siks and the lovely Jen, along with the never popular "Mouthpiece of the East" Sean Gorman.

We had a great time watching matches and talking about many of the business aspects of our business that are seldom discussed in a public forum. I was really impressed with the level of the questions, which is no surprise, considering we were at MIT. This class had also heard from Jim Ross and Mick Foley among others this semester. I remarked to Sam in an e-mail before the class date that these kids have most likely gotten a better education to the business than most people who are actually in it.

I want to public thank Sam Ford and his students for welcoming us and I hope it was half as much fun being there for them as it was for us.

Coming up in June is the biggest month in NECW history - a MEGA month - with 5 huge live events.

We kick it all off with Eddie Andelman's 18th annual Hot Dog Safari at the Suffolk Downs racetrack in Revere, MA. The Hot Dog Safari, for those of you who have never heard of it, is a benefit event for The Joey Fund, which battles Cystic Fibrosis. Andleman, a legendary sports radio talk host for decades in Boston, and a self-proclaimed expert on hot dogs, decided to put on a hot dog tasting event for charity. He got numerous companies to donate hot dogs, sausages, ice cream and other food, all available free along with entertainment and local sports and media celebrities. This day long event (gates open at 9:00 am and the event closes at 5:00 pm) will again feature a live combined event from NECW and World Women's Wrestling. I believe we will be offering a total of 16 matches throughout the day. The admission is $10 in advance, $15 at the gate and their are also VIP tickets on sale. Admission includes all the hot dogs, sausages and ice cream you can eat. You can visit http://www.hotgogsafari.com/ for all the details.

We did this event last year and it was a phenomenal time. Everyone here at NECW is looking forward to being there and if you are at all close to the area, you should make plans to attend what is the hands down most unique charity promotion in America.

This year's Safari is being telecast live from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM on Comcast's CN8. We expect to be showing some of the great in-ring action live on that telecast.

The following Saturday, June 9th is the 4th annual IRON 8 Championship at the National Guard Armory in Brockton, MA. The IRON 8 is just a fantastic event - a true athletic experience that really defines our promotion as a sports entity. It consists of 8 great athletes who square off in an opening round of 4 singles matches. The 4 winners face each other later the same night in a 4 way 45 minute iron man match - with the man scoring the most pinfalls or submissions in 45 minutes the winner and 2007 IRON 8 Champion. Each man has to be able to last an hour and there is a great deal of strategy involved in winning the final. I am really proud of this event, because it is pro wrestling presented at its finest.

The next night, Sunday, June 10, World Women's Wrestling returns to action at Good Time Emporium in Somerville, MA. Another great WWW event is on tap with Tanya Lee defending against Amber, plus Nikki Roxx vs. Alicia, Malia Hosaka, Lexxus and much more.

On Saturday night, June 16 we return to Danvers with a TV taping and a whole host of great matches, including the first one-on-one match up between "The Human Nightmare" Evan Siks and Big Rick Fuller. We will also be hosting an opening round match in a tournament to crown a new National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Champion as Claudio Castignoli faces off against Pepper Parks, who "Mad Dog" Matt Storm tells me is a great hand from the Midwest.

On Saturday, June 30, we make a triumphant return to Quincy looking for our 7th straight sell out at the Armory. The main event will be something to behold as NECW Triple Crown Champion, D.C. Dillinger squares off against Big Rick Fuller. Talk about a Clash of the Champions! Fuller cornered me and demanded a shot against Dillinger. Frankly, he didn't have to do much convincing, because he was certainly entitled by any means you can measure. This does not mean that I approve of what he did to Evan Siks, quite the contrary. But Fuller did make a poignant case, and he gets the nod on June 30. Also on the card, another NWA World Title Tournament bout - an international extravaganza - as Fergal Devitt, the great Irish star, now a standout for New Japan Pro Wrestling, returns to NECW to face Perth, Australia's, Mikey Nicholls, a great competitor from all accounts I've seen and heard.

A lot of people are asking me questions about the tournament. Is NECW now a part of the NWA? How did this all come about?

Well, NECW at this time has no plans to join the NWA. I was approached by NWA Pro Wrestling promoter, David Marquez about hosting these matches. I consider Dave a good friend and would be happy to oblige him in any case. NWA Executive Director, Bob Trobich is also a long time friend and someone I have a great deal of respect for.

They are trying to perpetuate the tradition of the NWA in a changed universe, much like how NECW is trying to redefine the concept of the regional territory for the market conditions of today. I felt that the best way that I could do for our business is to support their efforts and collaborate with them rather than be an island unto ourselves. There has always been an open door here in NECW - a door that is open to those with the talent, creativity and dedication that real success in wrestling requires. We have provided a stage for many great talents to display their abilities. This time we are providing a stage for the tradition of the NWA to be transformed into a window into the future of this industry.

Before I started promoting wrestling, I became known to many through my appearances on A&E and other wrestling TV specials as a historian of professional wrestling. To know and share the history of this great business is wonderful. To make history is even better. NECW has been a true innovator in our business. To truly innovate, you must understand and respect tradition. We look forward to hosting these two historic bouts.

Tickets for all the June events are on sale now.

Western MA This Weekend, MIT On Monday

Thanks to all the great fans in Danvers, MA who came out to our debut event there at the National Guard Armory. We look forward to seeing you all again next month.

This weekend we make an all too rare appearance in Western Massachusetts. We return to Indoor Action Sports in Greenfield and I hope all of you who are close to the area come out and see us. We have an interesting card planned with three title bouts on tap and what should be a great night of action in Greenfield.

I have a rare honor this coming Monday. I'm speaking to Sam Ford's class on pro wrestling at MIT. This is the same class that was visited by Jim Ross and Mick Foley in recent weeks. This lucky group has probably gotten a better eductaion on pro wrestling than most of the people who actually work in it. I just hope Sam told them which Goldberg was showing up.

We have a huge month in June with 5 events on the schedule, starting with the 18th annual Hot Dog Safari. If you are unfamiliar with this event, which benefits The Joey Fund/Cystic Fibrosis, it's something really special and a family event you don't want to miss. We will have a combined NECW and WWW event that day as part of the festivities and I hope to see you there. Visit www.hotdogsafari.com for all the details and to order tickets.

Next week, we will be announcing the contestants in this year's IRON 8 Championship, taking place on Saturday night, June 9 in Brockton, MA. The IRON 8 is one of the premire events on the NECW calendar and a unique concept event. 8 stars square off in 4 singles matches, with the winners proceeding on to a 4 way 45 minute iron man match with the man who scores the most pinfalls or submissions declared the winner and 2007 IRON 8 Champion. The 4 way final is guaranteed to be a great battle and the talent pool in NECW is more than up to the task of putting on a state of the art display.

We have a lot of other stuff coming up in June that will get tongues wagging. Tickets for all the June events are on sale at www.NECWwrestling.com and at all FYE and Strawberries.

Imus & A Lesson for Pro Wrestling

Unless you've been living in a cave or have been in a coma, you know that famed radio personality, Don Imus was fired by CBS yesterday for making disparaging, racially charged comments about the Rutgers University Women's Basketball team.

Imus referred to the women on the team as "nappy headed ho's," which sparked an outcry from many quarters, including the Reverend Al Sharpton and the Reverend Jesse Jackson for Imus' dismissal. Major advertisers pulled their sponsorship from Imus's show and finally CBS President, Les Moonves, pulled the plug on Imus, an icon in the world of radio.

I don't believe that Imus was being especially mean or vindictive at heart. This was most likely an irresponsible and ill-considered attempt at humor. I do believe that CBS was right in cancelling Imus' show and removing him from the airwaves.

Many times in our society, humor of the racial kind, while seemingly harmless on the surface, is a softer way of perpetuating stereotypes and limiting people by categorizing them unfairly.

Pro wrestling has openly and blatantly done this for decades. And it's wrong.

I will never forget a car ride I had with a former WWE star who will remain nameless. He maintained that "blacks never draw," ignoring of course, Bobo Brazil, Ernie Ladd and numerous others, up to and including The Rock. The statement came from a man I have a great deal of respect for and who taught me a lot. But on that point, he was absolutely wrong.

I don't know how many old school wrestlers and old school wrestling devotees have told me that women's wrestling sucks and will never draw on its own. "It's just a little T&A break for Dad before the "real matches" come on," said one such individual. Our World Women's Wrestling promotion and Dave Prazak's SHIMMER promotion, are proof that the opposite is true.

I always had a special admiration for women in wrestling, because it's a tough world to enter. Before places like WWW and SHIMMER existed, women's matches were usually less than 10 minutes and presented purely as a special attraction. Seldom in the Northeast did you ever see an angle involving women wrestlers on their own. Elsewhere, it was a rarity.

While WWW and SHIMMER have a long way to go, the fact that women are finally having a forum for good credible matches and seizing the opportunity, is a major step forward for the entire business. It also underscores that talent, when treated as such without regard to gender in this case, or race, will rise to the occasion and deliver.

Unlike the portrayal of women in WWE, not all good wrestlers have to have bikini bodies. And not all male wrestlers have to be jacked up, looking like they stepped out of the pages of Muscle & Fitness.

I think a big reason why WWW has worked so well, and why NECW has also, is that we're more about credible talent that average people can relate to and then become engaged in their stories. Wrestling will always prize the element of the larger-than-life, whether in body type or character, but talent first and image second is what drives good professional wrestling.

Back to Imus. I don't think the public world of broadcasting (or the public world of pro wrestling to a lesser extent) should tolerate the perpetuation of racial discrimination or stereotypes and I applaud Les Moonves for both his decision and his statement denouncing the incident. High social standards are not exactly a hallmark of professional wrestling. But we are a business of the people - ALL the people - and to devalue anyone, in any way, due to their race, gender, sexual preference or nationality is both morally wrong and just bad business.

WrestleMania 23 and WWE's Effect on The Indy's

I watched WrestleMania 23 at our stomping grounds - Good Time Emporium in Somerville, MA this past Sunday night. One measure of the health of WWE is how many people go to Good Times to see a PPV event. The cover charge is $5 and a lot of area fans who don't want to pay the high cost of getting the PPV at home head to Somerville to catch these events.

Sunday's crowd was the largest I've seen in a very long time. You attribute that to a lot of factors, including this year's Donald Trump angle creating a lot of mainstream publicity.

As for the show itself, overall, I enjoyed it. When WWE puts on a WrestleMania, all the stops are pulled out and everyone has his working boots on. Was it the best Mania in terms of matches? No. But it was worth the time and money and, of course, the biggest wrestling event of the year on the planet is a must-see.

Without dissecting the card match by match, I'll offer a few impressions. First off, I found it interesting and alarming that so much of the card hinged on older talent. Undertaker, Michaels, Benoit are all on the downhill slope of their careers. Austin is done as an active wrestler. The ECW "Originals" are also guys who have more career behind them than in front of them.

Then there is John Cena. Ask me about John Cena and I will tell you he is a gentleman, conducts himself as a pro at all times, comes from a terrific family and works his ass off with as much passion and dedication as you will ever see. Yet, in spite of all that, he is booed unmercifully at times. One sign in the crown at Mania said "Cen-A Nuff." Man, how cold-blooded is that?

To me, what Cena lacks is that certain aura that the big stars have. Michaels made Cena look like a boy at times and I felt so badly for him. Michaels was terrific in the match and it was a hell of battle. Cena was good, but looked like he was intimidated by the skill and charisma of Michaels and the spot itself. It's a lot of pressure to be a top guy in WWE. Cena has the work ethic, but the question is can he develop that presence that the great ones all have in common.

Watching any WrestleMania also makes me think about the state of the business in general, specifically the independent business.

We are in an interesting time. I see PPV buy rates falling, probably due to over saturation and competition from MMA. I see live gates coming around for WWE in smaller venues. I don't see that one breakout guy that every talks about and tries to emulate.

Independents in New England seem to be seeing an upswing in business. In the case of NECW and WWW, I think much has to do with the vast improvement in the quality of the product, the marketing and the dedication of a staff that really wants the company to succeed. I also think that WWE not having that breakout guy makes people more interested in wrestling in general, as opposed to just what they see on TV. Wrestling will always be driven by stars, but right now people are being a lot more open about who and what a star is. Local heroes (and villians) is a far more viable concept now than it was a few years ago. We are getting more and more people who have never been to an independent show before and come away enjoying it and appreciating the experience. We are also getting more families with kids looking for an inexpensive night out.

I see a bright future ahead for our company and the business in general.

Weekend Thoughts on MARCH BADNESS & WWW's 1st Anniversary

Wow, what a weekend!

I can't thank all the fans enough who came out to NECW's MARCH BADNESS this past Saturday night and to WWW's 1st Anniversary Show this past Sunday.

There are two great joys in being a wrestling promoter. One is seeing people realize their potential. NECW and WWW both have great rosters. It's very gratifying to me when I see someone improve their abilities, show a new audience what they have to offer or just step up and do something good, because our company set the stage for them to do that.

The other is seeing fans get caught up in the action and really enjoy themselves. I especially love the families who come with young kids who are getting the chance to see great professional wrestling unlike they way they see it on TV. That up close and personal experience really is magic to children and it's a great thing to witness. I'm also pleased that we can present these events at prices that families can afford. Professional sports have steadily priced themselves out of the range of the average working family and I think that's sad. I've had many people comment to me specifically about how much they appreciate the fact that NECW is so affordable. It's so great to see mom's and dad's bringing their kids to the matches every month.

I am one of those promoters that enjoys talking to fans and interacting with the people. At this stage of NECW, I still have the ability to do that. I've always believed that if you own a business and your customer know that you really appreciate their business, they will keep coming back and support you.

We had a fantastic event Sunday afternoon prior to the WWW anniversary show. It was a "Meet & Eat" lunch with the stars - a chance for our most loyal fans to share a meal with us and ask questions, get photos taken, etc. Chris Norman and Amber did a great job hosting this event. It was so nice to see so many familiar faces and to have the chance to give them a personal experience like that. You can bet that will not be the last event we do like that.

We had some great matches this weekend too! Everyone has been raving about the debut of "The Infamous" Bobby Fish as he and "Die Hard" Eddie Edwards battled to a time limit draw. This was just a phenomenal match and I congratulated both men afterward. Bobby Fish impressed me both in and out of the ring and he will be a tremendous addition to the NECW roster.

On the WWW side, I am thrilled to have Malia Hosaka in the promotion. While we had met before many years ago, I did not know her well, though I had always heard good things. Whatever I heard was an understatement. Her impromptu match with "The Portuguese Princess" Ariel was amazing. She is dedicated and professional and a real credit to the business.

I'm too tired to write more at the moment, but fans, friends, workers and staff thanks again for everything this past weekend!

R.I.P. Arnold Skaaland

I was very saddened to hear of the death of Arnold Skaaland today.

Arnold Skaaland was a key figure in the wrestling business for decades. While most fans knew him as prelim wrestler and the manager of Bruno and Backlund, in fact he was also a partner in the old Capital Wrestling corporation that was the parent company of the World Wide Wrestling Federation. The other partners were Vince McMahon Sr., Gorilla Monsoon and Phil Zacko, who promoted Philly and Baltimore.

He was the guy who deposited the gate receipts for Vince Sr. and Jr. for years - a position which demonstrated that he was one of the most trusted figures in the company. Anyone who ever worked a dark match will tell you that it was Arnie Skaaland who sat at a table behind his trademark Haliburton suitcase that was loaded with cash, checking his list and making the payoffs.

At WrestleMania 14, the late Tony Rumble and a group of us were cast as the Undertaker's Druids. It was an unforgettable experience, but for me, what was most fun was Tony Garea telling us to get in line to get paid. When I finally got to the front of the line, Arnie looked up at me and said, "What's your name son?" He peeled off the cash and put it in an envelope. I thanked him and he winked at me. I looked into that Haliburton and there had to be at least $75,000 to $100,000 in cash in it. I thought to myself, "Now I know why they call him 'The Golden Boy'."

I couldn't help but think after that, how many other guys that I respected and admired stood in that same line and what a priviledge it was to do so. I apologize if this goes over people's heads. It's a little hard to convey the significance of that experience to people whose frame of reference for wrestling is just watching it at home or in the stands. Guys like Arnold Skaaland, who most of today's fans wouldn't even know, was such an important figure in the business. He was one of the "keepers of the castle", another irreplaceble legend who will truly be missed.

WWW Proves The Pundits Wrong

"I am skeptical of the success of this promotion. History has shown that for a womens promotion to be successful, it needs to be a stand alone promotion so the owner can concentrate on that promotion alone." - Frank Pozen, January 22, 2006

I love proving people wrong. Especially people who have never actually spent 5 minutes in the wrestling business, who post on message boards and purport to be some sort of expert on some aspect of this industry. In the words of that great wrestling philosopher, Antoine Roy (pronounced RU-ah), "Poo poo on you!"

Frank was hardly alone when I made the announcement of spinning the women's division of NECW into World Women's Wrestling as its own promotion. A lot people thought I was out of my mind.

NECW had developed a great track record with women's wrestling. Mercedes Martinez, who was the first woman booked into NECW back in 2000, won her spot due to her extraordinary in ring talent. He booking, was in fact an accident. A no-show at an NECW event led to her getting a spot in match against a guy she had been training with. The minute Martinez stepped through the curtain that night, she had the audience won. The match was another story. She didn't win that, but she got a rematch the next month in Vermont and that match (which is featured on the DVD "Gateway to Greatness," click here to see a trailer and order) cemented her as star in our company and launched her career on the independent circuit.

It also proved that women could be a viable attraction for us. A real turning point was the following May when I got a call from a friend of mine named Shun Yamaguchi, a photographer for the Japanese pro wrestling magazine, Weekly Gong. Shun, who lives locally and covers events in the U.S. for Gong, asked me if would help him book a young lady who was going to be living with him and his family for a few months. Her name was Sumie Sakai, and at the time, she worked for the Jd' Yoshimoto Ladies Pro Wrestling promotion in Japan. Sakai would be bringing a belt and the agreement was that we would co-sanction the title with Jd' and Sakai would win the belt here and take it back to Japan. I got them to agree to a two match program, where Mercedes would win the first match and the title and be defeated by Sakai in the return match. The first match took place the night Sakai had arrived in America for the first time. Though she barely spoke any English, Sakai did something very important that night. She cast a different light on women's pro wrestling as something that could be taken seriously and be effectively featured by an independent company.

Sakai fell in love with America and returned numerous times. She started working with other girls in the area and no doubt had a big impact on the local female talent pool. The number of good women wrestlers in the area was increasing and my interest in expanding our women's division increased with it.

At NECW's 4th Anniversary show, which was a two night event, we featured an 8 woman "Survivor style" elimination match each night. The matches were both well done and well received. At that point my mind was made up that it would enhance our company to take the next step and run an all women's show.

In June 2005, I promoted an NECW event called SUPERSLAM at Good Time Emporium in Somerville, MA. SUPERSLAM was a rarity in these parts - a Sunday doubleheader event that featured our regular NECW crew in the afternoon and a first-ever all women's event in the evening. The women's show featured a tournament to crown a first ever NECW Women's Champion.

What I did not know until just days before the show, was that some of our crew at the time were unhappy that the girls were going on last. Some of the guys felt that it was a slap in the face, and that they should have been "the main event" of the day. In fact, that was the exact wrong thing to do. After all, if you are selling something that would be viewed as a novelty, you don't put the novelty on first, because then people see it and they leave. Not knowing what to expect, how embarrassing would it be for the girls to sell out first and then have half a house for the guys? NECW was still the horse drawing the wagon and putting the men on first protected them.

As it turned out, both shows did extremely well, with the women drawing what was our best house in months at higher ticket prices.

Sadly, the then booker decided that he was going to try and ruin it by giving the girls a hard time and deliberately doing things like screwing up the women's entrance music and a variety of other sophmoric stunts. None of it mattered. It drew, and done properly in the future it would continue to do so.

A second SUPERSLAM took place in September of that year, and again, business held up. We had much of the same gripes internally, and more of the same moronic behavior from the booker and his "boys."

After that, I knew that in order for our women's division to live up to its potential, it needed to be its own brand and have its own identity and lose anyone that couldn't deal with it.

After a spilt with the booker a few months later, I announced that we would take a few months off and be back in March with the premiere of World Women's Wrestling. We announced the day of the event that NECW had merged with PWF Mayhem. With management and booking now committed to it's success, World Women's Wrestling flourished from the start. The promotion has received unprecedented local publicity and done capacity or near capacity business at almost every outing.

The women, who finally had a stage that could really show off their skills, rose to the occasion. Nikki Roxx and Ariel, along with Tanya Lee and all the other workers, put on matches that often equalled or surpassed the men on some level. The World Women’s Wrestling product was something fresh and uinque. Nothing had ever been seen like it in this area, and it quickly found a loyal fan base. By November, we expanded the schedule into monthly shows and World Women’s Wrestling continues to grow and improve. While not a perfect product, World Women’s Wrestling has carved out a solid niche and proved that women can be the main attraction in pro wrestling and not just a special attraction.

March 25th will be a special day for us, as we celebrate the first anniversary of a company that changed the business in a positive way. If you are near the area, I hope you will make an effort to join us.

GENESIS 6, WWW Pick Your Poison Notes

There is a whole lot of "buzz" going on in our area over this coming weekend's NECW & WWW events.

This coming Saturday night is the continuation of one of the great traditions in New England independent wrestling, GENESIS. GENESIS was PWF's big show of the year and an annual milestone that gave the promotion direction, focus and identity.

Last year's GENESIS was an especially memorable one for me, as on that night we announced the merger of NECW and PWF to the PWF locker room, prior to making a public announcement. I will never forget the looks on the faces in the room that night - happiness, befuddlement, curiousity and, in some cases even anger. The reactions were understandable. In our little corner of the industry, it's a business that is often much more about the emotional than the practical.

In fact, last year's GENESIS truly was a "genesis" - a creation of something new, evolved out of two companies that each had their own storied history. When we discussed the merger prior to it actually taking place, I felt it was important to combine and maintain the traditions of both promotions. As such , we have four "signature events" per year, GENESIS and Toxic Waltz from PWF and the IRON 8 Championship and BIRTHDAY BASH from NECW.

This year's GENESIS comes at a point where NECW has gathered the most momentum as a promotion than at any point in it's six and a half year history. Sellouts right and left. Talent at their most compelling. GENESIS 6 has the biggest advance sale of any event in NECW or PWF history. I promise you it will absolutely be a night to remember.

Speaking of memorable event, the follwing afternoon, World Women's Wrestling returns to Good Time Emporium for "Pick Your Poison." WWW Champion, Tanya Lee, Jana and Portia Perez draw their opponents names at random from Nikki Roxx, "The Portuguese Princess" Ariel and Lexxus. Any combination of possibilites there will be exciting to watch and it's another can't miss WWW event. Of course, Tanya Lee defends against Nikki Roxx at GENESIS the night before and I am sure that result will have a big impact on Sunday afternoon's event.

If you're at all close to the area, I hope you'll join us for a fantastic weekend of wrestling.

WSX Considered, R.I.P. Bob Luce, NECW Notes

It seems that everyone is talking about the new Wrestling Society X on MTV and some vigorous debate is going on about the show, especially in light of an episode being pulled this week by MTV's standards and practices department.

I watched the debut episode and some of the online content. Producer, Kevin Kleinrock of Big Vision Entertainment, who I've known for a number of years, told me that he thought they would be criticized by "old school fans," yet he was excited by what they were doing and called it "innovative" and way over the top, by MTV's request.

To put WSX in perspective you have to bear in mind that this is NOT a wrestling promotion. WSX is a TV show that hopes to become a wrestling promotion. It's a lot like the late 1960's TV show The Monkees, about a fictitious band, except they actually made records and ended up taking creative control of their music and becoming a real band.

The concept of pre-fab pro wrestling is not new. Paul Alperstein's ill-fated American Wrestling Federation actually taped its shows in front of an audience of paid extras who held signs made by the company and cheered and booed on cue. That failure had more to do with trying to establish the company through paid TV syndication, than whether it was good or not.

WSX is at the very least interesting. The talent is mostly young high flyers and the violent style is laced with a variety of stunts and explosions - kind of like Atsushi Onita and Tony Hawk had a love child and invited some cool bands. After I watched it, I was like, "Yeah this looks like an MTV parody of pro wrestling."

What hurts WSX most is the 30 minute format. There is no way you can draw interest in the matches, feuds and characters in a 30 minute TV format, which translates to about 18 or 19 minutes of action. WSX answers this with WSXtra, a supplemental Internet broadcast that gives you extra matches and features. WSXtra is actually the most innovative thing about WSX - it's attempt to draw fans to the net from conventional TV to flesh out their programming and make that an essential part of the WSX experience. The question is will their fans have the attention span to actually want to do that? There doesn't seem to be enough time to hook people in far enough to want to get in deeper by watching online. The WSXtra shows use an embedded player on the website, which is small in size and not conducive to viewing something like professional wrestling - especially the fast-paced, high flying variety.

Since MTV is a music network, here are some musical analogies about the WSX product. As in MTV itself, not every song is uptempo. Most of the best selling songs in music history are ballads, because they are ones that connect the most with the emotions of the audience. When you go to a concert, the best shows take the audience on a journey with different tempos and pacing. The same holds true with wrestling. Variety on a card makes it more interesting to watch than having every match be the same kind of thing.

Ultimately, WSX will be judged by TV standards and not wrestling standards and that is as it should be. If the ratings hold up, WSX has a chance to survive on the world's biggest TV network. I really don't see it becoming a touring proposition, because you could never recreate that atmosphere live. The fact that MTV has the desire to be involved with pro wrestling on any level is good for the business. It's an endorsement of the industry. It remains to be seen if the network will give the show enough time to find itself.

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Bob Luce was one of the great old time wrestling promoters. Based in Chicago in the 60's and 70's, he was associated with Verne Gagne, and I believe, Dick The Bruiser in Indianapolis as well. I first became acquainted with Luce watching a 4 volume VHS set that he put out in the mid-80's called the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame Classics. Luce was a colorful individual, known for being a great local promoter - great with the local press and a larger than life TV host.

Luce was a relic from another era that we sadly won't see again. Guys like Bob Luce were simply irreplaceable. He passed away last week just one day before his 79th birthday after a long illness. My heartfelt condolences to his family and friends.

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We are a little more than a week away from another huge NECW/WWW Double Impact Weekend. NECW's next live event, which is GENESIS 6 at the National Guard Armory in Quincy, MA, takes place Saturday night, February 24 at 7 PM. GENESIS was traditionally the biggest event of the year for PWF and we have continued that tradition post-merger. The GENESIS events were always viewed fondly by local fans as something special, and this year's version will be no exception. All titles will be defended, some big feuds will be coming to a head and it's one you don't want to miss.

GENESIS has already generated the biggest advance sale of any show we've done, so if you are looking for tickets, especially VIP tickets, I would act sooner rather than later.

Sunday afternoon, February 25, it's the return of World Women's Wrestling to Good Time Emporium in Somerville, MA with a 3:00 PM bell time. It's topped by a very unique "Pick Your Poison" Triple Main Event, where WWW Champion, Tanya Lee, Jana and Portia Perez choose their opponents at random from the trio of Nikki Roxx, Ariel and Lexxus. All the participants have bad blood with each other and it should be a real throwdown in Somerville.

Check out www.NECWwrestling.com and www.WorldWomensWrestling.com for tickets and information.

R.I.P. Jim Melby

I was deeply saddened to hear that Jim Melby passed away yesterday at his home in Minnesota. Melby, along with Norman Kietzer, published Wrestling Revue magazine, as well as arena programs for many of the major wrestling offices in the 70's.

Jim was a true gentleman and one of wrestling's great historians. Long after Wrestling Revue went away, Melby published numerous record books on major stars, compiling years and years of match results. He also wrote a book on the history of wrestling in Minnesota.

I first met Jim at one of The Fabulous Moolah's LIWA conventions in Las Vegas, where he regularly attended and often refereed some of the matches on the women's cards they would hold as part of the convention.

Jim was very supportive of the MAT MARKETPLACE newsletter I used to publish and furnished photos and facts on a number of occasions.

Jim was one of those people I would never have met had we not had that common interest and passion for professional wrestling. His love of the grappling game was pure and true. Here was someone who published an important publication and wrote thousands of articles, but if you ever saw him in the presence of one of wrestling's legends, his reverence for those men and women was always evident.

There are a select group of individuals who over the years have kept and complied the photos, clippings, publications, facts and stories of the rich history of professional wrestling. They are guys like Steve Yohe, J. Michael Kenyon, Fred Hornby, Scott Teal, Dave Meltzer and Jim Melby, whose love for professional wrestling never faltered. They have done us all a great service by preserving something truly unique and truly an American cultural phenomenon.

My heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Jim Melby.

Things They Don't Teach in Wrestling School: Part 2

My last blog entry on this subject got quite the response with almost all of it being positive. There were the few message board posts that accused me of being bitter, but nothing could be further from the truth. I love professional wrestling and it's been a privilege, as a promoter to present it. I have been lucky enough to have made friends with many of my childhood heroes - the pioneers of this sport (and I do believe it is a sport, but that's another blog subject for another day) - and they have shaped many of my views.

I got a few responses along the lines of "the promoters always screw the boys, so it's cool to screw them back." Hey, I have heard a million stories about crooked promoters or clueless marks trying to be big shots up until the time comes to pay up. How many of us have been screwed by our employers in one way or another? Did you still show up for work? Did you still do what you were supposed to do? Of course you did. Does that make it right? No. But in the end it's better to rise above the bad behavior of others than behave that way yourself. Just because independent shows are mostly weekend gigs for short money and ring time does not mean you shouldn't carry yourself like a professional. This is a small business and it takes notice of people who carry themselves with class. Many times, your next booking comes, not from the promoter, but from the guy next to you in the locker room.

There are those who believe that "old school thinking" isn't relevant to today's business. I believe that it couldn't be more relevant. It's not about in ring style or talent or booking choices. It's about being a professional and running your business like one.

In the last blog, I talked about how the dissolution of the territory system and the rise of the "independent promotion" created a wrestling world of lowered standards. Independent promotions, including my own, are not full time companies. That fact should not excuse anyone from not conducting themselves just as professionally as if it was.

I have tried to create a positive stage for the talent that works for me to perform on. Some of them have accused me of taking my company too seriously, but to be true to what pro wrestling is, and needs to be, to achieve viability on any level, it must be taken seriously. Anything less is cheating the talent, the staff and ultimately, and most importantly, the audience.

Very few of today's wrestling schools are run by people who were top or even mid-level performers. Many were never consistent working wrestlers in any major organization. This does not necessarily mean that you can't learn anything from them. But professional wrestling is much, much more than what takes place in the ring. I never cease to be dismayed by the out of ring conduct of some wrestlers and even some "promoters." It's anything but "professional" and it holds the business back.

One of the toughest things about promoting independent wrestling is securing good, affordable venues. In New England, we have a history of a few "promoters" that make it habit of leaving every venue they go to in a state of disrepair. We are constantly having to deal with being painted with the same brush as some of these goons.

I can't tell you how many times I've heard, "You want to have wrestling here? Nahhhhhh. We had that here 6 years ago and they wrecked the place."

I often feel like a grade school teacher when I have to tell guys to pick up the foil packs from their protein shakes and power bars, empty water bottles, etc.

We had a situation that happened here just last week. Ring of Honor ran a show at the National Guard Armory in Braintree, MA. They not only oversold the building, creating a fire hazard, but they left the place a shambles. The Braintree Armory is now no longer available for rental use until further notice. This includes community and youth groups. Though we do not run the Braintree Armory, we do run a couple of other armories in the state. Now, thanks to Ring of Honor, there is a rule in place that we must get a written statement from the local police that they are informed about the event. It's not a deal breaker for us, but it's an extra step that would not have been necessary if that company were not so blatantly irresponsible in this particular case.

Before anyone goes off and says that I'm jealous of Ring of Honor or something equally stupid, let me set the record straight. I respect Ring of Honor. I have known booker Gabe Sapolsky since he was in high school and you cannot knock ROH for its success with a very innovative business model.

That said, why risk it by overselling a building? If there were ever some kind of emergency on the premises, they could lose the whole company over it. Do you want to attend a show in an overcrowded venue? I sure don't. And if the situation were reversed, and I saw a hundred or more fans with money in hand that I could get by putting them in a potentially hazardous situation, the answer is no, I wouldn't do it. I'd turn them away and trumpet the fact that we did that. What better publicity than being able to say "We turned people away?"

Wrestling is not a "quick buck" business. Whether you are a wrestler or a promoter, it's better to think long term than short term. That's not "old school wrestling." That's just common sense.

More to come in this series. Thanks for reading.

Things They Don't Teach in Wrestling School: Part 1

The older I get the more I see that young people in our business of wrestling have so little regard for its history and traditions. A big reason for this that they simply aren't taught about the way it was and why. Most of the wrestling schools that are out there are run by guys who never experienced the territory days up close. So here we go with the first in a series of "Things They Don't Teach in Wrestling School."

In the days of the wrestling territories, wrestlers lived by a certain code of conduct. That conduct was reinforced by the various wrestling offices, who were, by and large, thriving businesses that ran regular circuits and where wrestlers could make some semblance of a living.

When Vince McMahon took the then WWF national in the mid-80's, regional territories simply couldn't compete and those offices gradually disappeared. Without full time territories, there were many areas of the country still under served by live pro wrestling. This was the real birth of what we now refer to as "independent wrestling." The "indies" are really a relatively new phenomenon in wrestling.

Where once there were territory owners and veteran stars to teach younger wrestlers, and steady work in front of crowds from which to learn, the standards suddenly dropped. Ex-wrestlers opened wrestling schools. Now you had a bunch of "wrestlers" running around who just wanted to wrestle, so in the tradition of Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, they put on their own shows just so they could work. Some of those guys then opened up their own schools, so they could charge other kids a few grand a pop, and those guys would run their own shows, so their students could work. The "business", if you want to call it that, became more about working for the sake of working, than about running a successful business.

"Independent wrestling" is a broad term that covers a lot of ground. Not all independents are the same. It used to be that an independent was any company that ran live events, but had no TV and did not run a regular circuit. There are a few independent companies that do have local TV and do run regular circuits, but they are the exception.

Generally speaking, independent wrestling companies break down like this:

"The Sold Show" Promotion: This is the kind of company that only runs fundraisers and events that a third party pays them to do. This was the way independent wrestling operated for the most part in New England for years before NECW came along. The formula was simple: Get two or more ex-national stars to headline and use the local boys as filler underneath. Most of these shows would take place in high schools and in the 80's and 90's, it would not be unusual to get 1,500 to 2,000 fans in a high school gym for shows of this type. In the late 90's, when WWF came out with DX and Steve Austin and the halls of our high schools were filled with kids doing the crotch chop and flipping the bird, many high schools forbade wrestling from coming back and this killed that type of business.

The Wrestling School Promotion: This is the current popular type of structure. A wrestler opens a wrestling school. He gets 20 or 30 students who each pay anywhere from $1,500 to $3,000 to train to become pro wrestlers. The school owner uses the tuition money to float small scale shows, which he makes the students appear on for little or no money. Because the shows are so cheap to operate, and because the labor is practically free, Mr. Wrestling School Owner is now a promoter too.

The Vanity Press/Weekend Warrior/Fantasy Promotion: Wrestling school dropouts who weren't good enough to be booked by major companies or guys who trained for a while and just want to go out and have fun decide to put on some shows. They know they aren't going to be making a lot of money if any, but that's not the point. This is the pro wrestling equivalent to poker night or bowling night for the boys, except they take bumps and charge admission. This category also includes the non-wrestler who dreams of being the next Vince McMahon but knows little or nothing about how a real wrestling business is operated, expect what he or she sees on TV.

The Modern Day Territory: These are the companies that aspire to be thriving businesses. They run regular shows. They sometimes sell shows. They try and run their business the old school way in the modern world. This is the category NECW falls under.

It should be noted that none of these categories is necessarily a bad or evil way of doing business. Unfortunately, if you're not on TV, the general public sees all independents as equals and can't discern between one or the other.

Sadly, a lot of wrestlers see it that way too. The "a show is just a show" mentality is pervasive in today's business. It is often difficult for a company that strives to be taken seriously to operate under old school traditions, because the talent doesn't even know what old school tradition is.

For instance, we had a tag team that was set to debut for us recently. We spent months building up their debut with TV promos, promos that screened on our tron at our live events, even a live angle where they appeared on tape. We shot and aired promos specific to who they were debuting against and had a couple of programs already mapped out.

After all this build up, said team - I won't mention their names now - sent us an e-mail saying that they got some dates in Florida and that they can't afford to come back.

This team just wasted months of effort on our part. They screwed up our booking, as well as programs involving other workers. Old school tradition dictates that you NEVER blow off dates you've shot promos and have been built up for - especially your debut! Even WWE lets you play out your commitments, if they sign you. That move was the ultimate disrespect - to the promoters, as well as their fellow workers. We could never trust these goofs again, nor would we suggest any other promoter do so either.

I'll have more on this in future entries. Thanks for reading!

SNOWBRAWL Thoughts, Books & DVD's and more

What a great night we had this past Saturday in Quincy, MA! A packed house kicked off the year for NECW and I was so happy to meet a lot of new fans over at the Armory.

Last Monday, we had a 3/4 page color photo spread on our Sunday, January 21 World Women's Wrestling event in The Boston Herald. My phone rang non-stop and the e-mails came flooding in after that.

This past Saturday, The Boston Globe ran a full color picture of WWW Champion, Tanya Lee on the cover of The Globe's Sidekick section. That was a real boost, and as a result, we had a lot of fans come who hadn't seen us before.

Those fans saw a heck of night of action. I'll let you click on over to the show report on the NECW website for all the details, but the most remarkable thing about promoting New England Championship Wrestling is having the chance to interact with the fans and talk to them. As I promoter, I like to be visible and accessible to the fans as much as I can. After all, they are the lifeblood of our business. I think showing them that you care about their experience gives them the feeling that they spent their money well.

I got what I consider the ultimate compliment from one of our fans Saturday night. He came up to me and said, "Mr. Goldberg, you make me look like a hero to my kids every time we come here. I'm a divorced father with 3 boys, ages 12, 8 and 5, and for me to be able to come here, buy them tickets, soda, a slice of pizza and have change left from a $100 bill... That's just a great thing that you do. You don't realize what a great thing that is." I was touched by what he said, because that is something important that few other businesses do - provide a quality live entertainment experience at an affordable price. Seeing people enjoy what we do with NECW and WWW, and getting their gratitude, as well as their patronage, is what a business should really be about.

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Recommended wrestling books & DVD's:

"Wrestling at the Chase" by Larry Matysik is a look back at Sam Munchnik and St. Louis Wrestling. Matysik, who was the play-by-play announcer for the St. Louis promotion, and later became Sam's assistant and eventual heir to the business, gives a loving and informative inside look at the promotion and the pro wrestling business of the era. For those of you who are students of the game, this book is a real education.

"Heroes of World Class" by Brian Harrison is a must-have DVD that chronicles the rise and fall of Dallas-based World Class Championship Wrestling. This is just a phenomenal piece of work that covers the whole thing from top to bottom. It may not be a slick as the WWE releases, but all the great moments and clips are there, as well as great interviews with some of the key players of that period. A new 2 disc version is out now, distributed by Big Vision Entertainment.

"The Spectacular Legacy of the AWA" is one of the better WWE DVD releases. DVD's are something WWE tends to get right and this one is just tremendous. I am so glad this was done by WWE after buying the footage from Verne Gagne, because it's a history that needed to be told in a forum like this.

Right now, I'm reading the Bill Watts bio "The Cowboy and the Cross", co-written by Watts and Scott E. Williams, who wrote the excellent chronicle of ECW, "Hardcore History" (another must buy).

I am anxiously awaiting Tod Gordon's book, which I am told is pretty explosive. The whole ECW story is fascinating stuff and a real education. The WWE DVD "The Rise & Fall of ECW", the Jeremy Borash produced "Forever Hardcore" and Scott Williams' book are all great pieces of the puzzle that was ECW. I regretted not getting to know Tod better at the time of my involvement with ECW, as he is someone I have a great deal of respect for. I'll update this when I've read Tod's book.

Omissions from Last Night's Blog

Just a few additions to last night's blog which was written very late last night.

With regard to NECW talent, I neglected to mention The Canadian Superstars as being the dominant tag team in the promotion for the entire year. That's no small accomplishment in today's "He's (She's or They've) held the belt long enough. Let's switch it to (insert talent's name here)" world. Busta and Cole are still young and will get even better as time goes on. Manager Brian Cairo is a great pairing with this talented duo.

Speaking of managers, Sean Gorman may be hard to like as a personality, but as a talent he is hard not to admire. Why this guy was not voted "Manager of the Year" on The Burning Hammer is a mystery to me, because in my not-so-humble opinion, he has no peer in the world of independent wrestling.

I don't want to risk offending the rest of the NECW/WWW roster by omitting them from my remarks. Collectively, our current roster is the best in the history of the promotion, and it will get even better as time goes on.

Wrapping Up 2006, FAQ's & More

Apologies for not being more faithful to this blog. Trying to cover all bases isn't easy and I don't suspect that's changing any time soon.

2006 is in the record books and it was a great year for NECW. Between the merger with PWF Mayhem and the launch of World Women's Wrestling, it was a triumphant year with so very much to look forward to in 2007.

This has also been time for those end of the year awards you see on many of the major wrestling web sites. The oldest and most respected awards list in our business is Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer Awards. These are voted on by readers and Dave does a great job presenting these in his newsletter.

While I am very fond of Dave and have the utmost respect for his work, I have lost some respect for the Observer Awards this year. The reason is that mixed martial arts and pro wrestling are voted on together in many categories and they are clearly two different things. MMA should not be compared to pro wrestling in this way. Have MMA awards and pro wrestling awards, but don't mix the two. When Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock win "Feud of the Year," that's just plain wrong.

The Burning Hammer, which is a message board that caters to New England based wrestling fans, had its annual Best of 2006 poll, voted on by it's readers. I wish they had put Ring of Honor in a separate category from other local independents, because ROH is not local, nor are they the same kind of independent as others. To their credit, they are a category unto themselves.

A message board awards are bound to have controversy because many of the posters are workers, promoters or staff of local promotions. An early point of heated discussion in the voting was that our own Nikki Roxx had received a large number of the early votes for "Wrestler of the Year."

Bryan Danielson of ROH finally won the category, but as great a year as Danielson had as ROH Champion, Nikki Roxx record of accomplishment is singular and historic. No wrestler - male or female - was a bigger draw in New England than Nikki Roxx. As the first woman to actually be the focal point of an independent promotion, she not only proved her worth as an attraction, but shattered a lot of myths about what does and doesn't draw.

Nikki did win "Female Wrestler of the Year" and deservedly so. Ariel also is deserving, as her feud with Nikki, culminating in the August title unification match, was a major reason that World Women's Wrestling got off to such an auspicious start.

Jason Blade was voted "Breakout Wrestler of the Year." Blade is a top flight talent (poorly booked by ROH, but their loss is our gain) and someone who has paid the dues along the way.

In my own opinion, if you talk about "Breakout" wrestlers, you cannot ignore NECW Triple Crown Champion, "The Human Nightmare" Evan Siks and D.C. Dillinger, both of whom were not considered top level talent by many a year ago, but have proven themselves to be main event players with drawing power.

"Die Hard" Eddie Edwards has also developed into an elite worker and a top star in the region. Mark my words, Edwards is someone who will be a major player in pro wrestling in the years to come.

NECW kicks off 2007 this coming Saturday night with SNOWBRAWL at the National Guard Armory in Quincy, MA. I'm excited about the show and excited about the year ahead. We have a tremendous collection of talent, great booking and we're just warming up.

Taking a page out of Jim Ross' playbook with how he does his blog, here are some questions I get frequently asked:

When is World Women's Wrestling going to tour?

Right now, we have committed to 11 dates at Good Time Emporium for 2007. I am hoping we will have at least two more dates, both of which would be in other venues. This is a promotion and concept that will develop over time. I do expect to spread the WWW joy around to other areas, but we will do so cautiously.

When are you coming out with more DVD's?

This is a tough one to answer specifically. We have very limited staffing and we do a tremendous amount of work just promoting 3 or more live events per month and producing the weekly Internet TV broadcasts. Those things by themselves eat up an enormous amount of man hours from a very few people. We are primarily a house show business, but we are working on ramping up staffing and ways to get DVD production to the point where we have regular releases. It is a priority for us and we are taking steps to resolve that situation. It will take us time before it is implemented.

Are you ever going to do shows outside of New England?

Not with NECW. World Women's Wrestling is another story.

I am often asked about specific talents and why they don't work for us. I don't like answering those questions, because in many cases the answers would involve a personal issue that does not need to be made public or a non-issue that doesn't need to be made public. However, I do have some rules of thumb that might answer some of those questions, without getting into specific cases.

First rule is that we generally avoid booking another local promotion's champion. We take titles very seriously here - both ours and others. It is a disrespect to the wrestler and the promotion they represent as champion to job them out. Even if I disliked another promoter, I would not job out his titleholder and cheapen the worker or the other members of the locker room he represents. That's petty and unprofessional. Promoters who think that gets them "over" another promotion when they job their champ are small thinkers and probably won't last over the long haul. Talent need to understand that titles are to be considered a serious responsibility. A championship means you are the focal point of the promotion and the one person that leads the charge in main events. You are the asset being sold. Don't let yourself be cheapened.

Second rule is that we expect the talent we book on a regular basis to make our dates a priority. We are a character and angle driven promotion. If a wrestler can't make regular dates for us, we will be hesitant to use him or her. There are exceptions to this, but by and large we have a roster that is pretty much a regular crew and that is by design.

Another thing I get a lot of is people who write to me looking to work for us in a non-wrestling position. I can't tell you how many people who write in and say, "I want to write your scripts." WWE uses scriptwriters because they have 4 hours a week on prime time TV between RAW and Smackdown and it is treated like an entertainment show more than a wrestling show. Independent companies don't use scriptwriters, unless they are complete marks.

After 6 1/2 years of doing this, I have concluded that the best thing with people who want to work with us that aren't wrestlers is to start them at the bottom so they can see and understand what it is that we do and appreciate the degree of difficulty involved in wrestling and more specifically, the promotion of a company like this one. No one in any business starts at the top.

For the wrestlers who want to work for us: I hate those mass e-mails that you send to every other independent company saying things like, "Looking for workers?" I always want to write back saying, "Yes, and if you know of anyone good, send them our way!"

It's late here, so I'll wrap this entry up by saying that I wish you all a happy, healthy and successful New Year. More thoughts soon!

Happy Birthday NECW TV

This week marks the second anniversary of New England Championship Wrestling's pioneering Internet television broadcasts, NECW TV.

NECW was the first independent promotion to produce an original weekly wrestling television program specifically produced for distribution via the Internet. It set off a slew of imitators and set a trend for wrestling companies to use the Internet as a direct means to distribute television programming. Both WWE and TNA have distributed Internet-only programming in the wake of our efforts.

This, however, was not my first foray into distributing wrestling programming via the Net. Back in 1996, I worked with Howard Brody and the late Hiro Matsuda on a project called RING WARRIORS. RING WARRIORS was actually re-voiced and re-edited matches from New Japan Pro Wrestling. Hiro Matsuda had obtained the rights from TV Asahi, the Japanese TV network that airs New Japan Pro Wrestling and owns part of the company, to distribute the shows outside of Japan. RING WARRIORS had achieved quite a bit success on Eurosport, the European equivalent to ESPN at the time, and the desire was to find a way to prime the product for an introduction to North America.

My suggestion was to find a way to engage fans via the Internet, specifically using streaming video, which was in its infancy at the time. The company made a deal with VDO Systems, who were developing streaming video technology at the time. A number of episodes were produced featuring Gordon Solie and Bruno Sammartino on commentary. The initial launch was to allow viewers the chance to watch the first week's show free, then charge a modest subscription fee to view subsequent weeks.

The first week's traffic was high, but since few people had broadband access in 1996, the viewing experience was not very good. The Internet aspect of the project was abandoned not long after that, although other attempts to launch RING WARRIORS continued until Hiro's passing in 1999.

I still believed that eventually, the Internet would become the "great equalizer" for small wrestling promotions. The ability to distribute a television product worldwide without a TV station or network was, and is, a revolutionary concept that has now become a reality.

I actually wanted to launch NECW TV a few years earlier, but did not have the staffing or resources to make it happen at the time. I remember being scoffed at by people who thought that no one would watch wrestling on that little screen within a screen. Logic dictated otherwise. At the time, we had roughly 3,000 unique visitors each month to our website without video content. Since we were not drawing 3,000 people per month live, that meant that there were many more people out there who were looking at NECW through that little window that was our website. It only made sense to open that window wider by actually showing them our promotion via streaming video, which by this time had become far more viable.

The launch of NECW TV two years ago was an immediate success. We went from 3,000 unique visitors per month to over 40,000 in the early going. We got significant publicity, including a story in the New York Daily News. While the major wrestling websites, with a few exceptions, ignored it, there was no denying that it started a trend. Within days of our announcement Jersey All Pro Wrestling announced a similar thing. Today, dozens of independent promotions worldwide utilize the Internet as a primary means to distribute their content. All this, two years before YouTube made "user generated content" an entertainment industry catch phrase.

Today, NECW TV enjoys a continued strong worldwide viewership. As a promotional tool, it has been an invaluable means of marketing our company. We have also kept it free. In fact the motto of NECW TV is "Free. On Demand. Worldwide." That always summed it up best for me.

As successful as NECW TV has been, it should be noted that I have never viewed it as a substitute for conventional television. Pro wrestling, much like other mainstreams sports, has always been an experience best enjoyed at full screen size on a conventional television set. Conventional TV is still the best mechanism to reach the most people.

In fact, NECW TV does air on a couple of town cable access channels, so there are some viewers who have seen it on conventional TV, but our goal remains eventually transitioning our content to being primarily produced for broadcast or cable. Having the ability to produce a weekly program on a zero budget is not to be underestimated. NECW TV is a means to end, as well as an end unto itself.

I'd like to thank the fans who have watched and supported NECW TV for these past two years. We have been seen in more than 60 countries and hope that all of you have enjoyed our programs. You have helped us rewrite the history of pro wrestling promotion and opened the door for dozens of unheralded talents - promoters, as well as wrestlers - to be seen and appreciated.

Interesting Times for NECW & WWW

We are getting ready for a big DOUBLE IMPACT WEEKEND with NECW & WWW. Two fantastic events are on tap with NECW in Quincy on Saturyday night and World Women's Wrestling at Good Time Emporium in Somerville on Sunday afternoon with a 3 PM bell time.

This is an interesting time for NECW, as well as World Women's Wrestling (which is referred to as Triple W for short). While we are not as widely covered by the Internet wrestling media as say an ROH, NECW is a vibrant and innovative regional company.

The NECW roster boasts a boatload of talent. From Evan Siks, the Triple Crown Champion on top, to D.C. Dillinger and Eddie Edwards, NECW Tag Team Champions, The Canadian Superstars, 2D Edge, Big Rick Fuller, R.I.O.T., NECW Television Champion, "The Talent" T.J. Richter to managers Sean Gorman and Brian Cairo and up and comers like The Wild Boys, Handsome Johnny, Max Bauer and Scott Reed (apologies to anyone I left out), there is a lot to like in NECW. If you follow our online TV shows - www.NECW.tv - it's there for you to see every week. These are the best wrestlers in the region. Not the upper class of wrestling school trainees. The best talent is drawn here, because they see things happening. They see bigger, more enthusiastic crowds and a company with a long and consistent track record.

World Women's Wrestling is a story unto itself. A year and a half ago, I ran two all women's shows, as part of a day/night doubleheader. The NECW crew at the time, and this was before the merger with PWF, were resistant to the women's shows to the point of blatant sabotage by the booker and a few of his co-horts. The women drew a receptive audience in spite of that and it was clear to me that a women's company would be viable. The experience of those first two shows was, in one way, a blessing, because it became clear to me that the women needed to stand alone with their own brand name and their own stand alone dates.

Once the shows were presented under the World Women's Wrestling name, it took off like a rocket.

The promotion features some of the best female wrestling talent around and the roster is constantly growing. The women are accomplished pro wrestlers and are presented as such. It is interesting to see how these girls rise to the occasion when given roles equal to how men are normally presented. It is completely fresh and entertaining and I have been very gratified by how fans, the stars and staff have accepted it. The sky is the limit for this company and you can look forward to seeing the same kind of innovation that has been a hallmark of NECW, applied to World Women's Wrestling.

If you have not experienced NECW or WWW before, you are in for a very big treat. Check out www.NECWwrestling.com and www.WorldWomensWrestling.com for all the details of this DOUBLE IMPACT Weekend.

Remembering Rumble

When I die, I don't want people to be sad. I want people to be happy, because I'll be with my friends. - "The Boston Bad Boy" Tony Rumble

It was 7 years ago today that "The Boston Bad Boy" Tony Rumble died suddenly of a massive heart attack.

Most wrestling fans would have been familiar with Rumble from his hosting of Mario Savoldi's old ICW (later ICCW) TV shows. Around these parts, Tony Rumble was the owner and promoter of the Century Wrestling Alliance, later becoming NWA New England.

His exposure on the ICW/ICCW shows made him something of a local celebrity. He was street smart, as opposed to book smart, and a tremendously effective promoter. The CWA/NWA NE dominated the area as far as local promotion goes. Rumble had a knack of being able to pick up sold shows (events where a school or organization would buy the event for a set price) and then promote events off of the sold show. While he was never what you'd call wealthy or even well off, he did made a living from wrestling during much of the last 5 years of his life.

At its best, CWA/NWA NE was a collection of top national (and even some occasional international) stars and some interesting local talent. Rumble also had what he called his "Whack Pack." Guys who were there just to be amusing or entertaining. They gave the promotion a unique character, much like Rumble himself.

Rumble's friendships with the likes of Jim Cornette and Kevin Sullivan put the promotion in a very unique place in the late 90's. Before the beginning of developmental territories that WWE uses now, Rumble was one of those few who had the ear of decision makers in the then-WWF and WCW. Rumble was also still friendly with former ICW proteges like Taz and Tommy Dreamer, as well as Paul Heyman. In New England, Rumble dominated the local scene, such as it was at the time.

In fact, NWA NE was really the first "serious" independent promotion in the region. The company had a cable access TV show called "Mass Madness," produced by a bright young cable access producer named Pat Doyle. The production was fairly high quality for its time and the shows had everything from great wrestling with top talent to funny wrap-around segments. The show eventually made its way onto broadcast TV on an independent UHF station out of Derry, NH. The show used a different format on broadcast TV and lasted 16 weeks before the station wanted to change the deal and get paid for the show. A local car dealership - Atlantic Toyota - had agreed to sponsor the show, but pulled out at the last minute. It was a hard blow to Rumble, who passed away a few weeks later.

Those who knew him remember him fondly. They remember his as a mentor who gave people a chance to perform who would have otherwise not had that chance. He helped a lot of guys get into the national spotlight. He was a larger than life character, always fun to be around and quick with a great story.

But the real person behind Tony Rumble was a lot more complex. Anthony David Magliaro was a street kid whose parents died young. He had a difficult childhood and life with few bright spots. One of Tony's joys as a boy were the monthly wrestling shows at the old Boston Garden. At a Garden show in 1966, Bruno Sammartino and Gorilla Monsoon had a match where the ring broke in the middle of the match. It was the moment that Tony decided he wanted to be a wrestler, and years later he fulfilled that dream. He eventually took on the persona of "The Boston Bad Boy" Tony Rumble and that was when Tony's life really began.

We became close friends over the last 6 years of his life. He loved wrestling with all his heart, as he did his wife, Ellen, her children and his first grandson, Hunter.

Tony's sudden death threw the New England wrestling scene into turmoil. Rumble was an irreplaceable commodity. His widow tried to put the promotion in hands that would continue the business, but they were the wrong people for the job. The solid business that Tony had built over 6 and half years, crumbled within 6 months. Eventually, Tony's widow turned the operation over to Jason Dellagatta, who had wrestled for NWA NE as Jason Rage. At the urging of Ellen Magliaro, Jason Rage became Jason Rumble, the "son" of Tony. While Jason was no relation to Tony in real life, the promotion did continue under his direction, but Jason did not have the experience as either a wrestler or a businessman to be effective in either role.

With Tony gone, it was inevitable that other promotions would spring up and try and occupy the same place it held on the New England scene. By the time of his death, the business was changing rapidly. The sold shows became more difficult to get and the ability to book top names from WWF and WCW dried up. It became clear, at least to me, that the region called for a different model for doing business. To try and imitate what Tony did would be impossible, because so much of it worked because of him and his personality.

I think about Tony Rumble every single day. He was one of those characters that simply don't exist anymore and probably never will again. And while I am sad that he is not here to lend his street-wise wisdom, humor and love to this world, I pray that he is happy wherever he is now.

Rest in peace my friend.

Post Monster's Brawl Thoughts, Bischoff Book & More!

Thanks to everyone who came out last week for another stellar NECW event at the Armory in Quincy, MA.

I thought this event had great energy led by some feuds that are getting hotter by the month. The issues between "Hurricane" John Walters and Jason Blade are getting more complex with each outing. My take on Walters' "turn to the dark side" is that it was born out of frustration over not being able to regain the NECW Heavyweight Championship and beyond to the Triple Crown. However, on the recent edition of NECW Roundtable, both Evan Siks and Sean Gorman seem to think this attitude change was a calculated move. Wherever the truth lies, there is a passion in Walters' demeanor that makes him a much more interesting athlete to watch. Walters and Blade are two of the best ring technicians in the game right now and each of their collisions has been memorable. They will do it again on November 18th with the count out rule waived and I am looking forward to that one.

Kristian Frost and Brian Fury are in the thick of battle these days. Fury scored a victory last weekend over Frost in a bout that could have gone either way. After the match, Frost laid out Fury with a set of handcuffs and Fury has challenged Frost to a "Handcuffs On a Pole" Match on November 18. Frost and Fury are both marquee athletes who are going to do huge things in NECW in the future.

The Canadian Superstars continue to frustrate their opposition - as well as management. It is a credit to this team that have been so dominant. But their manhandling of Matt and Kyle Storm was as difficult to accept for me as it was for them. I hope that the Storms decide not to hang them up, as they are a team with much to offer.

Of course, the buzz is all about the mystery partner Evan Siks produced last weekend in "Big" Rick Fuller. Talk about impact players! Fuller is going to have a gigantic impact in NECW. It's good to have the big man in house. Fuller and I go back to the days of late, great "Boston Bad Boy" Tony Rumble. Rick has always been a class act and has deserved a much higher profile in this industry. Do not be surprised if that injustice is rectified within the parameters of NECW.

Thinking about the current state of affairs in NECW, I think this is the most interesting and talent-rich roster in the history of the promotion. That is no knock on anyone in the company's past.

For those of you who have not yet seen NECW or WWW live or who haven't been in a while, we have a very unique opportunity this month. We're calling it a "Double Impact Weekend" an NECW event on Saturday night, November 18 in Quincy (7 PM bell time) and a World Women's Wrestling event the next afternoon at Good Time Emporium in Somerville (3 PM bell time). This is a great opportunity to see the best wrestling New England has to offer and the phenomenon that is World Women's Wrestling.

I read Eric Bischoff's new book, Controversy Creates Cash and highly recommend it to anyone who is a true student of the wrestling business. There will be debate over the veracity of many of the things Eric says in the book, but it is a real education on how pro wrestling got to where it is right now and what the realities of the industry are today. I have had a few personal dealings with Eric over the years and I have a very high opinion of him personally. He is a creative guy with a great work ethic and a "can-do" persona. That describes a lot of successful people and Eric is cast in that mold.

I want to thank Doc Young and Les Thatcher for having me on their Wrestling Weekly radio show this past week. We talked about NECW and World Women's Wrestling amongst other topics. Les Thatcher is one guy that I have so much admiration and respect for. In his four decade career, Les has literally done it all from wrestling (including a stint as World Jr. Heavyweight Champion) to promoting to booking to producing and announcing TV, as well as training young wrestlers. What I marvel at most with Les is that he stills passionately follows the current product and listing to his weekly show is a real education. I hope we can get Les to this area again in 2007 for a training camp.

Next week is the 7th anniversary of the death of "The Boston Bad Boy" Tony Rumble. Rumble was my best friend and a guy I would go to the wall for again and again. If you didn't know him, words probably won't do him justice, but he was one of those true characters - a larger than life figure who was loved by many and who lived and - sadly - died for this business we call professional wrestling. I think about Tony everyday and the more time goes by the more I realize that he was truly one-of-a-kind, never to be duplicated. I hope that he is at peace and surrounded by the family he cherished and the friends he treasured.