A New Wrestling Promotion?

[The Bearded One]

Reports are swirling that there is going to be a new promotion based out of Florida. Information can be found here:

http://www.pwinsider.com/article/49079/new-startup-venture-in-florida-said-to-have-big-money-behind-it-signing-wrestlers-to-contracts-what-we-know-so-far.html?p=1

The yet to be named promotion is still in the development phase, but it has some big money backing it. The main person backing it is Milton Wilpon, who owns Sterling Equities, which in turn owns entities such as the New York Mets. So they have plenty of money behind them. The article said that it might launch this fall but will go full time next year. They are keeping the roster under wraps at this time, although a couple of names have leaked. The article above names Sean Waltman as a roster member. There has been a follow-up that has named another wrestler:

http://pwinsider.com/article/49123/follow-up-on-florida-upstart.html?p=1

Thats right, Vader! I know he's getting pretty old, but it should be fun to watch. It also named who might be doing some of the backstage stuff.

But to me, one of the biggest things is the location, Florida. I'm pretty sure there is another big time wrestling promotion in this fine state of mine, but I can't remember. Oh yeah, thats right...TNA!

So, the question is, how is this going to work? It all depends on the size of the new company. If it is at least the size of Ring of Honor, than it can cause some problems. If its just another little indy, its no big deal. But by the looks of the two announced wrestlers and the man who is backing it, they have much bigger plans than being just another indy.


To be honest, I am very excited about this news. Since I live in Florida, I'm excited to get another choice of wrestling. But I can see how others will view it with reserved optimism.

What are your thoughts on the new, yet-to-be-named company? Is there room for another big time promotion? Or is it doomed to fail before it even starts? Or do you even care?

 

[It's Damn Real!]

New promotions are always a good thing, especially if they're televised.

Competition breeds creativity, and creativity drives this business. The more competition there is, the more jobs can be had, and the better the overall industry is as a general byproduct of it.

Not sure Waltman will make much of a difference – especially after contracting Hepatitis C – and I'm not positive at 53-year old Vader will be much a difference maker himself, but regardless, a new company is still a good thing.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

An ancient Vader and an unreliable drug addict with hepititus-C.....seems strange choices to be major stars in a new company....

But, more companies the better, it provides more opportunities for wrestlers to earn a decent living and allows more stars to be created, which can only be good for the business as a whole!

 

[Viola Moonlight]

If you are a wrestler in America looking to make it big, you've got three options. WWE, TNA and ROH. Unfortunately, there is a lot of big talents in the US that can't fit onto all three companies. The amount of people on TNA makes it near impossible to include everyone on the roster in some capacity every single week. ROH uses their talents as much as they can, but they have a small-ish roster. WWE's brand extensions can't cope sometimes.

So, with those that are currently waiting to get accepted somewhere in the US and still make a bang, they'd need another company like this to come along. If they will be on the television and decide to go big, considering the amount of money they have, it will be a good thing. More wrestlers get a secure job wrestling for a promotion and it gets talents a chance to put themselves out there for other businesses when the previously didn't. Competition in a small field is good to make that area thrive and get more people interested, as well as force other businesses to do better... and we all know that both TNA and WWE could do with a little kick every now and again.

I'm over-analysing this but I want to stay positive. I'm hoping for the absolute best and that these guys have got better names on hand to base their promotion around. Sean Waltman is a pretty good wrestler and has something to offer (although he's got that nasty hep-C), but Vader? He was great and all, but now he'd be best having a short dominant run and be a talent enhancer.

 

[shattered dreams]

Sounds interesting ... sort of. Hopefully, they are smart enough not to bank on a bunch of people TNA just confirmed no one wants to watch anymore. There does seem to be enough wrestlers out there for something like this right now though. It will be interesting to see if this hurts a company like TNA or helps it. It could hurt if they lose some wrestlers they would have liked to use. It could help if some sort of semi-rivalry sparked interest in both. The tv side for this upstart sounds at least a couple of years away unless they have some serious connections. I'd actually think this might be a bigger threat to something like ROH. Not that the styles would be the same but its another organization looking to coerce their top guys into jumping ship even earlier. At the end of the day it is hard to get too excited about a company that is dumb enough to sign Waltman, even if he can still work alright. I am sure IWC will be buzzing depending on what Vader is going to be doing.

 

[AltMan!!!]

Couldn't be more excited to hear about this, I only hope I will be able to see it. The more competition the better for the talent, the fans, and the business in general. Hopefully they can create some stars instead of just taking used up talent and putting them on television ever yweek in the biggest scenario to ever take place in the company that promises to shake and alter the very foundation of the industry.

 

[Bobby B]

This is a piece I found on SEScoops.com

source: www.sescoops.com

Talk is spreading fast in many circles about a new promotion based in Florida that has already signed close to 40 wrestlers, all of whom have been forced to sign confidentiality agreements to prevent them from speaking about it. The group is said to be run by Pete Karoftis, a former independent promoter in Florida, and Sean Davis, a Florida independent wrestler. The interesting part to all this is that the financing for the operation is said to be coming from Milton Wilpon, a member of the Wilpon family that owns the New York Mets baseball franchise.

The wrestlers’ contracts offer benefits packages that neither WWE or TNA currently offer. The company is trying to keep the names close to the vest as there are names being talked with whose WWE contracts are expiring or who are under contract to TNA, including one major TNA name whose deal is set to expire shortly. They are also going after several top ROH names.

Names that can be confirmed so far include Too Cold Scorpio, Sean Waltman and Vader. Shane Douglas, Justin Credible and Sabu are among the other names being talked with. The group is said to be in favor of unscripted interviews, little in the way of writing out the shows and trying to give it a more legit sports feel.

Wow - just wow. 40 wreslters - this must have some serious money behind it - and the "benefits" package that WWE and TNA don't offer may have something to do with them not hiring them as "Independent Contractors" as I read WWE and TNA do. This is very interesting because I imagine that this could entice people from other promotions (TNA and ROH especially) looking for a better deal and more security.

This could be a jumpstart that really kicks off in a big way if they can sign some of the names that are being talked of in this article. Competition can only be good.

A quick idea on the possible TNA name - I believe that Mr Kennedy's contract is ending in January/December. Depends what you define as "soon" - so it could be him.

 

[Tenta]

I can get down for this. The main thing they need is people who have an eye for talent, and not just investors who have no clue what they're doing. it's why Dixie surrounds herself with people that know wrestling. As IDR, competition is always good, especially when it's competition in the television market. Of course, it could take forever to see how it will do, but the idea that people want to get into the rassling business is reason enough for optimism

 

[Bobby B]

I can get down for this. The main thing they need is people who have an eye for talent, and not just investors who have no clue what they're doing. it's why Dixie surrounds herself with people that know wrestling. As IDR, competition is always good, especially when it's competition in the television market. Of course, it could take forever to see how it will do, but the idea that people want to get into the rassling business is reason enough for optimism

Absolutely, I think there is a core of wrestling fans (alot of which are probably are a member of the Wrestling Community) that just want to see wrestling. Be it WWE, TNA, ROH or anyone else. We're wrestling fans in all its incarnations.

These are only reports, but if they have substance, then I think that they could go far very quickly judging by these claims.

 

[shattered dreams]

This is a piece I found on SEScoops.com

Wow - just wow. 40 wreslters - this must have some serious money behind it - and the "benefits" package that WWE and TNA don't offer may have something to do with them not hiring them as "Independent Contractors" as I read WWE and TNA do. This is very interesting because I imagine that this could entice people from other promotions (TNA and ROH especially) looking for a better deal and more security.

This could be a jumpstart that really kicks off in a big way if they can sign some of the names that are being talked of in this article. Competition can only be good.

A quick idea on the possible TNA name - I believe that Mr Kennedy's contract is ending in January/December. Depends what you define as "soon" - so it could be him.

If they already signed 40 wrestlers plus benefits out of the current available free agent class this promotion has bankrupt written all over it. I just see a promotion doing what TNA was doing back when everyone hated it. Hopefully I am wrong. If they have this much money though maybe they have an interesting tv deal lined up that could catapult them on the off chance they do things right from the beginning. With not writing much I think the product will suffer though. Unscripted interviews are great, mostly unscripted shows are doomed to failure more than likely.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Shane Douglas, Justin Credible, Sabu, Waltman, Vader

As much as I used to love watching these guys, they are all well past their prime, although I expect Credible can still go. Hopefully they wont just rely on old ECW talent, and could get hold of some recently released WWE stars- like Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas etc, as well as some top indie talent and then create some stars of there own