Small Time Promotions

[Mustang Sally]

As we saw in "The Wrestler" movie, all pro wrestling isn't as opulent as WWE. Still, there are a lot of "name" wrestlers who have separated from WWE or TNA and want to continue in their professions, so they appear in shows put on by tiny, regional promotions.

Look at some of the folks that will be in a show produced at a medium sized (about 1400 students) high school gym in Connecticut. We know these people; they've achieved fame in the large promotions......yet, they can be seen for a top price of $30 at this venue.

Matt Hardy heads the card, which tells you something since his opponents in the 6-man match aren't even named. I wonder whether we've heard of any of them, or if it isn't important anyway, because Matt is the prime attraction.

Goldust and The Godfather are featured too, against unnamed opposition. Obviously, the promoters of this event are going for name recognition, not the attractiveness of match-ups.

The two divas on the card are pitted against each other. That Maria Kanellis is doing this stuff clearly indicates she still wants to be a part of pro wrestling. Is doing this her method of getting back to the big time? Come to think of it, are Goldust and Matt Hardy doing it for the same reason?

And what of Mickie James? Isn't she still with TNA? If so, don't they have anything for her to do? Yes, TNA, unlike WWE, allows their people to take outside bookings, but why is Mickie taking this one? Does she need the money? Is what she earns at TNA not enough to live on?

Don't think I'm putting down small promotions; I think it's great that local folks who want to see a wrestling show with some star power, yet can't afford WWE shows (or can't get tickets) have an alternative like this. A few years ago, I attended a card at a local State Armory. There were about 400 people in the packed house. I was told that each wrestler came down to the ring accompanied by tinny-sounding music coming from the speakers, and that the noise made by the crowd was deafening. Jerry Lawler and Dawn Marie headed the card, along with a bunch of local guys. All the people jammed into the small building made this exciting, and it was a hell of a lot of fun.

The card referenced here sounds a lot better, if you want to see performers you recognize, yet never thought you'd get to.

Still, I wonder if folks like Goldust and Matt Hardy feel like Randy (The Ram) Robinson when they look at where they're performing, after having known Madison Square Garden and Wrestlemania.

Have you ever attended a wrestling show like this one?

 

[Jack-Hammer]

"And what of Mickie James? Isn't she still with TNA? If so, don't they have anything for her to do? Yes, TNA, unlike WWE, allows their people to take outside bookings, but why is Mickie taking this one? Does she need the money? Is what she earns at TNA not enough to live on?"

Yeah, Mickie James is still with TNA. She won a #1 contender match for the KO title last week. As for not having anything for her to do, there's not really much of anything left for her in TNA that she hasn't done already. She's still the biggest female star in the company, she's been in the various top feuds for much of the 2.5 years she's been there, she's been KO champ 2 times, etc.

As for TNA allowing stars to take outside bookings, if the various reports that've been put out over the years are true, then most TNA wrestlers don't make very much money. Allegedly, most of them work on a contract that's a per appearance deal. Generation Me, AKA The Young Bucks, for instance, stated not long after leaving TNA that they were only making $300 each per appearance. If you only pop up on a show every so often, say every few months, that's certainly not enough to get by on. Last year, Stevie Richards claimed that he parted ways with TNA simply because he wasn't making any money. Also, again allegedly, it was reported that TNA sometimes charges promotions a fee for loaning their talent out to them. Again, not saying that it's all 100% true or anything, it's just info that's been put out there.

Maybe Mickie James just enjoys wrestling, even for these smaller companies. I'd say she makes more than any other KO on the roster, but I highly doubt she's making anywhere near what Hogan, Sting or Angle pull down. Whether it's enough to "live on" or not, who can tell. For all anyone knows, she may have blown the money she made in WWE. She wouldn't be the first to have made a lot of money working for a big company to do that, if she has.

I've attended a lot of these really small shows. The landscape is dotted with small companies like the one advertising in the poster. Just like in the big leagues, they sometimes put on good shows and sometimes they don't.

 

[FitFinlay4Life]

This looks like a very interesting promotion; while they do have a champion, their website seems to be indicating that they operate as a banner company for many big names from both the WWe and TNA to appear under their name but at your event. As such, I don't know if this would strictly fall in the Randy (the Ram) Robinson RoH/ Indy scenario but more in the convention circuit. The two links below give a better impression of how 'NEW' actually operates -

http://www.northeastwrestling.com/fundraising.shtml#.UXlsvrU3uU8
http://www.northeastwrestling.com/index.shtml#.UXls4bU3uU8​

 

[PsychoBlack]

I've never been to one of these shows, always wanted to though. I think it would be fun to see a lot of the older guys wrestling someone who could potentially be a star in a few years. ROH did shows like this quite a bit before they turned to shit. I always wondered how the younger wrestlers got booked on these though

 

[Papa Pillman]

ROH did shows like this quite a bit before they turned to shit. I always wondered how the younger wrestlers got booked on these though

So booking a bunch of nobodies that can't make a poster to face off with attitude era has-beens to try and pop a few extra ticket buys is a valid way to run a show. But a promotion that operates eight IPPVs a year, is syndicated in over a third of all homes in the country, and features the best collection of talent(actually contracted talented, unlike this show) under thirty years old of any promotion in America is "shit".

And on top of that, ROH still does bring in guys as special attractions too. They brought Fit Finlay plus Lance Storm and Jerry Lynn on their retirement tours in the last year, and those guys can still work. They're bringing in Paul London next month as well. But what they're not doing is building the shows around those guys, they use them as midcard attractions. They have their own talent. One of which is Matt Hardy, and in ROH he's a midcarder, not the center of an event poster. Why? because they can put 600-1200 people in the stands by booking their own home grown talent. What a shitty promotion. Dumb Ass.