----It is funny how Michael St. John was talking about the upcoming United Wrestling League show going back to the basics and presenting “wrestling” on “Cheap Heat Radio”. I say this because they are presenting one of the biggest gimmick matches I have ever seen promoted – blindfold battle royal. I hate battle royals and this gimmick just smells of disaster. You got some of the best workers in the area like Kevin White, Derrick King and Stan Lee and you stick them in something like this?? I do plan to shell out the $11.95 to experience their first PPV, so I can offer a review for the site. I just might blindfold myself for the battle royal and then maybe it will not be so brutal.
---- St. John did make a good point about his job as an announcer. It is the announcer’s job to get over the workers, not get over them selves. RRO Announcer of the Year Michael Ward is a perfect example of this. You hardly ever hear him say anything, if it is not pertaining to the match or to the wrestlers in the ring. A good announcer also gets over the feuds, gives history and makes it a point to get over the attributes of a worker – whether heel or baby. Ward’s broadcast partner Friday night “Just Joe” is notorious for spending time trying to get over his heel persona – even talking to the fans and putting them down. He was tame on Friday night as Ward did a good job with him. Saturday night Richard Marx did a good job getting over things like “Southern Pride” being a team for such a long time, Christian Jacobs working in Nashville and got over the fact that Coach BT might be helping Justice, but still is not a nice guy. One of my favorite tandems that don’t get a lot of credit is the announcing team of Les Thatcher and Dutch Mantell during the Smokey Mountain Wrestling days. If you get a chance look up some of their stuff.
----It is weird how there is so much “hate” in the indy scene. I write a report about how much I enjoy the NBW show and the Crazy Train match from last week and I have been told that I am just “kissing ass”. Funny how when I write good things about other promotions, then it is right on the money. If you have not figured out this by now from the reading the site, I try my best to be a straight shooter when it comes to rating matches and giving reviews. Maybe that is where it pisses people off, because they know I am being honest and they hate it that I am not just constantly putting them over. A lot of promotions and workers need to take a lesson from TLCW cast and crew. They were voted RRO Promotion of the Year two years in row. When I post something bad about them – I expect someone to call. They do less and less these days, because they know I am telling it the way I see it. The same can be said about a promotion like NBW that I give hell to all the times for Jeremy Moore’s insane storylines. They take note and don’t spend time trying to change my opinion. Remember this is my opinion and not always the opinion of the masses.
----I get ask more than once a week about RAW. No, I do not watch the show as a whole. I sometimes watch various stuff. Do I really care about the Big Show vs Floyd Mayweather bout?? Not really. After looking at the size of both of those guys, the Big Show looks like he should just kill Mayweather. Could he? It might be more interesting to see a shoot between these two guys. Mayweather s considered one of the best boxers in the world, but a guy the size of Show is just someone you would not want to tackle. I remember always hearing stories of how Andre the Giant was scared of no one and had good reasons not to be. Since doing this site, I, like many workers in this area, have a tunnel vision of just this area. I am more worried about what Memphis Wrestling is going to do or if the ladder match Friday in LAW is going to live up to my expectations than I am worried about whether Big Show beats Mayweather.
----I have had a few people ask if a promotion like RWA can continue to survive when they have guys like San Francisco Treat, Loose Cannon and Sgt. Shakedown on top. This group is drawing the same numbers as most of the other promotions like TLCW, NBW and TFW. So, I guess you can’t criticize them for who is on top. The key to getting better crowds and such is to know when to bring new guys in and when it is time to step down from the top. Treat as a booker will have to learn that. His role might then turn into getting some of the middle card guys over. The same can be said for Cannon. Shakedown..well…the brawls like they had might be the key for him, but I would only use him short term. The key to this promotion is building around someone like Jamie Jay or Ali Stevens – making a champion or challenger that everyone believes in. Their short term history has shown that they don’t draw anymore with Rodney Mack or Jazz on the card and both of them have other commitments. Why not put the belt on Mack and have him take all challengers for the belt?? Jamie Jay one week. Ali Stevens one week. SF Treat one week. This would push the belt with it meaning something and would make Mack mean something. You can also use it to further other angles as a heel could always interfere to cost say Ali the belt to build something for them. The key to success is not going to be pushing Treat and Cannon on top all the time, because you just going to get that same old “backwoods” crowd – to improve the crowd will be improving the quality of workers.
