McPinions
By: Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey

Recently I wrote a column discussing the "State of NJ Indy Wrestling". You can read that column here: State of NJ Column . This column is kind of a sequel to that column. I felt compelled to write this column after talking to various wrestlers and promoters this week. After just sitting back and letting it all absorb, I thought about writing this column so here it is:

There is too much wrestling in NJ. That's pretty much what this column is about. Wrestling is not as special as it used to be in NJ. A few years ago you had JAPW, JCW, PCW, NWS, CZW & ISPW all running different styles of shows. Today, outside of JAPW and CSWF, everyone is running the same type of show. You can see the same wrestler 3 times in one weekend if you desire. Not to knock Jay Lethal, but the reason why he won so many awards this year, is because he wrestled so much this year, and the DOI covered alot of his live matches. If Samoa Joe, CM Punk, Homicide, Daniels or someone else wrestled as frequent as him in this area, Jay Lethal probably wouldn't have won our Wrestler of the Year award. With that said, Jay Lethal was certainly deserving of the award because he had an amazing year.

There is just way too many shows going on. When I was counting to see how many indy feds the DOI covers, I noticed we had 35 promotions listed in our press release section of our website from the Garden State. Now granted, some of those promotions are dead, and some promotions were just spot shows, but 35 unique type of shows, under different banners, were held New Jersey in 2004. That's what you call oversaturation. How are 35 promotions supposed to be successful when you consider that most of these promotions are using either the same talent pool and that you are fighting over the same fans $15.00. Being an indy fan is fucking expensive, and that's why alot of these promotions go under so fast. It is impossible to support them all, considering that 95% of the time, there are at least 2 shows in NJ any given weekend. (And that's not including backyard shows).

So with about 27 active promotions running today, what is the answer to kill the over-saturation? What is the answer to make all the promotions unique? What can be done to make shows better, and overall more highly attended? It's obvious that when there are more promotions running, the average attendance number will be lower. With the average attendance number being lower, it means that sometimes wrestlers will dog it in the ring and it also means that some wrestlers will be accepting either low or no payoffs at all. With more promotions out there, it means that there are alot of promotions that run shows expecting the wrestlers to risk their life and work for free. If some promotions were weeded out, overall attendance numbers would rise, because there would be less shows to pick to go to, which means all the promotions would make more money, which translates into wrestlers getting paid more from happy promoters. There is a reason why JAPW and CSWF wrestlers tend to be so happy, and that's because those promotions are having healthy crowds. (although CSWF is now finally seeing chairs full) When you have a good show in front of a nice sized crowd, and you have some money, you will most likely reward the people who made it possible to get the money, and that are the fans (with good shows) and the wrestlers (with more money).

While this will probably never happen, here is my solution to better NJ wrestling on so many different levels. This plan I propose will benefit the good and honest promoters, and weed out the bad and incompetent promoters. This plan I propose will benefit the wrestlers wallet. This plan will also guarantee better quality shows. What is this plan? Here you go: Create a Wrestling Commission with 3 Inspectors Making All the Decisions.
To be an inspector you must not be a wrestler (or former wrestler) or a promoter (or former promoter.) This prevents biased decisions and giving your friends handouts. I'd also prevent internet journalists or journalists in general from being part of this commission due to their bias and due to the fact that many sites have advertising, which means you are getting paid by a promotion in some shape or form. In fact, anyone who works in the wrestling business should not be allowed on the commission. This prevents bias which works both ways. You won't be forced to book anyone you don't want to, and promotions won't be able to suck up.
Who would be on this board then you ask? It has to be someone strong. Maybe an ex-politician. You need someone smart. An ex-politician understands politics, and that's what a commission will largely have to deal with, and that's politics. You also need someone who understands competition. Maybe a former boxing commissioner or some sort of college/high school football coach, who understands the show must go on and the spirit of athleticism. And for the third member? Maybe a college graduate in the field of business who understand how to do good business, and understands bad business.

So there you go. Your commission is an ex-politician, someone with coaching experience and a business graduate. All must understand the wrestling business aspect. They don't necessarily have to be wrestling fans, but they must understand that wrestling is a business, a sport and not to be disrespected.

Now that you have this commission, what are the rules they have to enforce? Well first off, I'd have every promotion need to have a license to run shows. If you get caught twice running a show without a license, you get banned from ever running a wrestling show in the state of NJ, becuase if you run illegal shows, it makes the people who do things the right way look like jackasses. If you run a third show illegally, you will be punished with 60 days in jail and be forced to pay a fine. With such steep rules, it makes people who run illegal sows take a huge risk, which could fuck up their real life and real jobs. These rules are stern and make the commission have some power.

Who would I grant licenses to as of right now? Right now, only JAPW, CSWF, ECPW and NWS would be capable of getting a license. All four of these promotions are professional and run solid business. The fee for a license would be very cheap. It would only cost $150 to purchase the license and for every show you run, you would have to pay the commission $100 per show. If you can't afford that, then you shouldn't really be running shows anyway. By charging this money, it generates money to pay the three inspectors for their part time work. I would not make the promotions responsible for bonds or insurance. That is their risk to take on their own. They shouldn't be punished because they can't afford very expensive insurance.

Now you might say what about promotions like AWA, NMW, PW Elite, SSCW and the countless others? Well there will be a few rules before these promotions could get licenses and there is a loophole in it for good, but financially strapped promotions to be able to run legal shows.

I would encourage an affilate program. For example AWA could be JAPW's affiliate. SSCW is already NWS's affilate. The respective promoter of the licensed promotion would attend the affiliate shows, and allow the affiliate to run. It's up to the promoter and affiliate to decide if they want to exchange money for use of the license. If 10 sucessful shows are ran, the affiliate can be up for a license of their own with a signed letter of recommendation from the licensed promoter and a signed letter from one of the inspectors of the board. There are several reasons why I'd do this. For one, it encourages friendship and bonds on the indy scene. It eliminates hatred and promotes positive shows. It also gives the licensed promotion a feeder system, which can generate money for both promotions in the long run. It also eliminates horrible promoters and bad people from running shows. The inspectors at these shows can determine if the relationship between the promotions are real or just a way for a promotion to make money by signing a letter for an affiliate. The inspector will also be a judge of character about the promotions and the promoter and deem the promotion suitable for wrestling fans.

Now that you have a license how can you lose it? There are several ways in my plan, and it would keep good promotions on top with hard work and keep bad promotions from taking fans money, and expecting wrestlers to work for free. Here are the ways you can lose the license:

(I'd make the penalty for failing to comply a year away from legally promoting shows, as your license will be suspended for a year. You would not be eligible to be an affiliate either.)

-Failure to draw 100 people in 5 consecutive shows. If you aren't getting fans, that means you're not earning money, which means the wrestlers aren't getting compensated nearly enough. If you're a money mark running a show and can afford the losses, it means you have no clue how to advertise, which means you're an embarrassment, which in turn means you shouldn't be running shows. All ticket stubs will have to be submitted to the commission. An inspector at the show will do a general head count before intermission. It is the inspectors responsiblity to tell the promoter what he/she counted. This gives the promoter a chance to know what the inspector counted. It also prevents an inspector from counting 75 and a promoter claiming 100. The window of people allowed is 10. That means if the inspector counted 90, and you claimed 100, you will meet the requirement of drawing 100 people. Likewise if you drew 89, 5 times, you could only claim 99 people. That would mean you'd be forced to shut down for one year. If you come back that means you had a year off to think about it, and do things right, instead of half assed.

-Overwhelming Complaints From Wrestlers- If the commission received 5 legit complaints from 5 different wrestlers, you would be investigated. If the complaints were warranted your license would be suspended. If the complaints were unwarranted, the wrestlers would have their wrestler licenses suspended. (That's right wrestler licenses, which I'll get to soon.) If the complaints could've went either way, the inspector will try to compromise with both sides, and if no solution can be reached, than the wrestler would be asked just not to work for the promoter anymore, since he's the one making the complaint.

-Cancelling Shows- Sometimes you have to cancel shows. I understand that. But if you had a history of cancelling shows, you'd be cancelled for a year. One example right now would be SSCW, as they have cancelled more shows than they have ran with poor excuses for cancellation. This rule would fall on the inspectors judgement. There are real reasons for having shows cancelled such as death in the family, bad weather (snowstorms for example) or National Security problems. (Like if you cancelled a show on 9/13/01, it would be totally understood.

-Messing with other Promoters Shows- If you get caught doing anything underhanded, you would be punished. Whether it's calling in bomb threats, stealing buildings or whatever, if you're caught, you'd be suspended. This would fall on the inspectors judgement. This also enforces positive working relationships.

There are probably some other things I'm overlooking, but for now, that would be the core set of rules.

Since the promotions have to be licensed, I'd also make all the wrestlers have to be licensed. A valid license from another state would enable you to be licensed in NJ. I'd also allow schools like ECPW, Monster Factory, AWA and IWF grant licenses. I'd also send inspectors to these schools to make sure everything is getting done right. There would not be anyone paying a school a certain amount of money just to become a wrestler. (I'm looking at you HELTER SKELTER.) Things that you would need before you get licensed would be 5 signatures from licensed wrestlers, a signature from a promoter or school trainer and to have a try-out match in front of the inspector. As far as the guys today, I'd allow every wrestler to bypass these steps based on judgment and by allowing the promoters to give the commission a list of guys. The reason for this rule is to prevent promotions from using ticket sellers. They must only use NJ licensed wrestlers. Goodbye to the Josh Deely's, Poco Romeo's, Helter Skelters and the other horrendous wrestlers taking spots from real wrestlers. This also forces promotions to P-R-O-M-O-T-E and not rely on ticket sellers to do their work. This also enhances quality of shows.

With these rules in effect (And there would have to be some others, but you get the basic idea) this would clean up these XYZ promotions that pop out of nowhere. This would clean up the crappy wrestlers on shows. This will reward the stand up promotions. Promotions doing things the right way like JAPW, CSWF and NWS wouldn't have to worry about SSCW, PW Elite, XOW and whatever else running on the same day. They won't have to worry about these promotions running at all most likely. This allows these good promotions to run more shows, which will in turn generate more profit, and also increase attendance. With less shows to go to, fans will go to your show since there won't be many (crappy) options out there. Stand up promotions wouldn't have to worry about one-shot shows with a huge roster hurting their business for a month. Pretty much, my goal is to create NJ as a territory. If these licensed promotions team up, to be one NJ promotion, so be it, but it will at least create some territories and boundaries. JAPW for example would be North NJ. CSWF would have Central NJ. NWS would have South NJ. Sure these promotions could venture into the other territories, but at least with not so many options, fans would know a product. A fan looking for a great smart mark show, won't go to NWS and be disappointed and never go to indy wrestling again. Likewise, a fan looking for old school family wrestling won't go to a JAPW and be dissappointed that he didn't see someone he knew growing up like King Kong Bundy or The Patriot. This makes all the promotions have distinct qualities.

The fans would benefit from all these rules and regulations. Shows would be better. Sick of waiting 1 or 2 months for a good JAPW or CSWF show? Well with these rules, and with not that much competition in the area, these promotions can run more frequently. These promotions will put on excellent shows, which you will enjoy and come back to see again. With more money, these indy promotions can get some TV time and expand their promotions. The shitty wrestlers will be weeded out. It forces the wrestlers to work hard for their bookings. The good wrestlers will be rewarded with better paydays. (I'd also create a rule of every wrestler on the show having to be paid at least $50 if they wrestled. If they managed/appeared on the show, they'd have to be guaranteed at least $25.) That means managers would have to be paid for their services. (They trained too after all.) These promotions would probably do so well, by having the crap out of the way, that they probably wouldn't even have to worry about the minimum payment to their roster.

So there's my plan to save and benefit indy wrestling in NJ. There is way too much shit out there hurting everyone, the fans, the good promoters and the wrestlers. You got people with no wrestling experience running shows. You got people who don't leave their house running shows. You got people who run shows just for the sake of being able to wrestle since they can't get booked anywhere else. These promoters are all called F-A-N-S. They are not true promoters. My system would wipe them out, and allow the people who know what they are doing, doing what they do best.

Like I mentioned above, I wouldn't allow promoters to sabotage or steal buildings from each other. Just look at this for example. You got PW Elite who has a guy who has never done anything in the wrestling business promoting a show. You got a guy who hasn't seen a live wrestling show in his life promoting shows, named Carmine Sabia. Both of these guys are promoting shows in the same building. Neither will make a profit off of their shows. They are doing this because they love this business. I can't fault them for that. They love the business, but so do I, and so do many fans. We shouldn't have to be subjected to people who overall hurt the indy scene. Even if XYZ runs a show it hurts the good feds. If even 20 fans go to PW Elite, and decide to go there instead of JAPW, which is the next night, JAPW lost 20 customers because the fans only wanted to see one show that week. It hurts the good promoters when the fans are the ones running the show. It's a fact alot of people hate to admit, but it's the truth.

Some might ask how WWE or ROH fit in this mix since both run shows in NJ. Without question, both groups would be granted licenses based on their positive histories. I'd also allow licensed promoters of other states get licenses in NJ without a background check, since they already passed a background check somewhere else. That would open up Rob Feinstein to run a new promotion if he chose. It would allow Rockin Rebel to help 3PW or PWU out in NJ if he chose to. It would allow Frank Goodman to bring UXW to NJ if he chose to. All three people know what they are doing and know how to get crowds and present a watchable product, making them credible enough to run in NJ.

Overall my plan will increase the quality of shows, the level of pay for wrestlers and make honest promotions more profitable. One day, this might all happen, but until then, I'll be covering XYZ wrestling as one of 30 people in attendance.... now that's "indy" wrestling.

Feel free to comment at this column on our message board.

Sean "The MiC" McCaffrey
BULLSMC@aol.com