It’s not politics, just common sense
By Rohan Herbstreit
Somewhere, in some state, each and every weekend an independent wrestling show is taking place. And somewhere on a forum (or Facebook) politics runs wild between most of the people involved, including promoters, performers and talent.
It’s the world of independent wrestling where legends can be made in Facebook updates and 65% of the scene is completely unwatchable.
I will talk about what’s good in some of the world class promotions across Australia in the coming weeks, with talent who regularly travel and compete around the world. We have shown we can produce top quality talent right here in Australia.
But with the good comes the bad, and when anyone can jump onto highspots.com and have a custom made wrestling ring delivered straight to your door, it doesn’t take a genius to work out that once the flood gates are open there is no going back.
So we are now at the point where the bad outweighs the good in this country. For every positive piece of promotion or publicity it’s generally followed up with 2 bad pieces, for every good show, there are 2 bad shows, for every good worker there are 2 bad workers and the scene continues to spiral until the balance is back to normal.
Here are 2 recent highlight packages currently on YouTube for 2 Australian based companies for example. One is based in Sydney, the other in Melbourne.
Video 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wr3xCSeCk00
Video 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40REQWn5JSo
So if you had the choice to attend, which promotion would you attend after watching both clips ?
It’s really not a hard decision to make, and again has nothing to do with a personal attack or politics or "bullying". One company is 100% professional, the other features talent who quite frankly are not at any level remotely up to a standard which has already been set by the rest of the industry.
If that company was being lead by a capable trainer, or wrestler with experience or even a promoter who has the slightest idea of what they were doing none of them would be allowed anywhere near a ring, let alone perform on a show in front of paying customers.
If a paying customer attended both shows, I can tell you which show they wouldn’t go back to again, and possibly any other show being advertised for that matter as it’s all under the same umbrella of “wrestling”, it’s all the same right ?
Notice any difference in these wrestlers to the 3 above ?
Defining “good” and “bad” is not always easy, it’s the stuff that is talked about on forums as the relationship between friends and acquaintances can be blurred quite easy. Sticking up for friends or being in a group, it’s attack one and you attack them all motto.
Generally it isn’t personal at all however, it’s not “politics” for the sake of politics, bullying or jealousy for the sake of jealousy. Common sense has to come into play at some point. And it can be measured quite easily - in performance, in crowd numbers, in finances.
The simple fact is wrestling fans and the general public are the ones who ultimately decide, the people who pay to see a show – customers. Customers buying a product, and if the product isn’t good enough then they won’t pay to see it. Simple.
Even a non-wrestling fan can attend a show and enjoy it without having seen a live show before or even have watched it on TV, and it’s that audience that can compliment a show and can be the difference in crowd numbers.
The audience knows what is “good” and “bad”, but it’s people already in the business who’s voices are heard the most, and that’s when politics comes into play.
Here’s another example of 2 posters that were used to advertise a show this year.
Which show would you attend ?
If you were walking past a shop window that had one of these posters being displayed which one would grab your attention?
Not a hard decision to make!
One looks like a bizarre Mexican dance party the other makes it very clear that it is Professional Wrestling and sells you on the show pretty much instantly. Anyone walking in the street walking past the poster would tell you that, common sense.
The whole industry is built on basic fundamentals that make it believable, which in turn allows the audience to suspend disbelief and therefore participate in the show and buy a ticket! And come back and buy another ticket!
Wrestlers don’t necessarily have to have a six pack and be 6 foot for this whole thing to work. They don’t even have to be athletic, however without a basic level of skill, experience and a certain level of performance you simply can’t walk in off the street and “live your dream” expecting others to support you and that's a fundamental problem with the industry currently.
The business is not for everyone, there are plenty of “good” wrestlers sitting at home not wrestling while plenty of people who aren’t at a reasonable level continue to wrestle 10 times as much as those that can, and do not improve in any way for the simple reason that they should have never been put into the position in the first place.
But generally they are funding a training school of some sort so the "promotion" can stay in business, and they expect to be put onto shows so they can continue to train and pump money so the promoter can put on more shows and the circle continues. It is happening all over the country as you read this!
I can give you hundreds of examples of people "living the dream" and at the same time destroying the very industry they supposedly love, which in turn upsets the rest of the industry for those who are making it work and doing the right thing so that people can actually make a career and success out of wrestling.
So next time you walk past a poster or read some feedback online, or even watch a video clip or highlights of a show, think carefully how that promotion is affecting the scene and what they are doing in a small environment which is directly responsible for giving everyone else a bad name.
Not everyone can play basketball or football, not everyone can be a professional musician, but if you are going to put yourself in a position where you believe in your own head that you are, and promote yourself online as a “professional” uploading YouTube clips online being “professional”, photos etc. then you are opening yourself up for criticism, good criticism and bad criticism.
It really isn’t jealousy, bullying or dislike of individuals on a personal level, it is common sense.
The sooner more people start listening to those who have more experience and start listening to their own audience then the better the entire industry will be for everyone.
At the end of the day everyone has the same goals, but common sense must prevail.
The door is that way.
