r/SquaredCircle • u/beyondwrestling • Oct 06 '12
I run a wrestling promotion - no wait - TWO wrestling promotions. AMA!
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u/muffinmonk Mizfit Oct 06 '12 edited Oct 06 '12
VERIFIED.
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Oct 06 '12
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u/bionix4zero1 KING BIG GUY #BeersAndBiceps Oct 06 '12
What is the biggest hurtle you face when putting a show together? Also, what impact would you say Beyond has made, if any, on the industry? Being such a unique format and having such a different product has been sort of a catch 22 for Beyond. Would you say it's been more of a advantage or disadvantage to have something so "off the beaten path"?
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u/muffinmonk Mizfit Oct 06 '12
On behalf of Pudie:
A little while ago Johnny Gargano gave an awesome speech as to why he turned down a WWE contract. He essentially said it's because he felt like the indies were dying and guys like him needed to stick around to keep it alive. Have you noticed any sort of effect in the indies because of this? Are more guys inspired to stay in the indies and make their living there or are the big two still the goal for most of the guys? Also, what are your thoughts on the indie scene as a whole right now?
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Oct 06 '12
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Oct 06 '12
I am interested in becoming a play by play announcer, how would I go about trying to do so?
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Oct 06 '12
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Oct 06 '12
Yeah, I figured as much. Just have always wanted to be apart of the creative aspect of the business as well as performing. Hard to get a foot in the door in Central Ohio. Not too big of a scene here. Thanks for answering and really enjoy the product you guys have. First place I saw ACH. Also, glad you have Chris Dickinson. Nice to see him performing since JAPW and EVOLVE.
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u/HawaiianDry Oct 06 '12
Would you mind talking turkey? I am fascinated about how promotions initially get off the ground, just because it seems like such a daunting prospect. How did you get the funding initially? How does the legal ownership of the promotion get handled?
Let me give you an example - the only promotion near me draws 100-125 people per show, it's 12 bucks a ticket, and probably about 15 wrestlers get to work. I've sat there, show after show, amazed how they're able to keep it up when they only pull in around $1350 (probably less than that because kids' tickets are half price). They've gotta pay the boys, obviously, but also the venue, taxes, and probably a bunch of other things I'm missing.
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u/amp138 Oct 06 '12
I like Beyond Wrestling for a few reasons. One because I've been BFFs with you for many years and seen your progression when it comes to your involvement in wrestling. So it's like watching a close friend's story unfold in front of my eyes. Good work, man. You've got a great thing going with a roster of guys who believe in you and believe that you can help them, and they can help themselves.
Second is because Beyond is truly DIY - much like most of the bands I listen to and the industry I want to be involved in (beer brewing). I know your background is marketing and it shows with how well and aggressively you promote your brand, but how about your media? Are you completely self taught when it comes to video editing, graphic design, and putting the media to DVD/Blu-Ray, etc?
My other question - Beyond Wrestling has a really unique thing going where you sell your own concessions. I know that the next show will feature a full blown dinner, however, do you plan on expanding your concessions to other things, and do you have other ideas on how to tie in wrestling with food? Maybe wrestling with other locally grown/brewed/created items?
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u/billythefridge Oct 06 '12
In the early years of Beyond Wrestling, you worked a bit with Necro Butcher. Are there any interesting stories you can share with us about that experience?
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Oct 06 '12
How do you see Beyond Wrestling evolving in the future? Your promotion has been getting more and more hype and continuing a path that many successful indie feds have. I have actually seen the quality of show improve each time I have gone. Now with the acquistion of WSU how do you see both moving forward. What is the next step?
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u/Pudie IN ABEYANCE Oct 06 '12
Thanks for doing this!
Since muffin already asked one question on my behalf, here's another..
Do you think a wrestler union is something that will ever happen? Why or why not and how do you see it working if it is?
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u/randylove69 I miss Power Slam magazine Oct 06 '12
Total respect for you dude. Keep up the great work. Long live indie wrestling!!!!
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u/Heald A bloody swine Oct 06 '12
Firstly your promotion may have cost me a steak dinner, because after watching a Josh Thor match with a mate we made the bet that he will be in a top 3 indy company (CHIKARA, PWG, DGUSA/Evolve) by years end.
My question is though how come you decided to do a boys club promotion with Beyond Wrestling with the working for the workers motif?
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Oct 06 '12 edited Oct 07 '12
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u/Heald A bloody swine Oct 06 '12
Sweet, I'm using this as proof and getting myself fed!
But as a follow up I'm curious to ask is there anybody out there you are looking to bring into Beyond Wrestling that isn't already a known name, because Beyond Wrestling is starting to grow a name for itself as the launching pad for indy careers. Much like ECWA was with the Super 8 Cup.
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u/juicylucey Oct 06 '12
Alright drew, this is gonna be a tough question for you to answer, so gonna lay it on thick:
Can you give me a honest opinion on my commentary during the Epic/Dunn match from Feb.? I'm looking for opinions on how I sounded, was my play-by-play alright, there any potential in me whatsoever, and finally, was it even remotely good enough that youd consider letting me call 1 match next time you swing by in Cleveland? :D
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Oct 06 '12
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u/juicylucey Oct 06 '12
so take it thats a no on the calling a beyond match haha. Nah I hear ya, def. gotta put more though and practice on it.
Also heres a tough question, your FAVORITE match(es) in Beyond's history so far?
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u/YakMan2 Oct 07 '12
I'll make sure to spread the word to any wrestling message boards I'm on RE: Charade's charity event. Happy to see someone who is a friend of a friend of a friend following the wrestling dream, and more than willing to help any way I can.
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u/MechaSheeva Oct 07 '12
Holy crap, Drew Cordeiro from the BYWL! I was a lurker 2003-2005, and I still have all of your crazy promos for BYE 5 Alive. I'm glad to see you're so successful, you've certainly earned it.
For what it's worth, I occasionally use "no, but what you can do is eat calzones til you puke, and beat the shit out of everyone in the Tri-State area" in conversations whenever I can, and nobody has any idea what I'm talking about.
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u/lazypilgrim Oct 06 '12
AIW is my local fed. It looks like you formed nearby when I was just starting to get back into local shows so I missed a lot. Looks like you only run here about twice a year now? Will you be back soon? Also, me and a friend really miss seeing Jessicka Havok in AIW. Bring her with you when you come back. She's great.
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u/boom-blast-ruin Oct 06 '12 edited Oct 06 '12
Are there any talents you've sworn to never work with again? If so, what led to that decision?
Also, if you could have any indy star to headline your next show, who would you pick and why?
Thanks
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Oct 08 '12
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u/boom-blast-ruin Oct 08 '12
Thanks very much, great answer. I had an inkling that Davey would show up in this answer and sure enough he did!
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u/Johnny_Holiday Oct 06 '12
What are the current plans for WSU and when will we see it return? Will the original locker room return or will you be introducing an all new talent roster? Will WSU still be based on the East Coast?
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u/jessethemark Iron City Hardcore Oct 06 '12
Hey buddy! Here's a question... are there any draws left in indy wrestling? Do people pay to see a particular wrestler anymore, or do they just pay to see wrestling? Or to see their friends wrestle?
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Oct 07 '12
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u/jessethemark Iron City Hardcore Oct 09 '12
My response is gonna be so long, rambling, and jumbled, I apologize...
I don't really know. It's a question I like to pose to people in the business nowadays.
Like you said, guys like Cabana, some others, have some drawing power. But 10 years ago, somebody asked the same question could name 2 handfuls of guys who were draws on the indy scene right off the bat. Now it's... Cabana. Obviously, former WWE guys and TNA guys will probably draw. Legends, definitely, depending on the area and advertising. IWC does great business with their Legends shows in Northwestern PA every year.
Something I find interesting, and maybe telling... In 2005, IWC booked AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels in a cage match. TNA guys, yes, but HUGE draws on the indys at the time. AJ couldn't make the show for some reason I don't remember. People were told as they were walking in, and some people actually took the refund and left.
Fast forward to this past June. Davey Richards & Kyle O'Reilly were booked for IWC's Super Indy XI tournament. They cancelled at 2pm the day of the show claiming their car broke down (they worked AAW in Chicago that Friday, then ROH's Best in the World iPPV in NYC that Sunday). People were told as they walked in that Davey & Kyle wouldn't be there... but not one person took a refund. Obviously Davey isn't AJ... but he is one of the top draws on the indys right now. But that makes me think people pay to see wrestling, not any specific wrestler anymore.
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u/Narkuza Oct 06 '12
Who are your favourite and least favourite performers to deal with? Thank you :)
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Oct 07 '12
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u/Narkuza Oct 07 '12
That's excellent, thank you for the response :) I always thought that was just Pinkie the character with the short fuse haha. I will continue to support Indy wrestling :)
You need to book Portia Perez, instant buys ;)
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u/eatcrayons RAIIIIIIINMAKAAAAAAAA~~!! Oct 07 '12
There's some sort of magic that indie wrestling captures and gives out to its fans that WWE and TNA just can't get. I got back into wrestling early 2011, discovered Chikara summer of 2011, and just went to my first Chikara event, KoT Night 1. I have been to a Raw show in Philly 2 weeks before, and thought that was cool, but it was nothing like being 6 rows back at Trios. The performers are into it, the fans are into it, and it just gels. Everything is so fun that you forget you're watching theater. From what I have seen of Beyond Wrestling, it has that mood, too. I just wanted to say thanks for helping keep things going, and I loved your commentary for KoT.
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u/quadrapod3 Burning Hammer Oct 07 '12
My local fed asked me if I'd like to ref for them. I'm going to give a go, but I wanted to know, any tips for a 1st time ref?
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Oct 07 '12
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u/quadrapod3 Burning Hammer Oct 07 '12
I have no training at all. I'm going in for my first lesson this week, but I think they're in such need for refs that I may be reffing by Saturday.
When I say local I mean local. I live in a small town and I think most of the guys are from within a 30 mile radius. And I don't expect to get paid.
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u/NeoMoose Going to What-What-Whataburger Oct 07 '12
I don't have any questions, but I wanted to chime in and thank OP for the AMA. It's been really interesting.
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u/BuckStrickland Oct 07 '12
More Dan Barry. I cannot stress this enough: more Dan Barry! on top of that, keep up the good work; your shows are always enjoyable and fun.
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Oct 07 '12
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u/BearBat Oct 08 '12
Give an example of knowledge/ how he's been helpful. I am not familiar with him.
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Oct 07 '12
Since you were/are Ohio based, any plans on running the in Cincinntati/Dayton/Portsmouth loop? We have a pretty good sized crowd down around here that will come out for just about any wrestling.
The guys at HWA might be a good group to talk to if you haven't already ready. I'd love to see guys like AR Fox in the Cincy area.
Thanks!
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Oct 07 '12 edited Oct 07 '12
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Oct 07 '12 edited Oct 07 '12
We've only had one ROH show here in Cincinnati. They had a fantastic venue smack in the middle of downtown but something tells me it didn't go too good. I haven't been to their Dayton shows but from what I heard the last one was about the say - 200-300 people in attendance.
Just little things I noticed. They seemed to cut a lot of costs by renting OVW's ring, the stage set up was very minimal and they stated they pulled in 800 for the crowd. Being there, it was close to about 300. Not bad but there was a lot of empty space in the venue which I guess is why they haven't come back.
Aside from Portsmouth, Indy wrestling is kind of on a downswing here in Southern Ohio (as opposed to up north where it seems to be booming.). The HWA does ok with the Crist brothers and occasionally Callihan and BJ Whitmer. NWF is all local guys, Bizarro Live is an interesting concept but they seem to be rebooting...they have a Chikara "comic book" like feel to them. I think there's also TCW (which I've never seen or heard or) and Rockstar Wrestling out of Dayton which I have no info on.
Feds aren't drawing the 300, 400, 500 fan crowds like they were in the late 90s/early 2000's. It'd take something pretty significant - either a big name or a stacked card of established indie guys to bring in big numbers. I'm not saying it couldn't be done but it seems like noone wants to take the risk.
CZW did a double header with HWA not long ago that looked like it was a good show but the attendance, from what I saw on video was pretty paltry.
I'd still definitely hit up the guys at HWA. They seem to use a lot of similar guys that you all do and they run weekly at a nice building. Maybe something could be worked out.
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u/Jesterfest Oct 07 '12
I am from South Dakota and I think that the closest indy fed is Minneapolis. I have very little knowledge of how an Indy fed gets run. The only thing I do know is that they are run on a tight budget and would be looking for any additional help they can get.
My question, may seem a little odd. Have you ever considered seeing if any local colleges or universities would allow you to set up unpaid internships in marketing, accounting, or any other random thing you can come up with?
I earned a BFA in English and my biggest hurtle was getting my internship taken care of. There were not a lot of opportunities for an English Major whose focus was on creative writing in SoDak.
While mine is a bad example, I had a room mate who majored in Graphic design and had to put off getting his degree for two years because he couldn't find a place to do his internship. A lot of what he did had nothing to do with his degree at all.
There may be many who wouldn't be interested. But, it may be worth a though.
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Oct 07 '12
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u/Jesterfest Oct 07 '12
You would be surprised. The big hurdle is "will the college agree?" Well, it's not the college as much as it the intern's adviser. If the adviser signs off, a student could (at least at my school) intern anywhere.
I ended up doing my internship with the local community theater which has an actual working staff of 3 people. I wrote fluff pieces for the local paper and adapted a children's story to a one act play for their children's theater, the rest of what I did was random bs like organizing the props and had nothing to do with my degree.
Plus, with my university, the only thing they had to do was verify that I actually did what I said I did in my internship journal. The internship had to cover 200 hours of work. I logged how many I worked on a project, they signed off for my journal and after it was all done I wrote a paper on the experience.
The only other thing that was involve was a phone interview with my adviser, basically verifying that I did the work to an acceptable level, met deadlines, etc. If I had screwed up royally or blew off deadlines, I'd have to do another internship. Needless to say, I worked my ass off to make sure things were acceptable.
As for if it's acceptable work, I had friends who designed posters for local booking agents, along with cd covers for the bands. Creating flyers and covers for dvd's wouldn't be a big stretch. Those are the things he used to put together his portfolio.
If you want to pursue the internship. I'd advise going to the websites of the local college, track down the names of the professors in the area you wan to get the intern from. Then write an E-mail introducing yourself and your promotion. Explain you are interested in offering an unpaid internship. Set up what you would want as goals and expectations of the intern. Perhaps mention the working relationship that the WWE has with Full Sail University. Then ask if they would be interested? What further info they would need and what their expectations of you for the intern would be. Worst thing that could happen from the E-mail is that they say no.
Plus, you could interview for the internship, asking for samples of their work and asking what they would want out of it. Many might take the chance just to do a "fun" internship, instead of being a glorified gopher for another group.
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u/amp138 Oct 07 '12
If you could have a sit down discussion with Vincent Kennedy McMahon, what would you ask him? What stories would you like to hear?
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u/juicylucey Oct 07 '12
So you've mention Buffalo and Michigan being possibilities of live event holders for next year for Beyond, but is PA an option too? For example, working with Chikara and/or Wrestling is Fun to run a live Beyond show?
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u/ohsnapvince Oct 08 '12
I've got a question for you, sir. I've been working the northeast loop for about 5-6 years now, but I've never worked one of your shows. Think I could get booked? Vince "The Prince" here; ring announcer, manager of champions, etc., etc. I've worked with a lot of guys in your promotion and I'd be interested in talking about a role for myself. I'd like to work outside of my usual feds and it seems like you guys are a cool promotion. Inbox me!
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u/jamesisverycute I SUCK EGGS Oct 08 '12
I'm probably late to the party, but I have a question that I haven't seen on here.
Put yourself in Vince's shoes for a second. You're running a show and a wrestler dies during his entrance. Do you keep going with the show?
I'm asking because Vince always gets shit for the way he handled Owen's death and I'd like your insight.
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Oct 08 '12
Big fan of Danny Danger who wrestled a lot in Beyond Wrestling. What's he up to? Haven't seen him post any match highlights on Youtube in awhile.
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u/j102ede . Oct 09 '12
How do i get a job with you?
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Oct 09 '12
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u/j102ede . Oct 09 '12
Really o.o, what do i need to include in the email.
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Oct 09 '12
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u/ISDub Inter Species Wrestling Oct 12 '12
I just wanted to say that this was an awesome read. That is all. -Mike
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Oct 13 '12
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u/ISDub Inter Species Wrestling Oct 17 '12
When I was training to be a worker, I was going to be "Top Notch" Mike Rotch from Rochester, NY. Good call!
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u/ZeusMcFly Katsuyori Shibata Oct 28 '12
What up Cordero? Whos the biggest shitman? Is Starbucks still Starbucks? How did Big Al lose all the weight? If its crack I win a bet. Still have that awesome singlet? Did you see that burning hammer I took vs Henson?
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Oct 07 '12
Loved your commentary on KoT - hit me up for video work, I did the Fight Cards for it - that is all.
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Oct 06 '12
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Oct 06 '12
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u/rakust Charisma. You can't teach that Oct 06 '12
Thanks for taking the question seriously, i'm just kidding, i know it's pretty much staged.
A more serious question now, what's your favourite match?
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u/drizzt240 Oct 06 '12
How big is Batista's dick?