When you book a wrestler for the first time, are you just looking for the best guy, or is it more about filling a specific spot?
It’s a combination of what market we’re in or what the spot is on the card. You have to look at your market and what the goals of your card are. So for example we have a strong international following and now we have a TV deal, so name value does take a precedence and quite often when putting a card together guys have a lot of buzz and it’s no knock on them but we may be looking instead primarily at who’s going to be a true needle mover. About 2 to 3 years ago I always said the true needle-movers were guys like AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Kevin Owens, the Young Bucks: guys that when we brought in, without a question, you didn’t need additional marketing dollars and it wasn’t much of a risk, you clear-as-day saw a shift in the audience size. With a lot of guys like that nowadays getting signed to the WWE or the reactionary effect of that where other major companies are locking in exclusive contracts, guys like that are a little more slim so in that case you adjust to the market and wonder what’s the next thing that could create a draw.
We recently had a direction for a tag team division where there’s a team called TDT that we have been showcasing regularly and they’ve been going up against high-profile competition. We made a change on one card where it was more feasible with the budget to go with a local younger team that had potential, so the match itself wasn’t necessarily driven to be a draw, but its purpose was to have a potential dark horse or sleeper match on the card, which was exactly what it turned out to be. It ended up being one of people’s favourite matches of the night and it gave the young team an opportunity to showcase itself and that opportunity may now have presented itself to them on another particular card. But as cliched as it is, regardless of what the situation may be, it’s right time right place and partially some luck does factor in to when somebody gets an opportunity with us.
A great example would be Kevin Bennett. He’s out of the Buffalo area which is about an hour and a half away from Toronto. There was a company I was wrestling there for and he was part of the show, a young talented cruiserweight. I always had an interest in having a look at him but there was never a sense of urgency. Eventually after a year I brought him in for one or two shows part time: he did well, there was some buzz around him, but there wasn’t an obligation [to keep booking him]. Eventually I noticed on social media that he had some rap videos and he had a strong social media following, just as big as anyone on our roster and he was actually really talented and did his own production. Suddenly it gave me the idea for a character that we could test in our market and suddenly it took off and he became one of the top heels.
Why would someone who’s willing to go to 3 or 4 shows a month within a two-hour radius take your promotion out of 20 events? You have to give people a reason to not only want to go to that particular show but you’ve earned their interest enough that they want to make it a regular occurrence. And part of that is creating that fresh direction, fresh characters, a little exclusivity.
How important is a wrestler’s fee when you are deciding who to book?
At the end of the day, regardless of your fee, where you travel out of could play a larger factor in your overall cost. I’m looking at your fee, your flight, a potential hotel and any exchange rates, so if there’s a guy who’s willing to drive in a car pool that’s already coming from Buffalo or Cleveland or Montreal, then those are costs I’m saving and I have to factor in all that and then you look at cost vs value or opportunity. For a younger individual who might be in the market it’s the opposite: there isn’t really a significant travel cost and your cost isn’t much of an issue.
You can see the venues we run out of are pricier venues. So when you factor that in to an overall budget with insurance and equipment and production, marketing, advertising, the younger wrestler charging X amount of dollars vs Y amount of dollars is very fractional on the overall budget. You want to stay consistent with the pecking order and the ladder of pay, but otherwise let’s say X amount of dollars vs Y amount of dollars is not an issue for a younger wrestler.
What other things can a wrestler do to improve their chances of being booked?
A good example would be from our market, some people may be familiar with seeing the name Space Monkey recently. Although he’s not a main eventer, we have used him at times and he has been a younger individual who has really blossomed in the ring with his character and his in-ring work. He’s always been athletic, and in our market or nearby markets he’s won over a lot of fans with his unique character, so that’s a perfect example of where if he were to reach out to me it’s really about these young guys being a little more clever and pitching idea.
He had such a unique character and he’s aware maybe that in some markets we are more of a family friendly driven crowd and he pitched that he thinks the character would work in those markets. But maybe he could have seen a character on the roster that’s a heel that he thinks would be a very complementary villain to his character. Or maybe he’d have said “My style thrives in multiman matches: if you ever have a four-way or a six-way or a match like that where you need someone to get the crowd hot I would like to prove myself and have an opportunity there” and those are situations where you’re not taking the spot of a storyline or a featured match. So it’s about pitching: in wrestling it’s like anything else. People sometimes think that wrestling is a very unique or different business. In some aspects it is but in a business sense every industry is the same: you have to knock on doors, you have to get rid of the fear of rejection, you have to be accepting that some people may value some of your skills and other people won’t value them and they’ll probably have harsh criticism and you have to take it with a grain of salt
Does a wrestler’s online presence make a difference?
If you are regularly putting out your work on YouTube or you have a Facebook Live video where you’re showing clips to fans or taking questions or going a little old school by having a promo package to send to promoters, really it’s about putting your name and face out there. I would suggest to a young guy who may be getting booked let’s say seven or eight times a month, under any circumstance, no matter how good or bad the show is, no matter how appealing your match is, no matter if you’re getting a good spot or a poor spot, you make a promo for every single match and you air it [online] because you’re getting your face out there again. It might be to a smaller audience but that smaller audience is creating a perception.
Then let’s say there are five comments online and four out of the five comments are saying that you did well and you stole the show, then at the next show these four or five fans typically happen to be the more diehard fans as they’re investing their time in providing feedback, so at these shows they are potentially the more vocal fans. Now if they’re the ones who start chants or start cheering or jeering you, they’re also the leaders in the crowd, they’re coaching the other audience members on who to get behind or who’s worthy of you guys. This perception thing can have a ripple effect and eventually what you’re doing on a smaller scale is exactly what a lot of successful wrestlers are doing on a larger scale.
At the end of the day we’re all selling ourselves, whether you’re a face or a heel, a young guy or a vet, you’re selling yourself. Even if you do one of those journals on a Facbeook video where you talk about “I was on this show at the weekend, I met this guy,” then you show a clip of you hanging out, maybe you become personable, maybe you start selling your passion and fans and peers and promoters say “Man, this guy is really putting a lot of effort into marketing himself. You know what? He’s a very personable guy, I like this guy, you can see his passion.”
It doesn’t guarantee you a chance but what it does is instead of putting your face in front of me once or twice a month it may have been there 15 times and it increases your odds of getting an opportunity. Even in the worst case maybe I or another wrestler may be putting over your work ethic and indirectly it leads to an opportunity elsewhere.
How much does fan feedback online affect who you book?
Really, reading the fans on who to bring in is a tricky thing. I’m not saying in a sense that fan opinions don’t matter, but it’s really finding out what the part-time fans or potential newcomer fans want. This is a very common practice in all industries but it’s one that’s successful promotions or business apply, and newer ones or struggling ones may not. As an example in pro wrestling, let’s say I have roughly 100 or 150 regular fans that come to almost every show. It’s not that I’m ignoring these fans, it’s that they’re already going to be there anyway so I’m not drawing them in or earning more money or putting more butts in the seat through these people. It doesn’t mean I ignore and disrespect these fans: the fact that they are coming 10 to 12 times a year means that they value our product, it means that they enjoy themselves at our shows.
So now we’re looking at the next two levels: we are trying to transition part-time fans into full-time fans. Well how come these guys came to four or five shows a year? OK ,we brought in AJ Styles when he got released from Impact Wrestling, we brought Chris Hero to face Lance Storm. We started noticing based on how we track names through online sales, we saw they came to the shows that had a very unique draw: it’s not every day that a fan can see Lance Storm at an independent show or the PROGRESS vs Smash series that we brought to Canada.
So not to throw anyone under the bus but the great wrestlers that we had here on the regular, Matt Cross, Johnny Gargano, Rich Swann, Chris Hero, unfortunately when people saw them on the regular and in many dream matches, they became a regular feature and not a drawing point to our shows. It was why those regular fans always stayed because we gave them an elite product and we had a reputation and we earned their trust. So now we’re tryng to figure out how we transition those guys who strictly came for the Lance Storm or the PROGRESS wrestling, whether it was to get an autograph or to check a name off their list, how can we get them to be loyal to the brand and to the community and embrace us?
And then the other part is new fans: if there’s a fan that doesn’t come to our show or goes to another promotion within a reasonable radius or just they don’t give the indies any chance, but we notice they’ve maybe made comments on our social media. We’re trying to transition these fans and that’s how we have to take all these things into consideration. That’s where it’s really tricky with listening to an audience: it’s not that we don’t want to listen, it’s that we are listening to everyone and what everyone says. We’re trying to categorise these fans and it’s really two completely separate efforts: how to bring new fans or make part-timers into full-timers and then how to maintain our regulars and keep them happy. There it’s not always about who you bring in: those fans have already been sold on your quality and your history and your reputation. It’s really at this point creating a community, a place where they can call home and aspects that go beyond the wrestlers you book.
What lessons can people learn from wrestlers who’ve succeeded through Smash Wrestling?
Friday to Sunday is wrestling days. If you’re not booked on a show, contact promoters and bookers and try to get booked. Contact wrestlers and try to network and see if they’d vouch for you. If not, find out those shows and ask the bookers and promoters if you can come and help set-up. Setting up for that promotion may never lead to something even after a year of showing up regularly but that doesn’t matter. It’s perception amongst your peers, amongst promoters and bookers, amongst fans: you’re seen as someone who’s getting their face out there.
I can tell you that someone in our market, he still hasn’t blown up, he may have a long way to go, but it’s very obvious to myself and my other peers and it’s very obvious to some fans, that his face is at every show, almost 2-3 times a week. Why? Because he’s showing up, he’s setting up, and what he’s doing long term is creating rapport, opening doors, and that in turn has turned into some bookings, maybe some tryouts, and in other places it’s just earned him the respect of his peers and maybe one day when they are in the same locker room they’ll look forward to working with this guy. They’ll work just a little bit harder to make the guy look good.
That’s the kind of mentality: Friday to Sunday you should be at a wrestling show. There’s a tremendous amount of sacrifice that comes with that and frustration and a hit on funds and a limitation to what jobs you can take, but in an industry where opportunity is slim to none, you have inch and scatch and claw for whatever you can to better your odds.
Should wrestlers worry about overdoing their approaches to promoters?
I feel I can never be upset at somebody reaching out to me because that’s what I used to do and still do to a lesser extent now. There are some people who excessively follow up or don’t even give breathing room between their follow-ups and it’s almost a little annoying, but I’ve always done my best not to take offense at that because at the end of the day I do think if this individual is annoying me, let’s say they’re taking the same persistent pressing approach with 10 promoters. If they’ve pissed off two promoters but with the other eight maybe they’ve opened up some doors, then really they’ve done well.
I think people just have to drop the fear. There may be times where you may get heat for something, there may be times where you land on your ass or your performance may be poor or you may forget a part of etiquette or you may annoy someone or you may step back when you meant to take a step forward, but so be it. It’s all part of learning.
If someone has no chance of getting on to Smash wrestling, still contact us. You just never know and if anything you’re creating practice. Reaching out to higher companies to no response or to rejection just gives you the practice of communicating with people at a higher level and getting that comfort zone. Maybe getting rid of that fear at an earlier stage. There’s no one particular action unless it’s outrageously extreme that will blackball you forever so you learn from your lessons and taking a step back sometimes is a blessing in disguise.
