Would any Australian forum members be opposed to running TPWW hosted wrestling show?

[Ben Rodrigues]

Just an idea I've been toying with.

I've got friends who've done event management - but never a wrestling show.

From what I understand start up is minimal as if you budget right - revenue outdoes costs.

Would any Australian forum members be interested in a one off show?

[Impact!]

If you could show me a good plan, I'd be interested I guess.

[Ben Rodrigues]

Merely seeing who's interested. In truth it would take about a year (give or take) to get all the nuts and bolts together (promotion, venue booking, talent, equipment, legal fees, etc).

[Impact!]

Lol yeah.

[Blitz]

Have you ever promoted a wrestling show before?

[Ben Rodrigues]

Nope. Got to start somewhere.

[Blitz]

Do you have any contacts at all in the business?

[Ben Rodrigues]

I tried to sell an American Express card to the owner of AWF over the phone for about 40 minutes 3 months ago? :P

[Ben Rodrigues]

Also had the chance to hang out with Kurt Angle for a few hours in 2004. Other then that - nope.

[Dave Youell]

Ok bud, there's alot of things you need to take into consideration before you start running a show, I know i've run a few:

1. If you don’t know how to, get someone on board who does
2. I don’t know what the insurance is like in OZ, but in the UK, both the hall and also public liability have to be covered
3. Think about your presentation, don’t just shove a ring in a hall, you need to think about lights and music
4. Consider merch, it can make you a killing
5. Get a ring! That’s obviously quite important
6. Workers, try to get guys that you know are decent or are recommended, remember you have to pay the wages and ex’s

And finally:

7. PROMOTE IT RIGHT. I know far too many promotions who think putting a poster in the local corner shop and putting info online will sell out the place, you need to remember a few things. The internet fan base is a small percentage of fans, when promoting yes use the net, but use other options as well. Like Radio and newspaper advertising, offer these places free tickets for a competition in exchange for a small story and advertising.
8. Don’t ask for help to run a show on an internet forum from people you have never met

[Ben Rodrigues]

Ok bud, there's alot of things you need to take into consideration before you start running a show, I know i've run a few:

1. If you don’t know how to, get someone on board who does
2. I don’t know what the insurance is like in OZ, but in the UK, both the hall and also public liability have to be covered
3. Think about your presentation, don’t just shove a ring in a hall, you need to think about lights and music
4. Consider merch, it can make you a killing
5. Get a ring! That’s obviously quite important
6. Workers, try to get guys that you know are decent or are recommended, remember you have to pay the wages and ex’s

And finally:

7. PROMOTE IT RIGHT. I know far too many promotions who think putting a poster in the local corner shop and putting info online will sell out the place, you need to remember a few things. The internet fan base is a small percentage of fans, when promoting yes use the net, but use other options as well. Like Radio and newspaper advertising, offer these places free tickets for a competition in exchange for a small story and advertising.
8. Don’t ask for help to run a show on an internet forum from people you have never met

Thanks for that. Ring's not a problem, my dad's friend's son owns a ring and is a wrestler. Actually - I could ask him for help.

[Dave Youell]

Thanks for that. Ring's not a problem, my dad's friend's son owns a ring and is a wrestler. Actually - I could ask him for help.
Ok then,

He's a wrestler, does he wrestle anywhere near where you are thinking about promoting?

In all honesty, what I would suggest is you speak with this guy, see if you can get a job doing ring crew, reffing, announcing, manager… anything to get your foot in the door.

If you go into this thing blind you are not going to know what’s right and what’s wrong, trying working on shows for a few years and get a feel for the business.

I’m not trying to put you down here, but I’ve seen a few guys try and just run shows and fail miserably

[Ben Rodrigues]

Yeah he wrestles wherever he can - from what I understand, friend of Raven.

Thanks for the advice. I knew someone would point me in at least the right direction.

[Blitz]

I don't know a whole lot about the indy scene in Australia, but don't expect to make money.

[The Fugitive]

Keep us up-to-date on this. I know I'm interested to see what happens.

[Mr. Nerfect]

This sounds really interesting, man. I don't know how much help I can be, but I'd gladly help out as much I can.

Rushing things would be a bit of a mistake, but you seem to have set aside yourself a year or so to get things moving. Dave certainly has some great ideas, and knows what he is talking about.

This friend who is a trained wrestler and has a ring sounds like he would be a big help. I'd use him as much as you can, as he knows how these things work and stuff. Where abouts are you planning on being based? I'll gladly help out as an idea man. I don't have many qualifications, though. However, I'm training to be an actor, so I might be able to lend an on-screen presence as a manager, announcer, or something of the like.

I also have friends who run their own music and lighting company. They rent out lasers and speakers. It's a fair bit of money, but it gets the job done. There are also some places that have great built-in sound systems and such. It'll take some great planning, but you could get a nice looking show going, it will cost money, though.

I'd be willing to provide a writing hand for shows, as well. As you probably know, I'm a bit of an amateur booker, so I can help ease the stress in that department. I wouldn't need to be local for that, I can just send you some ideas and you can use what you want.

This is a bit of a wild suggestion, but Rove McManus is a wrestling fan, isn't he? He's getting more and more busy, but you could maybe send him tickets and he might pop in. That could cause a positive buzz. You don't seem to be interested in starting up a promotion, but who knows, it might help sell merchandise, or something.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I'm not sure how much an Australian indy show will draw, though. I'll do a bit of research and get more accustomed to the Australian wrestling scene (I've been meaning to do this for a while). I remember that an Australian promotion used to actually air on Fox Sports. I think it may have been the AWF.

But yeah, I'm curious as to where you go with this. I'll offer my help, as I think being involved in something like this would be cool, even if I just provide a creative mind.

[Dave Youell]

Don’t worry about storylines yet.

On your first show the only potential thing you may want to do is introduce your main event earlier in the night to give the fans a reason to care about it.

Treat this as a one off show at first, so no titles or anything like that, you just want to try and put on the best night of wrestling possible to please the fans. If they like it they will come back at least once more without the need for a storyline.

Alienoid is probably one of the best creative minds I know of, so if you can get the shows on a monthly basis, then yes def use him, he’s awesome. But you need to establish a fan base and a produce first of all.

Good idea bringing in the celeb, I’ve been trying to convince our owner to get JK (or Joel, I forget which one) off Radio 1 to do something on one of our shows, if you can get someone like that, they will bring in non wrestling fans, which would be a plus.

But like I said before, get your foot in the door, learn your trade. You wouldn’t try to build a house with no masonry skills.

Then above all, promote your product well

[Dave Youell]

Oh and I never knew that Alienoid was from Oz :o

[Mr. Nerfect]

Don’t worry about storylines yet.

On your first show the only potential thing you may want to do is introduce your main event earlier in the night to give the fans a reason to care about it.

Treat this as a one off show at first, so no titles or anything like that, you just want to try and put on the best night of wrestling possible to please the fans. If they like it they will come back at least once more without the need for a storyline.

Alienoid is probably one of the best creative minds I know of, so if you can get the shows on a monthly basis, then yes def use him, he’s awesome. But you need to establish a fan base and a produce first of all.

Good idea bringing in the celeb, I’ve been trying to convince our owner to get JK (or Joel, I forget which one) off Radio 1 to do something on one of our shows, if you can get someone like that, they will bring in non wrestling fans, which would be a plus.

But like I said before, get your foot in the door, learn your trade. You wouldn’t try to build a house with no masonry skills.

Then above all, promote your product well

:y: You really sound like you know your shit, man.

Yeah, storylines aren't important for the first show. What I think is important is getting the show in an order that works. Putting on the best night of wrestling, and putting it in an order that enhances the show, rather than works against it. Dave's right, storylines won't be important out the gate. I was thinking longer term, as well, or just in reference to where promos would go, or how matches would be ordered, but the wrestlers might know more about this than I would, anyway.

I'm glad Dave liked my celebrity idea. As I said, Rove is probably busy, but as I understand it, he's a fan of wrestling, so if you found a way to get in contact with him, and offered him free tickets to just show up, and maybe sign a few autographs, it might get some people in. You could maybe ask if you could advertise his appearance there, or something. Radio personalities are great ideas, too. I'm not sure if there are any famous wrestlers retired in Australia, but getting them to make an appearance and sign autographs, while tricky, could be worth it.

My conern, as a person contemplating whether or not to take some time out of life to go see a wrestling show I have never heard of before, is that I'm not sure it will be worth it. However, if you can get some names on advertisements, it would get a few people who are on the fence in.

Some clever merchandising goes a long way, too, as Dave said. I wouldn't just print T-shirts with the logo on them. I'd go with something that is a little more witty, catchy or even humourous, so people don't feel like they're supporting a product so much as the product is supporting them. The WWE are rich and everything, but I dare not wear one of their shirts out in public. They're too obviously wrestling shirts. I think merchandising to people, and not wrestlers, is probably the best way to go.

[Dave Youell]

I'll give you a really good example:

CSF who I work for. First show we did in Yate (small town outside Bristol) We got in Jake the Snake and the Honky Tonk Man. This was over 5 years ago, we drew 450 people, which at that time was the biggest gate we'd done. The next show we did the same level of advertising and drew 300, still respectable, but obviously down, now the 2nd show made more money than the first as the combined cost of Honky, Jake and Travel Expenses cost more than 150 fans. But we established ourselves in that Area, Since then we run 4 times a year and have gotten more smart with the promotion, using all of the idea's already mentioned, plus building a mailing list of over 500 emails.

A mailing list is a really good tool by the way, the cheapest form of advertising, contacting the guys you know wanted to come in the first place.

Then we managed to get a show onto TV, and for the main event we had a cage match. Over the course of those 4-5 years we would of have over 1000 different fans in the place, but they wouldn't always come to every show, having the cage and the TV for one show gave us a house of 620, with no big names.

There's many companies in the UK that try to use big names to draw gates (that's the main reason FWA went bust IMO), the fact of the matter is, if you can't keep the fans coming back for the foundations of your product (i.e the guys you already have) the won't stick around once you stop spending cash on the imports

[311]

Budget is the most important thing to get up an running, as far as I'm concerned. The storylines, ect, will work themselves out in time, if the fans like what you're putting out there the first couple of times.

Alienoid's idea about t-shirts is an excellent point, as well as advice.

Also, there really does need to be some kind of hook or catch to get people to come see your event, and it needs to be promoted like hell. After all, if no one knows where you are, they won't come to see it. Maybe in conjunction with some sort of event, or, although I hate to say it, some kind of gimmick. Don't be afraid to use humor.

Also, if you don't get the numbers you want over the first couple of shows, but see a steady increase in fans, you should be just fine. Word of mouth goes a LONG way when it comes to local promotions, even if it's just a guy saying 'Hey guys, let's go check out wrestling...we can get some beers and it'll be a good laugh.'

[Impact!]

As Alienoid brought up, Rove is a pretty big wrestling fan. I've actually heard some rumours that he's been trying to organise a wrestling event or federation over here (early stages obviously). If you're really keen on this I would try and contact him and see if he'd be interested in helping out, whether by just appearing, or more. :y:

[Dave Youell]

As Alienoid brought up, Rove is a pretty big wrestling fan. I've actually heard some rumours that he's been trying to organise a wrestling event or federation over here (early stages obviously). If you're really keen on this I would try and contact him and see if he'd be interested in helping out, whether by just appearing, or more. :y:
Dude! You're Austrailian as well?

My whole world is crumbling under me

On the upside we have a stable with no yanks

[Impact!]

I think you need to move to Australia, otherwise you're the odd one out :shifty: ...but as you said, least there's no yanks :D

[Dave Youell]

I think you need to move to Australia, otherwise you're the odd one out :shifty: ...but as you said, least there's no yanks :D
Ok, lend me £3000 to get past the visa problems yeah?

[Impact!]

If this wrestling thing works we'll send you the profits...if there is any...if not we'll mug Rove.

[Dave Youell]

If this wrestling thing works we'll send you the profits...if there is any...if not we'll mug Rove.
Sweet, i want to move the whole family by the way, so it's now £12,000.

You know i'm good for it

Oh and i need a job when i get there, some CEO job will be fine

[Impact!]

I'll talk to Rove...and by I'll I mean Ben will

[The Fugitive]

If this wrestling thing works we'll send you the profits...if there is any...if not we'll mug Rove.

Even if you do profit from this event, mug Rove anyway.

[Ben Rodrigues]

I'll talk to Rove...and by I'll I mean Ben will

HA! :p

[Mr. Nerfect]

Even if you do profit from this event, mug Rove anyway.

Better yet, have Rove come out and say hi to everyone as a promotional tool, and then have him take a stiff chair shot, and mug him in front of everyone. Controversy creates cash.

I haven't lost my chances of being a writer, have I? :shifty:

[Mr. Nerfect]

As Alienoid brought up, Rove is a pretty big wrestling fan. I've actually heard some rumours that he's been trying to organise a wrestling event or federation over here (early stages obviously). If you're really keen on this I would try and contact him and see if he'd be interested in helping out, whether by just appearing, or more. :y:

I actually never knew that he was in the planning stages of his own promotion/show. That's very interesting. He might be looking to promote himself in the wrestling community if that is the case.

[Impact!]

As I mentioned earlier, I've only heard rumours, BUT I'd say it's almost certainly true.

[Dave Youell]

As I mentioned earlier, I've only heard rumours, BUT I'd say it's almost certainly true.
Sure Boone, whatever

[Impact!]

Haha you're part of a stable with Matt Boone...




Hey wait a minute... :shifty:

[Dave Youell]

:(

[Impact!]

YES I WIN :shifty:

[The Mackem]

When were you on television Dave? TWC Fight?

[Pinnacle Charisma]

if it is melbourne or near there i would prob go

[The Fugitive]

Wait, you're an Aussie as well, Pinnacle? There's more Aussies here than I thought.

As for venue, Ben's located in Sydney, so I can't see it going interstate, but you know what they say, supply and demand. I just see it staying at one show in one state, the lower the risk, the better the payoff.

[Impact!]

Exactly