Matt Farmer

The late 80's and early 90's were my favorite period for indy wrestling. The business for indies was still strong and with a few names you could draw a thousand or more people. I was going to a ton of indies around that time and huge into tape trading so I recall a bunch of matches that were talked about in the small community of traders.

After watching Raw monday with a non fan, I do not see how they plan on attracting new fans with that garbage. Sure The Sheild and Evolution is great, and yes there was a few good matches. But there was plenty of channel changing garbage. The Adam Rose stuff is the drizzling shits, and I was embarrassed to be a fan watching it. It has such a Nickelodeon feel to the show, I feel like I'm 12 watching an episode of Double Dare during most of the show. Even Bray Wyatt skits come across poorly. And John Cena for as good as he is has a bad knack of killing any suspense of belief during an angle.

I agree with your comment, but want to add the moment his vignette debuted he was a flop. This gimmick is a bad gimmick and yells tv for a frew months, then out of the business within a year. For his sake I hope not, but it is a gimmick designed from the get go not to get over. If something is cool, you don't have to say it. In fact older guys for the most part won't get it at first.

NXT is not the whole issue, it's debuting guys with lame gimmicks. Honestly think of where you can go with Adam Rose's gimmick in 6 months. No matter what he does in the ring he is set up for failure, same with Emma, same with Rusev etc etc. One issue they will have with NXT is simply debuting guys on television before they are ready. Guys are exposed and a poor performance 6 months into their career can set bad impressions of them for ever. Look how many guys who are in WWE that have improved still carry the stigma of being only bottom card or mid card guys. NXT has a lot of upside to it, but many of those guys still need a ton of seasoning off tv before they are ready. With both the Sheild and Wyatts they were protected and thrown on top right away. Luckfully for the Sheild they had high level indy experience between the two of them so they are okay, and Reigns in the package was given time on the road to develop. The Wyatts have been carefully protected but we have seen what happens with gimmicks that are not protected.

Here in Seattle soccer is big business! Of course I think we have the highest average attendance in the league. It's average attendance for the last five years has been something like 44,000 fans. Merchandise is also very common, and you will always see bars promoting their matches. I think it has the ability to catch on.

Bray Wyatts gimmick is a perfect example of what it wrong with WWE's creative for attracting a higher income level of fans. His appearance and mannerism if fine. He works well and comes across serious, but then creativefeels the need to add a supernatural or a comedic spin on everything. You almost feel ashamed watching it, for instance when the little kids came out I heard so much about how offensive that was. WWE loves to book go away heat. Bray's character is fine, heck there are real people that act like that but it is all the extra stuff that turns people off. Look at the gimmicks introduced in the last few years....Fandango, Adam Rose, Rusev, Matadors, Damien Sandow, Emma, Brodus Claw , Tensei and I know I'm missing a ton but those are all comedy characters. And not good characters, it reminds me of the horrible early 90's with Repo Man, Tugboat, Nailz, Mountie etc etc. How can anyone over 14 take it seriously? Why would Cadillac or Lexus or Mercedes want to run ads (in primetime) for that? Seriously I get it, it's fake but now not only is it fake but it's a joke and a bad joke at that. Look at all the hottest programs in wrestling history and look at what they had in common. People believed in whomever or whatever they were watching. Dolph Ziggler wonders why he can't work on top? Maybe he needs to learn how to work, as a main eventer aka a wrestler the fans can believe in. Instead of doing silly bumps and a goofy gimmick, tighten it up and add some of your legit amateur skills into the mix. Instead of pushing too many highspots, learn how to brawl and figt from underneath. Everything is silly, as a life long fan I'm often embarrassed when non fans watch. And it' not because I'm a fan it's because of what were watching.

Haven't read all the responses but here it is. It used to, yes many years ago it use to appeal to everyone. The problem is Vince and company have spent the last 30 years dumbing down their audience. They have also conditioned their audience to have a quick turnover rate. Then you had the "Attitude Era", which was one of the worst era's for hotshotting and crash TV. Well during this era while they were pissing off advertisers with their only concern being to pop a big quarter hour. They forgot, those adverstisers have memories. The ones willing to spend big money for commercial time are pushed away by the company they were paying. While Vince was busy entertaining himself with stupid gimmicks and yuk yuk along with necrophilia angles. Guys pulling hands out of vaginas of old women and hundreds of other fart jokes. People were watching, and so were the advertisers. There are hundreds of examples of why. But all you have to do is watch an episode, it happens every week when I roll my eyes at what I'm watching and tell myself I'm not watching anymore.

For me it's good to have some slopiness, one of the things I enjoyed about older Japanese matches was the spontaneous feel to it. They didn't discuss spots, and were not always one the same page. For pro wrestling that is great, you want that feel to it. I believe if your good you could work in slopiness and have it add to your match. A few things like sloppy punches and kicks, or sloppy basics bug me more. Even if it is something simple like RVD's inability to take a turnbuckle, or throw a punch. Or most diva matches where very few things look crisp. The boys used to say that Bob Orton Jr needed to mess up in his match not to expose the business because he was so smooth in the ring.

It's the same type of person that cries when their favorite home team player takes a better offer in another city. It's the same goofs that chanted "you sold out" to those guys in ECW, or better yet those goofs at Mania who chanted that to Lesnar & Goldberg (think about the logic in that one). Or what about those "Curse of Bambino" folks.

The article stated they had a good shot at achieving their goal of doubling or tripling their right fees. I would assume if they infact did achieve that goal they would not remain quiet about it. They would be screaming it from a mountain top. Another interesting bit about that piece is it mentioned there are many serious suitor's. That's almost the opposite of what I have heard, and that WWE itself was rather shocked at the small amount of actual serious purchasers there were/is.

Did the royalty count against the Downside, or was it in addition to the Downside? On other words: $130K downside + $65K video royalty + other stuff above the downside or $130K downside with $65K royalty going against it and other stuff going against it until finally some amount popping over $130K If it's the first, I doubt they're going to have a tough time finding guys on the "low end" willing to make $130K guaranteed + $10K video royalties + modest PPV add-ins taking all of it up over $150K rather easy. Unless the indy circuit is paying all those people who would love to get into the WWE a hell of a lot more than I'd expect. Did the royalty count against the Downside, or was it in addition to the Downside? On other words: $130K downside + $65K video royalty + other stuff above the downside or $130K downside with $65K royalty going against it and other stuff going against it until finally some amount popping over $130K If it's the first, I doubt they're going to have a tough time finding guys on the "low end" willing to make $130K guaranteed + $10K video royalties + modest PPV add-ins taking all of it up over $150K rather easy. Unless the indy circuit is paying all those people who would love to get into the WWE a hell of a lot more than I'd expect. Did the royalty count against the Downside, or was it in addition to the Downside? On other words: $130K downside + $65K video royalty + other stuff above the downside or $130K downside with $65K royalty going against it and other stuff going against it until finally some amount popping over $130K If it's the first, I doubt they're going to have a tough time finding guys on the "low end" willing to make $130K guaranteed + $10K video royalties + modest PPV add-ins taking all of it up over $150K rather easy. Unless the indy circuit is paying all those people who would love to get into the WWE a hell of a lot more than I'd expect. it was in addition to. That why some of the low to mid card guys were able to make 200k plus a year. (Before taxes & expenses)

A friend with the company, who is on the lower end of the spectrum. He'll work occasional house shows and TV, very rarely Raw and has been with the company for many years now. He showed me his royalty check, 2 years ago or so from his video game royalties and it was $65,000. His downside was maybe double that amount, so his royalty from the game was a HUGE part of his salary! Those guys that are being moved up from NXT with small downsides will be hurt tremendously, especially if they are not working house shows and are stuck in Orlando. And if your on the road, but the houses are small and your just getting your appearance guarantee. Your not taking home a ton of money. I'm sure an even bigger uproar will happen when Mania checks come in.

It also depends on what part of the card they are on. A good booker will book the card like you book a match, you want peaks and valleys on the card or you end up with fans burnt out or bored. ROH used to be really guilty of this, I haven't been to a live event in a few years but it was after 3 matches you were burnt out and ready to go home. After hour 3 I was ready to never go to a ROH show again because I just saw every highspot ever invented. A good booker will give directions to the undercard, and at times even restrictions. But a good lockeroom will also know their roles. Not every match should be a five star spot fest. And sometimes the heavy "work rate" guys were very guilty of having a good technical match in front of a crowd that wanted to see a fight.

Yes, just super heat!

That year or so was one of my favorite periods for New Japan. Nearly every week the crowds were super hot, and the matches were great. They had a great crew of top guys, an awesome group of guys knocking on their doors. And one of the best ever group of young wrestlers breaking in. I always wanted to see Akira Maeda have that major one on one match with Riki Choshu, who was one of my favorites or Antonio Inoki. Just look at the group of young wrestlers in New Japan. Nobuhiko Takada, Funaki, Muto, Liger, Hase, Chono, Hashimoto, Benoit, and so many more. Just super loaded cards. I doubt Japan will ever hit those levels again.

The biggest shock will come when their Mania checks come in, and their royalty checks from that period. Revenue dropped dramatically, and their checks will be much smaller than they are accustomed to. Also I noticed they didn't go on an extended European tour like they often do after Mania. With the jakked up gates they get a good payday off those tours too. It will effect everyone of course, but the guys who've been around for some time may feel now is a great time to take aa break. Just yesterday a friend of Punk' from Chicago told me he bet me that Punk will be back by Summerslam, I told him it would require a new contract. But he said he was certain Punk would be back, which I doubt myself.

Yea Mutoh was put in that Inoki young boy spot. And that's why he was in the old guys spot. Just awesome heat. The latter was part of New Japan's Summer Night Fever. It was a two day event where both cards were held at Sumo Hall. It was released on commercial tape, and I bought it which was one of my favorite events for years. The first night featured the 10 man elimination match and the IWGP Junior Title Tournament that included Nobuhiko Takada, Norio Honaga, Kuniaki Kobayashi, Kazao Yamazaki, Keiichi Yamada, Hiro Saito and a very young Masakatsu Funaki with the finals came to Kobayashi going over Takada on the second night. Also on the second day was Riki Choshu & Tatsumi Fujinami beating Antonio Inoki & Keiji Mutoh. What made these events stand out was that there was no Gaijin talent on either cards.

It's different now than it was years ago. As you were kept seperate from the natives, and besides the finish you just went out and worked. Now even the Japanese go over their matches more than they used to.

Those Summer elimination matches were awesome, very heated. The one from 87' was August 19th at Sumo Hall and it featured Riki Choshu & Tatsumi Fujinami & Akira Maeda & Kengo Kimura & Super Strong Machine over Antonio Inoki & Seiji Sakaguchi, Kantaro Hoshino & Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Keiji Mutoh. They gave Mutoh a little push by having him take a beating but hold on towards the end. It really elevated him in the fans eyes. My favorite elimination match was their May 1986 UWF vs New Japan at Sumo Hall. Akira Maeda & Nobuhiko Takada & Kazao Yamazaki & Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Osamu Kido beat Tatsumi Fujinami &Seiji Sakaguchi &Kengo Kimura & Shiro Koshinaka & Keiichi Yamada. The heat was off the charts for this match, a few months prior they had a 5 on 5 gauntlet match that was great too.

Sandy Barr in Portland would often pull the heels hair if they wouldn't release a hold quick enough.

I would easily choose, without a second thought pre 1996. Just so much good stuff to watch that blows away even the overrated attitude era stuff. In fact with WWF the only stuff I cared for during the attitude era was the guys on top.

I know that Rikishi has lived on the west coast for years, while his sons grew up on the east coast. I don't imagine he was around much when they were kids. A few weeks ago I was over at my mother house and she was watching a "reality show". And we got to talking about them, and I pointed out the multiple camera angles being shot in a small hallway. These reality shows often cut scenes and retake scenes, and even feed lines to people. I have numerous frie ds that have done a ton of reality shows, and they are all worked.

What made the fight with Brick even more legendary was that he sucker punched Pillman, on the urging of Dynamite Kid. Pillmam came back and tore him up. Someone described it as like a fight scene in a movie.

Thanks again for having me on Chris.

Brad Rheingans was another guy who was incredibly tough. All the Minnesota boys raved about how tough he was including other tough guys like Rick Rude and Hawk. There's stories about him throwing around Vader, the Steiners and Curt Hennig among others.