by Brett Schwan
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USA Pro Wrestling
(This article was revised on 7/30/02. The final paragraphs have been added since the changes that have taken place to lineups of upcoming shows).
In the next part of my series of articles on Inside the Indys I have decided to take a look at USA Pro Wrestling
For those of you who may be unfamiliar with USA Pro Wrestling, here is a little background on the promotion, courtesy of the promoter, Frank Goodman:
"We started in Bayonne, in 1993, with no company name. In September 95 we became USA Pro Wrestling." states Mr. Goodman.
He continues by stating, "On Dec. 7th, Tito Santana became our first world champ, in Bayonne, NJ."
"After over 150 shows, we came to NY in March/April 1997, running in Lehman College and Central Islip HS, drawing over 1,000 in both venues! We still ran NJ and upstate NY on alternate months, mostly around carmel."
In 1999, USA Pro stopped running in New Jersey and ran only in New York. "To date, we have run well over 200 live shows and 20 conventions", states Frank.
Long Island, NY used to have a number of promotions that ran particular venues on a regular basis. Over the past few years, one by one, they have disappeared (we're down to 3 at the moment, it was 2 last week, but at the time this is being written, it's back to 3). The one that has remained and continues to draw, is USA Pro Wrestling.
In the early years, USA Pro brought in such former WWF stars as Tito Santana, King Kong Bundy, Jimmy Superfly Snuka, and Sgt. Slaughter. As times moved on, and the wrestling business changed, so did USA Pro. USA Pro seemed to rely less on the "legends" and more on the younger, more "extreme" talent of guys like Tommy Cairo, Skull Von Kruss (Vito), Balls Mahoney, Axl Rotten and the late Big Dick Dudley. They also ran numerous conventions that brought in names like the Valiant Brothers, Bret Hart, DLo Brown, Godfather, Val Venis, Jacqueline, Jerry Lawler, Gangrel, Luna and many more.
I asked Mr Goodman what he thinks makes USA Pro different from the rest. He said, "I like to think we have stories! We draw a steady attendance between 500-800 without freebees! SOME fans like our tv show which runs in 8 to 9 different areas per week! They always get at least 8-12 big name wrestlers! No 1 or 2 minute matches (except mine!..ha...ha...ha...!beat you to it!). The videos!.....which sell between 800-1,500 copies of each volume within a year of release! The fans can count on us! If the fans ask for a match or a wrestler I try my best to appease them!"
USA Pro, for the most part, runs the same few buildings every few months. They regularly run at the Deer Park Community Center, Mineola Knights of Columbus and The Elks Lodge in Queens. By running the same venues regularly, they have the benefit of being able to carry out continuing storylines. (Which many other promotions have difficulty doing since they run High Schools on a not so regular basis). Whether or not the storylines are good is a different story (more on that later).
So, we now know the history of USA Pro and how Mr. Goodman feels they are different from the others out there. Now, let's break it down by the actual product.
I (along with my cohorts) have been to MANY USA Pro shows. As with many promotions, they have ranged from phenomenal (lately) to horrifying (going back a few years).
As anyone knows these days, if you want to draw a decent crowd, you need to have some "name" on the card. Mr. Goodman takes care selling tickets in 2 ways:
First, he always has at least one (and usually more like 4-8) name on each card. To give credit where credit is due, Frank brings in the "names" the fans ask to see (usually on the USA Pro message board located at their website usaprowrestling.com). Recently, USA Pro started using Kevin Sullivan, who is now booked to work cards for them through the summer and fall. What other promotion, other than in Sullivan's home state of FL, brings in Kevin Sullivan?? When Norman Smiley became available for indy bookings, USA Pro was one of the first on the east coast to book him. Eddy Guerrero? Same thing. Most recently, Gangrel and Luna. Along with the stars they book on special occasions, USA Pro regularly uses proven talent like Simon Diamond, Chris Candido, Balls Mahoney, Crowbar, Lil Guido, Bam Bam Bigelow, Julio Dinero, and so many more.
The other way Frank sells tickets is by using "ticket sellers", guys who will sell tickets to get a chance to work on the show. This is great for USA Pro, as it guarantees them that a certain number of tickets will be sold. Unfortunately, it means the fans usually have to sit through a number of matches that feature guys who are less than stellar (to put it nicely).
As Frank stated earlier, they sell videos of each show and they have TV in many markets. Again, a great plus for the promoter. The downside is that many of the live shows run over 4 hours which sometimes exhausts the crowd by the time the last few matches come on.
As for storylines, as of late they have dramatically improved. The debut of Kevin Sullivan, and his putting together a whole new Dungeon of Doom, has great potential. In the past, the feud between Low Ki and Xavier was done quite well, as was the recent Guido/Kruel feud which culminated in Guido losing a match and having to leave for 90 days. On the down side, Frank feels the need to put himself under a mask and wrestle on EVERY card. (and anyone who has ever read anything I've ever written about ANY promotion knows how I feel about promoters having to be a part of the show). If that's not enough, the Masked Maniac (Frank) used to beat up the ring announcer (who is now gone... good move) and pull of his clothes. What this storyline has to do with anything or why the fans want to see the Maniac pull down someone's tights every show, is beyond me.
Frank also stated earlier that there are no 1 or 2 minute matches. However, would a one minute match between some ticket sellers really be a bad thing? Would you prefer to sit through five 15 minute matches with guys who really can't work or five 2 minute matches with the same guys? The choice is pretty simple.
Lately, the ticket sellers have been put in "ticket seller" battle royals and gauntlet matches, where they are all used in one or two matches. This is MUCH better as they are usually put on fairly early, or right after intermission, and don't drag out all night.
The 4 hour shows are still a bit long. I understand that they need matches to fill up TV time but can't you cut a few backstage promos instead of having the damn Boogie Knights (who for some reason is Frank's favorite team in the world, even though their actual in ring ability is average) cut a 20 minute, inaudible promo in the ring? As for "giving the fans their money's worth", it's not the number of hours that determines if I've gotten my money's worth, it's the quality of the matches. I'd rather sit through 2 hours of great matches for $25 than 5 hours of horror for $15.
Now, let's take a look at the talent USA Pro uses on a regular basis (not including the guys that are phenomenal without mention like Simon Diamond, Chris Candido, Lil Guido, Julio Dinero, Chris Hamrick and Crowbar)
Balls Mahoney - Still has name value from his days in ECW. While he is far from a great "wrestler" he gets a pop out of the crowd and can usually put on a pretty good brawl with the right opponent. As of late, he's even had some good "wrestling" matches. I do wish he'd drop the belt (to someone like Gangrel) so a feud can continue instead of having him defeat a guy the first time in and that be it.
Low Ki and Xavier - The current tag team champions. Both men are phenomenal as individual wrestlers and when teamed are still amazing. Two of the top indy workers today.
Prince Nana - I am a Prince Nana mark. He has a great gimmick and is a very entertaining wrestler.
Boogie Knights - I never liked them as a tag team. I never thought they were any good on the mic. However, they were pushed like crazy in USA Pro. Unfortunately, Drake was injured at a show earlier in the year, so he is out of action. Of course, this didn't prevent USA Pro from doing the wheelchair fake injury angle at a recent show. That aside, I do not know how Tobin will fare as a singles wrestler but it can't be any worse than he was in a tag team.
Kruel - I used to hate Kruel. However, he has improved tremendously in the past year. His matches with Low Ki and Guido (and others) have been very very good.
SAT - Joel and Jose are one of the best tag teams on the indy scene. Let's hope they can stay that way and not develop any egos or start no showing too many promotions.
Red - I'm in the minority on this one. I am not a big fan of Red. While he has shown some improvement, he still needs to learn how to sell and injury. How a 100 pound kid can do a 620 corkscrew from the top rope to the floor, miss, and still jump up as if nothing happened, is beyond me.
Da Hit Squad - The toughest tag team on the indy scene right now. They can work against high fliers or brawlers and put on a good match either way.
Tim Arson - He must sell a hell of a lot of tickets
Iceberg - He DOES sell a hell of a lot of tickets because as soon as his match ends, 200 people leave.
Divine - Is another indy star in the making. I have yet to see him in a bad singles or tag match.
Quiet Storm - His only downfall is his size. He is extremely small. However, I have yet to see him have a bad singles or tag match.
Masked Maniac - Other than an ego boost, why is he here?
Ken Sweeny - A horrible wrestler. Sadly, I think he knows he is. For some sick, deranged reason, he has developed a cult following.
Striker - A very good singles wrestler. Get him away from the Boogie Knights and let him work on his own. Very promising future.
The Dynamite Kid - He has changed his name to something else, but he not only is bad in the ring, he has a horrible attitude.
For the most part, USA Pro has a solid core of wrestlers that they use on a regular basis. If they can continue to use some of these guys, as well as find the other good talent on the indy scene, they can only improve. (For the sake of this column not going on forever, I apologize to anyone I may have ommitted)
Lately, the big thing in USA Pro has been gauntlet matches. I don't know why, other than to throw a bunch of ticket sellers into one bout. A gauntlet match, every now and then is great, because it is different. Unfortunately, if you start running them on every show, it gets old...fast.
For the most part, USA Pro's "feature bouts", the ones that have the "bigger" names, are usually solid matches. Then again, when you use such good talent, they're going to put on a good match in front of 5 or 5000 people. If they can keep bringing in some new names, and infusing them with the established talent, they are set.
As I said, I understand the ticket seller matches. Again, if they can be kept down to a minimum (like a battle royal) that would help with TWO main things. First, it would eliminate the crowd getting bored having to sit through numerous bad bouts. Second, it would help decrease the total running time of the show. Also, if the Masked Maniac HAS TO WORK the show, throw him in this match also.
Right now, the Dungeon of Doom storyline has great potential. After all, everyone expected Balls to join and instead he was attacked. If a few more storylines could be introduced to the undercard, and the current ones run their course to a logical conclusion, it couldn't hurt.
USA Pro consistently draws crowds of over 500. They have a die hard core of fans who attend nearly every show. They also have one of the most active message boards I have ever seen on a promotion's website. If they continue in the direction they have been in the past year, this should continue. Other promotions in NY come and go (some go then come back the same day). USA Pro has been here for nearly 6 years and should continue into the future.
For further information on upcoming USA Pro events check out the events page or go to the USA Pro Wrestling website.
ADDED 7/30:
Well, when this article was written, USA Pro had a lineup set for their Aug 17th show, in Deer Park, LI that was as good on paper as anything I had seen in a while. Then, with Luna and Gnagrel having to cancel (which is no fault of the promoter), the ENTIRE card was changed. The main event is now Balls v Sullivan in a last man standing match. That's fine. The 10 man elimination gauntlet whatever match has been changed to a simpler Corino v Xavier winner to face the winner of Candido v Red (Corino is a shell of what he once was and the thought of Red even having the possibility of going over Candido sickens me). Bigelow is now scheduled to face Kruel. WHY? Low Ki and Xavier v Norman and McKenny. This match could be great but is Frank so hurting for talent that he has to use Xavier twice? (nothing against Xavier whatsoever.). Screamin Norman Smiley v Wayne. Ugh. However, the single match that is causing myself and my "cronies" to NOT attend this show is the SAT v Crwobar and Mikey Whipwreck. Now I know you're all going to say, everyone retires and returns. However, Mikey did interviews everywhere and anywhere stating this was not a stunt, that he was legitimately going to retire due to all the injuries he had obtained busting his ass over the years. For that reason, I shelled out my $$ to go to his retirement show (run by USA Pro) to see his final match. I always liked Mikey, if I didn't I wouldn't have gone to his farewell show (which sucked btw). NOW, I'm supposed to pay money to see him return? I don't think so. Any respect he had, has been lost. Last month he came out of retirement for "one night only" in a sad attempt to draw a crowd at his promotions show. Now, he's back full time? Great for him and his legions (cough) of fans. Unfortunately, as long as he's on the card (of whatever promotion) I'll be at a different show.
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Contact Brett Schwan at WresClothesline@aol.com
