by Brett Schwan
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
It's been a long time since I actually wrote one of my "Inside the Indys" column. My last one was a fairly brief one concerning the joke that is WWeCW.
By popular request, Today, I have decided to start a series of columns
that take a look at the "Women's" wrestling promotions that
have popped up over the past few years.
I will begin with World Women's Wrestling.
Sheldon Goldberg's WWW ran their first show on March 5th and had a lineup
that was a who's who of women's wrestling.
The lineup saw Alexa Thatcher, Synndy, Amy Lee, Jana, Missy Sampson, Alicia,
Ariel, Cindy Rogers, Amber, Kayla Sparks, Miss Deville, Della Morte, Kacee
Carlisle, Violet Flame, Nikki Roxx and Mercedes Martinez. A good combination
of well rounded veterans, as well as some up and comers.
Now, I won't get back into my monologue on how I was charged $4 for shipping
and handling, when I picked up tickets at the door OR how Sheldon could
barely muster up the energy to shake my hand when I was introduced to
him. (Not that I cared but after paying for the gas, tolls, travel, hotel,
ticket and shipping and handling, at least fake interest) That, plus a
full recap, can be seen by reading the review from that show, here.
I won't even comment on the behavior or treatment of some of the people
who work for the promotion in a non wrestling capacity.
I won't go into a long winded diatribe on how this WWW is promoted as
and "All Women's" federation yet the promoter insists on involving
men by having run-ins or mixed tag matches. To me, that simply shows that,
as a promoter he either doesn't have faith that the women can actually
carry the show OR he simply is not creative enough to come up with women's
matches and angles. If that's the case, why bother having and "All
Women's" fed in the first place? Especially when there are other
ones out there (like Shimmer and the up and coming IndyGurlz) that can
obviously do it better.
Let's take a look at the roster that has been announced for the upcoming
WWW show. Here is the most recent Press Release:
"World Women's Wrestling returns to Good Time Emporium,
30 Assembly Sq. Drive in Somerville on Sunday afternoon, December 10th
with a 3:00 PM bell time for a holiday wrestling spectacular.
After last month’s shocking turn of events that saw Tanya Lee capture the World Women’s Wrestling Championship from Nikki Roxx in an impromptu title match, the new champion will defend her title for the first time in the main event versus Ariel.
Ariel and Tanya Lee have had an uneasy alliance in recent months with both trying to unseat Nikki Roxx as champion. Ariel has maintained that she is the #1 contender due to her last title match with Nikki Roxx back in August – a two out of three fall contest, where Ariel won the first fall, Nikki took the second fall and the deciding fall ended in a no-contest due to Tanya Lee’s interference. It will be interesting to see what happens in this match where these two top stars collide.
Former champion, Nikki Roxx will be back in action
to take care of some unfinished business as she faces Jana in a return
grudge match. Roxx and Jana had a match on November 18 at the NECW event
in Quincy that was a knockdown drag out affair that saw Roxx get disqualified
in a miscarriage of justice. Jana has been on a tear in WWW and will give
the former champion some stiff competition on Sunday, December 10th.
In a special mixed tag team bout, Alere Little Feather teams with former
WWE star Antonio “The Promise” Thomas to take on Tina Marina
and Hale Collins, with Vic Dalishus in their corner (Collins, Dalishus
and Marina are collectively known as The NOW).
In other bouts, Portia Perez returns after her debut last month taking on the popular Lexxus. The Gothic Goddess, Della Morte collides with Amber. Violet Flame squares off against Mistress Belmont in a grudge match. Plus, Kayla Sparks returns to action and more!
As a thank you to our fans, everyone attending the show on 12/10 will receive a free 2007 World Women's Wrestling calendar - a beautiful full color 11 by 17 poster featuring all the WWW stars!
Tickets are on sale for this event right now at all
Strawberries and FYE locations and online at WorldWomensWrestling.com"
Fear not! At least there is another mixed tag match, proving once again
that this promoter must not feel that the women can be relied on to carry
the show. How should Alere feel about being booked in a mixed tag match?
I know she can wrestle a singles match. Why the need to bring the men
in, yet again?
In addition, there seems to be quite a few women who barely anyone has
ever heard of before. That should make for some interesting matches.
Does anyone else find it odd that nearly half the women that worked the
first show (and a few of the subsequent shows) have suddenly disappeared
from the promotion? Where's Amy Lee? Cindy Rogers? Mercedes Martinez?
Kacee Carlisle? Missy Sampson?
Why is Kayla Sparks being advertised when she has stated that her next
show isn't until February, and that's for a promotion in NJ?
No offense to any of the women on the show, but outside of two or three
of them, the name value that WWW once had seems to have disappeared. Tanya
Lee has suddenly been given the title over Nikki Roxx. Nikki is now facing
off against Jana? How did that happen? No rematch? How do you go from
the champion to a mid card match after one show? Where are the Mercedes',
Amy Lees', Cindy Rogers', Kayla Sparks'? Why have so many, fairly local,
wrestlers decided to no longer work here? Who will be the next woman that
chooses to leave WWW? (and believe me, there will be one... or two) Obviously,
something is not right.
There must be some reason for all these women deciding to not work there
anymore. Could it be the paydays aren't up to par with what most of these
women deserve? Could it be the payday doesn't even cover the cost of gas
or tolls these days? Could it be that there is a complete lack of respect
towards the women, especially those who have been there from the beginning?
I am not saying that there is, but what caused so many women to choose
to stop working there? (I do know why a lot of the women have stopped
working there but, out of respect to them, I won't sit here and give every
detail.)
The majority of the women wrestlers in the business, especially those
that I am referring to in this column, are not a bunch of "rats"
or whores". They should be treated with respect. They bust their
asses just as much as the guys, if not harder, since they have to constantly
prove themselves inside the ring. It's bad enough when they are booked
as just some "filler" on an indy show but to not get respect
on an all women's show would just be ridiculous.
If you are going to promote yourself as a women's league why not give
the women the respect, credit, and matches they deserve? It's a shame
that so many wrestlers are so desperate for some exposure or a payday
that they will lower themselves to being treated so poorly. It's a shame
there aren't more promoters out there that realize that there is quite
a large following for woman's wrestling and that they could actually make
some money if they knew what the hell they were doing.
I would love to hear (and would be more than happy to post) Mr. Goldberg's
reasoning behind so many great talents no longer working for his promotion.
I would love to hear the reasoning behind a lot of promoters who misuse
the women, on a regular basis, on their shows (and they are all welcome
to email me as well).
Unfortunately, it seems that since my review of the first WWW show, someone there must be upset with me as, outside of some emails for the WC Indy Hall of Fame, I have not gotten any responses to any other emails I have sent regarding WWW shows. I guess he just needs me to post his press releases and not post my opinions. Well, that just isn't going to happen.
Next column, I will take a look at the newest all women's federation
trying to make a mark, IndyGurlz.
Comments, questions, complaints? Contact Brett Schwan at WresClothesline@aol.com
I received the following email, regarding my recent Inside the Indys column, today from Sheldon Goldberg. As stated in my column, I am more than happy to post it here. Along with my repsone to him.
"Brett,
I find your “Inside The Indy’s” column on World Women’s Wrestling to be completely slanted and totally out of whack. I expect criticism in a public business and that is fair. Not everyone is going to like or approve of what we do. I am going to address your column point by point. You say that you are going to post my response and I sincerely hope you do.
Let’s start with the topic you mentioned, but said you wouldn’t, regarding your tickets and treatment at our March 5 event. You purchased your tickets via PayPal. PayPay charges us a surcharge based on the amount of the sale. We add a charge to offset that cost. That charge is significantly less than Ticket Master or other ticket brokers. If you have ever bought a ticket via those means, you would appreciate that our charges are well within reason. As to greeting you, I’m sorry I was not able to spend more time with you and I appreciate that you came from a long distance. I would hope that you would appreciate that I have a business to run and cannot always provide personal attention to everyone who buys a ticket, especially where that was the first event under the WWW banner.
As to other topic you “didn’t mention” regarding the use of men on the WWW shows. I seem to remember addressing this with you in an e-mail, but I’ll be glad to use this forum to repeat myself publicly. WWW was designed to be a “role reversal” situation. On a normal show where men are the lead attraction, women are normally used in a “special attraction” role. We simply flipped that around and made men the “special attraction” or “supporting attraction” to the women. If you know anything about the history of wrestling, you’d know that the reason women were booked on predominantly male cards as special attractions is to add variety to the event. We have applied that concept here and it has worked well for us so far. There are people who like mixed tags and people who don’t. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and to be honest our company is very much a work-in-progress.
To your comment about not having faith in the women to carry the show, that is patently ridiculous. I could see your point if the mixed tags were main event matches, but they’re not. In fact, generally speaking, in our advertising and posters, the men aren’t even mentioned. We do mention them in press releases and on our web site as a matter of disclosure. But for anyone to think that this company is not centered and focused on the women is just not seeing the forest through the trees.
You specifically mention how Alere Little Feather must feel to be working in a mixed tag match. Would you be shocked to learn that teaming with Antonio Thomas WAS HER IDEA? And by the way, Alere is a great singles wrestler and will continue to be a valued member of our roster for as long as she wants to be.
You go into great detail about who doesn’t work for us right now, as well as our booking. I don’t know of any independent wrestling promotion that goes into detail about who does or doesn’t work for them and why, or that has to justify its booking in a public forum. I’m not going to start, because frankly, that is not something a promoter should discuss in public.
However, I do wonder if you actually follow our booking and watch our Internet TV shows? Are you that big a mark to believe that switching a title means you don’t believe in that person? We believe in everyone who is booked in WWW. And just because someone is not booked, does not mean we don’t believe in them.
As for using women that you haven’t heard of, well, I’m sorry. I must have missed the memo that said we shouldn’t book them if you don’t know who they are.
As for the women you mentioned that do not work for us at the present time, I respect each of them enough to keep private business private and there is nothing negative to be said about them. Frankly, you disrespected them by putting them on the spot like that. Under the right circumstances, any of those women would be welcome in WWW.
As for Kayla Sparks specifically, she was scheduled to work December 10 and apparently there was a miscommunication there. Kayla is booked and will be appearing on future WWW events.
You said, “Could it be the paydays aren’t up to par with what these women deserve? Could it be the payday doesn’t even cover the cost of gas and tolls these days?” Pay is something that is a private matter in wrestling. I can tell you this: We have been as fair as possible within our limits and are far from unreasonable. That said, we are a business and we have a budget. That may sound like a cop out answer, but it isn’t.
You compare our company to SHIMMER. Not a fair comparison. Dave Prazak is a long time friend that I am in regular contact with. We consult each other on dates and other business. His company operates on a very different economic principle than ours and our approach to women’s wrestling differs. SHIMMER, due the location of its shows, must trans in virtually everyone. They spend thousands of dollars in airfares and hotels per event. Their economics depend largely on DVD sales. WWW is primarily a house show company. We have to subsist primarily on live gates. We do not currently have the production staff or DVD distribution, and thus DVD revenue, equal to SHIMMER. In order for our company to work, we must depend on workers who are within a drivable distance. This is more than just economic. WWW is now running monthly and we need to build our company around those who are closer to our area and consistently available. Some people who live close are not consistently available, because they are booked elsewhere. That does not mean we won’t bring in people from outside the area, but it will be done sparingly and thoughtfully for the time being. We are a business that is building up over time and looking for steady growth.
Let’s get to your claim that the women who work for us are not respected and are somehow being misused. On this, you are completely and totally out of line.
Last year, I ran two all women’s shows under the NECW banner. Both were successful, but the booker at the time was not a fan of women’s wrestling to say the least. This booker blatantly attempted to sabotage the events and harassed and demeaned many of women who worked on those events. That booker and the offending male workers who he had booked at the time are all gone and will not be back. It was then that I decided that the only way to do this right was to give the girls a true promotion of their own. Not just a string of women’s shows, but a promotion with angles, storylines and the dignity of being presented in a manner that would be equal to the way men are presented in pro wrestling. This has required hundreds and hundreds of hours of hard work and thousands of dollars in personal investment. Does that sound like someone who doesn’t respect women? No. It sounds like you don’t understand or respect the role of a promoter and the sacrifices that promoters make to give talent the stage to perform on.
I am happy to be able to say that in spite of the way you portray it, World Women’s Wrestling has been an unqualified success and has a very bright future ahead of it. It will not reach all of its potential in a year or two years. There will be bumps in the road. The only way we can achieve our goals is by creating a safe and positive creative environment. The women who work for our company are treated as professionals, nothing less. Anyone who says they were not respected by me, or my partners, perhaps has another agenda. We require workers who support the agenda of making women’s wrestling a viable proposition on its own and who put their egos in the backseat. That describes everyone who works for us and I am very proud of all of the women on our roster.
When we put the re-branded World Women’s Wrestling out there last March, it was a brave act that we were roundly criticized for in local circles. Many friends and associates thought it would never draw, but they have been consistently proven wrong. I dare say, that since we started our company, more imitators went forward because they saw that a company other than the ROH-supported SHIMMER could thrive.
You stated that “It's a shame there aren't more promoters out there that realize that there is quite a large following for woman's wrestling and that they could actually make some money if they knew what the hell they were doing.” Well, I guess I must know what the hell I’m doing, because WWW does indeed make some money.
You also say “Unfortunately, it seems that since my review of the first WWW show, someone there must be upset with me as, outside of some emails for the WC Indy Hall of Fame, I have not gotten any responses to any other emails I have sent regarding WWW shows.” I can assure you that this is nothing personal. I wish I had time to answer every e-mail I get, but my schedule just doesn’t allow it. I will try to be a better correspondent in the future and am not trying to avoid you. Promoting wrestling is a job that takes a ton of hours. I also have a family and a life. I do appreciate your efforts on behalf of indy wrestling, but please appreciate that we are understaffed and working with limited resources. And time is the most limited resource of them all.
That being said, I don’t expect to please everyone. Wrestling is a world where many think they have the answers. The vast majority of them have never been in the trenches and had to make a payroll or be responsible to a bottom line. People love to refer to wrestling as “the business” but refuse to accept or acknowledge any of the realities or responsibilities associated with that term. One of the realities of the wrestling business is that promoters take the risks and the talent gets the glory. That’s as it should be. But you know what? Maybe a little appreciation is due us. We are out there doing something positive and important for this business and we foot a big bill for it. You may not think so, and if that’s the case, you are sadly naïve.
In closing, I make no apologies other than the ones I’ve made here. I stand by the quality and integrity of NECW and World Women’s Wrestling. We have earned success through hard work and a great roster of talented women, who are valued and respected. We expect to continue that course into the years to come.
Sheldon Goldberg
Co-Owner/Promoter
New England Championship Wrestling
www.NECWwrestling.com • www.NECW.tv • www.WorldWomensWrestling.com"
-------
My response:
Sheldon,
I have posted your email, as I stated I would in my column. I am also posting this reply to you.
Starting with the PayPal surcharge, etc. My problem, as I stated in my original review of the show was simple. The "shipping and handling" charge did not appear until the final confirmation page of the purchasing process on PayPal. It should have been clearly stated, somewhere along the line, that there was a surcharge and that the price stated in all your press releases, and on your site, did not include that "handling fee".
Onto your next statement. "As to greeting you, I’m sorry I was not able to spend more time with you and I appreciate that you came from a long distance." I wasn't looking to spend time with you. I didn't ask for red carpet treatment. I was introduced to you, at a time when there was very little going on (other than you sitting behind a table doing nothing). The sheer effort it took you to lift your hand to shake mine was shocking. I would have thought you would have at least faked a smile, a hello, or something.
However, all this is far from the point of the original column.
WWW was originally pushed as an "All Women's Promotion". That's what the press releases stated. Nowhere did it say "WWW is proud to bring you role reversal." Say what you want, calling it a WOMENS league, when you use men, is inaccurate. Period. You can dig back in history as much as you want to support this role reversal theory. However, if someone is telling me they have an all women's league and then insist on having run ins by men and mixed tag matches, then I consider that to be false advertising (especially when, as you state, the men aren't even mentioned in your advertisement or posters). I do agree with you that everyone has their own opinion, thus my column in the first place.
As for following your booking and your internet tv show. I do not follow your TV show because I have no time to do so. Outside of a full time job, numerous consulting jobs, a website to run, I have a family. For me to check out every promotions Internet TV show and go to every promotions website would be as impossible as it was for you to show interest in a paying customer attending your debut show. Plus, after the first show, and reading the results of subsequent shows, I pretty much lost all interest in the promotion.
I don't compare your promotion to SHIMMER. In fact, their product blows away anything else out there right now, as far as women's wrestling goes. I stated that they seem to know how to do it, while WWW doesn't. There simply is no comparison. I too have known Dave Prazak for a long time and, while I do not consult with him or talk with him on a regular basis, I love what he is doing for women's wrestling and thoroughly enjoy his product and the talent that he has brought in (all without having to make men a "special attraction" on his shows).
I completely understand that you don't want to discuss private business being private. However, for you to say that I put anyone on the spot, other than you, and that I disrespected them, is simply ludicrous (especially if you could see the volumes and content of emails I have received regarding my column). I simply was wondering what happened to all these women who were there for the first few shows. I didn't say anything negative about them. I didn't insinuate that they had anything against WWW. I, as a potential customer and wrestling fan, just found it odd that so many talented women have suddenly disappeared from the promotion. I think, in your response, you showed them the disrespect.
You state: "This has required hundreds and hundreds of hours of hard work and thousands of dollars in personal investment. Does that sound like someone who doesn’t respect women? No. It sounds like you don’t understand or respect the role of a promoter and the sacrifices that promoters make to give talent the stage to perform on." I wonder how many of those thousands of dollars actually go to the women working the shows? If they are in fact getting just enough money to cover gas and tolls, then it does indeed sound like someone that doesn't respect them. If however, they are getting a significant "payday" (which would shock me), then I would give you the credit you deserve. To try and tell me that putting a ton of money into advertising, buildings, internet tv, DVD sales, etc. but not much money into the actual talent, only helps prove my point. Thanks! As far as the hundreds and hundreds of hours of work, that was a choice you made when you decided that you wanted to be a wrestling promoter.
I welcome any of those ladies who feel that I disrespected them in any way, shape, or form to let me know and I will post a public apology to them, on my site.
I have no ill will toward you. Despite your claims that I seem to be seeking attention from you (whether it be via email or wanting to spend imaginary time with you at a live event), I actually go through life not thinking about you at all. In fact, as I stated in my original column, I only wrote it since so many people had contacted me regarding your promotion. Had there not been so much interest, concern, or animosity, I never would have given it the time or publicity. (After all, they say all publicity is good publicity). I am not at all surprised that you found time in your amazingly busy life to reply to this article, especially with the next WWW show just hours away.
In closing, I stand by everything I say in my original column. I disagree with nearly everything you say in your reply. In my opinion, and the opinions of others I have spoken to, the "something positive and important for this business" that you claim to be doing does not exist. You use the guise of a women's promotion to try and draw a crowd who is desperate to see good women wrestling. Once there, they are given a mix of women's wrestling combined with your "role reversal" booking genius. As long as you are making money, more power to you. I'm sure if you weren't making a profit you would have dropped the entire WWW idea by now.
Brett Schwan
Owner/Webmaster www.wrestlingclothesline.com
BTW - here are two of the many emails I have received regarding my column. Both people said I could post their emails if I left out their actual names.
One NY indy wrestler I know wrote: "He complains about the booker of NECW trying to sabotage his shows with women and dissing them. Well Goldberg did that to his male talent too."
Another indy wrestler stated: "Sheldon is a piece of shit. At least YOU see that. Many promoters (including Sheldon) feel that the women should be happy with the "exposure" they give us, fuck the pay. But truly...3 things...it costs money to get to the show, they're using us to sell a fuckload of dvd's and online downloads and "exposure" doesn't pay the electric bill, so fuck right off."
