If you're an indie wrestling promoter, then advertising is everything when it comes to getting tickets sold and ass put in seats. The goal IS, to bust your ass and advertise as much as you can so as many people as possible can see it and hopefully buy tickets to your show.
I covered this for Evan Ginzburg's old monthly Newsletter called "Wrestling Then And Now" back in 1997 when I described what I went thru when I locally promoted a show for WWA New England. I transferred that story from the old WT&N new webpage to here and you can see it for yourself.
https://billsbrandnewblog.blogspot.com/2022/02/so-you-wanna-be-promoter-huh-old.html
Evidently what I described doesn't seem to go with some of the current crop of promoters. Especially certain ones who post on Youtube and either put the wrong link for tickets up, or don't bother to do it all which on the latter has you trying to guess HOW can you even purchase a ticket?
Here's a couple examples I came across when I was venturing on YouTube getting things to post here on WP&P.
Pro
Wrestling 225 is the first example.
If
you're trying to hype up a show, ACTUAL information on where or how,
tickets can be purchased is appreciated. BUT, THIS was how they
originally did it.
YYEEAAH 'hell of a way' to throw advertising up after getting asked about it.
That right there is a great example of what NOT to do, when it comes to advertising.
But they did finally, add a link.
Maybe next time they can actually get it right, the first time. There's a freaking concept for you.
ISPW is the next example of "How To Do It Wrong"
What do you when the link you put up to buy tickets to your show is the wrong link? You would 'think', they'd want to actually PUT the correct link so people can buy tickets.
NNNAAA, what would they 'wanna do TTHHAAATT for'? God forbid you do something that actually makes sense.
What whoever's in charge of uploading videos for ISPW did, was THIS instead.
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If you're an old school fan such as myself, and you see a lot of this current product, maybe this question comes to mind.
"Why the hell should we care about any of these gimmicks/characters?"
I literally gave myself a headache this past week, trying to watch a lot of the current product and that question kept popping in my head over and over again. Why should I care? Why should I care enough to buy a pay per view?
In the WWE it's well known the 'superstars' there don't say their promos, they're written for them by writers and they have to memorize the crap that's written for them. That right there is a major turn off. Then add in what the 'creatively challenged' Creative Department. churns out as 'ideas' for their wrestlers' actual 'characters' and if they're not resonating, then those written promos they memorized aren't gonna help matters either.
I wound up skimming a lot of it because the point IS, to keep me invested and WANTING to watch. Needless to say? WWE failed across the board as there wasn't one thing, on RAW, Smackdown or this 'new NXT' that had me wanting to continuing watching.
Needless to say, I won't be repeating getting this headache again, any time soon.
AEW is another example of a headache with so much 'no selling' by the wrestlers that even TRYING to 'suspend belief' becomes impossible when the level of 'no selling' is nothing short, of ridiculous.
And the fact they have all these 'veterans' on the payroll who could tell these guys that 'selling' does mean something but for some reason don't, makes it even more sadder.
Someone in a chat group I was in pointed out that MAYBE, these guys that either don't know how to 'sell' or don't want to 'sell'? Don't want to listen.
Yeah, that "we know it all and we're getting over" mentality is very prevalent with this era's 'wrestlers'. Problem is you're not really 'getting over' if people are reaching for their remotes because they see your 'no selling' is fucking pathetic. And it's not like the billionaire money mark who's booking this knows any better. He's made it apparent he doesn't know any better but is going to insist on doing it this way, anyway.
Remember AEW's claim that they were gonna be the "alternative" to WWE? Funny how Tony Khan is very much like Vince McMahon in that aspect. Something the AEW 'marks' of course, don't WANT to see.
You also have to remember this is the same Meltzer 'booker of the year' who hired Mark Henry and Big Show and, where are they? How great are THEY, being used?
One does 45 second segments and the other? has been regulated to YouTube shows.
Yep, and that's YOUR NEW, owner of Ring of Honor doing this crap Aren't you just so happy you have HIM, in the wrestling business? (gives sarcastic 'thumbs up').
And Finally on this topic comes Impact Wrestling, where 'no selling' by many is at the same asinine level as AEW, some of the 'characters' they present are cringy and have me looking for a rerun of anything, because a rerun of anything would be better than a lot of what Impact presents.
Not that it's a total loss because Chelsea Green, Tasha Steele and Mickie James are great to watch. The Knockouts title scene has me hooked but then you get someone like Eddie Edwards, who maybe three people I know in this world he gets over with. I look at Eddie Edwards and I start wishing Davey Richards was here instead. because Richards comes across WAY MORE convincingly than anything I've seen Edwards do in, well ever actually.
Throw in booker Scott D'Amore as the worst 'authority figure' ever and it's a reminder why bookers being 'authority figures' should be done away with.
I guess the idea of telling Scotty to be a booker who stays in the back and be quiet, is lost on many who rank above him at Anthem Sports.
Violent By Design always has me designing to watch something else, Josh Alexander to me is just a Kurt Angle wannabe in many ways. Moose has been entertaining and 'some' of this Honor No more vs Impact has been entertaining. BUT now that the billionaire money mark has bought Ring of Honor, how this storyline gonna play out?
This just goes to show that for the most part, the major federations don't book shows' for fans like me, and they really don't want to, because they don't WANT fans like me.
Thank God companies like OVW, Reality Of Wrestling, Freelance Wrestling, DEFY Wrestling, and the whole bunch of UK promotions I watch, DO want fans like me.
Pretty fucking sad that those indie companies give me more of what I want as a fan, than the major federations do. Pretty sad, indeed.
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I teased this little screen grab yesterday when I posted what's going to be in this week's column. Very special thanks goes to Matthew Maurer for providing this, and giving me permission to use this.
If you go thru the last two weeks of this column, it'll be apparent who this is. I decided to fight back against what one certain 'newsletter writer' (and his partner on the site) have been saying about me for a very long time. I broached this issue here. https://billsbrandnewblog.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-ahole-in-room-3-15-22.html as well in last weeks column where you can see here. https://billsbrandnewblog.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-ahole-in-room-3-22-2022.html ..
You would've thought, that after being fact checked on this two weeks in a row, he'd get the clue. That posting an old pic of me from twelves years ago, wasn't going to get him anywhere.
But sadly, he didn't get the memo, or the clue. So somebody who's been a regular viewer of PWInsider as wells as this site, decided to call that person out and here's the screen grab of the guy who got called out.
I took the liberty of covering up Matthew Maurer's email address because while he did give me the permission to use this (that I can provide any time I'm asked to) I feel he doesn't need to be harassed by any Scherer sympathizers who won't like the fact that Mr. Scherer was called to prove what he's been saying about me.
It's one thing to go ahead and say something about my past (shrugs), I've embraced that for years so all the pics from back then that Dave wants to post on Twitter is fine by me. But as for the allegations that every person that emails him a link from this site is me? I'd LLOVVEE to see that proof myself. (smiles), I'll wait.
I'll be waiting a REAL LONG TIME cause there isn't any, he has none and the fact he was called out FOUR DAYS AGO, and hasn't replied, hasn't responded and apparently he hasn't 'supplied' any proof.
Imagine that. No response and no proof. Boy doesn't that say it all, right there.
Now for anyone who wants to ask, why didn't I, confront Mr. Scherer on this? Seeing as he loves to make claims I'm 'stalking' him, (which we now can put to rest since Mr. Scherer isn't able to back up these claims) all me bracing him about it would've done was add to the fairy tale he's been having, and the last thing I was going to do was further his fairy tale. Why give him something he'd twist into using as some sort of 'ammunition' to further this pathetic cause of his, when I don't have to?
To say I was very surprised when Mr. Maurer emailed me is an understatement. Unlike Mr. Scherer who seems to need to hide behind a podcast that only 'elite members' who PAY for a subscription in order to hear, there's no podcast, no 'elite memberships' here. If one has nothing to hide or nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to the past? Then be upfront and honest about it.
So there you go.
We all have a past, somewhere, skeletons in their closet if you will, or even our own 'demons'. But some people actually CAN turn their lives around and not be consumed by those 'demons' that, like me had do things I've paid the price for.
Being a few weeks shy of eight years being sober is a reality that for some reason, Mr. Scherer (and his pal/partner Mike Johnson) isn't capable of accepting. But that's on them as they say, ignorance is bliss and they seem to enjoy being in that world.
And to further fact check Mr. Scherer with even more reality, that now makes his fiction more fantasy than reality.. I actually work for a very well known department store that hired me on the fact that I was upfront and honest with that 'past' from twelve years ago. Which is another truth Mr. Scherer has a hard time swallowing.
So since Mr. Scherer has had FOUR DAYS to scrape up something resembling 'proof' and can't, I think this issue can finally be laid to rest. Knowing that all Mr. Scherer did was 'pull a Meltzer' and make up a story that's been again, busted out as a lie. Him saying anything and not providing 'proof' he was called out to supply something he thinks is 'proof', will now be seen as just another lie. Because, he got called out and has been silent since he was called out.
But since Mr. Scherer actually thought posting an old pic from twelve years ago was going to accomplish something? I'll post it again right here as it simply doesn't bother me sat all and more amuses me that he has had this one thing, and only one thing he's been hanging on to dear life with.
So here you go, twelve years ago?
AND, now, 2022
Makes you go HHHHMM, doesn't it.
