Over the past six years I have worked for a handful of wrestling promotions. Some that lasted one show and others that lasted for years. There is one thing that all of these have in common, failure. Failure to promote their show and more important their product. The product is what you, the workers, provide during a show. A combination of wrestlers, announcers, referees, managers, and promoters make this product what it is, bad or good.

You see it is a combined effort from all those involved in the making of a show, televised and non-televised. Without putting in a 100% of your effort into a show or future show YOU are responsible for the bad product you provide. This issue will take aim to promoters, non specifically,but all in general. It is the sole all the blame for a bad show for a wrestling company lies solely with the promoter in my opinion. Why? The promoter has the final say in everything, from the workers they hire, to the matches they make, and the money spent in promoting the product.

We’ll first start with the workers, in order to have a show a promoter need workers. The promoter needs wrestlers. These wrestlers should be trained, experienced, and be professional. Workers often blame the workers, well in their defense it’s the promoter you should be upset with. Because if they lack those three things then obviously, they are not going to be up to par. If the promoter is smart then he should recognize a worker who’s not up to par, and if he hires someone who’s not, then he is responsible for them having a place to work and the bad product he produces.

You see it’s the decisions of the promoter that can make or break a show. By hiring unprofessional, un-experienced, and untrained individuals. Promoters forget that it’s called the wrestling buisness for a reason! If you opened up mechanic shop, you would want the most experienced mechanic to be working in your shop, right? Of course, because when he does a good job he makes you money and the customer is liable to tell their friends and use you again. The same needs to be done for wrestling businesses. The promoter should hire the best workers available, if it’s too expensive then compromise. Most workers would be glad to work for a professional show and would compromise in order to work.

Promoting is another key to a companys success. With the invention of the Internet and social media it’s become inexpensive to promote shows and in turn provides more funds for radio/TV ads. With out promotion the show wouldnt even break even. In Arkansas there is only one promotion that is the epitome of Indy wrestling. Indy promotions could take notes from Traditional Championship Wrestling, based in western Arkansas, because they are the closest thing to the big boys I’ve seen yet. With promoting their number one priority they are able to generate revenue! Most promotions in this state rely on just the Internet alone or by word of mouth. They could take a lesson from TCW, they promote using the Internet, TV, radio, social media, flyers, and sponsors to spread the word about their latest show.

I had the opportunity to attend one of their shows in Booneville, AR where I got to meet up with some old friends and enjoy a show the way it was meant to be run. This success was because the promoter recognized the facts stated in this blog. He used these things to his and the workers advantage. However there is one thing working against all promotions these days, and that is weekly shows. Gone are the days when promoters would run once a month or once every three months, in favor of a weekly show. In todays economy you cannot run the same town every week and expect to make money.

I’ve never been a promoter of a wrestling business, I’ve held many high places in the business, but promoter was never one of them. That doesn’t mean I don’t see what is going on and what should be going on. I’m sure my fellow writer, Frank Martin, may comment on this and help support my advice. Promoters you are responsible for the for the failures as well as the successes of your company. When you have a good show it’s because you have hired professional workers who are committed to treating this as a job and giving it their all. When you have a bad show it’s because you have failed in one or many aspects, from hiring unprofessional workers to not promoting your show enough. Workers if your tired of these type of promoters, bad ones, there is one way to solve that problem…don’t work for them.

It’s like my former commentating partner John Steele used to say: Professionals get paid, Amateurs get a hot dog.

T-Bone

Here are a couple of shots from the TCW Live Event in Booneville, AR.
www.traditionalwrestling.com

We want to thank all of our followers from across the nation and globe for supporting this site! We hope that you will take something away from this site that will help you further your career. This site is dedicated in creating a more professional indy wrestling scene through constructive criticism, opinions, and advice.

Thanks again and visit us frequently here and on twitter.

T-Bone

Click the link above to watch as CM Punk makes a statement to Chris Brown.

One of the answers I always get and I agree with is, the lack of respect for the business. There is a lack of respect for the veterans in the business, there is a lack of respect for the art of wrestling in general. No one wants to accept their role and do what they have to do in order for the entire show to be good. For example most of the young guys when they get the opportunity to be a heel, they want to be a tuff unbeatable heel! Gone is the heel that begged for his life in the ring to get the face to let his guard down so that the heel could get in his cheap shot. Gone is the spot where the heel turns the face from the ref and shows the crowd that he is going to give him a shot to the throat! No one rakes the eyes across the top rope anymore or simply puts a thumb to the eye or uses an eye gouge.  I can’t tell you the last time I saw a heel on his knees in the ring begging for the face not to hit him anymore.  Everyone wants to be big and bad and cheat and use a gimmick to win a match or just be so over powering they crush their opponent in the ring.  What’s wrong with that you may ask?  Well for one thing it in no way builds the face in anyway shape or form.  It gives no credibility to the face so the fans can get behind them and support them!  It in no way builds any sympathy for the face, no one ever feels sorry for the face anymore, the sympathy factor is a tool in the arsenal of a promotion and it is a strong tool to be used to build a face.  Knowing how to be a heel, who that person is and why he or she is a heel, what made them a heel.  Most guys think, oh I am a heel tonight and that means I cheat to win, I make faces at the kids in the crowd and tell the old ladies to shut up and sit down.  There is just so much more to being the heel than that, like I mentioned before one of your jobs as the heel is to build the face and make him or her the hero.  But again we could spend hours on this so I guess it would be best if I would have just said there is a lack of psychology in general in the business today.

Another problem I personally have seen is the lack of a booker for promotions.  To be honest there are very few good bookers around and there are even less bookers coming up learning what it takes to book a match.  Everyone wants to be or have a writer in their promotion, or the owner is the booker and champion in the promotion.  Booking at the independent level of professional wrestling at a promotion that does not have a TV show is very simple.  Heel VS Face, heel goes over 90% of the time to keep the crowd coming back to see the face get his revenge.   If you keep the ego’s in check and book the matches this way it is really easy to work out and your crowd will keep coming back.  The problem in this area is most of the guys do not understand what a work is.  If they don’t go over every night they get upset because they don’t look like the hero, tough guy in front of their girl friend or wife!  Come on guys it is a work, your acting and telling a story and if you can’t keep that straight in your own mind then stop wrestling.

The lack of dedication to the business is another problem.  Guys think that they are dedicated because the show up every Saturday night.  To some extent that is dedicated but to whom?  I see very few dedicated enough to show up several hours before the matches and practice in the ring with their opponent to get their spots right.  Very few promoters open their buildings during the week and let the guys practice.  At the sometime very few guys will show up during the week and practice and train, training is something that should continue through out your career no matter how many years you have been in the business.  Look at a pro baseball player or any sport as far as that goes, the veterans practice and participate in practice just like a first year guy.  Tom Brady the Quarterback for the New England Patriots has a private coach he works with during the off season.  So training is very important and keeps you sharp in the ring.  Young guy’s just because you have been trained does not mean you have nothing else to learn or that you now know all you need to know.  Working on your craft and learning from others will keep you sharp and gives you knowledge that you would not normally pick up.  Most of the veterans I know would love to be able to work with a young guy especially someone who is honestly wanting to learn and respects the years of knowledge that they have to share with them.

Lack of training and training facilities is another factor in whats wrong.  I can’t tell you how many workers I met that told me their trainers were…and there would be multiple guys and not one would be someone I have heard of or ever saw work, and that would be from the area I am in!  I have met workers who because they went to a promotion one Saturday evening and one of the guys got them into the ring and taught them how to lock up and take a bump, consider themselves trained!  Or guys who have told me the received on the job in the ring training!  Then when they get into the ring and the match looks like two guys climbed out of the crowd and got into the ring and fought like girls they wonder why they don’t get a pop!  I have watched matches that the crowd never cheered or booed one time for either worker.  They “marks” in the crowd called spots and made fun of the guys in the ring,  that gives this business a bad name and even less credibility than it has at this time.  If you have never been trained at a professional training facility by someone who has a reputation as a professional wrestler, then you should never get in the ring, your dangerous and will get someone hurt or worse.

So in this brief write up you can see that the biggest problem or what I think is wrong with professional wrestling is just a lack of respect for a business that great men and women gave their blood and bodies and lives for.  To step in the ring is an honor in its self, and if you do anything to bring disgrace or disrespect the legacy of professional wrestling in anyway then YOU ARE WHAT’S WRONG with the business!

Frank(Big Money) Martin.

Last nights show began with and ambulance promo from the buildup of the Elimination Chamber PPV. I must say I always love the artwork of the promos from the WWE Production Staff. Now with that being said, I don’t like a lot of promos and little wrestling. After the opening ambulance promo, we the. Go to the Bella Twins talking to Eve Torres about her turning on Zack Ryder and about to turn on John Cena. Cena would be there to hear her whole plan.

After that promo, we would see John Cena take to the ring to apparently do a promo from the ring only to be interrupted by Eve. She tries to explain, blah blah blah, eventually #hoeski was trending on twitter. Eve after being called some non-PG names she’s escorted by WWE officials back to the back in a emotional state.

Finally we get to our first match, Sheamus VS Mark Henry. I thought the match was averagely entertaining, but could have been a bit more fast paced. Sheamus would win via pin fall. 3/5

We would see ANOTHER promo with RAW Interim GM, Johnny Ace, talking about two brands, one GM. Eventually they get to a Battle Royal idea. Five contenders from each brand. The winner would face WWE Champion CM Punk at WrestleMania.

Our second match of the program would be a tag team bout as R-Truth & Kofi Kingston would take on the WWE Tag Team Champions Primo & Epico in a non-title match. This would be another average match, good but not great. Winner: R-Truth & Kofi Kingston 3/5

WWE would announce Ron Simmons as next inductee for the Hall of Fame. Congratulations from us at The T-Bone Effect for his induction.

We then go to the back with an interview from Chris Jericho the Chamber match and how he was not technically eliminated.

Third match would David Otunga with Johnny Ace VS Eziekel Jackson with Teddy Long. This match could have been a lot better considering the size and fitness of both superstars. Otunga would take the win in a short lived match. 2/5

We see a promo of HBK talking about Triple H taking on the Undertaker at WrestleMania. The Undertaker would take to the ring for a promo. He would deliver a not so intimidating speech to Triple H asking for a match. Triple H would eventually say yes but only if it was a Hell in a Cell match. The Undertaker would pat him on the shoulder as if accepting the terms.

This next match infuriated me. The World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan would take on Santino. This was the shortest match of the night and destroyed everything Santino had did the night before on the Chamber PPV. Bryan would win the match by submission. 2/5

We would come back to a Divas tag match with the contenders already in the ring. The Bella Twins would take on Aksana & Kelly Kelly. Awful match. 1/5

Cena would yet again come to the ring for a promo this time to talk about The Rock. He delivered a powerful promo that got his message across. A lot of believability in the promo which should have drew in the fans.

We then took to the Main Event for the 10-Man Battle Royal. Here are the contenders in order of elimination:
1st Khali
2nd Miz
3rd Wade Barrett (Injured)
4th R-Truth
5th Kofi Kingston
6th Dolph Ziggler
7th Santino
8th Cody Rhodes
9th Big Show (With the help of Rhodes)
Winner: Chris Jericho

This match was actually pretty good, even tho Barrett separated his elbow and Ziggler ate a piece of the announce desk. Jericho would be seen checking on Barrett on camera to the referee. 3/5

I was very disappointed that there were 10 promos excluding intro and hall of fame video package, but only 6 matches. Sometimes less isn’t more.

Show Rating: 2/5

T-Bone

You know the independent wrestling scene should be like a engine. Each part must be of high quality, fit just right, be well lubricated, and taken care of to run efficiently. Unfortunately that is not the engine we have. It’s more like the knocking, oil leaking, and missing engine of a 1932 Model T. Our business is flooded with bad parts. Bad wrestlers, bad announcers, bad referees, and more importantly, bad promoters.

You have wrestlers wearing jeans and a t-shirt, referees wearing masks, announcers blowing finishes that wrestlers set up for weeks/months to set up, and promoters, well doing everything they possibly can to ruin this business. You see it, you may even be a part of it. If you see it and do nothing to help those around you to improve then you may be a part of the problem. If you are a part of it, which you know if you are or not, then stop. Your only making it worse on yourself and more importantly the workers around you.

I created the T-Bone Factor four years ago so that I could complain about the scene that was happening around me, but that was the wrong way to approach it. So I changed it to the T-Bone Effect so that I could share my experiences with you that you would learn from them and hopefully change your ways. I am by no means an perfect announcer or commentator. I’ve made mistakes and took the wrong advice. It cost me bookings, friends, and chances to advance to the next level. You are the voice of that company in some cases and can mean the difference between a good atmosphere and a bad one.

I’m out to try and help change that by giving you the readers an opportunity to learn from my mistakes I made as a young and dumb worker. I’ve seen many people come and go in this business because of the bad taste left in their mouth by the unprofessional atmosphere in the business. Hopefully these Do’s and Don’ts will help you to understand what I and so many others have learned.

Do’s:
1. Get a suit, your appearance means just as much as your voice. Look the part. They are $50 at and second hand store if you can’t buy new.
2. Announcers, during introductions announce match type, time limit, billed from, weight, name. Once both have been introduced go sit down.
3. Annunciate what’s going on in the ring or a previous or future promo.
4. Remember to keep personal comments, while commentating or announcing, to yourself. Bad remarks reflect poorly towards the company and make you look unprofessional.
5. Know the workers professional background, do your homework. This is material you can you to fill in the audience on the workers achievements and stats.
6. Speak in a manner that the audience can hear you. It is key for the audience to make out what you are saying because if they can’t your wasting your time and tape.
7. If you have an accent drop it, this can further someones confusion in what you’ve just said.
8. Find an experienced announcer to learn from, they can help you tremendously.
9. Work on your vocabulary. Buy a dictionary/thesaurus. Your a professional not a radio DJ.
10. Plug the wrestlers gimmicks, dates of the next shows, and sponsors.
11. Plug your company website and social media outlets.
12. Be respectful to your peers. If you have an issue take it to them.
13. Commentators call what you see on your monitor. The TV audience can’t see what’s not on the camera.

Don’ts:
1. Don’t dress like a member of the crowd.
2. Don’t have a gimmick or gimmick tables.
3. Don’t promote workers/companies that are not affiliated with the company you work for.
4. Don’t call gimmicks, illegal moves, or objects, the referee is blind not deaf.
5. Don’t involve yourself in any angles unless scripted, even then keep to a minimum.
6. Don’t announce over the PA.
7. Don’t have your own entrance, if the promotions send you out to their company music that’s fine.
8. Don’t add adjectives to the moves until later until the match. Not every drop kick, clothesline, or punch is a BIG MOVE. Save the expressions for later in the match to help build up the finish.
9. Don’t take away from the match by being a distraction.
10. Don’t get up from your table unless it about to be broken. Stay seated unless your a ring announcer.
11. Don’t go around the ring shaking hands. If the crowd wants to meet you or get your autograph they will come to you.
12. Don’t treat your job as a hobby. It is a JOB. If you treat it as a hobby and “just do it for fun”, your getting in the way of those who want to make it further in their career.

Now this pretty much sums up the majority of what announcers and commentators should and shouldn’t do. I like many others have done what has been suggested to do and not to do. I hope to change that among us announcers. With so very few of us professionals out there it is becoming ever so difficult that the once pristine engine is starting to show its ugly side. It is up to us to educate those willing to learn and its up to those who want in our business to be willing to learn. Professionalism is the key to success, if it can fall in place first in their wrestling career they stand a better chance of making it.

We would like to know from you, the announcers and commentators, if we have left anything out. Leave us a comment here on our blog and let us know what you think. I hope those who need these tips will take them. They can mean the difference between a hot dog pay off or a cash pay off. Remember professionals get paid, amateurs get a hot dog.

T-Bone

Show had approximately 86 people at last count.

Great show with a full crowd for the buildings size. Loud and into the matches. Photos from the show will be below the results.

1st Match: #1 Contender Tournament
Alan Steel vs Greg King
Winner Alan Steel with the help of Killer Nikels. Botch at the end. A catapult launch sends Steel into the air and almost lands on top of King. Rank 3/5

2nd Match: #1 Contender Tournament
Killer Nikels vs Brian Christopher
Winner Brian Christopher via help from Greg King. Ive always been a fan of Nikels. Rank 3/5

3rd Match: Tag Team Match
Dan Matthews/Maxx Corbin with Gary White/Kid Thunder vs Bill Dundee/Chris O’Neal
Winners Dundee and O’Neal with Randy Hales with a pin on Kid Thunder. Neither were legal men but won the match. Left me at a loss for words. Kid Thunder unmasked at the end by Hales. I didn’t understand the finish at all. Rank 2/5

4th Match: Tournament Finale
Alan Steel vs Brian Christopher
Winner: Alan Steel Great match as well. Both guys did incredibly well considering they worked already. Rank 3/5

5th Match: Main Event for PPW Title Loser Leaves Town
Justin Smart vs Austin Lane(c)
Winner: Lane by submission. These guys won Match of the Year for 2010. They put on an excellent match for the main event. They did a little too much but not a lot to complain about. I didn’t like the idea of a stipulation on the title match. I believe the title should have enough luster to draw without a stipulation added. Rank 4/5

We will be reporting live tonight from Ripley, TN for PowerPro Wrestling! Follow T-Bone on twitter @tbone_terrence for LIVE results, photos, and comments during the show. Reply to us on twitter and your comment of the night may be featured on our site! A full write up will be features here by Monday.

Photo Credit: WWE

We here at The T-Bone Effect are proud to announce our first of four Hall of Fame inductees to this site. We are not going to do a big write up yet, as to allow us to get things just right for this wrestling legend, icon, and friend. It is our pleasure to induct WWE’s very own Bruno Lauer. (aka: Downtown Bruno, Harvey Wippleman (WWE), Lennerd Spazzinsky, Hervina, and God know so many others…)

Check back soon for our official induction article ceremony.

Thanks,
T-Bone