It's been a couple of months and I have been involved in exactly one event, CWF BATTLECADE XX on Dec. 28th. I've ridden the emotional roller coaster and made peace with my situation and the state of the sport in this area.
We left the area fully well capable of training the next generation of pro wrestlers, and with the list of guys who have came through our doors that are performing in WWE, NXT, ROH, AEW and all of the rest of the alphabet of wrestling companies around the world, right now, we are good. We are accomplished. And we ran the area for 20 years. Twenty.
I felt the rug was pulled out from under my feet a couple of months ago and was seeing the end of my life as I knew it then. That's not how I see it today. I spent a LOT of my waking hours in the promotion of events, wrestlers and companies in the past 30+ years and today I can look back and say "I did well, WE did well."
There's also now what I see as oversaturation in the local market, with wrestling events happening all over every weekend, in small towns, armories and wrestling schools and arenas. Oversaturation also indicates that no one will make financial inroads when everybody in the area is using the same formula week-in and week-out. No matter how hard everyone tries, there are no more unique, one-of-a-kind events, regardless of how they are advertised. There will be very few "break-out stars" as there will be so many faces vying for exposure and fame.
Yes, perhaps there is too much indy pro wrestling today. Perhaps there are too many wrestlers in training. Perhaps the marks outnumber the actual smarts, since so many smarts are nothing but marks in the first place. I was the one looked at sideways a couple of years ago when I stood up and said it was time to tighten the circle.
"NO!" they declared, "Now is the time to get anyone interested on the inside!" If everyone interested in pro wrestling is on the inside, who then is left to buy tickets? That will be the $64 Question in this area moving forward.
Well, "they" got their way and everybody with even a passing interest in the sport has been welcomed inside, inside the industry and inside of the locker rooms. No one from today's generation will ever know what it's like to be seen near a locker room door holding a camera and hearing multiple voices inside declaring "Kay Fabe!" because someone has a camera outside of the locker room.
Wait until the real indy stars start feeling the oversaturation in their pay envelopes and in their bookings, when promoters will start short-selling them by reminding them of all of the other "up and coming" young folks that are willing to take their places on the card for less money.
Hey. I tried to warn everybody and you all thought I was screaming in the night or something. As a matter of fact, I have no urge currently to step into another building for anyone's event. The fire has died down quite a bit and I am enjoying using my time driving down different avenues. Yes, I'll be there when CWF decides to run another event, but don't hold your breath at this point. We are looking at a market with 3-6 events within driving distance every weekend, so why bother? A few short years ago, that was NOT the case and new promotions generally fell as quickly as they rose. Today? Too many places and too many faces. Wrestlers are not unique today, and with everybody involved, the mystique is taking a shot below the belt, to be honest.
No, I'm not bitter. I'm no longer angry. I've woke up from a fog that saw me willingly spend good money to continue to keep a firm grip on my "spot". All it took was for the whole shooting match to close down and the fatigue hit me right between the eyes. I have learned to enjoy time away from people, as much as I miss the familiar faces of the last 20 years, the ones that want to communicate are right there at my fingertips online. The rest?
I dunno. But I get it. I got this. And I'm cool.
