A look Into the NE as Indie Wrestling's Mecca
I saw this topic over at the Ring of Honor message board concerning the lack of talent coming out of the Northeast, currently considered the Mecca of Indie Wrestling, so I decided to express my thoughts on the matter. While I’ve noticed that there has been an influx of talent from all parts of the country heading to the NE to wrestle, I never realized the lack of talent that was coming out of the NE. To give an example of what I mean, I’d like to post the card for Ring of Honor’s NYC show on May 7 (Where they are from):
ROH World Title Match
Austin Aries (mid-west) defends vs. Alex Shelley (mid-west)
ROH Pure Title Match
Jay Lethal (NE) defends vs. Samoa Joe (So-Cal)
ROH Tag Team Title Match
BJ Whitmer (mid-west) & Jimmy Jacobs (mid-west) defend vs. Roderick Strong (Florida) & Jack Evans (west coast) of Generation Next
Dog Collar Match
CM Punk (mid-west) vs. Jimmy Rave (South) with Prince Nana (Ghana - just kidding, he’s NE)
Special Challenge Match
Colt Cabana (mid-west) vs. Nigel McGuinness (England)
One Fall Three Way- Losing Team Must Split Up
The Ring Crew Express of Dunn & Marcos (NE) vs. Lacey's Angels of Deranged (NE) & Izzy (NE) vs. Azrieal (NE) & Dixie (NE)
Brooklyn's own Homicide (NE) & Low Ki (NE) with Julius Smokes (NE) will be there!!!
James Gibson's (Florida) match will be signed next week!!!
Ok, now the only real influences on the show that come from the NE are Jay Lethal and Homicide. You can’t really count Low Ki because he’s only appearing because he’s not in Japan and the show happens to be in NYC. The harsh reality of the “One Fall Three Way - Losing Team Must Split Up” match is that, while the match will probably be entertaining, none of these guys will ever see the time of day atop of Ring of Honor. The fact of the matter is that Lethal and Homicide represent the NE in Ring of Honor. That’s a very scary thought as RoH, during its inception, had a very heavy influence of NE bred wrestlers, the likes of which included Low Ki, Homicide, Boogalou, Dan Maff, Monsta Mack, Buff E & Mace of the Christopher Street Connection, Amazing Red, Jay Briscoe, and Joel & Jose Maximo.
Now I know a lot of you are thinking that you can’t really consider RoH a NE promotion anymore. With expansion they now run a lot of the mid-west, which makes sense because that is where a majority of their wrestlers are coming from, as well as in the New England area. While expansion does make sense, what happened to the love for the NE? I guess the point I’m trying to get to is that running shows in the NE doesn’t seem as important as it once was. Between the crazy licensing issues in Pennsylvania, and I believe New York as well, the issues with venues in New Jersey and the fact that most wrestlers aren’t even from the NE, then could this be signs of the NE’s demise as far as being the Mecca of Indie Wrestling? I know that may seem to be jumping to conclusions too soon, but you would think that it would inevitably come to fruition. I know that Indie Wrestling in Philly isn’t as hot as it once was. ECW carried that torch for so long and RoH tried to keep it burning, but you knew it was going to fizzle out eventually. None of the promotions that run Philly are drawing like they once used to. I think part of wanting to run NYC so badly now is a result of other NE locations falling to the wayside. The loss of the Rexplex in Elizabeth, NJ, was huge for RoH and any other promotion that was looking to run there. A lot of people may not think so, but having venue problems can be very detrimental. Hell, the move to NYC for RoH hasn’t gone without its share of venue issues as they recently changed the location of this return to NYC, and the show is a little over a week away. RoH had a huge promoting blitz during the recent WWE supershow at Madison Square Garden that could be all for nothing because those fans received flyers with the previous location listed.
Now before I go too far, I’d just like to state that I’m only using RoH as an example because they have the NYC show coming up, and they essentially do represent the NE, whether they like it or not. I could have used JAPW as a case and pointed out that a lot of their talent is also from outside of the NE. Also, JAPW has decided to expand by moving into New England and the Boston market.
Now if the NE does lose its grip on being the Mecca of Indie Wrestling, then who takes its place? You would think that with the influx of mid-west talent that the new Mecca would reside there. I don’t know though, I just don’t see the mid-west becoming this hotbed of wrestling that overtakes the NE. Call me crazy, but I have other things in mind.
I may sound extremely bias, but I think Florida, with a lot of work, could make a case for that spot in a few years. There most definitely is a lot of work yet to be done in Florida, but I think some of the steps that have been taken have been steps taken forward. I don’t know how people would take to this, but I would love to see the Florida wrestling scene regulated by the state of Florida. I think if a license was needed to run promotions, then my belief is that it would weed out some of the problems that are running rampant on the Florida wrestling scene. It’s just disturbing that any Joe Schmoe can open a promotion in the state of Florida. And please don’t point to the fact that insurance is still needed in Florida because we all know that is a joke. I think with licensing regularities, then the pretend promoters will fall to the wayside leading to the quality of wrestling that comes thru these parts going up. Again, maybe I’m delusional, but I don’t think Florida is that far off from becoming the hotbed of wrestling that it once was during the territorial days. I just think it is something that has to be done over time. This isn’t going to happen overnight.
I think one key element that needs to happen in the state of Florida for it to reclaim its spot at the top is that wrestling schools are terribly needed. Hell, wrestling schools in Florida are needed as soon as yesterday. It’s almost like the same predicament in the NE. They have no talent coming out of the NE simply because the number of quality wrestling schools has diminished. The fact of the matter is that the number of people training to become professional wrestlers is dwindling. While it’s very easy to bring in out of state wrestlers, you still need to have that core of wrestlers that represent your market. While Florida does have some guys waiting in the wings, there is still a bunch more needed. That isn’t going to happen as long as wrestling schools don’t exist. Simply put, how many wrestling schools do you know that exist in the state of Florida? I research this stuff all day long, and I have to be honest when I say that I can count them on one hand, and I may still have a few fingers left over. It’s sad, but that’s the reality here in Florida. Somehow people need to come together and make this a reality. The way I see it is how are you all going to run promotions if there are no wrestlers to wrestle on your shows? That should be motivation enough for someone to want to make the wrestling school thing work.
There is so much more that needs to be done (Florida fans are an issue for one, but I’ll save that for another day), but I think in a few years when the NE has run its course as being the Mecca of Indie Wrestling, then I think Florida could possibly be right there waiting to reclaim the crown. Several things need to go Florida’s way, and several things need to be done by those that are power players on the Florida Indie scene. If all that goes according to plan, then expect for us to be the envy of smart marks all across the Northeast.
ROH World Title Match
Austin Aries (mid-west) defends vs. Alex Shelley (mid-west)
ROH Pure Title Match
Jay Lethal (NE) defends vs. Samoa Joe (So-Cal)
ROH Tag Team Title Match
BJ Whitmer (mid-west) & Jimmy Jacobs (mid-west) defend vs. Roderick Strong (Florida) & Jack Evans (west coast) of Generation Next
Dog Collar Match
CM Punk (mid-west) vs. Jimmy Rave (South) with Prince Nana (Ghana - just kidding, he’s NE)
Special Challenge Match
Colt Cabana (mid-west) vs. Nigel McGuinness (England)
One Fall Three Way- Losing Team Must Split Up
The Ring Crew Express of Dunn & Marcos (NE) vs. Lacey's Angels of Deranged (NE) & Izzy (NE) vs. Azrieal (NE) & Dixie (NE)
Brooklyn's own Homicide (NE) & Low Ki (NE) with Julius Smokes (NE) will be there!!!
James Gibson's (Florida) match will be signed next week!!!
Ok, now the only real influences on the show that come from the NE are Jay Lethal and Homicide. You can’t really count Low Ki because he’s only appearing because he’s not in Japan and the show happens to be in NYC. The harsh reality of the “One Fall Three Way - Losing Team Must Split Up” match is that, while the match will probably be entertaining, none of these guys will ever see the time of day atop of Ring of Honor. The fact of the matter is that Lethal and Homicide represent the NE in Ring of Honor. That’s a very scary thought as RoH, during its inception, had a very heavy influence of NE bred wrestlers, the likes of which included Low Ki, Homicide, Boogalou, Dan Maff, Monsta Mack, Buff E & Mace of the Christopher Street Connection, Amazing Red, Jay Briscoe, and Joel & Jose Maximo.
Now I know a lot of you are thinking that you can’t really consider RoH a NE promotion anymore. With expansion they now run a lot of the mid-west, which makes sense because that is where a majority of their wrestlers are coming from, as well as in the New England area. While expansion does make sense, what happened to the love for the NE? I guess the point I’m trying to get to is that running shows in the NE doesn’t seem as important as it once was. Between the crazy licensing issues in Pennsylvania, and I believe New York as well, the issues with venues in New Jersey and the fact that most wrestlers aren’t even from the NE, then could this be signs of the NE’s demise as far as being the Mecca of Indie Wrestling? I know that may seem to be jumping to conclusions too soon, but you would think that it would inevitably come to fruition. I know that Indie Wrestling in Philly isn’t as hot as it once was. ECW carried that torch for so long and RoH tried to keep it burning, but you knew it was going to fizzle out eventually. None of the promotions that run Philly are drawing like they once used to. I think part of wanting to run NYC so badly now is a result of other NE locations falling to the wayside. The loss of the Rexplex in Elizabeth, NJ, was huge for RoH and any other promotion that was looking to run there. A lot of people may not think so, but having venue problems can be very detrimental. Hell, the move to NYC for RoH hasn’t gone without its share of venue issues as they recently changed the location of this return to NYC, and the show is a little over a week away. RoH had a huge promoting blitz during the recent WWE supershow at Madison Square Garden that could be all for nothing because those fans received flyers with the previous location listed.
Now before I go too far, I’d just like to state that I’m only using RoH as an example because they have the NYC show coming up, and they essentially do represent the NE, whether they like it or not. I could have used JAPW as a case and pointed out that a lot of their talent is also from outside of the NE. Also, JAPW has decided to expand by moving into New England and the Boston market.
Now if the NE does lose its grip on being the Mecca of Indie Wrestling, then who takes its place? You would think that with the influx of mid-west talent that the new Mecca would reside there. I don’t know though, I just don’t see the mid-west becoming this hotbed of wrestling that overtakes the NE. Call me crazy, but I have other things in mind.
I may sound extremely bias, but I think Florida, with a lot of work, could make a case for that spot in a few years. There most definitely is a lot of work yet to be done in Florida, but I think some of the steps that have been taken have been steps taken forward. I don’t know how people would take to this, but I would love to see the Florida wrestling scene regulated by the state of Florida. I think if a license was needed to run promotions, then my belief is that it would weed out some of the problems that are running rampant on the Florida wrestling scene. It’s just disturbing that any Joe Schmoe can open a promotion in the state of Florida. And please don’t point to the fact that insurance is still needed in Florida because we all know that is a joke. I think with licensing regularities, then the pretend promoters will fall to the wayside leading to the quality of wrestling that comes thru these parts going up. Again, maybe I’m delusional, but I don’t think Florida is that far off from becoming the hotbed of wrestling that it once was during the territorial days. I just think it is something that has to be done over time. This isn’t going to happen overnight.
I think one key element that needs to happen in the state of Florida for it to reclaim its spot at the top is that wrestling schools are terribly needed. Hell, wrestling schools in Florida are needed as soon as yesterday. It’s almost like the same predicament in the NE. They have no talent coming out of the NE simply because the number of quality wrestling schools has diminished. The fact of the matter is that the number of people training to become professional wrestlers is dwindling. While it’s very easy to bring in out of state wrestlers, you still need to have that core of wrestlers that represent your market. While Florida does have some guys waiting in the wings, there is still a bunch more needed. That isn’t going to happen as long as wrestling schools don’t exist. Simply put, how many wrestling schools do you know that exist in the state of Florida? I research this stuff all day long, and I have to be honest when I say that I can count them on one hand, and I may still have a few fingers left over. It’s sad, but that’s the reality here in Florida. Somehow people need to come together and make this a reality. The way I see it is how are you all going to run promotions if there are no wrestlers to wrestle on your shows? That should be motivation enough for someone to want to make the wrestling school thing work.
There is so much more that needs to be done (Florida fans are an issue for one, but I’ll save that for another day), but I think in a few years when the NE has run its course as being the Mecca of Indie Wrestling, then I think Florida could possibly be right there waiting to reclaim the crown. Several things need to go Florida’s way, and several things need to be done by those that are power players on the Florida Indie scene. If all that goes according to plan, then expect for us to be the envy of smart marks all across the Northeast.