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Three common mistakes many indy feds make
By Dave Whitaker
Choices. As human beings, we crave them. While we all like certain familiar comforts, we also have a desire to choose what we do. Different ways to watch TV, frozen pizza or getting it delivered, we like having different options for the things we enjoy.
That includes pro wrestling. Fans sometimes get tired of WWE. They don’t always like what’s happening in TNA. That’s where independent wrestling comes in. Indy wrestling gives choices. Different workers, longer matches, a different voice calling the action on TV. While they’ll never be as big as WWE, indy feds can help keep your interest in wrestling if you’re not enjoying what’s happening on Raw or Smackdown.
Thanks to DirecTV and living in Central Georgia, I have access to a lot of independent wrestling. Most of it from an in-ring standpoint is very good. But as Adrian Monk would say, “Here’s the thing.” Many of those feds make some very common, yet easily fixable, mistakes.
Poor promotion of shows: Believe it or not, some wrestling “promoters” don’t understand that they actually need to PROMOTE their show. That means putting up flyers, and spending a little money to advertise. The last show I attended, I found out about it the day of. Was leaving the local rec. department and saw people unloading the ring.
I went back that night. It was a decent show. They even had Luke Gallows. But the crowd was small (maybe 50 people) and the only locals there were the rec. director and his son. This company had done the same thing so many before did. Ran a show without contacting the local print paper, myself (I run an online newspaper) or the local shopper’s guide to advertise. It seems as if the only promoting they’d done was on their Facebook page. That leads me to mistake number 2.
Poor marketing of the promotion: I’ve noticed that many indy feds have a Facebook page. That’s good. Facebook is an easy way to post show photos and update people. But to have that as the only “site” for your fed makes you look cheap. Plus, Facebook pages aren’t always easy to find, and can’t provide the presence of an actual website that everyone can access.
Speaking of which, what good is it to have a site or Facebook page if it’s not updated? Not everyone has the time to attend a live show. Rather than making fans wait for the next TV show (for the companies that have it), why not take five minutes and post results of the latest card? Give the fans a reason to come to the next event by showing what they missed at the last one. Speaking of showing….
Poor use of Television: I believe the expression is “Anything worth doing is worth doing right.” That includes indy feds who have TV clearance. If your company is going to be on TV, make sure there’s enough programing to provide a new show each week. If there’s not, do a recap show of recent storylines. Just don’t rerun the same show from last week. Even with DVR’s, why should a fan bother to record or sit down and watch a show if they think it’s going to be a rerun?
Of course, any new show should be produced correctly. Don’t have matches out of order, don’t have segments out of order. Make sure the show makes sense and can convey what’s happening in the promotion.
This isn’t an indictment of all indy wrestling. There are promotions that “get it” and do a great job. I just wish more of them did. Because the better they are, the more we benefit as fans.
Dave Whitaker is a lifelong wrestling fan, former columnist, and online newspaper editor. Send feedback to BadstreetColumn@aol.com
