Reason Why to Never Run an Independent Wrestling Show

Sooner of later, many independent wrestlers end up running their own wrestling promotion. I was one of those people.

If you are thinking about doing the same whether you've had a falling out with a promoter or think you can do it better than others can let me advise you against doing so.

I had a falling out with a promoter in 2003. Since I thought I knew it all, I used my tax returns and financed my first show. The new organization was to be called Power Alley Championship Wrestling. I arranged a deal to have my first show at Goose Creek High School where I graduated. I called my good friend Bob Keller to help me book some guys. Bob wanted to be partners but I knew my financial contributions couldn't match his. Plus I didn't want to take a chance if this went bad and ruin our friendship. I had just seen two best friends get torn apart in the promotion where I recently quit. So Bob made me a deal on the ring and sound and got local wrestling talents Sonny Landell, Eric Gibson, and Redd Dogg to come down. I wanted another wrestler named Michael Devine also but we couldn't work it out schedule wise.

I had what I thought was a foolproof plan: I would sell tickets to the event for 10 dollars and let the high school keep 2 dollars per ticket plus I would let them run a concession stand and keep that money. It was a win-win situation, I thought. All I needed to do was sell 150 tickets to the event and I would break even. The high school gym seated a thousand people. With them helping me promote the show I figured I only needed to half-fill the place and I would have plenty of extra money to keep running shows.

The biggest mistake I made was keeping a full wrestling schedule up until two weeks before my show. I was working for other promotions and at the same time I was trying to promote my own show AND hold down a full time job. I didn't give myself enough time. The stress was incredible. My girlfriend Deni was helping me and we were butting heads on who we wanted to use and what angles we wanted to run. In hindsight, I should have bought a radio spot but went with a local paper instead. I think I got one phone call from that ad. Eventually Goose Creek High bailed out because the principal went to the athletic director and the AD said under no circumstances did he want pro wrestling in his gym. I was upset. How could they do this to an ALUMNI and a guy that donated to their athletic program? All they had to do was agree to put posters up, sell tickets and help promote the show. I planned on offering the same deal to a rival high school but there was very little time and I couldn't get the school to return my calls.

With just days before the show, I had to book a smaller gym where other promoters had ran shows in the past. Their bad deals would plague me. The old promoters had made certain concessions to the gym. The old promoters never followed through with their promises and as a result the group that ran the gym now wanted three times what the previous rent for the gym had been in the past. I paid the money but it made me sick. I was being charged more for mistakes others had made and the owner of the gym was lumping all wrestling promoters together as bad people.

The gym turned out to be a mistake because people thought it was going to be the same old show. Our attendance was low. Despite everything, Deni and I ran a tight ship. I had the gym from 2PM to 11PM. Kids tried to come in to use the gym while the guys were practicing and I had the attendants lock the doors. I didn't allow wives in the locker room unless you they were doing a wrestler's hair or applying his make-up.

At the show, problems continued to mount. I had two no-shows and another guy showed up but couldn't wrestle he was injured. So I reshuffled the card and had some guys work twice by dressing them in masks and different outfits. I had the injured guy cut a promo. The wrestling itself wasn't too bad. Wrestlers Mack Truck and Xavier Night had an awesome match so I took the money from the envelopes of the guys that didn't show and gave the money to them. I even paid the local guys something (guys who lived 20 miles away or less) which was a rarity in our business. When the smoke cleared, I lost about 900 bucks on my show. With no money to continue, I was forced to shut my promotion down after only one event.

So my advice to anyone is not to run an independent promotion at all, but if you do take this article and learn from my mistakes. Don't jump into anything unprepared!