First off I have to thank Mike Steelerelli, whom tells me at this time he is eating a meatball and mozzerella croissant pocket as I type this, for making the layout of the new site.

And now to the commentary.

This weeks commentary is a message I posted on Percy Pringle's Message board regarding indy wrestling in response to a post by a wrestler announcing his upcoming debut on the USA indy pro wrestling scene.

I have to completely agree with Percy.

I haven't been in the business even 1/4 as long as he has and haven't seen 1 millionth of what he has seen, but I have seen my share of things being involved in the USA Indy scene. In all honesty to say it is a mess would be a complete understatement. There are a few really good promotions out there, but for the majority it is a mess. There is a major issue with promoters doing it just to put themselves over. A big majority of the Feds is run by wrestlers whom are looking to make themselves look good to the people in the area that they run and they tend to completely ignore the rest of the wrestlers on the card. In turn it can make the other wrestlers look pretty bad. And not only do the wrestlers tend to look bad due to either bad promoting, booking, or writing, it turns people off to the Indy business and other federations that may be legitimately good have to pay the price.

I am one of four people on the board of directors of a fed that is being run as a non-profit organization. We decided that we weren't going to be one of those other Feds whom make the rest look bad. We are trying to do things the right way. We run the fed with honesty, fairness, and what many other Feds lack, BRAINS. I and the rest of the team will not let the fed turn into the mess that others have become. We are taking our time to do things the right way. We aren't in it for money. Being a non-profit organization we donate all show proceeds after operating costs to charity or other non-profit organizations. All staff works on a volunteer basis except for one or two major regional Indy talent that we bring in occasionally but, 99.9% of it is all volunteer. So without the money and fame hungry people at the helm, and the fact that the team running it as a whole has great knowledge and brains to run a wrestling promotion that can succeed and not fall into the norm of the business as it is now the promotion can flourish in a sea of murky waters that is the USA Indy scene. We are not the norm for the business as most promoters promote for all the wrong reasons or don't know how to promote properly. My team and I are far from perfect, and we are only a tiny dot on the Indy map, but we are trying to do the right thing in our own little corner of the business. You wont see very much of that on the USA Indy scene,

There is a promotion that runs in the suburbs of the city that I run in. The promoter of that fed is nothing more fame and money hungry clown. His shows are horrible and he doesn't know how to promote or write. He isn't a wrestler, but he makes sure that he gets over by putting his name on every piece of advertisement that goes out in bigger letters than anything else on the page. He is into promoting shows for all the wrong reasons and that shows in the bad product. He also lies to sponsors, wrestlers, and fans to make a few quick bucks, and doesn't care that he is turning off people to the Indy scene. He came to my last show and started passing out flyers with his name on it, yelling out insults and demeaning words about the show loud enough that everyone in the section of the gym that he was sitting in heard him, and lying to the talent as he caught them as they were leaving. The police warned him to knock it off but he just lied to them. Although he is quite the extreme case on the wrong side of the fence he isn't alone and many aren't to far off from him.

In the USA instead of promotions and wrestlers helping each other to succeed in their own little corner of the region most fight with each other and attempt to make each other look bad. There is constant fighting and instead of just hurting each other, they are hurting themselves and the business as a whole. Sure there is absolutely nothing wrong with friendly rivalry. It can be healthy for two promotions. But, the extreme promoters and wrestlers go to now to make each other look bad now is horrific.

Many wrestlers and promoters go on the internet and go to the few up to date Indy sites that are left and they completely bash each other on the message boards in an attempt to try to raise themselves and demean the others. All they are doing is making themselves look ridiculous and are also they are bringing down the business that they are trying to succeed in. It has gotten ridiculous and it is killing the Indy scene. If this business is to grow again we need everyone to work together to do so and stop the childish behavior and running promotions for the wrong reasons. But, I don't see that happening anytime soon, as long as there are egotistical and evil people in the business.

Although it is quite heartbreaking to those whom have been in the business for a long time and dedicated their life to building it, the absolutely ugly and sad picture I just painted is the norm for the Indy business in the USA today.

I commend you on your dreams and aspirations and commend your motivation to attain them. But, I must warn you, your swimming in polluted waters by getting involved in the USA Indy wrestling scene. You don't know who your friends are. You don't know who your foes are. It's like being in the middle of a storm and calling a mayday. The good guys you may be too far away and cant be found and you can get lost in the stormy seas.

I wish you the best of luck in the USA Indy scene. Sadly you will really need it.