0:52 you’re responsible for one of the most influential indie wrestling organizations in existence, are responsible for thousands of classic matches and shows held under that banner, you’ve trained endless amounts of wrestlers in a way not possible until that point. You’ve had trading cards, been in video games. Forget the super jrs, Mike
When I was very young in the business I got to work with Don Kernodle a few times who was at the very end of his career, doing just 1 or 2 matches per year in his hometown where he was still a local legend. He was the first person I ever heard who thanked his opponent and in particular who thanked the heels for putting him over and it always stuck with me. After that, I tried to always remember to thank people for the match, ESPECIALLY when we were going over. He'd been a huge star in this area and it made an impression on me that he showed the people he worked who had done virtually nothing of note by comparison so much respect.
Honestly, the merch one is also practical from both a psychological and practical aspect, too. In a practical sense, I'd imagine, you wouldn't want to risk crowding up the audience as they're getting to their seats, and psychologically, I'd think if you were trying to get people to buy your specific merch before the show, it could feel like you're more desperate for the dollar. I know as a fan if someone is trying to get me to buy their shirt before I've even seen them wrestle, I'd be wary of giving them my dollar. Although obviously this doesn't apply to, say, a company merch stand that is selling one of your shirts anyway and has specific people manning it.
I know a number of indies that have more of a communal merch table. It those situations, get your merch on the table. Maybe don't go out to the table until after a match (unless you're an established star for the company). But a full merch table makes the promotion look good.
Does the merchandise rule apply to corporate wrestlers? Like for example if a talent came from somewhere like AEW or NJPW to WWE, but they haven’t had their first match yet, can they still have their merch on sale behind the arena stands before the show starts?
Hey Mike cool vid another question I have back when theses wrestling terms or traditions where more common was there a certain way that a wrestler had to ask the promoter prior to the event on how much they were getting paid? Or was it straight up? And also did wrestlers negotiate there pay based on there skill level?
Great questions. Every territory had different practices. The way it was done out of Roy Shire’s office was different from Bob Armstrong’s office. Some paid flat fees, some paid each wrestler a percentage of the gate, based on how high up the card they were advertised.
Never heard of the heel cut but it makes sense. Showingass should be something utilized because it's another tool to get your opponent over. As a heel, one should look to get humiliated if it helps the babyface and progresses the story. Obviously there are ways to do this besides tripping over the rope while getting in the ring. This is where one should use their imagination, neat concept.
The “heel cut” basically vanished by the turn of the millennium. I think the Flair Flop is an easy example of an idea originally meant to make the heel seem foolish.
With regards to showing ass as Dennis Condrey put it - We make them happy cause we make them laugh then we make them mad cause we made them quit laughing (once they start getting heat on the babyfaces)
My mentor is super old school (and I carry that mentality, even as a journeyman) and I've never had merch (I wrestle as a heel) to sell or autographs to make side money. I've also never heard of or seen the "heel cut." With this concept all but extinct, and suggestions for heels to bring in a little more revenue than the booking fee?
Wonder if JR sold his 2nd degree burns to the next town when Kane doused him in gasoline and set him on fire 😭😂. What about the 100 feet car drop triple h had?😂
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