Alpha-1 TV Debut Makes Hamilton Indy Wrestling History
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Hamilton has long been an indy wrestling hotbed with a long and storied history of famous names. In the last 10 years a number of indy promotions have attempted to set up shop in Hamilton. Many folded after just a handful of events but some held on for longer. Perhaps the most successful of these now defunct promotions was Living Legends Wrestling (LLW) which grew from the Living Legends Wrestling Academy (LLWA), the school where many of LLW's stars first began their training. That school, "Unit 13" as it was called by many wrestlers and fans was where today's well known Ontario indy stars like Josh Alexander, Sebastian Suave, Ethan Page, Scotty O'Shea, Alex York and others first got their opportunity to perform on live events. It was a good thing too because many other promotions, in Hamilton and elsewhere, refused to use the Unit 13 guys for reasons that centered mostly around their size, their youth and, if truth be told, their exuberance. The Unit 13 crew was having too damn much fun. Wrestling was supposed to be a serious business. At least, that's what a lot of Ontario "veterans" believed. With the closing of Unit 13 and the demise of LLW many of the young stars of LLWA drifted away from the ring as much for the demands of real life as it was the continued negativity directed toward them by a majority of Ontario indy wrestling's other players. Some however, stayed true to their dreams of success in the squared circle and worked against all odds to find success. Before long names like The Gym Rats (York & O'Shea), Page, Suave, Elgin and others were appearing on cards around the province and into the U.S. On the surface it seemed like the remaining core Unit 13 crew was doing well... many of them were wrestling almost every weekend and fans definitely took notice. Under the surface it wasn't such a rosy picture. To put it bluntly... The bulk of Ontario indy wrestlers treated the Unit 13 crew as second-rate talent, if they even admitted the business had a place for guys like them. They were considered disrespectful, out of shape (too skinny, too fat) or, and this was a big one, they wrestled a high-flying speed of light style many thought was the very antithesis of pro wrestling unless your promotion was ROH. This psuedo-success went on for a couple years. The former Unit 13 wrestlers were thrilling fans and always working to improve their skills but no matter how hard they worked many people still shot them down at every opportunity. Many people would have walked away completely rather than continue to pound against a seemingly unbreakable glass ceiling keeping them from acceptance and recognition as legitimate members of the Ontario pro wrestling community. Yep, a lot of people would have given up but those Unit 13 guys didn't freeze their asses off for years in the LLWA gym just to give up so easily. A few of them got together and decided to make their own success and with Julian Micevski (Ethan Page) at the helm as promoter, Alpha-1 Wrestling was born. Debuting in Hamilton on February 21, 2010, with a show titled "Stage 1" A-1 wrestling took Hamilton by storm. By the end of their first season they were outdrawing other Hamilton feds and their product was becoming known to fans far and wide. Since then A-1 has continued to prosper with live events, DVDs and other merch and perhaps the most effective use of video and the internet as a marketing promotional tool of any promotion in Ontario. In the 2010 OWIE Awards, Alpha-1 was voted by fans as the best fed in Western Ontario and with the announcement of the 2011 OWIE Award winners just a few days away it's likely A-1 and its stars will again take home some virtual gold. Given their record since their debut in February 2010 t's hard to argue that Alpha-1 and its stars aren't a success and the January 24, 2012 debut of A-1 TV on Hamilton's Cable 14 should be the final proof (if any was needed) that Alpha-1 Wrestling is definitely the real deal. A lot of promotions say they're working on TV deals but few ever see those plans come to fruition. Alpha-1 made good on its promise to bring wrestling to Hamilton area TV viewers. That right there puts A-1 in the history books. Granted, they aren't the first or only Ontario promotion to have a TV show; OCW had a season of shows on a local Kingston station last year and CGPW's last event will be shown on local cable in the Cornwall area but only A-1 cracked a market the size of Hamilton... and only Hamilton had as much competition to face. It doesn't matter now what anyone thinks of the Unit 13 alumni. They made A-1 a success against all odds and they made a pretty damn good TV show too...
Del Bruno vs Wave vs Suave is a very good three man contest and Wave pulling off the seeming impossible win had fans talking for months. Even now over a year later it still brings a thrill. The same can be said for the Delaney vs Elgin match. It had comedy, heated emotion, high flying, high impact and drama enough to have fans screaming their heads off for every near-fall as the bout neared its brutal conclusion... a sit-out powerbomb of Elgin proportions! Both matches fit well into TV and provided 30 minutes of pro wrestling action that could easily stand beside any other wrestling product currently available on TV in Ontario. Technically the show was good. Obviously, it's not the high definition picture available from network based wrestling shows but still a good step or three above the usual YouTube/DVD indy quality stuff the average promotion supplies. A-1's video editing and camera teams keep getting better and their early growth is obvious in the difference between the 3-Way and the Elgin/Delaney match with the latter being a higher quality. For the most part lighting was as good as you could hope for given the variables inherent to shooting outside an actual studio. The editing thoughout both bouts was excellent, especially during the final moments of the 3-Way match. The finishes of both matches also had some great camera angles. Where the broadcast was weakest was sound quality. It was difficult to hear the commentary during the 3-Way and in the final match the commentary volume seemed to grow or fade intermittently. A minor issue probably for most A-1 fans watching the show but is something needing improvement. (And I don't doubt for a second that the A-1 video team is already way ahead of me on this one.) The show had some flashy burning flame seques between introductory match graphics and overall looked like a TV show should look (as opposed to a DVD or tape, compilation or live event) It was pretty cool seeing A-1 stars on TV. It was also cool seeing familiar faces among the A-1 fans (and OWIE photographer Mrs Id) on my television set. Sure, I've seen local indy wrestling shows on DVD before but this was 18 shades of awesome. (I admit I even turned the channel away and back a couple times just to pop for it actually being on TV.) But would people who aren't local or already A-1 fans dig the show if they had a chance to see it? I figure they would. A-1'a first Cable 14 show aired January 24, 2012 and puts them firmly in the history books as the first modern indy promotion to bring wrestling to Hamilton area television viewers. It's been a long road from the chilly Unit 13 where Page, O'Shea, Del Bruno and other A-1 stars first began thrilling fans while they fought to achieve their dreams of wrestling stardom. All along the way they've faced an uphill battle for respect and even with the success of Alpha-1 they still get more recognition of their accomplishments from fans than they do from the rest of the Ontario indy wrestling community. Small wonder then, that many of them were very excited to see A-1 debut on Cable 14. That's tangible identifiable proof of success on a level no others in the Hamilton area (and most of Ontario for that matter) can claim. Props to them. They deserve it. Or, as A-1 promoter Julian Micevski put it in a status os his Facebook Profile just before the show went to air... All my boys should be proud. We have all been told we are too small, too fat, too young or not good enough. Well tune in tonight. Because... When you see me & my boys on your TV Screen... It only spells out one you... FUCK YOU... We did this ourselves. We'll bask in it FOREVER A-1 TV airs weekly every Tuesday at 10:30pm on Cable 14 in the Hamilton, Ontario area. Check out alpha-1wrestling.com for all your A-1 merchandise, info about A-1 stars and upcoming shows. ~~+~~ OWIE Senior Editor, Gordo, the wizard of id
A-1 presents STAGE 3 February 5, 2012
THIS EVENT WILL BE DONE IN TIME FOR THE SUPER BOWL
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