I don't know that there is a day that goes by that I don't think about how to make money in the wrestling business -- but more importantly, what needs to be in place to help elevate wrestling's status. I have thought about this a great deal over the weekend, especially after some of the strongly worded e-mails I have received in relation to my thoughts on professional hockey. It made me start to wonder - if professional wrestling was given the same media coverage as hockey, would the business see a rebound in Canada?
Take, for example, the Vancouver Province. On any given day, one can pick up the paper and catch at least five full pages of NHL coverage. On Thursday and Friday of last week, three full pages on the Canucks, two on other teams about the league, and Friday even had a half page beyond the Sports section. Think about how much five full pages of advertising would cost if you wanted to buy that much ink.
This made me wonder:
Does newsworthy performance from the franchise inspire media attention, or does the media attention drive the business for the franchise? Who is driving the bus? What is ths influence of the media on the success of a professional sports franchise?
This week, the WWE visits Vancouver for the first time in more than two years on Friday February 6th. On Saturday the 7th, the Canucks host the Chicago Blackhawks. With two major sporting events scheduled for the city in the same week, what kind of press can we expect leading up to those two nights?
In Friday's (January 30th) Province, the Canucks made the cover as the media looked at the "grim spell of losses" and hypothesized about what some of the contributing factors might be to the team's poor performance. They explored a number of possible contributors to the team's lack of success on the scoreboard. Would that same paper afford wrestling similar representation?
Would the Vancouver Province, for example, give wrestling the same journalistic consideration to give an educated look at some of the factors affecting wrestlers at the top tier of the business. What affect do injuries have on wrestlers faced with a 200 night per year schedule? What affect does the recent round of terminations have on morale within the ranks? Does the lack of job security inspire wrestlers struggling to maintain a salaried position in their chosen field to take bigger risks? What is the Vancouver connection of some of the wrestlers currently plying their trade at the top level? These questions simply aren't explored - and I would suggest that the WWE is unlikely to get an editiorial space in ink prior to Friday night's card.
Several years back, when the WWE brought television tapings to Edmonton (even featuring a number of made in Alberta talents on the card), the local newspaper sent the theatre editor to cover the event. The resulting coverage from the journalist, unfamiliar with the nuances of the sport, was a farce. Under a headline of "Theatre of the absurd", the writer took shots at all of the colourful characters that she did not understand, and failed to acknowledge the significance of any of the events that had taken place that evening. No results, no rundown of the title matches presented, no effort to approach the event with an unbiased, open mind.
But even if the rationale for not supporting the WWE in the same manner as the Vancouver Canucks lies with the fact that the WWE is an American syndicate, not based in Vancouver -- why would the efforts of local wrestling promotions not be covered in the mainstream media? What of the efforts of All Star Wrestling promoter Mark Vellios, Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling's Dave Teixeira, or International Championship Wrestling's Tim Flowers? What in-roads are wrestlers at this level making in the professional wrestling industry? What about the contributions that this lower mainland-based companies are making to charitable efforts about the region? Independent wrestling continues to survive despite any support from the large media outlets in Vancouver -- although it does struggle to generate awareness.
There was a time in the 1970's when professional wrestling was hosted weekly at the PNE Gardens, hosting anywhere from 1,200 to 5,000 fans on a weekly basis. This was augmented by strong weekly showing in Victoria, Chilliwack, Tacoma, and a live television taping at BCTV studios. The schedule would be rounded out with three show loops in towns such as Kamloops, Kelowna, Vernon, Prince George, and Nanaimo - usually on a monthly basis. Wrestling, during that era wasn't getting five full pages of coverage, but would get (at best) three paragraphs of ink to report the results of the card. These days we don't even get that.
If I could secure one page of mainstream media for every time I have been faced with the argument from the sports editors that "wrestling is entertainment, not sport" and then from the entertainment editors "we don't cover sports on the entertainment page", I'd have enough coverage to ensure a strong media presence for wrestling for the remainder of my lifetime.
Would professional hockey experience the same success and the same ticket sales if the media no longr afforded it the level of coverage it provides at present? If the Vancouver Canucks lost five pages per day in favor of three paragraphs per home game, would that detrimentally affect their business? Would professional hockey die without the media attention? I suspect that it would.
Western Canada has struggled to secure attention from the WWE as a regular stop, despite once being a hotbed of professional wrestling. At present, we are lucky to secure a live card every two years -- which is a stark contrast to the schedule that the WWE maintains in Toronto and Montreal, where they appear three to four times per year. The print media in both Toronto and Montreal have supported pro wrestling in those markets -- and Toronto even had a weekly wrestling columnist for a number of years in Frank Zicarelli. Zicarelli eventually abandoned coverage of wrestling in favor of being taken "seriously as a journalist".
So recognizing the power of the media, and considering all of the FREE advertising that the newspapers give to the Vancouver Canucks on a daily basis -- wouldn't it be awesome if the powers that be in the Vancouver media spread the love around to wrestling as well? Even if not on the sports page - even if by the nature of the business, we were relegated to the Entertainment section, it would still be significant to our industry to secure some mainstream attention and acknowledgement for our efforts inside the ring for Canadian audiences.
I wonder if members of the Vancouver media could answer these questions:
1. Which Burnaby-born pro wrestler is currently touring in the United Kingdom?
2. Who is the Vancouver island wrestler recently appeared on WWE television vs. Great Khali?
3. Which Vancouver wrestling company is home to a wrestler that has recently written a comprehensive book about pro wrestling history in western Canada?
4. Which Coquitlam gal grappler is a regular for the Chicago-based SHIMMER all female wrestling promotion?
5. What is the name of the Washington State wrestler who has made frequent appearances on ECCW cards that has been dubbed by the wrestling trade media as "The Best in the World"?
6. Which current WWE Superstar (and multi-time world champion) made some of his earlier professional appearances on small cards in Chilliwack?
7. Which Vancouver wrestler/promoter celebrated his 30th anniversary in the wrestling business in 2008?
8. Of the three Vancouver-based independent companies, which one has presented more than 600 live events in British Columbia over the past decade?
9. Can you name ten active wrestlers in British Columbia at this time?
10. How many former wrestlers that have wrestled in Madison Square Garden are still living in the Greater Vancouver region?
There is a lot more to independent wrestling than meets the eye. Just as depicted in the current hit movie starring Mickey Rourke, there are those who sacrifice their physical well-being and give their all for this business even though the financial reward simply isn't there, and though they may never be fully acknowledged or appreciated for their efforts between the ropes. These guys aren't making six figure contracts like NHLers, and a little press could make a world of difference for their business.
Hey, sportswriters, if you're already driving the bus for sports interests in your market, what about stopping and letting a few folks from the wrestling community jump on as well?
Vance Nevada