January End of Month Comments

2007 is off to a roaring start. Despite the set-backs at the end of last year, the top promotions in San Antonio seem to be back on track with RCW running 2 sold-out shows in January and announcing a big event in February, and TWE’s rescheduled Star Warz on February 4th shaping up to be a top-rate card. On top of this, the emergence of Anarchy Championship Wrestling has fans all over the state talking. ACW’s first house show “Guilty by Association” with Ian Rotten, Cassandro, and Mickie Knuckles met with an enthusiastic response and upcoming shows featuring top names in Indy Wrestling promise to be incredible experiences. Southern Thunder Pro Wrestling ran a quality show with Dragon Gate’s Shingo in the main event and has him coming back in February for a title match.

On the other side of the coin, many of the other promotions did not run shows during late December and January. Under trained wrestlers and backyarders are making themselves available to promoters who have difficulty finding talent to fill out their shows. Trained wrestlers, who aren’t part of the top promotions, find themselves on these shows and in matches that put themselves at risk. Fans see these shows and have no idea that they should expect more.

This is a bothersome situation. Within the wrestling business, the talent is often referred to as “workers.” Using untrained backyarders is an insult to those who work at their craft. Yes, some talented wrestlers get their start in backyards, but the good ones find a way out and get the training to earn them the respect they seek. One of my favorite upcoming wrestlers in San Antonio is doing this right now. Getting the proper training is foremost to any success he will achieve in 2007. Unfortunately, others are getting their training from their video games and in their backyard shows. If you aren’t working at being a wrestler, you’re just play fighting.

I know some people will be offended by these words. It is because they recognize themselves in the examples. After spending the last year trying to make every show sound like spectacular and every match sound like a five star classic, I realized I am not serving the wrestling community by not speaking out. I will continue to attend as many shows as possible and publish results. But if you are a wrestler or promoter who takes offense to my words, perhaps you should ask yourself why.

February looks to be one of the most exciting months in San Antonio Indy Wrestling. TWE’s Star Warz, RCW’s Texas Explosion III, ACW’s Anarchist Playground, STPW’s Return of Shingo, and PWI returning to action with 2 shows, along with TWA running 3 shows. Fans will have ample opportunity to check out their favorite wrestlers. I’ll see you at the matches.