RCW/RED jAK present Texas Explosion III w/ NWA World Tag Team Champions LAX
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RCW PollNew RCW poll: Who do you want to see get whipped?
Who do you want to see team up with Commissioner Yebisu in the Fan Lumberjack Strap Match against Hardbodies Joey "Super Shot" Spector and "Bang Bang" Brandon Oliver at Texas Explosion III?
VOTE NOW at the RCW Official Yahoo! Fan Group. You must sign up to be a member, and it's free.
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RCW in PWTorch.com Full Article
James Caldwell, columnist from the PWTorch.com has given the Scene permission to reprint in full the following report from the January 27th RCW Show.
RCW on PWTorch.com
Pro Wrestling Torch had a reporter come out to our January 27 show, and below is their write-up. Be on the look out for the Southside Reporter article later this week.
The write-up can be found at: http://www.pwtorch.com/artman/publish/article_19055.shtml
By James Caldwell, PWTorch columnist
RIVER CITY WRESTLING: Saturday night, I took a road trip west on I-10 to San Antonio for the River City Wrestling show as a warm-up for the Royal Rumble tonight. RCW is a fast-growing independent promotion that has seen its audience increase from a few hundred to a full house of 300 fans. It's always nice to attend an independent show and not see row upon row of empty seats. This was far from it. The crowd was hot throughout the show, especially for the local favorite, Hernandez, who was certainly the big fish in a small pond.
The show was great for generating the "local heat" without having to worry about a national TV audience. When someone like Edge attacks the local sports teams on WWE TV, it doesn't play well for the TV viewing audience. When four Caucasians go after the predominantly Hispanic audience and Hernandez's Team Mex comes out on top at the end of the day, it's going to keep the fans coming back for more.
Independent wrestling has been dead and buried in San Antonio since the days of Tully Blanchard and Southwest Championship Wrestling, with Shawn Michaels's TWA promotion merely a blip on the radar. RCW drawing a full house on a consistent basis one-to-two times per month is no small feat. It's also a lesson on how to promote independent shows.
"We promote on a grass roots level," RCW president Brandon Oliver said after the show. "We started with 130 people and grew to 300 people. When we bring in someone like Hernandez, it's a treat." Oliver opened the RCW promotion in 2002 on an experimental basis and ran shows infrequently until getting serious in August 2005.
What Oliver has is a roster of unknowns, Hernandez as the local big name, and the occasional special guest, such as Homicide for their February 10 show. Oliver says a big name like Hernandez, who is on TNA TV and connects with the target demographic, being loyal to the promotion means he has a special treat for the fans on each show. In addition, he's offering talented wrestlers that have zero name recognition, but have simple gimmicks that fans can love or hate.
Of course, like every other independent promotion that fall prey to over-booking, RCW pulled out the wrestling clichés with a worked injury angle and Dusty Finish in the main event where the RCW champion Ikaika eventually retained the title. The show also played to separate "Internet factions" that come out in large numbers to the show, which works well considering RCW promotes its shows on the Internet and with a few local TV ads.
The lesson of promoting an independent show is that you have to create a reason for fans to come to the shows. Whether it's seeing the heels get the crap beat out of them for three hours or seeing a local favorite like Hernandez in living color, a promotion needs an identity and a loyal group of fans. It won't happen over-night, as RCW has slowly grown over the last five years.
"We didn't want to blow everything on big names and local TV that would have put us out of business," Oliver said.
Too many independents try to blow an entire year's budget on one show to make a big splash. Suddenly, these fly-by-night operations are out of business or liquidating assets. Oliver's promotion has promoted wisely and saved its money by taking a step-by-step approach. They've built a loyal fanbase and given the fans what they wanted.
Next Show: February 10 at the Bellaire Baptist Church in San Antonio with Hernandez & Homicide challenging for the RCW Tag Titles.
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