FSM Thread

[gmoney]

Brian, how did the issue with Daniel Bryan on the cover sell? More or less than usual? Does your cover star seem to matter in this day and age?

[jm29195]

Brian just a small niggle, but why does this month's review section have a double spread photo of the Briscoes from Death Before Dishonor on it, but no review of the dvd (or any other ROH product?). Otherwise a great issue, especially like the Flair and Wigan articles...

[Brian Elliott]

Brian, how did the issue with Daniel Bryan on the cover sell? More or less than usual? Does your cover star seem to matter in this day and age?

I can't talk about specific sales, but yes, your cover star still means a lot, and can mean the difference between good sales and bad sales, especially in regard to casual buyers. I mean, I'd love to put Chuck Taylor on the cover of FSM, but it's not a good marketing strategy!

 

I've tried to be as varied as possible with FSM, and this month's issue is the first Cena cover under my watch - in other words, the last 12 months.

Edited November 4, 2011 by Brian Elliott

[Brian Elliott]

Brian just a small niggle, but why does this month's review section have a double spread photo of the Briscoes from Death Before Dishonor on it, but no review of the dvd (or any other ROH product?). Otherwise a great issue, especially like the Flair and Wigan articles...

In all honesty, I put it there simply because it's a fantastic image.

 

As an iPPV, Death Before Dishonor IX was covered in a previous issue, and we'll likely have a DVD review upcoming. ROH has a had a lull in DVDs recently, and we'd covered all the new releases already.

 

Thanks for the kind words about the articles you've read so far. I hope you get kick out of the other stuff; I particularly enjoyed the Dick The Bruiser article.

Edited November 4, 2011 by Brian Elliott

[IANdrewDiceClay]

You should do a one of those Women of Wrestling supplements or a top 10 mini mag, like Power Slam used to do. Looking at an old Power Slam recently, they listed their top selling issues, and most of them came with a mini mag supplement. People who dont usually buy magazines like free shit or something with women on it.

[Brian Elliott]

 

The new issue of Fighting Spirit Magazine is now available!

 

In Issue 74, we have features on:

- The Big Show at the peak of his powers in 2011

- How the pragmatic Kevin Nash has always looked out for No.1

- FSM interviews Bobby Roode about his career

- A full rundown of the Dragon Gate UK shows, including some tremendous photography you won't want to miss

- How Kevin Steen has become the man to watch in pro wrestling

- FSM examines the wrestling business' relationship with Thanksgiving and Christmas

- How UK MMA is suffering in the shadow of the UFC

- The history of WWE videogames - including the WrestleFest arcade game, and WWF No Mercy on the N64

 

All of this, plus our usual news, PPV and TV reports, and reviews. We also have our distinguished columnists Bill Apter, Nick "Magnus" Aldis, Lance Storm, and RD Reynolds offering up the benefit of their experience in the pro wrestling business.

 

The cheapest and easiest way to subscribe to FSM is via our website, here: http://www.fightingspiritmagazine.co.uk/subscribe.asp . However, if you prefer to pick up FSM on your travels, WH Smith and Easons are the most consistent FSM stockists in the UK and Ireland. For other outlets, please consider asking your newsagent to reserve you a copy each month.

 

I hope you enjoy the magazine, and please let me know what you'd like to see in future issues.

[King Pitcos]

My thoughts on the preview of contents, in weighing up whether to buy the issue or not:

 

- The Big Show at the peak of his powers in 2011

- How the pragmatic Kevin Nash has always looked out for No.1

I'm wary of these, because I expect a lot of comments along the lines of "isn't the worker Chris Benoit was" in them... And the Nash one especially could be Fin Martin-esque.

 

- FSM interviews Bobby Roode about his career

- FSM examines the wrestling business' relationship with Thanksgiving and Christmas

Seem reasonable enough to pass time on a journey, but wouldn't rush out to buy the magazine for them.

 

- A full rundown of the Dragon Gate UK shows, including some tremendous photography you won't want to miss

- How Kevin Steen has become the man to watch in pro wrestling

- How UK MMA is suffering in the shadow of the UFC

Wouldn't read them if they were on fire.

 

- The history of WWE videogames - including the WrestleFest arcade game, and WWF No Mercy on the N64

Sold!

 

I do appreciate these previews on here, Brian, fair play.

[Brian Elliott]

Thanks for taking the time to read the preview and reply here.

 

I can't help you with your disinterest in indy wrestling and MMA, but I would ask you to give the Big Show and Kevin Nash articles a chance. The Big Show article salutes the work he's done in the last year or two, and suggests that it's taken him until now to become the all-rounder that he arguably should have been years ago. The Kevin Nash article looks back through his career and attempts to show how divisive he's been in the industry. However, it also points out that at least some of the dislike of Nash is due to his rather old-school "look out for No.1" mentality.

[A Screen Up]

Perhaps the one thing that puts me off FSM more than anything is its "left-field" views. This is a terrible phrase I am using but it is the only one that comes to mind when I am attempting to explain what I mean here. It's comments such as the one regarding Kevin Nash looking out for himself like it is a negative and the articles that big up the independent scene more than it deserves to be; there were way too many comments when I last read the magazine saying how much greater pro wrestling would be if it was the smaller, indy companys in the mainstream public's eye. It's as far away from my point of view on wrestling as is possible, and that is the main reason I wouldn't buy it. Sorry to sound so pessimistic(sp?) about it but that's my opinion for what it's worth and I wish you all the best with FSM, Bryan.

Edited December 1, 2011 by A Screen Up

[Brian Elliott]

Perhaps the one thing that puts me off FSM more than anything is its "left-field" views. This is a terrible phrase I am using but it is the only one that comes to mind when I am attempting to explain what I mean here. It's comments such as the one regarding Kevin Nash looking out for himself like it is a negative and the articles that big up the independent scene more than it deserves to be; there were way too many comments when I last read the magazine saying how much greater pro wrestling would be if it was the smaller, indy companys in the mainstream public's eye. It's as far away from my point of view on wrestling as is possible, and that is the main reason I wouldn't buy it. Sorry to sound so pessimistic(sp?) about it but that's my opinion for what it's worth and I wish you all the best with FSM, Bryan.

Thanks for your comments.

 

I think we were pretty clear in the Kevin Nash article that his "pragmastism" (our word) has gotten on the wrong side of many people in the business. But we absolutely justified this mindset by saying that this is actually a very old-school wrestling mentality: you look out for number one, bring your cheque home to your family, and to hell with everyone else. With that justification, I thought the article was well balanced.

 

I have to admit, I don't recall any reference that wrestling would be better if the indy promotions were "in the mainstream public's eye". Rather, when we praise the independent promotions, we're encouraging fans that are disgruntled with WWE and/or TNA to look further afield, whether it be to DVD, iPPV, or even just YouTube. My personal opinion is that between the sheer amount of pro wrestling available and the many different styles on offer, there's never been a better time to be a fan. If your limit is simply WWE and TNA, I'll retract that on your behalf, but I've really enjoyed pro wrestling from probably two-dozen different promotions in 2011 alone. That's further extended if you consider MMA to be a sister sport to pro wrestling.

[King Pitcos]

I don't know if you've already discussed this in the thread, Brian, but have you got data suggesting the MMA content makes any difference to sales? I suspect this discussion has been had earlier in the thread, but I'm presuming the amount of MMA coverage in the magazine is quite little, so I would have thought nobody would pick it up for that? Or is there a large market that does lump MMA in with wrestling as a sister sport, so covering it is basically the same as covering Dragon Gate and ROH etc?

[David]

I don't know if you've already discussed this in the thread, Brian, but have you got data suggesting the MMA content makes any difference to sales? I suspect this discussion has been had earlier in the thread, but I'm presuming the amount of MMA coverage in the magazine is quite little, so I would have thought nobody would pick it up for that? Or is there a large market that does lump MMA in with wrestling as a sister sport, so covering it is basically the same as covering Dragon Gate and ROH etc?

I remember the whole MMA thing being brought up a while back, and I think the general consensus on this forum at least, was that the less MMA in the mag, the better. I can see that point of view to be honest.

 

There are a good few MMA mags doing the rounds out there, so most fans of the sport will pick them up rather than Fighting Spirit.

[Big Bully Busick]

.

 

- A full rundown of the Dragon Gate UK shows, including some tremendous photography you won't want to miss

- How Kevin Steen has become the man to watch in pro wrestling

- How UK MMA is suffering in the shadow of the UFC

Wouldn't read them if they were on fire.

 

 

 

Why would you try to read a mag that was on fire?

[chiefdave]

I don't know if you've already discussed this in the thread, Brian, but have you got data suggesting the MMA content makes any difference to sales? I suspect this discussion has been had earlier in the thread, but I'm presuming the amount of MMA coverage in the magazine is quite little, so I would have thought nobody would pick it up for that? Or is there a large market that does lump MMA in with wrestling as a sister sport, so covering it is basically the same as covering Dragon Gate and ROH etc?

I remember the whole MMA thing being brought up a while back, and I think the general consensus on this forum at least, was that the less MMA in the mag, the better. I can see that point of view to be honest.

 

There are a good few MMA mags doing the rounds out there, so most fans of the sport will pick them up rather than Fighting Spirit.

 

I don't really get having MMA in a wrestling mag. There's plenty of MMA mags for that, would a non wrestling MMA fan buy the mag over an MMA mag just for the little bit of coverage and would a wrestling fan not buy the mag if there was no MMA in it? I get having news about Brock in then but past that it actually puts me off buying the mag as I have zero interest in MMA so feel I'm paying for content I don't want.

[Brian Elliott]

I don't know if you've already discussed this in the thread, Brian, but have you got data suggesting the MMA content makes any difference to sales? I suspect this discussion has been had earlier in the thread, but I'm presuming the amount of MMA coverage in the magazine is quite little, so I would have thought nobody would pick it up for that? Or is there a large market that does lump MMA in with wrestling as a sister sport, so covering it is basically the same as covering Dragon Gate and ROH etc?

I remember the whole MMA thing being brought up a while back, and I think the general consensus on this forum at least, was that the less MMA in the mag, the better. I can see that point of view to be honest.

 

There are a good few MMA mags doing the rounds out there, so most fans of the sport will pick them up rather than Fighting Spirit.

 

I don't really get having MMA in a wrestling mag. There's plenty of MMA mags for that, would a non wrestling MMA fan buy the mag over an MMA mag just for the little bit of coverage and would a wrestling fan not buy the mag if there was no MMA in it? I get having news about Brock in then but past that it actually puts me off buying the mag as I have zero interest in MMA so feel I'm paying for content I don't want.

Thanks everyone for taking an interest.

 

There's only so much of our content strategy I can discuss, but I'm not under any illusion that we are selling hundreds of magazines to MMA fans who aren't into pro wrestling. The little MMA we have content each month - TV & PPV round-ups, and an MMA-specific article usually every other month - is there because there is a crossover of fans to some extent, and I like to think that non-MMA fans still read the MMA articles and understand the parallels with pro wrestling. For example, in this month's UK MMA article, there was a very deliberate attempt to get wrestling-only fans to see how British wrestling is suffering/has suffered similar problems to British MMA. I highlighted this by including an article by Nick Aldis - which every BritWres fan should read - about unscrupulous individuals attempting to sabotage British wrestling.

 

We don't scream out in every MMA article about how it relates to pro wrestling, but I think to think people get it without us having to do so.