The King Of Swing Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 The US industry is worth billions and there is no reason why our own could not be too, as the FWA's recent mainstream attention has proven. Â Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members IANdrewDiceClay Posted March 31, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted March 31, 2011 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members FLips Posted March 31, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted March 31, 2011 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1PW Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 The way I currently see this is it hurting the British Wrestling scene more than helping it. If wrestlers suddenly start signing up to this and demanding higher wages, more money for this and more money for that, the companies that are already legitimate and have insurance, pay decent wages for decent talent, always have correct licenses and so on are going to begin to suffer. Any company putting money back into itself to continue its own improvement is going to be hit hard and may look to start using the non-union guys that are worse or simply fold as the money taken is not enough to pay these new higher costs.  In a time when its not only harder to get people to part with their cash but also everything is costing more its only going to put a tight pinch on already over stretched budgets for legitimate companies.  The shitarse companies using plebs and their friends for nothing are still going to exist.  Of course this doesn't affect the FWA too much is it has various other ways to look after its talents fees.  Also, another great point. IF, and really is a BIG IF Wrestlers pay for this.. it will only hit the decent promotions out there as Toga said, local promotions that use local talent who don't get exposure anywhere else, or back yarders will all still be around as it wont affect any of them. i have a lot more i want to say on this but i still don't quite know how FWA will play this. if they are fronting the cash to do this.. then let them go for it. But i think the top guys would also see the number of booking they get would drop quite a bit. again affecting them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Cena Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 Does anybody that's behind the development post on here? It would be interesting to hear them address some of these points. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1PW Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 but on the other hand, IF a wrestlers chooses to become apart of this.. and then asked to work a show.. do you really think the person who is booking them will get them a wage and apart of the DVD sales?? i personally don't see that happening i think it would cause a promoter to just cancel the performer and save themselves the hassle  Well that's the thing though. If someone, take the usual example, like Doug Williams was to join Equity and go to them and say "I'm in 100's of DVDs that are being sold by companies and I don't get a penny from it" then what's going to happen?  Could Equity come at you, fire off a legal suit, and reclaim the royalties for Dougie?  I'm not sure how it works...anyone got any actual knowledge of royalty claims?  Good question. and i don't know personally? Maybe the royalties would only come into effect from any work they've done after they have become apart of the union? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClassicsGuy Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 I know that U.S. pro wrestlers have been trying to gain access to the U.S. equivalent unions for years. Â The big thing is, if these unions will now follow the example set by Equity. Â This could end up having much wider, massive repercussions worldwide, depending on how influential Equity is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THELONEGUNMAN Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 I know that U.S. pro wrestlers have been trying to gain access to the U.S. equivalent unions for years. The big thing is, if these unions will now follow the example set by Equity.  This could end up having much wider, massive repercussions worldwide, depending on how influential Equity is.  If it ends up worldwide Vince will be the big winner $100,000 downside could become $26,000 as he pays union rates.  I wonder how this will effect Brian as he is the only one that is major in this country  Also if I right i seem to remember that Equity members cant work non equity shows so talent could shoot themselves in the foot by joining the union.  As has been mentioned before FWA dont pay talent (which is illegal under the minimum wage laws by the way) so how are they now going to get enough to cover union rates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loki Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 In Regards to DVDs etc.. well when we have our contracts for the big names stars. in it is they relinquish there rights to claim royalties on any DVD production as there wages cover them for a fee. IE RVD cannot claim royalties for the 1PW 4AS DVD. as that is part of his contract. as no UK wrestlers are contracted its always email/text/phone call. Â Â Really? Wow, that's awful. If your target audience is so small that you don't even pay royalties to the performers whose work is on the DVD, then your business model is whack. At the very least, you should be paying each performer a buy-out for their rights. I'm surprised that stars like RVD would ever accept people selling their matches on DVDs without them getting some recompense. Â In my opinion, it's shit like THIS that is the biggest detriment to wrestling getting taken more seriously. Say I was a tv executive thinking of bringing British wrestling onto my channel. I'd look at their business, the structure of their contracts with their performers, their insurance and healthcare provisions, their marketing and promotional capabilities, and judging by what I read about the state of most BritWres promotions, I wouldn't go near them with a bargepole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snitsky's back acne Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 Does this mean that if the union demands an actors strike then the wrestlers signed to Equity would have to as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Cena Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 In my opinion, it's shit like THIS that is the biggest detriment to wrestling getting taken more seriously. Say I was a tv executive thinking of bringing British wrestling onto my channel. I'd look at their business, the structure of their contracts with their performers, their insurance and healthcare provisions, their marketing and promotional capabilities, and judging by what I read about the state of most BritWres promotions, I wouldn't go near them with a bargepole. Â This, one hundred percent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members IANdrewDiceClay Posted March 31, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted March 31, 2011 TNA's success in this country is a good example why a British Wrestling promotion wont ever be on telly or taken seriously. They gain an audience of 150,000 not because of the storylines. But because they have a host of big stars that people like watching, and even pay to see. I doubt Bravo, Challenge or Spike would have TNA on the channel if it never had people we already knew on it. There's nobody in this country worth watching to be honest. And if there is, they end up getting snapped up by the big boys across the Atlantic anyway. Even on the forum, the only time people seen to get excited on this forum about wrestling in this country is if Mark Sloan is booking some Japanese blokes or if 1PW has Scott Hall and X-Pac turning up in leather jackets. For me its not just the business model, its visually, there isnt much worth watching. Now more than ever it looks less than watchable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClassicsGuy Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 I know that U.S. pro wrestlers have been trying to gain access to the U.S. equivalent unions for years. The big thing is, if these unions will now follow the example set by Equity.  This could end up having much wider, massive repercussions worldwide, depending on how influential Equity is.  If it ends up worldwide Vince will be the big winner $100,000 downside could become $26,000 as he pays union rates.  I wonder how this will effect Brian as he is the only one that is major in this country  Also if I right i seem to remember that Equity members cant work non equity shows so talent could shoot themselves in the foot by joining the union.  As has been mentioned before FWA dont pay talent (which is illegal under the minimum wage laws by the way) so how are they now going to get enough to cover union rates.  It would also cost him a lot more in terms of healthcare insurance and pension funds that he would also have to provide. Not to mention fair working terms and conditions.  And he wouldn't get away with paying such low wages because this is the entertainment business and the mid to low card guys would baulk if they had their pay cut to 1/10th of what they currently earn. The irony is he wants wrestlers to be called 'entertainers' - well it may just come back to bite him on the backside.  Believe me, a union is the one thing that WWE and Vince would dread; the fact they've been blocking moves for one to be formed for the better part of 25 years, and for all their 'independent contractor' bollocks proves that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Big Benny HG Posted March 31, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted March 31, 2011 I'm far, far from a current fan of the new FWA/BWC and I'm unsure of this latest step, but I think I understand the idea and general direction of the whole concept. Â Not that I totally agree with it, but I believe FWA/BWC understand that in order for British pro wrestling to be accepted by the mainstream they need to redefine the general public's perception and understanding of what pro wrestling actually is. You won't ever be successful in bringing British pro wrestling to mainstream attention and success if you target existing wrestling fans. You need to change the target audience by modifying how you present your product in order to modify how it is perceived. Â It seems to me that they want people to stop thinking of pro wrestling as "that silly pretend sport with lubed up musclemen in swimming trunks" and instead have it accepted by the public and the media more around the legitimate performance aspect of it. They want people to pay more attention to the depth of characters, the development of storylines, etc to prove that there is more to wrestling than people might automatically assume. Â They are trying to capture attention by openly admitting and accepting that "Yes, it isn't real" but trying to show off the other aspects which can draw equal interest and investment in the characters and what they do. Instead of trying and failing to pass off the "wrestlers" off as athletes and sportsmen, they are instead trying to present them as interesting, exciting, colourful and deep characters and acknowledging the genuinely skilled performers behind them. I get the impression they are trying to create characters that will have appeal and media interest far beyond the wrestling ring which, I guess, is the definition of mainstream acceptance. Â It's a different direction to how everyone else is trying to present wrestling, whereby i) they either put on shows to target existing wrestling fans who will already watch WWE etc on TV, or alternatively ii) try to recapture the nostalgia and former glory of the World of Sport era. Â Whether there is actually enough genuine talent around for the long-term goal to succeed is questionable at this stage, but I suppose that is why they are so driven on developing the new and upcoming talent in a specific way (see: the much-debated BWC syllabus) which focuses not just on the moves you can do in the ring but how you develop your character and put it across. Â While the Equity deal itself may at this time eventually prove to have too many questions, complications and misunderstandings to work out, I think the whole scenario certainly paints a big signal towards their intentions and gameplan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Cena Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 While the Equity deal itself may at this time eventually prove to have too many questions, complications and misunderstandings to work out, I think the whole scenario certainly paints a big signal towards their intentions and gameplan. Â Sorry, but I think in the real world that's a load of rubbish. In a perfect world, your post would paint an ideal picture but unfortunately that's not the way things go. All this BWC stuff and talk about the FWA bringing wrestling to the masses is nothing more than false hype. Until somebody can get a multi-million pound investment deal, bring in some celebrities, maybe a few named stars at the level of some of the TNA headline acts and a prime-time slot on ITV, they're not going to progress much further than where they are now. Â I would be interested in hearing why exactly Alex Shane believes that the untapped British wrestling market is worth billions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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