Keith Houchen Posted May 2 Share Posted May 2 18 minutes ago, Hannibal Scorch said: The new owners are dodgy grifters At least some traditional values of the scene are being upheld. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donald J Trump Posted May 2 Share Posted May 2 They're "supporting" NOAH for their show in Edinburgh. Usually I'd be all over this as last time I seen NOAH it was quite good. At £45+ a ticket though, and being a few months away I'll probably give this one a wide berth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westlondonmist Posted May 2 Share Posted May 2 6 minutes ago, Daddymagic said: In further companies that sold out to WWE news, ICW had to move their show last week from the Garage which holds roughly 250 to their training centre on the week of the show. ICW were doing UK tours and an annual arena show at one point. A serious fall from grace that. I wouldn't be surprised if Dallas pissed any earnings up the wall on TNA wrestlers appearing.  Just looked at Progress results. Why the fuck would anybody fly in Tanaka or Homicide? Also Brian Cage and Sanity. If you can get 1000 plus then fair play but I bet they aren't.  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted May 2 Paid Members Share Posted May 2 2 minutes ago, westlondonmist said: Just looked at Progress results. Why the fuck would anybody fly in Tanaka or Homicide? Also Brian Cage and Sanity. If you can get 1000 plus then fair play but I bet they aren't.  They got Masato Tanaka, and the other imports on that show, on the cheap because they were working WXW the next day. Them repeatedly trying to make Sanity a thing is bizarre, though. The Dome and the Ballroom have to be costing them anywhere between £5000 and £10,000 a pop, I'd have thought. They're not making costs back on the door, so generally companies try and make their money back on streaming, and there's no way of knowing how many subscribers they have there, but obviously not enough. Most of their YouTube videos over the last couple of months haven't even hit 1000 views. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members TheBurningRed Posted May 2 Paid Members Share Posted May 2 They recently announced Danhausen for a show in July which proves they’re run by idiots. I enjoyed Progress when it first came about. Their fans and that fan group on Facebook was insufferable. As were the three owners. It was enough to put me off. Hilarious that a company labelled as punk sold their souls and got out. Although I’m sure Glen left when he was named during the Me Too movement? I’m surprised it’s lasted this long with the new ownership and can’t see it getting another year with dwindling interest and debt. They don’t seem the sort that would be in it for the long haul. Am I misremembering, but wasn’t there a clause where WWE could close them down any time when they were partnered up with them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westlondonmist Posted May 2 Share Posted May 2 35 minutes ago, BomberPat said: They got Masato Tanaka, and the other imports on that show, on the cheap because they were working WXW the next day. Them repeatedly trying to make Sanity a thing is bizarre, though. The Dome and the Ballroom have to be costing them anywhere between £5000 and £10,000 a pop, I'd have thought. They're not making costs back on the door, so generally companies try and make their money back on streaming, and there's no way of knowing how many subscribers they have there, but obviously not enough. Most of their YouTube videos over the last couple of months haven't even hit 1000 views. Their choice of venue is definitely strange, using what are a fair size and not cheap. There is still room for Britwres to do well despite major promotions coming here regularly. RPW seem to be doing well, charging high prices for their arena and Crystal palace shows. Also do a lot of shows in Manchester, Stevenage and Southampton where I imagine the venues are a fraction of the cost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted May 2 Paid Members Share Posted May 2 I used to like going to Progress for the first couple of years they were running Manchester, Sheffield and eventually Birmingham too. Nothing to do with the identity, really, they just always seemed to put a good card on. I could always look past things that annoyed me - Drake, mostly - and while I hear a lot that their fan base were bellends, I was always lucky enough to hang around with good sorts - Jazzy, gadge, Benny, Great Bash Chris, Shauna, too many to count really. But my interest waned after BSS vs CCK peaked, and parallel to WWE sticking their noses in, I felt like there was a downturn in both card quality and some of the booking, so I stopped going. Short of the Wembley Arena show, which I felt like I had to not miss - and it had some good matches but still felt a bit flat. It came not long before I stopped going to live wrestling all together so the decision to jack it in was permanent, and from a far I watched it become less and less relevant as the years rolled on. I’d love to say it’s a sad state of affairs but honestly, to not twig your model for running shows is unprofitable and forge onward to the extent you get this deep in the red… well, that’s just stupid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted May 2 Paid Members Share Posted May 2 55 minutes ago, westlondonmist said: RPW seem to be doing well, charging high prices for their arena and Crystal palace shows. Also do a lot of shows in Manchester, Stevenage and Southampton where I imagine the venues are a fraction of the cost. I don't know how shows like the Copperbox or Crystal Palace do financially, but I'm certain that RevPro's regular shows at the 229 won't be making a profit on the gate and will be dependent on streaming to make money. York Hall must be the same given how expensive it is to run. But RevPro have more of an identity, exclusive UK use of NJPW and CMLL imports, a lot of buzz around them and around Michael Oku in particular, and so there's a lot more reason to watch them. There's enough on Progress shows that's worth buying a ticket to go and see, but I can't imagine anyone sitting down in front of the TV to watch a stream of one of their recent shows, so I genuinely wonder how many people they have on their subscription service - clearly not enough. They need to scale back considerably, but they seem convinced that they need to keep up this image of being the biggest and hottest promotion in the country, and they're not. Accept that, run smaller venues or else just establish one home venue that they can work up a decent relationship with, cut down on streaming and production costs because they're a money sink if no one's watching, and stop trying to do business with companies in Japan, Dubai, America and anywhere else that will have them, and just focus on rebuilding a brand rather than flogging what's left of the dead horse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgehead Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 (edited) Interesting RevPro have declared £80k in assets and I assume no part of it being a decent set of video cameras? Edited May 3 by Edgehead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members LaGoosh Posted May 3 Paid Members Share Posted May 3 There was a brief moment in time where Progress felt really special. Electric Ballroom was a great venue, the crowds were rapid, they had all these fully fleshed out engaging characters, exciting matches, incredible music - it almost felt like the closest thing to a British version of ECW. I loved it. However after about 18 months of riding high it felt like the shine was gone. Cards felt stagnant, match quality went down, characters and storylines weren't really hitting and the success of the promotion had kind of morphed into a satisfied smugness from the owners and the fans that gave the shows an unpleasant vibe. I know they kept getting good houses for a far while after but it felt like that wet fart Brixton Academy show was the beginning of the end. I found myself checking out after that. When they started publicly bum licking WWE the writing was very clearly on the wall as to who the owners really were and how it was all going to play out. I have no idea why it even exists anymore really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted May 3 Paid Members Share Posted May 3 3 minutes ago, LaGoosh said: the success of the promotion had kind of morphed into a satisfied smugness from the owners and the fans that gave the shows an unpleasant vibe I think this coincided with the "bad booking" I referred to. The ending of CCK vs British Strong Style immediately being followed by Dunne, Bate and Seven immediately being presented as faces having been the big bads for ages, with no actual turn, and them feuding with different, duller heels... hard pass. I'm not paying hard earned money to see Joseph Conners as a featured act. It felt a bit like we should suddenly start cheering Pete and Mountain for being some kind of conquering heroes who were "representing" Progress in the big bad corporation, and it didn't wash for me at all. Regardless of what's come out about Banks since, at the time Dunne/Bate/Seven beating Travis/Brookes/Lykos in that double title six man was one of the most I'd been crushed by a result (in the best way possible) in many years of live shows. In no way was I ready to cheer them just because the company wanted to flip a magic switch and say "These are goodies now. They just are." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members LaGoosh Posted May 3 Paid Members Share Posted May 3 (edited) I think I had already checked out by that point. I was never a fan of British Strong Style (still not a fan of any of them) and when they started to get featured more and more I lost interest. I think the last show I went to was the one where Will Ospreay turned heel on Jimmy Havoc. The shows felt like the same old shit over and over by that point.  Edited May 3 by LaGoosh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CavemanLynn Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 When the biggest companies on the British scene can't stay afloat paying their talent and venues based on their audience, is there really a business here anymore? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaitoRyo Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 2 minutes ago, CavemanLynn said: When the biggest companies on the British scene can't stay afloat paying their talent and venues based on their audience, is there really a business here anymore? Probably not a 'boom period' like there was a decade or so ago, but I'm willing to bet there are still plenty of companies (and wrestlers) making alright money on the UK indie scene. The likes of Megaslam, for example, tour the country pretty much full-time and always seem to draw healthy houses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddymagic Posted May 3 Author Share Posted May 3 (edited) There is a business but most companies / promoters are not savy. They play to the internet crowd and are far too swayed by that.  Many companies make good profits and sustainable shows but aren't "cool" or seen as "cool".   Edited May 3 by Daddymagic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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