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Mark — 3/10/2010

Anyone have an issues with ads running on our site? Do they ask you to download anything? If so, do you recall what page you were on?

I haven't seen any bad ads but we have gotten a complaint. We don't control what ads appear only the company serving them. If they are shady then we drop them. But we've never had to do that before.

AS I SEE IT 3/8

BobMagee — 3/8/2010

AS I SEE IT Bob Magee Pro Wrestling: Between the Sheets PWBTS.com

With the seemingly endless snow in the Northeast finally melting and real, actual green grass showing for all to see comes thoughts of spring; not to mention a fun doubleheader this coming weekend in Philadelphia, featuring a tag team match you won't see pretty much anywhere else.

March 13 brings a doubleheader to the ECW Arena beginning in the afternoon with Germany's Westside Xtreme Wrestling.

Westside Xtreme Wrestling is an Essen, Germany based promotion that's been running shows since 2000 with talent known in the United States including CM Punk, Jody Fleisch, Jonny Storm, Jimmy Jacobs, Ares, Homicide, Robbie Brookside, Doug Williams, Mike Quakenbush,Ian Rotten, and Claudio Castagnoli.. The promotion also features a lot of names known better by German audiences such as Andrew Patterson, HATE, Adam Polak, Tommy End, and Emil Sitoci.

The day's events start with Westside Xtreme Wrestling's afternoon show entitled "The Vision" with a 2:00 pm belltime (doors open 1:15 pm). Tickets are: Front Row $25/Second Row $18/General Admission $10

Main Event - Tiebreaker Match - "Pain in the Glass" Drake Younger vs. Thumbtack Jack

WXW World Heavyweight Champion Steve Douglas vs. Bad Bones For American fans, these two are unfamiliar names. But these two but not only in wXw but in whole Europe these two are competing in Main Events and holding Championships. It was Douglas who bought „The German Psycho“ Bad Bones into wXw in 2005 but their alliance broke just half a year later. In the last four years these two wrestled all over Europe and had some brutal matches. After a 10 month run for a titleshot Bad Bones achieved his big dream in January 2009 to win the wXw World Heavyweight Title. And he beat no beat noone else then Steve Douglas. But this in 2010 and Douglas is the Champion again.

WXW World Tag Team Championship Switchblade Conspiracy (Sami Callihan/Jon Moxley) vs. American Wolves (Davey Richards/Eddie Edwards) Here's the tag team match not seen normally in the States with former CZW Tag Team Champions taking on the former Ring of Honor Tag Team Champions If the Switchblade Conspiracy are still wXw World Tag Team Champions after the annual 16 Carat Gold Tournament, the WXW Tag Team Titles will be on the line.

Singles Match Chris Hero vs. B-Boy Chris Hero debuted for WXW in 2002. He won the World Heavyweight Title as well as the 16 Carat Gold Tournament in 2007. Hero is proud to be a part of this special show and will face an old nemesis in B-Boy who just recently lost the CZW World Championship to Jon Moxley.

Alao appearing are WXW World Lightweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr., Alex Shelley, Eddie Kingston, Tommy End, and Big van Walter, plus TJP (TJ Perkins) who will debut for WXWX on this show; plus live play-by-play commentary by Bryce Remsburg.

The last European wrestler on this show's lineup is the big 6'4 Austrian powerhouse Big van Walter. Walter was trained by Tatsuhito Takaiwa and Riki Choshu in the Zero One Dojo and is one of the hardest hitting wrestlers everywhere. In 2008, he teamed with Bad Bones against Kenta Kobashi and Go Shiozaki, but lost to Kobashi. Walter is now part of the heel Catch Hoolz Faction with the British Kartel and hasn't lost a match in 11 months.

For information, go to this website.

Then, that night, Combat Zone Wrestling returns with "Walking On Pins and Needles" with a 7:00 pm belltime (beginning with a CZW Wired TV taping) at the ECW Arena

Matches scheduled

CZW World Heavyweight Championship: Jon Moxley defends against Nick "F'N' Gage

Payback's a Bitch Thumbtack Jack vs. JC Bailey

Strong Style Challenge B-Boy vs. Sami Callihan

CZW Tag Team Championship The Best Around (TJ Cannon and Bruce Maxwell) vs. Irish Driveby (Ryan McBride and Rich Swann)

CZW Junior Championship: "The Blk Jeez" Sabian vs. Adam Cole

Scotty Vortekz vs. Bandido

Ego Fantastico vs. Azrieal

Drake Younger/Eddie Kingston vs. Drew Blood/Devon Moore

Also appearing: Necrobutcher.

Tickets are Front Row $30/Second Row $25/General Admission $20; and are available at this link.

For those attending both shows, there's a special online price of $25 for 1 GA ticket to both CZW and WXW available online only at this link.

Until next time....

(Thanks to WXW for wrestler information)

If you have comments or questions, or if you'd like to add the AS I SEE IT column to your website, I can be reached by e-mail at the address above.

If you'd like to add advertising on PWBTS.com (the flagship website of this column), banner ads are available for $400 for one year. These ads would appear on each newspage appearing on the newsboard. Cube ads are available for $200 for one year, which would be placed on the main newsboard page.

AS I SEE IT 3/1

BobMagee — 3/1/2010

AS I SEE IT Bob Magee Pro Wrestling: Between the Sheets PWBTS.com

As most of you know, PWBTS, the flagship site of this column, features lots of coverage of independent wrestling. As someone who happily shills independent wrestling promotions whenever possible, one of the things that's the most maddening to me is the way independent promotions seems to have no sense about the things that they need to do to promote their product.

I'd like to offer some observations as to some of those things I think that promotions need to do to publicize their product online. I realize that some people may find some of the suggestions listed below to be painfully obvious, but trust me...they aren't. All too many independent promoters don't use some or all of these ideas. I've seen all too many cases where promoters don't...well...promote... and crowds suffer accordingly.

But that's not all.

If you want something even more amazing...consider this: Devin Cutting, who submits a ton of independent wrestling news to PWBTS and many other websites...has actually been told by a handful of independent promoters to remove the items he's placed online....with the comment by the promoters that "they can do it by themselves". That misguided handful of promoters should consider going to their locker rooms at the end of the night, and ask their workers if they enjoy working in front of 50 people, and not getting paid... all because their promoter decided he could "do it all by himself".

You don't need to attend the Wharton School of Business to know that the most important thing, no matter whether you're running wrestling shows or selling hamburgers... is to advertise, advertise, advertise. If wrestling websites are ready to help you do so...you've lost nothing, spent nothing...and quite possibly gained a lot. Better yet, you can promote your own company online as well.

Keep in mind that I'm NOT suggesting that the Internet will do it all in terms of publicity. The grunt work of getting up posters, handing out flyers, as well as getting sponsors to defer the cost of your show, and help sell tickets for you... still exists. Depending on your market, it may be more or less necessary than what I'm about to suggest. Nonetheless, since it is largely free, the most cost-effective way to promote your shows is online so be sure you use it and use it well.

Here's some of the things that can be done...that don't cost much, and can potentially help a lot.

First, does your company have a website? If not, why not? it's one of the easiest ways to promote your product to fans. A website doesn't require technical genius to put up and keep current. Basic ones also aren't expensive. Most internet service providers will let you post a personal/hobby page, which could serve as your promotion's page. Do a MySpace page. Use Twitter. Use Facebook. Use anything you can to get the word out online. If you want to spend a bit more money, you can also buy a domain name like mine at PWBTS.com, and pay a basic monthly fee to have it hosted.

What should that website consist of? If nothing else, it should use intelligible English. Use spell check. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE use spell check, and ask someone to check it for grammar and spelling mistakes before you send it out. While website owners know you want to push your show...lay off the constant releases sent in all caps and with a dozen exclamation points. Every match is a great one (or you'd like potential fans to think so...we get the point).

After you do all that, just write it simply with items such as these:

Tell fans when your upcoming shows are...far enough in advance to let them make plans, so they don't attend a nearby competitor's show instead.

Tell fans where the shows are, and how to get to the shows. The locations of your shows should be listed on your website, with directions from nearby areas, using local landmarks and major highways. You can also use Yahoo Maps, Google Maps, Expedia or Mapquest to illustrate where you're running a show. It also would be nice to include mass transit directions if you live in an area where mass transit connections exist to your venue. You can find these directions easily enough on your local transit agency's website, then post them in your shills.

Other things to do are:

Tell fans who is on the show and tell fans your current storyline behind key matches, so fans feel there's a reason to come to see them. Do it AHEAD OF TIME...not just days before the show.

Tell the fans what your tickets cost, and where they can get them. If you have standard ticket costs, list them. If you have remote ticket locations (local merchants that sell tickets for you), list them and where the merchants are located. If you have an e-mail address, hotline, or ticket phone line (local numbers or tollfree 800/877/888 numbers are preferable), list those as well.

If possible, have a part of your website devoted to online ticket orders. Some promotions, depending on which venues they run, may have to utilize Ticketmaster.com, Tickets.com, or other regional ticket brokers. If that's the case, you obviously have no problem. Let Ticketmaster do the work. But be sure to post a direct order link for your show, as opposed to just a generic link to Ticketmaster.com. Trust me, Ticketmaster has made it hard sometimes to find indy shows if you're just looking blindly. Whatever you use (assuming it's your own site) accept credit/debit cards. The easiest way to do that is to use PayPal or similar systems. Find out which works best for your promotion's needs and your budget.

Then, sell your merchandise.

Let's face it, if you're an independent promoter, you need every revenue stream that there is....or in English, you need any way you can to make a dime. Some promotions are small enough that the wrestlers just sell gimmicks at the shows. But others can also do so on their website. Promotions can also use tape dealers like Smart Mark Video to sell and tape their shows; or use Highspots.com to sell tapes and a variety of other merchandise.

Those are just some very basic suggestions for what you can include on a basic website, and some examples of how some independent promotions do those very things.

Now, does your promotion send out press releases before a show, or results afterwards to websites like PWBTS...or the Wrestling Observer...or to online wrestling newsgroups? If not, why not?

First, press releases. They don't have to look like something out of Northwestern University's School of Journalism. But let me suggest a few dos and don'ts. It's not necessary to capitalize everything...or use exclamation points and asterisks throughout the release you send to a website. We know you want people to come to the show, so write an intelligent sounding release that makes both your company and the show you're promoting look good....in something approaching English, please.

You might even learn a bit of basic HTML so people can just cut and paste the items into our posting script and get it up on our websites. It makes things LOTS easier when posting your releases. If you have video links, embed the code, please. Some promotions do...and it makes life a LOT easier for us; and again...PLEASE use spellcheck.

The things you need to include are largely the things we've discussed above... namely: Tell fans when the show is, where the show is, how to get to the show, who is on the show, how much tickets cost, and where they can get them. Again, any basic business course would tell you that a business must make it as easy as possible for a customer to give you their money. But you'd be surprised at the e-mails I receive that don't provide each of those items. You'd also be surprised at the way some of those e-mails are written. To be blunt, I get some press releases that look like a pre-schooler wrote them.

Again, press releases don't need to look like something out of Northwestern University's School of Journalism...but it would be nice if they had correct spelling and at least reasonably good grammar. That's why Bill Gates puts spell check and grammar check into his software. I've gotten promotional shills for shows that I had to literally spend 15 minutes re-writing in order to post them at PWBTS. I've refused to run shills for certain independents, because I'd asked the promotions time after time to check them before sending them to me, because they were written so poorly that the companies should have been embarrassed to send them out in public. Remember that your press release/shill is how a new fan sees you. If your press release is professionally written (or at least semi-literate), that new fan is more likely to read it, and their money is more likely to come your way.

Send it to widely distributed mailing lists of upcoming shows supplied to websites such as Devin Cutting, as well as newsgroups such as Yahoo Indy Wrestling Groups. Post them on any one of the million wrestling related message boards that are out there, to regional wrestling websites that cover a variety of independent promotions in their area.

Send releases to the mainstream press, such as your local daily or weekly newspaper. See if that newspaper has a weekly wrestling column. Newspapers like the Chicago Sun-Times, Miami Herald, New York Daily News, the Dallas News, and Charleston Post and Courier (just to name a few) have such columns. They'll often run shills for your show. Mainstream coverage is a Godsend for your promotion. Again, remember the rules I listed above....use spell check and provide basic information.

If your local newspaper is a smaller weekly or daily, send it to whoever runs a section for community events, particularly if the event is to benefit a local charity, church, or community group. That's always a good hook.

Send them to your local TV station or cable system, especially if the event is to benefit a local charity or community group. Put together a e-mailing list of regular contacts and send it out to them to plug each and every show you run.

Consider paid advertising on certain sites. Use the major websites or those that cover either your region in particular or independent wrestling in general to advertise your product.

Get your fans to put together an e-Street Team....fans that know how to write fairly well, or provide them with the information to send yourself. Have them talk you up on message boards, websites, and newsgroups.

Make being a fan of your company not just a fun evening, but a responsibility. ECW was the first known example of a company that understood this. Fans all but MADE mainstream wrestling publications pay attention to ECW. Those fans were ECW's best asset, because they felt obligated to let people know about the product. More recently, Ring of Honor has benefited from the very same kind of dedication from its fans.

Now, let's talk about sending out results, including accurate crowd counts.

Let me use an example of a particular promotion I report on frequently. In the eyes of their fans they often receive what they believe to be unfair treatment and/or lack of coverage by online sources, the Wrestling Observer, and newsstand publications about their major shows. In one example some years back, the promotion believed that the Observer report low-counted their crowd by a good 25-30% (thus ignoring the fact that they drew their second highest crowd ever).

It's important to realize that most online news sources based crowd counts on what they receive via e-mail, and don't have staff to send on to your show. Thus, if someone sending results to a newsletter or website didn't like the show, or has a grudge against your promotion, they may low-ball you with a ridiculously low crowd count, and make you look bad. Send out your own information...and, as strange as this may sound for wrestling... tell the truth. Provide websites and newsletters with ridiculously high crowd count, and you'll be called on it.

I know there have been times in the past when the above promotion's fans and staff were upset at a major website for reviews of shows that were posted. I've seen where their fans and staff basically said "screw [insert name of site]". They said pretty much the same thing in this case regarding what they felt about the Observer report. Let me say this. This particular promotion is friendly to me, as I've gone to their shows since the very beginning. I've generally liked their product, and feel I've given them fair reviews. That's all well and good. But the fact of the matter is that major sites like WrestlingObserver.com or PWinsider.com get more hits in an hour then PWBTS does in a week. A newsletter like The Wrestling Observer gets at least as many readers on a weekend than I get page views in 2 weeks. The Observer's reputation is also far more well-known and respected by wrestling fans than PWBTS or this column will ever be in my wildest dreams or fantasies.

Therefore, giving me information to publicize their product is a good thing, but it'd be far better if they also did the same for 1wrestling.com, PWinsider.com, the Observer, or the Torch.

Let me use an example from a different field of entertainment. If you wrote a Broadway play, and had a previous play you'd written panned by the New York Times; does that mean that you'd stay pissed off at them and wouldn't try to use them to promote your next play, and would just send your releases to the Staten Island Advance? Not if you have any sense, you wouldn't. Letting your ego get in the way of using an online source or newsletter is, to be blunt, idiotic. You're taking money out of your own pocket and those of your workers...just for spite.

Instead, you'd spend some time talking to the reviewer (yes, promoters, that means kissing up to those marks like me who report for websites with such things as press passes, or interviews with your talent) and try to get them on your side, or at least sending them correct and timely informaiton.

Unfortunately, some promoters seem to subscribe to the Old School of Wrestling Website Interaction...namely, that online reporters and sheetwriters are better off dead, or are "parasites" and "scum" and ignore them. Call me stupid...but if someone's going to help me advertise my product for free...I'd kiss up to them in a New York minute. Independent promotions that are able to do so should spend some time with the Dave Meltzers, Wade Kellers, and Mike Johnsons of the world, and develop relationships with them so as to get fair reviews for their product and encourage new people to come to shows.

Again, send your results....that night or the next morning to wrestling websites. Give a basic outline of who went over, major storylines that were advanced, how well you drew (especially if the crowd was good for your promotion), and a reminder of when your next show is happening. If you had a good show and drew a good crowd, make a point to get the word out...that's advertising, too.

I'm not a graduate of the Wharton School of Business. I'm just one more mark sitting in the seats, who just wants to see independent wrestling succeed....at a time when wrestling fans need alternatives....badly.

Until next time....

If you have comments or questions, or if you'd like to add the AS I SEE IT column to your website, I can be reached by e-mail at the address above.

AS I SEE IT 2/22

BobMagee — 2/22/2010

AS I SEE IT Bob Magee Pro Wrestling: Between the Sheets PWBTS.com

Thanks to PWBTS's newest advertiser, Combat Zone Wrestling who started ads on the site this past month. I've publicized the shows of the promotion for its eleven years in business, as I have many other independent promotions. If you want your shows publicized, send the show shills to the e-mail address that acccompanies this column and I'll be happy to post them.

I've been doing this column and written for PWBTS (then owned the website after 2001) for one reason: if one or two people buy a ticket to an independent show, and one wrestler leaves a show getting paid something because of something I put online, I'm happy. There's no way in hell I'm one of the Dave Meltzers, Wade Kellers, or Dave Scherers of the online world. I'm not, never will be, and don't know if I'd want to be given the realities of the wrestling business that I have seen. PWBTS.com and this column are just basically a labor of love to reports news and shill shows for a business I love watching. Period.

More on the NXT show. It turns out that instead of being a brand, it's pretty much going to be Ultimate Fighter meets WWE (minus the drunken outbursts and brawling...I think), where a "veteran" mentors a "rookie" and his progress is observed. Within this "mentoring", storylines are already woven in, especially for one Bryan Danielson.

Mike Mizanin will be mentoring Bryan Danielson. Insert sound of hysterical laughter mixed with Internet outrage....which is probably exactly WWE's idea.

Witness Mizanin's officially WWE sanctioned...er... "WWE Universe" blog:

"It’s come to my knowledge that some members of the WWE Universe think they know everything about WWE and what it takes to be a WWE Superstar. They think that if a guy does well in the independent minor leagues, then all of a sudden he should be in the WWE. They think that if a guy can main event in front of a hundred people at a bingo hall, then he’s ready to main event at WrestleMania. Just because fans on the Internet say you’re ready doesn’t mean you really are."

Bryan is a great in-ring worker, but the Miz says he'll go nowhere without learning how to be a star - a quality he's been honing for years. 'My job is to make Daniel Bryan a star in the WWE,' Miz said. 'Let’s face it, if you look at a picture of him right now, do you think STAR? No, Daniel Bryan looks like my accountant … ordinary and bland.'

"....Maybe if he had The Miz’s charisma and look, he would have been in the WWE by now. Don’t hate on me because it didn’t take me a decade to get a WWE contract and go down in WWE history to be the first Superstar to win the United States Title and Unified Tag Team Titles.

Yeah, it just took you being an underwear model, and appearing on multiple reality shows including: Real World Back to New York, Real World/Road Rules Challenge, Battle of the Seasons, The Gauntlet, The Inferno, Battle of the Sexes 2, The Inferno 2, and Fear Factor, then finally appearing on Tough Enough. So actually it took you NINE years to get there, Miz.

As for only drawing a "hundred people at a bingo hall"? Try mentioning that Danielson worked for New Japan Pro Wrestling, and Pro Wrestling NOAH, two of Japan's most successful wrestling companies. Not to mention Ring of Honor, who holds Manhattan shows in the very same venue that Monday Night RAW was initially filmed in. Or try Danielson being named Wrestling Observer Newsletter's Best Technical Wrestler the last five years, and Most Outstanding Wrestler for the last four years.

But I digress.

John Morrison responded in an article on IGN.com that he told Mizanin backstage (after the news came out about the "mentoring" pairings ):

" I walked by [backstage at the ECW tapings] and said, "Pssh, he knows more than you do." And that's pretty much what everyone thinks. It's gonna be interesting and I think that's the point of it.

So it seems this is being used as a storyline within NXT. Of course, that sort of thing can go two ways: either Danielson fans can watch to see what "mentoring" Mizanin gives, the inevitable showing up (in terms of wrestling) by Danieleson...or if you prefer in reality show jargon, the "conflict".

Then there can be some Danielson fans who are so pissed off by this storyline...and the real-life point that WWE makes that a wrestler's accomplishment outside WWE don't matter, that those who were already watching the Tuesday night wrestling slot stop watching it altogether (no, I wasn't one of them). While there's a part of me that's intrigued by the potential conflict on this show, I'm not much for reality shows. I haven''t even watched Ultimate Fighter. So I'm not sure if I'm watching NXT or not.

One thing, WWE sure made sure Elimintation Chamber featured enough plugs for the show and the Danielson- Mizanin storyline in particular...by throwing in an MVP-Mizanin United States Champoionship match out of nowhere that seemed to have been put on the show for the sole purpose of plugging NXT.

Ultimately, I want to see what WWE lets Danielson do inside the ring. If eventually they let him be Bryan Danielson in the ring and the storyline is built with him against Mizanin, then that's one thing. But I'll say it again...let a wrestler with a different look have a different look. Wrestling's roots comes from the circus and carny days. In a really good circus, there were trapeze artists, animal acts, strongmen, clowns, and so on. If a circus is all clowns, all animal acts, or all anything...then that circus loses its appeal. That's been one of WWE's problems over recent years...that there's a "WWE look". Everyone has to be 6' 4" (or more) and tanned, with a build obtained from...well, the gym and whatever else it's obtained from. The problem is thar if everyone is a "strongman", then no one stands out as a "strongman".

Here's a thought, given the recent passing of former NWA Champion Jack Brisco: What would WWE have thought of Jack Brisco if he came out now? Too quiet? Not colorful enough? No catchy gimmick? Just a college wrestler? My point is that in that day, the Jack Briscoes of the world made the Hulk Hogans and Dusty Rhodes stand out as characters. The Bryan Danielsons, Low-Kis, and CM Punks can make HHH, John Cena, and Batista stand out as oversized, colorful characters. They ALL had and have their place.

To conclude, how you can help Haiti:

Wrestling website Diva Dirt is continuing the effort to put together a friendly competition among wrestlers on Twitter to raise money for the people of Haiti which was struck by a tragic earthquake earlier this week. As part of the competition, they ask all wrestlers to tweet to their followers to send a donation via PayPal to Wrestlers4Haiti@gmail.com.

How to pledge via PayPal:

1. Log in to your Paypal account or sign up for one. 2. Click on the "Send Money" tab. 3. Type Wrestlers4Haiti@gmail.com in the "To" field and enter your pledge amount into the "Amount" field. 4. Choose how you wish to send the payment [it's advised to send it as 'personal' and 'gift]. 5. On the confirmation screen, you will see "Email to recipient"" which shows something similar to the image below. In the "Message" field type in the name of the wrestler who you are pledging in support of. As you can see in the example below, the pledge is in support of Awesome Kong. 6. Click "Send Money" to send your payment!

All pledges will be sent to the American Red Cross Haiti emergency appeal fund. Please spread the word to your favourite wrestler on Twitter and ask them to get involved!

WWE is asking its fans to support relief efforts through AmericCares at this link

You can also donate to these well-known charitable organizations:

UNICEF's website

The Clinton-Bush Haiti fund

American Red Cross International Response Fund

Doctors Without Borders

The following organizations are accepting SMS donations in the US only:

SMS text "HAITI" to 90999 to donate $10 to Red Cross relief efforts

SMS text "YELE" to 501501 to Donate $5 to Yele Haiti's Earthquake Relief efforts

SMS text "GIVE10" to 20222 to donate $10 to Direct Relief

Until next time...

If you have comments/questions/event announcements/results, if you'd like to add the AS I SEE IT column to your website, or if you'd like to add advertising on PWBTS.com (the flagship website of this column), e-mail me at the address above. Advertising consists of banner ads, available for $400 for one year. These ads would appear on each newspage appearing on the newsboard. Cube ads are also available for $200 for one year, which would be placed on the main newsboard page.

AS I SEE IT 2/15

BobMagee — 2/17/2010

AS I SEE IT Bob Magee Pro Wrestling: Between the Sheets PWBTS.com

From last week's column:

I hope one thing that happens with this rebranding is a way in which wrestlers like Bryan Danielson ...be used the right way. When Vince McMahon finally took a chance on presenting a unque character ... and let CM Punk be CM Punk, it worked pretty well.... I hope McMahon lets someone like Danielson, a character who actually uses submissions and brags about being "best in the world" actually use the gimmick people know Danielson for using.

Looks like McMahon's not starting very well. Neal Jones at InYourHeadonline.com reported last Friday that there's already been a minor name change of Bryan Danielson this past week on Florida Championship Wrestling to "Daniel Bryan".

Before I get the usual message board whining and e-mails, I understand that even Nigel McGuinness didn't care as much as most fans about TNA doing the same thing to him by changing his gimmick to "Desmond Wolfe". Hell, Danielson probably would let himself be called "Meat Loaf" if he gets a push and a paycheck (having Edge come down to a FCW show and make the save for you doesn't hurt, I suppose). But I swear that Vince McMahon does the gimmick changes just to show that he can. He pulls recognizable entrance music as he did with Sandman, just to show that he can.

How about just leaving certain unique characters ALONE...and letting them be what it is that got them over tin the first place? If WWE/TNA has a better character (D'Angelo Dinero is one example of when major promotions recently have), fine. But most of the time the people who will first off care about a character remember him/her for a character, so how about letting react to what it that they liked?

Saturday night saw Danielson team with Low-Ki (aka "Kaval") and FCW Champion Justin Angel vs.Curt Hawkins, Trent Barreta, and Caylen Croft.

In other news, as part of a weekend that saw CZW celebrate the promotions 11th anniversary (God; it can't be that long since I first went to that warehouse in Mantua, NJ), the promotion estalished TV on Philadelphia area informercial station WMCN. The station has wide clearance in the Philadelphia market as seen here:

New Jersey

Comcast Cablevision of Avalon - Cape May County - Channel 19 Comcast Cablevision of Burlington County - Burlington County - Channel 32 Comcast Cablevision of Garden State/Gloucester County - Burlington, Camden, Gloucester Counties - Channel 21 Comcast Cablevision of Ocean County - Ocean County - Channel 27 Comcast Cablevision of South Jersey/Wildwood - Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Salem Counties - Channel 19 Comcast Cablevision of Trenton - Mercer County - Channel 27

Pennsylvania Comcast Cablevision of Delaware County - Delaware County - Channel 14 Comcast Cablevision of Northeast/Northwest Philadelphia - Northeast Philadelphia - Channel 18 Comcast Cablevision of Center City Philadelphia - Center City / South Philadelphia - Channel 44 Urban Cableworks of West Philadelphia - West/Northwest Philadelphia - Channel 44 Comcast Cablevision of Levittown/Bensalem/Central Bucks (Philadelphia and Bucks Counties) - Channel 21 Comcast Cablevision of Lower Merion - Montgomery County - Channel 19 Comcast Cablevision of Willow Grove - Montgomery and Bucks Counties -Channel 20 Comcast Cablevision of Radnor - Delaware County - Channel 14 Comcast Cablevision of Norristown- Montgomery County/King of Prussia/Norristown/ Pottstown/Trappe- Channel 21 Comcast Cablevision of Plymouth Meeting - Montgomery County - Channel 20 Comcast Cablevision of Reading/Hamburg - Berks County - Channel 25 Comcast Cablevision of Sellersville - Bucks and Lehigh Counties - Channel 21 Comcast Cablevision of Chester County/West Chester - Channel 21

Delaware Comcast Cablevision of Wilmington - New Castle County - Channel 21 Comcast Cablevision of Dover/Kent) - Kent County - Channel 19

Verizon FiOS/Philadelphia region - Channel 19 DirecTV - Channel 44 Dish Network - Channel 8165

Oddly enough with this pickup, CZW will have better TV coverage in the Philadelphia market than Ring of Honor which taped its TV in Philadelphia for HDNet, a station which has no cable clearance in Philadelphia (it is carried on Dish Network and DirecTV).