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Congrats biss, you're officially a sleazy carny!
Seriously though, congrats are in order, I was at the Inspire debut and they put on a legit awesome show. The Marchesa Theater in Austin is a grade A venue. Clean, classy, and super intimate. Perfect for indie wrestling. Here are some things I found notable.
-The ring announcer has a fantastic voice. I chatted with him a few times too to clarify names & such, cool dude too.
-I counted 170 chairs. Looked like most if not all were full. Plus people standing. So as Ricky Morton would say, you sold that sonufabitch out.
-I've seen ACH live a handful of times now, and he's always great, but tonight was his best performance I've seen. He has unlimited cardio. He was non stop GO GO GO GO from bell to pin. For a "flippy dude" his shit is hard hitting and believable. And everytime he's on a show, he's by far the most over act. I don't give a shit if he's 5'5" or whatever, I guarantee he's wresting on Mondays at some point. I have zero doubt. He has that unteachable ability to connect with the people, and he's a top level athlete.
-Nobody is confusing this with ACW. Darin Childs has no worries. This is not what he does. You guys are clearly trying to fill the "workrate promotion" void in Texas, and it's what the area needed because it's different. ACW has their niche, the NWA groups are more old school & hard hitting, and you guys are a lot like an east coast workrate show, whether that was intentional or not, and I suspect it was.
-I pride myself of being able to spot the diamond in the rough, but I will admit I was wrong about JoJo Bravo. I didn't think much of him a year ago, but that guy is super talented and I was wrong. Charisma for days. Much improved in the ring from what I remember. Does all of the little things that more gifted people don't do. I'm now a believer. sidenote-while getting a postmatch beatdown from Jordan Jensen, he managed to blurt out "what are you doing, Jordan?!" with the perfect voice inflection for the moment. These are the little things that matter in such an intimate venue. Great stuff.
-"Unholy" Gregory James didn't work for me. Crowd was kinda laughing at him, too.
-The two flippy dudes in the NWA showcase were pretty awesome. Erick Shadows & Downfall. I wasn't into the other two guys.
-Let's talk about Chuck Taylor. He couldn't give away t-shirt at the merch table all night, and he got a polite response at best when he hit the ring. A lot of the people clearly didn't know him. It took him all of about 8 seconds to get over with his heel antics and general awesomeness. When he got the cheap pin on ACH, people wanted him dead. A true pro, right there. As a sidenote, after the show I thanked him for coming to Texas, let him know I enjoyed his match, and we chatted briefly. What a friendly, polite, super cool dude. Too bad he isn't local. He'd have been a perfect heel champ for Bravo or Vega to chase.
-Ricky Starks. My first exposure to him was on the ROH undercard in San Antonio. I was impressed. Tonight he blew me away. Great promo, awesome heel mannerisms in his match with Bolt. Bolt Brady has some timing issues I always notice, but he's always getting better and I think his move to St Louis will do him wonders when he works with some new people in the Midwest. Get ready Fed, because he'll be in Chicago next year for sure.
-Alex Reigns is a guy I came away impressed with.
-Cool swerve in the opener, as the masked "Void" won his match and unmasked as local favorite Mike Dell. Popped the crowd and set the tone for the show.
-I said "Unholy" Gregory James didn't work. Well, "The Great Depression" did. In a big way. What a FANTASTIC gimmick, and one that could be on WWE TV tomorrow. This is so awesome, and i'm hoping it comes across as well in the written word as it did live. Hailing from "The Dustbowl", and coming to the ring to creepy old timey music, managed by the awesome Penny Arcade (where did you find her?!), who was screaming & carrying on the whole time. He's a 300 pounder who wears a shirt, tie, and burlap mask. I took a few pics, but they don't do this act justice:
It's like they stepped out of a time machine from a 1931 traveling carnival. This is the song they use:
Whoever came up with this, bravo. Great, great stuff. I wish I had better pictures of the mask.
Overall the show was highly professional, well timed at just under three hours (including intermission) and featured a mix of national names, local stars, and new faces, some that worked, some that didn't. It takes a few shows to find a groove, and I sense that you guys threw a bunch of things against the wall, expecting some of it not to stick. Most of it did. You would never know this was a debut show if you weren't told. Incredibly organized & efficient.
Great job.
Seriously though, congrats are in order, I was at the Inspire debut and they put on a legit awesome show. The Marchesa Theater in Austin is a grade A venue. Clean, classy, and super intimate. Perfect for indie wrestling. Here are some things I found notable.
-The ring announcer has a fantastic voice. I chatted with him a few times too to clarify names & such, cool dude too.
-I counted 170 chairs. Looked like most if not all were full. Plus people standing. So as Ricky Morton would say, you sold that sonufabitch out.
-I've seen ACH live a handful of times now, and he's always great, but tonight was his best performance I've seen. He has unlimited cardio. He was non stop GO GO GO GO from bell to pin. For a "flippy dude" his shit is hard hitting and believable. And everytime he's on a show, he's by far the most over act. I don't give a shit if he's 5'5" or whatever, I guarantee he's wresting on Mondays at some point. I have zero doubt. He has that unteachable ability to connect with the people, and he's a top level athlete.
-Nobody is confusing this with ACW. Darin Childs has no worries. This is not what he does. You guys are clearly trying to fill the "workrate promotion" void in Texas, and it's what the area needed because it's different. ACW has their niche, the NWA groups are more old school & hard hitting, and you guys are a lot like an east coast workrate show, whether that was intentional or not, and I suspect it was.
-I pride myself of being able to spot the diamond in the rough, but I will admit I was wrong about JoJo Bravo. I didn't think much of him a year ago, but that guy is super talented and I was wrong. Charisma for days. Much improved in the ring from what I remember. Does all of the little things that more gifted people don't do. I'm now a believer. sidenote-while getting a postmatch beatdown from Jordan Jensen, he managed to blurt out "what are you doing, Jordan?!" with the perfect voice inflection for the moment. These are the little things that matter in such an intimate venue. Great stuff.
-"Unholy" Gregory James didn't work for me. Crowd was kinda laughing at him, too.
-The two flippy dudes in the NWA showcase were pretty awesome. Erick Shadows & Downfall. I wasn't into the other two guys.
-Let's talk about Chuck Taylor. He couldn't give away t-shirt at the merch table all night, and he got a polite response at best when he hit the ring. A lot of the people clearly didn't know him. It took him all of about 8 seconds to get over with his heel antics and general awesomeness. When he got the cheap pin on ACH, people wanted him dead. A true pro, right there. As a sidenote, after the show I thanked him for coming to Texas, let him know I enjoyed his match, and we chatted briefly. What a friendly, polite, super cool dude. Too bad he isn't local. He'd have been a perfect heel champ for Bravo or Vega to chase.
-Ricky Starks. My first exposure to him was on the ROH undercard in San Antonio. I was impressed. Tonight he blew me away. Great promo, awesome heel mannerisms in his match with Bolt. Bolt Brady has some timing issues I always notice, but he's always getting better and I think his move to St Louis will do him wonders when he works with some new people in the Midwest. Get ready Fed, because he'll be in Chicago next year for sure.
-Alex Reigns is a guy I came away impressed with.
-Cool swerve in the opener, as the masked "Void" won his match and unmasked as local favorite Mike Dell. Popped the crowd and set the tone for the show.
-I said "Unholy" Gregory James didn't work. Well, "The Great Depression" did. In a big way. What a FANTASTIC gimmick, and one that could be on WWE TV tomorrow. This is so awesome, and i'm hoping it comes across as well in the written word as it did live. Hailing from "The Dustbowl", and coming to the ring to creepy old timey music, managed by the awesome Penny Arcade (where did you find her?!), who was screaming & carrying on the whole time. He's a 300 pounder who wears a shirt, tie, and burlap mask. I took a few pics, but they don't do this act justice:
It's like they stepped out of a time machine from a 1931 traveling carnival. This is the song they use:
Whoever came up with this, bravo. Great, great stuff. I wish I had better pictures of the mask.
Overall the show was highly professional, well timed at just under three hours (including intermission) and featured a mix of national names, local stars, and new faces, some that worked, some that didn't. It takes a few shows to find a groove, and I sense that you guys threw a bunch of things against the wall, expecting some of it not to stick. Most of it did. You would never know this was a debut show if you weren't told. Incredibly organized & efficient.
Great job.
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