Don’t Bluefield Me” Promoting In The Pro Wrestling Business

As many of you know, I’m involved in the sports entertainment industry with my management and public relations agency, Out Impact Productions. In light of an recent incident in Bluefield, WV where a promoter tried to stiff paying the talent booked on the show, I’ve decided to write about the Dos and Don’ts of Booking In The Pro Wrestling Industry:

Here’s an excerpt:

One of my daily routines is to negotiate pro wrestling bookings with various pro wrestling promoters all over the world for my pro wrestling clientele. I have dealt with promoters from all corners of the globe over the years and not all of them are horrible. I’ve kept in touch and developed some good friendships with some great promoters over the years and these guys know what they are doing and are as a result, still in business. I’ve seen and heard just about everything.

But of course…the bad ones stick out. Most recently, the Bluefield, WV incident where the promoter attempted to leave the building without paying most of the talent, screwing the talent out of their well-deserved pay day, and the fans who had to sadly see it all in unfold in front of them. In their own words of the infamous incident this month, my client and friend, April Hunter, and my long-time friend “Diamond” Dallas Page on “The Night of UNProfessional Wrestling” and “Bluefield Hell!” which has also been archived at IndyWrestlers.Net.

Here are some quick Dos and Don’ts of booking in the pro wrestling industry:

DO: Provide all the information when contacting a client or their respected agent about the proposed business proposal. “I want to book your client for my event” says nothing and is frustrating. Show some respect for the talent involved by providing the potential dates, location and what you’d like them to do at your event or length of autograph signing. Don’t assume I know what client you are referring to, especially when I manage both male and female talent in the pro wrestling industry. If you have acted like you went on my site to research my agency to see who I represent, it will make both our jobs much easier.

DON’T: Don’t send booking messages via Facebook or other social media platforms. I may be a rarity but I value my private life away from the business and don’t make it a habit to add wrestling fans or bookers unless we’ve already built a relationship of working together. It is also very hard to keep track of Facebook messages among the hundreds of other messages that we get from family and friends around the world, and it’s what booking and contact forms are for on both my site and the talent I represent.