Now that RealProWrestling has completed our first season, we would like to thank all those wrestling fans who supported us and our top wrestlers. With about one thousand people knowing the results months in advance, it is quite a testimony to the integrity of the wrestling community to keep the results out of the forums and press.
Many people wanted to know the results and, although we knew some people would find out by word of mouth, everybody kept the results out of the main information channels. This was a big question during the planning of Season One. Many people told us we were crazy to trust the wrestling community to be quiet. But the fans and participants were true. Again, RPW wants to thank all those who kept the results quiet.
Fitting 49 matches into 9 hours of television time is a very hard task. We originally planned to use 16 hours, but the fire set us back and we had to make due with half the original time. Seeing that
approximately 15 minutes of every hour went to commercials, that left us 6 3/4 hours for programming. We had to make hard choices. Hopefully in the future, RPW will have the proper time needed to tell the story unabridged.
We are very thankful to PAX and FSN for working with us after the fire that destroyed our production facilities and over half of our production video tapes. While we had backups for most tapes, some were lost forever. Footage like Brian Keck having knee surgery after the event was emotionally gripping and was lost. A number of athlete bios were lost.
While we knew FSN was going to be a mess, with the show being bumped around and sometimes preempted, we are disappointed that we suffered a number of problems with PAX. We decided to not put all our eggs in one basket and hope most people were able to find RPW at least one of the two places. One of our biggest goals next time around is to get better television coverage.
Our combined ratings for RPW started off with a .4 and ended up at least a .5. We have to wait for the FSN broadcast this week and next for final numbers. Our goal at RPW was a .5 so we hit our target. Attracting half a million people to PAX and FSN weekday afternoons is solid proof that people want real wrestling. Putting RPW on good sports channels in prime time slots would mean getting the normal general sports fan plus roughly an additional half a million wrestling fans.
We will keep people updated as to our television talks which are just getting under way. We don’t expect television executives to give us a hand out or a gift, but we do think we have earned the right to better television access. Again, thanks to all the great fans who supported RPW and the world’s greatest athletes.
We do think there are things to improve for next season. The one thing that bothers us most is the incident where Cormier spanked Rowlands. While we allow the athletes to have fun and show emotion, we feel this one incident crossed the line, since it purposely humiliated an opponent. It wasn’t that bad, but we felt action had to be taken.
While we heard about what happened, we did not get to see it in person during the event since at this specific time we were working hard behind the scenes. Cormier will be nominally fined for this action and the precedent set for future infractions. We also feel the reaction of fans and peers will
help auto correct this and any future incidents that cross the line.
Some people also did not approve of Mo Lawal’s actions. While RPW never asked the guys to ham it up, we also told them they were free to celebrate and have a good time. We told them to just be themselves. We feel this is what Mo did with his actions and, while they might not in line with somebody’s personal taste, we stand behind his choice of expression. Mo helped add an entertainment element long lacking from real wrestling.
In a way, RPW wants a little of the “end zone dance” tradition. We just want to keep it entertaining and family friendly. Over time, we hope to see more fun traditions started, especially with the teams. Pounding hammers, Grasping claws, and stalker poses add a much needed element of fun. A little bit of dessert is okay after a good meal.
Another thing we will improve on next year is the rules. Overall we are pretty happy with the changes and feel the results are pretty overwhelming. Out of the first 42 matches, 666 points were scored for an average of about 16 points per match. The action was pretty consistent from lower weights to heavy weights with a good mix of falls, tech-falls, and overtime matches. Even the finals were very good with some of the best matches.
We see some room for improvement in turns, bonus time, and the pushout rule. Overall we think the pushout was very successful but there were a few times it was called incorrectly. Continuation of the offensive wrestler’s move always should have come first. A few times it did not.
While we feel the referees missed this a time of two, we feel they did first class job with the new rules and do not fault them. By next event, these issues will be hammered out. Still we feel our
event was the best refereed event in the history of wrestling. Thanks go to the fine work of the referees.
We also think the quick television challenges with multiple angles not only help but should be mandatory for a quick sport like wrestling. This was only made possible by the fine camera work and technical people in production. The good production combined with the great referees made a for a first class event.
We also know it takes time to adjust to the new rules. This is true for both athletes and fans. Also, for all those people who debate which style is better, RPW just turned that issue upside down. We
hoped we showed a good solution that can once and for all resolve this debate.
We feel our rules reflect the “complete wrestler” philosophy expected in RPW. The Greco-Roman wrestlers must adapt to having good leg attack defense as this should be part of any great wrestler’s toolkit. So too should the freestyle wrestlers learn the Greco technique needed to capitalize in the bonus. We might tweak our rules a little but feel the wrestlers themselves must also adjust.
We feel Sumo and American folkstyle also figured in. The center of the mat also brought in the backyard “king of the hill” aspect. RPW still has a rabbit of two to pull out of the hat regarding rules. We hope we have earned the trust of everybody in the world of wrestling as we continue to mold RPW into the product we need to be.
We plan to release the DVDs of the season this summer. The DVDs will also include the full quarterfinal matches as bonus material. While they are primarily from the backup tapes of those destroyed in the fire and not quite up to our broadcast quality, most wrestling fans will not notice the difference. We feel they will not disappoint and will give people the opportunity to see what we could not show in the television broadcast.
We are beginning our talks with television for round two of RPW. What time, channel, and format remains to be seen. What we are currently planning to do is bring RPW to arenas around the nation and feature dual meets between teams. Look for this to begin next wrestling season.
We also will release our comic book this summer. It will introduce the RPW team mascots as a rag-tag bunch of wild grapplers who come together as the newest league of superheroes. We feel this product will be a strong marketing product for introducing kids to the great sport of wrestling.
RealProWrestling is also very grateful for all those people who helped out with the marketing of the show. Many people volunteered their time and effort to help RPW grow. We hope we made all of you proud. In the areas where we fell short, in the spirit of a tough wrestler, we will pick ourselves off the mat and learn from our mistakes.
We know we shattered many stereotypes within a very traditional community. We have done our best to stay true to the core, yet embrace the changes needed for wrestling to thrive in the future. We continue to listen to all feedback and continue to learn. Thanks for all those who care enough to voice your thoughts.
When we first launched RPW we used the line “From Dream to Reality.” Indeed the dream of every wrestler is no longer just a dream. But reality is a cruel world and we never know what obstacle lies around the next corner. However, having spent many years wrestling on the
mat, we plan to use the character, discipline, and work ethic we honed on the mat to take down and pin every challenge that arises.
Toby Willis, CEO
Real Pro Wrestling Inc.
Wrestling Gear
