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Gabe Sapolsky, head of the FWA booking committee, has posted a blog on www.FWAUK.com talking about his involvement in the new FWA.
My involvement with the new FWA
I've been meaning to write a blog for a while about my involvement with the new FWA. Things have been really busy with the first live Dragon Gate USA event less than four weeks away, but fortunately with only about six DGUSA shows per year I have some time for other projects. I'll get to my role with FWA and a behind-the-scenes story from my first trip to England in this blog.
I first met Alex Shane in Long Island at one of ROH's shows at the old Sports Plus building. He had flown over from England with the specific purpose of convincing the ROH office to do a couple of shows in the UK. Honestly, I thought he was crazy. It turns out he was right and ROH was able to have two successful tours of England while I was there.
A few months ago Alex approached me with the concept of his new FWA. I thought back to that night in Long Island. Alex proved he was an aggressive businessman with a well thought plan and the ability to execute it. I was definitely interested in what he had to say. Alex first told me about the new principles of FWA and I was sold on giving him and the reborn company a shot. You can read these principles for yourself at www.FWAUK.com.
It only took a few emails back and forth to decide on my role in Shane's huge vision. First and foremost, this deal opens up a whole new talent pool as the goal is to develop talent that can make an impact in the United States. There will be a lot of opportunity to create a synergy between DGUSA, its partners and FWA. This hopefully will create more places for talent to work. One goal of the FWA is not to just appeal to UK fans, but also be a product that the United States audience will seek out on DVD.
I will serve on the FWA booking committee and be as heavily involved as I can from the United States. Now, the plan to make a few trips to England per year, but in the meantime I'll watch the DVDs closely and participate in the booking via email and conference calls. Another part of the job will be writing columns for some various outlets and by reading this blog you can tell how much I enjoy to write. The columns will give me a chance to write about a variety of new and different topics. This is all going to get started sooner than later.
In fact, the eight day period from July 25th-August 2nd is going to be an exciting one on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. As you probably know by now, DGUSA will hold its debut event on July 25th at The Arena in Philly (www.DGUSA.tv for info). One weekend later on August 2nd, Alex Shane's concept will become reality when the new FWA launches with "New Frontiers" in Broxbourne (www.FWAUK.com for info) featuring several FWA World Heavyweight Title tournament matches.
I was actually really excited when I heard the first show was coming from Broxbourne and the same building ROH ran in 2006. "Anarchy In The UK" is a show I'm really proud of and one of the easiest ROH shows to watch. It wasn't too easy on that day though. I remember walking into the Civic Center and instantly falling in love with it. It was nice, clean and intimate. The fans all had a clear view and were right on top of the ring. There was even a cool garden area complete with ducks. It was peaceful.
The feeling of peace soon disappeared when Austin Aries and Nigel McGuinness walked in the door. The previous night had seen ROH's UK debut with "Unified," which featured one of the best semi-main and main event combos in ROH history, IMO. The next day two of the combatants in those bouts walked into Broxbourne paying a price. In a freak accident, Aries had injured his ribs. He could gut it out, but would have been extremely limited and we felt it was best to change the lineup around rather than give the fans something that could not live up to expectations. There was nothing accidental about Nigel's injury.
In one of the most famous moments in ROH history, Nigel's head connected flush with the steel ringpost several times in his match against Bryan Danielson. In Broxbourne, he was a zombie. I believe he was scheduled for another singles match (I can't remember the exact original card), but there was no way he was in shape for that. It was decided for Nigel to be in a six man tag so he could limit his involvement. Looking back, it was stupid for me to put McGuinness back in the ring in Broxbourne at all. Now in a post-Benoit world, not only would Nigel have pulled himself out of action, but his head would have never rammed against the steel in the first place. If nothing else comes out of the Benoit tragedy, it is that everyone is smarter and safer now.
Back to the story, we had an early belltime that day in Broxbourne so time was already limited. Now we were faced with a sold out building of loyal customers who had paid top dollar for tickets and traveled far distances to see a genuine ROH show. The advertised card had to be radically changed due to the ripple effect of these two injuries. The revised lineup couldn't just deliver, it had to make up for the changes.
The clock was ticking as I sat in the middle of one of the side locker rooms. I started to play around with several lineups. One by one the boys walked past wondering what they were doing that evening. I felt each minute pass. Precious time was slipping away. We had to solidify our reputation in the UK by presenting two killer live events to the most diehard fans that had watched so many shows on DVD. Belltime was fast approaching. Then out of nowhere a voice shot through the room.
"Let me work Doug Williams."
I looked up and it was Jimmy Rave. He had never wrestled Williams before and wanted to work someone new. He began selling me on the match, but after about 30 seconds I was convinced. It was a good babyface/heel combination, it would be a good win for the native star and I believed the two would have good chemistry. From there the pieces of the puzzle quickly fell into place. Of course, it is a lot easier when you have a true soldier like Bryan Danielson willing to work twice since he knew as World Champion that the company was on his back. When all was said and done I'm not going to say this was the greatest show ever, but it was a fun night and a DVD that I could still watch regularly to this day.
I really enjoyed my two trips to England. Now I'm really glad I have the chance to be involved directly with the UK wrestling scene. I can't wait to get over there again.
Gabe Sapolsky
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