1PW - The Blueprint for British Wrestling

Those of you with long memories will remember my recent review of 1 Pro Wrestling’s debut show, A Cruel Twist of Fate. (It was just last week in fact!). The review was very favourable, and apart from one match, I enjoyed the DVD a great deal.

But there are some things I didn’t put in the DVD review, as they would have seemed out of place in such an article, hence this piece.

You see, I haven’t just been impressed with 1PW’s debut DVD release, I’ve been impressed with the entire company, and although they’ve had a great deal of criticism for using mainly foreign talent, I truly believe that 1PW could teach quite a few other promotions, both old and new, a thing or two, in a way becoming the blueprint for British wrestling. But to see what I mean, you have to go back about three years to the very roots of the company.

In 2003, Stephen Gauntley launched his own wrestling merchandise company, 1 Up Games, stocking various items from around the world, from his home base in Doncaster. In-store and online trade meant that the business grew very quickly.

1 Pro Wrestling became an off-shoot of 1 Up Games, and Stephen used the knowledge he had gained from running his merchandise business to good effect when setting up his wrestling promotion. Unlike other up-start, or even more established promotions, Stephen realised that it takes more than just one or two people to run a successful wrestling promotion. For the scale of operation he had planned, Stephen realised that he would need help.

Backstage, Stephen appointed people to head up various departments, such as marketing, advertising, a commercial director, and a director of European operations. As for the wrestling side of things, Stephen put together a five-man booking team, obviously believing that it shouldn’t be just one man coming up with all the ideas. He also recruited British wrestling veteran Blondie Barrett to act as a road agent, helping to put forward the booking ideas to the wrestlers, and helping lay out and plan the matches as well.

So with everything set in place, things looked good for their debut show this past October at the Doncaster Dome, except that one of his main event stars pulled out. Having returned to the WWE in the summer, Matt Hardy was no longer to fulfil his contractual obligations to 1PW and pulled out of the show. (He pulled out of Alex Shane’s Universal Uproar as well). But this wasn’t exactly a draw-back for the company. Boasting talent such as A.J. Styles, Abyss, Al Snow, Raven, the Sandman, and British stars Doug Williams, Jonny Storm and Jody Fleisch, A Cruel Twist of Fate proved to be an outstanding success.

On DVD, the Doncaster dome looked perfect for a wrestling show. Packed to the rafters with over 1500 fans, the only thing that seemed to deter the fans on the night was the fact that the show was a little long. By the time of the Styles/Abyss main event, it was almost midnight, and they were absolutely knackered after an already action packed show.

Everything about the show looked professional, from the giant video screen to what happened outside the ring. During an altercation between Styles and Abyss, the two men had to be separated by a security team. But unlike other shows, the men used as actually looked like a security team. It wasn’t just a case of getting a few workers who were hanging around backstage dressed in various jeans and T-shirt combinations, each man was dressed in exactly the same way.

Everything about the show just looked and seemed right, and since that time, 1PW’s success has continued, with several more sell-out shows at the Doncaster Dome, as well as plans to hold smaller shows with more British stars around the country.

A few weeks ago, 1PW announced that they had signed a deal with The Wrestling Channel to air highlights of their various shows in the Supercard Sunday slot. Given that the promotion has only been in existence for less than six months this is a major coup. However, the fact that only highlights from the shows will be aired on the channel is another major factor business-wise. By only airing selected matches, it will make the fans watching 1PW on TWC for the first time want to purchase from their ever-growing DVD library. It’s similar to the deal Ring of Honor have with TWC, throw the fans a few tasty morsels and they’ll end up wanting to buy the main course.

1PW must also be commended for their public relations. There have been instances recently where new, up-start promotions have shown that they can’t take criticism, especially when it’s posted on various forums such as the UK Fan Forum. They end up getting into slanging matches with their customers, which in the long term doesn’t do them any good, and turns off fans from buying their DVDs and attending future shows. As a business, Stephen and 1PW know that it’s best to turn the proverbial other cheek as far as criticism goes. While it’s good to get feedback, it isn’t good to get into any arguments.

So when you look at the big picture, 1 Pro Wrestling really could be the blueprint for the future of British wrestling. Stephen Gauntley realises that no man is an island, that he can’t do everything himself, and that’s why he’s assembled a great team to help make 1PW a force on the British wrestling scene, and I truly believe that any new promotion, and some of the older ones, could learn a few lessons from Stephen. He knows that you shouldn’t run a wrestling promotion as a hobby or as a tool to put your mates over. A wrestling promotion should be run as a business. After all, the object of a business is to make money.