Phil Varlese 46 mins · Best Business Practices. Before I start, I know that some of my friends in the wrestling business, particularly those who work & run promotions in the National Wrestling Alliance, will be offended by this post. I want you all to know that these comments are not directed at any of you, who I have the utmost respect for, and consider many as brothers. If you choose to unfriend me here on Facebook for expressing my opinion, then Id have to say that you may not have been a friend after all. Now, with that said.......Last weekend, a promotion in North Carolina called WorldWideWrestling ran a show, and called it The Crockett Cup. Im pretty sure that the promoter (who I dont know) was promoting the show under this name for 2 reasons. First, as a tribute to the legendary NWA promoter Jim Crockett, whose name is attached to this legendary tag team tournament, and second, he was hoping that the name would help ticket sales. Best business practices. There was only one problem. He never received permission from the Crocketts & their grandfathers estate to use the name. Of course, the Crockett family issued a statement expressing this issue (as follows) The Facebook page NWA World Wide Wrestling is in no way affiliated with the Crockett family. They are using the name Crockett Memorial Cup without authorization from our late grandfathers estate. This is why we started this page. For our fans to get the real scoop on all the fake pages and events that claim to be us. Today the promoter (Johnny Lightning) issued a statement in an attempt to clear up the problem concerning the use of the tournament name (as follows): Guess it’s time!!! This past Saturday, we at WWW did the Crockett cup. Back early in May I spoke to some one that claimed to be a friend of the Crocketts. (Eric Johnston) we talked, met and he gave me permission from the family that I could use the name one time and one time only! Ive worked on this from May until now ,not tried to hide it but to push it! Yesterday instead of contacting me about this Privately, the Crockett page reported that we didnt have permission to use the name (where were you 4 months ago?). I contacted him told him the whole story, names numbers the whole smash. Instead of taking the post down,like I asked him to do until we got all this worked out ,he has left it up, just to make noise! I guess somethings should be left in the past. SO... as far as I am concerned, we ran the cup, I had permission! If no one from the Crockett family told you (the page administrator) its not my fault. The guys that were on the show did a great job and I’m proud of them. We drew 125 people. Boy the name really drew for us. It just might be that people come to our shows because of us, not what we call the show or the 3 letters above the marquee. While I’m on that subject, we will not be resigning with the NWA. Sometimes a old junk yard dog needs a bone too!! You know what i mean boss?! I wish them, THEIR CHAMPIONS and PROMOTERS well. (POLITICS KILLS BOYS) If any of my guys from Sat. feel I have lead them astray inbox me and we can talk. Essentially, hes admitted that none of the Crockett family gave written consent to use the name. Best Business practices. So, what is this sudden disdain towards the 3 letters that formerly preceded their name (The NWA). Well, interestingly, the National Wrestling Alliance, much like the NFL did when it distanced themselves from Ray Rice after his debacle became more public, decided that it didnt want anything to do with this promotion anymore, and issued the following ambiguous statement: After mutual discussion regarding recent matters, the National Wrestling Alliance has elected not to renew NWA World Wide Wrestling as a licensed promotion, effective immediately. But wait, wasnt the National Wrestling Alliance actively promoting this Crockett Cup show on their own website (which has been conveniently cleansed of any of it)? Wouldnt it have been a better idea if the NWA had simply acknowledged the mistake, and perhaps reached out to the Crocketts in an effort to make the bones for everyone involved? WorldWide has made every effort to be a good licensee for the NWA, at least from where Im sitting. So why would Bruce Tharpe & Chris Ronquillo want to jettison a promotion that was giving them their best effort? As a former licensee, I can tell you that the licensing agreement (at least the one I signed) gives them the ability to revoke and/or not renew licenses at will. I would assume that the NWA felt that this issue would leave them with egg on their collective faces, and wanted to divest themselves of the problem. But, what are you paying for, if youre the promoter? The 3 letters? I would think that if I was a licensee in an organization where one of the owners is a practicing attorney, if I was doing something that would jeapordize the organization as a whole, that owner/lawyer would reach out to me to make sure I had my Is dotted and ts crossed. I dont think Ronquillo should have his feet put to the fire for this, as he handles a lot of the networking & promotion for the organization. So, where was Mr. Tharpe while this was going on? It appears to me that he was cutting promos for his next trip to Japan, paid for by the licensing fees (which appear to be going up annually) of all of the NWA promoters. Best business practices Guys, I hate to say its over, but its over. Your matches at NJPW are now mid carded by the Japanese, no longer main events like they were in the glory days. Unfortunately for the licensees, that seems to be where the effort is being put. Many of the workers in the various NWA promotions are tremendous talents who deserve a much greater shot than theyve been given to date by the NWA management team/owners. Most of the pro wrestling media rarely covers the company any more, which could be why the NWA didnt want to be associated with what they considered a scandal. Its beginning to look like Bruce Tharpe is starting to resemble the NFLs Roger Goodell, with the only difference being that Goodell is claiming ignorance in the NFL mess, while Tharpe is far too busy trying to put himself over in Japan. Best Business Practices. Keep sending the licensing money.... (YouTube video link posted under fair use)
Posted on: Fri, 26 Sep 2014 17:38:51 +0000
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