New Florida Wrestling Promotion

[Troy]

A new wrestling promotion is starting up out of Florida. The promotion, which has quietly been putting together a business plan, is said to have major financial backing. The new promotion is already signing wrestlers up, and along with the contracts, are having them sign confidentiality agreements.

There is no name known for the promotion at this time, but it is known that they will not actively do anything until the fall. A full promotional launch is expected at the beginning of 2011, As of this time, there is no information of TV deals or TV tapings.

Businessman Peter Karoftis is said to be the main backer for the promotion. Karoftis previously worked with Sterling Equities, which is a New York-based investment firm that owns The New York Mets organization, the SNY cable network, and several real estate and investment companies. Karoftis, along with Florida independent wrestler Sean Davis are said to be the core of the company right now.

Also working with the company are Kevin Kleinrock (Viva La Lucha, Wrestling Society X), Cody Michaels (WSX, XPW) and Mister Saint Laurent (longtime Florida promoter). Kleinrock will be working production, while it is expected that Laurent will work on the creative end. Laurent has previously promoted the "I Believe In Wrestling" company, and there may be a crossover between the new company and the "I Believe In Wrestling" talent and wrestling school.

As of this time, the only confirmed name to sign with the company is Sean Waltman. Many wrestlers asked about the company have declined comment, due to the confidentiality agreements

Some new names that I've confirmed are signed to the Florida start-up promotion in the last week or so are Booker T, Paul London, Rocky Romero, Sonjay Dutt, Super Crazy, Hijo Del Rey Misterio and 2 Cold Scorpio. I am told that there are some other younger talents who have signed as well, but I haven't confirmed any names yet.
There's been a strong rumor in the last 24 hours that some top Ring of Honor talents may have signed here as well, but I cannot confirm that at this time.

I am also told that the contracts signed by talent do not officially take hold until this October. So, that is when it appears the project (which amazingly, has still been able to keep it's name private) is going to officially launch. As of today, there are no set dates or locations for the tapings but one would assume it will be around there since at that point, they will be paying wrestlers.

Any talk that the promotion is going to simply be a Florida-based company is just that - they are planning for a much grander scope in terms of their goals. The plan is to do tapings and try and find a national television outlet. I am told that everyone involved realizes the reality of the situation and that no one is expecting a deal to fall in their lap overnight. Based on what I am hearing, I don't believe the promotion is looking to buy themselves timeslots either, a strategy that has led to many an early death for pro wrestling companies.

One of the reasons the company has been so secretive about letting names out and launching is that they don't want there to be a huge buzz or hype, feeling it will leave fans waiting for them to get going while their main focus right now has been building the company's infrastructure. I am told one of the things the company has been working on is setting up benefits for the wrestlers. The story being told among those who are signed is that everyone involved will receive full medical benefits as well as a 401K and stock options in the company, so if the group takes off, everyone shares in that success. I am told that was something Milton Wilpon has pushed after hearing some of the stories from older talents about how they have been treated over the years. If all that comes together, it's certainly a great idea.

This news all broke last month when I was on holiday and it is fascinating to read about this.

I am excited to see what happens with regards to this project. They have a few interesting names lined up already and I am sure they will get some more once everything is confirmed. The financial backing is huge with Martin Wilpon being part of the Wilpon family who own Sterling Equities parent company of the New York Mets. The net worth of the family is hard to find but from what I read was over half a billion dollars and that he personally had around one hundred million. Interesting that he wants to give the extra benefits that no other company gives and that he wants to reward those that sign with him.

I look forward to reading updates for this promotion, seeing where they go from here and see how far they can go.

Your thoughts on this?

 

[The New F'n Show]

It is too early to really think much, since this could easily fold before it gets off the ground. With that said it they can actually get a TV contract and produce shows with a full roster more power to them. They would start as the 5th promotion on TV so a lot of growing would have to occur.

 

[Troy]

This reminds me a lot of when WSX started except for the fact that this time there is no network behind them. Hopefully they can have better overall success than WSX which was big at the start but then lost the faith of the network.

This group has the right ingredients to do something and the more wrestling available on television the better. Come October I look forward to seeing the full roster and hopefully they can get themselves a television deal.

 

[Brock Lesnar]

I like the idea of a new promotion coming in to join the ranks and compete with the top companies, but I don't think it being in Florida is a good idea. I also don't like the idea of these old guys in it. I know they got to have something, but it just feels exactly the same as the rest of them.

 

[Keith]

While its too early to say if anything will come of this, it does seem like one of the better ones to come along. I think there are a good set of guys involved who are wrestling people and can work well with the younger talent, and to have such good backing will be a help if they just take it a step at a time.

Booker for his faults will bring name value and does seem like someone who can add something to wrestling, without having to get in the ring.

Having a collection of big names, blended in with promising rookies, and develping a concerpt of their own is the way to go, before even thinking about how big it can be.

 

[Troy]

This set-up actually reminds me of the short lived wrestling federation XWF which coincidentally enough was also based out of Florida. It had a similar mix of older big names with some younger up and coming stars with some sound business minds behind it.

Booker T is a great figurehead for a company since he is still a big name and can still wrestle. What will be beneficial for Booker T is that he runs his own small promotion and so I assume some of his students will help to fill the roles of jobbers and dark match wrestlers.

It is always good to have more options for wrestling and will give some more wrestlers a chance of big exposure.

 

[Keith]

I agree competely.

 

[Troy]

We heard from a few sources today that the proposed Milton Wilpon project in Florida, which was supposed to start paying people as soon as September, has been pushed back to January 2011, at the earliest. Suffice it to say, people involved on the wrestling end are starting to question the legitimacy of the entire project. We will report more on this story as soon as we hear it.

Not good, I had so much hope for this project. Why do people that start wrestling companies always seem to be scam artists? I hope that this is a minor delay and that they will get back on track and get this to work.

 

[Troy]

Update;

As Dave Scherer wrote yesterday, word has been making the rounds in recent days that the Milton Wilpon/Peter Karoftis/Sean Davis Florida upstart, which we know now has been named Worldwide Wrestling Promotions, was pushing back its planned Fall launch for January 2011. The delay was confirmed to the roster and staff of WWP in an email early this morning from Sean Davis, real name R. Sean Pascoe, who noted they now planned to launch in the early part of 2011, but didn't have a firm date.

In the email, which PWInsider.com acquired from numerous sources, Davis wrote that "the financing side" of the company told the wrestling side, "our original time table is not at all feasible. While we were all committed to launching in October we know now that has become an impossible goal. Our new goal is to start operations in the first part of the new year however we do not as of today have a firm date. That unfortunately means that contracts will have to be changed to a new starting date."

Pascoe went on to explain that while he "fought this decision KICKING AND SCREAMING (literally)", that the "corporate side of the company" feels the delay has to happen. He warned the roster that "unfortunately it comes down to either this move is made or this company does not move forward."

Pascoe told the wrestlers and staffers that they would be issued contract addendums drawn up by WWP's attorney and if the talent didn't wish to sign them, he understood. Pascoe told those emailed, "You will still be welcome to come back to work for us in the future once we are up and running in the early part of the new year. For those of you that sign the contract addendums you will be receiving extra shares of company stock and the addendums will also spell out our full health and benefits plan that will be made available to you."

Pascoe noted that the company has been hit with "more than our fair share of bumps", blaming it on "many forces in the wrestling business." Pascoe wrote these forces were "doing whatever they can to sabotage everything we are trying to do and doing everything in their power to make sure that this company will never launch. I can promise you though that no matter how many hurdles we have to jump over that there are people here dedicated to doing everything they can to make sure this company WILL launch and we will be a long time player in this industry."

Pascoe declared that WWP was not launching "a new independent promotion or something that is going to be on the long list of fly by night wrestling companies that have come and gone." He wrote that they are planning on "becoming over the next decade the premiere wrestling company in the world" but that "obviously does not happen overnight."

Pascoe also promised details on several deals that the company had completed in "the next few weeks."

As all this is going on PWInsider.com can confirm that representatives of the upstart WWP have been reaching out to a number of known power players in the business, including Paul Heyman and Jerry Jarrett.

First of all, does anyone remember the game EWRevenge? When I used to play that and started my own company I called it World Wrestling Promotion, WWP. I love this fed already

At least we are getting the reasoning behind why they had to delay the start. It makes sense that they can't get everything in order before October and are taking time rather than rushing it. It is a shame for the wrestlers that they won't be paid until later but hopefully the end result is worth it.

They are saying all the right things especially in the section I bolded. They realise that a lot of companies have started with a lot of promise but faded away quickly because there is no long term focus. It is also good to read they have reached out to Paul Heyman and Jerry Jarrett to get information from those who have experience in starting their own companies.