Interview with IwW Promoter Simon Rochford

Eoin Heffernan

Here is a link to an interview that was conducted with IwW Promoter Simon Rochford in early December.

http://www.pwinsider.com/ViewArticle.asp?id=96359663329&p=1

jeffk

Eoin Heffernan wrote: »

Here is a link to an interview that was conducted with IwW Promoter Simon Rochford in early December.

http://www.pwinsider.com/ViewArticle.asp?id=96359663329&p=1

Nice one gonna read it now thanks.
Is there anyway you can post it on here as i would like to save it to keep but its done in java or the like and i cant copy or save it :mad:

Furious-Red

Everytime i go onto the page it starts to fade out to page saying something like"Today this page is sponsered by blah blah"

bombidol

thats the most amount of pop ups ive seen in a while. Decent interview though. Glad to see iww going strong.

fatal

Iww have certainly done their part to make pro wrestling what it is in Ireland today.An IWW show is a great show.If anyone hasnt been to one I would recommend it
I cant read the interview,theres way too much advertising on that site.If someone could copy and paste the interview it would be great

Fozzy

The interview is now at http://www.pwinsiderxtra.com/ViewArticle.asp?id=9329&p=1 I can't copy and paste it and I've tried looking through the HTML for the page, but I can't figure out where the text for it is. Good interview though

michael.etc...

As some people seem to be having bother with finding this, and/or pop-ups... here ya go...

The CYNICAL INTERVIEW

With Irish Whip Wrestling Promoter Simon Rochford.
By Michael Campbell

Back at the beginning of the month past, I was in attendance at an Irish Whip show in Dublin, where I had the opportunity to engage in a good ol’ chat with promoter Simon Rochford, who was happy to discuss his work and several fascinating aspects of the business. So enjoy!

How does it feel to have completed Irish Whip’s hugely successful 5th Anniversary tour?

Feels great actually. We did, what, twelve shows, almost every single sure came through as what we wanted, with crowd numbers, financial return, and feedback. Almost every show, not EVERY show, but almost every show, was a total success. It was great to see around the country, and showed there was a market for wrestling as entertainment.

Where the crowds in places that you travelled to for the first time, what you expected?

Some of them were, and some of them were above, some were return business, which wouldn’t have been as strong as the first time, as much of it is down to timing as anything, but it was a great success, and that’s why we’re now having another tour in March.

Will this tour be as big as the 5th anniversary tour?

No not as big , I should explain the 5th Anniversary tour. The 5th Anniversary tour was many shows in some of the hotspots that we do, with much international talent at them, and having the Irish Whip guys with them. When we started Irish Whip, it was just certain guys in regards to Europe, UK, and America, and now we had the Irish guys. That’s why we had so many International guys in matches with the Irish ones. We were celebrating with the Irish Whip guys against as many International guys as possible. It was giving back to the fans as well.

When the Promotion began, did you imagine it growing as much as it has?

Definitely. We started with a five year business plan, and gradually, gradually built it up, and what was great was that it developed much quicker than I thought it would. It started off good, then went into a slump. The original slump was because of administration reasons, proper insurance, it was going through the roof, there’s no point running the shows just to cover your costs. There was a gap there, as there was no Irish talent, and to have Irish talent gives people a reason to get into it, with their like, hometown heroes. Now we have about, not every town, but about 12-15 towns where they have a hometown hero, which is great for the local media, and local support. So that’s why we started the training school, people had seen so many promotions start up in England, and even Ireland, and lose all this money,

So was it much a stretch to start up the training school?

Yes! There was no insurance, there had never, ever been a training school in Ireland before us. The Hammerlock group started out at around the same time as us. Irish Whip started up doing shows, they came after us, but they were covered by NWA Hammerlock in England, . Basically Hammerlock became NWA Ireland, We had to get the Irish Insurance and everything, but they gave them their ring plans and the whole lot. So we had to get a guy in- Frank Casey, a guy who’s run Brian Dixon‘s. Actually, the first trainer we had in was a guy called Blake Norton, he lasted six weeks, he knew all these different moves and so forth, but he hadn’t a clue. He was just a guy who told us, he’d had all these matches, and it turns out they were just training matches when he was with the Harts. I took him on his word, he genuinely had footage of himself in the dungeon, with Stu Hart, the whole lot, so I took him on that, you can’t have any proof than that.


Well that’s that the way it works isn’t it, you have to take guys on their word?

Yeah exactly, I go to a guy like Caiman from Wales, because a promoter or a wrestler recommended him, but back then there were very little contacts.
Anyway, after six weeks we had to throw him out, and we put in a guy called Lee Butler, he had some good stuff to him but Lee, in his… personal character, had a lot of flaws, Lee was his own worst enemy, and we thought he was a good trainer, but we moved on from Lee, and we put in Darren Burridge from England, who was an excellent trainer, taught the lads a lot. He trained the lads in the old school , drop kicks and that.

The first year we did three shows, whereas now, at our peak we do fifty-sixty shows, so gradually we built up. In Ireland a lot of people come along, I don’t know how many, competition-wise, but they sense money, and try and copy what we do, but we’ve had a five year business plan to build on. Like I said, not ever show we do is going to make money, we do have bad houses, losses, but the good thing is, when you know that out of like, fifty shows, forty-five, or forty six makes money, you know you’re doing a successful job.

But even the ones that don’t make money, are important shows…

Yeah, people always say, “aww even if I wasn’t making money I’ll keep going”, but if I was losing money, I wouldn’t keep going, I’d do like one show, or twice a year, if I wasn’t making money. But yeah, the ones that are losing money, are important for the lads, even with the bad house. A small house, with forty-fifty people but If you promote really well, you know it’s not a town for wrestling, If you have forty-fifty people, and you haven’ promoted it properly, it’s your own fault then. Over the years, as a promoter, I’ve picked up other stuff, the wrestler‘s have too. It’s not good to lose money, but it’s a learning curve and you learn from these mistakes.

Did you have any specific goals when you started off?

Irish Whip started off as a magazine, the Irish version of Powerslam, called “The Irish Whip”, sold through the Republic of Ireland. But it cost so much with the insurance, and paying photographers, and getting writers. It was such hard work, and to get in done properly, with the money I was spending, I thought I may as well spend that on starting up a promotion. So we started, and the ultimate goal was to have a fully-owned Irish Promotion, promoting nationally, and have Irish wrestlers who could face International guys, and give Irish Whip a global name and represent Ireland. You used to watch the old WWF when I was younger and you’d see people like Velvet McIntyre, and she was actually Australian, but was billed as being Irish, and you’d get that feeling of, ohh she’s Irish, and she gave that feeling to some of the Irish wrestling fans, and put them on the map. Same with the World of Sport guys, you had Fit Finlay, even before that Danny Mahon, Crusher Casey in the thirties-forties. So it was to put Ireland on the map, seriously as wrestling, with Irish guys. Even Mad Man Manson, started with us, worked his way up, he’s now the top baby face we have, and he wrestles full time around the scene in the UK and here.. At the shows, he’s well over, sells the merchandise, but he started out as a trainee, same as Seamus O’Shaunessy, he came through the school after coming back from the Monster Factory. Now he’s wrestling with the WWE, I’m not saying I’m responsible for his career, but he says himself, he learned a lot off Irish Whip, working the TV, and the towns, and with the encouragement. The thing with Seamus is it was a big goal for him, not that he’s a mark for it or anything, but like me, it’s what he watched, and followed, and he’s in there, representing the Irish.

Creatively, what else in Wrestling excites you?

For me, it’s always been about promoting storylines and characters. I know some guys just love wrestling, and working on their move-set. I love movies, and through wrestling I’ve started trying to write screenplays, which is hard to do, making stories into screenplays, is very hard. Wrestling has opened me up to the whole entertainment world, and seeing how wrestling fits into entertainment.

Would you say that wrestling is just a different form of storytelling?

Yeah. Wrestling itself is kinda looked on like a bastard child. It’s not looked on as a form of art by arts councils, and entertainment people, TV companies, or advertisers and sponsors, and people in the Sports world, so it’s on it’s own, and you have to contend with a lot of prejudice.
The first TV we had, on the wrestling channel, the first series, when I look back, I cringe. It was trying to turn a house show into TV, and a lot of it comes down to the editor and the sound and so on. The second series was a hell of a lot better than the first one. Now our third one, we trying to get on Irish TV stations, and there‘s no point putting on continuous matches, and technical five star classics, because that’s not what they’re after. But unless a kid or a parent can get into it there’s no interest.
Over here some people don’t particular like me, think of me as thinking that I am the Vince McMahon of Ireland. That came from a meeting I had with some wrestlers were I said WWE is wrestling in Ireland. It’s not about Pro Wrestling Noah, or Ring of Honor, it’s WWE. So you want to see how the WWE wrestlers work, how they’re tight, their footwork, their timing, the whole lot, because it’s the WWE audience you want plain and simple. That’s why you flier the upcoming WWE shows, not the venues, because that’s who you want. People misinterpreted that though.
The development thing that’s starting next year, that’s gonna be interesting. People come from Ring of Honor, and TNA, but now you could also get people from the development groups, there’s a lot of them starting straight away, and those groups, like John Cena’s, are the ones that they’re going to be looking at the, those ones are the ones with a link to the WWE staff. Like Kofi Kingston someone told me he was only wrestling for like, what six months, when saw him and they gave him a development deal. They don’t get talent from scratch, they have to look somewhere. In the old days when you’re watching the WWE, some guys were from Stampede and that, and those are territories that aren’t there, so they go to Europe. And this is what lads don’t get, if they want to go for it. We go for trials, and we have been since back in 2005, and it’s all about trial and error, and now they know exactly what they’re looking for. But I’ve seen lads going around with big attitudes, big attitudes around a veteran, the word gets around eventually. So many bridges are burnt in wrestling, it’s unreal. If you’re telling a promoter how you’re going to do the match, but at the end of the day, you don’t do that, because if a promoter likes you, or thinks you’re good, you’ll get the work.
When they signed Stu Sanders, Seamus and Drew Galloway, like Drew definitely has the natural talent, and Seamus has the look, what they’re looking for, not as talented as Drew, but he has talent. You have Stu Sanders, who has a great look, but is very green, green as a Shamrock. Terribly nice guy, needs to work on things, but I’m sure he’ll do well, but he hadn’t got the same skill, but he always got looked at because of his look. But in the end, Stu is not like some of these other guys I’ve seen come in, who have a body like Stu, and they’re all “yeah, yeah, yeah, the match I’m doing tonight, I’m gonna blah, blah, blah”, that’s not how it works like. Not an attitude like that. Even though Stu’s very green, he has a very good attitude, and that counts as much as talent. When you get your development or deal or whatever, he (Vince McMahon) has you training, to work the way that he wants you to work, and if you come in the door with that sort of attitude, bang- you’re gone.



In any other line of work, you can’t call the shots like that….

Yeah, if you’re doing a house up, and getting a painter and decorator, they come in, and you tell them, I want the hall painted white, the bedrooms painted pink, and so on, you’re paying them to do that job. If he comes along and he’s an apprentice, and paints it whatever colour he wants, one, you’ll not be paying him, and two, you’ll never use him again. And he’ll go back to his boss who he‘s doing the apprenticeship for, and he’ll be told he’s gone. Same for a plumber, you tell him to fix the toilet, he doesn’t go and fix the washing machine. There’s no professionalism in wrestling, that’s the problem. Well there is, but not many. Like take Caiman, he comes in, he gets the job done, he’s got everything prepared, whether he’s wrestling five minutes, or ten, or an hour, he’ll do what you ask him to do, and he makes your guy look good. There’s another guy called Tom who works for Brian Dixon, he’s a big guy, he’ll work a smaller guy, he’ll do exactly what you want. I’m not saying, you know, if you pay them ten Euro, they’ll go, “oh ok”, but he’ll talk to you and he’ll work with you. Whereas some guys come in, and you don’t really know them well, and they do the opposite that you want, and you never bring those guys back. And that’s where it’s lacking professionalism
What’s next for Irish Whip then?
Irish Whip, is a national Irish TV deal. That’s the way we’ve been looking at it for over a year, and what that come down to is the production side. I know what talent I want to use, what stories I like, what I want to create. I have that in place. But we need to work on the production side, specific cameras, a production crew, but then there’s the politics with the TV people, you have to deal with your tactics in wrestling, the backhanders. There’s some guys who say, you book me here, I’ll book one of your guys in England, so that’s your little things to deal with. And with TV, there’s certain production companies that will only work with certain producers, and that company ask for X amount of money, and you’re having to deal with that stuff.
IWW’s future is a national distribution, deal for DVD’s. We’re working with one or two groups to get them sold through websites, but we want it nationally. And then you’ve got to get you’re barcodes, and go through censorship, and it’s all very expensive, and time wise, it takes so long. You’re waiting two months, and if someone’s not happy about something, it can take another two months. That’s very hard, it’s challenging as well, and I like that, but it affects the wrestling. Because then you might have to cut back on a house show or live events to deal with that. But yeah, the DVD’s sold nationally is the next thing.



My thanks indeed to Simon Rochford, and Irish Whip, we are a swell bunch of folk. And cheers indeed for taking the time to read this article, If you have any questions, or comments about the “Cynical View” column, or wish to discuss anything wrestling related, feel free to email me at bazilalfonso@hotmail.com Thanks for reading!

It was an OK interview. Very bland. Talked a lot but didn't say much. :-/

michael.etc...

Deleted User wrote: »

It was an OK interview. Very bland. Talked a lot but didn't say much. :-/

Time wasn't a luxury and stuff, it was a bit rushed and messy. Maybe next time round will be an improvement!

Fozzy

I didn't think it was that bad, I learned more new stuff from it than I usually do with a regular interview

michael.etc...

I thought it came from a different perspective, and Simon ended up discussing alot of things that are normally taken for granted. So while that might not be what everyone would expect from an interview, I thought it went well in the sense that it was at least a little different.

Yeah I kinda agree, but i think that an interview like that should cover everything in IwW from start to finish.

I also wasn't a fan of him saying that some of the older trainers etc. didn't know there stuff. He seems to have talked down about some people who obviously helped him out a bit.

michael.etc...

Deleted User wrote: »

Yeah I kinda agree, but i think that an interview like that should cover everything in IwW from start to finish.

Yeah it would have been nice, but like I said, there just wasn't time, so the focus was left on questions that specifically related to the booking etc...

michael.etc...

michael.etc... wrote: »

Yeah it would have been nice, but like I said, there just wasn't time, so the focus was left on questions that specifically related to the booking etc...

May I ask, where you the one conducting the interview, or where you directly associated?

michael.etc...

Yes, it was my interview.

I'm not being defensive for the sake of it or anything though. But that is the reason that it alot of what would have been good to discuss, wasn't. In fact, i was kicking myself!

Gerraboldy

michael.etc... wrote: »

Yes, it was my interview.

I'm not being defensive for the sake of it or anything though. But that is the reason that it alot of what would have been good to discuss, wasn't. In fact, i was kicking myself!

Do you have plans to talk to any other Irish promoters. I know IwW would be the top but why not get a perspective of everyone. They would all have VERY different ways of doing things

michael.etc...

michael.etc... wrote: »

Yes, it was my interview.

I'm not being defensive for the sake of it or anything though. But that is the reason that it alot of what would have been good to discuss, wasn't. In fact, i was kicking myself!

I wasn't trying to be smart by saying that or anything, i was just curious.


You're questions weren't too bad, but i think that you shouldn't have posted it, or arranged to meet up again to continue it.

It was a good interview for what it was, I have nothing against you, I just didn't like some of his answers.