Justin Parker, Torch Specialist

Updated Friday, June 6

In the responses to yesterday’s blog about society’s lack of identity, I have received some interesting feedback and suggestions from readers and one in particular intrigued me and has spawned some thought.

In his response, David Zgurski said WWE should allow wrestlers to market themselves through Youtube, Myspace, Facebook, etc. by filming promos or videos in order to get yourself over. In theory it seems like a good idea but the fact that WWE is a public company and that they employ a high-paid writing staff makes this seem out of the realm of possibility for them.

I then began to think as to how this idea can be used because I felt that it is a great use of the various tools that exist in today’s world and Ring of Honor was the first thought that came to mind. In the recent ROH audio series that James Caldwell and I have been doing ,we have been talking about how ROH hasn’t done much to develop the personalities of their midcard guys and rather allow them to go out there and do a bunch of cool moves that no one remembers at the end of the night. Obviously, one of the constraints is the lack of capacity of their DVD releases in that they have three hours on each and want to showcase their core competency, which is their high quality in-ring work and sometimes character development suffers as a result.

Bruce Mitchell brought up an interesting point in that ROH hasn’t created any “stars” recently that are bringing in additional eyes to their product and I think that the various outlets for communication can be used to at least increase the visibility that the general wrestling fan has about some of ROH’s wrestlers. Using David’s suggestion, I think that ROH’s midcard guys should use Youtube, Myspace, etc. as an avenue to further develop their characters beyond what ROH is doing on the DVD releases and video wires.

The benefits of this idea are two-fold. First, ROH wrestlers will increase their exposure and be able to potentially reach a few more fans than would just buy the DVD releases. If those fans like what they see, they may be more apt to buy a DVD or check out a live event in order to see more of you. This also gives fans an opportunity to see what makes you tick so you don’t go into a match thinking “why am I supposed to care about this guy again,” as I do on pretty much the entire first half of most ROH DVD releases. Second, and I feel most importantly, is that this allows the wrestlers to internally develop a character so when it is finally time to make it to the main event, they will be ready and already have a fully developed character to present and are not feeling themselves out once it comes time for the push up to the main event. I have seen this far too often and it really kills a wrestler’s momentum when the lights are on bright and they falter in their first big promo.

A great example of this has been Jimmy Jacobs throughout the Jimmy Loves Lacey storyline and the subsequent continuation into the Age of the Fall faction. Jacobs has really been a pioneer in terms of exploring what the internet can do for a wrestler’s visibility and how it can increase character development. Jacobs was very proactive in this approach and I think the results speak for themselves as in just three years, he has gone from being a one trick pony with the Brody gimmick to being one of the best promo guys in ROH and having a fully developed three dimensional character that is at a level that few have accomplished in ROH.

An investment in yourself and in getting over your character is what is necessary to make it to the next level in the business and never in history has a wrestler has so many opportunities to reach the wrestling fans. Being proactive and leveraging all of these communication vehicles may be the difference from being an “good worker” who is floundering around having good matches on the midcard and the wrestler who is seen as a star in the fans eyes and can be used as a significant drawing card for the promotion.

Please send any feedback that you have on this blog or opinions on any recent blog to torchparker@gmail.com ,/i>

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