
SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
“With a tear in my eye, THIS is the greatest moment of my life.”
-Ric Flair after winning his first WWF Championship
That was a real reaction. After walking away from what he was comfortable doing, and was making a hell of a living doing it, he was tired of feeling disrespected by his bosses. The man busted his ass for that company only to be told he’s still not good enough. Ric Flair has too much baggage to hit hero status for me. Only three people have achieved hero status for me. It has to do with being a true role model, but also following their hearts. Jon Stewart, Stan Lee, and George Carlin are my life heroes, and Stan and Carlin have to do with taking a risk. Like Ric Flair, they were tired of being better than the jobs they were given. In both cases, they decided that they would take the risk of doing their job on their terms, consequences be damned. They simply couldn’t take what they were doing, the way they were doing it any longer.
Cody Rhodes is one who could gain hero status is my life. I have to see where he ends up, but he’s on a great path. I’ve watched him take two massive risks. Leaving WWE and the pay and notoriety that comes with is not something most people would consider. Like my heroes, he wasn’t being creatively fulfilled, so he went to do the job how he envisioned his character to be, and it worked – so well that AEW was started in part due to Cody’s success. But when he felt disrespected, he knew his value and went back to WWE a bigger star than he ever would have been had he kept his head down and kept doing whatever was asked of him.
This week I step into footsteps they had made before me. No more corporate control, no more corporate distrust, no more bosses with less experience than I have who are not even willing to listen to my experience based on my position.
While no wrestler would be hero status yet, the wrestling industry has taught me so much about business. So, 25 years of corporate management and 33 years of wrestling knowledge has led me to the point where I open Nerdstalgia, a pop culture retro store in The Citadel Mall of Colorado Springs. August 15 is the date. Consequences be damned. I’ve been preparing for this for almost 30 years. Dreams really can come true.
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
Check out the latest episode of the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Post-show covering the latest episode of Smackdown: CLICK HERE to stream (or search “wade Keller” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)
Know your audience
You can only sell to a customer what they want. If you look back at the legacy of ECW, it knew exactly who it was catering to. Listen to the aggressive songs and aggressive promos. Watch the aggression be shown through violence never seen by many of these fans. The storylines often had sexually aggressive women and, regrettably, aggression shown to them by men. This was in front of a young, aggressive male audience. You may have caught on to a theme there.
Paul Heyman knew what the people coming into the ECW Arena wanted to see and he gave it to them. It was when the company started trying to grow too far past that audience that financial devastation became insurmountable. Wrestling still fights to be mainstream; that type of wrestling was far from being accepted into the homes of most families. Heyman often used that to his advantage to grab as large of the “alternative” audience as possible. In the ECW reunion, a smart move was taking squeaky clean, corporate John Cena and putting him in the main event of the second “One Night Stand” show. (By the way, a second act is no longer able to be called a one night stand.) In that main event match with Rob Van Dam, the crowd was going to treat him as the heel of the match and would be celebrating an RVD win to the degree that the famous “If Cena Wins We Riot” banner was born.
In sales, you have to be able to sell to who is in front of you. If you sell shoes, and a grandma comes in for affordable, comfortable footwear, you shouldn’t be pitching her on Jordan’s. We may have lots of options to sell, but it’s best to show what the customer wants to see.
Promote & Plug
I have to come have a hatred for social media. The arguments, the judgments of others, and the people who never interact leaving you lonely all had me fed up. During a time I’d call a mental health crisis I had to get rid of it. Anyone who fell into those three camps were deleted, then I just got rid of the apps and stayed away. Then I needed it to promote my business. I decided it was time to return to social media (and now I don’t understand TikTok), but do it with the understanding with myself that I’m only here to promote and watch for signs of mental spiraling (thanks, therapy!).
I remember debating fans about how much they hated WWE video recap packages. “We just saw it! Why show it again!” Then I’d listen to Diamond Dallas Page talk about the segment when he faked out Scott Hall & Kevin Nash and refused their NWO invitation. DDP hit a Diamond Cutter on Hall and tossed Nash from the rig before retreating into the crowd. He wished that WCW had the same instincts that WWE would have had and played that segment until it became a moment. You have to beat your audience over the head over and over until we get it.
How many times will WWE show the same angle, plug the same future event, or direct you to check out a social platform for more information? Until they feel everyone knows. Why would Walmart, Amazon, or McDonalds, who are the most recognized brands, at least in the U.S., still advertise? They want it top of mind and they want to reach everyone.
Matt Cardona said in an interview I heard him on once say that you have to post at least ten times a day. No one sees everything you put out, but you want to make sure everyone sees something you post. Those video packages not only cemented the memories for the viewers watching the entire show, but grabbed the channel surfer, and I will continue to argue that they were smart to do.
Know your brand
Sometimes you have a product where you have to find your audience. At Nerdstalgia, the space used for professional wrestling merchandise rivals what I carry in Marvel and DC comic merchandise. Not because there’s more people who recognize Roman Reigns to Robert Downy Jr., but because there are not many places you can find something without ordering online. Toy sections will have a few items, Hot Topic has had shirts at different periods, and hobby shops carry a few items, but none of those are reliable. There’s also millions of people that watch wrestling and we have a great indie scene in Colorado. There needs to be a place for them to shop, and why shouldn’t there be a large presence in a store where we carry anything one may be nerdy about?
Just because the WWE is the biggest stage doesn’t mean it’s the only way to be legitimate at being a professional wrestler. Kenny Omega, William Osprey, and the Young Bucks wanted more control of their matches and characters than they would have in WWE, and all passed on those contracts. When Cody Rhodes was in WWE, he knew his brand was not Stardust. When you know your value, it’s okay to find your audience with the skills you bring.
Be better than, lesser than, different than
Eric Bischoff is a business hero of mine. My hope is to one day meet the man just to thank him for the inspiration he has given to a person he never knew existed. I have been in the same room as him, but it was a stage show and I wasn’t able to talk with him, and at that time, Nerdstalgia was a dream I never actually expected to happen. Now that it has, it has a lot to do with his podcast.
I originally remember Eric talking to Wade Keller in a “Torch Talk” years ago where he said when he took over WCW, he knew he could not be better than the WWE, and he didn’t want to be lesser than the WWE, by doing the same thing as the competition, just not as well. Eric then talked about a third path; if you have competition, you can be better than, lesser than, or different than.
They had characters? He created stars with real names.
They had larger-than-life monsters? Eric brought in undersized, highly-athletic performers.
They taped shows? He goes live every week.
Just like I mentioned in knowing your brand, there are untapped opportunities in business like a growing wrestling selection. I also knew I couldn’t come into a market as another comic book store or just a record store. But what if I combine elements of the two? Video games are fun, and I like those. Add them too! I built my company on growing out of my passions. A nerdy megastore, a comic con in a mall store. That’s the aim. It’s different!
Never give up
The reason wrestling works when it works is that it’s the most basic form of story, character, and promotion in a very entertaining way. Person A has conflict with Person B, and that conflict is explored until it is resolved. In the wrestling world, that resolution is either they fight, they team up, or Vince Russo comes in with a swerve, bro. The babyface wrestlers that make it the biggest have a unifying trait in that they will not give up.
Steve Austin’s career was boosted in losing a match, but he never gave up in that match. Dusty Rhodes did not win the WWF Championship in his era, but even after retiring, his son, Cody, wasn’t going to give up on his father’s dream, and won the world title that his father was unable to. Hulk Hogan may have been overpowered and outsized by Andre the Giant, but that match wasn’t going to end without a bodyslam. John Cena’s “Hustle, Loyalty, and Respect” line also paired up with his “Never Give Up” catchphrase. A hero in any story sticks to what he knows is right.
It’s risky, I have kids (don’t sue me, Heath Slater), and I can’t afford try it without working a second job. There are more reasons I shouldn’t be doing this than reasons I should, but I can’t give up this dream. Since I was 15 years old and started buying punk records, all I wanted to do was open a record store. Couldn’t do that, so I ran a corporate one. Those did not last, so life moved on.
Then one day, when completely fed up with my boss and no way to deliver a Stone Cold Stunner, I thought about how to monetize all the collectibles I had acquired and kids’ toys that they’d outgrown and the concept for how I’d run my own business. Then came an option to actually make that happen. And I learned a lot of that from professional wrestling.
(Griffin is a lifelong fan of wrestling, superheroes, and rebellious music of all forms. He is the owner of Nerdstalgia, and you can shop online, learn about visiting the store in Colorado Springs, or catch him at a comic con in the Rocky Mountain area by going to http://nerdstalgia.shop.)
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.