World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) ratings, attendance, and pay per view are down. Hell, Vince McMahon is no longer the billionaire he once was. It's clear that wrestling is not as popular as it was only a few years ago, but don't tell Frank Goodman that. USA Pro Wrestling (USAPW) is doing just fine.
If you turn on the upstart pay-per-view only wrestling federation, NWA TNA, you may see the Amazing Red, SAT, Simon Diamond, Raven, Justin Credible and D Lo Brown. You might have seen Lowki battling AJ Styles for the NWA World Title. If this sounds like déjà vu, you may have already seen these stars and some of the matches first at USAPW shows held at Deer Park, Mineola and former home of ECW, the Elks Lodge in Queens.
USAPW is the hottest wrestling promotion, outside of the WWE, in the New York Metropolitan area, achieving a popularity that eclipses that of many other independent wrestling promotions throughout the country; although you wouldn't know it from reading such magazines as Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI). Ignored by many mainstream outlets, that are caught up in the glitz and hype of WWE, NWA TNA and Ring of Honor, YBFREE.com recognizes what others have been missing and have tapped the mind of the company's founder and promoter, Frank Goodman, for his thoughts on the wrestling business and advice (if you read between the lines) for others looking to start their own promotions.
Goodman, who wrestles as the Masked Maniac (was I supposed to reveal his secret), started running wrestling events in 1993, but began running the promotion as USA Pro Wrestling in November of 1994. "We started running shows because I was a struggling Indy wrestler for over 10 years at that point and there was no money for a wrestler who wasn't going to make it in the WWE," he recalls. "We picked the name USA Pro Wrestling because all the other names we chose were already owned and this at the time was all that was left."
In 1993, USAPW ran over 40 shows with Goodman learning the ropes as a promoter rather quickly, more so because he needed to if he didn't want to lose his money to the business. "At the time, we just wanted to run shows and make some money, but after the first show, I became obsessed with 'who's wrestling who and who's the next champion going to be,'" he said. "Making money became secondary, but after getting ripped off by people who 'guided' me in the wrong direction so they could make money, I learned the ropes quicker than any other promoter and within three shows, we were outdrawing every other promoter on the east coast and 300 shows later, we still are."
While money did become important to Goodman, the product was of equal importance and Goodman sensed the need to evolve into the episodic wrestling trend that was no longer reserved for the WWE, but every independent promotion that wanted to succeed. "It used to be that you ran a six match show with only general matches, but after evolving and growing, we began making and creating stories," he said. "With every show, you need to outdo what you did before and soon, you have a fed that us a soap opera and now we actually have cliffhangers and everything."
Goodman's business mindset has helped him succeed where countless others have failed before they even began. As a crossroads for wrestlers old and new to call their home, USAPW started as the place where Hardcore and Tradition collide, featuring legends such as Tito Santana, the very first champion and Sgt. Slaughter, the second champion, to King Kong Bundy, Brutus Beefcake, the sorely missed Big Dick Dudley (who passed away two years ago) and Jimmy Superfly Snuka. Even Hulk Hogan may find his way to Long Island for a show in the future…that's a big maybe.
"We are workout buddies," Goodman confesses about Hogan. "When he's in Orlando and when I'm in Orlando, we hit the gym together. Hogan is the only person I am in awe of. I have the largest arms of any masked wrestler."
All joking aside, Goodman has been able to take these legends and mixed them with many stars from today, such as Nunzio, Lowki, Amazing Red, Raven, Christopher Daniels, Sabu, Sandman, Justin Credible, D Lo Brown, Bam Bam Bigelow, Mikey Whipwreck, Crowbar and the most well known USAPW World Champion Balls Mahoney. All of these stars call or have called USAPW their home. Eddie Guerrero wrestled there on his way back to the WWE. Even current WWE star Al Snow has been wrestling there from time to time. These legends and stars of today are helping build the stars of tomorrow; Xavier, Reefer, Deranged, DRS, Homicide, Mike Tobin, Danny Drake (who recently had to retire in a tearful farewell ceremony due to a life threatening injury that he suffered last year), Matt Stryker and Sylk Wagner Brown, teaching them the ropes and passing the torch so that they may become tomorrow's big attraction.
You can see many of these wrestlers on Saturday, November 29, when USAPW will present at 7 p.m. an End to an Era, the last show at the Elks Lodge, featuring Raven (current champion) vs. Al Snow for the USAPW World Championship.
Come back next week for part two of our interview with Frank Goodman where he discusses the wrestlers who will carry the federation in the future, what makes a successful wrestler and how to seel out a show.
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