I was all set to put down some money for a ticket for a Next Era Wrestling show that was scheduled to hit my home town. The event was originally booked for July 10, then was pushed back 3 weeks to tomorrow night, July 31. A quick check of the Next Era website confirms that the show's been cancelled, as the Rochester-based promotion isn't coming after all.
More than a month ago, posters went up at a couple of neighborhood businesses and at the Boys & Girls Club, where the show was to take place. A little research revealed that Next Era's talent roster included former WWE/ECW star Colin Delaney and indie vet Brodie Lee, which offered some hope for a good turnout. Problem was, the posters represented the sum total of Next Era's promotional penetration into the city. No radio or television advertising, even during WWE and/or TNA programming.
I've read the horror stories on the Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Weekly shared site about how wrestlers haven't gotten paid for shows they were booked for and that the promoter skipped on them. In this case, according to a staff person at the Boys & Girls Club that I talked to, Next Era never paid a deposit to rent the gym for the show, nor supplied the Club with tickets to sell, even though tickets were advertised as $10 in advance, $12 on the day of the show. The Club doesn't have enough staff coverage for the event (it is the middle of summer, after all). Long story short, the promotion is so short on money, they couldn't follow up on plans to move outside their home territory and come to the Eastern part of the state.
This would've been the 1st independent show in Troy in about a decade or so, since WWE has long since moved across the river to Albany (where Smackdown will tape on August 31), leaving RPI's Houston Field House in their rearview mirror, if you will. It's going to be longer than that, then, before the Boys & Girls Club, or any city business, for that matter, even considers an offer from an independent looking to establish themselves. Better, then, to go with what you know, rather than what you don't. Our region already has a start-up promotion, In Your Face Wrestling out of Ballston Spa, that holds regular shows, but isn't ready to move outside its base, even though they do have the money for TV advertising. Chances, though, are better of In Your Face visiting Troy than Next Era trying again.
So what is the message? The Latin phrase, caveat emptor (let the buyer beware), has never held so true than in the wrestling business, not just for wrestlers & fans, but for charities like the Boys & Girls Club. They say it's once bitten, twice shy. Let's see if Next Era tries again to move away from its home area. I'd not be surprised if they didn't.
