As a fan, I’ve been attending Prestige Wrestling since Roseland 3. I saw the talent announcement graphic drop and I immediately bought 3 tickets. I had only been to a couple local indie shows up until this point, and knew I couldn’t miss this show. I’ve been to every Roseland since then, and have been an avid supporter of shows I can’t make. When the opportunity came to sponsor a Roseland, I knew it was something we had to do.
Will took time out of his day to speak with me about Prestige, and much more!
Q: To start my first question is about the partnership with DPW & West Coast Pro. Are you able to give any insight? Will we get collaboration shows, or will your shows be on their streaming service?
A: The collaboration with them came together very quickly over the past week or so! As most people know we’ve been doing business on a more informal level with West Coast Pro for a few years now. Over the past week myself and Scott from West Coast Pro had conversations with DPW that ultimately led to a 2 – 3 hour phone convo where we worked out game plans.
As of now I can’t give a TON of insight as we have a proper roll out planned & in the works. But expect talent crossing over between shows, collaboration events and much more over the coming months, with announcements starting soon!
Q: You’ve exchanged talents with west coast pro or use similar talents plenty, but what talents from DPW are you most looking forward to working with?
A: I’ve had my eye on a number of people they’ve featured actually! Jake Something is someone I’ve wanted to work with for years. I’d love to welcome Calvin Tankman back. Colby Corino has been incredible in everything I’ve seen! Lady Frost, Adam Priest, Chris Danger, the list goes on and on! Lots of potential!
Q: You have an upcoming show with Pride Style coming up on April 26th. DPW just collaborated with New Texas Pro and West Coast Pro works heavily with Marvelous as well as running queen of the indies with Pro Wrestling Revolution. Are you guys interested in expanding the collaboration to include other companies? I know a lot of PNW talents are wanting to wrestle in Texas, like Amira just got the chance to do.
A: We’re generally always open to working with companies that have a good product & are down to do solid business! On a public level we’ve done work with TJPW & Revolver over the past few years. Behind the scenes we do stuff with DOA in Portland fairly regularly (as far as booking dates near each other to create big weekends, bringing in fly out talent together, etc). Overall working with other companies is mutually beneficial for everyone! Would LOVE to get out to Texas one day as well!
Q: Speaking of TJPW, they just had one of the best shows of the year last night. Can we expect to see more work with them?
A: I think so! The TJPW relationship is something I think will be there either formally or informally for years and years to come. Whether it’s bringing in new Joshi talent, as we have in the past. Or even working on getting more DDT stars over here. We’ve been very lucky over the past 2 years to bring a lot of great talent to the US for their first tours. I’m also ALWAYS DOWN for another Combat Princess USA event. Without question top 5 favorite nights in the business I’ve had
Q: With West Coast Pro having a talent exchange program with Marvelous and Titus Alexander, Alpha Zo, and Vinny Massaro working in NOAH, have you had any discussion or interest in doing anything similar? For example: organizing AMIRA to wrestle for TJPW or Jaiden to wrestle in DDT?
A: I would love to get something like that going at some point! The process of getting people to Japan is sometimes a little difficult, but discussions have definitely been had. For now my focus is a little more on what we’re doing here though. Ideally I’d like to sell out more and more US events and run new markets all over the US!
Q: Roseland 3’s announcement of Miyu Yamashita and Maki Itoh was the first domino I remember falling in the more recent wave of booking Joshi in the US. We’ve seen excellent success from you, West Coast Pro, DPW and GCW. We’ve also seen the rise of Joshi focused companies and complications that come with that. I just chatted with Wakana in a Q&A and talked about her dream to come to the US and wrestle in front of folks over here. Over multiple interviews, a lot of them have made it clear that they didn’t even realize it was an option to get over in the US until the doors started opening, especially after COVID restrictions & Shimmer closing their doors. I just wanted your general thoughts on a trend that you helped reset, and what that means to the talents who are just now seeing that dream fully open up again, as well as local talents being able to consistently wrestle opponents from Japan.
A: That was such a fun time for us (as it pertains to Miyu & Maki coming over for the first time), because it felt fresh & exciting. Maki had gained momentum with her few appearances at AEW and Miyu was someone I knew the US would love if we got her over here. It came together very quickly. I DM’d Maki Itoh one night and she directed me to an official TJPW email, then we got offered Yamashita as well and it was ON. I’d say it was such an important step in getting Prestige to where it is today because it really helped us develop a wider presence in both the US & internationally. I know talent like Masha Slamovich, Trish Adora, Mia Yim, Sandra Moone, etc were all very thrilled when we offered them matches against Maki or Miyu. Equally so, I’m excited for Miyu Yamashita vs Kylie Rae at Roseland, I know they’re both THRILLED to have that match.
Q: Let’s run down the card for Roseland. What was your process of putting that card together? With the success you’ve had with Roseland, as well as the other shows, do talent reach out to you about being booked? Do you reach out to the local talent and ask who they want to face? Etc. I just am curious on how the process that goes into the first announcement even.
A: Man, putting together a Roseland card is WILD because I shoot for the sky’s and there’s always a weird moment of “there’s no way we can top the last one, let’s just try to have great pro wrestling and tell some good stories”.
And then out of nowhere you find out “oh, we can get Zack Sabre Jr, Minoru Suzuki, Mustafa Ali, Miyu Yamashita, BREEZE & Dango, etc ALL ON ONE CARD?” So it always just works out somehow haha!
For the most part these shows HAVE TO BE a “we’ll call you” type-scenario, ya know? There’s such high expectations of these shows, so many stories coming to a head & so much hype around it that we’ve gotta try to put together something extra special.
Q: I was curious, with all the big names you’ve booked, what’s one that you’ve gotten close and it fell through?
A: There’s been so many that I’m sure I’m forgetting something. Here’s one no one really knows about. I had asked a close friend in the business if he could help us get Naomi for a future show (before she was back in WWE). He replied a few days later saying “she’s down but she can only work the Roseland event on January 5th”. So that kinda gave away to me she’d be in the Rumble. Unfortunately this was only 2 weeks before that Roseland so it couldn’t conceivably happen. But that would’ve been cool! Steve O & Weeman were both people we talked with leading into the Danger Ehren match but it would’ve destroyed our budget haha.
Q: Would you have just had them help Danger Eren during the match? Did you map out a plan?
A: The original plan was going to be to involve them all. Unfortunately we couldn’t get ahold of Steve O again (we had talked to him years and years ago) and Weeman asked for far more than we had expected. But it would’ve been just a cluster fuck of a match with a lot of wild stuff haha! Maybe one day down the road we can do it.
Q: Can we expect any surprises at Roseland?
A: Never say never. I’m very picky about when I do surprises because I don’t want it to become an expectation. If you suspect something it isn’t surprising anymore, ya know? But, trust that we’ve got an abundance of tricks up our sleeve for this & all future shows!
Q: Can we expect to see any more announcements or is the card pretty set?
A: Realistically the card is currently set, permitted nothing forces a change. What we have at this point is VERY strong and I’d like all matches to have as much time as possible to deliver the highest quality wrestling possible!
Q: When it comes to new fans; production issues can be a big issue. Your show with TJPW in LA had some setbacks, and for some that was their first experience. As someone who watches a lot of indies and has friends who work in the industry it’s a lot easier to understand accidents and unavoidable technicalities. I just wanted to ask honestly about how you felt about that or seeing any sort of negative tweets in regards to it, and what you hope to improve in the future. As well as any other thoughts about the subject toward people who are fairly or not, more harsh.
A: The negative tweets thing isn’t something I put thought into. People don’t understand how much goes into producing a show, legitimately it’s the most challenging thing I’ve ever done in my life. There’s things that are completely out of everyone’s hands at times. The issues during that show had nothing to do with GoPro Wrestling (who produced the show) or anyone on my team. Which we showed when we went back to The Vermont Hollywood this past February and had a fairly solid stream all the way through. Unfortunately it’s trial and error sometimes, especially as you go into new buildings, use new teams, etc. I will say – Every time we have an issue on a stream I address it publicly and genuinely try to fix it for next time behind the scenes. We’ve gone through a few teams, different parts, different members, etc trying to make stuff as solid as possible! And will always do our best to make sure the next stream is better than the last.
Q: Is there any specific message you’d like to send out to your current fans, or potential new ones? Maybe people who haven’t given the indies much of a chance?
A: I’d say get off your butt and come to a show haha! I promise independent wrestling is THE way to go when you wanna see some wrestling. You’ll find hidden gems, the stars of the future, some of your old favorites and the best pro wrestling in the world. I hope to see everyone at a show soon!!
Q: Lastly, I wanted to ask about Alan being your new champion! He’s been one of my favorites for the last couple years and been very kind to me. I talked with him about the huge risk he took betting on himself and leaving AEW. Obviously he’s very good at being a dick, but I just wanted your comments on him and his career the last couple years. Him and Kevin Blackwood are two of the hardest working dudes on the independent scene so seeing both of them winning world titles for companies they have been mainstays at, was really cool as a fan. Everyone I’ve talked to feels very invested into their careers and it felt like a true reward to us as big supporters. So I just wanted your thoughts all him in general and winning your title!
A: Alan is a guy that reached out in 2022 and said he just wants to wrestle. Doesn’t care where or when, just wants fun matches and to be part of something fun. Fast forward to 2024 and guys like him and Kevin Blackwood have busted their asses for us. Opening shows, main eventing shows, hardcore matches, matches against the best athletes in the world and everything in between. I feel the story we’ve told with Alan and now The Noise has been some of our best and most fun ever. Alan’s been ALMOST there, time and time again. The title is within his reach but ultimately he doesn’t get it due to some other reason, whether it’s stipulation, outside interference, double teams, etc. Same thing at the Cascadia Wrestling Cup. It’s almost like a “chase” story, but with a heel instead. He’s an asshole, but he’s worked so hard for years now. The fun is just beginning with him and The Noise.
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