AWE: Local business on the verge of hitting it big
It’s thisclose to being another great example of the Great American Success Story.
The Downtown Waynesboro-based Awesome Wrestling Entertainment will make its debut on television on Saturday, Oct. 15, with a live pay-per-view wrestling event that will be broadcast by InDemand, DirecTV, AGTV and Bell TV in Canada to more than 122 million households in North America.
The live TV event is AWE’s attempt to join the heavyweights of pro wrestling like WWE and TNA Impact.
There is a neat human-interest story behind the scenes with the company. Awesome Wrestling Entertainment is based in a small town in Virginia – Waynesboro, Va., population 21,500, far away from the nation’s biggest media markets. And the company’s CEO is a man named Marvin Ward, 37, a former professional wrestler who had to retire in 1997 after suffering a career-ending shoulder injury and in 1999 opened, with his wife, Stacie, a small wrestling-promotion business out of his home.
Ward has said he now has a better appreciation for the term “overnight success.” After 12 years of promoting house shows throughout Virginia and up and down the East Coast, AWE exploded on the scene this summer with a storyline revolving around a decade-old Internet feud between “Big Sexy” Kevin Nash and Ricky Morton of The Rock-n-Roll Express.
Without TV or any house shows in the summer season to back it up, the back-and-forth between Nash and Morton that played out on the Internet and on AWE’s Facebook page caught fire. The company now boasts more than 100,000 Facebook fans, a number that has caught the attention of pay-per-view giant InDemand, which along with DirecTV, AGTV and Bell TV in Canada will be broadcasting AWE’s Night of the Legends on Oct. 15 on live pay-per-view television.
It’s almost hard for Ward to process how quickly things have happened – after years and years and years of banging his head against a wall.
“We knew from the beginning that unless you have millions of dollars, or knew key people in the entertainment industry, then the odds were against us a million to one. But that did not deter us. I am a firm believer that if you have a dream, and you believe in it, then anything is possible,” Ward said.
Even with that as a given, it’s been far from easy. Ward for years promoted shows at high-school gyms and National Guard armories, sometimes making money, “and at times losing money because we would spend more on national-brand talent and advertising to make sure we had large crowds to get attention.”
The losses added up, and Ward and his wife, Stacie, decided to sell their house and moved with their two daughters, Brittany and Hannah, with his parents.
“Every day, we had family and friends tell us we were crazy to continue to fight for this dream,” Ward said.
And now the family is so close to the big time that they can almost taste it. In four short weeks, Ward will join an elite group of wrestling promoters who can put on their resume that they have produced a live broadcast pay-per-view event.
There’s a lot of work to be done between now and then. AWE has not produced a single TV show to date, and it now needs to build up the infrastructure necessary to broadcast live TV throughout North America and a worldwide Internet feed.
Ward and the AWE team have put together an impressive production operation to add to the roster of wrestlers that includes former WWE and WCW stars Kevin Nash, Diamond Dallas Page, Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Terry Funk and homegrown talents Jamin Olivencia, Alex Silva and Sonjay Dutt.
Friends are trying to remind Ward as the days count down toward Oct. 15 that he needs to take time out every so often to enjoy the scenery.
“This is the first time this has ever happened, a company with no prior TV experience and no background in pay-per-view events being given an opportunity like this to go on live TV,” Ward said. “Entertainment executives are saying this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that our company is being given, and that we have one chance to finally make it and live the American dream.”
AWE online: www.AwesomeWrestlingEntertainment.com
Wrestling promotion laying foundation for future
The first two shows out of the gate have the wrestling world abuzz about AWE. Drawing 1,200 to the first show at Waynesboro High School was one thing. Putting 1,100 butts in seats 50 miles from a TNA show in Richmond that drew 350 is yet another.
“I know it’s going to take time, but my patience is wearing thin. We’ve been building this thing for two years,” said Marvin Ward, the founder and driving force behind Awesome Wrestling Entertainment, who has been promoting shows in Virginia since a charity event that he put on in 2001, but is now aiming at building a national company in AWE.
The AWE product is being aimed at small- and medium-sized markets overlooked by TNA and WWE. What sets AWE apart from indy promoters is the company’s focus on quality in the ring and production values on par with what fans have come to expect at house shows put on by the big boys.
“The lighting, sound and production sets us apart. People can say, The wrestling product, what you do in the ring, is all that matters. Not anymore. People have been spoiled. They’re used to what WWE brings to big arenas. The lighting, the sound, the video screen,” Ward said.
“We bring that. You saw that with our first show. That’s not something that people in small markets are used to in shows in their hometowns. We’re bringing to these size markets the kind of production values that people are used to seeing in the big arenas. That’s our drawing card,” Ward said.
There is no shortage of talent on the open market, and Ward and AWE have been snatching up some of the top free agents on the market, including Carlito, current AWE World Champion Jimmy Yang, and a host of newcomers added to the roster this week highlighted by Shad Gaspar, a former WWE tag-team contender who was in the national headlines following a controversial arrest in Ohio on a jaywalking charge that was captured on video and shared with the world by TMZ.
The focus is on young talent and is heavy on cruiserweights. TNA had staked its early success on its cruiserweight division, but in recent years has become a sort of WWE South with recycled top WWE stars Kurt Angle, Kevin Nash and current world champion Sting.
“Fans, I think, are tired of the same old ‘Monday Night Raw,’ same ‘Smackdown,’ same ‘Impact.’ They’re tired. They want something fresh. And I’m hoping that we can come in and give them something that makes them go, Wow, that is the change that we were looking for,” Ward said.
AWE is also readying itself for its first training camp set to begin in April. The goal is to build for AWE what WWE has in Ohio Valley Wrestling and what WCW had in its famed Power Plant, which Ward trained in before a brief run in WCW that was cut short by injuries.
“We’ve gone through an intense process of talent acquisition and development,” Ward said. “We scouted talent, checked their work. I bet you that in 26 months we went through 100 people just to pull 10 good candidates to build around. Now we bring in guys like Carlito and Jimmy and Sonjay (Dutt), people that have already established their credibility, to get these guys over. So that people are like, Wow, Micah Fletcher, I can’t believe it, last night he beat Carlito.”
Fletcher, Jamin Olivencia, Mohammad Akbar – those are the names of the future in AWE.
“We’re going to build talent from the ground up. Take a year and teach them the psychology of wrestling. How to work a match. How to tell a story, how to build a storyline,” Ward said. “That doesn’t seem to be the focus anymore in WWE and TNA. A guy hits another guy in the head with a chair one week, they’re wrestling on pay-per-view the next week, and then they move on to the next thing. I want storylines. I want something where people will follow us and be able to build with us the storylines for months, and fans have to come see it when it comes to their town.”
Staying power – that’s what Ward is aiming at.
“Our goal this first year is getting people to stand up and take notice,” Ward said. “Once people know who you are, then we can get sponsors, then we can get a TV deal. That’s the hardest part about this whole thing. Do we know we’re going to lose money coming out of the chute? Absolutely. There’s no way to avoid it. but if we can get our name out there this first 12 months, I believe we can make it. Because the wrestling is going to speak for itself.”
Story by Chris Graham. More on AWE at AwesomeWrestlingEntertainment.com.
It’s showtime! AWE primed, ready for debut
The minutes are counting down.
“I’m pumped. Let’s get it on!” said Marvin Ward, the president of Awesome Wrestling Entertainment, a Virginia-based professional-wrestling promotion with aspirations toward the big time.
AWE will mark its launch Saturday night with its first live event at Waynesboro High School. The main event pits former WWE superstar Jimmy Wang Yang with AWE newcomer Vasaga for the inaugural Awesome Wrestling Entertainment world heavyweight championship. The AWE United States title will also be filled in a match between another former WWE superstar, Carlito, and the rising star Micah Fletcher. Midget star Short Sleeve Sampson and women’s star Traci Brooks are among the other headliners.
The event begins with an autograph session at 6 p.m. Belltime is 8 p.m.
Tickets are $10 and are available at Crossroads music stores in Waynesboro and Staunton and at Eavers BP and Liberty BP/Liberty in Stuarts Draft – and at the door.
The AWE crew was at the WHS gym late Friday night – after the big Waynesboro-R.E. Lee basketball game that came down to the wire, with the undefeated Leemen escaping with a narrow 53-51 win over their Southern Valley District rivals.
“We need to get the ring set up tonight,” said Mike Meadows, a member of the crew helping get the gym ready for the pro-wrestling action.
Another AWE newcomer, Johnny Knockout, offered a helping hand. Knockout will be facing former TNA star Sonjay Dutt in a match to determine the #1 contender to the U.S. title.
Cutting a video promo for the match, Knockout used his time on the ring crew as his hook.
“You see this ring right here. Every rope, every nook, every cranny, I put it together myself, so I know this inside and out,” Knockout said. “And Sonjay Dutt – you have got one heckuva fight on your hands. This is my world. Welcome to it. And welcome to the Johnny Knockout Reality. I will see you on the other side. You’re going down, buddy. You’re going down.”
Earlier Friday evening, Knockout joined midget star Short Sleeve Sampson and Robotron at a pep rally at the Waynesboro YMCA. The wrestlers were a big hit with the teens out for Friday Night Basketball.
“We’ve been out there breakdancing with them, signing autographs, shooting hoops. You can’t be in a better place than this,” Sampson said after the pep rally and a quick tour of the Y with executive director Jeff Fife.
“I am so fortunate that we can be able to come out here the night before our big show at the high school – to be able to hang out with these guys. If I was going to have free time, there is no other place that I’d much rather be than where I am right here, right now, tonight, in the Waynesboro YMCA,” Sampson said.
More information on the AWE Live event is available here.
Video
Story by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.
Superstars of Pro Wrestling meet and greet at Staunton Mall
Awesome Wrestling Entertainment superstars Carlito, Jimmy Wang Yang, Luke Gallows, Short Sleeve Sampson, Sonjay Dutt, Traci Brooks and Robo-Tron will take part in a meet-and-greet with fans at the Staunton Mall on Saturday, Feb. 5, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The event will take place in advance of the big AWE Superstars of Pro Wrestling show being held at Waynesboro High School the night of Feb. 5. A 6 p.m. autograph session is followed by an 8 p.m. bell time. Yang will take on newcomer Vasaga for the AWE World Heavyweight title in the main event, with Carlito matching up with Micah Fletcher for the United States title headlining the undercard.
The Mall meet-and-greet is sponsored by Battlefield Ford, Eavers Tire Pros and Domino’s Pizza.
Local show to serve as launch for new pro-wrestling promotion
It’s going to feel somewhat “Raw” or “Impact”-ful, but what Marvin Ward hopes you’re thinking when you leave the show at Waynesboro High School on Feb. 5 is, “That was awesome!”
The “Superstars of Pro Wrestling” card will serve as the launch of Ward’s new national and international touring company, Awesome Wrestling Entertainment, or the AWE. The show will crown the promotion’s two singles champions – with former WWE superstar Jimmy Wang Yang taking on Samoan newcomer Vasaga for the AWE world title and another former WWE talent, Carlito, squaring off with Micah Fletcher for the United States championship.
The card also features former TNA stars Sonjay Dutt and Traci Brooks in addition to a slew of new AWE talents who have been the focus of the development arm of the promotion the past two years. That’s how long Ward has been laying the groundwork for the launch.
Ward believes there is room for another pro-wrestling company on the landscape to compete with the WWE and TNA. “That’s anybody’s dream in the industry,” said Ward, whose company also features MVP, Shelton Benjamin, Rodney Mack, Short Sleeve Sampson, Trinity and Jazz.
Acquiring talent has been a point of emphasis – along with patience. “We want to do this the right way,” said Ward, who admits to getting antsy with the launch, which will be followed by a tour that will eventually take the company overseas for an extensive schedule in Asia.
That the opening bell will be rung in Waynesboro has been a constant question from those in the industry. Ward, an Augusta County native, got his start in wrestling promotion with the inaugural “Night of the Superstars” at Waynesboro High School in 2001.
“When it comes to me, and what Waynesboro, Va., did for me, did for my family, and did for my career, this is where we need to be,” Ward said.
Interview: Marvin Ward
Superstars of Pro Wrestling
- WHEN: Saturday, Feb. 5
- BELLTIME: 8 p.m. Meet and Greet with AWE superstars begins at 6 p.m.
- WHERE: Waynesboro High School
- TICKETS: $10
- TICKET LOCATIONS: Crossroads Music in Waynesboro and Staunton, Eavers BP and Liberty in Stuarts Draft
- ORDER BY PHONE: 540.946.4616
Story by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.
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