WOW Founder On Which Of Their Stars Is The Next Phenom
All Elite Wrestling is still searching for a tv deal, but another upstart promotion has already landed a national one. Women of Wrestling (WOW) started airing on AXS TV last week as the network attempts to capitalize on the revolution currently taking place in women's wrestling.
WOW founder David McLane discussed the interest in his promotion when he talked about recent tryouts that WOW held ahead of their television debut.
"We put out the word that we wanted to have a tryout for WOW Women of Wrestling and were bringing it back into the marketplace," McLane said on X-Pac 1,2,360. "And we had 800 hundred women show up. And out of 800 women we only selected 10. I am not good at math, I don't know what percentage that is but it's not too good.
"They tried out and they had that special little thing and if anyone watched the debut last Friday night at 9:00 on AXS and/or you watch this Friday night at 9:00, you will see a phenom. Andre the Giant was a phenom. Chyna was a phenom. We have a phenom. We've got The Beast and she's a phenom. During the tryouts, and I saw her tearing up. She said she watched GLOW as a little girl and wanted to become a wrestler from watching that. The nicest messages I've been getting from wrestling fans are from parents saying that they watched with their daughters and it's just so special to me."
McLane got his start in the wrestling industry with World Wrestling Association, an Indianapolis-based promotion. There he worked in promotion and marketing so he knows how to sell a product and he talked about his process for selling fans on certain characters.
"My background is character driven," stated McLane. "I have a few [characters] and I have three that I have been trying to fill for 20-something years and I can't say their names because I want to find the right person. When I walk in and I think 'we're going to have this character and that character' some have never come to fruition.
"Some you find the exact right person – there is training for four or five weeks and they blow up. Some get all the way and get on television for one event and then they're not good in the locker room. They're a cancer so we have to get rid of them. Some don't show up to work on time. Some don't do what their supposed to do. If there not professional, they have to go.
"So, I grab the person's persona, listen to their background story and come up with a name. Jungle Grrrl's parents were from the Amazon, they were from Colombia. Then she came into the ring and leaped off the third rope like Jimmy Snuka and I just hit the mat and I said 'that's Jungle Grrrl!'
While WOW will emphasize the ability of its Superheroes in the ring, the promotion will also be very much character-driven. Great characters allow the wrestlers to show off their personalities and connect with the fans and McLane is a big believer in character authenticity.
"I am a firm believer in the characters," stated McLane. "Let's say [Mark Calaway], who would he be without Undertaker? People just love The Undertaker. You look at [Dwayne Johnson], he grew into the Rock you look at Stone Cold he grew into that. Some may even say Triple H grew into that. Cause many of them started at [USWA, Jerry Jarrett's territory] so they found themselves and became those superstars due to authenticity.
"Yourself [direct to Sean Waltman], your authenticity is what made you into a superstar."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit X-Pac 1,2,360 with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Sources: X-Pac 1,2,360