There could soon be another wrestling company in the world of professional wrestling and sports entertainment, and actor and former WWE writer Freddie Prinze Jr. is fully intent on making his plans into reality. Prinze Jr has talked about wanting to be involved in running his own wrestling company on his podcast and in interviews, but on the latest episode of Wrestling With Freddie, he revealed a host of new details regarding his 3-year plan, including unionization, approach to booking, his profit time-table, and his goals for television, and he started things off with how the company would be funded.
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“I started watching other shows, older shows, old Ring of Honor. I started listening to Jim Cornette and his philosophies on wrestling,” Prinze Jr. said. “I started listening to other promoters and people in the business and their philosophies on wrestling. I started watching what other wrestlers were trying to do. I started asking everyone I knew in the business questions. Then I started looking at arenas, locally here and what it will cost to rent them.”
He is already working with a friend in commercial real estate to find a “full-time home for this”, and he’s thinking he will buy the location outright. He’s also already purchased an arena lighting rig, saying “Even used, these mugs is expensive, but I want this to look legit.”
Prinze Jr. thinks he can get things ready for launch within 18 months, and while he could make it sooner, that would take time away from his family, and being a dad is his top priority. As for funding, he can run the company for threee years before it needs to generate profit or he has to take a job “to be in Scooby part seven or some crap like that to keep this floating.”
He also talked about his plans for television. Saying “It’s very difficult to maintain ownership and get a TV deal at the beginning like that. If you’re established they can come in and license you or buy a portion of you but you’ll still be in control.” He’s going to film shows for future use at the beginning, adding “I think I want to start it as a two-hour show. I want my storylines based in reality, I want to give the women and the men equal time on the roster. Then the goal is to bring the show to television.”
As for being the show’s booker, that is not something Prinze Jr. will be doing. “I would have a booker because I cannot book to save my life,” Prinze Jr. said. “I can really write, I can connect with people, and I can pull good performances out of people when their bosses didn’t think that performance was within them before. I know I can do that because I’ve seen it happen. I know what my strengths are, and I damn well know what I suck at. I was told what I suck at enough. So yeah, so that’s that’s the plan. I hope you guys support it. I hope you dig it. If you don’t, you can be just as vocal because like I said that stuff motivates me too.”
He also said that every wrestler that is a part of the company will be joining the Screen Actor’s Guild. “I want it to be a SAG show and what that means is I want it to be a union show, which would mean each and every single one of my wrestlers would be a member of the Screen Actors Guild, and be entitled to all the insurance and medical benefits and retirement plans that that entails,” Prinze Jr. said. “It’s not a dream. It’s a plan, and it will be a reality… I hope you guys support it. I hope you dig it. If you don’t, you can be just as vocal because like I said that stuff motivates me too.”
What do you think of Prinze Jr’s plans? Let us know in the comments or as always you can talk all things wrestling with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!
H/T Cageside Seats
