~Last week, I took a trip down to Wrestling Universe, a pro wrestling merchandise store at 12-60 150th Street in Whitestone, N.Y. The store sells DVDs, action figures, t-shirts and other wrestling memorabilia.
Jack Balian, the owner of Wrestling Universe, said that he opened the store in 2004 after working at a comic book and trading card store for 11 years.
The store also is the site for autograph signings from past and present wrestlers.
Balian also mentioned that current WWE superstars, John Cena, Batista and Rey Mysterio have all held autograph sessions at Wrestling Universe and that former WWE performer and current Ring of Honor regular, Tammy Sytch, former WWE/ECW star Dawn Marie and current TNA wrestlers, Team 3D, are all slated to appear at Wrestling Universe within the next couple of months.
However, Balian is more than just preoccupied with running Wrestling Universe, he is also one of the promoters of an independent wrestling organization called Pro Wrestling Syndicate.
PWS is a small, local promotion that has been around for a little under a year. Their next show is scheduled for Saturday, May 17 at Holy Cross High School, 20-26 Francis Lewis Boulevard in Flushing.
TNA wrestler, Abyss, ROH regular, Jack Evans, former ECW star, Justin Credible and others are all announced for the show.
Balian, who has been a wrestling promoter since 2001, is in charge of the business aspect of running the company such as booking venues for shows, hiring wrestlers to perform and advertising events. He even uses his store as a tool to spread the word about an upcoming show.
The wrestling store owner said that he has been a fan of pro wrestling for as long as he can remember and when he was younger, he decided to try and trade in his fan signs for wrestling boots.
“I went to wrestling school for a year to try and be a wrestler myself but I didn’t like it,” he explained. “I wanted to be more behind the scenes, so I tried promoting, which I happened to like, and I’ve been doing it ever since.”
Balian mentions that the best experience he has had as a wrestling promoter was meeting and speaking with the late Eddie Guerrero, a former WWE wrestler who died of heart failure in 2005.
The wrestling promoter said that Guerrero provided him with “a lot of advice” when he booked the wrestler for a show in 2001.
Balian adds that he also enjoys his role as a store owner in addition to moonlighting as a promoter.
“I enjoy having people come into the store, shop and appreciate what’s being done,” he said.
I then poised some questions to Balian from past editions of my “Mondays w/the Smart Marks” feature.
-I asked him if he agreed with a few comments WWE wrestler, Santino Marella, made regarding women in pro wrestling as found in my April 7 post of MSM.
“I think [women in pro wrestling] is needed, definitely,” said Balian. “It helps round out different aspects of the demographic.
“The male fans like seeing the women, young girls admire them and older women respect the athleticism the female wrestlers possess.”
“So their greatly needed and sometimes, these women are going harder and having better matches than the guys.”
However, despite the effort given by female wrestlers to put on a good show, it seems many of the fans refuse to give them praise, something that Balian says should not be the case.
“I think fans should just stick to being fans,” he said. “If you think you can do a better job, then you should be trying to do whatever you can to get involved and do it better instead of just being a fan.”
Despite fans at times seeming overly critical, Balian adds that ultimately everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
“I can’t knock [the smart marks] though because when you pay your money you can do and say what you want, within reason,” he said. “But sometimes, I think people just want to point out the negatives in everything and not give credit where it’s due.”
I also asked Balian to comment on the growing influence of MMA on pro wrestling.
“I think that it’s good that there is an MMA influence in wrestling but you can also just call it strong style,” he said.
[*Note* Strong Style, also known as shoot wrestling, refers to a style of pro wrestling where the strikes and techniques applied are real. The outcome of a match may still be predetermined but the moves do not look as rehearsed. This style of wrestling is very common in Japan and Ring of Honor also displays strong style-type matches.]
When asked about where he sees professional wrestling going in the next few years, Balian seemed optimistic about its future.
-“I think pro wrestling will only continue to grow,” he said. “WWE, I think, is going to continue to be the #1 pro wrestling brand without a doubt, but I also think TNA will prove to be stronger competition for them in the next few years.”
-He adds, “Ring of Honor is the clear #3 right now, but I think if they continue to expand and continue getting more exposure and merchandise out to the fans, they should be right up there with WWE and TNA soon.”
Balian also shared his thoughts on a few promotions he thinks are poised for mainstream attention.
-“I think PWG [Pro Wrestling Guerrilla] out of California is right there as far as being the next breakout promotion, they just recently signed a national DVD distribution deal, so that should expand their audience. Also, Chikara put on some solid shows and I wouldn’t be surprise if they are more known in the next five years.”
