The Territories Tour

Earlier this week I talked about my idea for a DVD set that would include the last MMWA show from Kalkaska, other matches, and a shoot interview that goes into depth about my time with the company from joining the creative team, becoming head booker, and plans for the time beyond Kalkaska. In that post I mentioned some of the things I thought could have saved the MMWA.

One of the things mentioned was a territory style touring schedule to help keep the houses up for the promotion. As I stated, Northern MI towns probably aren't big enough to support a monthly wrestling promotion. They are big enough to support an annual event. The fact that the MMWA would come to a city only once a year would add a bigger feel to the promotion. Add that with the television show, and we might have looked/seemed like a bigger deal than we actually were.

I have been digging through my old stuff lately. I keep a tackle box full of old notebooks, pictures, and misc crap. This is kind of what sparked this whole trip down memory lane. In those notes I found what I was going to pitch for a tour schedule to begin in late September of 2004. For those that wanted to see a glimpse into my vision for the MMWA future here is that schedule. (Note: Just in case you're confused, these are all cities in Michigan)

MMWA Tour
Late September: Big Rapids
October: Cadillac
November: Mt. Pleasant
December: Kalkaska
January: :Ludington
February: Gaylord
March: Manistee
April: Alpena
Early May: Traverse City
Late May: Petoskey*
June: Sault Ste Marie*
July: Cheboygan*
August: Escanaba (UP State Fair)*
Early September: Marquette*
*"MMWA Sunshine Slam Tour"

There is what I was hoping to do from Late September 2004 to Early September 2005.

I front loaded the schedule with three big cities for the MMWA. Big Rapids and Mt. Pleasant would have been great towns because of the college atmosphere, but also because we got huge responses from people in that area when it came to our TV. Mt. Pleasant probably would have been a huge draw for us because we had a great base for a street team there. Cadillac in October was must to celebrate our anniversary shows.

I put some of the small towns in the middle because colder months are easier to bring people into a events. You're not competing with outdoor activities and most high school sports are during the week. Manistee really showed how strong those cities could be with a little effort on our part to get the word out.

I decided to close the schedule with Alpena and Traverse City because those are two big anchor towns for Northern MI. I believe each would benefit from a year of TV building towards the events. Alpena was a market I thought could have been a corner stone for the MMWA.

The Sunshine Slam tour was just a marketing tool to make our trip into the UP and the far north of the LP sound special. Really I picked those times because it would have been easier for talent to travel and those areas have festivals & fairs around that time to help bring people into the area. We could tape some TV and use these towns to help build new stars going into year two of the tour schedule.

I've had more talks with the MMWA folks who own the footage. Things seem to be moving forward nicely. I'll let everyone know more as I know more. This project is looking up as we speak.

Keep checking back for more details.