Posted by Wrestle Edge Online on December 13, 2003, 12:59 am

IWA in deeper trouble than originally thought? Dan Laser, Wrestle Edge reporter After spending the better part of 2 months hyping their tour of the United Kingdom, IWA has headed back to the states after their first show in London. The tour, which was supposed to go through London, England, Glasgow, Scotland, Belfast North Ireland, and North Wales, has been “indefinitely postponed”, as stated by a note that came from the office of co-president Set Malachai. “When the IWA roster arrived in London, we were prepared to use the old LBWF Hello No Dome for the show” the statement read. “However, intercontinental communications are sketchy at best. Upon arrival in England, we were informed that the Hello No Dome hadn’t been cleared by the national athletics committee.” The Hello No Dome, a stadium near London that seats around 4000, built for IWA’s predecessor, has been used as a rental building since the closing of the LBWF back in early 2001. IWA Shockwave, instead of taking place in the arena, was held in a recording studio in front of a mere 400 people. The card wasn’t even taped, and will never air. This is another blow against a federation already within shaky status. The trouble started at Ground Zero, IWA’s February Pay Per View. Despite going significantly over budget, two matches were never aired. IWA was allegedly forced to take out a loan to pay the wrestler wages, and by the time the loan had been paid off, Evolution II was around the corner. While not over budget in the fashion Ground Zero was, the month long delay turned out to be costly to the IWA, as they barely broke even with the Pay Per View. Considering the quality of the show, this seems especially discouraging. Evolution II saw several excellent bouts, including a hardcore brawl between Cole Christenson and Gazz Maybury, an technical matchup between Jack Cross and D. Leprechaun, and the infamous Heidi/Gemma Lockhart ultimate submission match, one of the top candidates for MOTY. “Yet, after all this, we’re continuing to lose momentum” Co-President Malachai stated. “It isn’t just the shows and the technical problems, however. It’s the roster, as well.” IWA’s roster problems are well documented. They built a tag team division that was considered the envy of the CAL, only to have it collapse within a month. Power And Grace, The Commonwealth Hoodlums, Edge Of Disaster, Alternative 2.0, all gone without a whisper. IWA’s singles roster has been suffering, as well. Wrestlers are leaving unannounced for greener pastures. Jeff Wheeldon went to NPW. Fudge to CSWA. Alternative 2.0 to BWWa. Former IWA Heavyweight and FNL champion Tracy Richter, in the single biggest blow to IWA, left for NWC:P. The NWC – National Wrestling Council – has long been considered the CAL’s arch rival. Not to say that there isn’t a light at the end of the tunnel here. Heidi, one of IWA’s longest running stars, captured the CAL World Title recently. With Freddy Phoenix’s return, and newcomers like Maxwell Thatcher and Danny Argus making waves in the undercard, IWA isn’t short on talent, so much as it’s short on drawing power. “No matter how good Llewelyn Yr Penaig is in the ring” said Malachai, “The fans aren’t going to pay the same money to see him fight Cole Christenson that they’d pay for Heidi vs Freddy Phoenix, or even Jeffy Andrews vs Daeriq Damien.” IWA’s other problem, of course, is attracting new talent. “There was a lot of dead weight on the roster”. Brandon Pride, 2% owner of the IWA, said. “We cut these people from the roster. What [Set and I] didn’t anticipate was the extreme difficulty we would have in replacing talent.” Since reopening their doors to applications, IWA has had a total of one. That being Claira Charisma, who would go on to become a weekling. “I don’t really know what’s going on. CSWA closes. Three wrestlers head to the BWWa, which is pretty much overflowing with talent. IWA invites one of them, and gets turned down. None of the others even looked our way. Now it seems Marc Atkins – long time IWAer – is returning to the CAL, but he’s also going elsewhere. And a few different wrestlers have been dropping hints about they’d be glad to leave.” “It’s a chicken and the egg situation, is what it is.” Set Malachai again. “No one’s denying that BWWa, and CSWA before it closed for that matter, had superior production values to IWA. This wasn’t always the case. There was a time over the summer, when IWA was clearly the top fed in the CAL. Then the values started slipping, and the roster started leaving.” Needless to say, no one wants to join a federation that cancels shows, or leaves matches off cards without explanation. What’s the cause? Some people blame a slumping market in regards to wrestling. CSWA was also sorely undermanned, one of the things that caused its closure. Others blame recent unpopular management decisions. Some pointed towards the IWA Commissioner, Dawn Barr, who was unavailable to comment. “The thing that troubles me the most” said Brandon Pride, “Is that while we can determine the problems, we don’t seem to be coming up with any solutions.” --Dan Laser, Wrestle Edge Online