Post by Papi El Sueno on Dec 12, 2013 16:30:40 GMT -5
The following is the transcript of the interview Pride Wrestling owner Charles Jackson did with the Houston Chronicle newspaper this morning.
Claudia Feldman: Hello, I am Claudia Feldman of the Houston Chronicle. Let me start off by saying its an honor to be here with the owner of Pride Wrestling.
Charles Jackson: Why thank you for the kind words. Much appreciated.
Claudia: This year has been a wild one to say the least. How much have you enjoyed it?
Charles: I haven't really taken a step back and reflected on it, because I'm always working on the grind 24/7 to keep this company thriving. I barely sleep as it is.
Claudia: You have indeed worked hard and Pride's visibility has raised dramatically since you bought the company known as Premium Academy from Terrell Ryder, and turned it into what we see today. A notable part of the increase in visibility, is the working relationships that have been established, mainly with Cardinal City Pro Wrestling and Japan Pro Wrestling. How do you feel about these affiliations?
Charles: These affiliations are awesome. I feel working relationship with other companies in the world of business, is a good thing, especially when all parties are for the same goal of furthering along the industry they are apart of. Richard and Chris from CCP are good guys who are very passionate about the business. Same thing with Sarjiku Riyamatsu and Takito Miyakutsu of JPW. They are all working towards the same goal of bettering the industry and providing the best show possible for the fans.
Claudia: Are you open to any other affiliations with any other company?
Charles: Of course. We'd be welcome to re-start a working relationship with HCW, and form one with RCW to replace the one we had with PCW before it closed shop. We would work with pretty much anybody on helping further and bettering the industry, which while PCW was a great promotion and CCP and JPW are doing great things, the industry itself still needs a kick in the behind.
Claudia: Do you feel satisfied with your company's product?
Charles: I'm never satisfied because we can always up the ante. I think we are in a good spot. We are starting to embark ourselves to bigger avenues and things are slowly going to change with time, starting at the first Pride cycle of 2014.
Claudia: You talk about change. Will we see any cuts from the roster?
Charles: At some point, it will happen. I'm not going to say the amount because even I don't have a clue as to how many we could let go or even when it will happen. We have a lot of people on this roster, a good sized portion of them came to us because of Pride being PCW's developmental program for a long time, and there are those on the roster who train in the school we have. We are in an evaluation period as we always are, so cuts will definitely be on the horizon, no question about it.
Claudia: You talk about evaluation period. Any plans of signing any new talent?
Charles: We're always on the lookout, and its double true for those who enroll themselves into our wrestling school. We saw some free agents recently, but we didn't see anything we wanted and just let them go.
Claudia: How do you feel about stable wars, and is it a detriment to the product as a whole?
Charles: Well, everybody has an opinion one way or another and it is their right. My personal views on those said opinions, is another story for another day.
Claudia: Going back to change, do you see any of the newer talent breaking through the title rankings much like Crystal Alvarez has done?
Charles: Yes. There's some really good talent. Glen Jakobs is one I see breaking through very soon. The look, the skills. He's good. Ryan Murphey is another one. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a lot of younger guns who broke through, because the talent pool is really good.
Claudia: With all this talent Pride has, do you ever see the company heading off into a Brand Extension of sorts?
Charles: I am keeping any and all options on the table. I can say that for those who don't like the stable wars, there are going to be some things that will change and I have a big event in mind where most of these issues with stables will be solved?
Claudia: And that event is?
Charles: Gang Warfare, which is five months down the line, yes. But with what I have in my brain would at least make most happy... well hopefully. You can never make everybody happy, we've seen that time after time again in all forms of entertainment. Gang Warfare is a fitting event for this plan to be executed as it is a big event for Pride Wrestling, and the way I envision it, I have a five month window for the transition I want Pride to go into. Pyramid Battle was a risk, just like a lot of things in life are a risk. Pride as a whole is going to be in an entirely new era, which means everything under the sun is under a microscope. As explained earlier, a lot of change will happen which will fully be evident months down the road.
Claudia: So its not an immediate thing?
Charles: No, because things take time, and I want to do this right by the book. You may not see things change right off the bat, but you will see change over time and I think in the long-term, doing it in a slow manner will work out. I don't like rushing things and its never been my style. Rome wasn't built in a day and I know these types of things take time to really go in a smooth direction.
Claudia: Lets talk about life in general. How are you finding Las Vegas?
Charles: Love it here. It feels like home. Not as sentimental as Houston is, but I like it here.
Claudia: Anybody special you're seeing?
Charles: Definitely. Been in one of those relationships for the last five months. Its been nice and I'm perfectly happy.
Claudia: Any outside ventures you plan on doing?
Charles: I want to go into the food industry and operate a restaurant. I know that's going to cost a lot of dough so I'll probably wait on that until the right time comes.
Claudia: There are rumors that you've sold your house in the Houston area. True or false?
Charles: False.
Claudia: How has it been operating a wrestling company?
Charles: It has its moments. Causes headaches but rewarding.
Claudia: Last question. What would you say to any fan out there who's watching Pride?
Charles: To be patient with us, know that we're not always perfect but we try our hardest and there is an end game to everything we do. We also don't do things quickly, but there is a payoff at the end of the road.
Claudia: Thank you for your time.
Charles: You're welcome. It was an honor.
End of interview
Claudia Feldman: Hello, I am Claudia Feldman of the Houston Chronicle. Let me start off by saying its an honor to be here with the owner of Pride Wrestling.
Charles Jackson: Why thank you for the kind words. Much appreciated.
Claudia: This year has been a wild one to say the least. How much have you enjoyed it?
Charles: I haven't really taken a step back and reflected on it, because I'm always working on the grind 24/7 to keep this company thriving. I barely sleep as it is.
Claudia: You have indeed worked hard and Pride's visibility has raised dramatically since you bought the company known as Premium Academy from Terrell Ryder, and turned it into what we see today. A notable part of the increase in visibility, is the working relationships that have been established, mainly with Cardinal City Pro Wrestling and Japan Pro Wrestling. How do you feel about these affiliations?
Charles: These affiliations are awesome. I feel working relationship with other companies in the world of business, is a good thing, especially when all parties are for the same goal of furthering along the industry they are apart of. Richard and Chris from CCP are good guys who are very passionate about the business. Same thing with Sarjiku Riyamatsu and Takito Miyakutsu of JPW. They are all working towards the same goal of bettering the industry and providing the best show possible for the fans.
Claudia: Are you open to any other affiliations with any other company?
Charles: Of course. We'd be welcome to re-start a working relationship with HCW, and form one with RCW to replace the one we had with PCW before it closed shop. We would work with pretty much anybody on helping further and bettering the industry, which while PCW was a great promotion and CCP and JPW are doing great things, the industry itself still needs a kick in the behind.
Claudia: Do you feel satisfied with your company's product?
Charles: I'm never satisfied because we can always up the ante. I think we are in a good spot. We are starting to embark ourselves to bigger avenues and things are slowly going to change with time, starting at the first Pride cycle of 2014.
Claudia: You talk about change. Will we see any cuts from the roster?
Charles: At some point, it will happen. I'm not going to say the amount because even I don't have a clue as to how many we could let go or even when it will happen. We have a lot of people on this roster, a good sized portion of them came to us because of Pride being PCW's developmental program for a long time, and there are those on the roster who train in the school we have. We are in an evaluation period as we always are, so cuts will definitely be on the horizon, no question about it.
Claudia: You talk about evaluation period. Any plans of signing any new talent?
Charles: We're always on the lookout, and its double true for those who enroll themselves into our wrestling school. We saw some free agents recently, but we didn't see anything we wanted and just let them go.
Claudia: How do you feel about stable wars, and is it a detriment to the product as a whole?
Charles: Well, everybody has an opinion one way or another and it is their right. My personal views on those said opinions, is another story for another day.
Claudia: Going back to change, do you see any of the newer talent breaking through the title rankings much like Crystal Alvarez has done?
Charles: Yes. There's some really good talent. Glen Jakobs is one I see breaking through very soon. The look, the skills. He's good. Ryan Murphey is another one. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a lot of younger guns who broke through, because the talent pool is really good.
Claudia: With all this talent Pride has, do you ever see the company heading off into a Brand Extension of sorts?
Charles: I am keeping any and all options on the table. I can say that for those who don't like the stable wars, there are going to be some things that will change and I have a big event in mind where most of these issues with stables will be solved?
Claudia: And that event is?
Charles: Gang Warfare, which is five months down the line, yes. But with what I have in my brain would at least make most happy... well hopefully. You can never make everybody happy, we've seen that time after time again in all forms of entertainment. Gang Warfare is a fitting event for this plan to be executed as it is a big event for Pride Wrestling, and the way I envision it, I have a five month window for the transition I want Pride to go into. Pyramid Battle was a risk, just like a lot of things in life are a risk. Pride as a whole is going to be in an entirely new era, which means everything under the sun is under a microscope. As explained earlier, a lot of change will happen which will fully be evident months down the road.
Claudia: So its not an immediate thing?
Charles: No, because things take time, and I want to do this right by the book. You may not see things change right off the bat, but you will see change over time and I think in the long-term, doing it in a slow manner will work out. I don't like rushing things and its never been my style. Rome wasn't built in a day and I know these types of things take time to really go in a smooth direction.
Claudia: Lets talk about life in general. How are you finding Las Vegas?
Charles: Love it here. It feels like home. Not as sentimental as Houston is, but I like it here.
Claudia: Anybody special you're seeing?
Charles: Definitely. Been in one of those relationships for the last five months. Its been nice and I'm perfectly happy.
Claudia: Any outside ventures you plan on doing?
Charles: I want to go into the food industry and operate a restaurant. I know that's going to cost a lot of dough so I'll probably wait on that until the right time comes.
Claudia: There are rumors that you've sold your house in the Houston area. True or false?
Charles: False.
Claudia: How has it been operating a wrestling company?
Charles: It has its moments. Causes headaches but rewarding.
Claudia: Last question. What would you say to any fan out there who's watching Pride?
Charles: To be patient with us, know that we're not always perfect but we try our hardest and there is an end game to everything we do. We also don't do things quickly, but there is a payoff at the end of the road.
Claudia: Thank you for your time.
Charles: You're welcome. It was an honor.
End of interview