Last week, we introduced a Q&A series involving independent wrestling promoters with insight into the early and potential long-term effects the ongoing pandemic is having.
We spoke with Mark Pollesel of C*4 Wrestling out of Ottawa, Ontario and that can be read on the site.
Today we speak with Matt Farmer of DEFY Wrestling based out of Seattle, Washington. The group has been running consistently out of the Pacific Northwest since 2017 with a mix of the area’s top talent and bringing in some of the top talent from all points.
Matt took a few minutes out to respond to our questions and below is our latest Q&A:
What are the early effects that the COVID-19 crisis has already had on your business?
The early effects are having to reschedule numerous events. One of which was fast approaching and made for some very tricky maneuvering. DEFY, is a small business, with a small crew of people that run the day to day operations.
What is the attitude of your wrestlers towards moving forward with shows?
I’m sure they range all across the board. Like most indies, we have a crew of local talent that has a second job and at this point wrestle a handful of bookings a month but it’s not as critical to their livelihood as it is to others. We also book wrestlers who do this for a living, and those are the ones who really pull on our heartstrings because in the blink of an eye the way they pay their bills was pulled away from them. Like all business ventures, there are those full-time wrestlers who make great money, and some that are living paycheck to paycheck. So, the uncertainty is what is the most alarming.
What are the long-term issues you are bracing for over the next several months regarding your company?
As a company DEFY is gearing up to come back on fire! We’ve had some very cool projects we have been very excited about planned for 2020. We’re just up in the air when those projects can be announced. That’s where this situation makes it difficult, we don’t know when we’re allowed to start running events again, how that’s going to affect talent schedules, venue schedules, etc.
For readers and listeners that would like to show their support in lieu of going to live events, are there other areas of your business you can direct them towards?
We would really appreciate any support that can come our way. We have our on-demand service at www.DefyonDemand.com and we also offer some of the coolest merchandise out there at www.DefyWrestling.com. We’re also planning to drop a new Patreon called Dropkick that we’ll be dropping soon so keep an eye on our social media platforms all at @defyNW. Thanks!
Thanks to Matt Farmer for participating in our Q&A, if any other promoters would like to take part you can contact [email protected].
