ROHAN HERBSTRIET - WEBMASTER OF PUPPETS
**Interview from Issue 12 of Westside Pro Wrestling Newsletter - August 2010**
Rohan Herbstreit has become one of the most respected non-wrestling workers on the Australian scene. For over a decade he has worked behind the scenes for various promotions as a promoter, booker, commentator and manager as well as running the wrestling.net.au website. WPW’s Tez gets Rohan’s thoughts on the scene around the country, what’s in the works for WrestleClash and more.
WPW: You stared the website WWF Down Under in the late 90’s, which eventually morphed into WNA, the main wrestling website n the country. Did you ever expect the site to become as big as it did?
ROHAN: Not really to be honest, I started the site in 1997 as a uni project and I wasn’t that smart about pro-wrestling at that time, but I have a passion for it, and pretty much every day for 10 years spent at least an hour updating it to eventually it became more than a hobby and an actual business for me. It really has only started to become profitable over the last 3 years.
WPW: Were you a fan of the Australian scene pre-WWF Down Under or was the website how you got into the scene?
ROHAN: No I wasn’t, I kind of knew it existed but only thought there were one or two promotions, and mainly old guys. The website was how I got involved in the scene. We were lining up to meet Shawn Michaels when he toured here in 1998 and one of the local commentators gave me his business card.
Alongside WWF Down Under I was also running a wrestling radio program at the time, so we had the commentators on the radio show and they invited us down to the show so I attended my first local show in December 1998. It was a year later that I started to help out with lighting and setting up the ring, anything I could do to get involved.
Then I started ring announcing, then commentating and eventually helped book the shows. That was all over a 2 year period and Ioved every minute of it. I think to date I have pretty much done every role on a show apart from working the canteen!
WPW: What do you think are the best and worst things about Australian Wrestling?
ROHAN: Firstly I have completely removed the term “Australian Wrestling” out of my vocabulary because I refuse to be put under an umbrella with some of the people currently promoting and who are supposedly in the same business I have worked in and out of for the last 11 years. And I think it destroys any hope you have of marketing yourself as a company if you are put in a box with those people who have no idea what professional wrestling is in 2010.
To answer your question, the best thing about the scene in this country is entertaining fans, because there are so many people who don’t know that live professional wrestling even exists so when they go to a good quality show and actually enjoy themselves then you know you are a part of something that actually works. Whether you are a wrestler, or ring announcer or selling hot dogs, everyone is part of that team and product. There really isn’t anything like it, and it’s what everyone’s goal should be, every show.
Worst things, well that’s an endless list, I think obviously some things will never change and that’s just the nature of the beast. Everyone has their opinion of what wrestling is and quite frankly can promote anyway they wish. I think the fact that anyone really can buy a ring, purchase a business name and call themselves a promotion is one of the worst things, if not the very worst as there is no control or body that is looking after the industry.
WPW: What is your opinion on the West Australian scene?
ROHAN: Any opinion of mine is going to be biased to be honest with you, 90% of the stuff I have seen is EPW, but I really believe EPW have set the standard and benchmark for pretty much the entire country now. Whether it be production or in-ring, they have stepped up and said “here we are, now where are you?” - and it’s up to everyone else now to play catch up!
But going back to your question, just reading WPW I was surprised to see so much activity taking place in the west and I do read a lot of the forums and see the various websites and YouTube clips. I think too many people are taking shortcuts in WA to try and 'play catch up" by promoting USA talent, and then not delivering and somehow trying to speed up the process of evolution by bringing in talent from overseas before you even have a show with talent that can work and a show
that actually draws!
I mean seriously, if you can’t draw more than 200 people then you shouldn’t be flying in Indy guys from the USA for god’s sake, do you honestly think you can make any money or somehow triple your crowd by using guys like Balls Mahoney? You can’t buy credibility or respect, there is no Indy guy in the world who can bring that, so just by booking them your promotion is all of a sudden more respected. It’s not going to happen.
Every state is similar in the sense that there are always going to be multiple promotions around, but I think WA is such a small state and there are too many people promoting, and promoting bad stuff too, cause it's really easy to edit down a 2 hour show into 3 minutes of highlights, add some music and whack it on YouTube and say here we are, when in actual fact you have lied to the audience.
You know if they come to the shows they won’t see 3 minutes of highlights, they are going to see complete rubbish by people who are not experienced enough or mature enough to do the proper training, travel and be taught by those in the industry who can actually teach you and mature you into a capable performer instead of someone who copies a move seen on DVD and is trained by someone who has been in the business five minutes who is probably charging you for the privilege.
WPW: Who are your some of your current favourite workers on the Australian scene?
ROHAN: I really enjoy watching Shane Haste I think he has come a long way and really stepped up, and seems to get even better every time I see him, it’s almost scary how good he is and I really wish him well. Perth has some real good young talent, Mikey Nicholls, Bobby Marshall all really believable guys and just so crisp in-ring.
In other states I think Damian Slater in Adelaide is fantastic to watch and is getting better in terms of his character development and crowd connection, once he has that down he will be the guy to look out for because he almost has “it”. In Melbourne you really can’t go past Slex for pure athletic ability in ring that isn’t matched, it’s like he is on a different level to everyone else. I saw an amazing match with some young guys in Sydney a month ago - Robbie Eagles and Matt Diamond, they are two guys to look out for, sensational performers in every sense of the word. We have some good talent in this country, we really do.
WPW: In 2008 you promoted the first WrestleClash, which is becoming Australia’s “WrestleMania”. Was it difficult to get it up and running, and is it now easier with the success of it getting the talent together?
ROHAN: The first show was difficult, last year’s show was much easier but we got hit with promoting and losing some valuable media due to the Hulk Hogan show on the week before. The thing is now it’s really not an issue getting talent, I could honestly book a "dream card" type show in 5 minutes, and I reckon within a week I could get very close to everyone on board. The issue is more so the venue and promoting in Victoria at the moment.
The Victorian scene is a complete and utter mess, and almost embarrassing. It’s really bad, and you go to a venue or go to a newspaper over here and say “wrestling” and it’s almost a dirty word now, they don’t want to know you. And I can sit and point fingers and blame people, but really it would be up to myself to step up and make a difference if I really wanted to. But dedicating enough time and resources at the moment for me personally is hard. We would really need to get a good team together to make a difference here in Melbourne, I think we have the right people, most are sitting at home no longer involved and that’s a shame.
WPW: Can you mention anything in regards to plans for WrestleClash III?
ROHAN: Nothing yet, as I mentioned before it is difficult at the moment. Benny English who promotes Warzone in Melbourne co-promoted WrestleClash 2 with me, and we have loosely been discussing concepts for Clash 3 but nothing is set in stone. I know there are plenty of people who want to see it, and so many workers
who would like on, I get asked almost weekly now. We will see what happens, stay tuned!
WPW: You were part of a group, who left WrestleRock in 2009. Why did you leave what was seemingly a successful promotion and was what you learned at WrestleRock key to you wanting to create WrestleClash?
ROHAN: Actually I left to work exclusively on WrestleClash 2 at the time. I had put everything I had into WrestleRock and getting that off the ground in 2005. From putting up posters to setting up the ring, I really worked on every aspect of it and put in so much time and effort. I am really proud of everything that was achieved.
When you have a guy like Slex coming out of the crowd in Perth wearing a WrestleRock T-Shirt and even without anything being said on mic people in the crowd knowing who he is and what WrestleRock is then you know you are onto something, and I can’t help feel that there was a lost opportunity there which still upsets me to this day.
So I felt I the need to move on as it wasn’t my vision, the promoters are personal friends of mine and I told them if I walked away and didn’t think they could continue without me then I wouldn’t walk. But they have managed to keep going and I really hope they can step up and get that show back on track and promoting regularly because I really felt at one point in time that it was the hottest show in the country.
I promoted before working for WrestleRock running All Star Wrestling at Crown Casino in Melbourne, I had basic skills but at the time there wasn’t much talent around. Now we have the talent which I saw come through as I was working with WrestleRock so that really made me want to see some of the best of the best around and helped create the WrestleClash concept.
WPW: Website Creator, Promoter, Behind-the-scenes. Which do you prefer doing the most?
ROHAN: Probably behind the scenes or commentary, I have commentated more shows this year than I have in the past 5 years and forgot how much I enjoy it. But definitely behind the scenes for me, when you have a show like WrestleClash with so much great talent, you honestly don’t need to micro manage as much as I would do a normal show because the talent are that good and you know they will deliver so it doesn’t stress you out as much.
I used to do all the running sheets for WrestleRock and some shows were like nine pages long (mainly for all the Audio/Video queues, music etc). But WrestleClash was like 4 pages, a breeze, and I enjoy working with good talent, guys like KrackerJak, Slex and Carlo Cannon are so passionate and so entertaining, you know you can trust them and they will always deliver.
WPW: When the Wrestling Pit and No Holds Barred websites closed down, WNA was the only place where Australian wrestling could be talked about. Now over the past eighteen months or so Wrestle Hustle, The Indy Show and Australian Pro Wrestling have started. What do you think of the new websites and podcasts that are starting up promoting the Australian scene?
ROHAN: Good actually, I don’t really have a problem with any of those sites to be honest. I listened to the Indy Show podcast the other week based out of Sydney and didn’t really enjoy it however, but they had some good interviews and I think Marek does a good job at Wrestle Hustle, I am all for new sites popping up. I just wish they would look at promotions first and ask some simple questions before they promote them online.
WPW: Where do you see Australian Wrestling heading?
ROHAN: I think the next step would be getting content onto a media platform of some sort, a free to air Digital Network would be nice, mobile, or possibly over the net with PPV type streaming, or through a DVD distributor. I have no idea why people don’t push their DVD’s online when companies in the US have basically lived off DVD distribution as a revenue source for years.
AWF are taking over IWA’s show on Aurora on Pay TV but the channel doesn’t have enough reach, IWA have been on for years and they didn’t really revolutionize the business, and from what I have seen of AWF recently they really don’t have the talent to pull it off either unfortunately. I think the whole community TV, Channel 31, Aurora thing is done, we need to find new ways of getting the various products out to the masses because paying to get onto Community TV isn’t going to cut it in 2010.
I think we have some really good talent in this country and that’s not the issue. But we are also let down by people who shouldn’t be promoting and people who shouldn’t be wrestling, and when the level of performance is set, if you are so far under that level set then you should stop.
I’m not saying we all have to be putting on shows featuring six 5 star matches, I’m saying if you can’t compete at a certain level then you should stop. If you want it to be a social thing or you love the business and want to "make it" and live the dream and all that, then fine but there are plenty of jobs in wrestling that don’t involve bumping, and we could use all the support we can get in terms of promoting online, producing talent, selling merchandise, marketing and basic business fundamentals like sponsorship or running a profitable show, that I can’t understand those who live in their own little bubble and can’t see they are not helping anyone!
WPW: Thank you for speaking to WPW, Rohan.
ROHAN: It’s a pleasure, I enjoy reading what’s going on and admire your passion and dedication, if only we could clone people as I think WA has some real good people working behind the scenes and promoting promoting something we all enjoy. Let’s hope we can all step up and really make something of it before it’s too late.
Rohan Herbstreit has become one of the most respected non-wrestling workers on the Australian scene. For over a decade he has worked behind the scenes for various promotions as a promoter, booker, commentator and manager as well as running the wrestling.net.au website. WPW’s Tez gets Rohan’s thoughts on the scene around the country, what’s in the works for WrestleClash and more.
WPW: You stared the website WWF Down Under in the late 90’s, which eventually morphed into WNA, the main wrestling website n the country. Did you ever expect the site to become as big as it did?
ROHAN: Not really to be honest, I started the site in 1997 as a uni project and I wasn’t that smart about pro-wrestling at that time, but I have a passion for it, and pretty much every day for 10 years spent at least an hour updating it to eventually it became more than a hobby and an actual business for me. It really has only started to become profitable over the last 3 years.
WPW: Were you a fan of the Australian scene pre-WWF Down Under or was the website how you got into the scene?
ROHAN: No I wasn’t, I kind of knew it existed but only thought there were one or two promotions, and mainly old guys. The website was how I got involved in the scene. We were lining up to meet Shawn Michaels when he toured here in 1998 and one of the local commentators gave me his business card.
Alongside WWF Down Under I was also running a wrestling radio program at the time, so we had the commentators on the radio show and they invited us down to the show so I attended my first local show in December 1998. It was a year later that I started to help out with lighting and setting up the ring, anything I could do to get involved.
Then I started ring announcing, then commentating and eventually helped book the shows. That was all over a 2 year period and Ioved every minute of it. I think to date I have pretty much done every role on a show apart from working the canteen!
WPW: What do you think are the best and worst things about Australian Wrestling?
ROHAN: Firstly I have completely removed the term “Australian Wrestling” out of my vocabulary because I refuse to be put under an umbrella with some of the people currently promoting and who are supposedly in the same business I have worked in and out of for the last 11 years. And I think it destroys any hope you have of marketing yourself as a company if you are put in a box with those people who have no idea what professional wrestling is in 2010.
To answer your question, the best thing about the scene in this country is entertaining fans, because there are so many people who don’t know that live professional wrestling even exists so when they go to a good quality show and actually enjoy themselves then you know you are a part of something that actually works. Whether you are a wrestler, or ring announcer or selling hot dogs, everyone is part of that team and product. There really isn’t anything like it, and it’s what everyone’s goal should be, every show.
Worst things, well that’s an endless list, I think obviously some things will never change and that’s just the nature of the beast. Everyone has their opinion of what wrestling is and quite frankly can promote anyway they wish. I think the fact that anyone really can buy a ring, purchase a business name and call themselves a promotion is one of the worst things, if not the very worst as there is no control or body that is looking after the industry.
WPW: What is your opinion on the West Australian scene?
ROHAN: Any opinion of mine is going to be biased to be honest with you, 90% of the stuff I have seen is EPW, but I really believe EPW have set the standard and benchmark for pretty much the entire country now. Whether it be production or in-ring, they have stepped up and said “here we are, now where are you?” - and it’s up to everyone else now to play catch up!
But going back to your question, just reading WPW I was surprised to see so much activity taking place in the west and I do read a lot of the forums and see the various websites and YouTube clips. I think too many people are taking shortcuts in WA to try and 'play catch up" by promoting USA talent, and then not delivering and somehow trying to speed up the process of evolution by bringing in talent from overseas before you even have a show with talent that can work and a show
that actually draws!
I mean seriously, if you can’t draw more than 200 people then you shouldn’t be flying in Indy guys from the USA for god’s sake, do you honestly think you can make any money or somehow triple your crowd by using guys like Balls Mahoney? You can’t buy credibility or respect, there is no Indy guy in the world who can bring that, so just by booking them your promotion is all of a sudden more respected. It’s not going to happen.
Every state is similar in the sense that there are always going to be multiple promotions around, but I think WA is such a small state and there are too many people promoting, and promoting bad stuff too, cause it's really easy to edit down a 2 hour show into 3 minutes of highlights, add some music and whack it on YouTube and say here we are, when in actual fact you have lied to the audience.
You know if they come to the shows they won’t see 3 minutes of highlights, they are going to see complete rubbish by people who are not experienced enough or mature enough to do the proper training, travel and be taught by those in the industry who can actually teach you and mature you into a capable performer instead of someone who copies a move seen on DVD and is trained by someone who has been in the business five minutes who is probably charging you for the privilege.
WPW: Who are your some of your current favourite workers on the Australian scene?
ROHAN: I really enjoy watching Shane Haste I think he has come a long way and really stepped up, and seems to get even better every time I see him, it’s almost scary how good he is and I really wish him well. Perth has some real good young talent, Mikey Nicholls, Bobby Marshall all really believable guys and just so crisp in-ring.
In other states I think Damian Slater in Adelaide is fantastic to watch and is getting better in terms of his character development and crowd connection, once he has that down he will be the guy to look out for because he almost has “it”. In Melbourne you really can’t go past Slex for pure athletic ability in ring that isn’t matched, it’s like he is on a different level to everyone else. I saw an amazing match with some young guys in Sydney a month ago - Robbie Eagles and Matt Diamond, they are two guys to look out for, sensational performers in every sense of the word. We have some good talent in this country, we really do.
WPW: In 2008 you promoted the first WrestleClash, which is becoming Australia’s “WrestleMania”. Was it difficult to get it up and running, and is it now easier with the success of it getting the talent together?
ROHAN: The first show was difficult, last year’s show was much easier but we got hit with promoting and losing some valuable media due to the Hulk Hogan show on the week before. The thing is now it’s really not an issue getting talent, I could honestly book a "dream card" type show in 5 minutes, and I reckon within a week I could get very close to everyone on board. The issue is more so the venue and promoting in Victoria at the moment.
The Victorian scene is a complete and utter mess, and almost embarrassing. It’s really bad, and you go to a venue or go to a newspaper over here and say “wrestling” and it’s almost a dirty word now, they don’t want to know you. And I can sit and point fingers and blame people, but really it would be up to myself to step up and make a difference if I really wanted to. But dedicating enough time and resources at the moment for me personally is hard. We would really need to get a good team together to make a difference here in Melbourne, I think we have the right people, most are sitting at home no longer involved and that’s a shame.
WPW: Can you mention anything in regards to plans for WrestleClash III?
ROHAN: Nothing yet, as I mentioned before it is difficult at the moment. Benny English who promotes Warzone in Melbourne co-promoted WrestleClash 2 with me, and we have loosely been discussing concepts for Clash 3 but nothing is set in stone. I know there are plenty of people who want to see it, and so many workers
who would like on, I get asked almost weekly now. We will see what happens, stay tuned!
WPW: You were part of a group, who left WrestleRock in 2009. Why did you leave what was seemingly a successful promotion and was what you learned at WrestleRock key to you wanting to create WrestleClash?
ROHAN: Actually I left to work exclusively on WrestleClash 2 at the time. I had put everything I had into WrestleRock and getting that off the ground in 2005. From putting up posters to setting up the ring, I really worked on every aspect of it and put in so much time and effort. I am really proud of everything that was achieved.
When you have a guy like Slex coming out of the crowd in Perth wearing a WrestleRock T-Shirt and even without anything being said on mic people in the crowd knowing who he is and what WrestleRock is then you know you are onto something, and I can’t help feel that there was a lost opportunity there which still upsets me to this day.
So I felt I the need to move on as it wasn’t my vision, the promoters are personal friends of mine and I told them if I walked away and didn’t think they could continue without me then I wouldn’t walk. But they have managed to keep going and I really hope they can step up and get that show back on track and promoting regularly because I really felt at one point in time that it was the hottest show in the country.
I promoted before working for WrestleRock running All Star Wrestling at Crown Casino in Melbourne, I had basic skills but at the time there wasn’t much talent around. Now we have the talent which I saw come through as I was working with WrestleRock so that really made me want to see some of the best of the best around and helped create the WrestleClash concept.
WPW: Website Creator, Promoter, Behind-the-scenes. Which do you prefer doing the most?
ROHAN: Probably behind the scenes or commentary, I have commentated more shows this year than I have in the past 5 years and forgot how much I enjoy it. But definitely behind the scenes for me, when you have a show like WrestleClash with so much great talent, you honestly don’t need to micro manage as much as I would do a normal show because the talent are that good and you know they will deliver so it doesn’t stress you out as much.
I used to do all the running sheets for WrestleRock and some shows were like nine pages long (mainly for all the Audio/Video queues, music etc). But WrestleClash was like 4 pages, a breeze, and I enjoy working with good talent, guys like KrackerJak, Slex and Carlo Cannon are so passionate and so entertaining, you know you can trust them and they will always deliver.
WPW: When the Wrestling Pit and No Holds Barred websites closed down, WNA was the only place where Australian wrestling could be talked about. Now over the past eighteen months or so Wrestle Hustle, The Indy Show and Australian Pro Wrestling have started. What do you think of the new websites and podcasts that are starting up promoting the Australian scene?
ROHAN: Good actually, I don’t really have a problem with any of those sites to be honest. I listened to the Indy Show podcast the other week based out of Sydney and didn’t really enjoy it however, but they had some good interviews and I think Marek does a good job at Wrestle Hustle, I am all for new sites popping up. I just wish they would look at promotions first and ask some simple questions before they promote them online.
WPW: Where do you see Australian Wrestling heading?
ROHAN: I think the next step would be getting content onto a media platform of some sort, a free to air Digital Network would be nice, mobile, or possibly over the net with PPV type streaming, or through a DVD distributor. I have no idea why people don’t push their DVD’s online when companies in the US have basically lived off DVD distribution as a revenue source for years.
AWF are taking over IWA’s show on Aurora on Pay TV but the channel doesn’t have enough reach, IWA have been on for years and they didn’t really revolutionize the business, and from what I have seen of AWF recently they really don’t have the talent to pull it off either unfortunately. I think the whole community TV, Channel 31, Aurora thing is done, we need to find new ways of getting the various products out to the masses because paying to get onto Community TV isn’t going to cut it in 2010.
I think we have some really good talent in this country and that’s not the issue. But we are also let down by people who shouldn’t be promoting and people who shouldn’t be wrestling, and when the level of performance is set, if you are so far under that level set then you should stop.
I’m not saying we all have to be putting on shows featuring six 5 star matches, I’m saying if you can’t compete at a certain level then you should stop. If you want it to be a social thing or you love the business and want to "make it" and live the dream and all that, then fine but there are plenty of jobs in wrestling that don’t involve bumping, and we could use all the support we can get in terms of promoting online, producing talent, selling merchandise, marketing and basic business fundamentals like sponsorship or running a profitable show, that I can’t understand those who live in their own little bubble and can’t see they are not helping anyone!
WPW: Thank you for speaking to WPW, Rohan.
ROHAN: It’s a pleasure, I enjoy reading what’s going on and admire your passion and dedication, if only we could clone people as I think WA has some real good people working behind the scenes and promoting promoting something we all enjoy. Let’s hope we can all step up and really make something of it before it’s too late.