  Completely Cody Steele (left) grapples with NWA-TNA star Sinn at Neo Spirit Pro wrestling's first anniversary show. |
In the honeymoon capital of Canada, fighting spirit is alive and well.
In an era when the lifespan of independent promotions barely register a
blip on the professional wrestling radar, Neo Spirit Pro (NSP) has
quickly earned the reputation of being the little fed that could.
"When we started, we wanted to be that wrestling federation that
operates differently than everyone else," said Jesse Friskey, co-owner
of NSP in an interview with SLAM! Wrestling. "We want to run
shows that mean something."
For Friskey and business partner Jesse Scott, the passion for producing
quality wrestling shows manifested itself on Saturday, October 25th, as
the promotion celebrated its first anniversary show in Niagara Falls.
"We had a really great year," said Scott, who when in the ring, assumes
the role of flamboyant wrestling personality, J.T. Playa.
The vision of creating a wrestling group that would dedicate itself to
quality shows actually began three years ago, with a promotion known
then as Fighting Spirit Pro Wrestling (FSPW).
"Even back then, we wanted to give more attention to story lines then
most promotions rather than just run a huge amount of shows for the sake
of running shows," explained Friskey, also a member of the NSP roster,
under the guise of Kinkaid.
However, a third partner in the FSPW project reportedly did not share their outlook
for the promotion, which lead to a parting of ways. However, Friskey and
Scott would not be the only ones moving on as the entire roster pulled
up stakes and came together under the current NSP banner.
"That's something I don't think has ever been done," said Friskey. "We
heard from a lot of people who said you can't do it, you won't be able
to do it. In twelve months, we've done 18 shows and managed to keep the
integrity of the show."
Maintaining 'integrity' has been the foundation on which NSP has built
its fan following. With a diverse roster in both wrestling styles,
experience, and personality, Friskey and Scott set out and initiated a
plan that would give area wrestling fans something not often seen at
typical indy shows: wrestlers with depth of character in focused story
lines.
"For the most part, we let the guys come up with their own characters,"
explained Scott. "In the way we book them, we gave their characters
depth. We see something in them, we exploit it."
That depth is in abundance in NSP, from the incoherent ramblings of
newcomer Crazy Steve, the ongoing soap opera between tag team partners
Ruffy Silverstein and Marco Malaquias, or the luminous rants from J.T.
Playa himself, usually launched with his trademark line 'Looka here!
Looka here! Looka here!'
The result is a tapestry of colorful personalities and sagas to be had
on any given NSP show. "You go to any other promotion and it's basically
two guys in the ring," Scott said, adding that holding regular monthly
shows has been paramount to carrying out story lines and thus, keep the
fans coming back for more.
"We're here every month and we know we're going to get a good turn out
at every show. We can build our stories and build the characters. Fans
remember when Dangerboy
Derek Wylde got piledriven off the ladder. It builds his character.
They (fans) still remember that. It adds background unlike other
promotions that go into a city for the first time and then never return."
Story lines aside, NSP have also established a solid reputation for
delivering high impact, quality in-ring product from the likes of the
aforementioned Wylde, 'Showtime' Eric Young and The
Hacker. Supported by a hungry roster of young talent and NSP has
clearly found a sweet tasting recipe fans thoroughly enjoy.
"It's an all-around package," Friskey said, adding that a focused effort
to nurture a family atmosphere among the workers and staff of NSP has
its rewards. "I like to think that when our guys come here, you will
see them do things for us that they're not willing to do for other indy
feds."
That special relationship was echoed by current NSP Independent champion
Completely Cody Steele.
"Out of all the promotions I've worked for, this is the one that I'm
most proud to be connected with," said Steele (real name Chris Gray). "I
made my start here, I've trained with a lot of the guys here, I grew up
in the business with all these guys and they're like a family to me. A
lot of people can't understand that, but if you ask any workers in the
back, NSP is a family."
Steele credited NSP in not only his development as a grappler, but in
how his in-ring character has transformed from a one-time comedy worker
to his current role as a matured, seasoned professional wrestler.
"I use to be 150 pounds soaking wet," said Steele, explaining the
decision to go with a bumbling comedic personality was in part due to
his size at the time. "That was my role in the company and I was really
happy with it. I was getting big pops from the crowd doing the comedy
stuff."
Despite the fond memories of pulling laughs from fans, Steele knew it
was not a role he wanted to maintain. "It got to a point where that
can't be everything that you are. I had to get into the gym, get in
better shape, and think about growing as a wrestler in general. They
(NSP) have given me the platform to do that."
Only adding to Steele's dedication to NSP is the current dry spell of
independent wrestling promotions in Ontario. The fallout from that can
be seen in the influx of wrestlers looking for bookings with NSP. "If
you have a spot on NSP, you should be happy and proud to work here every
month."
Scott also observed the recent wave of regional talent looking for work
with NSP, particularly coming from the non-active Toronto based
Apocalypse Wrestling Federation (AWF). "When AWF stopped running, we had
almost like a Noah's Ark effect of guys coming in," said Scott. "We can
only give so many guys so many chances."
Part of the problem with adding a new member to the roster, again, comes
back to the delicate chemistry with the NSP fans as was explained by
Friskey when current NWA-TNA star Sinn first joined the promotion.
"When Sinn first came here it probably took our crowd a good four months
to get used to him," he said. "That's what I try to explain to these
people when they come up to me and say they want to work for us. It's
not that we don't want to have you; it's just that our fans are not your
run of the mill indy fans. There's something special between the fans
and the wrestlers we got."
A common pitfall some promotions rely on is booking expensive, big name
wrestling talent. In NSP, that is something the ownership avoids.
"That by far is the biggest independent promotion killer. It is mind
boggling seeing how much those guys want and then you have to pay your
other workers," said Scott.
"We wanted to build a territory with our own guys and we've pretty much
done that. I really can't see us bringing in a name. You don't need
names to get the guys over. Have good stories and good matches."
This year has seen NSP expand it's brand of wrestling to nearby St.
Catharines where the promotion fully intends to use the same formula of
stand-out, monthly shows that garnered the die hard fan following in
Niagara Falls.
"St. Catharines is a pretty damaged town as wrestling goes," said
Friskey, remarking on a series of professional wrestling efforts that
have gone awry in the city. "We want to build the Neo name into
something. If you buy a ticket to that show, you know that show is going
to happen."
No effort on the scale of managing a wrestling promotion is exempt from
road bumps. While both Friskey and Scott admitted to as much, what
remains crucial to keeping their fighting spirit alive is treating
everyone who is involved with NSP as family.
"It didn't matter what it was, at the end of the day I still consider
Jesse here a brother to me," said Friskey. "That's the key for me. When
I look at the guys, its family and we're all brothers."
For more on the promotion, visit their web site at www.neospiritpro.com.
Corey David Lacroix can be emailed at coreyatslam@yahoo.ca.
