I recently had the opportunity to chat with Mike who is one of the spearheads of the newly announced promotion of Circle 6. Here’s the excerpt of the interview conducted with him as he sheds some light on who is behind Circle 6, their ambitions, and what he is bringing to the table to Pro Wrestling and entertainment.
How did circle 6 come along? Who are the people running this promotion?
This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. I’m relatively new to the wrestling business but not new to the entertainment industry. The promotion is run by my partners at Slingshot House and I in Los Angeles, but this is a community effort. I’m lucky enough to have a veteran of the industry like Rickey Shane Page to help me piece my ideas together and someone like Atticus who has such a long career ahead of him but believes in our vision and is willing to be the first man through our doors.
The first show is in Los Angeles, does this mean the promotion will be based out of Los Angeles or is the only the first event being held here?
Los Angeles is always going to be home. I grew up here, I learned about independent wrestling here, I want to help build the Los Angeles scene back to what it was when I was a kid going to watch PWG at the Jewish Community Center or Rev Pro at Frank & Son’s. If we want to make a change and be a competitor in today’s climate, we have to be mobile. We’re going to be traveling Circle 6 around the country with dates in Cleveland and Orlando already in place leading to the end of May but In between those dates I fully intend to run regularly in Los Angeles. At least 1 show every 6 – 8 weeks in LA County.
In my article, i referred to this promotion as the west coast CZW, do you believe this is an accurate portrait of what you and the promotion want to be known for?
I do, CZW had it all in my opinion. But I don’t want to imitate. We’ll offer what you’re expecting but I also think we’re going to offer a few things that you weren’t expecting. We will find our own rhythm and way to be uniquely Circle 6. I understand that everyone says that, but we’re going to work hard to stand out, not just from a quality of match perspective but from an overall fan experience. As we grow, I plan on trying to deliver a different type of fan
experience at our events.
How often can fans expect Circle 6 to be running shows? Will you attempt to hold events on weekends no other promotions are running or do you want to run opposite other promotions and enjoy a bit of friendly competition?
Like I mentioned earlier I think LA will have Circle 6 every 6 weeks or so. Whether we are running on weekends by ourselves or in competition with another show really depends on other promoters. This first show our friends at Republic of Lucha are running the same day, their event is earlier in the day and Sold Out so I didn’t feel us running would affect them at that point. I’m trying to be aware of who else has what date and build working relationships with other promoters, so we won’t step on top of each other. Even when traveling around I would like to build relationships with promotions in each territory to collaborate with. There’s a lot of business available out there. If done the right way everyone wins in the end. That’s the goal here.
With your first event just days away, what are some things you’ll want fans to expect from the promotion?
This first show our goal was to just put on a good experience. We wanted a solid card, good matches, good production and to put our flag in the ground. We’re going to be placing a focus on how the match rules are structured. Disqualification is going to be a thing here. I don’t want everyone depending on hardcore spots to get over.
Wrestling needs rules, I feel like a lot of independent wrestling as strayed away from that. We’re going to try and modernize the classic rules to fit a more modern audience. Give the guys some structure to work in. It makes the matches more interesting and challenges us to book a show that doesn’t revolve around highspot after highspot to get a pop.
Will you be introducing any championships in the future, if so, do you have ideas on what you can do different to have your championships stand out from other companies?
We will. We’re going to have 3 different titles as time goes on. Our Heavyweight title will be introduced first followed by our tag titles. I can’t confirm anything on the third title right now but we’re trying to think a little outside the box with it.
Some of the matches announced for the event are Rickey Shane Page vs Christopher Daniels, a NO DQ match between Jacob Fatu vs Shlak a Taipei deathmatch featuring Vinnie Massaro vs Bobby Beverly and the recently announced Biff Busick vs Brody King. What was the booking process and how did you come along with each matchup?
This may sound terrible but honestly, I’m booking for myself. The ideas are being thrown out in a collaborative effort between all of us involved but I’m keeping final say on a yes or no for a match. I know what I like, and I know what someone like me would like to see. Vinnie vs Bobby is a match I don’t think a lot of people would have thought they wanted to see off hand. I guarantee these two are going to put on an incredible match together. Shlak vs Fatu was my business partner Jonathan’s Idea. Everyone loves that match. It’s two big crazy dudes doing big crazy dude shit. How could you not want to see what happens? CD vs RSP is just something that should have happened so long ago. I asked Rickey who he wanted to wrestle on the card he threw me a couple dream names and CD was the one that really stood out. I appreciate all the help Rickey has given me over the last few months and I wanted to make that match happen for him, but I also think it’s a match a whole lot of people would like to see as well.
So far, we have yet to receive the matchup for Atticus Cogar. Do you have something special in mind for him as he was the first announced performer for the event?
To be transparent when we announced this show, the vibe going around the community was that this was a company Atticus owned and booked. I thought it would be detrimental to him in the long run if people assumed he owned Circle 6 and that there was bias in the booking. Atticus is going to have a spotlight on him on March 19th, but we wanted to make sure that we put a spotlight on everything else that the show and Circle 6 has to offer. But short answer, yes, he will have a special match that I know will mean a lot to him and that’s what is important.
Online, some rumors have circled that Nick Gage was going to be on the show and had a
deal on table to be featured heavily however as we know he signed the only contract in
GCW do you have any info to share about this deal?
I’m happy for Nick, I care a lot about him. More than people would think. He deserves financial security for all the sacrifices that he has made. I’m happy to see him get that.
Since this interview, the Atticus Cogar match was declared as Circle 6 has announced Atticus Cogar vs Masada in a Glass Deathmatch while also announcing that the first event will be live and free for everyone on Twitch on their Twitch channel. With their entertainment background and the names/matches announced I am looking forward to being there live and live tweeting along the event.
