IYFW Quick Hits

Not all that much going on in the world of my favorite independent promotion. Off the heels of an extremely eventful June event, the slow build to next month's "Summertime Bruise" has begun! Here are some thoughts to keep you busy until actual matches are announced:

- it's been teased on the IYFW website that we may see a one on one showdown between former tag team champions, the International Egotrip, The Northern Stud and "Mighty" Fronz Roddy, at the BACC in August. Anytime I get to see Roddy in action, I am excited. Stud was positioned as the baby face following the teams implosion and, up until his part in the run-in save during the Main Event, the crowd wasn't buying it. However... one thing is certain. Few performers in IYFW have the ability to turn the crowd against them as effortlessly and magnificently as Fronz Roddy. If anyone can make a sympathetic figure out of the wife beater wearing Northern Stud it HAS to be the Mighty One.

- there was a fun feature on the IYFW INTERFACE a few days ago. Joey LaRocque conducted a phone interview with Maxx Burton, covering the lead-up and fallout of the Coronation Cup. Not a LOT was actually revealed that we didn't already ascertain, yet it was still fun to listen to. Be sure to give it a listen. Very clever, and I am sure, a blast for them to put together. If you listen with a careful ear, you'll understand why. Either way, you should always check out the Interface.

- received another message via theburninghammer.com from another IYFW wrestler who went out of his way to praise this blog! Don't know if he'd want me to identify him, so I won't, but it was a very cool gesture. He aked me what else I would like to see from IYFW shows and, since it's something I feel strongly about, I will share it here:

I wouldn't change really ANYTHING about the content, pacing, and flow of IYFW events. They're well thought out and brilliantly executed. As I have said a million times, everyone works very hard and they put on a very fun show! Yeah, I mentioned way back that I was disappointed in the plastic ring apron, the old ring, etc. But, ultimately, if the product between the ropes is solid the average wrestling fan can look past stuff like that. My only real "frustration" with IYFW, if it can even be called a frustration, is their minimalist approach towards use of social media and promotion via social media. I'm not saying they even need to dump any more money into it! Their website suits their current needs just fine. Given the huge number of rabid pro wrestling fans on twitter I am shocked at how infrequently they use it and by the shockingly low number of followers they have. It takes time to build, naturally, but the payoff could be tremendous. The same goes with Facebook. How about YouTube?!? Would it be that difficult to have wrestlers involved in major and minor story lines consistently film vignettes before/after live events to be later uploaded to YouTube? IYFW does this from time to time but I have to believe there is a TON of untapped potential there - it's not used nearly enough to really promote their live shows to it's fullest. I emailed IYFW several months ago expressing these concerns and did not hear back from them, which is sort of what I expected. I would like to reiterate that I am certainly willing to help in any way I can, as a fan, whether it's by offering more ideas, helping them push their social presence so that more people can learn about In Your Face Wresting and the company can grow.

- another thing to reflect on that came out of my exchange with this other IYFW performer, as fans of independent wrestling, one thing we neglect thinking about is the distance most of these wrestlers travel to put on a show for what can't be a huge payday. The average wrestling fan takes that for granted. These dudes fork over cash for gas, etc... all to perform for fans that they hope will appreciate it. I have a ton of respect for that.

Hope to have more to talk about soon. May weigh in on the CM Punk/WWE situation if I feel inclined. A lot has already been said eloquently by others, heh.