Interview with WSU master mind Sean McCaffrey

Women Superstars Uncensored is the name of arguably the best all female wrestling promotion. If you are a real wrestling fan you have to know about it. WSU features women that really can wrestle and are not only standing in a ring for making guys dream about them ( there are many really hot girls, but that is not the point), they wrestle to show the world that girls can kick ass as much as, if not more than, guys do. WSU has been around since 2007 and has being in a consistent succesfull path that has made them gain respect even from female wrestling haters. The matches can feature stiff spots, foreign objects and this year on on 11/19/11 they had a War Games match that changed the landscape of female (and indy) professional wrestling, setting the bar higher for any other promotion.
You can check their website http://wsuwrestling.com/
Follow them on twitter: @WSUWrestling
And be a facebook fan http://www.facebook.com/wsuwrestling

Want to know more about it? I could contact Sean McCaffrey, the guy that runs the promotion and ask him some questions about WSU. So with no more delay, here is the interview with Sean.

Me: How did the WSU - female wrestling promotion- idea started?

Sean McCaffrey: In 2006, I was booking several different promotions in the northeast. One company I worked with was National Wrestling Superstars (NWS). They wanted to do an all-girls tournament as a one-off gimmick show. Since I was working on the scene at the time, they asked if I could put something together. I agreed to do it, and I waived any money for my work in exchange for the DVD rights of the show, as at the time, I had a small online store that was growing through the DOI Shoot Interview series.

We presented the first ever Women's J-Cup Tournament on 10/6/2006, a tournament that saw Alexa Thatcher defeat Mercedes Martinez in the finals. A month later, the DVD would blow out every other DVD I was selling. That is when I noticed there was a strong demand for womens wrestling, as women wrestling fans are a strong and powerful niche.

At the end of the year, I sold my online store to a comic book store employee named Jac Sabboth. Jac wanted to try to run shows, and despite me telling him the scene was going to be tough, he wanted to sink a lot of money into it. I told him the only way I'd help out is if we could try running girl shows on the side, showing him the J-Cup DVD sales as the reason why I wanted to do it. To shut me up basically, Sabboth caved and funded the first two WSU shows. Sabboth would quit wrestling (one of his million times of canceling and leaving wrestling) right before our third show. I did not want to cancel the date on anyone, so I continued on with the show and took over WSU officially as promoter on 7/12/07. It was the best decision in wrestling I ever made. Sabboth to this day tells me he regrets bailing on WSU, as he is still selling pokemon cards at the age of 44 and missed out on an exciting company from the ground level.

I must admit, in the beginning, the reason to start WSU was purely because I thought it would be a financial success. However, through the last 5 plus years, I have immensely enjoyed working with all these girls and very proud to host a place that showcases these athletes abilities. We run more female wrestling shows than anyone else and it is an honor to watch these stars grow right before my own eyes.

Me: Now that the promotion has gotten well known, what would be the chances of having a taping outside NJ/NYC, maybe Philadelphia or going to Chicago or Canada?

The only way we'd run outside of the NYC/NJ market is if someone bankrolled us. The costs of running a show are very high, and they would be higher for us and it would be a risk to go to an outside market without someone being a local promoter for us. I wouldn't rule it out, but it's not something we are going to take a risk on. We will work with other companies in different areas, and we have done that, to present "On The Road" matches, but  to set up in an area that we don't really know would be financially irresponsible. Every dollar made from DVD sales, tix sales, etc, goes right back into the company and I wouldn't want to risk losing dollars on a risk as it wouldn't be fair to the talent or myself.

Me: Jessicka Havok has become the most valuable indie wrestler (not only female IMO) and the Midwest MIlita has worked perectly, maybe because it is a faction of badasses, not coward heels. And it is faction, not a tag team formed by random wrestlers united because they had nothing else to do. How did the MWM idea came to life? Did you plan it was going to be so succesfull?

Sean McCaffrey:Well that's a huge compliment you gave Jessicka Havok, and definitely earned. I don't want to sound like an egomaniac, but I knew it would work because the three people in the MWM are all the same - they are all motivated, all great wrestlers, all want to be the best and have a drive you don't see in many people.

The idea was basically based off real-life, as most real-life things work best in wrestling. These three travel to every show together and close friends. They push and feed off each other. We needed something hot to get us to the 5 Year Anniversary show and I thought Jessicka could be that person for us. I'd say it worked out!

The Midwest Militia holding all titles after Havok defeated Mercedes Martinez. From left to right: Sassy Stephanie, Jesicka Havoc and Allisyn Kay

I strongly suggest you to check the DVD here. A must see for real wrestling fans

Me: Jennifer Cruz has won the J-Cup does it mean this is gonna be her year?

Sean McCaffrey: Jennifer Cruz won the King & Queen Tournament, the J-Cup is in two weeks.

Me (hiding because I screw up after misunderstanding a tweet)

Sean McCaffrey: I think this is a better question for Jennifer Cruz. All I can say is that she won't stop telling me it's going to be her year!

Cruz is a great person for us. This girl basically started with us and was just floundering around the bottom of the card with nothing going on. She decided to bring a new level of charisma and personality to the ring and got herself noticed. She has come a long way and I'm interested to see how her journey plays out.

Me: After the working agreement with Femme fatales, Lufisto, Kalamity, Mercedes martinez, MWM showing up in cross promotion would it mean there is gonna be a feud like it was between ROH-CZW?

Sean McCaffrey: I never saw the whole entire ROH-CZW thing, so I can't say if it will be like it or not. I also would not want to copy/steal what someone else did so recently either. I mean every idea in wrestling has been done in different ways, but to say it's going to be like that, I can say no. It's going to be what we are going to do. The MWM are the hottest act in wrestling in my opinion, and where every they go they open up many different possibilities.

Me: There is a rumor there is some bad blood between WSU and Shimmer. Some girls show up in both promotions and even Allison Danger proved that Hells freezed and had a match wth WSU. What is the origin of the rumor?

Sean McCaffrey: I don't know where it started, it is probably just competition. Many fans think we are better than Shimmer. Other fans think Shimmer is better. But fans talk about the two promotions as a number one and number two, so I think it's more of a fan created thing. I think I've only talked to Dave Prazak once in my life, so I don't even know him to have bad blood with him. I also did an interview a while ago saying I think they could do a better job of protecting talent, and I think that got taken the wrong way. It is my belief if someone is a champion somewhere you should keep them strong always. If fans are conditioned to think championships are meaningless and just because you're a champ in one place, it doesn't mean anything anywhere else, then what's the point?

Me: There are some girls I personally like that are in the independece scene, Candice Lerae, Terra Callaway, Taeler Hendrix, Sammie Lane, Angel Dust. Do you feel they can debut soon in WSU? Does WSU management take a look at these girls or others or how is the process to bring new faces?

Sean McCaffrey: Terra Callaway starts 6/16.

We watch other new faces and aware of many different names, but if you booked everyone, your budget would be a million dollars and the show would be 2 years long. I also do not like bringing people in unless we have an idea or a spot for them right off the bat. I also do not like debuting too many people at once or people will get lost in the shuffle. You don't want anything to come off watered down. Furthermore, when you debut someone, that means you have to get rid of someone and I'm happy with the roster we have currently.

It's not to say you won't see new faces, but it just won't happen all at once. We run more shows than anyone else and been doing this 5 years now. The roster we have now works, so to say we need all these new people at once obviously isn't true.

Plus with the deal with NCW FF, we already have 3 new girls starting with us in June as well, but we have the luxury as presenting them as NCW FF stars, so it should get interesting.

Me: Excuse me, but I wil bring an infamous incident, that you may get asked a lot. I discovered the Diva Killaz and then I was pissed they retired. They seemed to have potencial. So long story short, Luna Vachon felt Miss Deville was stiff to her so she decided to leverage the stifness and slaugthered the poor tag team rookies making them retire soon after that. Do you think Luna was acting kind of Hardcore Holly or JBL that wanted to hit rookies for the sake of tearing them apart and the infamous kick from Miss Deville was an excuse? Would you call back the Diva Killaz or make it an storyline against Amy Lee who was part of the match? 

Sean McCaffrey: I was actually just talking about this with someone on the roster last night. I answered this question in full detail in a piece I wrote about Luna shortly after her death, which you can read here:

http://www.declarationofindependents.net/doi/pages/miclunarip.html

Your version of the story is wrong. What happened was Luna Vachon had a bad neck and before the match told her opponents not to touch her neck. Miss Deville had a brain fart and punted Luna in the neck during the match. Luna snapped, as she felt that Deville was trying to hurt her or try to get famous off of her. Luna just entered another zone. If you watch the match back, Luna was giving her body to both her opponents that match, but the second she got kicked, that's when the concept of working together got thrown out the window.

We tried several times to get the Diva Killaz back and try to capitalize on a real life incident. Luna herself apologized to both of them profusely over the phone and asked them to come back, in a match where Luna would put them over in the ring. Diva Killaz were too scared and this business apparently was too tough for them. Bad shit happens in life, and it's how we react that defines our character. Just think, what if a rematch did happen and the Diva Killaz kicked Lee and Luna's ass?  (That was the storyline idea we wanted to do.) They would have become instant stars. Instead, they are remembered as the two green horns who got destroyed by Luna and Amy Lee.

Look at it this way - Alicia wrestled Luna three times during the same period of time. Through those matches, Alicia showed she was a tough bitch and nobody to mess with. Alicia is an icon of this company and everyone respects and knows she has busted her ass. Do you think Alicia would have quit? We all know the answer because we have seen it. It is my opinion, now looking back, that the Diva Killaz weren't cut out to be pro wrestlers. I mean Alicia got slapped in the back of the head with a shovel and smacked in the face with chains by Luna. Alicia didn't quit, she came back for more and gave it right back to Luna.

So while the incident was unfortunate, and could have been prevented if Miss Deville remembered about Luna's neck, at least the Diva Killaz realized they weren't cut out for wrestling and got the chance to explore other opportunities in life at a younger age.

The Diva Killaz with Luna Vachon, obviously before the match. From left to right: Miss Deville, Luna Vachon and Kayla Sparks

"Primetime" Amy Lee and Luna Vachon, who were collectively Satan's Sisters.

Check WSU DVD's http://www.declarationofindependents.net/doistore/

Me: As of today, which matches do you consider being the top 3 of WSU history?

Sean McCaffrey: Depends what your idea of top 3. Some matches I like for different reasons, as some drew really well, some showed someone who finally clicked on all cylinders and some just pushed the bar in womens wrestling. But as of right now, my favorite three matches are:

Martinez vs Lexus - longest match ever in womens wrestling history.

Wargames - just showed how crazy womens wrestling can be and how these women are just as tough if not tougher than some of their male counterparts.

Alicia/Havok 2 - the icon of WSU brings it and this is the first match where I think fans accepted Jessicka as a legit main eventer.

Me: WSU went from taping DVDs to doing iPPVs so if growth keeps up would you consider shooting a pilot, maybe using kicstarter or indiegogo or any other site for crowdfunding, to pitch it to networks?

Sean McCaffrey: It is really tough to beg for money from your fanbase. If people want to help that's great, but I wouldn't solicit money like that.

We have had some TV companies approach us about doing stuff, but a lot of it seems to come from wide-eyed people. If a good opportunity presents itself, we will always explore it.

Alicia is the icon of  WSU. Some say she is to WSU what Tommy Dreamer was to ECW.

Who better to show the evolution of the pomotion than Jessicka Havok? With all due respect to the locker room

Me: Dixie Carter was inducted to the WSU Hall of Fame. She didn't attend the event and in her official statement she thanked the organization, but didn't acknowledged it by name (if memory is serving me well) How did you take her statement? Do you think she considered WSU was trying to involver her to get more buzz?

Sean McCaffrey: I do not know what she considered, but a common rule of thumb in wrestling is you don't talk about another company unless you're making money with them. Maybe that's why WWE didn't acknowledge TNA during Flair's recent induction?

Me: Everybody knows the state of mainstream pro wrestling is as Lita said a "bummer" Do you think it needs a CM Punk promo to change the landscape? If so, who would you see taking that role?

Sean McCaffrey: I don't think we need to do something that's already been done. I think people like the Mid West Militia are changing that landscape already. Plus Punk's promo reached millions of millions of people, on nationwide TV, where a promo like that on this scene would be seen by thousands. There are a lot of different things that hurt the wrestling business, but it will always be around.

Me: Would you consider bringing mexican girls like Fabi Apache or Sexy Star or maybe Jenny Sjodin or Alpha Female?

Sean McCaffrey: I wouldn't rule it out if it made sense.

Me: What should we expect from WSU for 2012?

Sean McCaffrey: To continue to provide you the very best in womens wrestling and to always be innovating and pushing the envelope. This will always be a place where everyone has a chance to succeed. People aren't pigeonholed into spots. Who would have thought that when Sassy Stephanie and Allisyn Kay started here 2-3 years ago that they would be main eventers now? Everyone has the chance to headline and it is our goal to showcase these amazing talents and to create new stars for these people to tango with.

Me: Is there anything else you would like to add to the WSU fans and the wrestling world? 

Sean McCaffrey: Just thank you for supporting us. Also don't pirate material, you're just hurting the companies and the wrestlers at this level. Thank you for believing in the hardest working women in wrestling today.

Thanks Sean and I expect much growth for the promotion and the wrestlers that put their body on the line to amuse and amaze the fans.

WSU is doing a great job promoting women's wrestling. If we want to help, let's buy the DVD's and spread the word.

You know, I didn't remember this at the time of the interview but as Wrestlemania is next year in NJ it would be a great opportunity to have a show in that weekend and make the WSU be more well known by the entire world.

I leave you with some videos you should like

More Midwest Militia ( I have to admit I have been mind - recruited)

Lexxus promo after former tag team partner dumped her

Former Diva Melina Perez took part in WSU shows (thanks Diva-Dirt)