One of the biggest stories of the week developed Wednesday, as within hours of rumors that TNA might be pulling its wrestlers out of already announced independent matches with AEW ones, Leon Slater’s highly-anticipated WrestleMania week showdown with Ricochet was off, as was next month’s Nic Nemeth/MJF bout for Pat Buck & Bryan Myers’ school and promotion in New York, Create A Pro.
Myers announced changes to CAP’s May 1 Monumental Moment show on Wednesday, which will still feature MJF and Nemeth,
just not against each other. And today his business partner, who is also an AEW talent development executive, issued a lengthy statement on TNA’s decision — which is rumored to have been made either at WWE’s direction or because TNA president Carlos Silva was upset Collision ran opposite Impact last week when TNT and HBO Max had the NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four on that AEW show’s usual night.
Buck gave his statement to PWInsider, which seems to address both possibilities:
I don’t usually speak on things like this, but this one’s too ridiculous to ignore.
TNA, specifically Carlos Silva, forced a change to the main event of our Create A Pro show three weeks out after it was already approved and promoted.
Not sure who that helps.
Create A Pro is a training school with a promotion focused on developing talent while running consistent live events. We’re a school, dojo, and a mom and pop business… just with two dads.
Live events are a necessary training tool, and they’re disappearing, even at the highest levels, because they’re not as cost effective and the money is in television. In a direct way, we are providing a service for your talent to make $ and keep their skills sharp. Do you not see that ?
We train wrestlers for wrestling companies. And now a wrestling company has stepped in and hurt another wrestling company that helps wrestlers get to wrestling companies. Makes perfect sense. Maybe I’m the one missing something.
I’m annoyed, as it’s hard to ignore how unnecessary, and honestly how cringe, this situation is.
And to be fair, talent wasn’t pulled, but altering a main event match like that on our limited stage has the same impact. Anyone who has actually promoted shows understands that.
When something changes that affects another promoter’s show, you make it right. Whether that means sending talent, strengthening the card, or finding a way to return value, you don’t just create the problem and walk away from it.
That didn’t happen here. And if any attempt is made now to make it right, it’s a bit too late. You meet people with grace, not chaos.
Create A Pro isn’t a competing media company. It’s a training ground that built its own platform to develop talent. No TV deal, no streaming, and we’re not attached to any bigger company, yet.
Between CAP/WrestlePro, we run around 25 events a year and reinvest back into us, our leases, rings, and the equipment needed to put on shows.
Equipment that, at one point, your company needed to rent to operate in this market. And at another point, when your company needed content and additional matches, talent was placed on Create A Pro and WrestlePro shows because there wasn’t enough content to support it. Did anyone let you know about a past positive relationship?
Years ago your company used our students for extra work in a meaningful way. Now it looks more like carrot dangling, ring crew, and helping with catering but that’s an entirely different conversation.
Create A Pro has been a pipeline and a support system to just about every major company in wrestling. Most people know that. (Unless you ask the WWE ID program, then we apparently don’t exist. )
I’m willing to believe Carlos may not know who I am, and that’s fine. But if you’re in an executive position, you should probably understand the room you’re operating in and the etiquette that comes with it. Maybe Tony Khan can give a quick crash course on how to protect your brand while still helping the overall scene. It’s times like this I’m glad to work for someone who actually champions the entire sport, not tries to shrink it.
And yeah, I’m on the payroll but these words are from experience not influence.
At the end of the day, we’ll adjust like we always do. But if the goal is to grow this industry, or even your own company, this isn’t the way to do it.
Keep it up!
Pat Buck
CAP Founder/Trainer, AEW VP Talent Development
One of the Adults in the Wrestling Room
Buck was with WWE developmental in the aughts before making a name for himself as a trainer and promoter in the 2010s. He re-joined WWE as a producer in 2019, then resigned after achieving his goal of producing main events at WrestleMania 38. He signed on with AEW a few weeks later.
That history notwithstanding, he makes some valid points — and from a perspective Silva and some of his partners at WWE may not have considered.
What do you make of Buck’s statement? Does it change how you feel about TNA’s new policy?
