What Is Queensland Strong? Todd Eastman
When the news first broke about this Queensland Strong announcement the response was overwhelmingly positive but there were also questions raised that we here at PWdownunder wanted to know the answers to, so we sat down with one of the representatives of the four companies to chat about this arrangement and how it will work going forward:
How did this merger come about?
Thanks for having me first of all, I think the important thing to point out is that this isn’t a merger at all, we are four completely separate companies that have agreed for the common good to work together to strengthen Queensland wrestling as a whole. All four will be operating business as usual but there will be occasional points where we can cross over certain things.As far as how it came about it was all pretty easy to be honest, Wide Bay and PWL already had a loose working arrangement, QWA & UPW when approached jumped at the idea of doing something like this because we all see how working together will do nothing but strengthen the industry as a whole where we ask advice from each other from each other’s strengths to make the product as a whole better.
What are those certain things?
Well for instance Trent O’Day has defended the QLD Openweight Title in QWA & Wide Bay Pro and we expect that to continue next year, things also like the Wide Bay Tags might be defended on a PWL show etc. Also we are looking into the possibility of doing tournaments that will encompass all four promotions over the year. This is all very new at the moment and we are feeling our way through.
Are you restricting talent from working other promotions?
Absolutely not, people are completely free to work anywhere they wish. If anything this arrangement will hopefully make it easier for wrestlers to work other promotions within the group. We are about opening doors and opportunities for more creativity. I get that people might be worried about it, people tend to be wary of things they don’t quite understand yet. Hopefully that too will change as we progress.
So why is it only the four doing this?
Look to be honest this is all a feeling out process and in time maybe more will join. But we all know it’s hard enough at times getting four people to agree on things let alone more haha. It was no disrespect intended to any other companies it’s just something we are trying first is all.
So what’s the overall vision for Queensland Strong?
The overall vision is that we are endeavoring to make Queensland wrestling stronger so when people see the Queensland Strong “Brand” they know they’re seeing a professional, safe environment with a certain standard of production and in ring ability that will rival any promotions around the country.
