JCW may have plenty of wild storylines on television, but keeping those stories together behind the scenes can be an even bigger headache — because nobody on the roster is under contract.
Vince Russo revealed during an interview with No Bones About Wrestling that JCW’s talent are independent wrestlers, meaning they can already have other bookings locked in when the company schedules a taping. That can leave creative scrambling when somebody suddenly isn’t available. Russo was asked whether wrestlers taking outside bookings can screw up stories he already has planned, and he made it clear that it happens all the time.
“Bro, they mess up storylines all the time because they’re independent wrestlers. So they may have already booked themselves, you know, prior to us setting a date. So that’s the one thing that’s very, very difficult. A lot of people don’t understand nobody at JCW is under contract.”
The problem gets even worse because JCW can tape multiple episodes at once. Russo explained that missing one taping can suddenly take somebody off television for several episodes instead of just one night.
“A lot of the tapings, we shoot two shows in one day. So I could be in a full-bore storyline with somebody and then all of a sudden they can’t make a taping. Well, now they’re gone for four episodes. And that happens quite a bit. That’s really, really the challenge with working with an independent group.”
That can also explain why certain JCW stories might suddenly change direction or leave fans wondering why something didn’t follow up the way they expected.
“And that’s why, you know, when you get, ‘Oh, that didn’t make any sense,’ or this and that — bro, there’s always a reason why something doesn’t make sense. And that’s really, really tricky.”
Russo said the real nightmare starts when the missing wrestler isn’t just booked for one match. That person could be tied into several other characters and angles, forcing him to start rewriting entire batches of television. One cancellation can then send the whole creative plan sideways.
“I cannot tell you how many times shows are completely written. Sometimes we do four days and it’s eight shows. A lot of times I’ll write four shows in a row, six shows in a row, eight shows in a row, and the shows are written and in the can. And then I’ll get the call, ‘Vince, I got bad news. So-and-so can’t make it.’”
“Now, what you’ve got to understand is if so-and-so can’t make it, so-and-so isn’t just in a match. So-and-so is in a storyline, and so-and-so is in a storyline with other people. So now that one person can’t make that one show, now you’ve got the domino effect. And bro, literally, man, you’ve got to train yourself to go Plan B, C, D, E. It’s constantly that way, guys. Constantly.”
Russo also said JCW had another problem when he first got involved: talent dates were being booked only about two weeks ahead of the shows. By that point, many independent wrestlers already had commitments elsewhere. Russo said he eventually convinced Violent J to start planning the dates much further ahead.
“They were booking shows like two weeks before the show. And I’m like, ‘Guys, you can’t do that because these other guys are taking bookings. If you book it two weeks out, they’re booked. They’re not going to be available on the show.’”
“So I finally got Jay to start booking stuff six months out. So we can send him the calendar for the six months and say, ‘Make sure that you guys know that these dates are open.’ So that has gotten a little better.”
JCW’s independent setup gives the company access to talent from all over the wrestling world, but Russo’s comments show the tradeoff. When nobody is locked into a contract and several episodes are being mapped out at once, one scheduling conflict can blow up weeks of creative and force everything into Plan B — or Plan E.
Do you think JCW should start signing some of its regular talent to contracts to keep storylines from getting derailed, or does the independent setup make the promotion more interesting? Let us know what you think and leave your feedback in the comments.
