Five Star or False Start?

Examining the spectrum of responses to 5* Wrestling’s ReGenesis Tour

In the days that have passed since the three-show 5* Wrestling tour last week, there has been a lot of highly opinionated discussion on whether to consider the trio of dates a hit or miss. There’s a lot to take into account when weighing up the pros and cons of the tour, and though the 5* team’s upcoming video game release has definitely been their priority throughout, it’s still worth a closer look at attitudes going into and out of what should have been a key week for the Scottish company.

The strength of 5* Wrestling’s approach to and promotion of the ReGenesis tour was certainly a hot topic for debate in the two months that followed its original announcement. Regardless of intention, promotion or roster, booking three huge arena venues for a wrestling show is a wildly ambitious endeavour outside of WWE. Especially when considering that ICW’s record-breaking sellout of the SECC in Glasgow had only come as a result of years of hard work, and especially when factoring in a major tour by WWE’s NXT brand that had come just a month before 5*’s own excursion. There was an ace in the hole for the new kids on the promotion scene however, as the prospect of AJ Styles facing Rey Mysterio is not something that comes along too often. A first time ever encounter, in fact, and well worthy of being the marquee attraction of a tour on this scale. But when trying to run shows in three different venues, all capable of holding more than double what ICW drew to Fear and Loathing VIII, one match would certainly not be enough.

It’s at this point where the other talent signed on for the tour begins to come in. Ring of Honor’s Jay Lethal was signed on for a match in Newcastle with Rey Mysterio, where AJ Styles would be meeting former WWE superstar turned indie and Lucha Underground mainstay John Morrison. As the weeks went on, a hugely impressive range of talent began to come together under the 5* Wrestling banner as standout British and international names alike made ReGenesis an intriguing prospect at the very least on paper alone. Though the shows were perhaps not aimed primarily at the typical “indie fan” crowd the Scottish promotion had certainly accumulated a talent pool to grab their attention, and if the initial arena tour announcement didn’t have people buzzing then the names confirmed in the weeks that followed definitely did. It’s unfortunate, however, that despite the wealth of potential on the table, anyone not named Mysterio, Morrison, Styles or Lethal would ultimately come off as an afterthought in the run-up to the ReGenesis tour. There are five names to mention here; all tremendous British talents and all of whom received rave reviews coming out of the ReGenesis shows. However, not one of Will Ospreay, Jimmy Havoc, Zack Sabre Jr, Marty Scurll or Joe Coffey had a match announced prior to the shows, and it doesn’t feel possible to look at this as anything other than an opportunity missed.

It’s one thing to have a primary demographic more likely to recognise the likes of Styles and Mysterio than Ospreay and Havoc, but in what seems like a total lack of interest in promoting notable British names, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the 5* team weren’t even trying to see these shows sell well. Once again we turn to the first show of the tour, at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle, where Joe Coffey faced Will Ospreay while Scurll, Sabre and Havoc would butt heads in triple threat action. There are plenty of people that we see on our Facebook pages or Twitter timeline that would be extremely tempted by such matches if an iota of effort was put into advertising them taking place. What was advertised instead for the Newcastle show was a contract signing between AJ Styles and Rey Mysterio for a match that was to happen in Sheffield on a completely different date of the tour. The centre of the Venn diagram for people attending both the Sheffield or Newcastle dates of the ReGenesis run (the only people who this contract signing would concern, you would imagine) cannot be anything more than microscopic when compared to the one merging followers of the British independent scene with 5* Wrestling’s main target demographic. On this point alone it’s baffling that the promotion’s order of priorities ended up how they did; a largely irrelevant contract signing pushed as a selling point while the majority of names on the tour roster came across as interchangeable as the jobbers in a WWE Royal Rumble match. When seeing how many young people attend wrestling shows put together by the likes of Southside, IPW:UK and Revolution Pro, and how well the likes of Will Ospreay and Marty Scurll connect with kids and casual fans at those shows, it’s amazing that 5* seemed so reluctant or unable to capitalise on such existing connections in advance of their own tour.

These are all things to be wary of when examining 5* Wrestling’s method of promoting these shows. I personally would consider them a big part of why all three shows seemed to undersell as they did. With Dan Hinkles and the other members of the 5* team remaining optimistic for future shows like these, however, I really hope that in the long run, such things can be considered as simple bugs that were ironed out and improved upon in future 5* work. Because when you look at people’s feedback to the shows themselves, things certainly start looking up for the ambitious endeavour. In the days following the tour, the 5StarWrestlin [sic] Twitter has certainly been blessed with its fair share of praise, and all three shows have seen positive reviews from the likes of WhatCulture’s WWE team and various posts on Reddit. While it isn’t unanimous approval and sites like Kayfabe Today have been the platform for different stories, there is plenty to suggest that the future for 5* Wrestling on the promotion side has potential at the very least.

It’s not all about the shows, however, when it comes to Serious Parody’s wrestling project. Interviews with CEO Dan Hinkles have made it clear that the main attraction of 5* Wrestling is the PS4 game due out this week. The ReGenesis tour has certainly drawn attention to the brand, which does seem like the prime objective going in, but whether this attention translates into sales remains to be seen. The biggest test for the 5* team will be how the game sells compared to ICW’s own endeavour, with an Insane Championship Wrestling game due out on PS4, Xbox One and Steam later this year. How the sales figures of these two projects compare will most likely be the decisive indicator of how successful the ReGenesis tour has been. Until then, however, it’s sounding like although 5* Wrestling’s grand undertaking may not have got off the ground quite as planned, they may well have stuck the landing.