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The United Wrestling Network's Gotham Wrestling taped their first four episodes this past Thursday in Nyack, NY at Levity Live. The promotion was very happy with the way the taping went and will return on Tuesday 12/2 for another round of tapings. Richard Holliday, Duke Hudson and UWN Champion Jordan Cruz already locked in for that date.
Dave Marquez has been actively meeting with a number of New York-area broadcast companies with the hope being that they will debut the first episodes this December and be ahead 3-4 weeks worth of episodes. There was talk at the taping that Channel 55 out of Long Island may be the destination for the series if everything works out but there were 2-3 other outlets met with in recent weeks. The hope is to be able to run other parts of NYC once they get going but the plan is to start slow and not rush any plans. The show will also be posted on YouTube.
Former NXT Producer Nick Bonnano is heading the creative for the show. Drew Gulak and Papadon worked as Producers.
Jordan Castle, Alissa Marino and Todd Kenely will be the broadcast team for the series.
UWN partnered with Jonny Moose's Xcite Wrestling for the first taping, utilizing their ring and production equipment.
Jay Lethal was slated for the first taping but after traveling up North, had to pull out due to a family emergency related to his father. PWInsider.com sends Lethal and his family all the best.
Papadon got hit hard with a belt shot during the main event but was OK after the taping.
Bobby Fish suffered a badly pulled hamstring during his match, which led to a legitimate referee stoppage. Fish was hurting even after the taping ended and there were a lot who had great sympathy for him after the show.
Historian and author Brian Solomon (who just released his biography of Gorilla Monsoon) and The Backseat Boyz's JP Grayson were at the event visiting.
The promotion filmed 99% of the taping in sequence, with the exception of a Big Mama vs. Marti Belle bout that was filmed early in the taping to accomodate Mama's travel needs.
Before the taping, a lot of interviews were taped to be inserted into the episodes.
The taping drew in the 275-325 area, which was close to capacity given what they needed for production. It was in the area of what Dave Marquez had predicted the week of the show. They will probably focus more on some additional local promoting going forward compared to the debut taping.
There was talk of booking some lucha talents for future tapings to tap into the big latin demo locally in the area.
There was talk of getting a known name to come in to appear on camera as the Gotham Wrestling GM, but nothing was locked in stone.
Tickets for the 12/2 taping are already on sale.
The taping featured the following matches:
EPISODE ONE
Ray Jaz vs. Joey Conway.
Rex Lawless & Joe Ocasio vs, Manbun Jesus & Deuce.
Jake Redondo vs. Leo Sparrow.
Karl Fredericks vs. Lord Crew.
EPISODE TWO:
Brett Ryan Gosselin vs. Dan Joseph
Jey Mesias vs. Nicholas Dos Santos.
VSK vs. Andy Brown
EPISODE THREE:
Dan Parker vs. Jarrett Diaz.
Chris Dickinson vs. Caleb Walsh.
Drew Gulak vs. Leo Sparrow.
UWN Women's Champion Big Mama vs. Marti Belle.
EPISODE FOUR:
Bobby Fish vs. Michael Mistretta.
Amity Lavey vs. Vanity.
UWN Tag Team Champions 5150 vs. Papadon & Ray Jaz.
The episodes will also feature some material from UWN in California featured in to help introduce the champions and other talents.
Most of the shows were edited and directed live but there will be post-production done as well.
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