The world of wrestling

Ring of Honor compares itself to your favorite indie-rock show in more ways than one. First, the professional wrestling tour making its way to Boston University Friday has an energy-packed’ show that brings an equally energetic and entertaining crowd. Secondly, it showcases underground talent in the world of professional wrestling, much like your favorite independent artists, before going ‘mainstream.’ But most importantly, the atmosphere is great, Dave Lagana, producer for the tour’s weekly HDnet television series, said.

The former ‘Friends’ writer and Emerson College graduate spent 6 years writing for WWE SmackDown before leaving for ROH on HDnet. He said the environment and the crowd at the shows are half the fun.

‘I once went to a wrestling show in 120 degree heat and this guy sat behind me and drank all day and he got worse and worse to the point where he vomited on my shoes,’ Lagana said. ‘He bought me a beer which was nice’ . . . I mean, it’s a good time if a guy can puke on your shoes and you can still have fun. It’s something to be seen.’

The Philadelphia-based ROH tour does about 40 shows per year, nationwide with professional, world-traveling wrestlers. The tour has also been to Japan and Europe and airs a weekly, Monday night program on HDnet. The TV show is an hours worth of wrestling to precede the infamous Monday night wrestling hit, WWE Raw.

But, Lagana warns, both the ROH tour and show are not the same as what viewers are used to seeing on WWE Raw.’ The difference is the ROH show is ‘more actual minutes of our one-hour show than most pro wrestling two-hour shows. More action per hour,’ Lagana said.

The show offers a slew of professional wrestlers trying to make their mark, using ROH as a launching pad for their career, Lagana said. Much like your favorite indie band at a smaller venue before getting that big record deal, the wrestlers are ‘trying to show everybody that [they] deserve a bigger playing field,’ Lagana said.

‘It’s like seeing that great band before they go big,’ he said. ‘You get to be on the inside like that.’

BOSTON, YOU’RE MY HOME

ROH president and owner Cary Silkin said his company has performed more than 200 shows since its start in 2002. This will be the tour’s fifth show at Boston University, he said.

‘We’ve been coming to Boston regularly since 2003 at different venues,, some in Braintree, Dorchester, a couple of other towns,’ Silkin said. ‘We were never able to get a real solid home. Now, in our fifth show at BU, we like coming here. The building is great and it’s really great to be on campus. We’re really happy to make BU our home in Boston.’

The tour doesn’t host household names, unless you’re already a fan of wrestling, but every now and then a wrestler will gain recognition, or a guest will make a special appearance. This Friday’s show marks the end of two wrestlers’ careers with ROH as they move on to the WWE, and special guest WWF star Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart will be at the show to sign autographs.

‘It’s very rare for him to come around, this is very exciting action,’ Silkin said.

Silkin, a ticket broker who became involved in ROH after pairing up with a friend in the magazine industry to launch a wrestling magazine in Puerto Rico, started his small Philadelphia-based business doing just six shows a year. When the ROH tour took off outside the Pennsylvania boundaries, Boston was its first stop, Silkin said.

‘Boston has a very rich wrestling history,’ he said. ‘It’s always been popular in Boston. It’s gone back years and years and years . . . Even at smaller shows, New England has always been good. People like it, which is why we came originally, and we’ve continued to come since.’

BU College of Communication alumnus Michael Coughlin is the New England promoter for ROH. The 2009 graduate studied television and film at BU where he worked with the company before graduating.

‘I was always a fan,’ he said. ‘When I heard of this little company that could, I wanted to get involved.’

Coughlin, who works as a liaison between the New England and Philadelphia offices, helps to coordinate events in New England, including this Friday’s BU show, which he said will memorable as ROH will say goodbye to two of its biggest stars.

‘Bryan ‘The American Dragon’ Danielson and Nigel McGuiness just signed full-time WWE contracts,’ he said. ‘The Boston date is their last show. It’ll be worth it to say goodbye to two of our top stars we’ve had over the years.’

CLIMBING THE RANKS

The television deal ROH got with HDnet that put them on national TV weekly and into 20 million homes has helped the company’s exposure, Silkin said. The deal ROH landed just 6 months ago has helped the company expand beyond the occasional Pay-Per-View event into bigger projects, including the Oscar-nominated Mickey Rourke film, ‘The Wrestler.’

Silkin said producers of the film, whose story was fictitious but wrestling scenes were not, approached his company and their wrestlers.

‘We ended up being in the climax at the end of the movie, those last 10 minutes,’ Silkin said. ‘It was really awesome working with those people. Nobody expected it to get that kind of buzz.’

BUT IS THE GRASS ALWAYS GREENER?

On the other side of the business aspect of this ‘underground’ professional wrestling federation are the actual athletes themselves – the wrestlers.

As Bryan ‘The American Dragon’ Danielson prepares to move on from ROH to the WWE, the wrestler said he is bittersweet about his departure.

‘I’m sad because I love what I do now. I love independent wrestling. I love the guys I wrestle with,’ he said. ‘You become like a family on the road. I’m going to miss the intimate atmosphere. But, I’m excited for new opportunities.’

As excited as Danielson is about signing a big contract with WWE, he said he will miss the independent and athletic wrestling of ROH. ‘WWE is an entertainment company, they produce not only wrestling but they produce movies, they put out CDs and books . . . some of it has to do with wrestling but a lot of it has to do with advertising,’ he said. ‘At ROH, the focus is on the drama inside the ring, where as the drama in WWE is outside the ring.’

Colt ‘Boom Boom’ Cabana has been wrestling for more than 10 years, including extensive tours of Japan, England and all across America with both the WWE and ROH. He admits he likes to wrestle on a smaller-scale because he can be himself.

‘I’ve been with ROH since 2002 except for the two years I was with WWE,’ Cabana said. ‘I was ecstatic to come back to ROH because . . . I wasn’t allowed to be me and given a fair shot at WWE. In ROH, I’m 100 percent, there is no glass ceiling. The fans love me for me. I’m allowed to wrestle and entertain to my full potential. As a creative person, it’s a great outlet.’

Another reason Cabana prefers working with ROH over WWE is the style of wrestling.

‘Our style is more athletically based,’ he said. ‘The other stuff is completely different. Ours is pure wrestling contests.’

‘If you want to see two to three’ hours of the most entertaining athletic performers you’ve ever seen this is a show you want to be at,’ he said. ‘Athletes, entertainers, myself, a comedian, different characters, it’s a whole circus rolled into one. Definitely worth the price of admission and if it’s not, come find me and I’ll pay you back for it.’

IS IT ALL A DREAM?

Cabana, who couldn’t wait to pursue a professional wrestling career during college, started wrestling after his first year at Western Michigan. He played a year of football in preparation for a wrestling career, and went against his parents’ wishes to start training in Chicago while he was still in school. Regardless, Cabana was able to juggle the schedule and graduate with a degree in business.

‘I wanted to be a wrestler for as long as I can remember. Even in junior high school I did research and would tell my mom and my guidance councilors. I was told it was a stupid dream and I was destined to prove them wrong,’ Cabana said.

‘I don’t have a nine-to-five job,’ he said. ‘I’m paid to put on Spandex and some baby oil and entertain people. It’s a rough life, I’ll tell ya.’

Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart will be signing autographs for fans from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The event takes place at the Case gym on BU’s campus at 8 p.m. this Friday. Present this article or your BU I.D. at the door for $5 entry.