PressScrum 101: How to behave!

At this point the only thing you can say positively about the AEW Press Scrums are that they only last an hour. Other than that, the whole thing is like watching a car wreck in real time except that you don’t feel sorry for the victims, but for yourself watching this dreck and losing an hour of your time.

The whole thing is basically “Friends of Khan” asking stupid questions that make them and the wrestling media look stupid.

As someone who has ACTUALLY gone to press conferences for NCAA Football, Boxing, Bellator and UFC, it offends me. Its like watching someone get a golden ticket, and then chewing it up and spitting it out because they got the munchies.

It also makes the AEW and even the WWE look like a joke as they are letting people in who can’t function around a professional setting. It also makes the few respectable media (Mike Johnson of PWInsider, Bill Apter, Alfred Konuwa of Forbes) bad by association.

As a wise man once said “You are only as good as the company that you keep”.

For those who are going to these press conferences, its time you get a reality check and some education. You’re doing a poor job; nobody respects you and your hurting chances at getting a better job down the road. Media companies are going to want a sound check of your work, listen to it and just tell you “We are going in a different direction”.

As several MMA scribes and boxing scribes (Guys like John Morgan, Bert Sugar, Gareth Davies and other top writers) who I had the pleasure to interview told me, here is how you act and work at a press scrum.

Be prepared for whoever they bring in for the scrum. Like any scrum, you generally know who they are going to bring out ahead of time and even what order. Its standard procedure and any half decent promoter or media group will let you know in advance.

That gives you plenty of time to write down what topics you want to talk about, what questions you want to ask, and how you want to ask them. This isn’t like just finding your favorite subject on the street and you have five minutes to think on your feet. Rather you have time to prepare and think of well thought out questions so that you look like you know what you’re doing.

I would even prepare topics in between matches so that I would be ready when I had to show up and some of my questions were asked.

Call it being a professional, call it “Always being prepared” or call it just having common sense.

You are getting a chance to make a good first impression with subjects you have wanted to get respect from. The last thing you want to do is make yourself look unprepared and that you don’t belong in this event. Once you come across as a good and a stooge, it is hard to change people’s minds.

Stop asking about who they want to wrestle or about their wins. This is professional wrestling where wins and losses are pre-determined and the outcome is decided days before the event. It involves wrestlers who are portraying a character in what you could describe as a live action movie.

Marvin the Movie Monster eloquently pointed out “It’s like asking Chris Evans how did it feel to beat Thanos”.

I am not asking people to go in and be snarky but realize what this is and don’t ask questions that make you look like a fan. Fans care about wins and losses and who wrestlers face next because of their fandom. Real Journalists understand that this is a performance and that everything is worked out and rehearsed before they execute it.

Even the championships fall in the same category as every world champion is decided ahead of time by the promoter. Cody Rhodes didn’t “win” the World Title but they put the belt on him because it was the conclusion of a story they are telling. It’s not like he had strategy going into his match, doing game planning and scouting, and even changing his style to get a competitive edge.

Same thing goes with asking who Mercedes Mone wants to work with or who Drew McIntyre wants to wrestle. It has nothing to do with them as this is how the promoter determines the programs and figures out who to match to improve the product. By asking these questions, all you do is prove that you’re not a fan and that you have no media training whatsoever.

Ask questions that are poignant and relevant.

Since the AEW Full Gear press Scrum, the “Kate from Fightful vs. Lashley” debate has dominated the waves on social media. And while many are cheering Lashley for taking the high road, the fact the question got asked was tone deaf and meant for click bait. Those are the kind of questions that wrestlers don’t see the point of, doesn’t help with their careers and the topics aren’t even relevant.

When you are asking questions, you have to show a sense of timing, tact and also questions that are relevant with what’s going on. The days of shock jock are over and more and more athletes are getting wise on what question to avoid. They know what can happen in social media and a lot of them want to avoid any unnecessary controversy if they can help it.

Getting back to the Kate from Fightful, the question no longer is relevant or even edgy these days. We have had multiple champions of different races in WWE, AEW and even TNA that it’s become normal. AEW just had the world title on Swerve Strickland little less than several months ago and Private Party are the current tag team champions.

This isn’t 1950 and the wrestling industry has chance leaps and bounds since then, making the topic obsolete.

Anyone who is still bringing it up just wants to get a sound bite and sound edgy. And as Kate learned the hard way, nobody wants to deal with the “shock jock” mentality these days.

Treat the promoters like Job Interviews and be respectful but inquisitive. The Tony Khan questions have bordered on softball to just mild as reporters seem to avoid wanting to offend him. Meanwhile certain journalists seem to behave more aggressive and pushier when they are at WWE scrums.

News flash; the promoters are not your friends and don’t deserve to get favored treatment from you. They want publicity and they want to get as many eyeballs on their product as possible.

When you have the chance to interview the promoters, show them that you have given thought into what you do. Have good follow up questions so that you’re not letting the promoters just get away with a stock answer. You can be critical of the operation but still be respectful and business like when you ask it and phrase it.

Your asking questions and getting answers that wrestling fans want to know or have wondered about it. You are bringing the wrestling industry to a lot of people who don’t have the ability to talk to the subjects. This is the chance to show people what the industry is about, what is going on with a match and why things are happening as they are.

For those who are saying that “this isn’t necessary” or that “I am a hater” the reason I am writing this is that the public image of the media has never been at an all-time low. Most media members are viewed as boot lickers, fake news magnets and compromised by their financial interests.

From the sports world to politics to even entertainment, too many media members have been exposed as more cheerleaders and PR agents than reporters. From Dana Bash to Dave Meltzer, scores of media members across the board give too much favoritism towards their subjects that are in the good graces.

In combat sports, the problem has gotten even worse where the few media members who are unbiased are getting pushed aside for “friendly media” who are more interested in Instagram posts and X followers. What was once taboo (Taking pictures with wrestlers, going to after parties, etc) have become more common and almost acceptable. As someone who grew up trying to get the respect of being a legit media member and behave as one, it’s become disheartening.

My only hope is that there are still some people out there that want to be professional and impartial. Rather than just be a lapdog or a friend.

To listen to interviews from fighters, sports reporters and more check out the website at www.LastCallPodcast.com or follow me on www.twitter.com/LastCallwChrisC