Notes From 3/29 HOW Media Call

New HOW CEO Michael Lee Best hosted a Tuesday morning media call today, discussing his new role in the company, Sunday’s March to Glory pay-per-view, and the future of High Octane Wrestling. Below are the highlights from today’s media call, which we are told will become a regular event available to the wrestling media:

• Best confirmed that dual structure of HOW management going forward, with Michael Oliver Best running the company as proxy owner, and Michael Lee Best acting as Chief Executive Officer. Michael Oliver Best will handle business on a macro level, including HOTv, while his nephew will be handling the regular day to day operations of the company. This will give Michael Lee Best unprecedented control over the televised product, though in practice, he will still be answering to the network.

• No medical updates were available on Benny Newell at the time of the call, but Best told participants to “expect more news soon” on the condition of the Hall of Fame announcer.

• Christopher America and Jace Parker Davidson are signed to new HOW contracts. While it is possible that these are just standard Hall of Famer agreements, the CEO of HOW only responded with “no comment” when pressed for any details of the agreements. Best was asked about ongoing contract negotiations with several current members of the HOW roster, but declined to provide names of the individual talents. It has, however, been confirmed through other sources that David Noble, Jeffrey James Roberts, and Arthur Pleasant are all currently negotiating with management. Asked specifically about negotiations with Arthur Pleasant, Best declined to confirm today’s news post, but did add that “PRIME is probably still hiring” when  referencing the alleged list of demands reported on HOWrestling.com earlier today.

• Several venues are currently being discussed for HOW War Games, but nothing is set in stone. This does appear to be a point of contention between the new CEO and Michael Oliver Best, however, as it seemed to be a sore subject during the media call.

• In other roster news, three new names have appeared on the HOW roster page since March to Glory. While Michael Lee Best did not have any details available for the media at this time, he was able to confirm that individual HOW deals had been struck with wrestlers JJ Starfire, Murphy Doyle Maher, and Noelle Rivers. “I’ve met two of them personally,” Best told media reps. “The other one I’ve heard really great things about. Super stoked to have them in HOW, but I’m not gonna blow up their spots on a media call. Watch the fucking show.”

• In regard to an update on Six Time Academy or any future HOW developmental, Best said it was a “work in progress”. People should expect some rebranding to occur within HOW, but nothing that would be discussed on today’s call.

• Best discussed Xander Azula’s HOTv Title match on the upcoming Refueled, telling media that he was “very impressed by Azula’s tenacity” at March to Glory.  While he doesn’t want to “set precedent that you can just attack a guy and get whatever you want around here”, Best added that “In this case, 100% it was a no brainer to give him the shot.” Best confirmed that it was absolutely his decision to award Azula the title shot, and that Michael Oliver Best had absolutely no knowledge of the pick until he saw the segment air on the show.

The CEO urged everyone to tune into Refueled this week for answers, surprises, and more information.