Two New Hirings Announced

We have received word that Michael Lee Best, CEO of High Octane Wrestling, has made two non-roster additions to the HOW staff this morning. 

The first, in a move that will not surprise most, is the re-hiring of former HOFC referee Rick “Even” Stevens as a “discretionary official”. Many speculated that the referee would be making his full-time return after being utilized by Best during the HOW World Title match between Clay Byrd and Conor Fuse, but we’re told that Stevens will not be a part of the “regular rotation” of officials. Best told HOWrestling.com that Stevens was “a trusted referee in the eyes of The Board” and would be used when “special consideration was required”. 

The second hiring, perhaps less expected, is the addition of largely unknown independent wrestler Tyler Streets. An eighteen year old midcard wrestler recently signed to FIGHT NYC on “per appearance” deal, Streets is perhaps better known for his growing following as host of the vlog “Word From The Streets. While Tyler’s experience as a vlogger will undoubtedly see him assisting in HOW’s social media presence, the details of his actual contract and duties has not been made available as of this writing. 

“This isn’t a company hire.” Best told HOWrestling.com. “Tyler is going to act as my personal assistant. You might hear from him in a lot of different capacities. But at the end of the day, what Tyler is going to be doing is assisting me as I complete my day to day duties for High Octane Wrestling.”

Pressed for details about how the eighteen year old vlogger-turned-wrestler ended up in this position in the first place, the regularly outspoken Best was unusually evasive: 

“I’ve been watching Tyler a long time.” he said. “The kid has potential. A lot of these young kids run around the indies, baking these bad habits into their craft. By the time they make it to the show, they struggle. Bad training is hard to undo. I see this kid, and I see potential, but I also see someone who isn’t ready for a spot on the roster yet.”

The CEO did offer one further clarification: 

“A lot of guys learn to wrestle.” Best told us. “Not enough of them learn the wrestling business. I think about how much better I might have been if I’d had someone teaching me the entire business inside and out from day one, instead of years into my career. I’m the kind of guy Tyler should be learning from, but to be honest, he also has a lot to offer HOW on his own. We’ve always struggled with social media. Always been a year behind whatever is big right now. We’re working on that. Tyler is a step in that, too.”

The push to modernize the back office of High Octane Wrestling is ongoing, and we expect more announcements regarding staffing changes to be forthcoming throughout the day and the week ahead.