What are some of your fondest memories of being around the wrestlers? He always made sure he promoted that iconic yellow t-shirt. He was aware of the power of merchandising. One of the ones who stood out was Hulk Hogan. Of the talents you dealt with, who were the ones who stood out to you back then? I said, “if we don’t sell it, I’ll go bust!” In the end, though, we sold it all out and we held that record of selling the most merchandise in one venue in one day until it was broken recently by the NFL at Wembley, but it stood for many, many years. People said to me, “you must be crazy, you’re out of your mind. ![]() The amazing thing was we put in over £1m of merchandise into the venue. They knew how to make stars and they created stars. Let’s face it- the WWF knew how to get the most out of that audience. The capacity in the venue was 82,000, but with a couple of adverts in the papers and a little promotion on Sky, it sold out straight away. It was the very first major event and pay-per-view to be held outside North America. That must have been an incredible event to be involved in. We made (the WWF) a lot of money and we made ourselves a lot of money! One of the most notable events of that era was, of course, Summerslam 1992 at Wembley Stadium. By 1993, we were running long tours across Europe and by then the licensing programme had taken off and very quickly we had a major group of licensees who were buying the brand and selling it into retail- places like Toys R Us, Woolworths and those kinds of shops. This was all pre-internet so people had to buy through adverts or at the venues. We ran another tour (in April 1991) of main venues around the UK and merchandising sales were huge. I came away with a contract for all licensing and merchandising and Harvey for touring covering all of Europe. I realised the value of that brand, so I made a trip out to Connecticut to meet with Vince, Linda (McMahon) and their team. My company is a merchandising, sponsorship and licensing company. It all came to fruition though Vince was a bit dubious about it, but the UK audience knew about wrestling and the first tour sold out.Ĭollect/Mo Chatra) What involvement did you have with the WWF during those early UK and Europe tours of the late-eighties and early-nineties? Harvey told him that once their TV was established, they could run live shows. Hulk then put Harvey onto Vince McMahon and Vince said they weren’t ready for touring, but he was negotiating with Sky to put his programming on their channels. She wanted Harvey to meet with Hulk, have a chat with him and see if they could do something together. She was involved in rock & wrestling with the WWF. She had made a music video using Hulk Hogan and Captain Lou Albano. My brother, (famous music promoter) Harvey Goldsmith, was touring Cindi Lauper who was doing a whole series of concerts in the UK. ![]() That was all on the back of one advert in one or two newspapers and it sold out in minutes, much to the amazement of the WWF. That was the very first venue the WWF ever appeared at in the UK. It was a new, purpose-built concert arena and one of the partners involved in it was Frank Warren, who is well known as a boxing promoter. The very first event was held in the London Arena which was a venue in the Docklands. ![]() Your very first involvement with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), as it was then known, was in October 1989 when you were involved in a European tour that made stops in London, Birmingham and Paris. And of course, all the old ladies with their handbags! I would go to shows anywhere in town or North-West London. I saw the likes of Mick McManus, Jackie Pallo, Kendo Nagasaki all that crowd and all those characters. I would regularly attend the matches at the old Seymour Halls near Marylebone in London. Collect/Mo Chatra) Were you a fan of professional wrestling before you became involved with the business?
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