New combat sports streaming platform to rival WWE

On this week’s edition of Bischoff on Wrestling, Eric interviewed former ECW and WWE announcer, Joey Styles.

In their conversation, Joey shared some insight to the project he has recently been involved in, FlowSlam. According to Styles, FlowSports has secured “21.2 million dollars” from companies like Discovery Communications and even WWE in order to create FloSlam- a stream service that will cater to independent wrestling fans. FloSlams’s first announcement was their five-year partnership with WWNLive in order to bring Indy companies like Evolve to the FloSlam. For now, fans can “pay $20 a month” to stream events from all of the promotions that FloSlam will be working with. Styles, though, explains that the goals of FloSlam is to be the “WWE Network of Indy pro wrestling”.

On paper, FloSlam seems like a win for those who are involved. Styles believes that “It’s great for fans, it’s great for Indy wrestling promoters who probably struggle to turn a profit, and it’s great for all these wrestlers who work on these indies who may only be seen in their local area to now be seen globally.”

It will be interesting to see how FloSlam is received by Indy wrestling fans. Typically, Indy fans are very supportive of the product and very much willing to give money to support these promotions. One must admit, though, that the price for the subscription may not merit what will be available on FloSlam the day of its launch. Big companies like PWG have shown no interest in being involved in the project. Companies like ROH or NJPW have their own established television broadcasting contracts, so it is probably safe to rule them out as potential partners.  There is no doubt that FloSlam is a great opportunity for everyone involved. The question will be, though, if it will be able to draw an audience beyond those who would have spent the money companies like Evolve or Chikara anyways.

In their conversation they also discuss Styles almost going to WCW, ECW’s long-term influence on wrestling, where Eric discovered cruiserweight talent, and much more! Also on the podcast, Eric shares his thoughts on how WWE handled Brock Lesnar’s return to Raw, and the battle for control of TNA.