David Marquez has always said Championship Wrestling from Hollywood is a family business. He’s always considered the people who work with him on his long running television pro wrestling promotion a part of his family, but last month his statement became much truer with the introduction of his two son’s, Nicolas and Noel. At a recent CWFH taping, we caught up with the trio and conducted this Q&A.
CWFH: David, what made you decide to bring your actual family into the wrestling business?
DM: Well, it’s not like they’ve not been involved, you know that Nicolas has been on the administrative side. He’s been working with side by side with our Talent Relations Producer Michael Coughlin on travel, accommodations and payroll. Noel on the other hand isn’t exactly new to working within the operation either. About a decade or so ago, he served as a timekeeper for several events, but now that he’s older and a college graduate I asked him to come aboard full time (that was the Summer of 2014) and since these two have been around more often they’ve pitched a lot of new concepts, we even executed one…the www.patreon.com/unitedwrestling subscription video service.
CWFH: Which one of you want to go first?
Noel: He always goes first, he’s the oldest.
Nicolas: I do?
Noel: Yes. You do.
Nicolas: Alright, I guess I’ll go first.
CWFH: Did you always want to work with with your father?
Nicolas: Yes and No. I mean when I was younger I wanted nothing to do with pro wrestling. I remember him being very grumpy dealing with the international wrestling community and I told myself, no way! Then when I was old enough to get my first job, I kind of took the same path as he did. I accepted a position with the Walt Disney Co., and in the same department! Early on I thought it was just a job, but as time went by I worked closely with people who worked with Dad. I learned how much these people respected him and that’s when I started to understand what he was always talking about, building something, CWFH is his Disneyland. From that point on all I wanted to do was work with Dad anyway I could.
CWFH: Was it difficult for you working with the same people that worked with him?
Nicolas: At first yes, but that company is so big its pretty easy to make your own way. I don’t know if any of you know this about Dad, but he’s a Disneyland Legend!
CWFH: Noel. same question.
Noel: For me yes! I always wanted to be in the family business. I always enjoyed going to work with Dad. My favorite days being at the office were editing days. When he would do the post production of the television shows. Back then it was called the ‘Wrestling Showcase’ and he did the commentary with current CWFH lead announcer Todd Keneley. I was amazed how it all came together. I remember I once asked him if I could operate one of the cameras and him being him he said yes.
CWFH: WOW! That must have been an amazing experience?
Noel: Actually it wasn’t. You see, I had no business being on the camera (and I think he knew that), but he always encourages us to try new things. Well, I was on the hard camera (the most important one) and didn’t do a good job because during the course of that TV taping I had him in my ears. You see, he’s not only boss, he’s also the TV director, directing the entire show. That was not a fun 4 hours and I never asked to do anything technical again. The timekeeping he mentioned was pretty cool though. I got to sit ringside, but even then I would get caught up in the action versus doing my job. I heard about that too!
CWFH: Who’s idea was it for the subscription video service?
Nicolas: Both of ours actually. I don’t know if you’ve ever been to the office or the house, but they’re both cluttered with videotape. The company has been shooting wrestling television since the late 1980s and Dad has all of it. I remember asking him why he’s not monetizing the library and his answer was pretty typical, “who wants to see that old stuff” he said. So, we started to archive the footage and we found some pretty good stuff. Noel looked into the best way to distribute the service and together we made the pitch to the team.
DM: I must say I’m impressed with the response to the service. At time I am stuck in the forest, too close to everything. I’m glad they talked me into providing it to the public and enhancing all of our social media actually.
Noel: The new online and digital media things we are doing is not just us. I brought in Jonathan King. He’s a friend of mine who comes from the music industry.
Nicolas: He’s good!
DM: Yes he is good. I’m happy he’s (finally) taking us out of the 90s.
CWFH: So what’s next?
Noel: Getting rid of Vermin.
DM: (Laughing) Although that is important, I’m usually working on a lot of things and not just within pro wrestling.
Noel: (Interrupting) But Dad, you need to take them serious. Yes this is pro wrestling, but you can’t “Disney” this and wave a wand. They mean business.
DM: I’m aware Noel. As I said on television, that is a part of the reason you’re here. Now to answer your question; Nicolas has been in the office for a few years and I believe he understands the operation. I’m hoping to make him Match Maker soon and Noel is headed international soon. His first location he’ll be headed to is Mexico because he has a real love affair with Lucha Libre.
Noel: Yes I do. When done right, its beautiful to watch. Years ago, Dad was heavily involved in Lucha and I’d like to see that back on our programming.
CWFH: That’s exciting! Nicolas, how do you feel about the CWFH Match Maker position?
Nicolas: If that’s where he wants me, that’s where I’ll go. In the first few years of the show, I was assigned to Jon Ian (CWFH Match Maker, 2011-2013) and I learned a lot about how to format a card, how to negotiate and how to feel what the public wants.
CWFH: You do realize that is an on-camera role?
Nicolas: (Laughing) C’mon! I’m his kid! I think I can get through a television segment in one piece.
CWFH: That’s true, David has been around some of the biggest, nastiest names in pro wrestling and hasn’t been physically harmed.
[At this point David was being called away to attend the pre-show production meeting]
DM: I’m sorry we’re going to have to cut this short. I want the people to know that I’m more excited about the future of both CWFH and United Wrestling Network now than ever before. I’m secure these two boys are focused on their assignments and will execute them with pride and to much success. I can’t thank the public enough for the years of support, but as the Chairman once said “…the best is yet to come”.
CWFH: Thank you all for your time.
Nicolas: No, thank you.
Noel: You’re welcome.
