Wrestlicious

With WWE and TNA's ticket sales flagging, is it really a good time to launch a new wrestling promotion?
Well 19 year old Powerball winner Jonathan Vargas thinks so, his Wrestlicious Takedown is a new wrestling TV show that started this year
Big Vision Entertainment was thinking about launching a new GLOW, but it appears they were beaten to the punch.

Wrestlicious is, well, think GLOW run through a timewarp.
Over the top characters, singing, dancing, comedy sketches.....you get the point.
One advantage Wrestlicious has over GLOW is that where GLOW basically used actresses and models as performers, Wrestlicious has mainly real wrestlers.
Indy wrestlers Daffney, Amber O'Neal, Lizzy Valentine, Christie Ricci, Becky Bayless, Lacey Von Erich, Daizee Haze, Portia Perez, Lexie Fyfe and Serena Deeb are all in the first few episodes of the show (which was filmed in August 2008 preventing contract disputes such as Daffney and TNA).
The show is hosted by wrestling legend Jimmy Hart, and Jonathan Vargas who shows up on the show as “JV Rich”, the "laid back and likable Rapper/Owner of Wrestlicious".
Part of the reason that Wrestlicious looks a lot like GLOW is that the Senior Producer of the show is GLOW alumni Johnny Cafarella.
Wrestlicious is taking the internet seriously.
They have their own YouTube channel and their own Twitter account, Facebook Page and MySpace page.

So how will Wrestlicious do?
I don't see it threatening WWE or TNA.
Vince has already gone with the PG-13 look for the Divas, even changing their slogan to "Sexy, Smart, Powerful."
And TNA is mainly in it for the wrestling with their Knockout division (or at least they were).
BUT you never know, Wrestlicious could take off like wildfire.
Will a new GLOW be the next big thing?
It's hard to say.
Without the backing of Fox like they originally hoped, they are having to rely a lot on the internet.
They do seem to have a small, but loyal fan base.
But the popularity of Wrestlicious is lagging far, far behind the WWE and TNA.

Alexandra the Great (Danyah Rivietz)    
Amber Lively (Ashley Simmons-Madison Rayne)    
Anaconda (Cher Ferrerya)    
Autumn Frost (Jennifer Blake)    
Azizza (Unknown)
Bandita (Unknown)
Bootcamp Bailey (Talor Marion)
Brooke Lynne (Becky Bayless)   
Charity (Falycia Rose Pulver)    
Charlotte (Kimberly Davis)     
Cobra (Jeannie Kim)    
CoCo Montego (Josette Bynum-Sojoner Bolt)    
Cousin Cassie (Unknown)    
Draculetta (Shannon Spruill - Daffney)     
Emo Leigh (Leva Bates)
Faith (Jenna Grattan - Portia Perez)     
Felony (Bonnie Maxon - Rain)
Fran (Mary Beth Bentley - Lexie Fyfe)    
Gert (Fantasia)
Glory (Christie Mathis - Christie Ricci)
Hope (Nicole Matthews)     
Juvi Hall (Kayla Meltzer)    
Kandi Kisses (Elizabeth Miklosi - Lizzy Valentine)
Kickstart Katie (Nevaeh)
Lacey Von Erich (Lacey Adkisson)     
Lil Slamm (Unknown)     
Malibu Mackenzie (Lana Kinnear)     
Maria Toro (Mercedes Martinez)
Marley (Daizee Haze)
Maui (Maria Santella)     
Paige Webb (Serena Deeb)     
Shauna-Na (Danielle Fenech)
Sierra Sherraton (Erica D'Erico)     
Sister Ophelia (Mary-Kate Duignan - Betsy Ruth)
Super Nova - Toni the Top (Nikki Tsugranes - Nikki The New York Knockout)    
Tyler Texas (Amy Janas - Lorelei Lee)     
Viper (Jwaundace Candece)    
White Magic (Lacey)

USA Today just ran an article on JV Rich and his Wrestlicious project.

Wrestling + women + $17M lottery jackpot = Wrestlicious!
The youngest Powerball winner ever has packed up his millions and moved to Tampa Bay, fulfilling his dream of working in the wrestling business with a wild new TV show.

You can read the full article here

UPDATE: Wrestlicious has announced that MavTV will air its shows in the United States.
Meanwhile, the promotion will air on Bite TV in Canada.
The series will be called "Takedown" and begins airing on March 1st, 2010.
The shows will be streamed at the Bite website.
It will also air on 15 stations in the United States in syndication.
The time slots in Canada are Mondays and Fridays at 11 PM.
Bite TV will stream the show online at http://www.bite.ca as well.
The title on the website has been changed to " Wrestlicious Takedown".

UPDATE: January 25, 2010 – Wrestlicious LLC announced today that Wrestlicious TakeDown will be syndicated nationally via America One. (http://americaone.com)
TakeDown will air Saturday evenings at 11:30 PM ET on America One affiliates beginning on Saturday, March 6th, 2010.
Wrestlicious also announced that it is currently in negotiations with some recently released TNA Knockouts

UPDATE: July 23rd, 2010 - It looks like Wrestlicious is taping new episodes for their second season at a Soundstage in the Tampa, Florida area.

On their Facebook page on December 1st 2011, Wrestlicious said that "info on Season 2 will be posted here! Stay tuned!"
And they also put a video up on their YouTube page that I think is a whole episode.

BTW, congratulations to Wrestlicious for figuring out (like TNA) that allowing people to post info, videos and pictures increases interest in their product.
Another major wrestling promotion hasn't figured that out yet.