I think it comes down to what suited your lifestyle and committments.Certainly pro's and con's for both.Joint could offer more chance of t.v exposure.Also with established regular venue's there may have been a more regular wage.However,if there was a difference of opinion with a Promoter, being a cartel it could have affected your earning power. Independents could offer a variety of possibly newer venue's and many Promoters to work for. Although a lesser chance of t.v. exposure.
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TV exposure also opened up the possibilities of travelling abroad or even moving abroad
I have no idea whether or not Evan Treharne was generalising, when he said to me, quite heatedly, that appearing on t.v. would only put an extra five pounds in a workers pocket? Bill of course was very much on the side of the 'Independents'.
Some of the common points that came up in wrestlers I talked to: With independents, you had more freedom about which dates to take where and what payoff you negotiated for a particular appearance. The downsides were that you didn't have as much certainty about how much work you'd get (making it harder to cut back hours or leave your day job) and that you'd often get offers from multiple promoters for the same date. That could be tricky deciding who to keep sweet, particularly if you made a commitment for one show and had to decide whether to break that commitment for a later offer from a promoter who'd give you more dates in the long run. With Joint, you could get more regular dates per month, didn't have to worry about scheduling (though you might have to do some insane travel), and had a more reliable income as you negotiated a fixed fee per match, regardless of the venue. (The exceptions being the Royal Albert Hall, where you got a bonus, and televised matches, which theoretically had a standard fee for everyone.) The downsides were that you had less control over your schedule and, while in theory you could accept or reject any proposed dates as you wished, in practice you had to take the offered schedule or face getting a seriously reduced schedule the next month as the promoters made a point about their power. Others have also discussed here that, while individual Joint promoters varied their style and preferences, generally you had more scope for outlandish/violent/unconventional performances on the independents.
Adrian Street could only say that because he had become known on tv!
What would Dwight J Ingleburgh say?
Romeo, until the late 1980's, Joint was the only way to get on TV. I think Adrian Street and others said that you earned more money with the independants and you didn't have to work as many dates.