By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

Dragon Gate USA booker Gabe Sapolsky is painting a bleak picture of the state of pro wrestling that he thinks the industry will die without new stars being developed.

"Wrestling right now is not cool or hip. It's just a bunch of old acts and retreads. There's nothing new and fresh," Sapolsky said in an interview with Alex Marvez promoting the second DGUSA PPV debuting on Friday. "I think if nothing is done to cultivate new fans, the industry is going to die."

It's hard to imagine pro wrestling not being visible on TV with WWE offering six hours of programming, TNA offering two hours, and ROH offering one hour weekly, plus frequent PPV offerings from WWE, TNA, and DGUSA. Sapolsky says there could come a day when there is no more wrestling on TV.

"It's the same stuff over and over again," he said. "It's fascinating that wrestling is the only entertainment industry that doesn't make an effort to push new talent. You don't see that with TV, music, or anything else. When a new star bursts on that scene, everyone gets behind them. A record label wouldn't try to keep down new talent and keep shoving an artist whose music was selling 20 years ago."

WWE functions with younger wrestlers needing to "pay their dues" before they're given a main event-level opportunity. TNA, meanwhile, is pushing a youth movement, but just signed 56-year-old Hulk Hogan to essentially run the promotion. Sapolsky says the DGUSA promotion isn't concerned about grabbing casual fans for their niche brand of high-flying and athletic wrestling.

"We know there is a niche audience that wants to see great athletic wrestling. If that's the only audience we get, we're perfectly happy," he said. "We're not going to alter our product or change that we are trying to get more casual fans. We depend on word-of-mouth and hope that people give an affordable product a chance."

Link: Read Sapolsky's complete interview, including his thoughts on his former company, Ring of Honor.

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