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closetofanxiety · 7 years

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Pointless categorization of US wrestling promotions

This is really for my own benefit. I’m someone who loves to put things in categories. My God, the number of times I’ve reorganized my records and books. Anyway, this is partly to try and make some sense of the bewildering landscape of professional wrestling in the United States, circa 2017. Feel free to tamper, teach, impart.

The Major League

WWE: This is really it. No one else is even close. In the 1990s, there were two major leagues, the WWF and “the” WCW (people will argue that ECW was a third major, but this is not correct, really). In the 1980s, there were three: WWF, NWA, and AWA. Before that, it was a little confusing, since there were technically three big wrestling feds (NWA, WWF/WWWF, AWA), but for most of that time the WWF was secretly part of the NWA, and the NWA and AWA had a working arrangement not to compete with each other. Really, it was the NWA and no one else in those days. Today’s landscape is very different from those monopolistic days, though, because the NWA was a cartel consisting of many different promotions, while the WWE is a single company controlled by a 70-year-old bodybuilder with the aesthetic sensibilities of a 13-year-old boy. The lack of competition at the top is so glaring that the WWE has been forced to create the illusion of multiple companies, with the “competing” Raw and Smackdown Live shows, and even its own minor league, NXT. This is the top of the ladder for wrestling, not only in the United States, but also worldwide: no one is anywhere near as big as the WWE, and it’s where virtually all wrestlers think about working sooner or later, unless they’re the Young Bucks or Kota Ibushi.

The Distant Second Tier

If WWE is the equivalent of the majors, these companies are the equivalent of AAA ball: they’re not indies, they’re on TV, but they have a fraction of the WWE’s audience and resources, and most of their wrestlers have to work indies (or other jobs) to make a living.

Ring of Honor: A lot of people still categorize ROH as an indie (or “super indie”), but that hasn’t been true since 2011, when the company was purchased by the Sinclair Broadcast Group. Owned by a real company, on cable as well as syndicated TV, touring nationally and running PPVs, and able to offer at least some wrestlers exclusive contracts, Ring of Honor is arguably the second-largest pro wrestling company in the United States, now that TNA has spent the last two years getting kicked to lower rungs of the outer limits of cable TV. Still sort of an indie in spirit, ROH is in the midst of a prolonged identity crisis, not really sure of what it wants to be or how it wants to proceed. ROH shows are perfectly good and enjoyable to watch, but the days when the company was the creative leader of the entire wrestling industry in the United States now seem very distant.

Total Nonstop Action: Created to be the successor to WCW, a new rival to WWE in a planned “Big Two” of the 21st century, it’s hard to overstate how badly TNA has squandered any advantage it ever had. This is a company that managed to be bounced from Spike TV in 2014, despite producing that network’s highest-rated show. Today, in the netherworld of Pop TV - where they aren’t even paid by the network - they’re averaging about a third of their Spike viewership, pre-taping shows, and seeing most of their roster work indie dates. The recent acquisition of the company by a new owner, and the final departure of Dixie Carter after 14 disastrous years at the helm, have raised hopes that things might get better, but right now it’s hard to imagine any wrestler who thinks of TNA as a final destination in their career.

Lucha Underground: This gets a big ol’ asterisk because it’s a TV show rather than a promotion, and it’s not clear that they’ll have a fourth season, but it’s a TV show on a cable network that’s more high profile than either Pop TV or Comet, so there’s that. The show will be available on Netflix starting this month, which could give it the hipster audience it badly needs to keep going.

The Top Indies

These, at last, are the “true” independent promotions - no national TV deals, no broadcast PPVs (iPPVs) only, no exclusive contracts, but a position in the vanguard of creativity in the industry and, now, the attention of WWE, which has been bringing up indie stars at a previously unheard-of rate. To an extent, these promotions start to blend in with each other, as they share lots of wrestlers, as well as what’s developed as the American indie house style of high spots, little traditional selling or psychology, and lengthy, what-will-it-take match lengths, while avoiding the bloodshed and hardcore style of the late 1990s and early 2000s (with the notable exception of CZW). Like minor league baseball, this is really the circuit where you can feel like you’re seeing tomorrow’s stars today.

EVOLVE: The WWE-approved indie, led by former Ring of Honor creative mastermind Gabe Sapolsky, EVOLVE has not only broken ground by semi-partnering with the big league, but also by abandoning the iPPV model for the monthly FloSlam streaming service, which gives you access to live shows as well as back catalog. With streaming services right now gaining ground in the indie world, FloSlam could be the industry leader, not only because it’s currently alone in offering access to live events, but because it brings together the EVOLVE family of promotions (Shine, Full Impact Pro, ACW) and a few other companies, which is vastly preferable to having to subscribe to each promotion’s own streaming channel. It’s still early days, so it’s not clear how the world of streaming services will shake out, but EVOLVE is in the best position to reap any benefits that come from the changing business model.

Pro Wrestling Guerrilla: Business-wise, PWG is kind of a throwback, in that they don’t offer iPPVs, they don’t stream events live (they have a deal with the Highspots streaming network, but events only appear there months after they happen), and they make most of their money from ticket sales at an overcrowded building, and DVDs. That said, they are the creative pacesetter for US indies, the current version of Gabe Sapolsky-era ROH: for better (match quality) and worse (lack of discernible storylines), PWG is the company most frequently imitated by other indies, and their biggest annual event, the Battle of Los Angeles, has become a kind of micro-Wrestlemania, drawing rabid fans from all over to watch the indie world’s most eagerly anticipated event.

Chikara: Along with Ring of Honor and CZW, Chikara was one of the major US indies to establish itself in the wake of ECW’s collapse. But whereas CZW carried the flag for bloody ultraviolence and ROH established itself as the promotion for technical excellence, Chikara has gone its own way, emphasizing a comic book-influenced, lucha libre-esque style that unfolds inside the confines of a self-contained, self-referential universe. In some ways, it’s the most ambitious of the indies: there’s a Chikara movie, Chikara comic books, and even a Chikara-created would-be national holiday, along with the more familiar elements of touring shows, DVD sales, and its own streaming network. It attracts top indie talent and, unlike most US indies, has established that it can travel internationally, but it’s so sui generis that it will probably never dominate the world of indie wrestling or break through to the non-wrestling audience it so ardently courts.

Combat Zone Wrestling: In the late 1990s and early 2000s, every indie promotion wanted to be ECW. CZW, launched in 1999 but really coming into its own in 2001 after running its “Cage of Death” show in the old ECW Arena, emphasized the bloodshed and hardcore style exemplified in Paul Heyman’s promotion by wrestlers like New Jack, Balls Mahoney, and Axl Rotten. A Highspots network partner, iPPV purveyor, and owner of a women’s wrestling brand (Women Superstars Uncensored), CZW has never really shed its ultraviolent hardcore image, one that was crystallized by the company’s participation in the Mickey Rourke film “The Wrestler.” This has prevented CZW from establishing the national profile it probably deserves, given that it was an early venue for breakout talents like Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Dean Ambrose, the Briscoe Brothers, Adam Cole, and Mia Yim, among many others. In business longer than nearly any other major US indie, it’s quietly established a pattern of high-quality shows that don’t rely on hardcore matches, which are invariably overshadowed by the one or two lunatic hardcore stunts a year that still form an important part of the company’s lore.

The Indies as New Territories

Most independent wrestling companies can hardly manage to put on monthly shows in VFW halls, let alone imagine touring outside their hometowns. For a few, though, operating within a relatively limited region doesn’t detract from their ability to attract top national (and international) indie stars while developing local talents who often go on to become the next generation of boldfaced indie names.

Beyond Wrestling: Based in Providence, R.I. but regularly running shows in eastern and now central Massachusetts, Beyond has been tagged as “the East Coast PWG,” and there are definite stylistic similarities between the two companies. But whereas PWG has become purely a showcase for top indie stars (and the Young Bucks, who aren’t really indie wrestlers at this point), Beyond still leaves plenty of room on the card for locals, whether the “Beyond Originals” who were there in the early days or recent graduates of Brian Fury’s New England Pro Wrestling Academy (whose most famous graduate, and a Beyond alum, is Sasha Banks). Business-wise, Beyond has been incredibly savvy with its use of social media, building a subscription-only streaming service on YouTube as well as working with Smart Mark Video for wider distribution of its shows on DVD and digital download.

All-American Wrestling: Universally known as AAW, this Chicagoland promotion has established a reputation not only for bringing in top indie stars (Pentagon Jr., Sami Calihan, ACH, etc.) but also for developing local talent on its well-attended shows. Its Windy City Classic has become a major date on the indie wrestling calendar, and it’s partnered with Highspots as well as running its own streaming service. Best of all, AAW does what not many indie promotions do, in giving its shows a distinctive feel held together by recognizable storylines.

Absolute Intense Wrestling: The home promotion of current NXT star Johnny Gargano, the Cleveland-based AIW hasn’t dipped its toes into the streaming service world yet, but has drawn national attention for the quality of its shows, its ability to bring in top names who are otherwise scarce on the indie scene (Gail Kim, Shayna Bazsler), and its innovative booking (e.g., having all-intergender cards, or all-women shows). The company also partners with local businesses and touring rock festivals, and the podcast produced by its two owners, “The Card is Going to Change,” is an indispensable and often hilarious weekly dive into the nuts and bolts of running an independent wrestling promotion.

Premiere Wrestling Xperience: Originally doing business as the Carolina Wrestling Association, PWX has evolved from its 2003 beginnings into one of the country’s most vibrant indies, mixing established indie stars and the occasional TNA wrestler with a cast of Southern-grown talent rapidly becoming top names around the country. The Charlotte-based company has also been in the so-far unique position of having shows on both the FloSlam and Highspots streaming services, significantly raising the company’s national profile.

Maryland Championship Wrestling: Generally known as MCW Pro, the Baltimore-based company has gone from a regional host of ex-ECW talents in the early 2000s to a thriving indie with its own school, $4.99 monthly streaming service, and a calendar of shows that feature everyone from national indie stars to former WWE wrestlers, along with a roster of locals, most notably breakout star Lio Rush. Its lack of association with a nationwide streaming network has probably kept it relatively obscure, but in a lot of ways MCW is the prototype of the well-run regional indie.

Northeast Wrestling: A regular stop for Ring of Honor wrestlers and well-known for its summertime super shows held in minor league baseball parks, this indie promotion based in southern Connecticut and eastern New York has taken the leap from regional mainstay to a greater national profile, thanks to its recent partnership with Highspots and a series of high-profile shows featuring names like Kurt Angle, Cody Rhodes (sorry, that’s just Cody), and even Jushin Thunder Liger. NEW has also taken the innovative step of selling season tickets to its shows at the “NEW Arena,” the town hall in rural Bethany, Conn., indicating a level of confidence in its viability that not many indie promotions can match.

Everyone Else

This is only the smallest tip of the iceberg, obviously. There are wrestling promotions in the US that range from weirdo hipster performance art to pure lucha libre to companies that might as well be operating in the mid-1980s. Every once in a while, I’ll dip into the indie wrestling channel on Roku and be amazed at some of the offerings (a favorite is Michigan’s Imperial Wrestling Entertainment, which tries to put on WWE-style programming with approximately .00000001 percent of WWE’s budget). There are also undoubtedly more companies that belong in the “New Territories” category - well-run local promotions that punch above their weight and can routinely book national talent - but I’m not familiar with enough of them. Use of social media, and appearing on one of the big streaming services, is a fast track to getting nationally noticed, and I expect more companies will go this route in 2017.

#indie wrestling #independent wrestling #official rankings #wrestling promotions

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