[adinserter block=”1″]WWE is still the top dog when it comes to Professional Wrestling; TNA – or as it likes to be called; Impact Wrestling – still plays second fiddle to the biggest show on earth in the eyes of a lot of fans. Ring of Honor (ROH) yapping at their heels; while Jarrett is set to give birth to Global Force Wrestling (GFW).
Yet there is; in the corners of the world…a small din…voices in the shadows…chants and rally cries; jeers and boos. They reverberate along the walls…out through doors and onto the streets.
That is the sound of the Independent Scene…
The Independents can trace their lineage back to the days of the regional territories. For the longest time wrestlers on the independent scene struggled to pay bills; even holding regular jobs to keep the Wolf from the door. The Indies as they are called would be mostly local with next to no TV coverage except for perhaps a local channel…but the scene is changing.
The internet is playing a large part in bringing the smaller independents opportunities they wouldn’t have had a decade ago. The Internet Wrestling Community is vast; and expanding every day…and they talk about wrestling…daily…hourly. Scouring the World Wide Web for old matches of favourite wrestlers; of promotions in other countries; and along the way they find gold…absolute gold…and they share it. Word of Mouth is still a currency in the independents…and with the recent releases from WWE…these names will only add more credibility to the card they are on…and no doubt draw in more viewers who might not have taken a look at these promotions before. With the advent of live streaming even the most regional of the regional Indies can put on a iPPV for a couple of bucks and make money.
The Indies however, are not for the casual fan that turns into RAW on Monday nights; the Indies are for the devoted fans; the people who live and breathe their fandom; be it for a wrestler…or for the product itself; be it in an arena like Madison Square Garden or in a small dingy room with the smell of sweat and beer in the air. Where the relationship between wrestler and spectator is more clear; and the work is more organic; less polished…more rough and ready (especially the Scots…I love the Scots…they put everything out there).
[adinserter block=”2″]Nor are some of the indies family friendly fare; as much as I love Insane Championship Wrestling; its liberal use of F-bombs pretty much eliminates it from my young nephews viewing for the foreseeable future which is a pity as they are prettying fucking great.
If you haven’t taken a look at some of the independents around the world…get on it mate…and be prepared to be blown away by what you see.
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Do you have any recommendations? I would love to find a couple other organizations that post weekly or monthly shows online, but I haven’t found any.