Welcome to the Experience

I started watching professional wrestling on October 31, 1985. My parents let me stay up late on Halloween night and I stumbled across Saturday Night’s Main Event. Ricky Steamboat was doing the coolest, martial arts-inspired moves in the ring. I copied them for a week. As Wrestlemania II drew nearer, I began watching the WWF shows every week. 

It was not long before I began hearing about, and becoming interested in, other options in the world of professional wrestling. I discovered Mid-South/UWF, World Class, NWA/Jim Crockett, AWA, and even GLOW on syndicated local broadcasts. Soon, I was watching them all religiously. At the same time, Pro Wrestling Illustrated and the other magazines exposed me to other promotions that I could not see on television such as Pacific Northwest/Portland, Continental, Central States, and World Wrestling Council. 

When I was fourteen, my father banned professional wrestling from the house, just because I kicked the tiniest hole in the wall trying to suplex my little brother on my parents’ bed. As a result, I stopped watching wrestling, I was not allowed to read the magazines, and the interest slowly faded.

Over twenty years later, I heard something about Sting coming to the WWE. It caught my ear like few things in the world of wrestling news could at that point. I mean, Sting to the WWE was a hypothetical that was being discussed when I watched wrestling in the 1980s. Could it really be? Is Sting still around in the first place? Turns out, he was still around. Sting made his WWE debut at Survivor Series 2014. I watched the clip of his return on YouTube and, before long, I was back to watching the WWE product every week. 

Shortly thereafter, I again started looking at other options besides WWE. Quickly, I found TNA/IMPACT and Ring of Honor, but I still knew very little of independent wrestling. In 2018, I finally decided to check out the wrestling show at the local firehouse that I had heard about for years but disregarded as too “small-time.” That show was put on by MCW (formerly Maryland Championship Wrestling) and I could not have been more wrong. 

The show started with a 20 man battle royal with guys flying over the top rope and in my general direction. I had never been that close to the action in my life. When I was a kid going to the WWF Capital Centre shows, I was lucky to get close enough to reach over the rail in a futile attempt to get a high-five from the wrestlers. Now, I was just a few feet away from the guardrail these guys are crashing into with regularity. 

To my surprise, during the intermission, many of the wrestlers were out on the floor interacting with fans. This was something else I never had experience with. There they were, taking photos, signing autographs, and just hanging out with the fans! I quickly realized that this personal connection and interaction between the fans and the performers is one of the best things about independent wrestling. 

There is a wealth of information about independent wrestling on the internet. Some promotions have their own streaming services. Others are bundled together on IWTV or WWN for viewing anytime. As great as it is to have the ability to watch these shows when you can’t be in attendance, there is NOTHING like being there live. Unfortunately, since you can just watch these events on demand, very few people take the time to review the live experience from the perspective of a wrestling fan attending their first show at a particular indy promotion. Each promotion is unique. They put on shows in various types of venues, offer many styles of matches, and cater to different types of fans. 

With this blog, I hope to give wrestling fans insight into each of these promotions as I visit them one by one and review a live event. If you have considered going to a live show at a new promotion, but decided against it because you were not sure if you would have a good time, these event reviews are for you. If you have ever wondered if the local wrestling promotion puts on a show that is entertaining and affordable for the whole family, this blog is for you. 

Conversely, this blog is probably not for you if you are looking for inside information about “the business” or the use of behind-the-scenes, industry terms. In fact, I will not give too much of my opinion or make many comments about the promotion itself. The match reviews will not discuss things like “work rate” or provide any type of analysis of the performance of the wrestlers. 

This blog is about documenting my experiences with the promotions and at the events. At its heart, it’s meant to act as a journal I keep as I embark on this journey of seeing a show at every promotion in the United States. In sharing this journal with you, I will provide information about the cost of tickets, merchandise, and concessions. I will provide you with venue and parking information, as well as local and venue COVID-19 rules and restrictions, when possible. And, of course, I will provide a summary of the matches with results. 

My plan is to review the events from the perspective of a new fan to the promotion. In the match reviews, I will tell you what I saw and heard at the event without much in the way of historical context. For that, I will give you links to the promotions website/social media and recommend you learn as much as you can, if you are interested. 

I mean, that’s the point, right? If you’ve never been to a live independent wresting event, check out my review. If it sounds interesting, engage with the promotion, learn all you want, and GO TO A SHOW. I am telling you, no matter which promotion you choose, you will not be sorry.

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