Five years ago today, I sat down and wrote my first post, “Welcome to the Experience.” At that point, The Indy Wrestling Experience was just the beginning of a vision. It was to be the diary of a new independent wrestling fan, trying to see as many different wrestling shows by as many different promotions as possible. It would be reviews of shows, promotion profiles, pay-per-view reviews, and results, all things that I watched, attended or experienced myself.
The Indy Wrestling Experience was created as a guide to other independent wrestling fans who were thinking about attending an event at a new promotion, but were not sure which one fit their fandom the best. The Indy Wrestling Experience was designed to help spread the word and provide just one more place where promotions and performers could be profiled, highlighted, and recommended from someone who actually sat in the stands.
Along the way, although the mission remained the same, the methods began to change. I went to, and reviewed, over 100 shows from nearly forty different promotions, and wrote live reviews of weekly shows such as CCW Alive. As the amount of performers and promotions I met and learned about grew, the more I wanted to organize and review that data in a new way. I began creating spreadsheets containing information for over 1000 promotions, over 5000 performers, and IWTV’s entire catalog arranged in chronological order for people who like to watch things in order.
With that data, I began to perform analytics and used other methods to evaluate the patterns that began to appear. The first result of this change was the creation of the Indy Wrestling Experience monthly rankings. I started with the ten promotions about which I was most familiar and began to rank the top ten contenders for each company’s top championship.
Over the next twelve months, those ten promotions grew to over a hundred. Today, the rankings encompass over 160 promotions and nearly 2000 performers every month. All 2000 performers, including the ones in the power rankings, are linked to a match or some other content in which they are featured. Now, not only can you find 2000 wrestlers with the click of a button, but you can watch them in action with a second click. This led to the release of last year’s inaugural IWX Top 1000, Women’s 250, and Tag Team 400 lists which will continue to be released toward the end of each year. As a result, IWX has become the most comprehensive directory and discovery engine for current independent wrestling.
At the same time, I started The Indy Wrestling Experience podcast. It was fun to get on and talk about wrestling, but something still was not right. So, I reached out to my best friend of fifty years, Jon, about joining the podcast. That is when everything clicked. The Indy Wrestling Experience with Bob and Jon is now approaching its 100th episode and continues the original mission of helping people find wrestling. Each week we recommend wrestling on Youtube in our Watch This segment, we promote upcoming shows in our Control Center, and we play promos from the performers who will appear at those shows. We have been blessed to hear so many stories from the best guests anyone could ask for, as well.
What started as a blog and the journal of a superfan who documented every step of his journey through the indies, is now becoming an information resource for anyone within the independent wrestling scene, as well as the fans. Promoters can learn about and connect with new performers and fans can find new promotions and performers they may not have known about before. Through the rankings, we provide a wealth of information about the current state of independent wrestling. Through the podcast, we provide deeper analysis of the data, dive into the business decisions affecting the independent wrestling scene, and make recommendations to help people connect with new wrestling.
Over the next five years, we will continue to add new ways to provide information to fans, promoters and performers alike, through the podcast, the rankings, and many more new features that will provide analysis and discovery of the independent wrestling scene that you will not find anywhere else. When this all started, I began by welcoming you to the experience.
Today, I proudly say…
Welcome to IWX.
