Daniel Bryan’s resume is cluttered with championships from both WWE and ROH. But the “American Dragon” will tell you if not for his early success in the business, being the “Founding Father” of ROH or one of the most popular competitors on the grandest stage could not be possible. Spending time on the independent circuit helped make him the crowd favourite that he is today.
Bryan won two PWG World Championships, the FIP Heavyweight Championship, and the wXw World Heavyweight Championship while preparing for his eventual jump to the big leagues.
Bryan is not alone. Seth Rollins, CM Punk and AJ Styles all cut their teeth in smaller outfits, taking their bumps and learning their craft. This “minor league” preparation can be attributed to their success as well. And for those who are now competing in small venues, making little cash and praying to the wrestling gods that their day will come, these examples are what drive them to reach for even bigger goals.
Because of a lack of competition, smaller promotions are coming up big these days, drawing in fans in cult-like fashion. Aided by the Internet and word of mouth, wrestlers are scouted heavily, fans can tell you what makes their local indy favorite so great. Before long, independent wrestling will be bigger than it already it. Here are five reasons why.
Living the Dream
It’s the story we all hear. A big wrestling fan grows up watching the likes Eddie Guerrero or Mick Foley and knows this is what they have to do with their lives. They watch and work at it, stage matches in their backyards and send tapes of their matches and their work to promoters across the globe. Suddenly, someone takes a chance on them.
The rest is history.
This was the path Foley took. This was the path Roddy Piper took decades ago. As soon as someone is interested in a neophyte, the word catches like wildfire and others have to take their shot as well. The dream sequence is the greatest grapevine of hope these youngsters have to becoming the stars they hope to finally be.
More opportunity for women
The work of Charlotte, Sasha Banks and Gail Kim are only small samples of the women’s wrestling scene. There are hundreds of women who are living their dreams in independent promotions across the United States and the globe. Those numbers will increase as the these small promotions continue to grow.
Before long, there should be an increase in women on main rosters, more air time for them on mainstream programing, better storylines and dare I say, potential for more pay-per-views geared toward them, exclusively.
While women are a valuable asset to promotions, they aren’t being properly booked and promoted. Once these smaller outfits figure out how to better their product in the women’s division, there should be more females jumping into a ring to prove they can make it happen on a nightly basis.
The Non-Commitment
There is a reason they are called independent wrestlers and promotions. Indie wrestling contracts aren’t as ironclad as the ones in WWE or even TNA. Oddly enough, it was the same way in the NWA years back. Wrestlers today can appear in one promotion, one night and by the end of the week be a main event star in another.
This is certainly how guys and girls make a name for themselves on the independent scene. The more exposure they receive the better.
The way to build a following is to move from promotion to promotion. Fans tend to follow competitors these days more than they did follow different brands. If you are good enough and have a gimmick that everyone enjoys, the fans will move along with you.
While bigger stars in the past move from promotion to promotion, it was done so out of an agreement between the promoters. Nowadays, someone might work three or four promotions in a month to gain experience and notoriety.
A Different Type of Wrestling
There is an understanding as you all know that wrestling is scripted. There is a predetermined winner and loser. There is a discussion of what is to be done in a time limit, how the ending takes place, etc. In independent wrestling, there are more risks taken. There are more challenges, but wrestlers have a style that in most cases, appears to be more fearless than WWE. Vince McMahon’s outfit is a more controlled environment. Would wrestlers like Drew Gulak and Will Ospreay take the same chances in WWE as they do now on the independent circuit?
Maybe it has something to do with the notion many of these performers are trying to get noticed, make a name for themselves, so they take more risks. There is still a great chance of injury in the bigger companies, but performers are essentially going for broke in independent scene.
Those Before Them
.
There is a legacy that has been laid down by those who have already been there. Just look at the wrestlers who have main-evented at WrestleMania. Rollins stole the show in 2015. Daniel Bryan owned it in 2014. AJ Styles appeared in his first Wrestlemania this year. Those images make an impact, and show that anyone can make it to the WWE if they’re good enough.
The same way promotions like ECW and NJPW have been key in the development of stars who become the best in the business, there is a legacy that has been created by those who have moved on.
It continues to be a cycle of success that expands and gets bigger with each name winning on the next level. Who becomes the next big thing? Which worker today wins major title five years from now?
Like any promotion, success is built on the success of others.
