The pro wrestling conversation on social media usually ranges from hotly contested debates between which company is better, WWE or AEW, fans complaining about the way their favorite wrestler is booked or there being too many commercials on TV. OK, maybe the last one is just me tweeting into the void.
Regardless, there was a lot of chatter online about independent wrestling being “dead.” The noise around the notion appeared to spark when Produce Wrestling and Absolute Intense Wrestling (AIW) announced hiatuses for different reasons for the end of the year. For what it’s worth, Produce already has a show booked for Feb. 25.
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OutKick Dropkick has put the spotlight on several independent shows this year with a few different promotions, including Pandemonium Pro Wrestling, Awesome Championship Wrestling, Produce Wrestling, Gamechanger Wrestling, Fight Factory Wrestling and others. So, as social media wrote an obituary for the indies, OutKick Dropkick made its way to Middletown, New Jersey, on Friday night to take in Fight Factory’s No Thanks Given and to see whether the vibes would be more of a concert or a wake. It didn’t disappoint.
Ben Bishop, who made a surprise appearance at Total Nonstop Action Wrestling’s (TNA) Bound for Glory pay-per-view assembled a team for an elimination eight-person tag team match against MADE. Richard Holliday, Jack Vaughn and Madisyn Maxwell went up against Made. Kristin Blaze then defeated Rachel Ley in a preview of what women’s wrestling may look like in the future. Even WWE Hall of Famer Arn Anderson showed up to support his sons as they took on Sent 2 Salute.
The main event featured a no holds barred match between TNA star KC Navarro and Steve Gibki for the latter’s openweight championship. The match ended with Gibki spearing Navarro through a table and putting his opponent in the Hell Hammer for the win.
The show was held at the Middletown Sports Complex, which is not a large venue by any means. But pro wrestling fans still showed up to fill the available seats. Most lasted through the chilly conditions since the event took place on a literal ice rink, which is also the home of the North American Hockey League’s New Jersey Titans.
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There certainly was no funeral for independent wrestling. In fact, attendees were actively engaged in the sport that was happening in and outside of the ring.
OutKick Dropkick asked Bishop whether he believed the indies were dead.
“I mean, look at it, look at it here. In Middletown, New Jersey, on a Friday night, you could be doing anything,” Bishop said. “We’re close to (New York City). There’s a ton of things you can do. We got about 300, almost 400-plus here in Middletown, New Jersey, here at Fight Factory. You can thank me for the house. So yeah, this whole notion, indies are dead, all that stuff, it’s just words, it’s just noise. It comes up every few months. Everyone wants to pretend that they think that when they were wrestling on the indies, it was so much better. It is what it is. Things evolve, things change. I believe that indie wrestling is alive and well.”
Bishop is right.
Anyone who was in the facility on Friday night could have been doing anything else. WWE’s “Friday Night SmackDown” was on TV, “World of Warcraft’s” new game just dropped, there was basketball and hockey going on at the same time.
And maybe you don’t know who Ben Bishop is. Maybe you didn’t see his “curtain call” with Holliday, Vaughn and Tommy Invincible at War on the Shore 3 that had social media talking over the summer. And all of that is OK.
OutKick Dropkick asked Killer Kross his thoughts about the same notion. Kross works for a big-time company in Major League Wrestling, which has multiple media rights deals and partnerships with CMLL and New Japan Pro-Wrestling. However, he’s gone on his own tours in the U.S. and abroad for promotions big and small.
Kross said he wasn’t necessarily plugged into the conversation but suggested that the attendance at independent events undercut the notion that independent wrestling is dying.
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“No, that’s hilarious to me,” he said. “These are people who don’t attend indies that are saying that, and I don’t even think they’re saying it to be malicious. I think they’re just innocently saying it because You know, when, when you’re a young adult and you have a very busy life, if you’re not paying attention to something, or like you’re not paying attention to the big main thing that everybody’s paying attention to, then you innocently will think that it’s not important cause it doesn’t have your attention.
“But when you go to an independent show where there’s 2,000-3000 people there, That kind of speaks for itself. I don’t get involved with neurotic conversations online. You know what I mean? And it’s OK. Anyone can express their opinion about anything they want. I don’t get hung up on that, but like … I don’t know, I’m not emotionally prone to these types of conversations. Some people are like, ‘Well, I gotta drop everything I’m doing and respond.’ I’m like, I don’t have the time. I don’t have the time.”
Pro wrestlers who aren’t exclusively signed to the major corporate companies are working their tails off to make a living in their sport and to put on a good show for those who do come out and see them.
Not every venue is going to be Allegiant Stadium or Wembley Stadium. The pro wrestlers who work these shows know that and work together to put on the best matches they can to keep the fans coming back for more.
Is independent wrestling dying? No chance.