Independent Wrestling is probably the greatest thing that ever happened to me

Hey all,

If you were to ask people who liked/grew up with wrestling before why they stopped watching the usual answer is because it got boring. After the merger between World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation now World Wrestling Entertainment there wasn’t an alternative that was exposed to fans. There wasn’t a big battle between two major companies. So either you liked the WWE or you didn’t and stopped watching. But there has always been an alternative. Something that isn’t televised but has great wrestling, awesome talents, and cool fans and that is Independent Wrestling. Just like music, wrestling also has an independent side to it. A side that show the talents of a large number of athletes that put their all into their matches. Blood, sweat and tears and you may be wondering why they do it. The reason they do it is for the passion.

My relationship with Independent Wrestling started when came across a podcast called The Art of Wrestling podcast created by professional wrestler Colt Cabana created in 2010 shortly after his release from the WWE. 

Before podcasts were popular as they are now Colt Cabana had the idea of starting a podcast where he could relax and talk to his friends about the life of a professional wrestler. Ever since I can remember I have been reading biographies about wrestlers and wanting to learn more so when I discovered Colt Cabana’s podcast I was excited to learn about wrestlers that I knew of/heard of. The conversations were fun and interesting so I got more invested and started listening to the stories of wrestlers I hadn’t heard of that were wrestling on the independent circuit. Every story was unique and that podcast helped me pass time on public transportation. I got to learn the stories and struggles of individuals. I discovered that going to the WWE was the dream of only some of the wrestlers not all of them. A large number of wrestlers wanted to wrestle in Japan. I didn’t know a lot about wrestling in Japan, but I wanted to know why wrestlers wanted to go there instead of the bright lights of the largest sports entertainment (wrestling) company in the world. As I did my research I discover new talents and new talents I never saw in the WWE. I was amazed at such wrestlers like Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Hiroshi Tanahashi and my personal favourite Kenny Omega. Kenny Omega holds a special place in my heart and its not only because he is a fellow Canadian but because he had a one on one match with a 11 year old female child and it was amazing. 

I got to learn about so many new people but it got to the point where learn wasn’t enough I wanted to watch them live so I looked for some Independent companies in the Toronto area to see world class athletics and I was able to stumbles upon Smash Wrestling thanks to James Kee who is the managing director of Smash. He told me about their next show and I was super excited to go to it. And it was an amazing experience that I attended the one after that and it did not disappoint. It’s safe to say I got invested in the Toronto independent circuit.

That was December, 13th, 2013; it’s almost been 2 years since my first independent show. Since then I have attended 9 independent shows, got to meet multiple wrestlers that I admire and got to enjoy countless matches with a crowd that was as invested as I was. I found out that wrestlers on the independent circuit are really awesome people when you meet them (you may need to watch out if they are on little to no sleep) but other than that you should be good.

On November, 15th I will be going to Hamilton for an event hosted by Alpha One Wrestling that features the man that got be invested to Independent Wrestling Mr. Colt Cabana himself. Super excited about that because I will get to thank him in person for changing my life.

This is the end of this week entry. Everyone who reads this should find their local independent companies and attend a show or two. You might have an awesome time. (You probably will have an awesome time).

I wanted to thank a few people here. Wrestlers who I’d met and were super cool and nice people.

The Young Bucks, Kevin Owens/Steen, Ethan Page, RJ City, Kyle O’Reilly, Tommaso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano,  Drew Gulak, Rich Swann and Tommy Dreamer.

Superstar of The Week: WWE Superstar The Miz

Today's superstar of the week is WWE's The Miz. The reality star who became the WWE world champion. 

I understand some people don't like the Miz because of his reality star past. But think about it, he is an entertainer. It is what he is paid to do and a damn good one at that. I mean in wrestling it is important to have your good guys (babyfaces) to love and bad guys (heels) for fans to hate. And The Miz gets the fans to boo. Sometimes it's because of what he says and sometimes it's because of his face alone makes fans boo.  Not a lot of people can get that reaction out of the fans in the modern day of wrestling. But no matter how you feel about him you have to give him respect because he has given us a lot of good stuff over the past few years. He hasn't done it alone. With John Morrison, we got "The greatest Tag Team of the 21st Century *Insert head tilts here* we got a great tag team when new tag teams weren't really there. 

I mean you had the Hardys and DX with whom Miz and Morrison had great matches with but we also got something that wasn't done before but since has grown to be one of WWE's main features. I am talking about web shows and yes I'm talking about The Dirt Sheet. That show complimented both Miz and Morrison in a great way and it did it without having them on TV which sometimes isn't always a bad thing. I mean on the show they got to showcase their creativity and develop their characters. After the greatest tag team of the 21 century was forced to disband, he joined Big Show which was a great tag team as well for that time. And I know the theme song wasn't the best... (Jeri Show) was much better but what can you do). After this, we got to see The Miz get the spotlight as he won the WWE Championship.  That moment was great because people hated him it was great. I mean if you watch the video you can see the first row of people in shock over what happened. And you can also see one little girl not very happy about the outcome.

                               

But this moment was a dream come true for the kid who grew up running around his house like the Ultimate Warrior. You can read his lips as he says "I told you so" to all of his critics. In the later months, he was a great variable to make even the hardcore fans like John Cena because the fans hated the Miz so much. He was one of the if not the top heel during that time. With Alex Riley as his rookie, it was a great pairing. Then following the end of Miz and Riley and his reign as WWE champion came The Awesome Truth = Miz and R-Truth. On paper, it doesn't sound like the best team but just watch the aftermath of Hell in a Cell 2011 to see how much hate they had by the fans as they interrupted the main event and attacked all participates in the match. They had so much potential, but they lost to The Rock and John Cena and nothing really came from them after that (was that really need it). Next came a Intercontinental Title Run which made him the 25th Triple Crown Champion in WWE history and spending time with Ric Flair and stuff. Which wasn't memorable because The Miz we are used to the heel Miz who will make fun of the crowd and tells them to shut up. But lets pretend like it never happened.    

Now we are at the aftermath of Miz and Mizdow pairing which was one of most raved thing on television. People love Mizdow and that Niagara commercial with The Miz's facial reactions simply gold. We have a Miz who still makes people hate him whenever he comes out, but he has found a way to make the crowd boo loud and it is amazing. I hope the WWE gives him another opportunity to shine because I know he can take the ball and run with it. With his skills on the microphone, his wrestling but most importantly his reactions

 This is why WWE’s The Miz is Dragon Suplex Blog's Superstar of the Week.