10 Alarming Signs Over The Future Of The Pro Wrestling Industry
8. The Indies Are Struggling
Who is the next must-see sensation currently tearing up the independent circuit?
The talent is there, but the buzz isn't; even before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, the underground hipster appeal of the scene had been tarnished, since much of it - across PWG (the Young Bucks), the comedy irony genre (Orange Cassidy) and the latest talent wave (MJF, Darby Allin) - made its major label debut on AEW TV.
This was a more than welcome development - it was thrilling watching emerging talent not be patronised by an oppressive system that barely recognised such talent and often only signed it out of panicked greed - but the effect on the proving ground was suboptimal. Then, a convergence of factors dragged the scene down to its lowest level all century.
PWG changed its residency, and some of the charm was lost in addition to its identity and USP. BritWres is dead. Thank you Triple H and William Regal (and the sex offenders, of course!). Then GCW disappeared up its own arse by extending novelty matches to 35 minutes and, in a bid to break big, received a harsh lesson in politicking by J E Double F, Haha, J A Double R E Double T. Defy is on the radar, with its bold and thrilling introduction of Nick Wayne, but again: the market barely exists now. The conversation about emerging talent is almost exclusive to AEW.
WWE received a lot of flak when signing generations of talent in a state of panic at an emerging scene, but are AEW guilty of almost the same thing under a different, noble failure of a motive?
Wheeler YUTA and Daniel Garcia aren't floundering, but it would be naive to suggest that they are anywhere near the position AEW indicated they would be in earlier this year.