By Aaron Zaremski
Do you like beer?
I mean, everybody loves beer.
But what kind of beer do you drink?
Do you just drink Budweiser?
I mean, sure, Budweiser is great. It is an American institution. It is brilliantly marketed, it is mainstream, and it appeals to everyone and has been around forever.
Admit it… It kind of tastes watered down after awhile.
It is okay to admit that fact, especially if that is the only beer you drink.
That is why you have that beer snob friend, who can give you a taste of what is out there, besides Budweiser.
For instance, have you ever tried an IPA from Pennsylvania, this odd microbrew from California?
Oh, surely you must have heard about this well aged sake from Japan.
Or even this strong ale from Britain.
No?
You must just like World Wrestling Entertainment, then.
Because while the current WWE product has been critiqued for becoming “boring” since the Attitude Era of the late 1990s, the emergence of independent wrestling- more affectionately known as indie wrestling- has become more and more popular across the globe.
Indie wrestling, was once considered the obituary portion of a wrestler’s career, where they laced up their boots in the cafeteria of a swap meet, came out to their copyrighted WWF theme and faced-off against dollar store knock-offs of WWF superstars, like The Boulder, or Cain.
Now, in a savvy reversal, the back-drop to the ending of wrestler’s career has become the beginning of their journey.
WWE main roster stalwarts like Rollins, Ambrose, Styles, Zayn, Owens, Bryan, Cesaro, Samoa Joe, Bálor, et al. have gotten their breaks on the independent wrestling circuit within the last 15 years.
That is due, in part, to the more progressive and innovative booking style styles of promoters of these companies, providing those aforementioned grapplers the ability to apply their craft, gain internet and mainstream exposure and sell-out arenas, all before stepping foot in a WWE ring.
Regretting just drinking Budweiser, eh?
Fear not! I am extending my hand and offering to tag you into the ever important, ever evolving world of indie wrestling and getting you drunk on the intimacy, pageantry and lunacy of it all.
So come with me and drink it in…. Man.
The Bullet Club
First things first, you are probably wondering, “Why are all these people wearing Bullet Club shirts?”
Well, that is because the Bullet Club is possibly, the hottest thing in professional wrestling today.
The Bullet Club was created in New Japan Pro Wrestling- think WWE, but the Japanese equivalent- and has seen subtle tweaks to their faction since 2013. Not to bore you with timelines, heel turns and too sweets, just know that the Bullet Club is cool.
Like, New World Order in 1997 cool.
But unlike the nWo, which quickly became bloated with over-paid and over-the-hill wrestlers, the Bullet Club has snatched the biggest, youngest and brightest names in the business throughout their existence.
The reason why I start with explaining the Bullet Club, before any actual promotion, is because the Bullet Club is literally everywhere, even the WWE with Gallows and Anderson and their sort of partner, A.J. Styles.
The Club…
The (Bullet) Club…
Just like Cena, existing copyrights always win.
New Japan Pro Wrestling
Nevertheless, there is no better international wrestling company to start with than the Bullet Club’s home base, New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW).
It is kind of insulting to call a wrestling company that has been around since 1972 an “indie fed” but NJPW has shifted from being a place for hard-hitting, casted off American behemoths like Vader, Steve Williams and Gary Albright, to showcase of some the best international wrestling talent today.
In fact, that hard hitting style has been popularized through NJPW’s greatest export, Shinsuke Nakamamura.
After all, he is the king of it.
That is, of course, the “strong” style.
It once was traditionally known as the “shoot” style, meaning that matches consisted of stiffer kicks, holds and punches, similar to what you would see in an MMA fight.
Right now, “the Cleaner” Kenny Omega (ironically the leader of the Bullet Club) is one the top gaijin- meaning foreign- wrestlers in the company and is entrenched in a truly fantastic feud against the company’s main champ, Kazuchika Okada.
Two of their most recent showdowns garnered the highest match ratings that Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer has ever given.
Yes, they were that damn good.
New Japan is also home to the Best of the Super Juniors (cruiserweight) and G1 Climax tournament, which are both held every year, and have become a destination for all wrestlers who want to prove that they are the best non-WWE contracted wrestlers in the entire world.
The G1 tournament is equal parts March Madness, the Royal Rumble and Money in the Bank, in that New Japan uses this tournament to pick their next “guy” in the company.
In fact, three of the four most recent winners (Tetsuya Naito, Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi) all held or went on to become the IWGP heavyweight champion.
NJPW has been slowly branching into the Western market, with the WWE Network-esque streaming service, NJPWWorld.com and they held their first shows on United States soil this summer.
Besides that, their biggest exposure has been through their working agreement with Ring of Honor.
Ring of Honor Wrestling
One of the most prominent branches connecting Ring of Honor and New Japan has been the tag-team of brothers Nick Jackson and Matt Jackson, better known as the Young Bucks.
The Bucks currently hold the ROH tag-team titles, as well as the IWGP Junior Heavyweight tag belts in New Japan.
They are, you guessed it, also members of the Bullet Club.
See, you are catching on!
How does that new beer taste?
They also blend the Japanese style with American wrestling and old school with new school, all the while, wrestling purists claim that they are, “Killing the business!”
The best way to explain to explain ROH to someone is comparing the company to when your dad talks to you about seeing KISS in their prime.
Sure, they claim to be the best in the world now, and have claimed that for awhile, but he saw them back when they were in their prime, releasing hit after hit.
Now, they are still KISS and will always be KISS, but they are a little older, slower, and play just their hits because they know that will get the most cheers.
Since their inception in 2002, ROH has been the first major promotion that the likes of C.M. Punk, Daniel Bryan, Samoa Joe, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Austin Aries, Roderick Strong and many others competed in.
Matches that are main events on WWE programming have happened three, four times already in ROH.
Or in Zayn and Owens’ case, they have and will be fighting forever.
Ring of Honor is essentially the best parts of ECW: strong storylines, young talent hungry to make a name for themselves, veterans not afraid to put guys over, and constantly putting the fans first.
Basically, Ring of Honor in 2002-2007 is NXT, right now.
But just as WCW raided ECW for talent in the late-90’s, ROH has dealt with WWE, TNA and NJPW taking talent from them.
For every Rollins, Cesaro, or Owens, ROH has created a Jay Lethal, Dalton Castle, the Briscoe Brothers, Marty Scrull.
This Philadelphia based promotion has always taken pride in the “code of honor” a handshake that starts each match, which is a symbol that the wrestlers will leave everything in the squared circle.
Many ROH wrestlers have found themselves traveling across the country to a little indie fed in California that come into existence just one year after ROH, and has been putting on some of the best matches in North America.
In fact, last year, Dave Meltzer, deemed Pro Wrestling Guerilla the best professional wrestling in North America.
Pro Wrestling Guerilla
PWG can best be described as ROH’s younger and more rebellious brother.
Every year, PWG holds one of the most prominent North American tournaments on the indie wrestling scene today.
That tournament is the Battle of Los Angeles.
BoLA is used much in the same fashion as New Japan uses the G1 Climax. They use it to crown the symbolic “king of the indies” every year.
2016's winner was "the Villain" Marty Scrull...
Who is, of course, a member of the Bullet Club.
Since the inception of the tournament in 2005, the list of participants reads like the current roster for WWE, NXT, NJPW, TNA/GFW or ROH.
The biggest name might be the current and hottest free agent in wrestling, Adam Cole.
Excuse me, Adam Cole… BAY-BAY.
Cole is a three-time ROH World Champ, a former and the longest reigning PWG champ and the 2010 BoLA winner.
All the while he has been a member of the Bullet Club, in tag-teams with the likes of Kyle O’Reilly and others and apart of “the Mount Rushmore of Wrestling” alongside Kevin Steen (Owens) and the Young Bucks.
British Independent Scene
And while Adam Cole has been well traveled in the United States, indie wrestling has found its way across the pond, landing in Great Britain, introducing the wrestling world to a new term: British Strongstyle.
If you are not feeling drunk yet on all of this new wrestling, the hard-hitting style of British wrestling will get your head feeling fuzzy than pounding down a few Newcastle Ales.
This movement has been aided by the likes of current NXT Superstar Aleister Black and the rest of the WWE UK Tournament that was held in 2016 that introduced the new United Kingdom Title that is currently held by Pete Dunne.
Think of the UK wrestling scene much like the British Invasion of pop music in the 1960s. Right now, any promotion like 5 Star Wrestling, PROGRESS Wrestling, Revolution Pro Wrestling can be compared to the many bands that the Brit-Pop scene produced.
It is only a matter of time until they come to America and take over; much like New Japan is beginning to.
There is more to be said about the independent wrestling scene on this crazy marble we call Earth.
And I will definitely touch more on other promotions, wrestlers, angles and history here on BTTR.
But for now, hopefully this crash-course will get you drinking something else besides Budweiser…
BAY-BAY!
Do you like beer?
I mean, everybody loves beer.
But what kind of beer do you drink?
Do you just drink Budweiser?
I mean, sure, Budweiser is great. It is an American institution. It is brilliantly marketed, it is mainstream, and it appeals to everyone and has been around forever.
Admit it… It kind of tastes watered down after awhile.
It is okay to admit that fact, especially if that is the only beer you drink.
That is why you have that beer snob friend, who can give you a taste of what is out there, besides Budweiser.
For instance, have you ever tried an IPA from Pennsylvania, this odd microbrew from California?
Oh, surely you must have heard about this well aged sake from Japan.
Or even this strong ale from Britain.
No?
You must just like World Wrestling Entertainment, then.
Because while the current WWE product has been critiqued for becoming “boring” since the Attitude Era of the late 1990s, the emergence of independent wrestling- more affectionately known as indie wrestling- has become more and more popular across the globe.
Indie wrestling, was once considered the obituary portion of a wrestler’s career, where they laced up their boots in the cafeteria of a swap meet, came out to their copyrighted WWF theme and faced-off against dollar store knock-offs of WWF superstars, like The Boulder, or Cain.
Now, in a savvy reversal, the back-drop to the ending of wrestler’s career has become the beginning of their journey.
WWE main roster stalwarts like Rollins, Ambrose, Styles, Zayn, Owens, Bryan, Cesaro, Samoa Joe, Bálor, et al. have gotten their breaks on the independent wrestling circuit within the last 15 years.
That is due, in part, to the more progressive and innovative booking style styles of promoters of these companies, providing those aforementioned grapplers the ability to apply their craft, gain internet and mainstream exposure and sell-out arenas, all before stepping foot in a WWE ring.
Regretting just drinking Budweiser, eh?
Fear not! I am extending my hand and offering to tag you into the ever important, ever evolving world of indie wrestling and getting you drunk on the intimacy, pageantry and lunacy of it all.
So come with me and drink it in…. Man.
The Bullet Club
First things first, you are probably wondering, “Why are all these people wearing Bullet Club shirts?”
Well, that is because the Bullet Club is possibly, the hottest thing in professional wrestling today.
The Bullet Club was created in New Japan Pro Wrestling- think WWE, but the Japanese equivalent- and has seen subtle tweaks to their faction since 2013. Not to bore you with timelines, heel turns and too sweets, just know that the Bullet Club is cool.
Like, New World Order in 1997 cool.
But unlike the nWo, which quickly became bloated with over-paid and over-the-hill wrestlers, the Bullet Club has snatched the biggest, youngest and brightest names in the business throughout their existence.
The reason why I start with explaining the Bullet Club, before any actual promotion, is because the Bullet Club is literally everywhere, even the WWE with Gallows and Anderson and their sort of partner, A.J. Styles.
The Club…
The (Bullet) Club…
Just like Cena, existing copyrights always win.
New Japan Pro Wrestling
Nevertheless, there is no better international wrestling company to start with than the Bullet Club’s home base, New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW).
It is kind of insulting to call a wrestling company that has been around since 1972 an “indie fed” but NJPW has shifted from being a place for hard-hitting, casted off American behemoths like Vader, Steve Williams and Gary Albright, to showcase of some the best international wrestling talent today.
In fact, that hard hitting style has been popularized through NJPW’s greatest export, Shinsuke Nakamamura.
After all, he is the king of it.
That is, of course, the “strong” style.
It once was traditionally known as the “shoot” style, meaning that matches consisted of stiffer kicks, holds and punches, similar to what you would see in an MMA fight.
Right now, “the Cleaner” Kenny Omega (ironically the leader of the Bullet Club) is one the top gaijin- meaning foreign- wrestlers in the company and is entrenched in a truly fantastic feud against the company’s main champ, Kazuchika Okada.
Two of their most recent showdowns garnered the highest match ratings that Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer has ever given.
Yes, they were that damn good.
New Japan is also home to the Best of the Super Juniors (cruiserweight) and G1 Climax tournament, which are both held every year, and have become a destination for all wrestlers who want to prove that they are the best non-WWE contracted wrestlers in the entire world.
The G1 tournament is equal parts March Madness, the Royal Rumble and Money in the Bank, in that New Japan uses this tournament to pick their next “guy” in the company.
In fact, three of the four most recent winners (Tetsuya Naito, Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi) all held or went on to become the IWGP heavyweight champion.
NJPW has been slowly branching into the Western market, with the WWE Network-esque streaming service, NJPWWorld.com and they held their first shows on United States soil this summer.
Besides that, their biggest exposure has been through their working agreement with Ring of Honor.
Ring of Honor Wrestling
One of the most prominent branches connecting Ring of Honor and New Japan has been the tag-team of brothers Nick Jackson and Matt Jackson, better known as the Young Bucks.
The Bucks currently hold the ROH tag-team titles, as well as the IWGP Junior Heavyweight tag belts in New Japan.
They are, you guessed it, also members of the Bullet Club.
See, you are catching on!
How does that new beer taste?
They also blend the Japanese style with American wrestling and old school with new school, all the while, wrestling purists claim that they are, “Killing the business!”
The best way to explain to explain ROH to someone is comparing the company to when your dad talks to you about seeing KISS in their prime.
Sure, they claim to be the best in the world now, and have claimed that for awhile, but he saw them back when they were in their prime, releasing hit after hit.
Now, they are still KISS and will always be KISS, but they are a little older, slower, and play just their hits because they know that will get the most cheers.
Since their inception in 2002, ROH has been the first major promotion that the likes of C.M. Punk, Daniel Bryan, Samoa Joe, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Austin Aries, Roderick Strong and many others competed in.
Matches that are main events on WWE programming have happened three, four times already in ROH.
Or in Zayn and Owens’ case, they have and will be fighting forever.
Ring of Honor is essentially the best parts of ECW: strong storylines, young talent hungry to make a name for themselves, veterans not afraid to put guys over, and constantly putting the fans first.
Basically, Ring of Honor in 2002-2007 is NXT, right now.
But just as WCW raided ECW for talent in the late-90’s, ROH has dealt with WWE, TNA and NJPW taking talent from them.
For every Rollins, Cesaro, or Owens, ROH has created a Jay Lethal, Dalton Castle, the Briscoe Brothers, Marty Scrull.
This Philadelphia based promotion has always taken pride in the “code of honor” a handshake that starts each match, which is a symbol that the wrestlers will leave everything in the squared circle.
Many ROH wrestlers have found themselves traveling across the country to a little indie fed in California that come into existence just one year after ROH, and has been putting on some of the best matches in North America.
In fact, last year, Dave Meltzer, deemed Pro Wrestling Guerilla the best professional wrestling in North America.
Pro Wrestling Guerilla
PWG can best be described as ROH’s younger and more rebellious brother.
Every year, PWG holds one of the most prominent North American tournaments on the indie wrestling scene today.
That tournament is the Battle of Los Angeles.
BoLA is used much in the same fashion as New Japan uses the G1 Climax. They use it to crown the symbolic “king of the indies” every year.
2016's winner was "the Villain" Marty Scrull...
Who is, of course, a member of the Bullet Club.
Since the inception of the tournament in 2005, the list of participants reads like the current roster for WWE, NXT, NJPW, TNA/GFW or ROH.
The biggest name might be the current and hottest free agent in wrestling, Adam Cole.
Excuse me, Adam Cole… BAY-BAY.
Cole is a three-time ROH World Champ, a former and the longest reigning PWG champ and the 2010 BoLA winner.
All the while he has been a member of the Bullet Club, in tag-teams with the likes of Kyle O’Reilly and others and apart of “the Mount Rushmore of Wrestling” alongside Kevin Steen (Owens) and the Young Bucks.
British Independent Scene
And while Adam Cole has been well traveled in the United States, indie wrestling has found its way across the pond, landing in Great Britain, introducing the wrestling world to a new term: British Strongstyle.
If you are not feeling drunk yet on all of this new wrestling, the hard-hitting style of British wrestling will get your head feeling fuzzy than pounding down a few Newcastle Ales.
This movement has been aided by the likes of current NXT Superstar Aleister Black and the rest of the WWE UK Tournament that was held in 2016 that introduced the new United Kingdom Title that is currently held by Pete Dunne.
Think of the UK wrestling scene much like the British Invasion of pop music in the 1960s. Right now, any promotion like 5 Star Wrestling, PROGRESS Wrestling, Revolution Pro Wrestling can be compared to the many bands that the Brit-Pop scene produced.
It is only a matter of time until they come to America and take over; much like New Japan is beginning to.
There is more to be said about the independent wrestling scene on this crazy marble we call Earth.
And I will definitely touch more on other promotions, wrestlers, angles and history here on BTTR.
But for now, hopefully this crash-course will get you drinking something else besides Budweiser…
BAY-BAY!
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