Sadly, no article component this week due to ill health but I will share with you the next topic, due to recent changes to factions/units in New Japan, Dragon Gate and DDT, the piece will be focusing on the importance of these alliances in Puroresu. This week will be mainly results and news, so if […]

For this weeks edition, I’m going to look at what has been happening in Big Japan this year. Big Japan was founded in 1995 during the deathmatch boom by two AJPW alumni Shinya Kojika and Kengo Nagasaki. Nagasaki would leave in 1999 while Kojika remains to this day with the company as President, Eiji Tosaka […]

There will be results from today’s Dragon Gate ‘Gate of Origin’, some results from Noah’s ‘Global Junior League’ as well as the standings for Stardom’s 5 Star Grand Prix. So if you don’t wish to have results spoiled avoid reading the end which will begin at the end of the Takeda piece. For the purpose […]

Sorry, but I’m going to talk a little Pro Wrestling NOAH. Again. And while this current reign as GHC Heavyweight Champion is nowhere near eclipsing his first reign that lasted a staggering 581 days, this 4th reign as it hits 175 days, as of writing, it coincides with the story arc that is going on […]

Dragon Gate has been in transition since the departure of CIMA,T-Hawk, El Lindamann and Takehiro Yamamura to OWE in Shanghai, with CIMA operating as President of Dragon Gate International, later becoming known as Stronghearts in a sort of invasion of Wrestle-1. The new operating company of Dragon Gate itself would become Dragon Gate Entertainment. There was […]

Going forward, this will be a revamped version of Puroresu Weekly Recap, which will contain a brief opinion piece to accompany the news and schedule for a variety of Japanese Puroresu promotions. The opinion part of this column may or may not be current but will always be linked to Puro. This week, the spotlight […]

Since our son was born over a year ago, the kind of wrestling shows that my husband and I attend has changed. True, it hasn’t meant too much of a shift for us, as we’ve been fans of companies that run all-ages shows, like Attack! Pro Wrestling and Revolution Pro Wrestling, since before we became […]

Dear Kid Lykos ​As a child of the Attitude Era, it takes a lot for pro-wrestling to make me sad. But the news that a freak accident has put you on the sidelines again has hit me hard. And if you’d bear with me, I’d like to explain why. I had just been to the […]

Ever since then ITV executive Greg Dyke pulled the plug on World Of Sport in 1991 the British Wrestling scene has struggled for decades to A. Find a core audience and B. Find an identity. In the previous decades hundreds and sometimes thousands of people would regularly turn up to whatever televised event was being […]

Independent wrestling’s stallion is moving on to new ventures, so it seems. Matt Riddle, as every sign would indicate, looks to have signed with WWE and is expected to make his official debut with the company during SummerSlam weekend as part of the NXT brand. No doubt a blow to the indy scene. Riddle stood […]

Welcome to Get To Know In Three, an attempt at familiarizing fans with talented pro wrestlers in the independent circuit by giving three of their best or most relevant matches as examples and providing some quick facts! For the first go-round, the subject of the article will be Jordynne Grace, a young Texan who is […]

1. David Starr defeated Dalton Castle via submission 2. Rey Horus defeated PENTA El Zero M via pinfall following a sunset flip off the top rope 3. Jeff Cobb defeated Joey Janela via pinfall following Tour Of The Islands 4. PWG Tag Team Champions The Rascalz (Wentz/Xavier) defeated The Young Bucks to retain the titles […]

I’m a big fan of New Japan, while I wouldn’t say it’s my primary go to, as what I watch would vary depending on what is going on in Puroresu, like watching Champions Carnival over what NJPW were doing at the time etcetera but New Japan would make a sizeable portion of what I watch […]

Hello and welcome everyone to a special edition of Graps and Claps focusing on one of the biggest shows taking place in the North West of England this year – GPW’s 15th Anniversary on Saturday 14th July in the sleepy village of Hindley located only 35 minutes away from the centre of Manchester. Now in […]

Antonio Inoki vs Big Van Vader – 1987.12.27 While most know Vader from his stints in the WWF and WCW, in Japan one of the biggest foreign stars of the ’90s was the man known as Big Van Vader. A former NFL line backer, young Leon White was forced into retirement due to a knee […]

Welcome to Volume #2 of ‘Deep Cuts from NJPW World’. As I explained in the first instalment (which you can read here) this series aims to provide new and old fans alike with a more detailed look at some of the great matches you can find within the extensive NJPW World archive, as well as […]

Inspired by the recent  Independent Empire podcast right HERE where the Deathmatch scene and unprotected chairshots to the head. At the end of the day, professional wrestlers who do Deathmatch wrestling do it because they want to or they have a passion for it. I was a deathmatch fan long before I was a Puroresu man […]

I’m just going to state it now, I’m a massive Kenny Omega fan, if his glorious victory at Dominion in Osaka-Jo Hall wasn’t your cup of tea, this article is likely not going to be your liking. All that being said, it takes two to tango so to speak, unless it is in DDT which […]

The Dominion in Osaka events go back to 2009, while it has taken place in Osaka Jo-Hall since 2015. But this current card is stacked, featuring the debut of Rey Mysterio alongside New Japan legends in Liger and Tanahashi to take on a trio from Bullet Club. One of the greatest wrestlers of all time, […]

As news filters out that Io Shirai is indeed leaving World Wonder Ring Stardom to join the likes of Asuka and Kairi Sane in the ‘big league’ of WWE. While WWE is not to everyone’s liking, this has been a dream of Shirai’s, so a congratulations is in order and while the hope is things […]

When Jordan Devlin was announced for the second WWE UK Championship Tournament, Irish Wrestling fans everywhere rejoiced. The Bray native had spent the past year reinventing himself in preparation for a moment like this. Another chance to show the wrestling world exactly what he’s capable of on the biggest stage imaginable. His first foray into […]

It only existed for less than a year but now-defunct BritWres promotion Lucha Forever is still talked about with love and longing by fans and wrestlers alike. It can be revisited thanks to a number of shows availabe for viewing on PROGRESS Wrestling’s On Demand streaming service. Having been to one of their shows and […]

Greetings Grapple Fans! Welcome to the wrestling version of the Football Pink for a run down of the full time scores from PROGRESS Wrestling’s 1978 show hailing from the Electric Ballroom Civic Hall in leafy Camden Town on a reet busy market day with many a dawdler and busker in sight. An early start for […]

Welcome to the first instalment of ‘Deep Cuts from NJPW World’, where I’ll be highlighting a selection of matches from the extensive NJPW World archive – some famous, some obscure and all worth a watch for fans of NJPW, new and old alike. While the NJPW World archive is far from complete there are still […]

Following on from my “Best Of The Super Jr. 25” Block A preview,which can be found at HERE I will now be giving an in depth look in to Block B and it’s 8 competitors. The tournament gets underway this Coming Friday,May 18th kicking off with Block A action and Block B gets started the following […]

With excitement building towards 2 and a half weeks of some of the most athletic,high flying and intense action on the pro wrestling calendar I thought it would be a great time to break down the field of the 25th edition of New Japan Pro Wrestling “Best Of The Super Jr.”. This year’s tournament will […]

On June 11th, 2017, something unique in pro wrestling happened. In the main event of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s annaual Dominion event, a matchh between IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada and challenger Kenny Omega, the roles of protagonist and antagonist switched place mid match. Not just for the duration of their “six and a quarter […]

Yes guys, thanks to the people over at MLW and beIN Sports here we have a free match uploaded via YouTube of Shane ‘Swerve’ Strickland vs Matt Riddle for the MLW title. Be sure to follow MLW on twitter @MLW

As the Dream Tag Team Invitational approaches again, I decided to look back on my experience last year and my first experience with the British wrestling scene. I discovered Fight Club: PRO when they announced that The Elite would be appearing at this show. The show wasn’t too far away but I still debated whether […]

There are very few guarantees in life but one that is perhaps increasingly prevalent is upon expressing joy, excitement and love for something there will always be someone to point out that hey, that thing you love? It’s really not that good. This cropped up on Sunday night and Monday morning following the Strong Style […]

So it’s been a little over a week since I got back from wXw’s 16 Carat Gold weekend and I can still honestly say, with all the hype having somewhat died down, that it was one of the best experiences of my life, wrestling or otherwise. I had planned on reviewing each of the events […]

An article written in the hope that people finally realise that it’s ok to talk about depression and the effects that actions can have on people’s lives. ‘Where do you begin when you already feel so close to the end?’ This is what I will call : Step One into Depression – Trust and the […]

Picture Credit: The Dude Abides Photography on facebook People have the preconceived notion that wrestling is a blood sport, a sport where grown men and women beat each other up for money and the amusement of others. Well some do anyway. There are some people that believe women shouldn’t wrestle, because, women are meek and […]

One of my first thoughts when I found out I was pregnant – after the huge excitement and jackhammer fear – was ‘how many wrestling shows am I going to miss!?’ My husband, thankfully, was both unsurprised and amused by this. He and I, wrestling fans since way before first meeting, had spent the past […]

It’s 2018 and the wrestling scene is hotter then ever. In the last few years we’ve had so much new, phenomenal talent come from all parts of the world and the talent pool is only getting bigger and bigger every day. When you’re talking about some of the hottest, young stars on the Independent scene […]

A glorious shit hole that looked like it had been hit by an explosion and the staff just ran in and swept all the debris away. The kind of  place where you felt that the mud you brought in from the sole of your shoe would actually improve the place. It’s dark, with a colour […]

ROH are doing another tour in the UK and we, as British wrestling fans should be delighted by this. Right? We should be ecstatic that they are coming on over for a tour? It is the Honor United tour. HOW ABOUT YOU RESPECT THE INNOVATORS OF LANGUAGE AND CALL THE TOUR HONOUR UNITED?!?!!! How can […]

The British wrestling scene was a different beast back in the mid-00’s. I can’t vouch for the rest of the UK, but I can tell you from experience that the West Midlands scene was a damp, unsavory landscape. The bad far out-weighed the good and you had no choice but to accept it as there […]

The Indy Project has been on extended hiatus and I’m hoping to bring it back ASAP, but before that I want to talk about why wrestling is my life. I’m going to attempt to convey in blog form on how wrestling has impacted my life and why it means so much to me. I never understand […]

Introduction The high seas is a long, harsh and dangerous place to be. The twists and turns it can take you is a place where you either find stability or sink into oblivion. Without the proper tools, even the best ships can fall with no end in sight, never to return to the light but […]

Picture Credit: The Ringside Perspective I attended my first show of this year in the form of Fight Club: PRO’s WRESTLEHOUSE. This was a collaborative effort between both FCP and ATTACK! Pro Wrestling. The show featured the top talents and champions from each promotion as well as some top international talent including Keith Lee and […]

Otherwise known as, how the wonderful thing that is professional wrestling can help you with everyday struggles. So many of us go through a lot of struggles on daily basis. Weather its depression, anxiety, physical or mental illnesses or just stress after an awful “stern” talking to by your boss. Just last week I was […]

This coming Monday, Hirai Kawato (the newest graduate of the New Japan Dojo) competes in his last NJPW match as a Young Lion before leaving on a learning excursion to Mexico. He teams with luchador legend Atlantis to take on CMLL’s Barbaro Cavernario and New Japan head honcho Gedo in Korakuen Hall, in what’s sure […]

If academia makes you think of bearded profs or long, candlelit hours in dusty libraries then it might surprise you to discover a collection of researchers, scholars and performers from across the world who are interested in professional wrestling. After a couple of conferences and some new publications (including – plug, plug – my own […]

Well Wrestle Kingdom over delivered again. One of the greatest events in the recently turned calendar. I watch Wrestle Kingdom more often throughout the year than any other wrestling event. But, this isn’t a review of the strong style spectacular – no, this is all about the ageism that seems to have taken place in […]

Well! First of all Happy New Year and I hope y’all had a pleasurable Christmas! I’ll get right down to business as my final weekend of wrestling featured 3 matches (one a rumble but I’ll take it!) You know what that means? Ya boy Alex Cupid wrestled grand total of 70 matches! Around 58 singles/other […]

So this Jericho thing is a lot of fun right? You know, like when wrestling was fun in a simpler time? A surprise appearance followed by a beat down followed by an eventful press conference. Oh boy, this is a feud for the ages, right? Well, no. It isn’t. I think that Okada v Naito […]

As an introduction I can’t promise you much in the way of ‘light reading’ here. Sure they may be a few nuggets of gold here and there of positivity; however 2017 for me has been a professional hell. Thusly resulting in my personal life mirroring the same. I’ve not written a year in review in […]

So I’ve been on shows for a year! It’s been a year from sometime in early November! Which means I’m very new and my ears are very much open! So this weekend came off the back of me being pretty damn ill and tired. I put over that flu real strong. The weeks only show […]

Welcome to my weekly column about my weekend in wrestling. Every week I recap my weekend in the lovely business of professional wrestling. Whether I’m wrestling, commentating or just popping down to checkout a cool show. This week’s graft (to steal David Graves signature word) involved a trip to West Lynn and a really unique […]

I remember, when a young Watanabe went away for a while people were wondering what his future may hold. This wrestler was never seen again, however a “gentleman” by the name of EVIL rocked New Japan to its core. I say core, what I really mean is he had a scythe and laser fingers (obviously). […]

(Picture Credit: ‪@Babyimashambles ‬on twitter) My name is Alex Cupid known as The Prince of Heart if you’re up to date with Progress you may have seen me against the likes of Aussie Open and The Grizzled Young Vets as of late. This is a weekly column about my weekend in wresting…Enjoy! So this weekend started […]

Dear New Japan Pro Wrestling, As great fans of the Revolution Pro Wrestling (Est 2012) promotion, it is a thrill to see New Japan talent on a regular basis. In turn, it is most excellent that you then book the best of British for Japan tours. Making Ospreay a Best of the Super Juniors winner, […]

Welcome to the now bi-weekly Indy Project with me, Ian Wadsworth. With the change to every other week I hope the columns will be more in-depth and packed out. I also don’t want you getting sick of me do I? So, possible spoilers ahead, let’s get going.. LUCHA UNDERGROUND Ultima Lucha and thus season 3 […]

It’s always nice to see a local success story, especially one you’ve followed for a while. So, New Generation Wrestling, or NGW as I’ll refer to them from this point, have been around since 2008 in Hull, Yorkshire (my home town, represent) and started as a small show in a recreation centre on a housing […]

Welcome to The Indy Project with me Ian Wadsworth, where as a male human with a baby on the way I try and catch up on all the weekly goings on in the world of independent wrestling, this episode is named “Bloodlust”. As always, Spoilers ahead. Let’s get going- LUCHA UNDERGROUND Episode 2 of Ultima […]

I have to confess I didn’t expect the furore that erupted after the publication of “Standards, Truth and Progress.” As a friend of mine (who is also my general sounding board on wresting matters) pointed out the other week in a conversation, this may have been a tad naive. “You wrote an article essentially telling […]

Welcome to the debut edition of The Indy Project with me, Ian Wadsworth. This is my weekly column where, as a male human with a baby on the way, I will try and catch up on all of the weekly goings on in the Independent Wrestling scene and also provide you with my match of […]

September 15th marks the ten year anniversary of one of the most iconic moments in ROH history, the culmination of months of speculation and the debut of a dangerous new faction that would run riot in Ring of Honor for the next few years. The brutality of that moment spoke for itself and ensured it […]

On Tuesday, Dublin promotion Over The Top Wrestling announced a series of matches for their third anniversary show in the Tivoli Theatre on the 7th of October. Matches include a triple threat between Jordan Devlin, El Ligero and Bubblegum, Liverpool’s number 1 Zack Gibson up against Colt Cabana and Bram facing Bobby George Jr. This […]

It’s that time of year again. PROGRESS Wrestling are having their ‘big September show’ at Alexandra Palace on September 10th. 2017 has been a revolutionary year for PROGRESS, they’ve gone places they’d never imagined they’d go. The guys and girls have been putting on great shows internationally and announced other big events like New Orleans […]

There’s been a lot of talk about Pro-Wrestling: EVE as of late, the all-female, all-inclusive wrestling promotion based in London has been making waves and in the wake of Netflix’s smash hit series GLOW has garnered some big mainstream attention. The likes of the New York Times, The Independent, Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, Kerrang, The Metro […]

For many years, until the establishment of Over The Top Wrestling and its subsequent rise to prominence, the Irish Independent wrestling scene lay dormant. That’s not to say that there were no shows at all, but rather many of those that did take place were reliant on past-it WWE stars or legends to draw in […]

Picture Credit: Rob Brazier (@RobBrazierPhoto) Back in May, the pro wrestling world was set alight, the discussion boards and dirt sheets lit up in praise as they do when matches like this come along, the difference this time however, was the two men at the centre of this acclaim was two guys, not even in […]

Disclaimer: The views given in the following column are that of the author alone and do not represent those of The Indy Corner. Around a year ago I started a piece of writing about PWG (mainly prompted by a match between Brian Cage and Chris Dickinson which must have had William James turning in his grave) but shelved […]

For the last 3 years I have been on holiday in the summer with my family. It also coincides with the G1 Climax presented by New Japan Pro Wrestling. I followed New Japan as best I could through the years – various sites from 2008 on wards providing me with the odd match. If I […]

So, 2017 I have a challenge – see at least one wrestling event a month for all of 2017. So far so good. I got my July grappling entertainment in early, I went to the Cockpit show AND British J Cup promoted by the good folk at Revolution Pro Wrestling. These shows are so much […]

In 2005, New Japan Pro Wrestling ‘won’ Worst Promotion of the Year in the annual Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards, this represented a new low for the company whose star’s and product had dwindled away almost to nothing. Fast forward to 2017, NJPW are going from strength to strength, having just completed their first solo show […]

Tonight is the night of Fight Club: PRO’s annual International Tekkers event. In this article (my first for The Indy Corner) I’m going to be giving my thoughts and predictions on tonight’s show. Make sure to check out all the events I mention in this post, they will all be linked at the bottom. Match […]

This coming Saturday at the sold-out Walthamstow Assembly Hall in London Revolution Pro Wrestling presents a one night, single elimination tournament to crown the first ever British J Cup champion. The bracket contains former and current champions in RevPro and beyond, including some of the most decorated competitors in tournament action worldwide. As if that […]

I could hear Fergal (Finn Balor) ask Phil (The Thrill, and my trainer) if the girls wanted to take part in the last drill – 3 minute matches, before we packed up and got ready for the gym show that evening. Phil laughed and told him to leave us on the mats, our heads wouldn’t […]

In the immortal words of a much liked and respected British promoter: “Don’t be a dick”. To many this should be a rule in life, but apparently, we’ve lost sight along the way that people have differing opinions on everything, and wrestling is no exception, there will be stuff you like, stuff you don’t and […]

For many of us, we deal with mental health issues on a daily basis. Issues that make us feel low, anxious and tired among other horrid feelings. As a result, even the smallest distraction from our minds can be welcoming. For me, professional wrestling (particularly attending shows) has always been the best medicine for my […]

Wrestle Mania Day 2011. Of course I was excited for the big show. Every year I wake up full of excitement and count the clock down to midnight. Every year something I don’t expect happens; the weird and wonderful world of wrestling throws me a curveball. This year was no different, it just didn’t involve […]

First of all I’ll start by saying I’m no writer or a journalist. I’m just a guy in the Professional Wrestling business who likes to chat shit. Every so often I’ll be scrolling through my news feed and I’ll see a video of Will Ospreay doing his thing; hitting the deck, jumping up, hitting flips […]

With the sixteenth annual CZW Tournament of Death happening this Saturday I thought I would give you a preview and a run down of all the participants and matches on the show. Rickey Shane Page: The winner of last years Tournament of Death and this years IWA MS King of the Deathmatches and is a […]

I could hear the roar of the crowd. I felt butterflies in my stomach. I had been to see TNA in this very arena 4 years before, and they hadn’t sold it out. But it was sold out now. 2,200 fans packed into Ireland’s National Stadium, on the edge of there seats for every match […]

It seems that every so often in wrestling, something comes about that divides the community, this time last year it was Ospreay and Ricochet, and they feature in the latest argument too, no doubt, but the latest ‘controversy’ (I despise that word) encompasses not just one match, but the whole activity of wrestling. And here […]

In a few short hours the PROGRESS Super Strong Style 16 will be underway and for the third year of what’s become one of the biggest tournaments in UK wrestling PROGRESS have assembled some big names. Across the field of sixteen competitors from six different countries there are three international debuts, five former PROGRESS World […]

There is a new wrestling company and they’re called Canuck Pro Wrestling! Canuck Pro Wrestling is a company based out of Canada and will be making their debut in November. In this article we will be promoting Canuck Pro Wrestling’s debut shows, Battle For The Belt on Friday 17th November and There Can Only Be […]

In case you’re unfamiliar with the Pro Wrestling World Cup, this is an ongoing tournament presented by What Culture Pro Wrestling. WCPW are one of the fastest rising wrestling companies in the world and ensuring they continue their rise in the wrestling scene, they announced the Pro Wrestling World Cup which consists of 64 of […]

I have no idea how Wrestlemania worked in the 1990’s, presumably people turned up on the day of the event then turn and went home after the show, these days that is unthinkable, as WWE pushes the whole weekend as an ultimate fan experience, we’ve now been used to people going and spending the whole […]

In my recent columns I’ve been discussing how the British wrestling scene is striving more than ever and this column is no different to that. With each passing month, more brilliant news regarding British wrestling keeps on surfacing, lately the news being that Anthem/Impact Wrestling will be partnering with ITV to bring back World of […]

The British wrestling scene has been taking the world by storm over the past couple of years and quickly became the hottest wrestling scene in the world today with so many companies that have contributed, I’d be here all day giving them the mentions they deserve. That being said four companies made a lot of […]

Photo credit: Mr Josey Photography @mrjoseyphoto The first few months of 2017 have already seen some big things happen for Revolution Pro. Their heavyweight title has been defended on two major NJPW shows, they had their fastest ever sell out for York Hall, and they are set to make their debut across the pond in […]

It’s almost time for Wrestlemania, the biggest even not only in professional wrestling but sport & entertainment. Wrestlemania is the most anticipated wrestling event of the year that truly takes centre stage of wherever it is located. This years Wrestlemania is on 2nd April and is once again located in Orlando. Not only WWE but […]

I’ve said a few times now that the British wrestling scene is one of, if not the, hottest wrestling scene in the world and one of the biggest reasons is the massive variety of promotions in the UK, we have more wrestling companies per square mile than any other country in the world (no joke). […]

Pro Wrestling Chaos ‘B-Ballin’ with MVP’ (18-2-17) review by Tim Ricketts. Photo credit: © Turning Face®/Jim Maitland. Last month’s Mysterious City of Chaos left the status of the King of Chaos title in confusion.  Under duress, the Referees had let ‘Flash’ Morgan Webster cash-in his illegitimately held Heir to the Throne contract.  It still took […]

On Saturday, February 4th, 2017, Over The Top Wrestling presented “Martina’s Gaff Party 2: Back In The Dr. Dre,” featuring top independent wrestlers such as Matt Riddle, Mark Andrews, the returning Mark Haskins, Drew Galloway and Eddie Kingston. It has been a full year since Martina’s first gaff party and in that time OTT has […]

In wrestling across the world you’ve had many different tournament formats. In WWE you had the King of the Ring which over the years had died down however the more recent tournaments, the WWE Cruiserweight Classic and WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament have proved to be huge successes, the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic has […]

LIVE on SPIKE TV UK starting at 8pm, the guys who put on the 5* Wrestling tour last year somehow managed to get a deal to get on TV here in the UK. On the broadcast itself, all 8 guys featured had either been on WWE or TNA TV in the past. They used 3 […]

In recent years, New Japan has really taken off internationally. Gone are the days of Japan being the place tape traders and real hardcore fans, nowadays, Japan is as close to an alternative to WWE as we’ve had in many years. It has become the talk of the wrestling world whenever it’s newest event rolls […]

Many wrestling fans are perhaps only familiar with DDT (Dramatic Dream Team) as “that crazy Japanese promotion where Kota Ibushi wrestled a blow-up love doll”, or for the ridiculous Anywhere/Super Street Pro-Wrestling matches DDT have held in a variety of unconventional locations, such as camp sites, water parks, fun fairs, iron works, quarries, shopping centres […]