Wrestling has always turned up in various types of media. In the last few years we’ve had Netflix’s GLOW, frequent TV coverage on BBC’s The One Show and even a wrestling themed storyline in British soap Emmadale. Comic books are no exception. While we started this decade with only Mike Kingston & Michel Mulipola’s Headlocked, […]

I did not know what subtitle to give this, what words could I add beside Liger and the answer is none, cause his name alone speaks volumes in the world of Japanese Puroresu and the wider world wrestling scene. Despite being the current longest tenured wrestler with New Japan, having made his debut in 1984 […]

One major announcement happened in Puroresu this week and a couple of reveals for one of Japan’s legendary puro promotions, card for All Japan’s big Korakuen show on the 19th, this years Dragon Gate ‘Dead Or Alive’ cage match stipulations have been announced, also Takuya Sugawara announced something interesting plus the next list of challengers […]

For one last time, I shall be using the old NOAH logo as a featured image for a piece here on The Indy Corner, NOAH recently in February changed ownership to LIDET, who aim to bring NOAH back up to the number 2 spot in Japan within 3 years, as was recently reported in Puroresu […]

This weekend’s Revolution Pro Live at the Cockpit 39 show was an interesting milestone for me. It was was the 50th show that I’ve attended that was promoted by Andy Quildan. My initial experiences with live wrestling, back in 2007, were firmly focussed on imports. My first live wrestling shows in the UK were events like […]

The start of the New Japan Cup 2019 is just a few short days away, with the competitions biggest field to date and arguably one of the most unpredictable line-up’s in recent memory this year’s competition is sure to throw up 2 and a half weeks of fantastic action. The first round is made up […]

This is going to be news and results so if you don’t want spoilers, here’s your chance to avoid. All Japan Pro Wrestling: AJPW held their biggest drawing Yokohama show in their recent history, 24.02 under the Excite Series. Three big stakes were contested, the final of the Junior Battle of Glory was held as Koji […]

All Japan Pro Wrestling: The Junior Battle of Glory has been ongoing during the Excite tour throughout this month, the standings as of the 16th are: Block A: 1. Koji Iwamoto [6] -. Kotaro Suzuki [6] -. TAJIRI [6] 4. Akira Francesco [2] -. Atsushi Maruyama [2] -. Yusuke Okada [2] Block B: 1. Seiki Yoshioka […]

We live in strange times. A man with serious mental health issues has become President of the United States; Britain hurtles towards a political decision which will set the country back in all sorts of ways for the next 20-odd years; and a publisher saw fit to commit the commercial and aesthetic suicide of publishing […]

Something new for the site, I’ll go over/list my favourite matches of the month from Puro and Joshi. Firstly, I’m going to start with what I’ve considered as must see action! Even though these matches took place in the previous year, they actually did not air until last January, in FREEDOMS, Masashi Takeda faced Jun […]

In early December 2018 news began to surface of Triple H’s interest in bringing KUSHIDA to WWE,with reports of the 35 year old who was holding the IWGP Junior Heavyweight championship for the 6th time contract with New Japan Pro was set to expire. On January 6th rumors of his departure were confirmed at the […]

Results and news from across a range of puroresu and joshi promotions. All Japan: Suwama will be the next challenger for Kento Miyahara for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, this match will take place on the 24/02. On the 07/02 for the start of the Excite Series & Jnr Battle of Glory, Big Japan’s Kawakami […]

Another week, another unedifying wrestling Twitter spat. This time, it was Rip Rogers who started off the whole thing, with a tweet about kickpads. On Jan 21st, Rogers wrote “If u wear kickpads in ur match ur telling the fans u don’t wanna really kick ur opponent too hard … he mite get hurt …I […]

FSM’s Will Cooling gives The Indy Corner five new thoughts about Wrestle Kingdom 13

So, for many months leading up to and POST All In  there was much talk about maybe something more regular coming out of it with Cody and The Young Bucks steering the ship from a wrestling side of things and now we all know the owners of The Jacksonville Jaguars NFL & Fulham Football Club the money […]

Just a nice starter piece for this year, couple of sentences on what could make or break a promotions year, attracting new fans to the Japanese scene and aiding them in seeking it out and following it. I’ll try to include as much as possible but if this requires a second edition later then so […]

Happy New Year, grapple fans. We’re in the future! 2019. A bold new world. What does the year have in store for us on the BritWres scene, and beyond, in the ever changing landscape of professional wrestling? Well, truth be told, nobody know. It’s hard to predict how things will be in 12 weeks, let […]

Hi guys, it’s been a while since I did anything on the site, my days as far as The Indy Corner go are posting stuff others have sent in or doing stuff on the twitter/facebook/instagram accounts. I do miss podcasting, the site was originally set up for the podcast and all the stuff that has […]

So, here’s the Joshi edition of my thoughts on who has stood out the most in 2018, also news from DDT and other bits at the end. There’s been a lot of talk on Twitter, again, of Joshi division in New Japan or whatever, but there are plenty of companies in Japan that cater to […]

First off, yesterdays Dragon Gate The Final Gate 2018 had 2 title changes, R.E.D trio of Takashi Yoshida, Yasushi Kanda & KAZMA Sakamoto ended the Open the Triangle Gate reign of Natural Vibes, Kzy, Susumu Yokosuka & Genki Horiguchi. Big Ben, Big R Shimizu & Ben-K, also R.E.D, are the new Open the Twin Gate […]

Introduction Last year. I find my self quite often sitting in my home and just thinking about 2017. Thinking about how bad it was. How stressful, depressing and crushing it was. I then say to myself “to think you nearly quit.” Because if I had I wouldn’t be able to reflect on this year, 2018. […]

It was on the 2nd of October when PAC shocked the wrestling world when he returned to Dragon Gate, after over a year out following a dispute with his former employers, the WWE. For those that were unaware of PAC, this amounted to quite a shock, New Japan or Ring of Honor perhaps being the […]

In a world where a 6ft 4 cow gets huge press, it makes me think about my version of COW… the Custodians of Wrestling. The idea came to me while listening to various wrestling podcasts. Essentially, I love hearing the history of modern British wrestling. It might be fresh for some, but for me it […]

This past Thursday, the 29th of November, would have been the 49th birthday of Eiji Ezaki, most famously known as the masked wrestler, Hayabusa. Hayabusa passed away as a result of a cerebral haemorrhage on March 3rd, 2016. Fourteen years prior to his death, he became paralyzed following a botched springboard moonsault in a match […]

Greetings – it is I, the inconsistent blemish on the wrestling community, Joel Yentis. I grace your presence here to feedback some more 1PW action that has been consumed by myself since hating on A Cruel Twist of Fate in my last Indy Corner offering, which you can read HERE Firstly, the shows are getting much […]

A lot of tournaments to cover this week, but it has been a while since I accompanied This Week In Puro with a piece of writing. I’ve largely been asleep on Wrestle-1, much to my detriment, as when I finally delved into the companies recent events I was more than pleased with what I saw. […]

Pro Wrestling NOAH began Global League at the Korakuen Hall on 30.10 in Korakuen Hall in front of a crowd of 1,395, which was headlined by Go Shiozaki vs Takashi Sugiura. Kotaro Suzuki also challenged Daisuke Harada for the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship. Block A Matches: Akitoshi Saito [2] defeats Masa Kitamiya [0] Kohei Sato […]

The global scene for independent wrestling is at an all-time interest peak, not since the days of ROH, ECW and All Japan tape traders have we seen such demand for international self-produced wrestling, however unlike the tap trading era, independent wrestling has never been easier to access and thus it can be difficult to know […]

WWE have recently come under attack for their presentation of their first ever all-female show. Indeed, Evolution was poorly promoted, haphazardly put together, and does feel like a token “you’re welcome” as a response to WWE’s journeys as worldwide do-gooders in Saudi Arabia. However, it was at least something where the focus was on the […]

Guys, British wrestling is on a wave of awesome. We have seen the rise of Progress, ICW, Rev Pro, Fight Club Pro, IPW and a World of Sport comeback. Where did this all begin? As a young lad, I experienced my first “Super Indy” live from the historic Doncaster Dome with the outfit 1PW – […]

Different format than usual this week, going to recap news and results from the last two weeks as well as share cards from upcoming events. Multiple title changes occured in DDT over the last two weeks, as well as the cancellation of TV show ‘Maji Manji’ by Abema TV. Stardom have had a couple of […]

A few years ago – way before the whole Progress article faff – I wrote a piece on Jim Cornette, based on a few problematic things he’d said around that time. However, I ended up shelving it, as it came across too much like a burial of the guy [what are the odds? – Ed] […]

To be a PWG fan in 2018 is to be a spoiled fan. Because for a promotion that is known for their spectacular shows each year, 2018 seems to be raising the already high standard further. PWG last left fans in absolute awe at the conclusion of this year’s Battle of Los Angeles. By the […]

World Tag Team League was my second ever wXw live show experience, after this year’s 16 Carat Gold tournament. 16 Carat Gold was something I’ll never forget. Every part of the weekend-long wrestling festival had something exciting to offer and I genuinely loved every second of it. I discovered new wrestlers, explored a new place, […]

Following a successful duo of Junior tournaments, the Global Junior Tag League saw YO-HEY & HAYATA win the trophies at Departure back in August over, The Backbreakers, Hajime Ohara & Hitoshi Kumano. YO-HEY would then go onto call for the reinstatement of the Global Junior League, which happened between September and the 4th of October, […]

On the 2nd of October, Dragon Gate held a show in Korakuen Hall. Generational rivals and former partners Shingo Takagi and BxB Hulk were teaming up one last time as Takagi is departing the company as a full roster member, they would face Eita and a mystery opponent. The last time a mystery opponent was […]

We, as in us as people, by our very nature are social creatures whether we like to admit it or not, we instinctively form groups socially from school, college, work, politically or socially. It’s in our DNA, we are tribal since our primitive days in caves or whatever. So it’s no surprise that these ideas […]

The dictionary describes chaos as “complete disorder and confusion”. This was my emotional state on Sunday. Having loved all that New Japan has offered this year, I find myself in a post G1 burn out. I don’t want to seek wrestling nearly as much. I think my love of the game peaked at the Rev […]

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 […]

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 […]