Wrestling fans online often argue over whether WWE or AEW is better, complain about how a favorite performer is being booked, or grumble about television ads. Lately, though, another debate has taken over: Is independent wrestling dying?
The discussion picked up after Produce Wrestling and Absolute Intense Wrestling announced they would each take a hiatus for different reasons near the end of the year. Produce has since scheduled a show for Feb. 25.
On Friday night, Fight Factory Wrestling held its No Thanks Given event in Middletown, New Jersey. The card featured an eight-person elimination tag match, with Ben Bishop, Richard Holliday, Jack Vaughn and Madisyn Maxwell facing MADE. Kristin Blaze defeated Rachel Ley, and WWE Hall of Famer Arn Anderson came out to support his sons as they wrestled Sent 2 Salute.
The main event was a no-holds-barred contest between TNA wrestler KC Navarro and Steve Gibki, who put his openweight championship on the line. Gibki won after spearing Navarro through a table and hitting him with the Hell Hammer.
The venue, Middletown Sports Complex, is relatively small, but fans filled the available seats despite the cold. The show took place on an ice rink that also serves as home ice for the New Jersey Titans of the North American Hockey League.
There was little sign of a funeral for independent wrestling. Fans were engaged in the action, both inside and outside the ring.
Bishop said the turnout was evidence that independent wrestling remains active. On a Friday night in Middletown, he noted, people had plenty of other options, including events in nearby New York City. Still, he estimated that roughly 300 to more than 400 people attended the Fight Factory show. The idea that independent wrestling is dead, he said, resurfaces every few months, often alongside nostalgia for how things used to be. Wrestling changes, he added, but the independent scene is still going strong.
It was a fair point. Fans could have watched WWE’s Friday Night SmackDown, gone to a basketball or hockey game, or spent the evening playing a newly released video game. Instead, they came to the show.
Major League Wrestling performer Killer Kross also questioned the claim that independent wrestling is fading. He said people who don’t attend independent events may assume the scene is less important simply because it isn’t on their radar. But crowds of 2,000 or 3,000 at some shows, he said, tell their own story. Kross added that he doesn’t spend much time getting drawn into online arguments about it.
Wrestlers outside the biggest corporate promotions work hard to make a living and deliver a good show. These events aren’t staged in stadiums like Allegiant or Wembley, but performers work together to put on strong matches and give fans a reason to return.
Independent wrestling may face challenges, but Friday night in Middletown offered little evidence that it’s on its way out.
