FrontThe Wire
Archive
The Wire
Every story filed to the archive, from the indie promotions to the names who passed through them.
Chikara, founded 2002 by Mike Quackenbush and Reckless Youth in Philadelphia: lucha-flavored, season-based indie wrestling that closed for good in June 2020.
Profile of Chris Hero — Chris Spradlin of Dayton, Ohio, the CZW, ROH and PWG workhorse who twice went to WWE as Kassius Ohno and twice came back to the indies.
Profile of Colt Cabana — Scott Colton of Illinois, Ring of Honor original, two-time NWA World Champion and the podcaster who taught the indies to talk.
Archive profile of Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW): John Zandig’s 1999 start-up, Cage of Death, Tournament of Death, the ECW Arena years and the D.J. Hyde era.
Profile of Eric Gargiulo — ECW ring announcer, longtime CZW commentator beside John House, host of Pro Wrestling Radio on WBCB 1490 and a shoot-interview pioneer.
IWA Mid-South, Ian Rotten's Indiana-Kentucky promotion (1996–2022): King of the Deathmatch, the Ted Petty Invitational, CM Punk, Chris Hero, repeated closures.
A profile of Ken Anderson — Mr. Kennedy in WWE, Mr. Anderson in TNA, and a Wisconsin indie lifer who never really left the small halls behind.
Necro Butcher (Dylan Summers): deathmatch wrestler, 2002 King of the Deathmatch, Tournament of Death IV winner, ROH brawler and a face in The Wrestler.
The record of NWA Shockwave: founded in Staten Island in 2001 as the CyberSpace Wrestling Federation, in the NWA from 2005, gone without a word by mid-2007.
Profile of Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG): founded in Los Angeles in 2003 by six wrestlers, home of the Battle of Los Angeles, Reseda and the 2023 hiatus.
Archive profile of Ring of Honor (ROH): founded by RF Video in 2002, the Code of Honor, the Silkin and Sinclair years, the 2021 hiatus and Tony Khan’s purchase.
UCW-Zero, Steve Neilson's Salt Lake City indie: American Professional Wrestling roots, AWA and NWA affiliations, a 6,000 crowd in Idaho, and a 2020 stop.