USA

USA

The Big Three

For decades, to the majority of wrestling fans, American wrestling meant one fed above all others - the SWF. Ruthless businessmen Richard Eisen clawed his way to the top of the world leaving the destruction of the territories in his wake. The most promising attempt to challenge him, Hollyweird Grappling Company, tried playing him at his own sports entertainment game - but even with two of the biggest stars in the world, Sam Strong and Rip Chord, joining them when they started in 1996, weren't able to do so. Shifting more towards in-ring action, they rebranded themselves as Total Championship Wrestling and built around Tommy Cornell, the greatest wrestler of his generation - but the Eisens were untouchable.

Until they weren't.

When they were founded by Danny Jillefski in 2001, United States Pro Wrestling were seen as a joke. A retirement home for washed up stars. Yes, nobody was claiming Eisen's workers were the most gifted in the ring, but USPW made them look like indy darlings in comparison. Backstage politicians like the notorious Giant Redwood (a three time world champion despite being abysmal) thrived. In 2006, the federation got a boost when wrestling legend Sam Strong, still one of the world's most entertaining men, bought the company. He would make some good decisions - building a women's division around his incredibly talented daughter Alicia - and some bad ones - hiring his best friend Peter Valentine, close to Redwood's level both in terms of abrasive attitude and lack of talent. Fans talked about a 'Big Three' of wrestling now rather than the 'Big Two' of the SWF and TCW. But, realistically, for many there was a 'Big One', with Eisen's company still significantly ahead.

Then Allen Packer happened. While Strong buying USPW was widely seen as a huge move, few could have expected search engine billionaire Allen Packer's acquisition of the company to change things the way they did. Desperate for content for Reverie, the first major subscription based entertainment channel, he hit on wrestling, and - knowing his limitations - threw a bunch of money at the federation and employed people who knew what they were doing to spend that money.

If anyone thought things would ever be the same again, November 2014, and the Black Wednesday Betrayal, disillusioned them quickly. Steve Frehley, the unstoppable force, and Rich Money, the former World champion, along with popular manager Dawn The Cheerleader, all jumped ship to USPW on the same day. It was a huge statement of intent and from there the fed would never look back. Riding the Reverie juggernaut, they blazed past the SWF, although their regular poaching of talent from smaller feds has made them just as unpopular amongst many fans as Eisen's company ever have been. The SWF's woes only increased in 2018 when owner Richard Eisen came under heat following a painstakingly long IRS investigation and was forced to retire, leaving his sons Jerry and Eric in charge as owner and head booker respectively.

Developing Talent For The Big Time

In 2005, Rip Chord - father of the aforementioned Jay - set up MAW in his home town of Baltimore. Under Chord, the fed became successful at training up youngsters - the perfect way for a superstar who'd had major issues in his career of giving back to the business. Stepping away from the sport in 2011, Chord handed the fed over to the just-retired Sam Keith, who immediately started the Confederation of the Territories alliance as a way of sharing talent with other indies to help them develop further. While the plan for MAW has always been for people to go there, get better, then leave - with a general policy of signing unemployed guys and an expectation that once you'd got to the top of the card you'd move on relatively quickly - this philosophy solidified into a working relationship with TCW, who help the federation out financially in exchange for sending their future stars there to train.

Back in 2006, Eisen responded to Chord's creation of MAW by setting up his own old-style territory, RIPW. Unlike Mid-Atlantic, right from the start Rhode Island was a conveyor belt for the big time, with first Professor Nero as head booker and then Mean Jean Cattley (who himself made his name as MAW's head booker and star guy) testing out people to see if they were ready to be Supreme.

The Best of the Indies

While there's a thriving small-time scene with lots of one-off cards featuring some great wrestlers, most of these are represented by the independent shows in the game. However, there are 7 other federations in the US which run regular shows.

The two biggest are very different - Coastal Zone Championship Wrestling (founded as Coastal Zone Combat Wrestling) is approaching its 30th anniversary. The physically intense style doesn't do anything to prolong wrestlers' careers, but it definitely has the wow factor. Based around smaller workers, the Zone is a super-progressive company, being an original member of the Confederation of the Territories, and were the first in the States to move to an integrated roster in 2018. Unlike the bigger feds, there are no faces or heels here, and few storylines or angles - just great matches Popular in the South West and with a fair amount of fans in the Mid South and North West, they've always seemed content where they were but expansion could work for them.

While I said the two biggest indies were different, Pittsburgh Steel Wrestling has one thing in common with CZCW - it's style certainly doesn't help wrestler's health. In their case, it's because they use a hardcore style, as the spiritual successor to cult favourites DAVE. Long time DAVE announcer Mitch Naess had seen the writing on the wall for years and while he was saddened by the fed's closure in April 2007, it took him just 3 months to launch PSW. Since then its become popular amongst Tri-State fans who enjoy a wide variety of matches - although they aren't shy about letting workers know if they don't feel they're good enough to be there. With a loose face/heel divide, PSW run storylines and a few angles, often sneak attacks or wild brawls.

For many years the only options for women's wrestling in the USA were AAA, the Angel Athletic Association, or the women's division of a few other feds. That changed in 2010 when former AAA star Farrah Hesketh opened up her own promotion, Queens of American Wrestling. Based in the Mid-South, there was something of an agreement between the two feds that the country was big enough for the pair of them, and Farrah looked south to Mexico for many of her workers to continue to help differentiate between the two promotions. With AAA now dead, and some very talented women around, this could be a great time for the Queens to expand. They use a tecnico/rudo split which is relatively meaningless - it's far more important what stable you're in than what side of that divide you're on, with groups becoming an integral part of the promotion. They work a fairly easy style which doesn't hurt the wrestlers much and include lots of ongoing storylines. They're beloved by sponsors, partly because in Alina America and Foxxy LaRue they have two incredibly marketable stars who have been billed as great role models for young girls (although Foxxy turning heel to join the hated Ronin 3 may have made parents less keen on their kids emulating her!)

New York City Wrestling, created by the Stomper in 1988, looked out of date even then and has barely modernised since, with current owner Larry Vessey keeping things firmly old school. Like MAW, this is all about in-ring competition, of the kind you'd see in the 1960s, with storylines but few angles. Retirement of top star Steve Flash - who even aged 50 was putting on great performances, but eventually decided to hang the boots up and concentrate on booking full-time - has hurt them, but the massively successful heel turn of babyface Tennessee William has given them a star with a lot of momentum while the tag division has some gems, including the vastly experienced Boys From The Yukon and masked babyface pairing of Brooklyn's Finest.

Invincible Pro Wrestling was founded by the trio of rapper Brother Grimm, businessman Gil Thomas, and former DAVE head booker Nemesis, back in 2011. The LA-based organisation suffered a bump in the road when Grimm fell out with his partners and formed rival fed Grimm SoCal Wrestling, stealing several roster members, in 2011, and another when head booker Nemesis tragically passed away in 2017. With another former DAVE star, 'V-Man' Vin Tanner, now booking, they're regrouping. Under Tanner, they're less extreme than GSW or PSW, although their style still takes its toll on wrestler's bodies. With ongoing storylines, and a demanding crowd who want to see a variety of matches and will turn on fans they're unimpressed by, they're a popular underground alternative to the big feds, and have benefitted from the quick rise of cult leader Aldous Blackfriar, now indisputably their biggest star.

Grimm SoCal Wrestling, Brother Grimm's rival organisation to IPW, take an even more extreme hardcore approach to the sport. Purists aren't generally thrilled by the fed although the fans who turn up are generally happy to see a variety of action, not just wild hardcore, and flyers can certainly do well here - especially those with a disregard for their own safety and the willingness to take huge bumps. While they're unlikely to make it to the big time run as they are currently - which TV network would touch them? - fans at Grimm's club The Warehouse, where they run all their events, know what they want and he definitely provides it to them, with head booker CJ Weston doing a great job.

The US's smallest company is the only one not based on the mainland. Puerto Rico's Freedom Championship Wrestling has suffered its fair share of tragedy, with cofounder Shawn Gonzalez dying at a young age in 2011 and owner Puerto Rican Power forced into retirement in 2017 from a heart attack. The national hero is as big a name in his homeland as guys like Sam Strong or Rip Chord and even in retirement plays a huge part in their shows as the respected Commissioner. Based on the type of wrestling popular in Texas in the 1980s, fans love wild brawls and strong storylines. The heel/face divide here is another loose one, with most people happy to fight anyone they can get their hands on to show how tough they are. There's a good mix of big monsters and smaller guys, with head booker Handsome Stranger's House Handsome and their ongoing feud with Mutant, the massive King Of The Wasteland, being a major storyline.