Ronald Snyder - Wrestlings New Golden Age: How Independent Promotions Have Revolutionized One of Americas Favorite Sports

Copyright 2017 Ron Snyder

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Cover design by Tom Lau

Cover photograph courtesy of Craig Hunter Ross

Print ISBN: 978-1-68358-020-1

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-68358-021-8

Printed in the United States of America

To my wife, my love, and my best friend, Lori, who has supported me unconditionally since the day we met.

To my son, William, and daughters, Megan and Marissa, who make me strive to be a better person and father every day.

Table of Contents

Introduction

T YLER B LACK AND K EVIN S TEEN were far from household names when the two squared off on the undercard of the IWA Mid-South Wrestlings Extreme Farewell card on May 18, 2006, in Streamwood, Illinois.

The two wrestlers went all out for more than 12 minutes, showing a fierce determination and fearless approach to the match despite wrestling in a high school gym in front of around 100 people. There were no barricades around the ring and the fans were seated in a hodgepodge of folding chairs and benches. Black, then just nineteen years old, eked out the victory against the then-twenty-two-year-old Steen.

The rivalry between Black and Steen would be revived more than ten years later. While both wrestlers would once again square off in the ring, not much else would be similar in this most recent encounter.

This time Black, now known as Seth Rollins, would face Steen, now known as Kevin Owens, for the WWE Universal title inside Hell in the Cell on October 30, 2016. Instead of a high school gym, Rollins and Owens would wrestle in front of 16,119 screaming WWE fans at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.

This match highlights the culmination of a journey both men took in the pursuit of a dream to become professional wrestlers on the largest stage in the world and in front of the largest crowds possible.

Rollins and Owenss journey took them through high school gyms, bingo halls, and small town after small town in hopes of defying the odds and reaching the pinnacle of their chosen profession.

When it comes to professional wrestling, the pinnacle of ones career would be to be standing tall in the middle of the ring after the main event at WrestleMania. The WWEs signature event since 1985, WrestleMania is to professional wrestling what the Super Bowl is to football, the World Series is to baseball, the Masters is to golf, and the Stanley Cup is to hockey.

WrestleMania has led to some of the most historic and iconic moments in professional wrestling history. There was Hulk Hogan body slamming Andre the Giant in front of 93,000-plus fans at the Pontiac Silverdome at WrestleMania III in 1987. Nine years later, at WrestleMania XII, the Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels was seen on his knees clutching the WWE title in the middle of ring after defeating Bret the Hitman Hart in a classic match that went longer than 60 minutes at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, California. At the same time, WWE owner and broadcaster Vince McMahon pronounced that The boyhood dream has come true for Shawn Michaels.

In 1998, the WWEs Attitude Era kicked into full gear after Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated Shawn Michaels in the main event of WrestleMania XIV at the FleetCenter in Boston. As confetti rained down on the ring, WWE Hall of Fame broadcaster Jim Ross echoed one of his most famous calls, The Austin era has begun. Stone Colds eight-year journey has been culminated. Three years later, in another passing of the torch moment, the Rock defeated Hulk Hogan in front of 68,000 at the Skydome in Toronto, Canada. The match was dubbed Icon vs. Icon and cemented the Rocks place as the face of the WWE while allowing Hogan to come full circle and reclaim his fans nine years after leaving the WWE for WCW, where he led them into the Monday Night Wars.

Two more iconic moments came more recently. Proving that true underdogs can come out on top, Daniel Bryan defeated Triple H and later Randy Orton and Battista to win the WWE title at the main event of WrestleMania XXX in 2014 in front of more than 75,000 people at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The visual of Bryan standing in the ring as he rose his fingers in the air while leading the crowd in a Yes! chant will be a moment to be replayed for years to come. The very next year, Rollins shocked the professional wrestling world when he cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and defeated Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar in the main event of WrestleMania 31.

The victories by Bryan and Rollins represented a shift in how the WWE, the preeminent organization in professional wrestling, operated. For the most part, those on top of the WWE landscape were either wrestlers with super-human physiques (like Hogan or the Ultimate Warrior) or stars they helped create (such as the Rock, Austin, Michaels, or Brock Lesnar). Bryan and Rollins were different. Their rise to the top of their profession did not happen overnight. Those that truly followed the business understood that their success came after years of blood, sweat, and sacrifice often in far from glamorous settings.

Bryan and Rollins may have only been known to the WWE Universe for a short time, but their journey took them and their fans down many paths that did not include sold-out arenas in major cities, pay-per-view events, or live televised events filled with pyrotechnics and worldwide celebrity attention. Bryan, real name Bryan Danielson, and Rollins, real name Colby Lopez, established themselves on the independent wrestling scene long before ever stepping foot in a WWE ring.

Both Bryan and Rollins came to the WWE with solid fan bases, and their fans passion was evident as they rose through the ranks. The organic support each wrestler generated made the WWE take notice and helped lay the foundation for the New Era the WWE kicked off in 2016.

A closer look at the WWEs roster shows just how much the company has paid attention to the growing independent scene. Top stars like A.J. Styles, Dean Ambrose, Xavier Woods, Cesaro, Sami Zayn, and Owens all got their starts on the independent scene. The influence of independent wrestling can also be seen in the WWEs creation of its NXT brand and the inaugural Cruiserweight Classic, a 32-man tournament that brought together many the top independent wrestlers in the world.

People can see the passion of the wrestlers who come from the independents, said Dimitroios Papadoniou, also known as Greek God Papadon, who has wrestled in independent promotions across the world since his debut in 1999. When the dust settles, all that is left is the passion and the fans can tell when that passion is real and when its not. You can see the influence independent wrestling has had on the WWE, especially with its NXT brand. The wrestlers dont need to be 6-foot-4 or 6-foot-6, as long as they know how to work and be able to tell a story in the ring that pulls at the heartstrings of the fans in the arena.