If you have been paying attention to our “Brand Warfare” articles here on SLTDWrestling.com (and you really should! Adam, Tybo and Matt do a great job, some guy named Colin always brings it down though) you’ll know that I have been quite down on WWE programming as of late. From the ratings and the general feel from social media I am not alone. We are living in a time where professional wrestling is at its most accessible and promotions and stars all over the world are worthy of your attention. Most of these are free through over-the-air cable, some on YouTube and a couple have a on-demand service like the WWE Network. If you have grown tired of the WWE product, do not fear, you have options!
New Japan Pro Wrestling is probably the 2nd biggest professional wrestling promotion in the world, due to them having some of the biggest stars not under contract to WWE and their working relationships with Ring of Honor in the United States, CMLL in Mexico, and Revolution Pro in the United Kingdom. NJPW has been very liberal with sending their talent to these places and fans all over the world have fallen in love with the talents of IWGP Champion Kazuchika Okada, IWGP Intercontinental Champion Tetsuya Naito and his Los Ingobernables de Japon stablemates, and the member of The Bullet Club. Their “Wrestle Kingdom” show on January 4th at the Tokyo Dome every year is known as the Japanese “WrestleMania” and it never disappoints. The main event for that show has already been announced as Okada will be defending his IWGP Championship against Kenny Omega, who won the G-1 Climax Tournament, a month-long round-robin tournament during the summer featuring the best that New Japan has to offer. You can watch every NJPW show by going to their On-Demand service, NJPWWorld.com. They even offer an English speaking version with most of their events, with Ring of Honor’s Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino providing commentary.
New Japan’s best partnership is with Ring of Honor in the United States. Due to them being owned by Sinclair Broadcasting Group, it is the only over-the-air wrestling show in the U.S. This means anybody with a tv can check out their product. They also bring in a number of New Japan stars and have now also partnered with CMLL to bring in stars from Mexico. They run a pay-per-view every 2 months, that is also replayed on their website rohwrestling.com, as well as New Japan’s streaming site. Their biggest show of the year is also coming up with “Final Battle” on December 2nd, headlined by Kyle O’Reilly challenging for the ROH World Heavyweight title against either the current champion Adam Cole or Jay Lethal.
Impact Wrestling may be going through some radical changes, but their product might be the best wrestling show on television today. Although they run on a 2nd-tiered cable network, POP TV, run only a couple of pay-per-views per year, and have little to do with YouTube, they have a hardcore, devoted audience. They bring a little realism to their product with Bobby Lashley, a former TNA World Champion and current Bellator MMA World Heavyweight contender, being involved in the main event. Eddie Edwards happens to be the current TNA World Champion, but the Impact Wrestling main event picture is as crowded as any in the world of professional wrestling, with Lashley, Moose, Ethan Carter III, Cody Rhodes, Michael Bennett, and Aron Rex (the former Damien Sandow) all looking to dethrone Edwards. Their shows are on POP TV every Thursday at 8 EST.
Lucha Underground is very reminiscent of an old-school ECW in its heyday, right from the cinematic vignettes to the violent feel of The Temple. They blend a version of the hardcore and the Mexican “lucha libre” style to a tee. They also have 2 of the sport’s biggest future stars in the current Lucha Underground Champion Matanza (who is also Jeff Cobb on the independent scene) and Prince Puma (who happens to be Richochet in New Japan). They have just started to run house shows in the southwestern part of the United States and only do episodic television in seasons. Season 3 is currently airing and airs every Wednesday night at 8 EST on El Rey Network.
The United Kingdom wrestling scene is currently at a fever pitch and my favorite of the big 4 is Insane Championship Wrestling out of Glasgow, Scotland. Run by Mark Dallas, this is not PG, but you’ll be hooked the first time you see it! They mostly employ a hard hitting style that can sometimes get a little crazy, and fan participation is always encouraged. They have a fantastic television show, ICW Fight Club, that is seen in many countries across Europe, but is not yet in the United States. They have a deep roster, with homegrown stars such as “The Ironman” Joe Coffey, Joe Hendry, current ICW World Champion Wolfgang, and current ICW Women’s Champion Carmel Jacob (who leads a VERY deep and very tough women’s division). They put up their television show for those that aren’t in their viewing area on their fabulous ICW On Demand service every Friday afternoon at 12:00 P.M. EST. They are currently on the march to their big Hydro show on November 20th. How big is the show? They are bringing in Kurt Angle to face Joe Coffey, The Dudley Boyz to face current ICW World Tag Team Champions Polo Productions and Ricochet. Plus, the backstage interviewer, Jennifer Louise, is a total babe and one of my favorite people in wrestling, so I’d watch no matter what!
Finally, I love watching AAA from Mexico. I understand they are going through some rough times right now, the roster is thin, sometimes the television tapings are sporadic and talent has to be in Los Angeles for Lucha Underground tapings, but I’ve always been fascinated by the lucha libre style. Many of their stars, you can also check out on Lucha Underground, but they are 2 different people in each promotion. Texano Jr. is the current AAA MegaCampeon and is involved in one of the strangest storylines I have seen in a while. Texano Jr., as well as the rest of the Mexican luchadors are trying to protect their land from a group of stars called “Team Trump”. Yes, the group, Brian Cage, Johnny Mundo, Taya, and El Mesias (Mil Muertes from Lucha Underground) are all Donald Trump supporters in the storyline.
So see, while we are down on WWE and think the world of professional wrestling is falling all around us, there are many many outstanding places that are putting on great great shows for all of us to enjoy!
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