SPOTLIGHTS: Embrace the Fringe – Bring Indy Wrestling to the Masses

As anyone intimately familiar with the independent pro wrestling scene can attest to, there are those with a passion for it…and…everyone else.

Even the most passionate WWE fan can struggle in seeing the merits of pro wrestling devoid of pyrotechnics and Men’s Fitness cover models. Let alone doing so at a community center or high school gym.

These challenges become gargantuan once expanded to the masses. While nearly every individual Huracanrana and I confess our secret pastime hobby to have fond childhood recall, almost all shudder at sitting through 3 hours of lower budget wrestling at peculiar venues. Let’s be honest: chicken wings at a dive bar over football is mainstream. A no disqualification match featuring a zombie princess leaping from a balcony…not so much.

With this being said, our close friends can be very considerate folks. At some point, they realize spending time at our house will ultimately involve watching pro wrestling. We see PPVs as an excuse to gather folks together for a stir fry and good time. Our guests laugh, find the storylines ridiculous, but ultimately appreciate the athleticism and effort. None last the entire show, but we appreciate the college try, nonetheless.

Indy wrestling: these are your people.

To explain, wrestling diehards are a small but passionate group, their dollars and accompanying support limited by numbers. Moreover, most diehards will stick to a singular promotion, thinning the herd even more.

Thus, indy wrestling needs to embrace the fringe fans, promote events as opportunities for adults to relive childhoods…while laughing at the spectacle encompassed within. Unusual venues a safe place to bring kids to watching gargantuans fake fight. An opportunity for women of all ages to see girls literally kicking ass.

This is not to insist indy wrestling isn’t an art form, nor a beautiful craft with a long and storied history. Rather, promotions and talent must realize that there are tens if not hundreds of thousands of awaiting fans who simply need a ticket to the museum to discover pointillism.

Every time Jay Lethal hawks a knee brace via “kick out!”…Silas Young insists ‘the last real man’ requires super beta prostate…I see a promotion and talent that recognize this missing fan base.

Indy wrestling needs to be more creative and courageous in attracting fans. Don’t be afraid to make people laugh – and or laugh at yourself – while doing so.