With the UK tournament airing this week, we’re once again struck in the face by the WWE’s devouring of independent talent.
It’s certainly not a bad thing to see top-tier talent featured on bigger stages, but there is a constant (and not illegitimate) worry from fans of independent wrestling that the scene is being left in worse shape by WWE’s need to grab every bit of talent available.
In truth, the indie scene is as good as it has ever been. The talent exists to take that step up to the next level, but it takes time to click from talented to top of the game and the difference over the past few years has been the speed with which WWE — and NJPW, though less restrictively — have locked down talent.
Keith Lee, Donovan Dijak, Biff Busick, Chris Hero, Ricochet, Drews Galloway and Gulak and so on have left a bit of a void at the top of the indies. There are premier talents like WALTER, Matt Riddle, Joey Janela, David Starr, etc. who can carry the top end of a card, but there’s no doubt a transition period is underway.
The first few BOLA entries tell a real story of where the super indie scene in the U.S. stands right now. The selections are interesting for sure, but they are pulling literally from the ends of the Earth. Everyone is in NXT.
— Voices of Wrestling (@voiceswrestling) June 20, 2018
Even through all this, there are great independent wrestling shows happening every weekend. There’s too much talent out there, and things will continue to sort themselves out as more of the young talent polishes up and becomes ready to step up.
The real concern is, what does WWE do with all the talent they have? There’s only so much time to go around and there’s a tipping point where there is simply not enough room for all the talent they’ve signed.
When they hit that point — if they haven’t already — either great talent will be sidelined for too long or we’ll see a flood of stars back to the indies to find a second life.
- Speaking of the indies, EVOLVE 106 and EVOLVE 107 took place over the weekend.
- Oh, and a new Being the Elite is out there, too.
- Raw goes down tonight, and we’ve got our live results thread locked and loaded, so make sure to join us.
- Tomorrow, Jeff Hardy puts his United States Championship on the line on Smackdown Live.
- Let’s all take a few moments to appreciate Renee Young and her greatness.
- Horrible news as Oney Lorcan is shelved indefinitely due to injury.
- Get ready for NJPW hitting American soil once again with a red hot promo or three.
It’s Monday. For most people, that sucks. For us? The week of wrestling is just getting started.
GODDAMN! Double-team Orange Crush Backbreaker from Toxin & Latigo! #AAA pic.twitter.com/kjp1cUNkZu
— LARIATOOOO!! (@MrLARIATO) June 21, 2018