“The point of independent wrestling is for talent to discover themselves, and develop themselves. To grow. To learn. If you claim to be an independent but are bound to a billion dollar company, you’re not an independent.” – C4 Wrestling via X

Before the usual suspects predictably chime in, simp, and slobber all over this idea, I figure I should offer a dissenting voice in this matter. In short; WWE ID could become the downfall of the pro wrestling industry. However, in its place, would be the ‘WWE’ industry.

People like myself have warned you about this type of corporate overlord behavior many times before throughout the years, but before we go any further, what is WWE ID?

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WWE unveiled its new ‘WWE ID’ program in a press release yesterday, which according to reports, seeks to train Indies wrestlers “the right way”. Keep that last part in mind, as it’s a giant red flag. WWE will give their official stamp of approval to five wrestling schools of choice, who will then identify up-and-coming talents that could become a “prospect” for WWE.

According to their press release:

“WWE ID will identify top independent wrestling prospects with an official WWE ID “prospect” designation and support their developmental journey by providing financial opportunity and assisting with training, mentorship and development, including access to world-class facilities, best-in-class ring training, athletic trainers and more…”

So it’s a double-feeder system to maintain close control over talented Indies wrestlers, similar to NBA’s G League.

Got it.

It sounds good on paper, right? WWE, a billion dollar corporation, is going to help these young kids in their pro wrestling journey. But this isn’t just WWE, this is TKO. Do you really think they’re doing this for the benefit of pro wrestling? Are they truly helping these kids experience what it’s like to grind the Indies, develop their own style, learn from their own mistakes, and gain valuable insight on the greater pro wrestling industry beyond WWE?

No.

Because if you think these “prospects” won’t be contractually bound to WWE in some way, I have a bridge to sell you. If the Indies are the modern day territories, consider this the beginning of the death of the territories, version 2.0.

But before we get into that, what does history tell us?

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What History Tells Us

 

I was gonna teach cool chain wrestling and shit tonight at the dojo, but I’ll guess I’ll pivot to how to work the hard cam so we can keep up – Nicole Matthews, wrestler and trainer at Lions Gate Dojo

History tells us that there were a lot of dissenting voices warning that Vince McMahon would kill the territories with his divide and conquer business strategy during the early 80s.

They were right.

History also tells us that many similar voices warned against a total monopoly if McMahon was allowed to buy WCW in 2001.

They were right.

When NXT:UK started many years ago, many warned that WWE would snatch away all of the U.K.’s best talent from the Indies to keep for themselves, thereby heavily damaging the U.K. Indies scene (Covid and the many sexual allegations within the scene also contributed, to be fair).

Still, they were right.

When you form a strategy to consolidate and hoard talent in any way, it either creates the conditions for a potential monopoly, or at the least, heavily corners the industry. AEW is still around for now, but they aren’t guaranteed a new TV deal in 2028. They still have work to do, and being that the majority of displaced 2019 WWE fans didn’t actually want an alternative, but just wanted WWE to get better — it makes it that much harder to exist as a legitimate mainstream alternative.

But I digress.

History has warned us, and I am part of the sentiment doing it again. WWE ID, if left unchecked, and if left to expand in an unbridled manner, will slowly kill the pro wrestling industry, especially if AEW fails (why do you think I fight so hard for it?).

We would no longer have the pro wrestling industry, but instead, the WWE industry.

How does that happen? Follow me as I go through a few scenarios…

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POV: Upcoming Wrestler

Let’s say you have dreams of being a pro wrestler. You live in Texas, and have the money to go anywhere.

You have many options, but have narrowed it down to four choices:

-Rhodes Wrestling Academy (RWA)
-America’s Academy of Pro Wrestling (AAPW)
-Texas Wrestling Academy (TWA)
-Reality of Wrestling (ROW)

Texas Wrestling Academy has trained a few legends, including Shawn Michaels, but they don’t really run shows much. Hard to get a lot of reps and exposure that way. Dustin Rhodes runs the RWA, which is pretty cool. AAPW has been around for 35 years, but hold on, Dustin Rhodes is a legend! Can’t pass that up! Okay, so AAPW and TWA are out. They’re both good schools, and they have a great alumni — but Dustin Rhodes still wrestles on TV and well, you know, the Rhodes family and all…

Who knows, maybe you’ll appear in AEW one day.

Wait, Booker T runs ROW? Plus they’ve got a WWE ID deal? You might get seen by a WWE scout, plus, you’ll already be trained in the WWE style?

Why would you go anywhere else?

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Exactly. Why would any upcoming wrestler with a choice go anywhere else?

This threatens the ability for other wrestling schools to market themselves to new trainees simply because they don’t have the WWE ID sponsorship. In short, if WWE ID expands to other schools (and it likely will), it could end up hurting other wrestling schools — not just other Indies promotions.

It not only potentially takes away new trainees from other wrestling schools with the allure of a WWE ID branded school, but could push schools into training in the ‘WWE Style’. After all, how will a wrestler ever make NXT or beyond if they aren’t already trained in the ‘WWE Style’?

You know, “the right way”.

If WWE is considered the be-all end-all, then it might influence wrestling trainers and schools to conform to a more WWE-like approach. But more on that later. Let’s flip it and say you’re a fan…

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POV: Wrestling Fan

If you’re a fan, unless you’re already very loyal to your local indies promotion, what would you gravitate towards?

-Random Indies Show
-WWE ID stamped Indies Show

A WWE-sponsored school/promotion would undoubtedly draw numbers away from other Indies promotions, simply because of the name recognition. And now you not only get to see a WWE-sponsored show, but you might see the next great WWE superstar!

Remember, MOST wrestling schools also double as promotions. ROW included. So if you’re a fan, why would you go see another random Indies promotion in Houston when ROW has the WWE ID label?

Not only will this potentially hurt other local Indies promotions, but…

Every wrestler will be trained in the WWE style. They will all look the same, and run the same formulaic matches, and never deviate from the one thing that separates Indies wrestling from a billion dollar corporation:

The ability to find yourself and become a unique wrestling talent without a farm system telling you what to do and when to do it.

This will hurt the Indies in more ways than one if left unchecked.

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Why This Hurts the Indies

Most Indies run their books from show to show. It’s not a lucrative business — but they do it for the love of pro wrestling. In the press release itself, it’s noted that the “journey” of these “prospects” will be followed via social media and other platforms. Essentially, WWE is going to boost the independent wrestling schools and promotions of their choice; thereby creating an uneven advantage by way of the WWE brand name recognition.

That local Indies promotion you could have supported might lose out now because more people are going to flock to a WWE-branded promotion/school. It’s worth repeating that many wrestling schools also double as promotions.

Limitless Wrestling, Monster Factory, World League Wrestling, ACW Wisconsin, the list goes on — there are plenty of schools that regularly run weekly to monthly Indies shows. And if you’re a local pro wrestling school that runs these shows, and WWE comes to you and offers their brand name to you, are you NOT going to take that offer?

You know you’re taking that offer. 

Suddenly, we have pro wrestling schools and promotions in danger because potential talents (and paying fans) will flock to WWE-approved training schools with this new program. Will ‘WWE ID’ become the new stamp of approval for Indies wrestling now?

And how far will this go? Will all major Indies companies and schools receive the WWE ID label at some point? If so, we face an even bigger problem.

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Everything Will Look the Same

Everyone will be trained the same way. Nobody will really stand out.

Do you think a character like Darby Allin can exist in a WWE farm system? Not a chance. But even beyond that, let’s take current WWE stars:

C.M. Punk, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Finn Balor, Drew McIntrye — all products of the Indies (in the case of McIntrye, a re-birth). Do you think Cody Rhodes becomes the American Nightmare if he stays in WWE in his Stardust era?

No. He became the American Nightmare by taking a chance on himself on the Indies; and that meant Ring of Honor, WCPW, TNA, and Japan. This is where you actually find who you are and what you’re made of — on the Indies scene.

And this is done without influence of your own identity by a billion dollar corporation that promises to take care of you. If WWE ID expands (and again, I know it will), we’re getting the Weeds-theme song equivalent of the pro wrestling industry.

“Little wrestlers made of a ticky-tacky, and they all look just the same…”

The WWE diehards will love this. But is this move good for pro wrestling, or is it just good for WWE?

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The “Infallible” Paul Levesque

“WWE ID is the latest in our efforts to identify and support the journey of up-and-coming wrestlers, in turn raising the profile of and strengthening the independent wrestling ecosystem,” said WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque in the official press release.

The ecosystem that they want to be in complete control over.

Make no mistake, if you think Paul Levesque is doing this for the pro wrestling industry, I have another bridge to sell you. WWE ID exists to solely to help WWE and TKO, not the pro wrestling industry as a whole.

If AEW were to go under tomorrow, Levesque would throw the biggest party. Just because he’s not a complete vile dirtbag like his Father-in-Law doesn’t mean he doesn’t carry the same cutthroat corporate WWE mentality.

Remember, he has shareholders and a TKO board to answer to. Do you honestly think he came to them with this idea to “help” pro wrestling as a whole?

No.

He presented this as a way to have more access and control over talent on the Indies scene. As a result, WWE potentially has first dibs on major Indies prospects, and hence, more money is made for WWE, and not the majority of non-WWE affiliated Indies promotions. There is no benefit to pro wrestling when it just means WWE gets to increase their already large market share.

But Levesque can do no wrong, right? Surely he has the best of intentions just because he’s a better booker than Vince, right? Remember, this program is being setup to train wrestlers “the right way” — as if the WWE style is the ONLY pro wrestling style that can exist.

Again, WWE ID will hurt and or destroy the pro wrestling industry, and in its place will be the WWE industry. It’s what WWE and TKO want all along.

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We’re Here Because of the Indies

Does anyone fully realize how much original material comes from Indies wresting? Hell, ECW, an Indies fed, before gaining mainstream notoriety, all but influenced an entire generation of wrestling. The nWo was lifted from a storyline out of Japan involving the UWFi (Indies) invasion of New Japan.

Most original ideas, flashy movesets, unique gimmicks, and hall-of-fame talent came straight from the Indies in some form.

WWE threatens to take away some of that originality that comes from the Indies that has formed the industry as a whole. This is exactly what happened in the territories. The top talent were swiped and then conformed to the WWF style.

Why do you think it won’t happen again?

Do you honestly believe WWE/TKO won’t want first dibs and a complete cornering of all Grade-A upcoming talent from the Indies scene? Oh, but “it’s just business”, right?

So why doesn’t Tony Khan do it?

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Why Doesn’t AEW Do It?

Why should they?

They have already formed many partnerships with other promotions without feeling the need to conquer or assimilate them. They already allow a chunk of their talent to work other Indies shows with no issue.

Tony Khan shouldn’t have to worry about “branding” smaller Indies promotions just in case the next hot talent comes from there so he could have them all to himself. That only hurts more indies promotions in the long run.

We don’t need WWE and AEW conquering the entire Indies market with branding and “exclusivity” simply because one company wants to have a complete takeover of the wrestling world. It would be one thing if WWE ID sponsored these new talents to genuinely help them out on their journey, and then let them go wherever they wanted to for the sake of the overall wrestling industry.

But you know that won’t happen. And even if they can go anywhere, and aren’t contractually bound to WWE, their influence over these “prospects” will already be felt.

At the very least, Tony Khan wants to work with other promotions. He wants a healthy wrestling industry full of collaboration and different styles and presentations for all types of fans. This is the way it honestly should be.

WWE and Paul Levesque threatens this by slowly, and casually, assimilating the Indies scene to look like one thing.

This isn’t good for pro wrestling, but it is good for WWE — and if you only really care about the latter, then you’re part of the larger problem.

-TKW
tokusenwrestling@yahoo.com