Greetings, salutations, hello everyone and welcome. Thanks for checking out the first edition of “Djm’s Indy Wrestling Something-or-Other. I don’t have a title, so we can just stick with ‘David J. Majors’ or ‘Djm’. I’ll answer to both.
Now, the fine folks at FAN have asked me to talk about indie wrestling. I’ve been called a wrestling hipster, by some. A smarkity smark by others. So, I ought to earn those titles starting now.
I’m going to use my first column to ease everybody into all of this, myself included. The world of independent wrestling is a wild, wacky, dark, twisted, awful and awesome one. Now, if you’re reading this and you’re not an indy wrestling fan, you’ll probably wondering why FAN wants to give some light to those skinny kick pad wearing guys who do flips.
Well, that’s where Djm comes in!
In the last year or so, WWE has lifted what was considered an unspoken rule regarding the signing of independent talent. No doubt in thanks to the successes of CM Punk and Daniel Bryan (Danielson).
In recent time, WWE has signed a few more top talents from the indy scene. I’m going to give you a quick look at 4 current FCW Talents that first became names by plying their trade in the wild and wacky world of independent wrestling.
First, Kassius Ohno
That Young Knockout Kid
Those in the know may know him best as “That Young Knockout Kid” Chris Hero–The Man from Metropolis. Chris Hero started out as a European-influenced-technician who athletic ability unseen for a man of his size. He made the Cravate (aka: The European Headlock) cool and made backflips annoying. Later on after his experience in Japan’s Pro Wrestling NOAH under the guise of the late Mitsuharu Misawa, he started using his elbow to render his opponents unconscious. Hero signed his developmental contract in February of 2012, and took the name Kassius Ohno. If you’ve seen his first FCW promo, you may have noticed Kassius wearing a t-shirt displaying a picture of his namesake, a young man by the name of Cassius Clay, but like Ohno, he ended up changing his name to something else, too.
But this is about indy wrestling! You want to see what these guys are doing outside of WWE! Why else would you be reading this?
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla is an independent promotion based out of Southern California, mainly running in the city of Reseda. One match to check out to wet your appetite on Chris Hero was from PWG’s annual Tournament, the Battle of Los Angeles. The 2008 BOLA featured a match between Hero and Low Ki, known in some circles as NXT winner Kaval, The World Warrior. If you’d like to see both Ki and Hero going full bore, this is the match you’ll want to check out, and you can order it at Pro Wrestling Guerrilla’s official website.
We don’t know what the future holds for Kassius Ohno, but looking back on the past, there will be many that will echo his trademark chant “Chris Is Awesome”.
I forgot to mention that along with being a singles star on the indy scene, Hero was part of a fantastic tag team known as The Kings of Wrestling. His partner was another recent WWE signee (and a personal favorite of mine) in Claudio Castagnoli.
Superior Swiss
Claudio’s story is something that can only be described as uniquely American, but VERY European. (You’re welcome, indy fans)
A native of Lucerne, Switzerland, Claudio started his wrestling career on the indy scene in Europe. He formed a cult-favorite tag team by the name of Swiss Money Holding with countryman Ares, most recently known as the leader of the Breudershaft des Kreuses. Thanks to Hero and, believe it or not, the Honky Tonk Man, Claudio Castagnoli made his way from the European wrestling scene stateside, as a part of my favorite indy company, CHIKARA. Claudio was a VERY European Wrestler who succeeded in making both the European Uppercut and the Giant Swing cool again. Along with the European style and a few uniquely-named finishers like the Alpamare Waterslide, Claudio is strong. Really strong. Like crazy dope stupid strong. Along with all of those things, he has a very likable personality that makes him very easy to cheer for. Claudio, like Hero is a fairly big dude at 6’5″, and has been known to have great matches with smaller wrestlers who are able to fly and bounce all over the place. Now, Claudio was signed to a WWE developmental contract once before in 2005, but got released unexpectedly. In 2011, WWE gave both of the Kings of Wrestling a look and signed them both, with Claudio reporting to Florida Championship Wrestling in late 2011 under the name Antonio Cesaro.
So far, PWG is 2 for 2 here. I’m going to pick another match for the California company, and another from the Battle of Los Angeles Tournament, this time in 2011. Claudio was taking on arguably the most under-appreciated wrestler on the indies, the Generic Luchador, El Generico. Generico’s athletic ability, coupled with Claudio’s ridiculous strength and ability to work with someone smaller than him made this a gem of a match. Check it out by ordering the DVD.
You may have noticed that both guys I’ve mentioned so far don’t fit into what the wrestling business has probably convinced you what an indy wrestler looks like, acts like, sounds like. That’s because indy wrestling isn’t the flippy kicky no-selly jumble that you’ve been told it is. And right now, I’m going to recommend another big man, bigger than both Hero & Claudio.
Brodie Lee is a big scary dude. Period.
Booting people to the tune of Johnny Cash before it was cool.
A big scary dude, with a big scary beard (for you still-recovering Mike Knox fans). Brodie is a product of the Rochester-based NWA Upstate, alongside Jimmy Olsen and his twin brother, former ECW SUPERSTAR (!!!) Colin Delaney. Yes. THAT Colin Delaney. Brodie stood out as a big man amongst small men across various indies in the Northeast, absolutely pulverizing the competition with his big boot. Yes. He does a big boot. And it’s awesome.
Brodie became a mainstay of both CHIKARA and Dragon Gate USA, pretty much imposing his will most of the time. He kicked off faces and Liger-bombed in DGUSA and Dragon Gate Proper as a member of the Blood Warriors faction, but in the case of Dragon Gate, that faction is most likely dead and finding matches with them would be waaaay too hard.
Brodie went on an absolute tear in his last year or so in CHIKARA before running into a heated feud with Claudio Castagnoli. The feud culminated with the first-and-only Steel Cage Match in CHIKARA history.
Brodie signed a developmental deal with WWE in March of this year, and you can fully expect the big man to mow through FCW in preparation for his “Cena-ing”, but for now, the Big Rig, Brodie Lee keeps on truckin’.
Last but not least, a guy that you may have already seen some discussion on if you go into the WWE section of the FAN Message Board. He’s involved in a war of words over social media with Mick Foley, and has gotten ringing endorsements from CM Punk and William Regal. He’s called Dean Ambrose now, but he was waging war on the indies under the name Jon Moxley not that long ago.
You'll want to open your ears and pay attention
Moxley began training in Les Thatcher’s Heartland Wrestling Association in 2004 before getting his big break at CZW’s Tournament of Death in 2009. Moxley is more in the CM Punk model where he’s able to let his words speak as loudly as his actions. After beginning his tenure with Dragon Gate USA, he was involved in many hate-filled blood feud-style matches against Homicide, Jimmy Jacobs and others. Now, Dean Ambrose isn’t going to fall into whatever idea you may have of “hardcore” wrestlers. In fact, his recent issue with Foley reflects just the opposite. He claims Foley and his work “ruined a generation”, causing many talented wrestlers after him to destroy their bodies just for a chance to perform on the largest stage, let alone be at that level for extended periods of time. After signing with WWE in 2011, Ambrose has had matches against some of the best of the best, including Seth Rollins, William Regal and some dude from Chicago…
What does the future hold for Dean Ambrose beyond his YouTube gems, both in the ring and out, in FCW and his Internet feud with a hardcore legend? I can’t wait to find out personally. I genuinely hope he causes serious havoc in WWE, because he’s capable of doing just that.
You’ll always see so many people asking who the future of the wrestling business might be or where the future might be coming from. Well, I like to think that I’ve given you a look at 4 guys who have plenty of potential of carrying “this business-ahh” beyond the current generation. If any of these guys have caught your eye, make sure you go to the website of any of the companies they worked for and buy a DVD or 2. Florida Championship Wrestling can be a little hard to find (probably by design) but as Dean Ambrose has shown us, the quality will come out through the Internet one way or the other. Wrestling is cyclical. What’s here now usually won’t be here 10 years from now, but there seems to be a foundation, and I’ll be watching them build.
Thanks for reading. If you’re inclined, you can follow me on the tweetspace @JustCallMeDjm and see all of my wacky antics revolving around video games, anime, and a little bit more wrestling.