The Indy Wrestling Experience

Episode 51 - Closures, Retirements & Hiatuses

We are back from the holiday break with a ton of news and notes to get to. Unfortunately, as the new year begins, most of the recent news is about endings. KCWA in Pennsylvania and Deadlock Pro Wrestling are no more, Tony Deppen is taking an indefinite mental health break from professional wrestling, Dan Barry wrestled his final match and Mercedes Martinez announces her retirement at the end of 2026. 
Bob and Jon also talk about three IWTV title changes that happened over a three week span. Bear Bronson won the IWTV title, then lost it to Krule days later. Soon after, Bang & Matthews added to their belt collection, defeating Miracle Generation to win the vacant IWTV Tag Team Championships.
On top of all that, there's a storm brewing in Wisconsin, and its name is Savage Seduction. RPW CEO Rich Buchholtz continues to be threatened by this mysterious faction that will make their plans known on January 24 at RPW Redemption.  All this is going on while, at the same time, Silas Young announces he is not medically cleared to defend the RPW Championship against Sampson at Redemption. RPW quickly named a replacement in what is now a match for the Vacant RPW Championship. We will have Rich on in two weeks to help us make sense out of all this confusion.
Our IWX Watch This is New Heights Wrestling "NHW Pro TV Ep. 6" which was posted to NHW's YouTube channel last week. This is a fun episode, capped off by a lumberjack match between Hunter Hendrix and Drake Zavior for the NHW Pride Championship. In addition, we get Dominic Bianco vs Caden Albright and Logan Yand vs the impressive Max Striker. 
In our Control Center, we preview three shows coming up this weekend from:
Focus Pro Wrestling
REAL Pro Wrestling
Wrestlemerica 
And this Control Center has some really fun promos too. Check it out!!
Next week, we return with Tully Bertorelli, who will catch us up on his life, wrestling and otherwise, and preview his huge match against Melvin Hayes for the UPW American Championship on January 17. STAY TUNED!!
 
--------------------------------------
00:00:00 - Intro, News and Notes
00:50:42 - IWX Watch This - NHW TV Ep 6
01:13:47 - Control Center

Episode #50 - Underground Lucha Experience (S01 E05)

We're back this week with another Lucha Underground rewatch episode. This time, it's Season 1, Episode 5 "Boyle Heights Street Fight" which introduces a level of violence we have yet to see so far.  
The card:
Drago vs Mil Muertes
Mascarita Sagrada vs Son of Havoc (w.Ivelisse)
Chavo Guerrero vs Sexy Star
Big Ryck vs Prince Puma (Boyle Heights Street Fight)
Don't forget the rewatch links are located in our linktree. Watch along with us!
Next week, Bob and Jo return with more indy-focused episodes for the new year! STAY TUNED!!

Episode #49 - Underground Lucha Experience (S01 E04)

We're back this week with another Lucha Underground rewatch episode. This time, it's Season 1, Episode 4 "Thrill of the Hunt" which continues many of the storylines from the first three episodes. 
The card:
Sexy Star vs Ivellise
Fenix vs Pentagon Jr
Drago vs King Cuerno
Big Ryck vs Johnny Mundo
Don't forget the rewatch links are located in our linktree. Watch along with us!
Next week, we'll be back with Season 1, Episode 5. After the new year, Bob and Jo return with more indy-focused episodes! STAY TUNED!!

Episode #48 - IWX Year End Awards

We're back with the final regular indy-focused episode of the year and, of course, it's our Year in Review with our IWX Awards for 2025. We review our first year as the Indy Wrestling Experience while, at the same time, we each award performers and promotions for having a special 2025 in the following categories:
Male Performer of the Year
Female Performer of the Year
Tag Team of the Year
IWX Favorite of the Year
Live Moment of the Year
Favorite Match of the Year
One to Watch in 2026
Comeback of the Year
Ripple in the Matrix Award (Performer who made a huge splash in 2025)
IWX Watch This Show of the Year
Promo of the Year
Hagerstown Heat Award 
Storyline of the Year
Matt Cardona Award 
Congrats to all of the talents noted in this episode for their unique contributions to independent wrestling in 2025!
Before the awards begin, Bob and Jon take a moment to thank the recently-retired Missa Kate for an incredible career and some amazing moments for the fans.
Also, the IWXtra newsletter has arrived. This is your official supplement to the Indy Wrestling Experience podcast, as it contains tons of additional information that did not make it onto the podcast. In addition, we will be making announcements for entry into our monthly and year-end rankings, starting with a call for submissions for top managers. Subscribe to the IWXtra, then message me with your nominations for Top Manager!
The last two episodes of the year will be Underground Lucha Experience episodes that we pre-taped so Bob and Jon can recharge for 2026. Thanks to you all for your continued support!!

Episode #47 - Missing Megaphone, Jushin & Joey, and Lucha Lucha

We're back this week and making adjustments on the fly! We start the show talking about some events from Wrestlecade, including Jushin Thunder Liger's UN-retirement and Jimmy Hart's megaphone being stolen.
We discuss the recently released IWX Tag Team Top 400, which was released on Tuesday, and give some insight into how the top 10 teams each earned their spots. 
In personal medical news we discuss some less positive updates about John Nord and Joe Doering. Mr. Nord, it was announced, can no longer do public signings due to his deteriorating condition. Mr. Doering, who has battled brain tumors for years, was recently found to have a third brain tumor. We send our best out to both of those guys and discuss what we loved about them when they were  on our TVs in our younger years. 
We analyze some recent news in the business world of the wrestling business, as Coastal Championship Wrestling just announced a TV deal for their promotions and dates for the first live TV Tapings! We are big fans of the promotion and have touted their stars for a while. We are so glad to see CCW getting this huge opportunity. 
Before we go to the control center, Bob and Jon return to the topic of the WCPW/SLA/New Texas partnership on news that St. Louis Anarchy and New Texas have formally announced their partnership. 
In our Control Center, we preview three shows coming up this weekend, including the big GLCW Blizzard Brawl and SOAR Wrestling Worldwide's SOARCADE: Civil War, both on Saturday, as well as Fab Wrestling's No Mercy in December on Sunday. We've got some really good promos from some of the performers at SOAR and at Fab Wrestling. Thank you so much to those two promotions for their permission to use the audio from those promos on our show!
Finally, we had a last minute cancellation this week, but we won't leave you hanging. At the end of the episode, we have added the next Underground Lucha Experience episode. Use the links in our Linktree to watch Season 1 Episode 3 of Lucha Underground with us. This show features, Penta vs Drago vs Fenix, plus Mascarita Sagrada, Mil Muertes and more on the Chavo Guerrero saga. Great episode. Enjoy!
Next week, Jon and Bob return with one more regular episode before our Year End Awards show in two weeks. STAY TUNED!!!
 

Episode #46 - The Changing Landscape, Laynie Luck, & Wrestlecade

We're back this week to, hopefully, help make your Thanksgiving commute a little less painful. We dive back into the changing economic landscape of independent wrestling following the announcement that West Coast Pro Wrestling has formed strategic partnerships with St. Louis Anarchy and New Texas Pro Wrestling. WCPW formerly had similar partnerships with Prestige Wrestling and Deadlock Pro Wrestling. With the announcement that both promotions were going away (at least for a while), WCPW acted swiftly and secured two new partners that will be as good, if not better, moving forward. Will this consolidation strategy take hold in other areas as the landscape continues to change? Is it an alternative to the "go national" model of promotions like GCW and House of Glory? Could this lead to a governing body? OK, maybe that's too far, but join us as we discuss all of the possibilities.
 
At the same time, Bob and Jon react to wonderful news coming out of the Monster Factory. Danny Cage announced this week that even though he is stepping away for a while, and their building has been swept out from under them, that the Monster Factory legacy will continue with a new name and a new building, but tons of familiar faces. David Goldy, Missy Sampson, and Travis Jacobs will lead this new chapter in the multi-decade legacy, created by Larry Sharpe and Danny Cage. We are encouraged by the resilience of these folks, and by the news that, even in the cluttered wrestling scene in New Jersey, promotions are digging in their heels and sticking around rather than taking their ball and going home. This can be nothing but good news for independent wrestling and we support Goldy, Sampson, and Jacobs on this new phase of their journey.
 
In other news and notes, we discuss Atticus Cogar becoming the new GCW champion, Shotzi Blackheart becoming the new House of Glory women's champion, and two new champions in Focus Pro Wrestling. While Jon revels in the fact that he picked the Women's title tournament winner correctly and Bob did not (Congratulations to Kaia McKenna), both of the guys rejoice in Mani Ariez surviving the dog collar match and regaining HIS Focus Pro Championship. Congrats to all!
 
In honor of Laynie Luck winning the WWE ID Women's Championship and getting a WWE ID contract, our IWX Watch This is a playlist of five increasingly awesome Laynie Luck matches from the past few years. The playlist is on our Linktree if you want to watch along as Laynie faces Gia Scott, Elayna Black, Jordynne Grace, Stacy Shadows and Shazza McKenzie. 
 
Finally, since it's a holiday weekend and most wrestling fans, if they're leaving the house, are all going to be concentrated in one place, Bob figured it's a great time to introduce anyone who is unfamiliar to everything that is Wrestlecade weekend. We go through the itinerary step by step and talk about all of the amazing offerings at Wrestlecade in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Four wrestling shows, meet and greets with hundreds of performers (past and present), Q&As, panels, retrospectives AND a concert by Jeff Hardy? If you're never been, listen in as we give you the lowdown. Bob is already pressuring Jon to go next year. Maybe we'll see you there!!
 
Next week, we'll be back to the regular program. Hopefully with the guest we teased for this week. Have a happy Thanksgiving and STAY TUNED!!

Episode #45 - The Indies are NOT Dying!

We are back this week and we are tired of hearing people speculate that independent wrestling as a whole is dying without a shred of real evidence. So, we decided to ask an actual promoter for real data on houses, budgets, fan engagement and more to get to the bottom of this rumor.
 
After first addressing the rapidly escalating situation with the Savage Seduction invasion at Ragin' Pro Wrestling, RPW CEO Rich Buchholtz joins us for this discussion and, if you're a data nerd, listen closely. Rich brings actual numbers, actual figures, and real information from his promotion. Rich also uses his two decades of experience in the wrestling business to help us try to debunk some of the ridiculous things being said lately, simply because Deadlock Pro and Prestige are going away for a while. There is SO much more to discuss on this issue than the hiatus of two promotions and we dig in. 
 
If you are into learning about the business of the wrestling business, this is your episode. If you are interested in data and numbers vs speculation and rumors, this is your episode. Bob and Jon learned a lot. We hope you will too. 
 
In our IWX Watch This Segment, we took inspiration from Matt Cardona's return to Smackdown last week and decided to watch Matt Cardona vs Duke Davis for the International Wrestling Cartel Championship from IWC Alwayz Ready back in August. Cardona does great heel work and Duke Davis shines as the new IWC Champion in his first title defense. 
 
In the Control Center, we preview four shows coming up this weekend. As always, we thank these promotions for granting us permission to use their audio to enhance our previews. This week, we discuss shows this weekend presented by:
4Ever Pro Wrestling
Real Action Pro Wrestling
Grapple Pro
Focus Pro Wrestling
We will be back next week, possibly with a new guest. STAY TUNED!

Episode #44 - Watch Along: Beyond Wrestling "Green Hell"

We're back after an unexpected week off and the release of the IWX Top 1000 Indy Wrestler list for 2025. After wishing Jon a belated Happy Birthday, Bob offers some additional insight into the IWX Top 1000, to address just a few of the many questions and comments about the methodology.
Congrats to all who made the IWX Top 1000. Believe me, the names on the list were not added or placed lightly. Everyone on this list deserves to be recognized, as well as so many that were not on the list. Next week, the Women's list drops. The tag team list in early December. 
The main focus of the show, though, was our watch along, chosen by Jon, of Beyond Wrestling's "Green Hell" from this past Halloween. The card for this wild show:
Costume Battle Royal
Dan Barry vs Julius Draeger
Rickey Shane Page vs Oxx Adams
Shockwave The Robot vs Rain Conway
Krule vs PCO
CPA vs Jake Gray
Bobby Orlando & Eye Black Jack vs Steven Stetson & Bobby Cassale
Bear Bronson, SLADE and Gabby Forza vs Rex Lawless, RJ Rude and Nick Robles - Casket Match
Next week, we're back to the regular program. STAY TUNED!!!

Episode #43 - IWX 1000, Ragin' Rich, & the New UPW Commissioner

We’re back this week with a huge year-end announcement regarding the IWX 1000 list, coming November 12, as well as top women’s and tag team lists, and year end awards. Check the timestamp for this announcement to find out the criteria for inclusion, plus Jon tells you how insane Bob’s data collection has been in preparation for the best and most comprehensive year end indy wrestler ranking EVER!
 
We start the episode with guest Ragin Pro Wrestling CEO Rich Buchholtz and talk about our trip to Wisconsin for Destiny weekend and the live podcast, Rich’s perception of how that day went, including and especially taking a stunner from Jordan Blu. We also preview Perseverance coming up on November 7-8, featuring the Midwest Cup Tournament. Bob and Jon will be creating March Madness style brackets and making picks next week! Finally, we read off some insane Cagematch comments about people who have performed for RPW in the past and let Rich explain why those comments are unfounded, incorrect, or downright delusional.
 
In our News & Notes segment, Bob and Jon discuss the very recent news that WWE legend Mike Rotunda is under hospice care (which has since been debunked and corrected to be that Rotunda suffered a severe heart attack and is on the mend). We also discuss the recent announcement that Nick Gage is back in rehab and offer our full support as Gage does what’s most important, getting himself healthy. Finally, we discuss the new IWTV champion, as Marcus Mathers was recently dethroned by Ryan Clancy.
 
We were provided with an early copy of Sampson’s match against Commissioner Romeo Valentino at UPW Nightmare at the Chamber this past Saturday. Bob and Jon give you guys a preview of what happened as Sampson essentially squashed and pummeled Valentino, won the title of UPW Commissioner, then appeared to align with the Collective. We thought we were shocked when Sampson hung up on us last week, but we never saw Sampson and the Collective coming.
 
In our Control Center we preview events coming up this weekend from the following promotions, who, as always, we cannot thank enough for granting us permission to use their audio to enhance the previews of their shows:
 
Route 33 Wrestling 
Summit Wrestling Association 
SCW Ohio 
Pro Wrestling Symphony 
 
Next week is Jon’s 50th birthday!! Give him a shout out. He will be choosing the content for a watch along on next week’s episode. Got any recommendations? Leave a comment…and STAY TUNED!!
 
 
00:00:00 – Intro, Rich Buchholtz interview
01:04:55 – ANNOUNCEMENT – IWX 1000
01:13:01 – News and Notes
01:30:43 – Sampson vs Valentino
01:41:00 – Control Center

Episode #42 - Do We Have Heat with Sampson?

We’re back this week with a wild episode that kicks off with Bob and Jon circling back to the DREAMWAVE show from October 11. Bob just watched the whole show and has opinions about the Buried Alive match, Connor Hopkins’ new sidekicks, Bushwacker Luke, and a slew of great in ring Halloween costumes.
 
Bob and Jon update everyone on some of the shows from last week’s Control Center, including a weather-related cancellation at Midwest Wrestling Coalition that leads to an unexpected title win for Kerry Morton, Ricky Price’s odyssey through three stages of hell to the New Genesis Championship, and Killer Kross throwing Heather Blue THROUGH THE CEILING at XICW!! We also congratulate Jadis Quinn on their big win over Alec Odin for the MCW Rage TV Championship, discuss Matt Cardona’s latest title win, and marvel at the seemingly never-ending ACTION Championship reign of Tim Bosby.
 
The Bosby discussion leads into our IWX Watch This segment, where we discuss two matches from ACTION Wrestling’s recent event, All Work and No Play. First, we discuss a grudge match between Alex Kane and Suge D that was supposed to have no outside interference, but still ended in controversy. Next, we review Tim Bosby vs Adam Priest for the ACTION Championship. Bob was certain the title change was coming on this show, but it was not to be. The entire show is available to watch on IWTV and we highly recommend that you WATCH THIS.
 
Our guest for the week is Sampson, who comes on to catch up with Bob and Jon after their meeting in Wisconsin, give his opinions on RPW Destiny V, discuss his upcoming bookings, including one at RPW in January, and help us preview UPW Nightmare at the Chamber this Saturday. However, things take a sudden turn when Bob and Jon ask about the champion’s lack of a match at this huge event, leading to Sampson hanging up on us! Still not sure what we said, but it looks like we have heat with Sampson now, just like UPW management, I guess.
 
Once Bob and Jon pick up the pieces and continue, we transition into the Control Center and continue with our plan to preview UPW’s show this weekend. In addition, we preview shows from the following promotions as we continue to thank each of them for allowing us the use of their audio:
 
Focus Pro Wrestling 
APW Wrestling 
Georgia Championship Wrestling
 
Next week, we will be back with a HUGE Indy Wrestling Experience end-of-the-year announcement. If you are an independent wrestler or promoter, you will not want to miss what is coming next at IWX.
 
STAY TUNED!!
------------------------------------------------
00:00:00 – Intro, News & Notes
00:29:41 – IWX Watch This – ACTION “All Work and No Play”
00:45:16 – Sampson Interview
01:17:47 – Control Center