The Indy Wrestling Experience

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!!
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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

Episode #41 - Wisconsin Trip, New Champs, and Rising Stars!

We’re back after two weeks off, ready to dive into some wrestling talk! First up, we get to tell you all about our trip to Wisconsin for RPW Destiny V weekend. We had so much fun being able to interview some great wrestlers like Buff Bagwell, Silas Young and more. Destiny V itself was a fantastic show filled with surprises like Ragin’ Rich taking a stunner from Jordan Blu. We got to talk to Jordan Blu and Kaci Lennox at the RPW Destiny V after party and take part in picking the match of the night, as well. Great weekend. Great fun. Thank you so much to Rich Buchholtz for making it happen, for his hospitality…and for taking that stunner like a champ.
 
In our News & Notes, we discuss more of the aftermath of the Raja Jackson/Syko Stu incident, including charges for Raja and the end of a career for Stu. We discuss several of IWX’s top ranked champions falling over the past two weeks, such as Connor Hopkins and Carter BlaQ. Bob tells Jon he needs to watch the House of Glory show from last weekend. The Mane Event fell to The Hardyz. Charles Mason and Man Like Dereiss put on a match of the year candidate, and Matt Cardona’s promo cut off by technical issues.
 
Finally, Bob previews some BIG changes coming to the IWX Indy Wrestler Rankings, starting November 1, including the additions of GCW, OVW, DEFY and many more. Stay tuned to our socials for more information in the weeks to come.
 
Our IWX Watch This recommendation of the week is NWYC Presents Rising Stars Women’s Wrestling, uploaded to Rising Star’s YouTube page in August. This show features five first round matches to advance to a fatal five way final match to crown the inaugural Rising Star’s Women’s Champion. The tournament features Aleah James, Leyla Hirsch, Abadon, Amity Levay, Zoey Skye, and many more impressive athletes vying for the title, plus we get Notorious Mimi vs Tina San Antonio for the Remarkable Women’s Championship.
 
In our Control Center, we preview four shows coming up this Saturday. As always, we thank these promotions for granting permission to use their audio for this segment. Listen as we preview shows from:
 
1UP Wrestling 
Midwest Wrestling Coalition 
XICW 
New Genesis Wrestling 
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00:00:00 – Wisconsin Trip, News & Notes
01:05:00 – IWX Watch This – NYWC Presents Rising Stars Women’s Wrestling
01:32:04 – Control Center

Episode #40 - IWX Live Pod w/Buff Bagwell, Silas Young & More

We are back this week with a huge show. This is a replay of our live podcast from this past Saturday at Cricket Wireless on College Avenue in Appleton, Wisconsin which kicked off the events of RPW Destiny V!! 
 
Our guests include:
Buff Bagwell
Rich Buchholtz
Mike Mercury
Jaina Pryde
Ethen Matthews
Royal Flavuh
Brick McCarthy
JDX
Gen Z
Silas Young
 
It was so much fun talking to everyone and, once again, we thank Rich Buchholtz for making all of this happen. Next week, Bob and Jon will recap the entire trip to Wisconsin, the live podcast, the main show, the after party and more. STAY TUNED!!

Episode #39 - RPW Destiny V & IWX Live Podcast Go-Home Show

We’re back this week as we make final plans for our big trip to Wisconsin for RPW Destiny V. We start this show with RPW CEO Rich Buchholtz who will give us the final updates, the final card, and final count of the handful of tickets that remain for this incredible show. Of course, before Destiny V kicks off at 6pm, Bob and Jon will be at Cricket Wireless on College Avenue in Appleton, Wisconsin for a live podcast with a who’s who of guests. Check out our Youtube page and click the link to get notified when this special live event begins!!
 
In our News and Notes segment, Bob and Jon congratulate Simone Valentina on becoming the MCW Women’s Champion last weekend. We congratulate two new champions in GLWA, Big Jorge and The Good Hands. We also congratulate Stevie Brooks for becoming the inaugural Belle 2 Bell Ruby Champion against the backdrop of the sad news that Belle 2 Bell will be going on indefinite hiatus. We’ll tell you what we know about that entire situation. We also congratulate Bob for correctly picking both of Focus Pro’s women’s title tournament semi finals winners. We also fill you folks in on the Shrek match at The Crypt, Deathrow Jethrow’s incredible night at Local Pro, and KC Cazana’s shocking attack on Josh TKO Turner at Prodigy Pro.
 
In our IWX Watch This, we review GLWA Thursday Night Vendetta 77, posted to Youtube last week, just before GLWA’s Card Subject to Change event last Saturday. This show features a really cool recap of GLWA Sips of Sin, Saucy Josh Morris with Dirtsheet Dan, plus Ethan Blake vs Boone Riley in a wild title match main event, Chico Amante vs TRIP, Jamie Race vs TJ Cage, and an awesome tag match between Real Hype and the new additions to our IWX favorites list, Mob Mentality!!
 
As always, we thank the five promotions that graciously allowed us to use the audio from their promos in our Control Center segment. This week we preview some impressive looking shows from:
 
Ground Zero Wrestling
Elevate Pro Wrestling
Benchmark Pro Wrestling
SSW Entertainment
HOT Pro Wrestling
 
Join us on Saturday for Episode #40 live from Cricket Wireless in Appleton, Wisconsin only on Youtube. If you can’t catch us then, catch the replay that will drop on Thursday in our normal podcast timeslot. STAY TUNED!!
 
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00:00:00 - Intro, Rich Buchholtz
00:31:06 - News & Notes
01:07:08 - IWX Watch This - GLWA Thursday Night Vendetta 77
01:30:22 - Control Center

Episode #38 - One Week to Wisconsin!!

We are back this week as we prepare for Indy Wrestling Experience’s first on-location live podcast on September 27, about one week away, at the Cricket Wireless in Appleton, Wisconsin before RPW Destiny V later that evening. Jon and Bob marvel at the people they’re about to meet and speak to out in Wisconsin, discuss their very different travel plans for that weekend, and update everyone on some late breaking news regarding the RPW Destiny card.
 
In our News & Notes segment, Bob and Jon also take their first opportunity to discuss the passing of Jaka and the impact it has had on the independent wrestling scene. After that, Jon is watching Power Pro Lucha Chronos Trios Night 1 in the background while Bob tries not to spoil too much of what Jon is about to see. This was two nights and two really fun shows put on by PPL. If you get a chance, go check it out on IWTV. Bob and Jon discuss how much we love the venue for this event, the trios tournament, and everything that is Unicorn Party!
 
Our IWX Watch This recommendation of the week is MEGA Championship Wrestling’s Thursday Night Turmoil from September 11, 2025. This was a really fun go-home show for MEGA’s big show that was held on September 13. This show featured an impressive match between Brassi Suave and Aaron Alloway, a championship match between Chris Kole & Dr. Cree Fudo that gets interrupted, a contract signing between Pastor C-Lo and Kalam, and tag team match, Bear City Vice vs Army of Sin, that added another favorite wrestler to our list, El Tiktoko!!
 
We got a whole lot of support from wrestling promotions this week for our Control Center and we can not thank these promotions enough for allowing us to use their audio to enhance the segment. This week, we have eight really cool shows to talk about and we’ll hear from many of the competitors from shows presented this weekend by:
 
Prodigy Pro Wrestling 
Focus Pro Wrestling 
Local Pro Wrestling 
Belle 2 Bell 
MCW Pro Wrestling 
New Genesis Wrestling 
GLWA 
The Crypt Wrestling Training Facility 
 
Next week, Rich Buchholtz returns as we do our go-home episode of IWX before our trip to Wisconsin for RPW Destiny V and our live podcast from Cricket Wireless in Appleton. STAY TUNED!!!
 
00:00:00 – News & Notes
00:00:00 – IWX Watch This – MEGA Championship Wrestling Thursday Night Turmoil
01:03:30 – Control Center

Episode #37 - Roundtable: Raja's Rampage

We’re back this week with the discussion we promised. Bob and Jon are joined by RPW CEO Rich Buchholtz and UPW Heavyweight Champion Sampson for this roundtable on the Raja Jackson incident which took place at the Knokx Pro Wrestling School in California. At that time, a seemingly planned spot  and run-in by non wrestler, and son of MMA legend Rampage Jackson, Raja Jackson during a match involving Syko Stu went terribly wrong, ending with Raja Jackson pummeling an unconscious Syko Stu with very real punches even after Stu was clearly unable to defend himself.
 
The group dives into each stage that led up to the incident and discuss what mistakes were made, by whom, and when. We discuss the backstage incident where Stu hit Raja over the head with a beer can before the event started. We discuss the people around Raja Jackson in the period between the beer can and the in-ring spot that escalated issues considerably. We also discuss the actual in-ring incident where Raja Jackson seemingly felt entitled to a near-lethal “receipt.” Who made what mistakes, what should never happen again, and what ripples will this incident cause throughout the independent wrestling scene and, possibly, as far upstream as WWE. We learned a lot. We hope you will too.
 
In our Control Center segment, we preview five awesome-looking shows that take place this weekend. Listen as we preview events, and hear from the combatants, at the following promotions:
 
Power Pro Lucha 
Wrestlemerica 
Apple City Championship Wrestling 
New Age Wrestling
Live Pro Wrestling 
 
Next week, we get back to the regular program. STAY TUNED!!
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00:00:00 – Raja Jackson Roundtable Discussion
00:51:20 – Control Center

Episode #36 - Underground Lucha Experience

Well, we had to change things up this week after some scheduling issues forced us to move the Raja Jackson Roundtable discussion to next week. Jon and Bob were prepared this time and you guys are in for a treat. This week, we're releasing this preview, the first episode of our new podcast, The Underground Lucha Experience. This podcast will be a watch along of every episode of Lucha Underground from start to finish. The podcast isn't ready to release yet, but the first episode is! In this premiere, we will be watching the first two episodes of Lucha Underground Season 1. 
 
Episode one card:
Chavo Guerrero vs Blue Demon Jr
Son of Havoc vs Sexy Star
Prince Puma vs Johnny Mundo
 
Episode two card:
Johnny Mundo & Prince Puma vs The Crew
Chavo Guerrero & Sexy Star vs Son of Havoc & Ivelisse
Mil Muertes vs Blue Demon, Jr. 
 
We also get the debut of Big Ryck and much more! The episodes can be found using the watch along link in the Indy Wrestling Experience Linktree or by downloading the Cineverse app. (*Note, if you watch along on Cineverse, there will be commercials).
Next week on the main pod, we hope to bring you the roundtable. STAY TUNED!!
 
 

Episode #35 - Raja Jackson Incident, Tully Bertorelli, & WFA Reborn

We’re back and we’ve got a lot to talk about. Mainly because of the situation that occurred over the weekend at the Knokx Pro Wrestling Academy during a livestream. Raja Jackson, son of Rampage Jackson, was supposed to do a run-in on a match involving Syko Stu. However, a backstage incident earlier in the day seemed to have fueled Raja to take revenge. Raja jumped in the ring and attacked Stu with two dozen shoot punches after knocking Stu out cold with a takedown and leaving Stu with no way to defend himself. In our opinion, nearly everyone involved in this situation is at fault. However, we are reserving our real judgment for later. Next week, we will have a special roundtable discussion about this incident and all of the issues it spotlights in the world of wrestling. We’ll bring in some people who are actually in the wrestling business to give their insight and opinions. You won’t want to miss that next week.
 
Also in our News & Notes segment, Bob and Jon wish Danny Cage of the Monster Factory well after his announcement that he will suspending operations at the Monster Factory after their show in November to deal with a much more important personal mental health situation. We at Indy Wrestling Experience hope the best for Danny Cage and, if it’s good for everyone, we hope to see Danny and the Monster Factory return in the future. Additionally, Bob and Jon discuss a possible second season of OVW’s Wrestlers and we mention a couple of title changes over the weekend involving promotions and people we follow closely including Gangrel (CCW Champion), Titan Troy (FTC AOG Champion) and Danny Miles (Focus Pro Champion).
 
In our Rankings Spotlight we cover Divine Women’s Pro Wrestling, centered in Michigan, which is an all-women’s promotion that features a ton of up-and-coming talent. Jon and Bob discuss which of the top 10 contenders to the Divine Championship have star written all over them.
 
Our IWX Watch This is a review of WFA Reborn Episode 50 featuring, Channing Thomas, Armani Kayos, Sean “Vegan” Keegan, and a new IWX Favorite in Dope n Filthy. The show culminates with a fantastic women’s title match between Luscious Latasha and Davienne. We really loved this show. We think you will too. Check it out!
 
Finally, our Control Center focuses on five really great shows coming your way this weekend. Take a listen as we preview these shows and hear from some of the competitors! This week’s highlighted shows are presented by:
 
Super Shogun Wrestling 
New Wave Pro Wrestling 
BWA Wrestling 
Battleground Pro Wrestling 
Labor of Love 
 
Thank you to all five promotions for graciously allowing us to use their audio clips in our Control Center this week. We could not do this without you guys!!
 
Next week, the Raja Roundtable. STAY TUNED!!
 
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00:00:00 – Intro, Raja Jackson, OVW Wrestlers, Title Changes
00:53:05 – Rankings Spotlight – Divine Women’s Pro Wrestling
01:18:53 – IWX Watch This – WFA Reborn Episode 50
01:40:30 – Tully Bertorelli
02:33:32 – Control Center

Episode #34 - Larry Sharpe Invitational Tournament 2025 Watch Along (Part 1)

We are back this week, even though we've been battling all sorts of issues. We had planned on bringing you a watch along of the Monster Factory's Larry Sharpe Invitational Tournament 2025 on YouTube. However, due to issues out of our control which will immediately be obvious to some of you, we were unable to complete the episode. We WILL return with part 2 of this Watch Along at a later time, once these issues are resolved. 
 
For now, enjoy Part 1 of the Larry Sharpe Invitational Tournament 2025 Watch Along. This part includes the following matches, including the pre show.
 
 
Jackal Stevens vs Dylan Shaw
Lucas Disangro vs Kid Chaos
Cameron Pearce vs Tim Dynamite
Liam Blak vs Mike Reed vs God of Dad Bod
Notorious Mimi vs David Goldy
Christian Darling vs Christian Rocco
Pete's Posse vs Brian Murphy & Mike Zee (Tag Title Match)
Liam Black vs Nick Battee
Lucas Disangro vs Papa Juice (Featuring the return of Travis Jacobs)
We have four matches left. We will be bringing them to you as soon as we can. We thank you all for bearing with us on this. Next week, we will be back with a regular show, featuring a really cool interview we just recorded with Tully Bertorelli. STAY TUNED!!