Images via: Mox-AEW on YouTube, Deonna-Reddit, Mickie-LWOS
To say that Jon Moxley has been doing a lot of independent wrestling shows in recent years would certainly be putting it way too mildly. He has been all over the place essentially, and his presence on the indie circuit has helped the industry of professional wrestling overall.
He spoke in length about his involvement with independent pro wrestling and his plans for appearances in the future, all while speaking with Wrestling Observer Radio. He said:
“I just love doing them. I f**king love independent wrestling…I love the small building, 250 people packed into a small building atmosphere. I love that s**t. To me, I can get the same feeling there as I get from a 20,000 seat packed arena. A lot of times, it’s better because in that environment, nobody is going to be pushing me for time or telling me I have to go home in three minutes or 40 seconds or I have one segment and a commercial break. There’s no f**king commercial breaks. It’s just wrestling. It’s fans in the building, lost in the moment, enjoying wrestling, and you can get lost in the moment too. That’s the drug I live for…
It’s where I come from and I’m not going to leave it behind. I just like f**king doing it. I never understood why WWE was trying to buy up the indies. Just let them exist on their own because that’s where you get guys who develop, exist, and become main-eventers and then you can take them from there. I just love indie wrestling and I’ll do it forever…
The indie wrestling scene is more healthy…The pandemic hit indie wrestling really hard. I’m like, ‘If I can help, I’ll step up and help.’ I’ll jump on whatever indie show I need to jump on and draw a few more fans or eyeballs…I’m not saying I’m the biggest draw in the world or anything, but if there’s a couple more eyeballs on the show because I’m on the show and those eyeballs then become a fan of somebody and they buy their shirt and they follow them to other shows…”
via Wrestling Observer Radio /cultaholic.com (Transcription)
via JulianRH15 /YouTube
Moxley is the current GCW World Champion and has shows lined up for that promotion as well as others, so keep your eyes on his schedule. He just might pop up at a rec center or church basement near you, dear readers.
Mickie James Talks Deonna Purrazzo
via House of Wrestling /YouTube
Deonna Purrazzo and Mickie James put on a clinic for women’s wrestling at Bound For Glory this month, and although Deonna lost the match, she left quite the impression of course. The legendary Mickie James feels so as well. She let her thoughts be known while speaking with the gents at Busted Open Radio recently. She said:
“It was so special. It really, really was so special…then I did EmPowerrr. I was able to head up EmPowerrr and that was really cool. And then to come back and have a chance at having a championship again and I go ‘actually, this is a real chance to actually have a shot at the championship again.’ Then Saturday was beautiful. The people were behind me and to have that real love behind me, for them to be on fire and with it all night. To have a ‘this is awesome!’ chant…
And there’s no doubt that Deonna is probably one of the best wrestlers I’ve ever been in the ring with. Not just today, but legit that I’ve ever been in the ring with. She is incredible. She is incredible out there. I knew I was going to be up for a fight, and I think that has been the major question from the audience, from whoever. ‘Mickie is amazing and a legend, but can she really hang with someone like Deonna?’ The answer is yes, I can hang with someone like Deonna, because there wouldn’t be a Deonna without Mickie James. That’s the reality…”
It truly was amazing to see Mickie James in the ring again and in such a type of match that made the Knockout Division famous and recognizable…essentially establishing itself as one of the top female divisions in the industry for sure.
It’ll be very interesting to see who challenges the new champion next. Will it be Deonna, or will someone else step up to the plate? Time will tell dear readers.
