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Has the term "Indies" been technically obsolete for decades in pro-wrestling?

Back in the pre-WWE era of dominance, the NWA did the best that it could to organise a national (and arguably international) cartel in the wrestling industry that operated as a monopoly and actively discouraged companies that were not affiliated with the network from running shows in the areas in which one of their members operated.

 

These "Territories" were so important that they effectively gave a name to the period in which they existed, many anecdotes and memoires talking about the days in which wrestlers moved from one territory to another, supposedly learning the business and reinvigorating the product in different areas as they went.

 

Non-NWA promotions were often termed "outlaw" and almost as often "indies" as they operated outside of the territorial system and represented an alternative that ranged from small-time companies to those that were genuine competition (such as that run by Angelo Poffo).

 

But as the rise of the WWF and WCW saw the NWA atrophy and the territories gobbled up, the indies became the only alternative to working for one of the newly dominant big names.

 

To this day we still hear smaller companies such as ROH, PWG and CZW referred to as indies, but is that appropriate, and what, exactly are they independent from?

 

I guess I want to canvass opinion on this matter, and ask if there's a logical reason to keep on calling them indies or a viable alternative to describe all the smaller companies that exist in the almighty shadow of the WWE.

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To me, "Indies" means you don't rely on T.V. So I'd use it to describe anything other than WWE, TNA, CMLL, AAA, and a handful of Japanese promotions. A looser definition would be companies that don't have exclusive talent, promotions that pay per show, instead of using contracts.

 

With those sort of definitions, I still think the term "indie" has a meaning and a relevance.

Late 80s according to Wikipedia.

 

Really?

 

I always thought the term was much older than that!

 

If that is the case, then maybe I misread the history of the term and it is far more current that I thought.

 

Does it come the from the fact that the performers are independent of any long-term contracts, rather than the promotions themselves being independent of a larger organization?

I haven't looked into this too much, so I'm completely ready for someone who has to tell me I'm wrong, but, as far as I know, the pre-80s term was, as you said, "outlaw", which meant anything that wasn't represented within the NWA. "Outlaw" just eventually became "indie" when the NWA lost it's relevance and the WWF exploded.

 

As for the origin of "indie" as a term, I'd assume it's just borrowed from somewhere else and doesn't really have an exact definition. Record labels that don't have major studio backing have been called "indies" since the 60s, in the comic book industry, the terms been used since the late 70s/early 80s to describe basically everything that isn't owned by DC or Marvel, and, in movies, "independent" has been used to describe anything made outside the major studio system since the 1910s. You can have indie books, indie media, indie games, there's even "indie soda" which is anything that isn't owned by Coca-Cola or Pepsi-Cola. It's just a generic word for something that's made independently from the dominant entity or entities within a specific genre. I don't think it really has a literally meaning, or anyone in wrestling starting using it because it's short for something, or signifies something in particular, it's just a word like "underground" or "DIY" or "outsider" or whatever.

Indy means independent promotion, as in non-national/international. The term indy is definitely not obsolete and is pretty much universally used to describe exactly what old man Hancock said above.
I haven't looked into this too much, so I'm completely ready for someone who has to tell me I'm wrong, but, as far as I know, the pre-80s term was, as you said, "outlaw", which meant anything that wasn't represented within the NWA. "Outlaw" just eventually became "indie" when the NWA lost it's relevance and the WWF exploded.

 

As for the origin of "indie" as a term, I'd assume it's just borrowed from somewhere else and doesn't really have an exact definition. Record labels that don't have major studio backing have been called "indies" since the 60s, in the comic book industry, the terms been used since the late 70s/early 80s to describe basically everything that isn't owned by DC or Marvel, and, in movies, "independent" has been used to describe anything made outside the major studio system since the 1910s. You can have indie books, indie media, indie games, there's even "indie soda" which is anything that isn't owned by Coca-Cola or Pepsi-Cola. It's just a generic word for something that's made independently from the dominant entity or entities within a specific genre. I don't think it really has a literally meaning, or anyone in wrestling starting using it because it's short for something, or signifies something in particular, it's just a word like "underground" or "DIY" or "outsider" or whatever.

 

Outlaw still exists as a term, which just really means unregulated by state commissions or whatever. I know Alabama definitely still has outlaw promotions.

The ones required by law to have them. I know Alabama for sure. The state atheltic commission started charging for wrestling and manager licenses like last year as a way to get extra revenue. It's so weird.