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.
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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