Independent circuit

In professional wrestling, the independent circuit is the collective name of independently owned promotions which are deemed to be smaller and more regionalized than major national promotions.
Independent promotions are essentially viewed as a minor league or farm system for the larger national promotions, as wrestlers in "indie" companies are usually honing their craft with the goal of being noticed and signed by a major national promotion such as WWE, All Elite Wrestling, or Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in the United States, Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide or Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre in Mexico, or New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Dragongate, All Japan Pro Wrestling, World Wonder Ring Stardom or one of the CyberFight promotions in Japan. It is also not uncommon for veteran wrestlers who have had past tenures with major promotions to appear on independent shows, either as special attractions or as a way to prolong their careers as free agents. There are also plenty of wrestlers who also wish to not sign with any of the major promotions and therefore primarily depend on the independent circuit for work.

Origins

The "indie" scene in the United States dates back to the days of regional territories. When a promoter ran opposition in even one town controlled by a National Wrestling Alliance sanctioned territory, they were often called an "outlaw" territory. This is considered by some to be a forerunner to indies since some stars of the past got their start in these low quality local rivals to the big regional territories.
The modern definition of the independent circuit came about in the mid to late 1980s and fully formed and flourished after 1990. These promotions initially sought to revive the feel of old school territorial wrestling after former territories either went national, such as WWF, went out of business, or eventually did both, such as WCW. Several indies did manage to tour different towns within a region and maintain a consistent schedule.
After Vince McMahon, seeking regulatory relief, gave in 1989 testimony in front of the New Jersey State Athletic Commission where he publicly admitted pro wrestling was a sports-based entertainment, rather than a true athletic competition, many state athletic commissions stopped regulating wrestling. This obviated the need for complying with many expensive requirements, such as the need for an on-site ambulance and trained emergency medical personnel at each bout. After the business was thus exposed and deregulated, just about anyone could be a promoter or a wrestler since no licensing beyond a business license was then required. Many thought they could save money by holding shows in smaller towns and smaller arenas with little to no televised exposure, leading to many shows being held only once a week or once a month in local towns.

By country

United States

Independent promotions are usually local in focus and, lacking national TV contracts, are much more dependent on revenue from house show attendance. Due to their lower budgets, most independent promotions offer low salaries. Most cannot afford to regularly rent large venues, and would not be able to attract a large enough crowd to fill such a venue were they able to do so. Instead, they make use of almost any open space to put on their performances. Some independent promotions are attached to professional wrestling schools, serving as a venue for students to gain experience in front of an audience. As independent matches are seldom televised, indie wrestlers who have not already gained recognition in other promotions tend to remain in obscurity. However, scouts from major promotions attend indie shows, and an indie wrestler who makes a good impression may be offered a developmental or even a full professional contract.
The advent of the Internet has allowed independent wrestlers and promotions to reach a wider audience, and it is possible for wrestlers regularly working the indie circuit to gain some measure of fame among wrestling fans online. Additionally, some of the more successful indies have video distribution deals, giving them an additional source of income and allowing them to reach a larger audience outside of their local areas.

No.	Promoter	Event	Location	Venue	Attendance	Main Event
—	NWA-NE	WRKO's Taste of the Boss	Boston, Massachusetts	Boston City Hall Plaza	35,000	5-0 vs. Victor Rivera and Jay Kobain
—	IWR	Warped Tour 2002	Pontiac, Michigan	Pontiac Silverdome	19,000	Deranged vs. Tommy Starr in a UV Light Tube Death match
—	BELIEVE	BELIEVE 156	Orlando, Florida	Central Florida Fairgrounds	15,000	Aaron Epic vs. Andrew Merlin for the SCW Florida Heavyweight Championship
—	AWF	Cement Belt Fair	Cementon, Pennsylvania	Cementon Fairgrounds	12,500	Heidi Lee Morgan vs. Baby Face Nellie
—	WPW	OC Fair: Flower Power	Costa Mesa, California	Washington Mutual Arena	12,000	El Hijo del Santo, Lil Cholo and Silver Tyger vs. Infernal, Super Kendo 2 and Super Parka
1.	—	All In	Hoffman Estates, Illinois	Sears Centre Arena	11,263	The Golden Elite vs. Bandido, Rey Fénix and Rey Mysterio in a six-man tag team match
—	WPW	OC Fair: Flower Power	Costa Mesa, California	Washington Mutual Arena	10,000	El Hijo del Santo, Lil Cholo and Silver Tyger vs. Infernal, Super Kendo 2 and Super Parka
—	HWA	BaseBrawl	Columbus, Ohio	Cooper Stadium	8,757	Rory Fox vs. Shark Boy for the HWA Cruiserweight Championship
2.	USWA	Memphis Memories	Memphis, Tennessee	Mid-South Coliseum	8,377	Jerry Lawler vs. Austin Idol vs. Brian Christopher vs. Doug Gilbert vs. Eddie Gilbert vs. Jimmy Valiant vs. Koko B. Ware vs. Moondog Spot vs. Terry Funk vs. Tommy Rich in a 10-man elimination match
—	WXW	Sportsfest	Allentown, Pennsylvania	Cedar Beach Park	8,000	The Love Connection vs. D'Lo Brown and Owen Hart
3.	USWA / WWF	USWA vs. WWF	Memphis, Tennessee	Mid-South Coliseum	7,500	Bret Hart vs. Jerry Lawler in a Steel Cage match for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship
4.	FMLL	LuchaMania USA Tour	Los Angeles, California	Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena	7,000	Blue Demon Jr., Cien Caras Jr. and Dr. Wagner Jr. vs. El Hijo del Santo, L.A. Par-K and Rayo de Jalisco Jr. in a six-man tag team match
5.	JCP	Ric Flair's Last Match	Nashville, Tennessee	Nashville Municipal Auditorium	6,800	Ric Flair and Andrade El Idolo vs. Jay Lethal and Jeff Jarrett
6.	FMW / WWA	FMW vs. WWA	Los Angeles, California	Cal State-Los Angeles Gym	6,250	Atsushi Onita, Tarzan Goto and El Hijo del Santo vs. Negro Casas, Horace Boulder and Tim Patterson in a Best 2-out-of-3 Falls Street Fight match
—	IWC	Big Butler Fair	Prospect, Pennsylvania	Big Butler Fairgrounds	6,000	Dusty Rhodes vs. Jerry Lawler
7.	Multiple	World Wrestling Peace Festival	Los Angeles, California	Los Angeles Sports Arena	5,964	Antonio Inoki and Dan Severn vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara and Oleg Taktarov
8.	ECW	November to Remember	New Orleans, Louisiana	Lakefront Arena	5,800	The Triple Threat vs. New Triple Threat
8.	JCW	Bloodymania	Cave-In-Rock, Illinois	Hatchet Landings	5,800	Sabu and The Insane Clown Posse vs. Trent Acid and The Young Altar Boys
9.	FCW	Pride	Inglewood, California	Great Western Forum	5,500	Blue Demon Jr., El Hijo del Santo, Mil Mascaras and Tinieblas vs. Dr. Wagner Jr., Scorpio Jr. and Los Guerreros del Infierno
10.	—	Funk Free for All	Amarillo, Texas	Amarillo Civic Center	5,500	Terry Funk vs. Eddie Gilbert in a Texas Death match

Canada

No.	Promoter	Event	Location	Venue	Attendance	Main Event
—	Lutte 2000	Alouettes Mania I	Montreal, Quebec	Stade Percival-Molson	20,000	Jacques Rougeau vs. King Kong Bundy
—	LF	Alouettes Mania III	Montreal, Quebec	Stade Percival-Molson	20,000	Jacques Rougeau vs. Kamala
—	LF	Alouettes Mania IV	Montreal, Quebec	Stade Percival-Molson	20,000	Jim Duggan vs. Kurrgan with special referee Jacques Rougeau
1.	Lutte 2000	Pierre Carl Ouellet vs. Kurrgan	Montreal, Quebec	Centre Bell	5,500+	Pierre Carl Ouellet vs. Kurrgan with special referee Sid Vicious	-
2.	—	Stu Hart 50th Anniversary Show	Calgary, Alberta	Stampede Corral	4,600	Bret Hart vs. The British Bulldog for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship
3.	LF	Jacques Rougeau's Super Wrestling Family Gala	Verdun, Quebec	Verdun Auditorium	4,300	Jacques Rougeau Jr. and J.J. Rougeau vs. Eric Mastrocola and Taloche the Clown for the Johnny Rougeau Tag Team Championship
4.	Lutte 2000	Pierre Carl Ouellet vs. King Kong Bundy	Verdun, Quebec	Verdun Auditorium	4,000	Pierre Carl Ouellet vs. King Kong Bundy
5.	CWI	Brawl at the Bush II	Brantford, Ontario	Brantford Civic Centre	3,600	Haven, Lanny Poffo, Brutus Beefcake and Bushwhacker Luke vs. Big Daddy Hammer, Virgil and The Nasty Boys in a Survivor Series elimination match
6.	JRP	Richard Charland vs. Abdullah the Butcher	Montreal, Quebec	Verdun Auditorium	3,500	Richard Charland vs. Abdullah the Butcher
6.	LF	Jacques Rougeau's Super Wrestling Family Gala	Montreal, Quebec	Verdun Auditorium	3,500	Jacques Rougeau and Giant Martin vs. Kurrgan and Eric Mastrocola
7.	Gatineau Pro wrestling	Guerre civil 4	Gatineau, Quebec	Centre Slush Puppie	3,242	Thunder VS Darko
8.	NOTP	Night of Thunder	Winnipeg, Manitoba	Winnipeg Convention Centre	3,000	Chi Chi Cruz vs. Scott D'Amore
8.	LF	Jacques Rougeau Jr. Retirement Tour	Montréal, Quebec	Verdun Auditorium	3,000	Jacques Rougeau Jr. and J.J. Rougeau vs. Eric Mastrocola and Sylver
9.	Lutte 2000	L'Union Fait La Force IV	Montreal, Quebec	Centre Pierre Charbonneau	2,600	The Fabulous Rougeaus vs. The Garvin Brothers for the Johnny Rougeau Memorial Tag Team Championship
10.	BSE	Welcome to Mexico!	Toronto, Ontario	Harbourfront Centre	2,500	James Champagne, La Sombra and The KGB vs. Incógnito, Xtremo and Blue Demon Jr.
11.	Lutte 2000	L'Union Fait la Force	Montreal, Quebec	Pierre-Charbonneau Arena	2,200	14-man Battle Royal
11.	BCW	Rumble on the River	Windsor, Ontario	Riverfront Festival Plaza	2,200	Sabu vs. Geza Kalman for the BCW Can-Am Heavyweight Championship

Australia

Unlike the North American or Japanese products which have large, globally renowned organisations such as WWE and New Japan Pro-Wrestling with several hundred smaller promotions, Australia only has approximately 30 smaller independent circuit promotions which exist in all but one of the states and territories, that being the Northern Territory. Tours from the North American product are regularly sold out in capital cities such as Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Brisbane.

No.	Promoter	Event	Location	Venue	Attendance	Main Event		-
1.	AWF	Wrestleriot	Melbourne, Victoria	Festival Hall	4,000	Jake Roberts vs. Jim Neidhart		-
2.	AWF	Wrestleriot 2	Sydney, New South Wales		3,500	Road Warrior Hawk vs. Demolition Smash		-
2.	AWF	Wrestleriot 2	Melbourne, Victoria		3,500	Nailz vs. Big Boss Man		-
2.	HRCW	High Risk Championship Wrestling TV	Melbourne, Victoria	Festival Hall	3,500	Nailz vs. Primo Carnera III		-
3.	WSW	International Incident	Melbourne, Victoria		2,500+	Jeff Jarrett vs. Rhino for the inaugural WSW Heavyweight Championship		-
4.	AWF	Wrestleriot	Brisbane, Queensland		2,200	Jake Roberts vs. Jim Neidhart		-
5.	WSW	International Assault Tour	Sydney, New South Wales		2,100	Rhino vs. Jeff Jarrett for the WSW Heavyweight Championship		-
6.	AWF	Wrestleriot 2	Adelaide, South Australia		1,450	Big Bossman vs. Nailz		-
7.	WSW	International Assault Tour	Newcastle, New South Wales		1,200+	Rhino vs. Jeff Jarrett for the WSW Heavyweight Championship		-
8.	AAP / HOH	HoH 28	Sydney, New South Wales	Sydney Showground	1,200	Tommy Dreamer and Billy Gunn vs. The Young Bucks		-
8.	MCW	MCW 100	Albert Park, Victoria	Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Centre	1,200	Slex vs. Will Ospreay for the MCW Intercommonwealth Championship		-
9.	OCW / HOH	HOH 15	Burwood East, Victoria	Whitehorse Club	1,100	Andy Phoenix vs. KrackerJak vs. Carlito vs. Tommy Dreamer in a Number 1 contenders Fatal 4-Way match for the OCW Heavyweight Championship		-
9.	AAP / HOH	HOH 30	Burwood East, Victoria	Whitehorse Club	1,100	MVP vs. Jack Swagger vs. Tommy Dreamer in a Three-Way Dance		-
10.	AWF	Wrestleriot	Adelaide, South Australia		1,000	Jake Roberts vs. Jim Neidhart		-
10.	HRCW	Nailz vs. High Risk Warrior	Adelaide, South Australia		1,000	Nailz vs. High Risk Warrior		-
10.	AWF	Psycho Slam Tour	Melbourne, Victoria	Camberwell Civic Centre	1,000		Sabu vs. Chris Candido
10.	AWF	Supanova Sidney	Sydney, New South Wales	Sydney SuperDome	1,000	Spaceboy Dacey vs. Zander Bathory		-

Mexico

Mexican professional wrestling has many more independent wrestlers in proportion to the rest of North America, because of the weight classes prevalent in the Mexican league system as well as its emphasis on multiple person tag matches; just about anyone with ability can emerge from an independent lucha libre promotion into either AAA or Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre and be a champion there. Independent Mexican wrestlers may use a lot of gimmicks, including some that may be based on copyrighted characters from American television shows, such as Thundercats and X-Men.

No.	Promoter	Event	Location	Venue	Attendance	Main Event
1.	Toryumon Mexico	DragonMania III	Mexico City, Mexico	Arena Mexico	17,000	Ultimo Dragon, Mistico and Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Ultimo Guerrero, Atlantis and Rene Dupree
2.	Toryumon Mexico	DragonMania II	Mexico City, Mexico	Arena Mexico	16,800	Último Dragón, Mil Máscaras, Marco Corleone, and Kazuchika Okada vs. Yoshihiro Takayama, Minoru Suzuki, Último Guerrero and SUWA
3.	LLE	ALL Elite	Mexico City, Mexico	Arena Mexico	15,000	Dr. Wagner Jr. and La Sombra vs. L.A. Par-K and Volador Jr.
4.	TXT	Torneo Todo X El Todo	Naucalpan, Mexico	El Toreo de Cuatro Caminos	12,000	16-man Torneo Todo X El Todo tournament
4.	Toryumon Mexico	DragonMania VIII	Mexico City, Mexico	Arena Mexico	12,000	Último Dragón, Atlantis and Rayo de Jalisco Jr. vs. Último Guerrero, Hajime Ohara and Mike Knox
4.	LLE		Mexico City, Mexico	Arena Mexico	12,000	Rayo de Jalisco Jr., Octagón and Atlantis vs. Los Hermanos Dinamita
5.	—	Lucha de Leyendas	Mérida, Mexico	El Poliforo Zamná	11,500	El Hijo del Santo vs. Blue Demon Jr.
6.	LL-VIP		Monterrey, Nuevo Leon	La Arena Monterrey	10,500+	Atlantis vs. Blue Panther vs. Místico vs. Último Guerrero vs. Villano V vs. Tigre Universitario in a 6-way Mask vs. Mask match
7.	Toryumon Mexico	DragonMania V	Mexico City, Mexico	Arena Mexico	10,000+	Mil Máscaras, Tatsumi Fujinami, Último Dragón and Brazo de Plata vs. Rey Bucanero, Chuck Palumbo, Atlantis and Arkángel de la Muerte
8.	Toryumon Mexico	DragonMania XI	Mexico City, Mexico	Arena Mexico	10,000	Ultimo Dragon, Octagon and Caristico vs. Fuerza Guerrera, Tiger Ali and Mephisto
9.	Toryumon Mexico	DragonManía	Mexico City, Mexico	Arena Mexico	9,914	Último Dragón, Rayo de Jalisco Jr. and Tigre Enmascarado vs. Los Guerreros del Infierno
10.	The Crash	The Crash in San Luis Potosí	San Luis Potosí City, San Luis Potosí	El Domo de San Luis	9,000	Rey Misterio Jr., Blue Demon Jr. and Rey Fénix vs. La Máscara, M-ximo and Rey Escorpión

Japan

Until 1984, no independent puroresu promotion per se existed in Japan; potential talent went directly into the training dojos of either New Japan Pro-Wrestling or All Japan Pro Wrestling. The advent of the Japanese Universal Wrestling Federation offered a long-sought third alternative.
From 1986 to 1988 the Japanese system went back to the two-promotion system, but then the UWF was reformed and another promotion, Pioneer Senshi, was started. Because of Japanese societal mores which implied that a wrestler was a lifelong employee of a company and thus identified with it wherever he went, neither AJPW nor NJPW made an effort to acquire wrestlers trained in other promotions; wrestlers from the major promotions who left, such as Genichiro Tenryu, Gran Hamada, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Akira Maeda, Atsushi Onita, and Nobuhiko Takada had to start their own independent promotions in order to keep themselves in the limelight .
As the 1990s ended, though, things began to change. Independent promotions began gaining more prominence as they were featured in major specialized media such as Shukan Puroresu and Shukan Gong magazines. With the death of Giant Baba and retirement of Antonio Inoki, which effectively broke their control over the promotions they founded, the major promotions began looking to the smaller promotions for talent.
In 2000, the first major signing from an independent, Minoru Tanaka by NJPW from BattlARTS, took place; soon after NJPW stocked the junior heavyweight division with independent talent such as Masayuki Naruse, Tiger Mask, Gedo, and Jado. On the same year, following the Pro Wrestling Noah split, AJPW was forced to fill its ranks with independent talent; Nobutaka Araya, Shigeo Okumura and Mitsuya Nagai signed up
Noah admitted one wrestler from the independents, Daisuke Ikeda, to its ranks as well. Although AJPW, NJPW, and Noah remain committed to their dojos, the reliance on independents is growing as obscure talent is recognized for its ability.

No.	Promoter	Event	Location	Venue	Attendance	Main Event
—	TPW	Tokyo Pro Wrestling in Atami	Atami, Shizuoka	Sun Beach	65,000	Abdullah the Butcher and Daikokubo Benkei vs. Kishin Kawabata and Takashi Ishikawa
1.	FMW	FMW 6th Anniversary Show	Kawasaki, Kanagawa	Kawasaki Stadium	58,250	Atsushi Onita vs. Hayabusa in a No Rope Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch for the FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship
2.	FMW	FMW 5th Anniversary Show	Kawasaki, Kanagawa	Kawasaki Stadium	52,000	Atsushi Onita vs. Genichiro Tenryu in a No Rope Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch
3.	FMW	Barbed Wire Deathmatch Tournament	Tokyo, Japan	Torisu Stadium	48,221	Atsushi Onita vs. Sambo Asako in a no rope barbed wire death match tournament final
4.	UWFi	UWFi Pro Wrestling World Championship: Takada vs. Vader	Tokyo, Japan	Meiji Jingu Stadium	46,168	Nobuhiko Takada vs. Super Vader for the UWFI World Heavyweight Championship
5.	AJW	Super Woman Great War: Big Egg Wrestling Universe	Tokyo, Japan	Tokyo Dome	42,500	Akira Hokuto vs. Aja Kong in the V*TOP Woman Tournament final
6.	FMW	FMW 4th Anniversary Show	Kawasaki, Kanagawa	Kawasaki Stadium	41,000	Atsushi Onita vs. Terry Funk in a No Ropes Exploding Barbed Wire Timebomb Death match
7.	PWFG	Tokyo Dome Show	Tokyo, Japan	Tokyo Dome	40,800	Masakatsu Funaki vs. Maurice Smith
8.	SWS / WWF	SuperWrestle	Tokyo, Japan	Tokyo Dome	40,000	Genichiro Tenryu vs. Hulk Hogan
8.	MPW	Sendai Television Broadcasting Festival: Happy!! Juni*Land	Sendai, Miyagi	Sendai West Park Open Space	40,000	Jinsei Shinzaki and Shinjitsu Nohashi vs. Yoshitsune and Rasse
9.	MPW	Sendai Television Broadcasting Festival: Happy!! Juni*Land	Sendai, Miyagi	Sendai West Park Open Space	37,500	Jinsei Shinzaki and Shinjitsu Nohashi vs. The Great Sasuke and Yoshitsune
10.	FMW	Summer Spectacular	Nishinomiya, Hyogo	Hankyu Nishinomiya Stadium	36,223	Atsushi Onita vs. Mr. Pogo in a No Ropes Barbed Wire Exploding Cage Deathmatch for the FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship

United Kingdom

For most of the years of ITV's coverage of British Wrestling, the dominant promoter in the United Kingdom was the Joint Promotions cartel, which was originally modelled on the NWA and later amalgamated into a single company. Nonetheless, throughout this period, untelevised alternative promotions flourished with at least one significant competitor to Joint for live shows.
Initially the main rival was the former dominant promotion in the territory, Atholl Oakley's BWA. By the time of its demise, wrestler/promoter Paul Lincoln had established himself as a major promoter with shows featuring himself as headline heel. In 1958, when Bert Assirati was stripped of the British Heavyweight Championship, Lincoln formed the BWF alliance of promoters to support Assirati's claim, later recognising Shirley Crabtree as champion. Lincoln's BWF was eventually bought out into Joint in 1970.
Welsh promoter Orig Williams also used the BWF name, promoting from the late 1960s up until the early 2000s and then sporadically until his death in 2009. From 1982 to 1995, Williams had a Welsh language TV wrestling show "Reslo" on S4C. Brian Dixon, a referee for Williams, set up his own company Wrestling Enterprises of Birkenhead later renamed All Star Wrestling. An alliance with promoter and former top star Jackie Pallo failed to prevent Joint gaining a five-year extension on its TV wrestling monopoly from January 1982 to December 1986.
However, by the mid-1980s Dixon had won over many wrestlers and fans from Joint who were tired of the Big Daddy-orientated direction of Joint. Eventually this culminated in All Star gaining a TV show on satellite channel Screensport and later, a slice of ITV's coverage from 1987 until the end of ITV wrestling in 1988. By the end of this period, All Star had effectively replaced Joint as the dominant promotion in the UK.
Joint, renamed Ring Wrestling Stars in 1991, dwindled down before closing with Crabtree's retirement in 1995, All Star has continued to be the dominant non-import live promotion in the UK up to the present day. Its principal competitors since that time have been Scott Conway's TWA, John Freemantle's Premier Promotions, RBW and LDN Wrestling. Since the 1990s there have also been numerous American-style "New School" promotions.

No.	Promoter	Event	Location	Venue	Attendance	Main Event
1.	ICW	Fear & Loathing IX	Glasgow, Scotland	The SSE Hydro	6,193	Joe Coffey vs. Kurt Angle
2.	PROGRESS	PROGRESS Chapter 76: Hello Wembley!	London, England	SSE Wembley Arena	4,750	WALTER vs. Tyler Bate for the PROGRESS World Championship
3.	ICW	Fear & Loathing X	Glasgow, Scotland	The SSE Hydro	4,500	Joe Coffey vs. BT Gunn in a Champion vs. Champion match for the ICW World Heavyweight Championship and ICW Zero G Championship
4.	RevPro	RevPro 11th Anniversary Show	London, England	Copper Box Arena	4,072	Will Ospreay vs. Shingo Takagi
5.	PCW	Tribute to the Troops	Preston, England	Harris Flights	4,000	Joey Hayes vs. Carlito for the PCW Heavyweight Championship
5.	ICW	Fear & Loathing VIII	Glasgow, Scotland	Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre	4,000	Drew Galloway vs. Grado for the ICW World Heavyweight Championship
6.	TWC / FWA	International Showdown	Coventry, England	Coventry Skydome	3,400	Christopher Daniels vs. AJ Styles for the TNA X-Division Championship
7.	RevPro / NJPW	Strong Style Evolved UK	Manchester, England	Silver Blades Altrincham	3,000	Tomohiro Ishii vs. Minoru Suzuki for the RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship
8.	RevPro / NJPW	Strong Style Evolved UK	Milton Keynes, England	Planet Ice Milton Keynes	2,546	Suzuki-gun vs. CHAOS for the RevPro Undisputed British Tag Team Championship
9.	WCPW	True Legacy	Manchester, England	Silver Blades Altrincham	2,500+	Kurt Angle vs. Cody Rhodes
10.	PROGRESS	PROGRESS Chapter 36: We're Gonna Need A Bigger Room... Again	London, England	O2 Academy Brixton	2,400	Marty Scurll vs. Mark Haskins vs. Tommy End in a Three-Way Dance for the PROGRESS World Championship

Attendance records

Note: Minimum attendance of 5,000.

Light Grey indicates event was a free show and/or held at a major public gathering.

Promotion	Event	Location	Venue	Attendance	Main Event
NWA-NE	WRKO's Taste of the Boss	Boston, Massachusetts	Boston City Hall Plaza	35,000	5-0 vs. Victor Rivera and Jay Kobain
Lutte 2000	Alouettes Mania I	Montreal, Quebec	Stade Percival-Molson	20,000	Jacques Rougeau vs. King Kong Bundy
LF	Alouettes Mania III	Montreal, Quebec	Stade Percival-Molson	20,000	Jacques Rougeau vs. Kamala
LF	Alouettes Mania IV	Montreal, Quebec	Stade Percival-Molson	20,000	Jim Duggan vs. Kurrgan with special referee Jacques Rougeau
IWR	Warped Tour 2002	Pontiac, Michigan	Pontiac Silverdome	19,000	Deranged vs. Tommy Starr in a UV Light Tube Death match
BELIEVE	BELIEVE 156	Orlando, Florida	Central Florida Fairgrounds	15,000	Aaron Epic vs. Andrew Merlin for the SCW Florida Heavyweight Championship
AWF	Cement Belt Fair	Cementon, Pennsylvania	Cementon Fairgrounds	12,500	Heidi Lee Morgan vs. Baby Face Nellie
WPW	OC Fair: Flower Power	Costa Mesa, California	Washington Mutual Arena	12,000	El Hijo del Santo, Lil Cholo and Silver Tyger vs. Infernal, Super Kendo 2 and Super Parka
—	All In	Hoffman Estates, Illinois	Sears Centre Arena	11,263	The Golden Elite vs. Bandido, Rey Fénix and Rey Mysterio in a six-man tag team match
BBWF	Caribbean Wrestling Bash: The Legends Tour	San Nicolas, Aruba	Joe Laveist Ballpark	11,000	Scott Steiner vs. Billy Gunn for the Aruba Wrestling Bash Championship
WWN	WWNLive in China	Beijing, China	Cadillac Arena	10,500	Ricochet vs. Johnny Gargano for the Open the Freedom Gate Championship
WPW	OC Fair: Flower Power	Costa Mesa, California	Washington Mutual Arena	10,000	El Hijo del Santo, Lil Cholo and Silver Tyger vs. Infernal, Super Kendo 2 and Super Parka
BBWF	Caribbean Wrestling Bash: The Legends Tour	San Nicolas, Aruba	Joe Laveist Ballpark	9,000	Scott Steiner vs. Kevin Nash
HWA	BaseBrawl	Columbus, Ohio	Cooper Stadium	8,757	Rory Fox vs. Shark Boy for the HWA Cruiserweight Championship
USWA	Memphis Memories	Memphis, Tennessee	Mid-South Coliseum	8,377	Jerry Lawler vs. Austin Idol vs. Brian Christopher vs. Doug Gilbert vs. Eddie Gilbert vs. Jimmy Valiant vs. Koko B. Ware vs. Moondog Spot vs. Terry Funk vs. Tommy Rich in a 10-man elimination match
WXW	Sportsfest	Allentown, Pennsylvania	Cedar Beach Park	8,000	The Love Connection vs. D'Lo Brown and Owen Hart
USWA / WWF	USWA vs. WWF	Memphis, Tennessee	Mid-South Coliseum	7,500	Bret Hart vs. Jerry Lawler in a Steel Cage match for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship
FMLL	LuchaMania USA Tour	Los Angeles, California	Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena	7,000	Blue Demon Jr., Cien Caras Jr. and Dr. Wagner Jr. vs. El Hijo del Santo, L.A. Par-K and Rayo de Jalisco Jr. in a six-man tag team match
JCP	Ric Flair's Last Match	Nashville, Tennessee	Nashville Municipal Auditorium	6,800	Ric Flair and Andrade El Idolo vs. Jay Lethal and Jeff Jarrett
FMW / WWA	FMW vs. WWA	Los Angeles, California	Cal State-Los Angeles Gym	6,250	Atsushi Onita, Tarzan Goto and El Hijo del Santo vs. Negro Casas, Horace Boulder and Tim Patterson in a Best 2-out-of-3 Falls Street Fight match
IWC	Big Butler Fair	Prospect, Pennsylvania	Big Butler Fairgrounds	6,000	Dusty Rhodes vs. Jerry Lawler
Multiple	World Wrestling Peace Festival	Los Angeles, California	Los Angeles Sports Arena	5,964	Antonio Inoki and Dan Severn vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara and Oleg Taktarov
ECW	November to Remember	New Orleans, Louisiana	Lakefront Arena	5,800	The Triple Threat vs. New Triple Threat
JCW	Bloodymania	Cave-In-Rock, Illinois	Hatchet Landings	5,800	Sabu and The Insane Clown Posse vs. Trent Acid and The Young Altar Boys
Lutte 2000	Pierre Carl Ouellet vs. Kurrgan	Montreal, Quebec	Centre Bell	5,500+	Pierre Carl Ouellet vs. Kurrgan with special referee Sid Vicious	-
FCW	Pride	Inglewood, California	Great Western Forum	5,500	Blue Demon Jr., El Hijo del Santo, Mil Mascaras and Tinieblas vs. Dr. Wagner Jr., Scorpio Jr. and Los Guerreros del Infierno
—	Funk Free for All	Amarillo, Texas	Amarillo Civic Center	5,500	Terry Funk vs. Eddie Gilbert in a Texas Death match
WWWoW	Cleveland County Fair	Shelby, North Carolina	Cleveland County Fairgrounds	5,200	9-man battle royal
NWA-OVW	Christmas Chaos	Louisville, Kentucky	Louisville Gardens	5,010	Leviathan vs. Kane
USWA	Challenge for the Championship	Memphis, Tennessee	Mid-South Coliseum	5,000	20-man tournament for the vacant USWA World Heavyweight Championship
SMW	Night of Legends	Knoxville, Tennessee	Knoxville Civic Coliseum	5,000	Bob Armstrong, Tracy Smothers and Road Warrior Hawk vs. Bruiser Bedlam and The Funk Brothers
SMW	Superbowl of Wrestling	Knoxville, Tennessee	Knoxville Civic Coliseum	5,000	Shawn Michaels vs. Buddy Landel for the WWF Intercontinental Championship
NEPW	Lake County Fair	Painesville, Ohio	Lake County Fairgrounds	5,000	Julio Dinero vs. Dick Trimmins
WXW	Sportsfest	Allentown, Pennsylvania	Cedar Beach Park	5,000	Rapid Fire Maldonado vs. Mana the Polynesian Warrior for the WXW Heavyweight Championship
MW	Throwback Night II	Memphis, Tennessee	Mid-South Coliseum	5,000	Terry Funk and Corey Maclin vs. Jerry Lawler and Jimmy Hart with special referee Jimmy Valiant
ASW	DukesFest 2007	Nashville, Tennessee	Music City Motorplex	5,000	Iron Cross, Bobby Houston and Jerry Lawler vs. Stan Lee, Eddie Golden and K.C. Thunder

Historical

No.	Promoter	Event	Location	Venue	Attendance	Main Event
1.	PMG	Clash of the Legends	Memphis, Tennessee	FedEx Forum	6,000?	Hulk Hogan vs. Paul Wight
2.	ECW	Heat Wave	Los Angeles, California	Grand Olympic Auditorium	5,700	Justin Credible vs. Tommy Dreamer in a Stairway to Hell match for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship
3.	NWA	NWA New Jersey vs. NWA Pro	Newark, New Jersey	JFK Recreation Center	5,500	Apollo vs. Dimitrios Papadon for the NWA North American Heavyweight Championship
4.	NEPW	NEPW at the Lake County Fairgrounds	Painesville, Ohio	Lake County Fairgrounds	5,000	Julio Dinero vs. Dick Trimmins
4.	WXW	Sportsfest	Allentown, Pennsylvania	Cedar Beach Park	5,000	Rapid Fire Maldonado vs. Mana the Polynesian Warrior for the WXW Heavyweight Championship
4.	MW	Throwback Night II	Memphis, Tennessee	Mid-South Coliseum	5,000	Terry Funk and Corey Maclin vs. Jerry Lawler and Jimmy Hart with Jimmy Valiant as special referee
4.	ASW	Dukes of Hazzard Festival	Nashville, Tennessee	Music City Motorplex	5,000	Iron Cross, Bobby Houston and Jerry Lawler vs. Stan Lee, Eddie Golden and K.C. Thunder
5.	ECW	Guilty as Charged	Birmingham, Alabama	Boutwell Memorial Auditorium	4,700	Mike Awesome vs. Spike Dudley for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship
5.	—	Clash of the Legends	Memphis, Tennessee	Mid-South Coliseum	4,700	Jerry Lawler vs. Lord Humongous with Lance Russell as special referee
6.	ECW	Anarchy Rulz	Saint Paul, Minnesota	Roy Wilkins Auditorium	4,600	Justin Credible vs. Jerry Lynn for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship
6.	ECW	November to Remember	Villa Park, Illinois	Odeum Expo Center	4,600	Jerry Lynn vs. Steve Corino vs. Justin Credible vs. The Sandman and in a Double Jeopardy match for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship
7.	MW	Throwback Night	Memphis, Tennessee	Mid-South Coliseum	3,758	Jerry Lawler and Jimmy Hart vs. Corey Maclin and Kamala
8.	ECW	ECW on TNN	Buffalo, New York	Flickinger Center	3,700	Super Crazy vs. Yoshihiro Tajiri and Little Guido in a 3-Way Dance match for the ECW World Television Championship
9.	ECW	ECW on TNN	Villa Park, Illinois	Odeum Sports & Expo Center	3,500	Justin Credible vs. The Sandman for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship
9.	MW	Throwback Night III: A Nightmare in Memphis	Memphis, Tennessee	Mid-South Coliseum	3,500	Jerry Lawler and The Rock 'n' Roll Express vs. Corey Maclin, Stan Lane and Jackie Fargo
10.	ECW	Hardcore Heaven	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	The Rave	3,400	Justin Credible vs. Lance Storm and Tommy Dreamer in a 3-Way Dance match for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship

No.	Promoter	Event	Location	Venue	Attendance	Main Event
1.	—	All In	Hoffman Estates, Illinois	Sears Centre Arena	11,263	The Golden Elite vs. Bandido, Rey Fénix and Rey Mysterio in a six-man tag team match
2.	FMLL	Luchamania USA	Los Angeles, California	Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena	7,000	Blue Demon Jr., Cien Caras Jr. and Dr. Wagner Jr. vs. El Hijo del Santo, L.A. Par-K and Rayo de Jalisco Jr. in a six-man tag team match
3.	JCW	Take Me Home Charity Show	Detroit, Michigan	Detroit Masonic Temple	4,500	2 Tuff Tony vs. The Weedman for the JCW Heavyweight Championship
4.	JCW	Hatchet Attacks	Southgate, Michigan	The Modern Exchange	4,311	Corporal Robinson vs. Ian Rotten in a Barbed Wire, Tables, Ladders & Glass match for the JCW Heavyweight Championship
5.	WCE	WrestleCade 5: The Final 3 Count	Winston-Salem, North Carolina	Benton Convention Center	4,000	Matt Hardy vs. Ryback for the WrestleCade Championship
6.	NEW	Six Flags Slam Fest	Jackson, New Jersey	Six Flags Great Adventure Theme Park	3,700	Jon Moxley vs. Caz XL
7.	CWI	Brawl at the Bush II	Brantford, Ontario	Brantford Civic Center	3,600	Haven, Lanny Poffo, Brutus Beefcake and Bushwhacker Luke vs. Big Daddy Hammer, Virgil and The Nasty Boys in a Survivor Series elimination match
8.	—		Chicago, Illinois	Congress Theatre	3,500	Blue Demon Jr., Imágen Nocturna and Piloto Suicida vs. L.A. Par-K, El Hijo del Santo and Rayo de Jalisco Jr.
8.	LU	Austin Warfare	Austin, Texas	Austin Music Hall	3,500	Cage, Prince Puma and Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Jack Evans, Johnny Mundo and PJ Black
8.	ROH	Supercard of Honor XI	Lakeland, Florida	Lakeland Center	3,500	Christopher Daniels vs. Dalton Castle for the ROH World Championship
9.	NEW	Wrestling under the Stars	Wappingers Falls, New York	Dutchess Stadium	3,341	Rey Mysterio Jr. and Alberto El Patrón vs. The Young Bucks
10.	NEW	Wrestlefest	Waterbury, Connecticut	Crosby High School	3,300	Kurt Angle vs. Cody Rhodes in a Steel Cage match