[fundiddle]

funny how much the indie scene has changed in terms of who's hot and who's not in the last four years or so. PWG's Battle of Los Angeles from 2016 was the pinnacle of popularity for that company, it featured many guys that have since gone on to greater things or returned to WWE - Tomasso Ciampa, Ricochet, Tommy End, Kyle O'Reilly, Bobby Fish, Adam Cole, John Morrison, Trevor Lee, Brian Kendrick, Matt Riddle, Pete Dunne, Mark Andrews, Chris Hero (who was later terminated again). Cody Rhodes and the Bucks went on to form AEW (and took the Lucha Bros with them), guys like Zach Sabre Jr. and Will Ospreay still doing their thing, Jeff Cobb and Marty Scurll (Scurll WON that weekend tournament) found further success in ROH in the years to follow.


It's interesting to consider where all those dudes were in their careers at that time, the opportunities that they got and the paths they've chose, how it's lead to further success and popularity, how it may have allowed them to get lost in the shuffle of things, or how simply they couldn't maintain appeal for whatever reason/s. Also interesting to me is how instrumental many of those mentioned were in giving New Japan a way to break into the US and how that has floundered as well.