It\u2019s one thing to watch a sport on TV or from your phone. It\u2019s another to see the sport live. In my case, over the past two years, I\u2019ve attended pro wrestling shows such as NXT, WWE\u2019s development brand, AEW\u2019s All Out 2024 pay-per-view, 4th Rope\u2019s Heels Have Eyes, Game Changer Wrestling (GCW), and New Japan\u2019s Pro-Wrestling\u2019s \u201cWindy City Riot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Defender Sports Columnist Evan F. Moore attended Game Changer Wrestling\u2019s Chicago event in March 2025 (Photo Credit: Evan F. Moore).
\nThe chants are hilarious and, at times, brutally honest. Being in Chicago, a longtime wrestling hub, Chicago has access to all types of wrestling promotions that have set up shop here, such as Chicago Style Wrestling and Freelance Wrestling.<\/p>\n
New Japan Pro-Wrestling\u2019s \u201cWindy City Riot\u201d (Photo Credit: Evan Moore).<\/p>\n
Every promotion offers something different. In one instance, during the GCW show, as I sat in the front row, a wrestler landed on my lap. And in another, a Japanese wrestling icon performed stateside for the last time. Meanwhile, as a measure of caution, I\u2019ve largely stayed away from the tribalism aspect within wrestling\u2019s Internet Wrestling Community (IWC) filled with trolls who disparage wrestlers and claim whatever promotion they favor is superior to others (it might be true, but I don\u2019t care).<\/p>\n
This weekend, Wrestlemania 41 takes place in Las Vegas. If you\u2019re lucky to be in the area, lots of independent promotions are taking advantage of being in close proximity to the sport\u2019s most recognizable event. Some of them are curating spaces surrounding Wrestlemania weekend.
\nGriselda rapper Westside Gunn\u2019s Fourth Rope promotion is hosting an event featuring many wrestlers known to their fan base who\u2019ve wrestled for the aforementioned organizations.
\nAs\u00e9 Wrestling, a Black-owned Charlotte, North Carolina-based promotion, also hosted a Thursday card featuring Black wrestlers ahead of Wrestlemania.
\nFor me, every Thursday night, As\u00e9 tugs on the heartstrings \u2014 and, perhaps most importantly, they were raised right. One of the wrestlers has the theme to the 1985 film \u201cThe Last Dragon\u201d as their entrance theme, while another enters the ring to Kriss Kross\u2019s \u201cJump.\u201d
\nTheir programming during Black History Month was highly exceptional in giving flowers to past and present Black wrestlers from multiple promotions. Admittedly, I was a bit embarrassed not knowing some of the names they mentioned. Also, they threw in renditions of \u201cLift Every Voice and Sing.\u201d
\nNow I know.<\/p>\n