One California Wrestling Promotion Gave Modern Fans Their Biggest Stars

Following the closure of both WCW and ECW in 2001, the professional wrestling business needed something to try and fill the void left by two of the biggest companies in the United States ceasing to exist. This led to the independent circuit booming with top talents and exciting promotions with unique selling points that would help them stand out in an industry ruled by WWE. Ring of Honor focused heavily on the in-ring, technical work-rate side of the business, TNA Wrestling attempted to be the biggest alternative to WWE by landing a prime-time TV deal, and places like CZW attempted to scratch the itch left by ECW for those wanting something a little more violent and chaotic in their wrestling.

However, the west coast of the country had its own promotion, one that not only combined some of the elements of the promotions already mentioned, but carved out its own niche of being what some called a "party promotion." We are talking of course, about Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.

PWG was founded in 2003 by six Californian wrestlers; Super Dragon, Excalibur, Joey Ryan, Disco Machine, Scott Lost, and Top Gun Talwar. It was a promotion formed out of the lack of wrestling opportunities for wrestlers in California, and while money was always tight given its independent nature, PWG had become the promotion to be associated with on the West Coast by the mid-2000s. By 2006, the American Legion Post #308 in Reseda had become the "PWG Clubhouse" and was their home base for over a decade, becoming one of the most iconic venues in independent wrestling in the process. As for some of the wrestlers who worked for PWG, while some names have been lost to history, others have gone on to be some of the biggest stars in the world.

Former PWG Tag Team Champion B-Boy once stated "If you get booked there once and have a good showing, you could get booked everywhere." Looking at the lineage of some of their titles and tournaments, that statement couldn't have been more true.

Just based on the history of the PWG World Championship, stars who have become part of the DNA of both WWE and AEW have held the promotion's top prize. AEW currently has the three men who have held the title longer than anyone signed to their roster, those being Adam Cole, Bandido, and Daniel Garcia, while Kenny Omega, Bryan Danielson, Ricochet, and Claudio Castagnoli are just some of the former champions. For WWE, AJ Styles, GUNTHER, and even current "WWE Raw" general manager Adam Pearce have held the PWG World Championship. However, two men who have become synonymous with WWE hold PWG near and dear to their hearts.

At WrestleMania 39, both Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn had the PWG logo on their gear as the promotion was an integral part of their pre-WWE success. After they defeated The Usos to win the Unified WWE Tag Team Championships, Owens mentioned how important PWG was to their careers at the post-show press conference, and personally thanked Super Dragon for giving them the chance to work for him.

Arguably the most famous tag team to come out of PWG were The Young Bucks, who were so loyal to the promotion that they only signed contract extensions with ROH if they were allowed to continue working for PWG. They would of course go on to form AEW with Cody Rhodes (another PWG alum) in 2019, with Excalibur being one of the first signees as the company's lead commentator, as well as referee Rick Knox.

PWG has not held an event since the Mystery Vortex event in August 2023 that also acted as the promotion's 20th-anniversary show. However, the promotion had struggled to gain any real momentum since the turn of the decade due to so many familiar faces being snapped up by WWE and AEW, as well the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic that caused PWG to not hold any events throughout all of 2020. With that said, the reasoning behind PWG's prolonged hiatus that still exists today is more tragic than some might suspect.

Shortly after the 2023 Mystery Vortex event, Super Dragon took to the official PWG Twitter account to announce that there would be no more events in the immediate future as his girlfriend, who had been battling an aggressive form of cancer, had taken a turn for the worse. He explained that he was unable to focus on anything else and needed to take a step back from wrestling to help his girlfriend's fight and stated that PWG would return in 2024, but that sadly wasn't the case. No updates have been given since the initial post, but those in the wrestling community are all hoping for the best for Super Dragon and his family.

On top of this, it was announced in November 2023 that the Globe Theater, PWG's home since 2018 after the American Legion Post #308 in Reseda was set to be demolished, would be closing with immediate effect. This meant that with no home venue and a lead booker not in wrestling for the foreseeable future, PWG would not be coming back anytime soon. Fans still hold out hope for the beloved promotion to make a comeback in the coming years, but PWG's future remains uncertain.