The Boyhood Dream
A lot of people think the indies are just a training ground for guys to learn how to wrestle, so they can one day hope to be a WWE Superstar. There's some truth to the idea – who wouldn't want to work WrestleMania? – but it largely comes from a revisionist perspective that paints WWE as the end-all, be-all in pro wrestling. Like they've always been the end goal, and always will be the highest attainable goal for professional wrestlers.
I don't think this is a fair picture of the pro wrestling industry. It's sort of like saying "everyone who learns how to act wants to be in a James Cameron movie one day." Again, the payday is enough to lure in anyone with a brain, and most aspiring actors do want to be Hollywood celebrities. But the reality is that some artists just want to make art. For some people it's not all about money. There's a big allure to working in front of 80,000 people at WrestleMania, but that comes at a price. Most WWE Superstars aren't properly utilized. When was the last time Evan Bourne or Tyson Kidd even made it to television? I wonder if Zack Ryder wouldn't be happier working an awesome match with an awesome crowd of 1,500 people for an awesome indie promotion, rather than trying to be relevant for a company that clearly doesn't want to use him.
Also, remember how we compared the WWE product to PBR?
People do things for different reasons. Some for the money, some because they just like wrestling, some because they're good at it and had no other options. I hate it when people saying "TNA will never beat WWE". Of course they won't. But that doesn't mean they should stop being a wrestling company. It's flawed logic to assume every promotion in the United States is just trying to catch Vince McMahon. If you're going to watch indie wrestling, please do not go in with the mindset that everyone on your screen just wants to be a WWE Superstar.
