At the end of 2019, Independence Pro Wrestling had built some serious momentum putting on monthly events in Kalamazoo.
"It started picking up and we were selling it out by December," IPW owner/promoter Josh Raymond said. "Everything was kicking and we were growing and our last show was March 14th, literally, that last Saturday of everything ending."
After 15 months off, IPW returned two weeks ago with a show in Paw Paw.
"It feels like starting over, for sure," Raymond said. "I'm glad we did have some fans, but we did definitely lose a fan base, I think people are still nervous about coming out. We do still have a loyal fan base that still comes out, but we did lose at least half that were pretty consistent."
They have a show planned for this Sunday at Battle Grand Rapids in Comstock Park called Road to Glory with seven matches scheduled.
"We'd like to have a couple hundred people, 200 people would be awesome," Raymond said. "It is three basketball courts if we can fill it."
IPW features the top unsigned pro wrestlers in the Midwest, and has sent people in the past up the ranks to places like WWE NXT, Ring of Honor and Impact.
One of the headliners for this week's show is a local product.
"We have a local guy by the name of Jimmy Jacobs," Raymond said. "Jimmy Jacobs is from Grand Rapids, he's traveled all over the world, was a writer for WWE, Ring of Honor tag team champion multiple times, wrestled in every major company."
The event starts at 6 p.m. on Sunday and all ages are welcome.
"We are a family friendly promotion," Raymond said. "We are not G rated, but we are PG rated. It's professional wrestling, but you are not going to get bleeding all over you or anything like that, it is a fun family event."
Kids ages 12 and under get in for $10, general admission is $20 and front row seats are $25.
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