RAWlternative 2: This Time, It's Personal

RAWlternative is back, and Chikara's in the fold
Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein

Monday nights have been dominated by RAW for so long, it's hard to remember (impossible for more of the young'uns out there) that wrestling used to have viable choices on the first night of the week. TNA's Monday night experiment was ill-advised and lasted less than a year, and no matter how bad WCW was at its nadir, one could bet Nitro was still infinitely better than 2010 Impact with its WCW-tribute act. For that reason, the first RAWlternative was such a breath of fresh air. Instead of bullshit, several independent wrestling promotions got together and gave a sampling of their wares. In 13 days, it will happen again.

RAWlternative returns on May 15 with three huge new names joining the fray. Beyond Wrestling is still organizing the shindig, and several of the first participants will be back: Absolute Intense Wrestling, All-American Wrestling, Inter Species Wrestling, Dreamwave Wrestling, Smash Wrestling, Alpha-1 Wrestling, Inspire Pro Wrestling, and C*4. Freelance Wrestling will also be providing a match, along with three other giants in indie wrestling: IWA Mid-South, SHIMMER Women Athletes, and Chikara.

In those three promotions, RAWlternative has the godfather of indie wrestling, the premiere women's wrestling, and arguably the most popular promotion not currently on television in the fold, all three appealing to different niche audiences. Additionally, the planners are still in talks to add even more participants, including CWF Mid-Atlantic.

Personally, the second installment of RAWlternative is probably a little late in getting organized, but better late than never. I would love to see it happen every three months or so, especially since RAW tends to have terrible doldrums that make target audiences for RAWlternative hungry for something else. I'm glad to see RAWlternative not only coming back, but expanding too.