From the weekend of Friday, January 9th, through Sunday, January 11th, we saw a bunch of fun professional wrestling shows take over the independent wrestling scene. From the likes of Pro Wrestling EVE, Focus Pro Wrestling, TWE Chattanooga, True Grit Wrestling, and Freelance Wrestling, here are five must-see matches that every fan of the independent scene should go back and check out.

5. Session Moth Martina vs. Anita Vaughan from Pro Wrestling EVE’s “SHE One 2026”

The seventh installment of the SHE-1 Tournament took place on Friday, January 9th, as professional wrestling fans were in for a treat from Pro Wrestling EVE. This tournament has included wrestlers such as Jamie Hayter, Meiko Satomura, Madison Eagles, Toni Storm, Millie McKenzie, Jazz, Mercedes Martinez, Charli Evans, and many of the top women in Europe and beyond. We saw several fun matches take place this year, including the likes of a quarterfinal bout between Anita Vaughan and Debbie Keitel, and another quarterfinal bout between Session Moth Martina and Alexxis Falcon. However, the best match of the night saw the Vaughan face off with Martina in the SHE-1 Finals. This was a match that was supposed to take place in February. However, plans changed, and we got it ahead of time. This is not only one of the most historic tournaments for women’s wrestling but also really sets the tone, setting up for this year’s Wrestle Queendom. This year’s Wrestle Queendom 8 event is shaping up to be one of the biggest in the promotion’s history. Anita Vaughan has been on an incredible run. Whether she’s teaming up with her Hyperactive tag partner, Safire Reed, or competing in singles action, Vaughan is showing the world exactly how good she is. She’s primed for a huge 2026, but do you know who else is primed for a big year? Her opponent in this one. Martina has been the focal point of Pro Wrestling EVE for quite some time now. As a matter of fact, much of this tournament was made as a way to continue Martina’s “overcoming the odds” story. Martina was on a bit of a losing streak, but has since found her groove. This was a magical match between two of the very best in the UK independent wrestling scene today. Go back and check this one out on the Pro Wrestling EVE YouTube channel by joining and becoming a member of the channel today.

4. Mike Graca vs. Myles Hawkins from Focus Pro’s “Basket Case”

On Saturday, January 10th, Focus Pro Wrestling returned to Widowmaker Brewing in Braintree, MA, for its event, “Basket Case.” The show streamed live on IWTV. The main event of the show saw Mani Ariez put his Focus Pro Championship on the line against KJ Orso. While that was a fine main event, the opening contest of the night was what stole the show for me. In the opening contest, we saw Mike Graca, accompanied as always by his now fiancée Katey Prescott, face off with Myles Hawkins. Graca has been one of my personal favorites since last year, when I really got into his work in the ring. He’s a bit of a creepy character, but he has always been very talented in the ring. Prescott is another name I’ve been particularly drawn to over the course of this past year. She’s now Graca’s real-life fiancée (congratulations!) but has been with him and managing him for quite some time now. Prescott plays the heel manager role pretty perfectly. It’s often a role in today’s professional wrestling world that we don’t see much anymore, outside of Paul Heyman, especially on the independent scene. I give her a lot of credit for doing so well in that role. She adds layers to Graca’s character, and they just work so well together. As for their opponent in this one, Hawkins was one of my picks to have a breakout 2026. Hawkins is still pretty new, but he’s well beyond his years in the ring. Hawkins reminds me of a young Christian Casanova (for those of you who don’t know, he’s WWE’s Carmelo Hayes). Hawkins oozes charisma whenever he makes his way out to the ring, but what makes that so fun is that he also has the talent to back it up. Hawkins is so immensely talented and should be high on everyone’s bingo card entering 2026. Go back and check this one out on the Focus Pro Wrestling IWTV VOD channel, now available.

3. Darian Bengston vs. Austin Luke from TWE Chattanooga’s “Everything Has Changed”

Also on Saturday, January 10th, we saw TWE Chattanooga return to the TWE Arena in Red Bank, TN, for its big event, “Everything Has Changed.” This event saw some great matches, including a hard-fought main event for the TWE Championship that saw Jameson Shook defend his title against Anakin Murphy. We also saw a Taekwondo Gi/ Kendo Stick on a Pole/ Steel Cage match between Derek Neal and Erron Wade. That’s a mouthful, but that match was also pretty fun. However, the best pure wrestling match saw Darian Bengston put his ACTION Wrestling Championship on the line against Austin Luke in a battle between two of the brightest young guns on the independent wrestling scene today. Bengston defeated Tim Bosby back at ACTION Wrestling’s “Bangers Only 6” to win the title, ending Bosby’s historic reign. Since then, Bengston has continued to come into his own and has begun to take the wrestling world by storm. He even recently had a match with WWE ID prospect Eli Knight at JCW, which he won. Bengston set out to continue his fun reign so far in this match. Over the course of his 39-day reign, Bengston has defeated Bosby and Kody Manhorn so far, and is seemingly only getting started. However, he had a tall task in this one. Luke, in his own right, is one of the best professional wrestlers on the independent scene today. He’s been continuing to make a name for himself in promotions like Game Changer Wrestling, Focus Pro, ETU, PWJ, and more. This match was highly anticipated since it was announced, and it lived up to the hype and then some. Go back and check this one out whenever you’re available on the TWE Chattanooga VOD channel on IWTV.

2. Alexxis Falcon vs. Hollie Barlow from True Grit Wrestling’s “True Grit Rumble 2026”

Also on Saturday, True Grit Wrestling returned to Left Bank Leeds in Burley for its big event, “True Grit Rumble 2026.” The main event of the show saw the True Grit Rumble take place, with the winner earning a championship match of their choosing. We also saw a number of great matches, including Adam Bolt vs. Sammy Blue and Riley Nova vs. Brady Phillips. However, my favorite match by far and wide was Alexxis Falcon putting her True Grit Women’s Championship on the line against Hollie Barlow. Falcon has held the True Grit Women’s Championship for over 150 days, first winning it from Rhio back in August of 2025. While she doesn’t always do things the “correct” way, Falcon always gets the job done. Her talent in the ring speaks for itself, and while she may use shortcuts sometimes to get wins over her opponents, she still gets the job done. It’s why she’s not losing that title anytime soon, because until someone outsmarts her, she’s always going to find a way to win, just not always ethically. Over the course of her 150+ day reign, Falcon has knocked off the likes of Melissa Fierce and Natalie Sykes, and while this looked to be another winnable match for Falcon, you can never count out Hollie Barlow. Barlow has quickly captured the hearts of many fans over in the UK, myself included, here in the United States. She’s one half of the fan favorite team with LALLIE, which sees her and the much more serious Lana Austin in a bit of a frenemies situation. Barlow is tremendous in the ring, but what makes her so special and so fun to cheer for is just how likable she is. Whether in a tag match or a singles match, Barlow steals the show. 2026 could very well be the year of Hollie Barlow and Lana Austin. LALLIE for life! Go back and check this one out on TrillerTV+.

1. Bang & Matthews vs. Starstruck from Freelance Wrestling’s “27 Days Later”

On Friday, January 9th, Freelance Wrestling returned to the Logan Square Auditorium in Chicago, IL, for its event, “27 Days Later.” The event marked Freelance’s first big event of 2026 and was streamed live on IWTV. The main event saw Devon Monroe put his Freelance Wrestling World Championship on the line against EFFY. This was a very fun card, which also saw the likes of Trevor Outlaw vs. Matt Brannigan, Shazza McKenzie vs. Trent Wrigley, Chico Suave defending his Freelance Legacy Championship against Jimmy Jacobs, and so much more. However, the match that stole the show was Bang & Matthews, Davey Bang & August Matthews, putting their Freelance Wrestling Tag Team Championships and IWTV Independent Wrestling Tag Team Championships on the line against Starstruck, Anthony Greene & Channing Thomas. This was a battle between one of the top teams in the Midwest (Bang & Matthews) facing off against one of the top teams in the Northeast (Starstruck). That’s what made this match so fun. It was a style clash with two of the very best teams coming together to make magic happen. While their attitude may have changed, Davey Bang & August Matthews are still one of the most talented teams on the entire independent wrestling scene today. They are a pillar in tag team wrestling in the Midwest, and they have all the tools to be a top-tier tag team in the world of professional wrestling for years to come. As for Starstruck, they are a bit older than Bang & Matthews, but don’t let the age difference fool you. Greene & Thomas are still top-tier talents. They are household names here in the Northeast, and it’s been a blast to see them do what they do better than most and take over the whole Northeast independent wrestling scene. Seeing them branch out into the Chicago area was a sight to see, too. Together, these two teams put on an absolute clinic. The chemistry they each had with each other was good enough for fans to want to see this get run back instantly. Go back and check this one out on the Freelance Wrestling VOD channel on IWTV.