From Friday, March 6th, through Sunday, March 8th, from the United States to across the pond, independent wrestling was running rampant, with some promotions having the best matches that you’d ever see all year. This was truly a special weekend, as it also marked the prestigious wXw “16 Carat Gold” tournament. From the likes of House of Glory, Game Changer Wrestling, wXw, and Pro Wrestling EVE, here are five matches that every fan of professional wrestling should go back and check out.

5. Charles Mason vs. Bryan Keith from HOG Wrestling’s “Turf Wars”

Kicking off the list, we saw Charles Mason defend his HOG World Championship at “Turf Wars” when House of Glory made its return to Chicago on Friday night. This not only marked HOG’s return to the Logan Square Auditorium, but also marked a sold-out event for House of Glory. Some matches were announced ahead of time, including the likes of Zilla Fatu vs. Bishop Dyer and Shotzi Blackheart vs. Killer Kelly, but one match we had no idea about was the main event. All we knew was that Charles Mason was going to be defending his HOG World Championship. The challenge would be answered by someone very beloved in Chicago, the “Bounty Hunter” himself, Bryan Keith. Mason has been the HOG World Champion for over 270 days, picking up wins over the likes of Mike Santana, Carlito, Man Like DeReiss, Dezmond Xavier, Cedric Alexander, Mustafa Ali, and Rey Horus. However, to say Keith was his toughest challenge yet would be the understatement of the century. Keith absolutely took Mason to the limit, and some might argue that had Mason not pulled the stunt he did at the end of the match, Keith would be the HOG World Champion now. This match started quick as Keith threw his Mexican poncho at Mason and went on the attack very fast. Mason flipped the script of the match when he low-blowed Keith behind the referee’s back. Mason and Keith left it all out in the ring. The two men absolutely chopped the hell out of each other and truly went to war. However, we saw a “scary” spot when Mason jumped from the top turnbuckle outside the ring over the guardrail onto Keith. He instantly grabbed his leg, signaling an injury, and the referee held up an “X” when they returned to the ring. This stopped the match and quickly ended things. After the match, however, Keith called Mason a “piece of shit” but in a weird sign of respect type of way. He said he wants his rematch, and Mason did what only he could do best… a low blow. Mason low-blowed Keith and hit him with a rolling DVD and jumped up, showing that he was just fine. From the start to the finish, this was such a fantastic match that I highly recommend people check it out. The match is available on TrillerTV+.

4. Atticus Cogar vs. Gringo Loco from GCW’s “Ransom”

Next up, we saw Atticus Cogar put his GCW World Championship on the line against Gringo Loco, on a night that was jam-packed with some incredible action. Game Changer Wrestling had an insanely busy weekend, as they had a show on Friday night in Kentucky, Saturday night in Ohio, and Sunday evening in Chicago, IL. GCW’s original main event for this show was supposed to see Otis Cogar put his GCW Ultraviolent Championship on the line against Bear Bronson. Unfortunately, Bronson had travel issues, so instead we saw Otis team up with Christian Napier to face off with Shotzi Blackheart and Vipress. On any other night, this match would have stolen the show. Unfortunately, for the four names I just mentioned, they had to go on after what could have been Atticus Cogar’s best title defense to date. Now Atticus has had many great dance partners in his reign so far, including the likes of Matt Tremont, EFFY, 1 Called Manders, Priscilla Kelly, Allie Katch, and Megan Bayne. However, Gringo Loco may have been the one to put forth the best challenge yet. There were times when I was watching this match that I thought that GCW may actually be pulling the plug on Cogar’s reign. That’s how big a deal this match was. Gringo Loco is an absolute freak of nature; there’s nothing that he can’t do. He’s a stud in every sense of the word. Loco took Atticus to his absolute limit on Sunday. However, Atticus continues to target the family members of whoever he’s working with. Last time it was Megan Bayne’s mother; this time it was Gringo Loco’s partner. However, his partner was not messing around. She came to the ringside area and spat in the face of Cogar before Cogar pulled her into the ring. Chaos ensued, which saw Atticus try to put skewers into the forehead of Gringo Loco’s partner, but Gringo Loco made the save with a low-blow. A cool spot saw Gringo Loco put the skewers in the head of Atticus, and his partner hit a big DDT on Atticus right after. This whole match was just electric, and it was a great reminder that although Gringo is not always placed in main event spots, he absolutely can hold his own with whoever you put in front of him. Go back and check this one out, available anytime on TrillerTV+.

3. Ahura vs. Peter Tihanyi from wXw’s “16 Carat Gold, Night Three”

One of the most prestigious tournaments in all of professional wrestling took place this week, and of course, I am talking about wXw’s “16 Carat Gold” tournament. 16 of the best talents in the world from all over entered the tournament to etch their name in the history books. On Sunday, this tournament came to its epic conclusion with a beautiful, and I mean beautiful, final between Ahura and Peter Tihanyi. Ahura has gone on record saying this was going to be his final time stepping in the ring, win, lose, or draw. So his final match came against Tihanyi in one of the biggest ways possible, the finals of the 2026 “16 Carat Gold” tournament. Ahura and Tihanyi have chemistry that very few people have in this business. I could watch them wrestle for hours. This match started off tame with some chain wrestling. From there, it evolved into more as we began to pick up with Tihanyi eating a dive from Ahura onto the outside. From there, both men threw everything they had and then some at each other, with Tihanyi trying to put Ahura away with a 450-splash later in the match. The crowd was absolutely red hot for this one and very firmly behind Ahura. Tihanyi was locked in a submission hold that made everyone in the room think Ahura tapped too. However, Ahura fired back up like only he could and dug down deep. He hit a spinning suplex on Tihanyi to end it. This was such a beautiful moment, as many in attendance were in tears. This was a testament to the hard work Ahura did throughout his career to keep him in the fans’ good graces. We saw a nice moment where Tihanyi said to hell with his heel-self and shook Ahura’s hand after the match for one final show of respect. Tihanyi got on the mic and spoke in English and said, “If you want to be the face of the company, you have to stay.” The crowd chanted (in English) “Please don’t go!” Ahura said a few words in German, then he showed off his trophies. Mett said that Ahura told the crowd, “How can I leave after a weekend like this?” From top-to-bottom, this was one of the best matches of the weekend. wXw truly knocks it out of the park with these tournaments, and this year’s was no different. Ahura and Tihanyi were the perfect final match-up. Go back and check this one out on TrillerTV+ and on the wXw VOD channel on IWTV.

2. Jamie Hayter vs. Miyu Yamashita from Pro Wrestling EVE’s “Women Behaving Badly”

Coming in at number two on this list, we saw Jamie Hayter go one-on-one with Miyu Yamashita in a match that won the weekend for Pro Wrestling EVE. This was an insanely busy weekend for EVE, as they not only had their biggest show of the year, “Wrestle Queendom 8,” but also kicked it all off on Friday for a preview of their return to London, “Women Behaving Badly.” This was yet another stacked card. The main event saw Dash Chisako meet Anita Vaughan in a Falls Count Anywhere match, and we also saw the likes of LALLIE face off with Miko Alana & Johnnie Robbie, and AZM and Alex Windsor compete in tag action. However, the best match of the night by far saw Jamie Hayter go one-on-one with Miyu Yamashita. For EVE, this very well could have been their match of the year. Now they had many good matches this weekend, including Rhio vs. Session Moth Martina in the main event of “Wrestle Queendom 8.” However, unlike that match, Hayter and Yamashita put on magic without the help of an “Avengers-like” cast. Now this isn’t a knock on Rhio/Martina, but just the difference in the matches. Yamashita is one of the hardest-hitting wrestlers around today, and put whoever you want in front of her, man or woman, and she is knocking them out. She met her match in this one, though, as the former AEW Women’s World Champion was not going to go away easily. They had a time-limit of 20 minutes, which they were able to both exceed, with neither woman putting the other away in the first 20 minutes. Fast forward, Will Ospreay, a producer at EVE, came out and gave both women five more minutes. After another five minutes had passed, nothing changed. Neither woman had their hand raised in this one as it came down to a draw. Sometimes a draw makes no sense. But this wasn’t one of those times. This was a beautiful match, which was a match of grit, power, and perseverance. Yamashita and Hayter had an outright incredible match. Yamashita continued to show that she’s the very best striker on the independent scene today, while Hayter continued to show that she can hold her own with whoever you put in front of her. Go back and check this one out on the Pro Wrestling EVE YouTube channel. You won’t be disappointed.

1. Elijah Blum vs. 1 Called Manders from wXw’s “16 Carat Gold, Night Two”

Coming in at number one on this list for this past weekend, we saw Elijah Blum put his wXw Unified World Wrestling Title against a former champion, 1 Called Manders. This was one of the only non-tournament matches to take place on Saturday’s event, “16 Carat Gold, Night Two.” However, despite not being a part of the tournament, it absolutely stole the show. If you’re a fan of two men just beating the absolute hell out of each other, this one is for you. For Manders, this was about getting his title back; for Elijah Blum, this was so much more than that. Blum was out to earn the respect of Manders. Blum’s reign is just getting underway. He has held the title for just over 40 days, so far, but has already beaten some great names in wXw, including Peter Tihanyi, Luca de Leone, and Karim Brigante. This was without a doubt going to be his toughest challenge yet, though, as Manders is certainly never one to play around. These two absolute monsters went to nearly 30-minutes in the ring. This was a match where both competitors truly threw everything they had and then some at each other. In one of the match’s coolest spots, Manders picked up Blum on the outside of the ring and hit him with an Oklahoma Stampede, which is a Bulldog Powerslam, onto several empty chairs in the ringside area. This move absolutely destroyed the backs of the chairs and left a nasty gash on the arm of Manders. However, it was going to take a lot more than a little bit of blood to stop Manders. Manders hit two of his big clotheslines on Blum, who kicked out, which absolutely shocked Manders. Blum kicked up after eating two of Manders’ clotheslines, and the two men met in the middle of the ring face-to-face. They continued to just beat the absolute hell out of each other. Blum dug down deeper than ever before to overcome Manders. This match was truly a testament to the chemistry these two had. Go back and check out this early match-of-the-year candidate on TrillerTV+ and the wXw VOD channel on IWTV. It’s very much worth it.