A year ago eight members of Wrestle Inn held a draft, pretending they were new wrestling promotors with all the wrestlers in the world in free agency. Like any good sequel, this year is bigger and better! Now eleven different writers and editors for Wrestle Inn have come together to determine who can build the best possible promotion.
The premise was simple. Come to the draft with a brand and a vision. A random number generator would determine the order, with said order flipped between the men’s and women’s draft. Wrestlers were drafted as they are in March of 2022, and you could craft unique tag teams on the premise that they only work as a team. In a situation that totally didn’t feel rigged, Ciaran drew the number one pick and would kick things off.
What came from it was plenty of shouting and arguing as hotly desired wrestlers got taken and plans were ruined. With more owners, it was harder than ever to get the guy or girl you wanted. – a reality that some of the owners found out the hard way. We even had our first ever trade in the history of this series!
So what were the end results? Below you will find each promotion and their roster, as well as their owner telling us a bit about why they build the roster they did and why it’s the best of the bunch. Be sure to cast your vote at the end of the article to add your voice to the mix!
| Men’s Roster (1st Pick) | Women’s Roster (11th Pick) |
| Katsuyori Shibata | KAIRI |
| PAC | Tsukasa Fujimoto |
| Ilja Dragonov | Meiko Satomura |
| Tetsuya Naito | Bayley |
| Prince Devitt/Finn Balor | Millie McKenzie |
| Konosuke Takeshita | Lulu Pencil |
| Ryu Lee/Dragon Lee | Beth Phoenix |
| Motor City Machine Guns | Session Moth Martina |
| Shinsuke Nakamura | Trish Adora |
| Jake Something | Rok-C |
| Alex Coughlin | Xia Brookside |
| Speedball Mike Bailey | Alex Windsor |
Olympus Pro Wrestling
Owner: CiaranRH
Olympus Pro-Wrestling, where the God’s come to wrestle. The miraculous return of Katsuyori Shibata made my first pick a no-brainer, only a God could defy the odds as he has done, and he’ll be leading the charge for my men’s division. Put any of my 12 wrestlers against each other and you know what you get? Dream match. Ilja vs PAC? Dream match. Takeshita vs Nakamura? Dream match. Naito vs Devitt (yes, Devitt, be gone Balor)? Dream match. We’re in the business of making dreams come true! Well, for us fans, the wrestlers are going to be damn sore.
However, you can call me Tony Khan, because when it comes to my women’s division I might be in over my head. I was fortunate to land one of STARDOM’s Threedom in the incomparable KAIRI, and I swiftly moved in for the kill by bringing Ice Ribbon’s Tsukasa Fujimoto into the ranks as well. But who says my division’s cant’ go to war for the glory of the Gods? Meiko Satomura vs EVERYBODY.
| Men’s Roster (2nd Pick) | Women’s Roster (10th Pick |
| Danhausen | Rosemary |
| The Briscoe Brothers | Toni Storm |
| Black Taurus | Momo Watanabe & Ruaka |
| PCO | Gigi Dolan & Jacy Jayne |
| Sting | The Bunny |
| Darby Allin | Miranda Alize |
| The Righteous | Athena and Shotzi Blackheart |
| Sami Callihan | Ram Kaicho |
| John Silver & Alex Reynolds | Isla Dawn |
| L.A Park | Konami |
| Los Psycho Circus | Holidead |
| Jonah | Brittany Blake |
Super Spooky Wrestling
Owner: Adam
For my company, Super Spooky Wrestling, I tried to put together a roster of the spookiest, creepiest and meanest wrestlers and tag teams around. In my head I see my promotion as a place where horror movies come to life with a little bit of Chikara from 2010-11 thrown in. I researched who I could add and put together a draft board for the men’s and women’s division with several backup picks as well just in case anyone I wanted got stolen. The men’s draft went a lot better for me than the women’s draft. I was able to get most of the picks I wanted and I also think I put together a pretty good tag team division (seriously, who wouldn’t want to see Briscoes against Los Psycho Circus?). The women’s draft was a bit tougher as most of the wrestlers I had on my draft board got chosen by others. I was luckily able to grab my top two picks, which were Rosemary and Toni Storm. After that, the wheels kind of fell off but I still think I’ve got a decent women’s roster, including a bad-ass tag team in Oedo Tai. Overall though, I’m satisfied with my roster and I think it’s got a cool and unique feel to it!
| Men’s Roster (3rd Pick) | Women’s Roster (9th Pick) |
| Bryan Danielson | Io Shirai |
| Shingo Takagi | Giulia |
| WALTER/Gunther | Suzu Suzuki* |
| Malakai Black | Rhea Ripley |
| KENOH | Tam Nakano |
| El Hijo Del Vikingo | Chihiro Hashimoto |
| El Desperado | Risa Sera |
| Aussie Open | Rina Yamashita |
| Kaito Kiyomiya | Saori Anou |
| Chris Brookes | Unagi Sayaka* |
| Lance Archer | Koguma |
| Bandito | Chie Koishikawa |
Midnight City Wrestling
Owner: Trent Breward
When the sun sets, the stars come out. Midnight City Wrestling is all about bringing together the best of the best in different disciplines and finding out what makes the strongest pro wrestler. Whether you’re a technical wizard, a Genius of the Sky or you just want Everyone to Die, the after hours fight pit of MCW is your new home.
Bryan Danielson and Shingo Takagi were in my top 3 in terms of most wanted, so to land both was a huge score, and having two strong figureheads allowed me to bring in a mix of different styles. There’s a lot of rare or never before seen matches waiting in MCW with a host of storytelling possibilities. There’s a definite preference for hard hitters, but I wanted to bring in guys like Vikingo and Brookes to add some extra flavour.
For the women my vision was far clearer. I wanted a couple of headline attractions that can draw the initial attention, and then an incredibly talented batch in the mid-draft that will keep you enthralled. I ended up leaning into a bit of a hardcore/deathmatch angle, either through specialists like Risa Sera or those who are just willing to throw themselves into a war. As much as trading AZM hurt, bringing Suzu Suzuki into this kind of promotion just made way too much sense. I keep the promise of a young prodigy, but now they’re more in line with MCW’s style. And of course Io Shirai is front and centre to remind everyone why she’s a generational level talent.
| Men’s Roster (4th Pick) | Women’s Roster (8th Pick) |
| Kazuchika Okada | Syuri |
| Go Shoizaki | Saya Kamitani |
| MJF | AZM* |
| Hangman Adam Page | ASUKA/Veny |
| Hiroshi Tanahashi | Mio Momono |
| Sw3rve The Realest | Hazuki |
| Lio Rush | Yoshiko |
| Tyler Bate | Tomoka Inaba |
| Kento Miyahara | MIRAI* |
| KENTA | Masha Slamovich |
| Tomasso Ciampa | Dakota Kai |
| EVIL & SANADA | Shoko Nakajima |
Dinosaur Fence Pro Wrestling
Owner: Scott Edwards
Dinosaur Fence went into this draft with about the same amount of thought that it took to come up with the name of promotion — minimal. The entire goal for myself drafting was to pick as many wrestlers as I liked without wanting to cry when others took who I wanted. Easier said than done.
The men’s side of things were a complete win really. With the fourth overall selection, I picked Kazuchika Okada, a man who very well might go down in history as the greatest of all time. Oh, and speaking of greatest of all time, the steal of the men’s draft came in the fifth round when I got Hiroshi Tanahashi, the greatest male pro wrestler to ever live. Heck of a start for Dinosaur Fence who can also sprinkle in the greatness of wrestlers like current GHC Heavyweight Champion Go Shiozaki, AEW World Champion Hangman Page, and Triple Crown Champion Kento Miyahara. Lots of gold to go around here.
The women’s draft is where it got messy. Not because I didn’t have a plan — this was the only time I did have a plan. But because I got my heart ripped out when Mayu Iwatani was taken one pick before me, it nearly broke my spirit as my favorite wrestler of all time was gone. But no fear, we bounce back. Back-to-back picks of Syuri and Saya Kamitani is about as good as you can get. Looking for consistency and aces for the women’s division, these two give me exactly that as I will guarantee must-see matches every single show the fans of Dinosaur Fence get to see. The additions of both VENY and Mio Momono in the fourth and fifth rounds are really where my Joshi roots kicked into gear. VENY is one of the best going and Mio Momono was the best wrestler in the world at one time in 2021. When she’s ready, I expect her to do the same again. The rest of my women’s division is awesome but it was my one-sided trade with Trent’s MCW that won us the draft (if I do say so myself). My mistake turned into my win as a trade to acquire AZM and MIRAI for Suzu Suzuki and Unagi Sayaka was the ultimate win. I will miss having such a prodigy on my team but I may have replaced her with an even better one.
Oh and MIRAI does the clap thing so I win.
| Men’s Roster (5th Pick) | Women’s Roster (7th Pick) |
| Adam Cole | Mayu Iwatani |
| Zack Sabre Jr | Bianca Belair |
| Big E | Kamille |
| Chris Bey | Serena Deeb & Deonna Purrazzo |
| Miro | Jessica Havok |
| The Lucha Bros. | Sakisama |
| The Hardy Boys | Kris Statlander |
| Josh Alexander | Kiera Hogan & Tasha Steelz |
| Jacob Fatu | Ruby Soho |
| Jungle Boy | Kyoko Inoue |
| Matt Cardona | Bea Priestley/Blair Davenport |
| Damien Priest | Heather Monroe |
Singularity Pro Wrestling
Owner: Thumbly
How It Started:
Going into the draft, I had a bit of a secret. Sure, after a few picks into the women’s side people were saying “Oh, you’re going to have some serious inter gender action.” But those poor fools had no idea they were not going far enough. I laid down the gauntlet to myself before hand: it’s 2022, men’s and women’s wrestling have never resembled each other more, and more than one woman has been the face of multiple different sports including MMA. It’s time to tear up the old rules and throw away the pearls you used to clutch.
What do I mean? I mean here in Singularity PW we’re going to be the first fully integrated feature fed. No men’s/women’s divisions, these are all trained athletes and gifted performers who can hold their own on a level playing field. The same singular footing. We’ve got weight classes, to ensure we keep it as level as possible while increasing the modern combat sport feel:
1) 225 and under is the lighter class
2) Anything above is the heavier class (and yes, many of our stronger female competitors will fit here).
As time goes on and the fed grows, we can add more diverse classes of belts UFC-style The tag team division is the only openweight, come-as-you-are party zone. This means mixed tag teams, which I had to come up with creatively since I couldn’t draft them together. I had to have a backup plan for every male I took in case the intended female partner didn’t fall to me wholly separately later on. That I did, and otherwise I set out to keep the weight classes realistic enough to convey the genuine equality and even competition that these athletes deserve. It’s time for a change, and new matchups with never-before-seen possibilities. You can only get it here, so again the name is fitting.
How It’s Going:
Due to the nature of my particular beast, I had to keep a keen focus on balance – enough athletes in each of my weight classes, enough representation of each gender in them (tougher at the heavyweight level), and making room for tag teams as well. This sometimes meant I had to prioritize certain traits (teams, size, etc) over who was simply the best person available. So others got to jump on value that I couldn’t.
That said, I protected myself early with star power. Singularity quickly snagged Adam Cole/Chris Bey/Big E for the men’s roster, Bianca Belair/Kamille/Mayu Iwatani (an oft-betrayed but very beloved hero I christened “the Sting of Japan”) for the women’s side. This allowed me a solid baseline to play from, stacking amazing talents like Serena Deeb & Deonna Purazzo into a tag team to stretch male, female, and mixed teams alike. I could also pounce on names like Jungle Boy, Damien Priest, and Kris Statlander when they fell later on. But the biggest switch I made from our last draft to this one was the focus on great tag teams, both established and Singularity-original varieties. The Lucha Bros, Hardy Boyz, and Fire n’ Flava will contend with all-new mixed teams like Statlander/Matt Cardona, Priest/Ruby Soho, and Cole/Heather Monroe. You literally CANNOT see this anywhere else on the (real or imagined) Earth!
The weight limits also ended up creating awesome stories, like Josh Alexander using his pure grit and wrestling acumen to tackle giants like Miro and Jacob Fatu. So top to bottom we’ve got talent, style, and brand new lineups to bottom to boot! The ONE place you will find them all is Singularity Pro Wrestling.
| Men’s Roster (6th Pick) | Women’s Pick (6th Pick) |
| Jay White | Jade Cargill |
| Johnathan Gresham | Charlotte Flair |
| Daniel Garcia | Jamie Hayter |
| Claudio Castognoli/Cesaro | Thunder Rosa |
| Kyle O’Reilly | Sonya Deville |
| Samoa Joe | Lita |
| FTR | Nixon Newell |
| Wardlow | Killer Kelly |
| Windham Rotuna/Bray Wyatt | Paige Van Zant |
| Roderick Strong | Marina Shafir |
| Ethan Page | Janai Kai |
| Grizzled Young Veterans | Jody Threat |
Valhalla Wrestling
Owner: Molly
For Valhalla, I wanted to portray something truly special. It’s such a special place in legend – a destination that is yearned for and earned in battle. I wanted Valhalla to represent just that. With both men and women who represented the most incredible workers in the industry, it was my wish to stand out by pushing some of the best dream matches in today’s industry, wrestled by those who most consistently author “wow” moments inside the squared circle.
Coming into the men’s draft, I had a short list of four names that I would have been happy to build my promotion around. Honestly, I only expected I’d be able to lock down just one of them, but I was able to get THREE! After that, I stayed true to my vision until the later rounds where I was able to steal some personality to add to the foundational violence I prioritized in the early rounds. For the women, I was a little more flexible as some big names fell to me early. I was able to round out Valhalla’s “Valkyries” division with some names I knew I needed to have – those who pushed violence and carried with them the same strong work-rate as the men’s side.
Overall, I walked away extremely happy with how things went. Sure, I wish some names had fallen to me that didn’t, but that’s how these things always work. I love being challenged to pivot when necessary and think outside the box. At the end of the day, it’s a promotion I’d gladly watch any day, and that’s all I could ask for. So what say you? Care to pull up a chair in the hallowed halls of Valhalla? Sure, there will be blood, but there will be endless smiles to be had as well – that’s a promise.
| Men’s Roster (7th Pick) | Women’s Roster (5th Pick) |
| CM Punk | Utami Hayashishita |
| Johnny Gargano | Sasha Banks |
| Kevin Owens | Britt Baker |
| Sami Zayn | Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross |
| Will Ospreay | Liv Morgan |
| Cody Rhodes | The Inspiration |
| The Usos | Candice LeRae |
| OGK | Raquel Gonzalez |
| Bron Breakker | Viper/Doudrop |
| Riddle | Mandy Rose |
| Montez Ford | Natalya |
| The Miz | Jinny |
Super Mountain Wrestling
Owner: Steve H
Theme song: Bring me to Life – Evanescence
The reformed SMW (with apologies to Jim Cornette and Smoky Mountain Wrestling) offers great in ring action with an old school feel and lots of fun. A roster mixed with experienced in ring performers and emerging young talent will leave the audience wanting more each week. The arena’s will be filled with the SMW (Dub), SMW, SMW chants. Get a front row ticket or contact your cable provider to watch Super Mountain Wrestling. Call our 1-800 number to order your Sami Zayn wig, your Dr Britt Baker DMD toothpaste, your Johnny and Candice duvet cover or your CM Punk ice cream bar.
The men’s draft started badly as by the time of my first pick I had already lost my number one choice Bryan Danielson as well as my sleeper choice for the later rounds Danhausen. After selecting Punk, I was on a roll with Gargano, Owens, Zayn and Ospreay. The women’s draft had similar difficulties at the start as I knew I had to pick a Joshi wrestler in round one or else the big names would be gone. I decided to go for Utami and luckily still got Sasha in round two.
Both men’s and women’s rosters really came into place in the later rounds. Best wrestlers in the world – tick. Best on the mic – tick. Best storytellers – tick. Best crossover TV stars – tick. All of the rosters selected are amazing but Super Mountain Wrestling really is the most stupendous roster of all time!
| Men’s Roster (8th Pick) | Women’s Roster (4th Pick) |
| Hiromu Takahashi | Starlight Kid |
| HOOK | Jordynne Grace |
| Jeff Cobb | Thekla |
| Minoru Suzuki | Natsupoi |
| Eddie Kingston | Mei Suruga |
| Yoshiki Inamura | Emi Sakura |
| Jake Lee | Mercedes Martinez |
| Lee Moriarty | Leyla Hirsch |
| Santana & Ortiz | Mizuki |
| Yuji Hino | Saya Iida |
| Tom Lawlor | Ryo Mizunami |
| T-Hawk & El Lindaman | Gisele Shaw |
Pro Wrestling NEO
Owner: Jamie Johnson
My promotion is all about building new (NEO), brighter stars. My draft strategy contained three parts: first, drafting wrestlers who are young and on their way up (such as HOOK, Lee Moriarty and Starlight Kid). Second, drafting under-utilised wrestlers (for example, Yuji Hino, Hiromu Takahashi and Mercedes Martinez). Thirdly, signing a couple of supplementary older wrestlers who have the advantages of experience to spread to their younger contemporaries (which is the King, Minoru Suzuki and Queen, Emi Sakura). This diverse drafting has allowed me to build a roster that is well-rounded, with youth and experience coming together to form a promotion both for now and the future.
| Men’s Roster (9th Pick) | Women’s Roster (3rd Pick) |
| Brock Lesnar | Miyu Yamashita |
| Katsuhiko Nakajima | Takumi Iroha |
| Jon Moxley | Arisa Nakajima |
| Tomohiro Ishii | Miyuki Takase |
| Drew Mcintyre | Maya Yukihi |
| Takashi Sugiura | Maika & Himeka |
| Keith Lee | Sareee/Sarray |
| Pete Dunne/Butch | Mia Yim |
| Yuji Okabayashi | DASH Chisako |
| Masa Kitamiya | Miu Watanabe |
| AJ Gray | Nagisa Nozaki |
| The Astronauts | Michigo Miyagi |
Merciless Pro
Owner: Ryan Dilbert
Savagery. Brutality. Simple, haunting, beautiful violence. I strived to build Merciless Pro with those very bricks.
My goal with both the men’s and women’s draft was to nab as many hard-hitters and ass-kickers as possible. I wanted a roster full of brawlers who are nasty and unrelenting, experts at the slugfest style.
I was mostly able to draft the top picks on my men’s big board including the monstrous Brock Lesnar, NOAH’s kicking machine Katsuhiko Nakajima, and Mr. Death Rider himself Jon Moxley. Then in later rounds, I plucked some late-round steals from BJW.
On the women’s side, I leaned heavy on the joshi scene, getting a number of women considered the ace of their respective promotion: Miyu Yamashita from TJPW, Takumi Iroha from Marvelous, and Nagisa Nozaki from Pro Wrestling Wave. Most of the women I drafted are tall and muscular, although size wasn’t my main focus. I wanted bad attitudes and black hearts. I got that in spades.
If you enjoy Pro Wrestling NOAH when it’s not focused on older, past-their-prime guys, if you dig the grittiness of Big Japan Pro-Wrestling, if you like your wrestling raw and uncomfortably violent, Merciless Pro is for you. Brock Lesnar vs. Keith Lee. Miyu Yamashita vs. Takumi Iroha. Tomohiro Ishii vs. Jon Moxley. Mia Yim vs. DASH Chisako. All the slobberknockers you can handle, bro.
| Men’s Roster (10th Pick) | Women’s Roster (2nd Pick) |
| Roman Reigns | Asuka |
| AJ Styles | Becky Lynch |
| Randy Orton | Ronda Rousey |
| Bobby Lashley | Shayna Bazler |
| Powerhouse Hobbs | Kay Lee Ray |
| Buddy Matthews | Tenille Dashwood |
| Mustafa Ali | Naomi |
| MSK | Chelsea Green |
| Dexter Lumis | Nyla Rose |
| Sammy Guevara | Penelope Ford |
| Andrade | Red Velvet |
| Nick Aldis | Indi Hartwell |
Dragon Wrestling Dungeon
Owner: Katie Rose
What can I say? My roster is once again pretty WWE heavy, with talent from other promotions sprinkled in here and there. We have a lot of heavy hitters including Ronda Rousey, Shayna Baszler, Bobby Lashley, and Roman Reigns. I usually always go for my favorites during our draft picks and I have to say, I pretty much secured most of the wrestlers I wanted this time around!
Just imagine the amazing matches these superstars can put on. Shayna vs Ronda. Becky vs Asuka. Aj vs Ali. Randy vs Nick Aldis. They would definitely show up and show out! Most of my wrestlers can be paired up with pretty much anyone to have a high quality, 5-star match. Need your nightly entertainment to get you through just about anything? Dragon Wrestling Dungeon will go above and beyond your expectations. You can bet on that!
| Men’s Roster (11th Pick) | Women’s Roster (1st Pick) |
| Kenny Omega | Maki Itoh |
| The Young Bucks | Riho |
| Orange Cassidy | Tay Conti & Anna Jay |
| Kota Ibushi | Yuka Sakazaki |
| Seth Rollins | Hikaru Shida |
| Edge | Zelina Vega |
| Xavier Woods | Mickie James |
| R-Truth | Kylie Rae |
| The Acclaimed | Dana Brooke |
| Toru Yano | Big Swole |
| John Cena | Su Yung |
| Yoshihiko | Hikari Noa |
MS Paint Pro
Owner: Caro
Do you get tired of wrestling discourse? The thousands of tweets arguing over Roman Reigns and Kenny Omega? The mundane opinions that start with some variation of the phrase “Hot take, but” and then ratios galore rain down on your mentions?
Aren’t you tired of wrestling being 100% serious?
Don’t you want it to be fun?
That’s basically the premise of Microsoft Paint Pro Wrestling, or MSPW for short. It’s very much a comedy-based wrestling promotion that doesn’t take itself seriously, but houses the most talented wrestlers across the industry. I knew wrestlers like Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, the Young Bucks, and Riho had the right background to make this concept work, but I also picked wrestlers such as Zelina Vega and Xavier Woods who have exhibited their nerdiness proudly in the past. You could say it’s kind of like DDT, and while I was inspired by the presentation of their product, I decided to take it further and created a pseudo-universe within the promotion. Led by dual EVP/President, Windows 95’s Clippy takes on the reins as ringleader of the whole promotion, manipulating match results with algorithms and athletic wit! But there’s more to Clippy than meets the eye, and there’s something about his manner of speech that attracts mystery and wonder…….
Wrestle Inn 