History SpiritualSuccessor / ProWrestling

** International agreements that grant access to cutting-edge talent? Check.[[note]]WCW, first with Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling and later (and more extensively) with Wrestling/{{AAA}}; AEW with AAA, briefly China's OWE, and most recently NJPW[[/note]]

** Wrestling/{{Christian}} jumping ship from WWE and restoring his full ring name of "Christian Cage"? That happened too. And he even got to keep his TNA theme song!

* [[UsefulNotes/UltimateFightingChampionship The UFC]] is considered by most to be the successor to Pro Wrestling in general, since it follows the same exact model, although lately they have been trying to move away from that structure. More accurately, UFC is [[DoingInTheWizard what pro wrestling would be like if it weren't scripted]]. Although the designation "[[OlderThanTheyThink more accurately]]" goes to [[Wrestling/SatoruSayama Tiger Mask]]'s Shooto, the first "MMA" company ever, founded when he got sick of money politics.

* NWA-TNA was also the spiritual - if not acknowledged - successor to the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Wrestling_All-Stars WWA]] (World Wrestling All-Stars), an Australian-based promotion that sprang up after WCW closed and aired 5 pay-per-views in the U.S, all of which can be seen on Website/YouTube. The two companies had nearly identical talent rosters, much of the same broadcast and backstage staff (TNA interviewer Jeremy Borash was the booker and lead commentator of the WWA), and the company shut down shortly after TNA started up. The final WWA show saw the WWA World Heavyweight and Cruiserweight championships absorbed into the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and the TNA X-Division Championship, respectively. This led many fans to refer to the WWA as the "beta version" of the company now known as Impact Wrestling.

* NWA-TNA was also the spiritual - if not acknowledged - successor to the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Wrestling_All-Stars WWA]] (World Wrestling All-Stars), an Australian-based promotion that sprang up after WCW closed and aired 5 pay-per-views in the U.S. The two companies had nearly identical talent rosters, much of the same broadcast and backstage staff (TNA interviewer Jeremy Borash was the booker and lead commentator of the WWA), and the company shut down shortly after TNA started up. The final WWA show saw the WWA World Heavyweight and Cruiserweight championships absorbed into the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and the TNA X-Division Championship, respectively. This led many fans to refer to the WWA as the "beta version" of the company now known as Impact Wrestling.

** A weekly show on Creator/{{TNT}}? Check.[[note]]AEW's show is even called ''Dynamite'', an intentional CallBack to ''[[Wrestling/WCWMondayNitro Monday Nitro]]''. Dynamite was moved to TBS after Turner got the rights to show UsefulNotes/{{NHL}} games but AEW was given another TV show, ''Rampage'', shown Friday nights on TNT[[/note]]

** A Rhodes holding the book? Check.[[note]]Wrestling/{{Dusty|Rhodes}} for a long time in WCW; Wrestling/{{Cody|Rhodes}} alongside Wrestling/TheYoungBucks and Wrestling/KennyOmega in AEW[[/note]]
** A weekly show on Creator/{{TNT}}? Check.[[note]]AEW's show is even called ''Dynamite'', something of a CallBack to ''[[Wrestling/WCWMondayNitro Monday Nitro]]''.[[/note]]

** A bald WWE mainstay making a shocking switch to the rival company? Wrestling/KurtAngle did it in TNA, why not Wrestling/TheBigShow?

* Wrestling/{{ECW}} was so great it needed two promotions to fill the void it left. Wrestling/RingOfHonor is the successor to the technical wrestling and [[Wrestling/{{CZW}} Combat Zone Wrestling]] is the successor to hardcore wrestling. Both promotions run most of their shows in ECW's home venues such as The Arena in Philadelphia and The Manhattan Center in New York. However, they didn't belong to the [[Wrestling/NationalWrestlingAlliance NWA]] (though CZW tried and NWA went to ROH for it's "Reclaiming The Glory" angle) and out of these two, only ROH enjoyed any lasting television deals.

* In fact, [[FleetingDemographicRule we have a similar trope that more specifically covers pro wrestling]].

** After the fall of Wrestling/LuchaUnderground as well earlier supernatural elements through Wrestling/{{Rosemary}} and [[Wrestling/MattHardy The Broken Universe]], the newly christened Impact Wrestling has carried on LU's torch for weirdness as well.

** International agreements that grant access to cutting-edge talent? Check.[[note]]WCW, first with Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling and later (and more extensively) with Wrestling/{{AAA}}; AEW with AAA and China's OWE[[/note]]

** After the fall of Wretsling/LuchaUnderground as well earlier supernatural elements through Wrestling/{{Rosemary}} and [[Wrestling/TheHardyBoyz The Broken Universe]], the newly christened Impact Wrestling has carried on LU's torch for weirdness as well.

** AEW even stars some notable talent who were part of WCW back in the day, such as Wrestling/TonyShiavone, Wrestling/JimRoss, Wrestling/Chris Jericho, Wrestling/ArnAnderson and Tully Blanchard.

** In particular, TNA in 2010-2011 was almost exactly the same as WCW in 1996-1997. [[FaceHeelTurn Heel turn]] by Wrestling/HulkHogan and his emergence as the leader of a dictatorial faction (Wrestling/NewWorldOrder in WCW, Immortal in TNA), Wrestling/EricBischoff as his sycophant, and Wrestling/{{Sting}} as the [[JustLikeRobinHood Robin Hood figure]] who leads a crusade to defeat them both. Also similar are ridiculous, offensive storylines, and stupid match stipulations, and the burial of promising talent because [[TallPoppySyndrome nobody outshines Hulk Hogan]].

** In particular, TNA in 2010-2011 was almost exactly the same as WCW in 1996-1997. [[FaceHeelTurn Heel turn]] by Wrestling/HulkHogan and his emergence as the leader of a dictatorial faction (Wrestling/NewWorldOrder in WCW, Immortal in TNA), Wrestling/EricBischoff as his sycophant, and Wrestling/{{Sting}} as the [[JustLikeRobinHood Robin Hood figure]] who leads a crusade to defeat them both.

* Wrestling/JimmyJacobs wanted to be the successor to Wrestling/BruiserBrody, [[Wrestling/JohnNord The Bersker]], Wrestling/TheBarbarian, and Wrestling/KevinSullivan all at once. As is, Sullivan is the one Jacobs turned out the most like. A small baby face who turned into an evil leader of a giant PowerStable. The Age Of The Fall itself is not a successor to the Army Of Darkness by any means, SCUM is like a more realistic and ambitious Wrestling/DungeonOfDoom while The Flood leaves out the "realistic" part. Jacobs also has his own much larger lackey he corrupted in BJ Whimter to Sullivan's Wrestling/JakeRoberts. Jacobs also had female bodyguards in the Minnesota Home Wrecking Crew to Sullivan's Wrestling/{{Jacqueline}} and obsessive feuds over a girl with Wrestling/ColtCabana and Wrestling/AustinAries to Sullivan's with Wrestling/ChrisBenoit. Also, Jacobs stole Kevin Sullivan's famous rail road spike while claiming it was a gift(a very Sullivan thing to do).

* Wrestling/JimmyJacobs wanted to be the successor to Wrestling/BruiserBrody, [[Wrestling/JohnNord The Bersker]], Wrestling/TheBarbarian, and Wrestling/KevinSullivan all at once. As is, Sullivan is the one Jacobs turned out the most like. A small baby face who turned into an evil leader of a giant PowerStable. The Age Of The Fall itself is not a successor to the Army Of Darkness by any means, SCUM is like a more realistic Wrestling/DungeonOfDoom and Jacobs also has his own much larger lackey he corrupted in BJ Whimter to Sullivan's Wrestling/JakeRoberts. Jacobs also had female bodyguards in the Minnesota Home Wrecking Crew to Sullivan's Wrestling/{{Jacqueline}} and obsessive feuds over a girl with Wrestling/ColtCabana and Wrestling/AustinAries to Sullivan's with Wrestling/ChrisBenoit. Also, Jacobs stole Kevin Sullivan's famous rail road spike while claiming it was a gift(a very Sullivan thing to do).

* Wrestling/JimmyJacobs wanted to be the successor to Wrestling/BruiserBrody, [[Wrestling/JohnNord The Berzker]], Wrestling/TheBarbarian, and Wrestling/KevinSullivan all at once. As is, Sullivan is the one Jacobs turned out the most like. A small baby face who turned into an evil leader of a giant PowerStable. The Age Of The Fall itself is not a successor to the Army Of Darkness by any means, SCUM is like a more realistic Wrestling/DungeonOfDoom and Jacobs also has his own much larger lackey he corrupted in BJ Whimter to Sullivan's Wrestling/JakeRoberts. Jacobs also had female bodyguards in the Minnesota Home Wrecking Crew to Sullivan's Wrestling/{{Jacqueline}} and obsessive feuds over a girl with Wrestling/ColtCabana and Wrestling/AustinAries to Sullivan's with Wrestling/ChrisBenoit. Also, Jacobs stole Kevin Sullivan's famous rail road spike while claiming it was a gift(a very Sullivan thing to do).

* After joining the NWA in 2013, All Action Wrestling declared they would be to Australian wrestling what NWA World Championship Wrestling used to be in the 60s-70s.
* SHINE Wrestling Trio Made In Sin (Wrestling/AllysinKay, Taylor Made and April Hunter) are a mix between spiritual successor and {{alternate company equivalent}} to the second incarnation of The Midwest Militia as seen in Wrestling/{{WSU}} and Wrestling/{{SHIMMER}} (Allysin Kay, Sassy Stephie and Mademoiselle Rachelle-the fallout between Allysin Kay and Jessicka Havok happened elsewhere). Made In Sin later joined together with Radiant Rain and Wrestling/IvelisseVelez to form Valkyrie, a spiritual successor to Rain's Army whom the original Midwest Militia split off from (thanks to Jessicka Havok, whom they [[BestServedCold unsurprisingly]] targeted before long). After Rain's retirement and Velez's expulsion forced Valkyrie to reorganize, [=SoCal=] Val, recognizing a winning formula when she saw it, started a group called Valifornia, an {{expy}} of the original Valkyrie, minus an Ivelisse analog. Velez for her part, started her own Valkyrie like group, Las Sicarias, partially for protection from what was left of the original only to see Val's group [[VillainTeamUp merge with that enemy]] to create [[SerialEscalation the most powerful]] version of Valkyrie yet, threatening [[NearVillainVictory to swallow everything]]. The GoodCounterpart, Las Sicarias, [[EarnYourHappyEnding did win in the end]], only to be beaten down [[YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle by yet another Valkyrie like group]] called C4, whom [=LuFisto=] had brought together almost out of the blue.
* WCW got another spiritual successor in 2019 with the debut of Wrestling/AllEliteWrestling. Let us count the ways...
** Based in the American South? Check.[[note]]WCW in UsefulNotes/{{Atlanta}}, AEW in Jacksonville, Florida[[/note]]
** A Rhodes holding the book? Check.[[note]]Wrestling/{{Dusty|Rhodes}} for a long time in WCW; Wrestling/{{Cody|Rhodes}} alongside Wrestling/TheYoungBucks and Wrestling/KennyOmega in AEW[[/note]]
** A weekly show on Creator/{{TNT}}? Check.[[note]]AEW's show is even called ''Dynamite'', something of a CallBack to ''[[Wrestling/WCWMondayNitro Monday Nitro]]''.[[/note]]
** A popular faction of real-life close friends up front and center? Check.[[note]]Wrestling/TheFourHorsemen and later the Wrestling/{{n|ewWorldOrder}}Wo in WCW, The Elite in AEW[[/note]]
** International agreements that grant access to cutting-edge talent? Check.[[note]]WCW, first with Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling and later (and more extensively) with Wrestling/{{AAA}}; AEW with AAA and China's OWE[[/note]]
** A billionaire backing it all? Check.[[note]]UsefulNotes/TedTurner for WCW; the father-and-son team of Shahid and Tony Khan for AEW[[/note]]
* Nanae Takahashi's World Wonder Ring STARDOM's is a spiritual successor to Wrestling/AllJapanWomensProWrestling, it's two top singles titles being deliberately molded after the WWWA titles that Zenjo held in highest esteem. It's ''also'' a successor to NEO Women's Pro Wrestling, [[FullyAbsorbedFinale having]] Neo's "High Speed" title belt. It's ''also'' a spiritual successor to [=JDStar=], former promoter Hiroshi Ogawa also being a founder, one of the final wrestlers to come out of [=JDStar=]'s "Athtress" program, Fuka, being the third founder and general manager. The resulting product is sight to behold.

* Chigusa Nagayo's GAEA promotion has two spiritual successors. Sendai Girls Pro Wrestling, founded by Nagayo's student Meiko Satomura the year GAEA closed down, and Marvelous, another promotion founded by Nagayo herself nine years later. Of the two Sendai Girls is a little less so, starting with the fact it didn't have the global aspirations of its predecessor until Satomura beat STARDOM's then top wrestler Kairi Hojo and [[RefugeInAudacity started using that promotion's world title belt to legitimize Sendai Girls as a "world" promotion]]. Also, the W-Fix team of KAORU and DASH Chisako that has done double duty in Sendai Girls and Marvelous at least started as a spiritual successor to the D-Fix team of GAEA, which was Mayumi Ozaki and that very same KAORU.
* The NWA Historic titles created in 2010 are successors to the three belts of the same name that used to be exclusive to Wrestling/{{CMLL}}. In fact, CMLL treats them as if they are the same exact belts, except the historic title belts are still exclusive while the originals are defended wherever the NWA wants them to be.
* [[Wrestling/{{FMW}} Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling]] got three unofficial successors. Wrestling/{{ECW}} in the U.S, Big Japan Pro Wrestling and Xtrem Mexican Wrestling. Officially, World Entertainment Wrestling, Wrestling Marvelous Future, USO and Onita Pro, which all launched to fill the void left by FMW and employ its roster. These four companies then joined together to form The Apache Army, until FMW's {{revival}}.
* Wrestling/{{ECW}} was so great it needed two promotions to fill the void it left. Wrestling/RingOfHonor is the successor to the technical wrestling and [[Wrestling/{{CZW}} Combat Zone Wrestling]] is the successor to hardcore wrestling. Both promotions run most of their shows in ECW's home venues such as The Arena in Philadelphia and The Manhattan Center in New York. However, they didn't belong to the [[Wrestling/NationalWrestlingAlliance NWA]] (though CZW tried and NWA went to ROH for it's "Reclaiming The Glory" angle) and out of these two, only ROH enjoyed any lasting television deals.

* The Wrestling/NewWorldOrder angle in Wrestling/{{WCW}} was preceded by an {{executive veto}} to a Wrestling/{{SMW}} invasion. WCW's farm league, The Heartland Wrestling Association, was also preceded by a WCW-Smoky Mountain talent exchange, Heartland starting in 1996, one year after Smoky Mountain Closed down.
* The Wrestling/{{N|ationalWrestlingAlliance}}WA Canadian Heavyweight Title established in 1993 and defended in ECCW is the successor to the belt established in 1946 that was defended in the Calgary Territory that preceded the Hart Family's Stampede.
* The "Professional Girl Wrestling Association"(PGWA) was founded in 1992 to be one to the 1960s "American Girl Wrestling Association"(AGWA).
* Wrestling/ProWrestlingNOAH is the spiritual successor of Wrestling/AllJapanProWrestling of the 1990s before the passing of Giant Baba while Wrestle-1 is the spiritual successor of All Japan's eleven year rebuilding period under Wrestling/TheGreatMuta.

* SHIMMER is more so the spiritual successor to IWA Mid-South's ''Volcano Girls'' tournaments, another project in Ian Rotten's quest to show his promotion was not just for {{garbage wrestler}}s and an early step in Dave Prazak's catering to wrestling fans who wanted to see more from the women involved in the sport. It also featured several wrestlers who would later be in SHIMMER, co founder Allison Danger not the least of them.
* Shayna Baszler clearly stated she approached Wrestling/{{SHIMMER}} Champion Wrestling/MercedesMartinez and Heart Of SHIMMER Nicole Savoy for the purpose of forming The Trifecta because that's what she did in mixed martial arts with Ronda Rousey, Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke to form The Four Horsewomen. Considering the first two pro wrestlers Baszler supposedly approached were Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly, who not only became reDRagon but were assisted by Baszler in retaining the Wrestling/RingOfHonor TagTeam Titles there might be more entries in the series than she's letting on...

* [[UsefulNotes/UltimateFightingChampionship The UFC]] is considered by most to be the successor to Pro Wrestling in general, since it follows the same exact model, although lately they have been trying to move away from that structure.
** More accurately, UFC is [[DoingInTheWizard what pro wrestling would be like if it weren't scripted]]. Although the designation "[[OlderThanTheyThink more accurately]]" goes to [[Wrestling/SatoruSayama Tiger Mask]]'s Shooto, the first "MMA" company ever, founded when he got sick of money politics.

* Wrestling/{{WWE}}'s [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-world-h.html World Heavyweight Championship]] is this to WCW's top title of a similar name and design, which was unified into the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-h.html WWE Championship]] months after the company's purchase of WCW.