In the history of fandom, there’s one thing that’s always held true - nothing gets fans hyped up like a crossover. Of course, everyone who’s written fanfiction has mused about what would happen if the characters from two of their favorite shows met or dated. What’s even better than that, though, is when we see it happen officially. Fans of comic books have their Infinity Wars and their Final Crises. Movie buffs can point to any blockbuster with an all-star cast. However, here in the world of professional wrestling, our once-in-a-lifetime events come when one promotion decides to partner with another.
Now, LAW fans can look forward to seeing their favorite wrestlers pop up in promotions around the world. It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve seen it happen. When Astrid Ostberg won the LAW Heavyweight Championship two years ago, she celebrated by taking it on a tour through her native country, Europe, defending her title in regional independent leagues across the continent. However, with LAW’s popularity growing to greater and greater heights around the globe thanks to Fight the LAW and the ongoing Apex matches, the time has come for LAW to seek higher profile companies to partner with. The latest to join that list is United Supreme Pro Wrestling, a US-based promotion founded back in 2020 by semi-retired wrestler Hank Strongbow Williams.
When asked about his thoughts on what prospects the partnership would hold, Hank said “It’s definitely a platform for women’s wrestling to grow. I’ve been told that USPW has become a safe haven for women wrestlers coming in from the indies and other mainstream promotions. With LAW’s focus on women more than men and USPW wishing to make women’s wrestling matter to lots of crowds, this benefits an area of wrestling that unfortunately lots of promotions never seem to take seriously.”
On Hank’s end, he has even made an office dedicated to recruiting women from various nations of the world to scout the greatest talent of the gender. The Office of Wildcat Recruitment (Wildcats being the division name) has had tremendous contact with other promoters and even LAW itself. The current President is Ali Zornes and the current Vice President is Carol Barlet, former owner of the promotion World of Women's Wrestling, who has since announced her retirement from the position and will leave sometime this summer.
Already, some of LAW’s top talent has made appearances on USPW shows like The Superstars, Sanae Saitou, and Astrid Ostberg, who are all making appearances on the company’s recently announced U.K. tour. The same is true the other way as USPW main eventers Jonathan Steele, Ryan “Fireball” Brown, and William Ashworth have lent their talent and experience to LAW in signing with the company as trainers and part-time wrestlers. In addition, three of the most up-and-coming prospects from the Young Lioness Program - Sheila Chihara, Meiyun Lai, and Nico Cardona - will spend some time on the USPW roster as an excursion. They will join the promotion as part of their training in order to broaden their horizons with new perspectives from wrestlers around the world.
“I hear my first show is going to be in Norway,” Sheila commented when asked about her joining the UK tour. “I didn’t know that was in Britain, but it’s where Astrid came from. So if she trained there and got to be a champion, I bet I will too!”
“This is going to be my first time outside of Japan,” Meiyun added, “and I won’t lie that it’s a little scary. But it’s exciting, too! I can’t let any fears I might have keep me back from realizing my destiny. Now, the whole world can see how strong I am!”
When asked to summarize her thoughts, Nico said this: "Since I came to LAW I made so many great friends, friends that will accompany me to USPW, another promotion I will be in! Can you believe it?! Little Nico from Barcelona will be a Superstar. I thank my momia who always believed in me, I love you momia! Also to one of my entrenadors, Ryan, who made the proposal. My faith inspires me and I am sure that God will help me to be as great an attraction at USPW as in LAW! We are three of the most promising Lionesses and we will show all the world what we are capable of!”
We also reached out to Sanae Saitou - a graduate of the Young Lioness program herself - to give her thoughts. “I think it’s great,” the rising star told us with all that idol enthusiasm she’s known for. “When I made my excursion, it was just to some smaller indies, I got the chance to practice my moves as well as working to a different crowd, but it’s nothing like the opportunities these girls are getting. They really have the chance now to represent LAW to the world. I got to wrestle on a USPW show and reach out to my fans all the way in England so I can’t say I’m jealous. I’m just going to wish them the best of luck and hope for their brighter futures!”
We also reached out to President Zornes of the Wildcat Recruitment Office to give us her thoughts on LAW and the excursions of these Young Lionesses. She said “It’s a once and a lifetime opportunity for these girls. I know they take it seriously and will make their family at LAW proud.”
But the biggest collaboration between LAW and USPW is just on the horizon. The company recently announced that they’ll be booking their first show in Japan for a special event called Attack of the Rising Sun. LAW is one of the promotions on either side of the Pacific that will be contributing talent to what’s sure to be an unforgettable supercard. For example, Tracy Canon of the SWAT Cats will debut and take on “The Head Director” Jocelyn Roma. Also, Astrid faces the USPW Wildcat Champion Black Tornado in her second “Champion vs. Champion Match” next to facing Lightweight Champion Rose Gold at this year’s We Are LAW. We can only imagine what else we might see when these two titans of the wrestling business come together, but regardless of what may come, it’s all sure to be exciting!
Behind the Scenes
United Supreme Pro Wrestling is a fantasy booking promotion on fanfiction.net written by @TheWanderer, a good friend of mine who I’ve been in touch with ever since I got my start on the DeviantART wrestling OC community. With permission from those involved, we have agreed to feature characters from LAW on USPW shows. These matches will be considered canonical to these characters’ storylines, but will not affect their records in LAW. You can find Wanderer’s works here. Feel free to drop him a message if you’d like to be part of the collaboration!