New Blood: young talents of the Argentinian indie scene

Argentina is a fertile ground for new talent, with a new wave of indie wrestlers growing each year, drawing in more people locally, and slowly expanding the audience for indie shows in the country.

These are a handful of talented wrestlers to be aware off, all are under 30 with one exception, and are springs of possibility as their talent outpaces their years. From daring high-fliers to powerful monsters, the indie scene has everything.

This is just a taste of all the talent currently growing in one of the southernmost countries of the world.

Lucio

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lucioluchador/

Lucio is one of the international stars currently wrestling in the Argentine scene. He splits his time between Chile and Argentina, showcasing his highly polished in-ring skills and his solid mic and promo work.

He started training when he was 10 years old, back in 2010, under the tutelage of the “Federación Argentina de Catch” (usually abbreviated to FAC) and began wrestling at age 11, part of the shows put together by that same promotion.

He was part of a crop of talent that came from that group which has become quite influential and far-reaching, with names like Francisco Rolón (Founder of Legion Nueva Era Argentina) and Herco Whisky (International wrestler recently on an European Tour).

Lucio is one of the rare cases of being the whole package. He has the technical skill, with 10 years of experience behind him. He has the look, the stamina and the charisma. He is a proven draw and a talent with experience beyond the boundaries of the country, being a fixture in Chilean wrestling as well (a much more developed scene).

At just 22 years old he shows remarkable promise for the future, with decades of career ahead of himself. He has big aspirations and the time and skill to reach them, wishing to branch out into more countries and gather gold wherever he lands.

In the ring he is aligned as a heel, with strong technical skills, agility and exuding charisma. He counts Ric Flair, Roddy Piper, Bret Hart, Scott Hall, The Undertaker, Edge, JBL and The Miz among his inspirations. 

In short, he is extremely talented, quite popular locally, and seems more than ready to take the jump off the well and into the ocean. Because he has already done it.

Chuck Dixon

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chuckdixon_pw/

If you look up High Flier in the dictionary you might not encounter a photo of Chuck Dixon, but I would gather signatures to make it happen. By far one of the flashiest and nimblest wrestlers in the circuit, Chuck Dixon is synonymous with aerial maneuvers in Argentina.

He began wrestling 5 years ago, back when he was 15, as part of “Super Estrellas de la Lucha,” a local promotion connected to a wrestling school. Even from that young age, he showed promise but time and experience have sharpened his skills to a razor’s edge.

Currently, he is an independent wrestler and leader of his own faction, Nemesis, and has strong ties with multiple promotions always being a highlight each time he participates in matches. He has been most involved with Legion Nueva Era Argentina recently.

He has done a small tour of the Chilean circuit this year and the experience gave him a taste of wrestling outside the country. He seems to be starving for more, as he plans longer trips to the neighboring country and wishes to try his luck in the USA and other circuits.

Even with only 20 years of age he has a considerable amount of matches under his belt and thanks to his good relations with several promotions that number keeps increasing as he is invited to multiple shows. 

Among his influences, he counts Randy Orton, Ricochet, Stardust, Bret Hart and Gran Metalik, all being noticeable with his high-flying exploits and cocky in-ring persona. Even as good as he currently is, Chuck Dixon has scores of untapped potential and the time to take advantage of it.

Dixon’s 450 is a thing of beauty and if you ever drop by Argentina, you would do yourself a disservice if you don’t stop by to witness it in action.

Teo Griffin

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teogriffin.w

In wrestling, you either have it or you don’t. Many try to describe what “it” means or how to get it. If I had to pick somebody in the current scene who has that unknown element, it would be Teo Griffin.

Power, speed, agility, stamina and charisma. Teo Griffin seems like somebody maxed his stats from the get-go and he is so goddamn likable you cannot feel angry about it. He is loved by the audience, respected by his peers and shockingly humble about his own skills.

He trained in different promotions but currently is an integral part of Legion Nueva Era Argentina and Catch Argentino. Part of the extremely popular Conurbardo faction, he is a mainstay of shows with a strong fanbase behind him.

Teo Griffin might have the best German Suplex on the circuit, displaying impressive feats of strength, manhandling even the heaviest wrestlers, while also showing agility matching some of the high-fliers on the scene but most importantly, his natural connection to the public is what makes him such a loved babyface.

He counts Batista and Kevin Steen among his influences.

His short term goals involve finally getting the gold he deserve around his waist, but endearingly when asked about his long-term objectives he replied by saying “being a playable character on a video game.”

J-Master

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/el_j_master

J-Master represents the future of the Catch Argentino promotion, trained by their school, debuting in their shows and being their youngest champion ever. He is a talented and charismatic performer who was tested early in his career and stepped up to the plate instead of crashing and burning as many overpushed young talents tend to do.

Extremely agile and surprisingly technically savvy for his age, J-Master is one of the most enjoyable wrestlers to watch in the local circuit, always trying new things and showing new sides of himself. Recently, he turned heel and joined the infamous CLS stable that has been running roughshod over everyone who stood in their way.

He is a product of the Catch Argentino academy, training since 2019 and debuting in the same year. It didn’t take long for him to reach the front of the pack among all other young performers of his generation thanks to his reliability, showy offense and dedication to the craft of wrestling.

J-Master's current focus is to give his all to any wrestling-related endeavor he gets involved in, being a match, a promo or anything in-between. His long term plans, unlike others in this list, include an aim to win all the titles he hasn’t won on in his home promotion before looking for greener pastures.

Among his influences he counts Edge, Rey Misterio and John Morrison.

Young talent brimming with potential seems to be a recurring theme to these highlights and J-Master isn’t out of that category. Being 20 years old and already experiencing the weight of carrying a belt, he seems to have a leg-up against most others of his same experience and age.

Pandemia

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pandemia.s.f

Pandemia is a man of few words. When asked what his current and future goals were, he simply replied with:

“To be the best.”

And many in Argentina consider him one of the best young wrestlers from the current scene. Pandemia seems to be on a different wavelength than others in the circuit, as many draw inspiration and influence from American indie wrestling, he feels a kinship and connection with old-school Japanese wrestling, from Joshi promotions or NOAH.

Pandemia is a man of few words, but he is a man of action and most of those actions tend to be skin-blistering chops or neck-breaking offense. Trained in the “Colosos de la Lucha” Gym and debuting back in 2015, he has a lot of experience among the current crop of young talent in the circuit.

He has travelled to Chile and Panama, gaining more experience internationally and held the Legion Nueva Era Argentina Maximum Championship belt for the longest time among the champions, ironically holding it through the pandemic and defending it in Panama just before the lockdown started.

He currently stands atop the tag division in Legion Nueva Era Argentina, alongside his comrade Exodus (one scary masked striker), and in turn both of them are part of the infamous CLS stable alongside talent from Catch Argentino, with their other members either holding gold or having held gold before in that promotion.

To Pandemia, the core of wrestling should be two guys stepping in a ring and beating the everliving crap out of each other with increasing intensity and passion. That seems to be his own philosophy when it comes to what he likes and he clearly is making attempts to live by it when he wrestles.

He is incredible to watch but pretty intimidating to face, making his matches a must-watch on any card he appears in.

Frankie Legrand

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frankielegrand

What to say about Frankie Legrand? I could start by saying he might be one of the most over wrestlers on the indie circuit. I could talk about the level of intensity he gives to every move he makes. Or maybe that he has more than a decade of experience at only 25 years old. But I think the main thing to talk about when you talk about Frankie is attitude.

Among the current active talent, I think Frankie Legrand is one of the best characters on the circuit. He sells it and lives it like no other and every decision he makes inside the ring and outside seems to stem from having a pretty good head for the business. He is the mastermind behind “Conurbardo” one of the most popular factions, if not the most popular faction, in the local scene.

Frankie Legrand might not be the most technically gifted wrestler (not that he isn’t skilled) and doesn’t have the best physique. But he is unbashedly a pro wrestler with all that entails. He can wrestle, he can talk and he can show the emotions he needs to convey through both mediums, either on the mat or on the mic. 

He most likely is the best promo performer in the local scene as he manages to paint every word he says with a layer of truth and recklessness nobody can really match. As many of the other talents discussed in this article, he looks outside the country when it comes to his future, hoping to travel beyond the borders of Argentina in search of new experiences.

His major influences as a wrestler are Willie Mack, Kevin Steen, Sami Callihan and Mick Foley.

Frankie might not be the best, but he is the most enjoyable wrestler to watch, because he understands what being a wrestler is all about.

Guido el Demoledor

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/guidoroselli25

The local scene seems to skew more towards the cruiserweights and high-fliers with each new generation. Guido is the exception to this trend as he might very well be the top monster heel in Argentina right now, among the young talent. Guido “El Demoledor” is more akin to a force of nature than a wrestler when he gets in the ring.

He began wrestling around 2014 and now, 8 years later, he stands as the preeminent powerhouse on the indie circuit with his Sit-Out Power-Bombs being panic inducing for other wrestlers and thrilling for the audience to witness. As his nickname indicates, he demolishes his opponents like not many can do on the circuit.

Guido isn’t just a hulking brute, as his promos carry almost as much punch as his moves, being quite capable of carrying a storyline, much like he can carry anybody on the circuit over his shoulders for a slam.

Guido is one of the pillars in which Legion Nueva Era Argentina was built, being involved with some of the biggest storylines and being half of the inagural Tag Team Champions alongside his “Seccional La Plata” comrade Capuchita, a fan favorite in Legion.

When asked about his influences, he talked not only about North American wrestlers such as John Cena, Kevin Owens and Rey Mysterio, but he also mentioned Gorutta Jones, a wrestler part of the popular early 00’s local wrestling show 100% Lucha, highlighting even further his connection with the local scene.

Guido is a giant among the rest of the indie scene in Argentina, with strong fundamentals, great mic work and most importantly an actual intimidation factor.

Ricky Rocca

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chuca_rr

Wrestling has faces and heels. You’re supposed to love and cheer for the faces and hate and boo the heels. But if you’re good enough as a heel, you enter the next category. A heel that the crowds love to hate and that’s Ricky Rocca’s character in a nutshell. The current Maximum Champion of Legion Nueva Era Argentina is good at his job, and that’s making people despise him.

The oldest among the talent in this article, Ricky is around 30 years old by the time of writing, but his cardio and physique dwarfs almost everyone else. While he, in exchange, is beaten in height by everyone else. He began training around 2014 and has wrestled under different names for different promotions, what never changed is the quality of his heel work and the efficient simplicity of his polished technical offense.

He has a knack for in-ring psychology that has sent him to the top of the heap in Legion Nueva Era Argentina, his current home promotion, as he currently holds the top Championship Belt. 

Upon talking to him, he mentioned that his current goals include improving the prestige of the belt and drawing more eyes towards the promotion through his actions. He also wishes to venture outside the bounds of the local scene and visit other countries to hone his craft and prove his worth.

Rocca has old-school flair, counting Ric Flair, Tully Blanchard, Arn Anderson and Barry Windham among his influences. But he isn’t just old-school as his own offense and more of his influences point out, having modern talents such as Bryan Danielson and the Miz among his guiding stars.

Striker

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/striker.wrestler00

Training since 2017, but debuting in 2019, Striker is currently a big part of Catch Argentino’s roster. He was involved in many big storylines, his in-ring work is phenomenal and his character work makes him, even when playing heel, quite endearing.

He is an all-arounder, with great character work and understanding of in-ring psychology, capable of having a great match with almost anyone you put in front of him. He is one of the pillars of the current roster of Catch Argentino.

Striker usually works as a heel and he is pretty good at being despicable inside and outside the ring, usually working alongside a larger faction, being great at being part of teams and backstabbing them as well.

He wishes to continue developing his skills in the national scene and earn a title or two before embarking outside the country with Chile as his first target, as the Chilean scene is more developed that the one in Argentina.

His in-ring persona is opportunistic and manipulative. So it’s not a surprise that one of his all-time favorite wrestlers is Edge. Other influences on his work come from Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, AJ Styles and Adam Cole, cementing his style as an all-arounder with heelish tendencies.