The VOW 30 Under 30 project was wrestling’s last, best hope to spotlight the 30 best wrestlers under the age of 30 around the world. A collective list many names long, drafted by wrestling fans around the world. A monument to wrestling history dating back to 2023. A shining beacon of hope all alone in the shadow of duopolies in a money fight.
This is the story of the latest 30 Under 30 list. The year is 2026. The name of the place is Voices of Wrestling.
The state of the American independent wrestling scene has been a topic of discourse for years, and it’s usually been a varying level of dismay. I lived through the glory days of IWA-MS, Chikara, PWG, CZW, and ROH vying for our attention and the second wave of DGUSA, EVOLVE, Limitless, Beyond, AAW, and PWG. Part of me hopes that we are on the cusp of a third wave thanks to the New Initiative. So, it’s time to highlight some of American and Canadian independent wrestling’s brightest stars and ease the sense of gloom about the scene. This column will cover:
- Jordan Cruz
- Ryan Clancy
- Danny Orion
- Shimbashi
- Jiah Jewell
- Andrew Cass
- Johnnie Robbie
- Mio Momono
- Isaiah Moore
- Jesse Funaki
- Joe Alonzo
Jordan Cruz
Name: Jordan Cruz
Age: 29
Debut: 2018
# of matches as of writing: 385
Trainer(s): B-Boy
Promotion(s):
- Underground Wrestling Alliance
- DreamSlam Wrestling
- United Wrestling Network
- Santino Bros. Wrestling
Accomplishments:
- UWN World Champion (July 1, 2025 to present)
Match(es) watched:
- Jordan Cruz vs. Fred Rosser
- UWN Sunday Night Slam #2
- April 5, 2026
- Cagematch rating as of May 1, 2026: N/A
- You can watch the match on UWN’s YouTube page.
- Jordan Cruz vs. Ryan Clancy
- Prestige Roseland XIII: The End
- February 20, 2026
- Cagematch rating as of May 1, 2026: 5.62
- You can watch the match and the show on Prestige Wrestling’s YouTube page.
Glows:
- At 5’11” and 216 pounds, Cruz looked credible next to Rosser, who was billed at 6′ and 238 pounds.
- His elbow strike to Rosser looked forceful and impactful.
- Against Rosser, he struck a good balance in his selling. He was able to convey the pain that Rosser had inflicted on him without making himself look weak.
- The No More Sorrow, a brainbuster to a knee, looked devastating.
- Against Clancy, he projected more danger and viciousness than he did against Rosser.
Grows:
- The alignment in the Rosser match was confusing. Rosser was the more experienced wrestler and the challenger for Cruz’s title. Cruz was the champion who leaned heel since he messed with the turnbuckle pad multiple pads throughout the match. However, Cruz never projected to the audience that he was a heel; he felt like a fighting champion, which would be more of a face character.
Ryan Clancy
Name: Ryan Clancy
Age: 27
Debut: 2018
# of matches as of writing: 401
Trainer(s): Damian Adams and Storm Wrestling Academy
Promotion(s):
- Beyond Wrestling
- Game Changer Wrestling
- Marvelous That’s Women Pro Wrestling
- Capital City Championship
Accomplishments:
- NFW Champion (October 25, 2024 to April 13, 2026)
- Undisputed IWTV Independent World Champion (October 20, 2025 to December 22, 2025)
Match(es) watched:
- Jordan Cruz vs. Ryan Clancy
- Prestige Roseland XIII: The End
- February 20, 2026
- Cagematch rating as of May 1, 2026: 5.62
- You can watch the match and the show on Prestige Wrestling’s YouTube page.
Glows:
- Clancy projected a puckish mix of confidence, mischievousness, and violence that felt very unique.
- He backed up the “Fancy” nickname with his appearance (nice robe, slicked back hair) and movement (very fancy footwork when he was grappling with Cruz).
- I appreciated the way Clancy incorporated the story about his injured arm into the backslide pin attempt. It would have been easy to ignore the story to execute the move, but Clancy included it to show that he couldn’t get a firm grasp on Cruz on the backslide, which led to Cruz escaping it easily.
- He had a clear connection with the Prestige crowd at the Roseland Theater.
- He was deceptively tall at 5’10”.
Grows:
- I didn’t get a good sense of Clancy’s skill at striking from this match.
Danny Orion
Name: Danny Orion
Age: 27
Debut: 2021
# of matches as of writing: 200
Trainer(s): America’s Academy of Pro Wrestling
Promotion(s):
- New Texas Pro Wrestling
- West Coast Pro Wrestling
- HOT Pro Wrestling
Accomplishments:
- New Texas Pro Champion (April 5, 2026 to present)
- United210 Heritage Champion (August 16, 2024 to March 1, 2025)
Match(es) watched:
- Danny Orion vs. Lil Evil
- New Texas Pro Bat City
- June 1, 2025
- Cagematch rating as of May 1, 2026: 7.56
- You can watch the match on New Texas Pro’s YouTube page.
- Shimbashi vs. Danny Orion
- New Texas Pro We Know Ball
- October 5, 2025
- Cagematch rating as of May 1, 2025: N/A
- You can watch the match on New Texas Pro’s YouTube page.
Glows:
- It is clear that Orion, despite flipping between heel and face alignments over the course of his career, had a strong connection.
- Orion was very athletic in both matches. Against Shimbashi, he hit a running spinning kick and a Destroyer that required high levels of athleticism and coordination. Against Lil Evil, his highlights all revolve around his athleticism.
- There was a moment when Orion was teasing a dangerous attack on Shimbashi on the apron where he had a wild look in his eyes.
- His strikes late in the match against Lil Evil looked sharp and to the point.
Grows:
- Orion’s strikes against Shimbashi seemed weak.
- He and Lil Evil seemed to have some miscommunication in the setup for his Swanton Bomb late in the match.
Shimbashi
Name: Shimbashi
Age: 25
Debut: 2021
# of matches as of writing: 226
Trainer(s): Houston Carson
Promotion(s):
- Absolute Intense Wrestling
- Unsanctioned Pro
- New Texas Pro Wrestling
Accomplishments:
- Lions Pride Sports Champion (July 8, 2023 to February 3, 2024)
- Lions Den Champion (July 9, 2022 to November 12, 2022)
Match(es) watched:
- Shimbashi vs. Danny Orion
- New Texas Pro We Know Ball
- October 5, 2025
- Cagematch rating as of May 1, 2025: N/A
- You can watch the match on New Texas Pro’s YouTube page.
Glows:
- Shimbashi, as the fan favorite face against Orion, also demonstrated a strong connection with the fans.
- He also demonstrated strong footwork and athleticism. His running knee lift to Orion, who was stuck on the top turnbuckle, looked great. This Dragon Suplex interrupted into a German suplex was impressive.
- Between the kick in the corner, the Muscle Buster, and the nonchalant placement of his foot on the rope to break Orion’s pin, Samoa Joe’s influence on Shimbashi came through very clearly.
Grows:
- Stepping up on to the chairs that he had set up so that Orion could take him down with a springboard cutter from the apron made no sense in the moment or in reflection.
Jiah Jewell
Name: Jiah Jewell
Age: 29
Debut: 2020
# of matches as of writing: 131
Trainer(s): West Coast Pro Training Academy (Luster the Legend, Vinny Massaro)
Promotion(s):
- West Coast Pro Wrestling
- Oasis Pro Wrestling
Accomplishments:
- GrapHouse W4TN Champion (September 7, 2024 to November 2, 2024)
Match(es) watched:
- Jiah Jewell vs. Daisuke Sasaki
- Pandemonium Pro Whatever, Forever
- April 15, 2026
- Cagematch rating as of May 1, 2026: N/A
- You can watch the match and the show on Pandemonium Pro’s YouTube page.
- Aaron Solo & Alan Angels (c) vs. Cajun Catch Revival (Jiah Jewell & Seabass Finn)
- West Coast Pro: West Coast vs. The World
- April 16, 2026
- Cagematch rating as of May 12, 2026: 6.68
- You can watch the match and the show on West Coast Pro’s YouTube page.
Glows:
- He had a unique presentation that fits somewhere in the middle of the Marko Stunt to Necro Butcher spectrum. I can see it working on a bigger crowd than the Bizarre Bar held for this show. The commentators, Ethan Lawmaster and Jack Solomon, mentioned that Jewell seemed to wrestle competitors from DDT often, and I could see Jewell, for example, working well in the DDT comedy zone. (A less charitable version would be that he would have fit right in with the Colony in Chikara.)
- In the tag team match, Jiah Jewell played the role of the undersized face in peril well.
- The scrawny, amateurish physique works for Jewell’s character. It would be odd if he got any bigger, but he could probably focus on honing his physique.
Grows:
- The tornado (or hurricane, in his case) DDT needed more snap to feel dangerous. Against Sasaki, it felt like a joint tumble.
- Jewell and Sasaki seemed to have gotten lost in whatever they were planning after Jewell flipped Sasaki off.
- The physique looked amateurish; however, as noted above, it’s part of his charm.
Andrew Cass
Name: Andrew Cass
Age:
Debut: 2023
# of matches as of writing: 103
Trainer(s):
Promotion(s):
- West Coast Pro Wrestling
- East Bay Pro Wrestling
Accomplishments:
- West Coast Pro Golden Gate Champion (November 1, 2025 to January 4, 2026 and February 27, 2026 to present)
Match(es) watched:
- Andrew Cass vs. Adam Brooks
- West Coast Pro: West Coast vs. The World 2026
- April 16, 2026
- Cagematch rating as of May 1, 2026: 6.28
- You can watch the match and the show on West Coast Pro’s YouTube page.
Glows:
- This upside down switch was very creative, and it worked toward his slim size. Because Cass was slender, he was more limber than Brooks and could use his flexibility against Brooks.
- Cass displayed a lot of subtle personality. As Brooks stood over him in the corner, Cass had a sarcastic smile on his face. After they stood back up, Cass threw a wry smile and a small finger wag at Brooks. Cass even taunted Brooks after landing on his feet from an aborted dropkick.
- He showed good improvisation while waiting to set up his 450 splash (that Brooks would ultimately counter) by getting in a quick stomp on Brooks before climbing the turnbuckles.
- He consistently threw everything into his kicks to Brooks’s chest.
Grows:
- He looked almost comically small compared to Brooks, who was billed at 5’11” and 187 pounds. PAC has shown that it was possible to gain muscle mass and remain agile and acrobatic.
Johnnie Robbie
Name: Johnnie Robbie
Age:
Debut: 2021
# of matches as of writing: 281
Trainer(s): Millennium Pro Wrestling Academy (Ray Rosas)
Promotion(s):
- West Coast Pro Wrestling
- PrideStyle Pro Wrestling
- Marvelous That’s Women Pro Wrestling
Accomplishments:
- West Coast Pro Women’s Champion (March 22, 2025 to April 16, 2026)
- PrideStyle New Wave World Champion (September 14, 2025 to December 7, 2025 and April 17, 2026 to present)
Match(es) watched:
- Johnnie Robbie vs. Mio Momono
- West Coast Pro: West Coast vs. The World 2026
- April 16, 2026
- Cagematch rating as of May 1, 2026: 7.97
- You can watch the match and the show on West Coast Pro’s YouTube page.
- Johnnie Robbie vs. Natsupoi
- Pandemonium Pro Whatever, Forever
- April 15, 2026
- Cagematch rating as of May 12, 2026: 6.89
- You can watch the match and the show on Pandemonium Pro’s YouTube page.
Glows:
- I liked that Robbie and Momono didn’t just stick to the normal sequence of the opening lock-up. Robbie tried to reach back to grab Momono’s head, but Momono moved her head back defensively. That forced Robbie to drop down to bring Momono to her level so she could grab her head.
- Robbie again demonstrated her creativity with this unique counter to an opponent dropping down to try to trip her.
- Robbie consistently wrestled with her head up and kept the crowd engaged.
- She made sure to retaliate against Momono during Momono’s control section so she wouldn’t lose the crowd. While in Momono’s submission hold, she swiped at Momono’s head with her free arm. And while she was lying on the mat recovering from Momono’s neckbreaker, she swung a punch at Momono’s mid-section.
- Her strikes, particularly her kicks, looked and sounded great in the Momono match.
- In both the matches against Momono and Natsupoi, Robbie showed a hint of a mean streak, just enough to make her seem like a serious competitor.
- She kept up with two nimble and fast wrestlers remarkably well.
Grows:
- It wasn’t immediately clear after she hit a lariat on Momono whether she had aimed to pin her or to continue her attack. The referee seemed just as confused as I was as a viewer.
- Robbie’s strikes weren’t quite as impactful in the Natsupoi match. They were passable, but her performance in the Momono match showed that she could do better.
Mio Momono
Name: Mio Momono
Age: 27
Debut: 2016
# of matches as of writing: 535
Trainer(s): Chigusa Nagayo
Promotion(s):
- Marvelous That’s Women Pro Wrestling
Accomplishments:
- West Coast Pro Women’s Champion (April 16, 2026 to present)
- Sendai Girls Tag Team Champion with Yurika Oka (July 15, 2024 to September 27, 2024, December 8, 2024 to February 9, 2025, and December 26, 2025 to April 12, 2026)
Match(es) watched:
- Johnnie Robbie vs. Mio Momono
- West Coast Pro: West Coast vs. The World 2026
- April 16, 2026
- Cagematch rating as of May 1, 2026: 7.97
- You can watch the match and the show on West Coast Pro’s YouTube page.
Glows:
- Momono’s movement and execution were consistently smooth and confident.
- Momono consistently engaged the crowd throughout the match.
- Her strikes sounded great and looked impactful.
Grows:
- Momono tripped on the bottom rope after choking Robbie with her foot against the bottom turnbuckle. She recovered and made it look like nothing happened.
Isaiah Moore
Name: Isaiah Moore
Age: 29
Debut: 2015
# of matches as of writing: 385
Trainer(s): N/A
Promotion(s):
- AAW
- Pro Wrestling King
- Great Lakes Wrestling Association
- Revolution Championship Wrestling
Accomplishments:
- IWR World Tag Team Champion with Rich Swann (May 2, 2026 to present)
- AAW Heritage Champion (September 13, 2025 to present)
- FIGHT! Grand Champion (June 7, 2025 to present)
- RPW Cruiserweight Champion (November 1, 2024 to present)
Match(es) watched:
- Trevor Lee (c) vs. Isaiah Moore
- AAW EPIC: The 22 Year Anniversary Event
- March 20, 2026
- Cagematch rating as of May 1, 2026: N/A
- You can watch the match and the show on AAW’s YouTube page.
- You can take the man out of muck, but you can’t take the Cameron Grimes from the man. I’m not sure we needed Lee’s exaggerated reactions or his mid-match “I’m the big champ, and you’re the little champ” bit.
- Wow, this match was a lot. We had Ren Jones’s interference early, Lee teasing a chair shot, Stallion Rogers’s interference, and Rafael Quintero’s interference.
- Either Kevin Kellam or Tyler Volz erroneously stated that this was a title for title match where both the AAW Heavyweight title and AAW Heritage title were at stake. When Lee won the match, he did not win Moore’s AAW Heritage title. Also, we don’t need to use the phrase “championship opportunity,” folks.
Glows:
- Moore had a graceful dropkick.
- Moore’s handspring flip over the ring post was incredibly athletic and different enough from Leon Slater’s flip over the ring post that it felt unique to Moore. (I also chuckled at the fact that AAW’s ringside camera operator couldn’t keep Moore in frame while he was sprinting.)
- He had great fluidity of movement when he slipped out over the middle rope and back in under the bottom rope to trip Lee into a roll.
- Throughout the match, Moore had some very cool looking offense. His satellite DDT in the ropes was impressive.
Grows:
- The Berwyn Eagles Club made for tight confines, but Moore’s tope suicida overshot Lee and ended up more like a splash on to Lee.
- Moore needed to commit to the frogsplash that Lee would counter by raising his knees. The way he executed it, it looked like he was more prepared to land on his feet to blunt the impact, which undersells what that moment is supposed to be.
- Moore’s athletic, and he exhibited his athleticism when sold for Lee’s offense. However, he didn’t engage the crowd enough. His selling was heads-down when he needed to be more heads-up to connect with the crowd and get their sympathy.
- Oof, that was a rough landing right on his neck from Lee’s German suplex.
- His forearm shots late in the match looked forceful, but some of the kicks and punches in early and middle of the match looked very soft.
Jesse Funaki
Name: Jesse Funaki
Age:
Debut: 2024
# of matches as of writing: 67
Trainer(s): Hybrid School of Wrestling
Promotion(s):
- New Texas Pro Wrestling
- Gulf Coast Wrestling Alliance
- River City Wrestling
Accomplishments:
- New Texas Pro LoneStar Champion (April 5, 2026 to present)
Match(es) watched:
- Timur the Great vs. Jesse Funaki
- New Texas Pro TX8 2026
- April 5, 2026
- Cagematch rating as of May 1, 2026: N/A
- You can watch the match and the show on New Texas Pro’s YouTube page.
Glows:
- He showed great babyface fire against Tim Bosby in the previous match and in this match against Timur. He was very energetic, and he used a variety of fiery face tactics: starting fast with his finisher, taking risks with dives, and trying to beat his larger, stronger, and healthier opponent with technique.
- Funaki really committed to selling his injured ribs and back from his previous matches.
- His elbow strikes looked impactful and rode the verisimilitude line well.
- He had very good form on his dropkick.
Grows:
- His dives were not great. He seemed to get hung up on his tope suicida, and his limbs seemed to flail in his splash to the outside.
- Though he had a good connection with the West Texas Pro crowd at Backwood Bar, Funaki could have engaged the crowd more.
- His running jumping knee, which the commentators called a Busaiku Knee, looked sloppy and loose in form. Using the move invited comparison to Danielson’s and KENTA’s versions, and they had a snap to their Busaiku Knee that was missing from Funaki’s.
Joe Alonzo
Name: Joe Alonzo
Age: 29
Debut: 2016
# of matches as of writing: 244
Trainer(s): Mustafa Ali, Robert Anthony & Ricky Marvin
Promotion(s):
- AAW
- The Wrestling Revolver
- 4th Rope Wrestling
- House of Glory
- National Wrestling Alliance
Accomplishments:
- GCWA Heavyweight Champion (February 7, 2026 to present)
- AAW Heritage Champion (February 23, 2024 to February 28, 2025)
Match(es) watched:
- Rich Swann vs. Joe Alonzo
- AAW EPIC: The 22 Year Anniversary Event
- March 30, 2026
- Cagematch rating as of May 1, 2026: N/A
- You can watch the match and the show on AAW’s YouTube page.
- Wow, this match was also a lot. It sprang from an angle earlier in the show when Alonzo threw beer at Swann, a recovering alcoholic. During the match, Rich Swann unintentionally incapacitated the referee. Then, Donovan Marcelous interfered, which drew Tommaso Ciampa out from the locker room. Ciampa knocked Alonzo out so Swann could finish him with a frogsplash. This match did not need so much chicanery.
Glows:
- Rich Swann deserved most of the credit, but the idea that Alonzo pulled off the idea that threw Swann to the floor so hard that Swann tipped over and landed on the top of his head made for a great visual.
- He had the energy of a rat scrambling for a bagel on the train tracks when he tried to pin Swann.
- Kicking the rope upward into Swann’s armpit was a great, dickish touch.
- He certainly had a unique dropkick.
- He kept up with Swann’s athleticism roll for roll, step for step.
- He committed to the double axe-handle that Swann was going to dodge.
Grows:
- Alonzo wrestled heads-up and was looking out into the crowd, but he didn’t interact with the crowd at all throughout the early parts of the match. Even a little interaction in between movements or during his chinlock on Swann would have gotten more out of a willing and ready crowd.
With all that said, let’s update our list of wrestlers under the age of 30.
1. Miu Watanabe
2. Daiki Odashima
3. MIRAI
4. Saya Kamitani
5. Starlight Kid
6. Senka Akatsuki
7. Yuma Anzai
8. Mio Momono (*NEW*)
9. Rina
10. Miku Kanae
11. VENY
12. Suzume
13. Mei Seira
14. Arisu Endo
15. Johnnie Robbie (*NEW*)
16. Hazuki
17. Konami
18. Kaisei Takechi
19. Chanyota
20. Andrew Cass (*NEW*)
21. Danny Orion (*NEW*)
22. Shimbashi (*NEW*)
23. Jet Wei
24. Kodai Nozaki
25. Takeshi Masada
26. SUZAKU
27. Kohei Kinoshita
28. Jarvis
29. Randy Chambers
30. Ryan Clancy (*NEW*)
Wrestlers considered but not ranked at this time:
1: Dragon Dia, Riiita, Jacky Kamei, Kazuma Sumi, Honori Hana, KANON, Jiah Jewell, Chi Chi, Toxin, Jesse Funaki, Saya Iida, Aran Sano
2: Titus Alexander, Emman Asman, YuuRI, Rhio, Ricky Sosa, Kuro, Koshiro Asakura, Zoltan
3: Spider Fly, Noisy Boy, Peter Tihanyi, Yutani, Isaiah Moore, Joe Alonzo, Jordan Cruz, Kouga, Echika Miyabi, JJ Furno
4: Junta Miyawaki, Jessica Troy, Cory Zero, JGU, Hollie Barlow, NORI, Hanan, Shay Kassidy, Aysha, Joe Lando, Danny Black, Eli Theseus, Gabriel Aeros, Alexxis Falcon, Kasai, Towa Iwasaki
Next time: As we close scouting season for this year’s 30 Under 30 project, we’ll go back to Japan for one more round of wrestlers who are on the cusp of aging out of their twenties.
