History SpiritualSuccessor / ProfessionalWrestling

* The Wrestling/NewWorldOrder angle in Wrestling/{{WCW}} was preceded by an {{executive veto}} to a Wrestling/SmokyMountainWrestling 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.

* SHINE Wrestling Trio Made In Sin (Allysin Kay, 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, [[GenreSavvy 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.

* 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 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...

* 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 Kairi Hojo and 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.

* 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 obviously doesn't have the global aspirations of its predecessor. 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.

* 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 obviously doesn't have the global aspirations of its predecessor. Also, the marvelous stable W-Fix that started out with KAORU and Dash Chisako at least started as a spiritual successor to the D-Fix team of GAEA, which was Mayumi Ozaki and that very same KAORU.

* The Wrestling/NewWorldOrder angle in Wrestling/{{WCW}} was preceded by an {{executive veto}} to a Wrestling/SmokeyMountainWrestling invasion. WCW's farm league, The Heartland Wrestling Association, was also preceded by a WCW-Smokey Mountain talent exchange, Heartland starting in 1996, one year after Smokey Mountain Closed down.

* Through 1997 through the mid 2010s, Fabulous Frank acted as the spiritual successor of 1980s Wrestling/JimCornette in Future Of Wrestling, he even hits people with a Tennis Racket.

* 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.
* Wrestling/{{TNA}} is Wrestling/{{WCW}}, had WCW not been bought out by [[Wrestling/VinceMcMahon Vince [=McMahon=]]].

** As TNA was a splinter from the NWA and a successor to WCW, Wrestling/{{Fo|rtune}}urtune was to be a successor to Wrestling/TheFourHorsemen, which was prominently featured in both promotions. Problem being, Fourtune had six members.
*** Counting J.J.Dillon, the Horsemen themselves technically had five members, as he was their manager. The Horsemen also had occasional 'unofficial' members during various incarnations of the team, making for six members at times.
* In fact, [[FleetingDemographicRule we have a similar trope that more specifically covers pro wrestling]].

* 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 "[[InsistentTerminology entertainment company]]"'s purchase of WCW.

* A humorous case happened in the 2000s to early 2010s when the NWA launched a spiritual successor to CWF Florida called Championship Wrestling from Hollywood(in Hollywood California, the older one operated in Hollywood FL) and The WWE launched a {{revival}} of Florida Championship Wrestling. [[DontExplainTheJoke For those who don't get it]], they both ran revivals\successors of the same company at once. CWF had been erroneously called FCW for years and was forced to temporarily change its name to FCW in 1988 when Mike Graham wanted to return to promoting but found someone else had the CWF rights. The NWA would require these CWF rights in 2003, so WWE themselves fell back on the FCW designation.

* SHINE Wrestling Trio Made In Sin (Allysin Kay, 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, [[GenreSavvy 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 GoodCounerpart, 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.

* SHINE Wrestling Trio Made In Sin (Allysin Kay, 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 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([[GenreSavvy minus an Ivelisse analog]]).
* 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.

* 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.

* [[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]] and out of these two, only ROH enjoyed any lasting television deals.

* [[{{Camp}} Tongue in cheek]] all women's promotion Wrestling/{{GLOW}} spawned a number of spiritual successors, such as POWW, the LPWA, CRUSH, Women Of Wrestling and Wrestling/{{Wrestlicious}}. Despite their names and premises, Wrestling/{{SHIMMER}} and SHINE are ''not'' examples, instead being recurring showcases of the best and the future of the business. The names are slightly coincidental but GLOW is [[FunWithAcronyms an acronym]], the latter two's are SWA and [[ShortTitles SW]].
* 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 to cater 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.
* A humorous case happened in the 2000s to early 2010s when the NWA launched a spiritual successor to CWF Florida called Championship Wrestling from Hollywood(in Hollywood California, the older one operated in Hollywood FL) and The WWE launched a {{revival}} of Florida Championship Wrestling. [[DontExplainTheJoke For those who don't get it]], they both ran revivals\successors of the same company at once. CWF had been erroneously called FCW for years and was forced to temporarily change its name to FCW in 1988 when Mike Graham wanted to return to promoting but found someone else had the CWF rights. The NWA would require these CWF rights in 2003, so WWE once again fell back on the FCW designation.

* The Wrestling/NewWorldOrder angle in Wrestling/{{WCW}} was preceded by an {{executive veto}} to a Wrestling/SmokeyMountainWrestling invasion. WCW's farm league, The Heartland Wrestling Association, was also preceded with by a WCW-Smokey Mountain talent exchange, Heartland starting in 1996, one year after Smokey Mountain Closed down.

* 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 and ''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.

* A humorous case happened in the 2000s to early 2010s when the NWA launched a spiritual successor to CWF Florida called Championship Wrestling from Hollywood(in Hollywood California, the older one operated in Hollywood FL) and The WWE launched a {{revival}} of Florida Championship Wrestling. [[DontExplainTheJoke For those who don't get it]], they both ran revivals\successors of the same company at once. CWF had been erroneously called FCW for years and was forced to temporarily change its name to FCW for a time in the nineties.

** As TNA was a splinter from the NWA and a successor to WCW, Wrestling/{{Fo|rtune}}urtune was to be a successor to the Four Horsemen, which was prominently featured in both promotions. Problem being, Fourtune had six members.

* A humorous case happened in the 2000s to early 2010s when the NWA launched a spiritual successor to Championship Wrestling from Hollywood(in Hollywood California, the older one operated in Hollywood FL) and The WWE launched a {{revival}} of Florida Championship Wrestling. [[DontExplainTheJoke For those who don't get it]], they both ran revivals\successors of the same company at once. CWF had been erroneously called FCW for years and was forced to temporarily change its name to FCW for a time in the nineties.

* 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/TheGreatMutah.

* [[Wrestling/{{FMW}} Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling]] got three unofficial successors. 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/{{FMW}} Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling]] got two unofficial successors, ECW in the U.S. and Big Japan Pro 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.

* After the Wrestling/AmericanWrestlingAssociation stopped operating, former employees got together and started licensing the AWA name to other wrestling promotions as far away as the UK and Australia. While WWE bought the rights to the AWA and put a stop to this. After National Wrestling Superstars closed, Carolina Wrestling Federation Mid-Atlantic is the closest thing to a direct AWA successor the folks up north didn't manage to kill. Pro Wrestling International can kind of be seen as a successor to the post AWA "alliance", given CWF Mid-Atlantic's membership.

* Nanae Takahashi's World Wonder Rings 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 and ''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 Wrestling/NewWorldOrder angle in Wrestling/{{WCW}} was preceded by an {{executive veto}} to a Wrestling/SmokeyMountainWrestling invasion. WCW's farm league, The Heartland Wrestling Association, was also preceded with by a WCW-Smokey Mountain talent exchange, Heartland staring in 1996, one year after Smokey Mountain Closed down.

* Nanae Takahashi's World Wonder Rings STARDOM's is a spiritual successor to Wrestling/AllJapanWomensProWrestling, the WWWA and ''also'' a successor to NEO Women's Pro Wrestling, [[FullyAbsorbedFinale having]] Neo's "High Speed" title belt.

Nanae Takahashi's World Wonder Rings STARDOM's is a spiritual successor to Wrestling/AllJapanWomensProWrestling, the WWWA and ''also'' a successor to NEO Women's Pro Wrestling, [[FullyAbsorbedFinale having]] Neo's "High Speed" title belt.

* A humorous case happened in the 2000s to early 2010s when the NWA launched a revival of Championship Wrestling from Florida(though in Hollywood California rather than Hollywood FL) and The WWE launched a revival of Florida Championship Wrestling. [[DontExplainTheJoke For those who don't get it]], they both ran revivals of the same company at once. CWF had been erroneously called FCW for years and was forced to temporarily change its name to FCW for a time in the nineties.
* After Wrestling/AllJapanWomensProWrestling lost it's television deal and shut down, the Tajima Planning Corporation started a replacement promotion called "New AJW". Nanae Takahashi's World Wonder Rings STARDOM's is a longer lasted, more successful example that was ''also'' a successor to NEO Women's Pro Wrestling, having Zenjo's color scheme and Neo's "High Speed" title belt.

* After the Wrestling/AmericanWrestlingAssociation stopped operating, former employees got together and started licensing the AWA name to other wrestling promotions as far away as Australia. While WWE bought the rights to the AWA and put a stop to this. Carolina Wrestling Federation Mid-Atlantic is the closest thing to a direct AWA successor the folks up north didn't manage to kill.