PWI Weekly for March 2, 2026
March Madness ... But With Professional Wrestling
LET’S BE REAL HERE: With all due respect to college basketball, every March is madness in professional wrestling. At this time of year, WWE is ramping up the intensity and shenanigans on the road to WrestleMania. Elsewhere, wrestlers across the globe have a proverbial spring in their step as they seek new triumphs in a new season. Typically, NCAA basketball tournaments offer up some surprise underdog success stories, and, in this edition of the PWI Weekly, we thought we’d do the same.
UNDERDOG OF THE WEEK
While editorial deadlines dictate that we compile this edition of the PWI Weekly in advance, by the time you read this, you will know exactly how Je’Von Evans fared in the men’s Elimination Chamber match. Whether he won or lost, what “The Young OG” has been doing in WWE deserves some recognition.
Although not the most intimidating physical specimen, what Evans can do in a wrestling ring (or in the air around it) is positively mind-boggling. Like so many classic underdogs, Evans often overcomes strength or experience discrepancies, asserting himself against more hostile opponents. While he’s yet to wear gold in his WWE career, don’t bet against this 21-year-old doing so before he’s much older.
A QUICK WORD ABOUT …
Some critics thought that Tommaso Ciampa might be nothing more than a solid indie wrestler in his career. Lacking the “preferred size” that many promotions of the day sought, Ciampa set about overcoming that with good, old-fashioned hard work. What followed had many critics eating their words. ECWA Super 8 winner, Ring Of Honor TV champion, two-time NXT champion, and WWE tag team champion are just some of the accomplishments he has added to his CV over the years.
Most recently—and fresh off a WWE departure—Ciampa signed with AEW and promptly became TNT champion. Although he lost that belt, the man remains one of the best (and most successful) underdogs of the last two decades.
SPOTLIGHT ON …
Calling a successful Hollywood actor an underdog might at first seem a bit of a stretch, but not so in the case of Paul Walter Hauser. In a day job where even fewer hopefuls find stardom than in pro wrestling, Hauser has leveraged his unique personality and acting chops to become a bona fide box office attraction in the movie business. While most other actors in his position would use their free time to attend celebrity-filled parties, Hauser instead goes wrestling.
With appearances in MLW and a prominent reign as PROGRESS Wrestling Proteus champion, the funnyman takes his grappling game very seriously. Making it in two notoriously tough businesses? Now, that’s an underdog story we can get behind. Someone should make a movie about it.
UNDERDOGS OF WRATH
Throughout wrestling history, many have taken the stance that the meaner you are, the most successful you are. Thankfully, no one told that to Harley Cameron or Willow Nightingale. The AEW Women’s tag team champions are two of the sweetest people in wrestling. And, what’s more, being so has done precious little to stall their burgeoning careers. When AEW started the tournament to crown its inaugural Women’s tag champs, few predicted the Babes of Wrath would be the ones to walk out the winners. Yet, that’s exactly what they did … proof positive that being positive can take you far in life.
REMEMBER WHEN …
Barry Horowitz might have been the underdog of all underdogs. The journeyman wrestler had probably given up any dreams he ever had of winning a match again by 1995. That’s why he shocked the world—and, seemingly, even himself—when he got the better of an overly braggadocious Skip in this classic WWF moment.
Thank you so much!
Should be interesting to see where Tommaso Ciampa stands in one year's time in AEW.