Excalibur, an AEW commentator, and Mike Modest, a veteran indie pro wrestler, will be inducted into the Indie Wrestling Hall of Fame 2023 Class.
GCW recently announced Excalibur and Modest for the Indie Hall’s second class. There is no word on who will induct Excalibur, but Modest is being inducted by his longtime friend Barry Blaustein, the producer of the 1999 hit wrestling documentary Beyond The Mat.
Modest appeared in the film Beyond The Mat. He began wrestling in 1991 for AAA and CMLL in Mexico, Pro Wrestling NOAH in Japan, Stampede Wrestling in Canada, APW and WCW in the United States, as well as other promotions in Canada, Ireland, and America, including TNA and ROH. He also assisted in the management of the Pro Wrestling IRON promotion from its inception in June 2002 to its conclusion in May 2005. Modest has recently worked as the Head Trainer and wrestler for Future Stars of Wrestling in Las Vegas.
Excalibur started wrestling in January of 2000. He is one of the six owners of the top indie promotion PWG in California, and he wrestled primarily for PWG until October 2006, when he retired due to concussion concerns. Excalibur worked for PWG the majority of the time, but he also worked for CZW, CHIKARA, ROH, and APW. His final match before retiring was a win over Player Uno (aka Evil Uno) on October 28, 2006 at CHIKARA’s Cibernetico Forever event. In February of that year, he worked a Tag Team Gauntlet match with Joey Ryan at CHIKARA King of Trios 2007. After retiring, Excalibur worked as PWG’s lead commentator and later for other promotions. In 2018, he provided commentary for All In, then for NJPW later that year. He has been with AEW since April of this year.
Excalibur tweeted on the induction and wrote, “Thank you to the #IndieHOF for including me in the 2023 class, & thank you to all that shared their support. None of this would be possible without @OfficialPWG & I hope this can give recognition to the most influential independent promotion of the last two decades, if not ever.”
In 2022, GCW and Orange Crush Magazine established the Indie Wrestling Hall of Fame. LuFisto (inducted by Lenny Leonard), Dave Prazak (inducted by CM Punk), the late Tracy Smothers (inducted by Nate Webb, accepted by Chris Hero), Ruckus (inducted by Sonjay Dutt), Homicide (inducted by Chris Dickinson), and Jerry Lynn were among the inaugural class. (inducted by Sean Waltman).
During WWE’s WrestleMania 39 Weekend, GCW will host the 2023 Indie Wrestling Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Sunday, April 2 at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. Seating at the VIP Table is still available for $49. WrestleCon passes include General Admission.
The updated lineup is listed below, along with related tweets:
* Excalibur, to be inducted by TBA
* Mike Modest, to be inducted by Barry Blaustein
* Cheerleader Melissa, to be inducted by Dave Prazak
* Jimmy Jacobs, to be inducted by Alex Shelley
* Christopher Daniels, to be inducted by Frankie Kazarian
Thank you to the #IndieHOF for including me in the 2023 class, & thank you to all that shared their support.
None of this would be possible without @OfficialPWG & I hope this can give recognition to the most influential independent promotion of the last two decades, if not ever. https://t.co/6EuOoqXhcU
— Excalibur (@ShutUpExcalibur) March 24, 2023
BREAKING:
Mike Modest will be inducted into the #IndieHoF by his longtime friend Barry Blaustein, Producer of Beyond the Mat! https://t.co/sIOsWQHVN1 pic.twitter.com/nEYmTAbepD
— GameChangerWrestling (@GCWrestling_) March 24, 2023
