The Longest-Running Wrestling Expo Of Indiana Always Brings The Biggest Stars

As the 21st century continues to march on, conventions and expos have become an important part of the wrestling world, particularly for older talents. Not only do these events allow fans to get a chance to meet their heroes, but it's also allowed some wrestlers to find another avenue to make a living via the money they make from meet-and-greets, autographs, photos, and so on. So it comes as no surprise that, any time one turns around, there's a wrestling convention, a wrestling expo, or even just a garden variety comic-con with wrestlers set to appear happening somewhere, with fans having a chance to meet their heroes.

And when it comes to these numerous conventions/expos, there's one that appears to stand out from the pack. Perhaps most stunningly, it isn't the annual WWE World convention held every WrestleMania season, or the Wrestlecon convention that happens that same weekend. Instead, it's the Squared Circle Expo, an annual wrestling convention held not under the bright lights of WrestleMania, or in a big market city like New York or Los Angeles, but instead smack dab in the midwest over in Indianapolis, Indiana. While still relatively new to the scene, having only begun running back in 2020, the Squared Circle Expo has quickly gained stature, and even already become the longest-running wrestling expo in Indiana, putting all other previous expos held in the state to shame.

Still, being the top dog in the Indiana wrestling convention scene doesn't exactly scream "biggest wrestling convention in the United States." As such, it begs the following question; what makes Squared Circle Expo bigger than the likes of WWE World or Wrestlecon? At least with WWE World, the explanation could be that it's limited to WWE stars only, a limit that doesn't exist when it comes to Squared Circle. However, that also isn't a problem when it comes to Wrestlecon, and with the WrestleMania audience there for Wrestlecon, it would seem as though that would give it the edge over a convention held a few weeks later, away from a never-ending pasta bowl of wrestling fans. So what in the end separates Squared Circle from Wrestlecon? The talent that comes to Squared Circle.

To be fair to Wrestlecon, they also manage to pull in big names, a natural given what's going on around the convention. That makes it all the more impressive that Squared Circle Expo can get just as many, if not more, well-known wrestling figures to their own convention, when nothing else is surrounding it. And when one says well-known wrestling figures, they mean it; the upcoming Expo alone features talents from both the United States and Japan. Among the names are wrestling legends like Arn Anderson, Barry Windham, Bret Hart, and Jim Ross and AEW stars like The Hurt Syndicate, Claudio Castagnoli, Deonna Purrazzo, Konosuke Takeshita, Swerve Strickland, and Will Ospreay. And that's just the tip of the iceberg that includes TNA, WWE, and even Tokyo Joshi Pro names. In the end, what more needs to be said?