Soul Wrestling Incorporated

Soul Wrestling Incorporated (SWI) is a Canadian professional wrestling company, founded in 2005 by Jonathan Rembrandt. The company was founded in Duchess, Alberta, following the closure of Duchess Championship Wrestling. The promotion relocated to Calgary, Alberta in 2015, where they remain to this day. The company is currently on hiatus.

Origins and growth (2005 - 2014)
UK billionaire Jonathan Rembrandt, a lifelong professional wrestling fan, supplied financial backing to Duchess Championship Wrestling as a favour to owner Frederick Larson in 2000. Over the years, Rembrandt became frustrated with Larson's booking decisions and poor attitude towards the wrestling industry. Eventually, Rembrandt withdrew his involvement from the promotion on January 9, 2005, as several disgruntled wrestlers walked out on Larson and DCW. Rembrandt announced the creation of Soul Wrestling Incorporated on May 7, 2005, with monthly events taking place in the Duchess Hall starting on June 8, 2005. DCW went out of business three weeks later.

In order to promote SWI from the start, a mini-tour was held in USA, England, and Japan in August. It was there that SWI's heavyweight and tag team championships would gain world title status upon being defended in those countries, thus being respectively named the SWI World Championship and the SWI World Tag Team Championship. SWI would switch to a consistent monthly schedule instead of having different named events in 2006. On June 27, 2007, SWI had a crossover show with Alpha Championship Wrestling and Fallout called Respectful Invasion. The show led to SWI developing a working relationship with ACW and Fallout. SWI would also develop working relationships with Dark Sunrise Wrestling and Maple Creek Championship Wrestling.

In a press conference held on November 14, 2008, SWI announced that they had been picked up for a weekly television show called Apocalypse, which would air every Wednesday night. SWI's inaugural episode of Apocalypse aired on January 28, with a supplemental show called Aftermath airing on Fridays on YouTube, which featured dark matches filmed before Apocalypse. On May 13, Maple Creek Championship Wrestling was adopted as the official developmental promotion for SWI. The relationship between SWI and MCCW would last until January 16, 2012, when MCCW decided to split from SWI. At the end of 2009, SWI began piecing together a Women's division, with the SWI Women's Championship being introduced at the following month's Beginning Anew event. Destiny Fulfilled marked the first time SWI performed outside of Canada since 2007, with the event being held in Phoenix, Arizona.

SWI announced three outside Canadian dates throughout the summer of 2013, wanting to branch out and promote the company outside of Duchess. SWI then announced the creation of the SWI Canadian Television Championship in September of that year. Following Independence 9, SWI held another Canadian mini-tour in the summer the following year, beginning in Calgary and ending in Montreal. After Unholy Confessions, SWI announced that Apocalypse would officially become a two-hour program that week.

Move to Calgary, SWI 24/7, and DESTINY (2014 - 2017)
In a press conference held before Broken Chains, SWI announced that in order to save travel costs and accommodate the talent, SWI would be relocating its headquarters to Calgary and holding all of its non-tour shows in a new building, The House of Soul, which will house both SWI events and headquarters. However, the first show would be held on Saturday, January 3 in the Metropolitan Centre Ballroom, due to the team finalizing preparations for The House of Soul. FSI was then announced to be moving into the Duchess Hall on a part-time basis. An interview with Rembrandt on December 5 revealed that the company would not hold a Canadian summer tour during 2015, opting to stay in Calgary to test out their new home.

An SWI Hall of Fame was created in May 2015 in order to honor those who had become legends in the promotion. XS3, Necrosphere, Ken Davids, and Overkill were announced as the first inductees. SWI then announced in December that it would begin its own video-on-demand network called SWI 24/7. The network features every episode of Apocalypse, PPV, and special event, as well as every show and event from Kritical Wrestling Alliance from 2004 to 2005, Duchess Championship Wrestling, and Maple Creek Championship Wrestling. The service was released on December 20 to PCs and mobile devices.

On January 16, 2016, SWI announced that it had acquired DESTINY Women's Pro Wrestling and its library, adding it to SWI 24/7 in the process. SWI then held its first all-women main event at Independence 11, with Ashley Neon defeating Kayla Stevens to win the SWI Women's Championship. A tournament was held in April 2017 to crown the first ever SWI Women's Tag Team Champions, followed by 40 of SWI's past and present women's competitors main eventing Questions Unanswered in a Femme Fatale Battle Royal for the SWI Women's Championship.

Recent events and impact of COVID-19 pandemic (2018 - 2021)
Throughout 2018, SWI would make numerous signings to help bolster their roster, including Canadian Strong Style, Assassins of Youth, VJ Nehra, Aurora Storm, Emma Harper, Koda Steele, Amara Ridley, Breanna Hodgins, Sakura Maeda, Taylor O'Byrne, and Jessica Washington. B. Randall Morrison also made his return to the promotion, after having been forced to retire in 2016 due to a back injury. On July 1, 2019, it was announced that Apocalypse would be moving to Tuesdays, starting on October 1. The program would also be simulcast on Twitch to accommodate international viewers or those who do not have access to CBC.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic that began sweeping the world, SWI announced that its events would be held behind closed doors with no audience and essential personnel only. Every Apocalypse episode from March 17 to June 23 would be taped in advance over the course of two weeks in order to accommodate talent and crew during that timeframe, with everyone only having to come in for PPVs. Following the widespread protests regarding the death of George Floyd, SWI announced it would donate $1,000,000 to the Black Solidarity Fund. SWI returned to having fans in attendance starting with Independence 16, with mandatory vaccinations being required for fan entry.

Hiatus (2021 - present)
On November 29, 2021, Jonathan Rembrandt announced that SWI would be entering a hiatus after Destiny Fulfilled in order to re-evaluate the company's future. The company is expected to return in June with Independence 17. Destiny Fulfilled was held in the BMO Centre, and featured cameos from XS3, Tannark Fisher, CK Miles, Blackwolf, Rainmaster, Edgemaster, The Stones, The Ministry, C-Code & MC Bob, The Calgary Cowboys, Waylon Kenney, Frankie Starr, Kelsey Ayami, Samantha Nichols, Kennedy, Psychophelia, and Mary Jane.

Style
SWI's main style is technical wrestling, with some puroresu and lucha libre influences serving as its undertones. Many wrestlers cited ECW, ROH, TNA, NJPW, and NOAH as their main influences when the company was first getting started. Many in SWI cited NXT as a source of inspiration in its later years, noting the handling of the women wrestlers and level of talent. Over the years, the company garnered praise for allowing younger talent a chance to shine.