NWA Empire
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| Details | |
|---|---|
| Acronym | NWA-E |
| Established | 2006 |
| Style | American Wrestling |
| Location | Buffalo, New York |
| Founder(s) | Dan Murphy |
| Owner(s) | Mike Rosario |
| Sister | NWA Upstate |
| Formerly | Empire State Wrestling |
| Merged with | NWA Upstate |
NWA Empire is an independent circuit professional wrestling promotion based in Buffalo, NY and is an associate member of The National Wrestling Alliance. Formerly known as Empire State Wrestling, the promotion merged with Rochester, NY's NWA Upstate in early 2006. NWA Empire currently runs shows in North Tonawanda, NY and Wheatfield, NY.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] Project Future Wrestling
PFW was founded by long-time wrestling journeyman Richie Derwald. He and his son, Richie Derwald Jr., ran charity shows for several years in the late 90's around the North Tonawanda, NY area. In addition to running shows, The Derwalds also trained the majority of local talent including Jonny Puma, The Davidsons, Danny Magic, and Flatline. The shows were initially popular but for various unpublished reasons the company ceased operations in the later part of the century.
[edit] Empire State Wrestling
After several attempts to replace Project Future, the collective of Jonny Puma, Danny Magic, and The Davidson brothers found success when they banded together and formed Empire State Wrestling in the summer of 2002. ESW ran in all of the old PFW venues and became the first Upstate NY fed to become legally bonded and licensed through the New York State Athletic Commission. Eventually The Davidsons left due to creative differences. After ESW enjoyed much success for about a year Puma sold his shares to retired school teacher Ray Erway. Erway later bought out Magic's share and owned the entire promotion by the beginning of 2005. Magic then also left due to creative differences. At the request of his head writers, a cross-promotional war with Rochester, NY fed NWA Upstate was created. Unbenounced to Erway, the war was designed to introduce the Buffalo fans to the Upsate product, as once the cross-promotion agreement was coming to an end, Upstate owner "Hellcat" Mike Rosario created NWA Empire and every ESW talent jumped ship and left Erway with the ESW name and not much else.
[edit] NWA Empire
Originally announced as a companion fed to ESW, Empire instead absorbed the former fed and all of their workers. Criticism arose that Empire shows were simply NWA Upstate shows with a few different guys added to the roster. Despite this, the fed has been steadily attracting a larger fanbase, and has outdrawn their Buffalo counterpart: OSPW (which is comprised of many former ESW stars such as The Davidsons & Magic).
NWA Empire's first championship was awarded on September 30, 2006 when "The Mastiff" Will Christianson (a former two-time ESW champion) won a match for the inaugural NWA Empire Lord of the Dance (3-way match) Championship. On November 11, 2006 Hellcat won a tournament final to become the first NWA Heavyweight Champion and Rhythm & Booze won a tournament final to become the first NWA Empire Tag Team Champions.
