X Wrestling Federation
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| X Wrestling Federation | |
|---|---|
| Details | |
| Acronym | XWF |
| Established | 2001 |
| Style | American Wrestling |
| Location | Spring Hill, Florida |
| Founder(s) | Jimmy Hart[1] |
| Owner(s) | Jimmy Hart |
X Wrestling Federation (XWF) was a short lived American professional wrestling promotion from late 2001 to early 2002. XWF's slogan was "No more prima donnas, no more politics, in your face!". They looked to promote a product that the whole family could watch and enjoy by bringing back pro-wrestling with a 21st century spin as an alternative to sports entertainment. The previous number two and three American promotions, WCW and ECW had folded earlier that year, leaving only one national wrestling company (the World Wrestling Federation).. As such, the letter "X" in XWF stood for Xciting as cited by Mean Gene Okerlund on the Extras on the XWF DVD and not "Xtreme" as sometimes written.
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[edit] History
XWF was founded by infomercial guru Kevin Harrington, when he started the federation with a couple of his pro-wrestling friends. While there were several non-wrestling investors in the company, it is believed to have been run by Jimmy Hart, Brian Knobs and Greg Valentine. The XWF was chiefly run by Jimmy Hart and boasted an impressive array of wrestlers, announcers and other wrestling related individuals. This included many major stars such as Hulk Hogan, The Road Warriors and Curt Hennig, alongside young up-and-comers like A.J. Styles, Carly Colón, Christopher Daniels and many more. It also includes an early appearance of the current (as of August 2007) NWA-UK Champion, Conscience. Chris Adams was scheduled to compete in this federation upon its debut, but was killed a month before the federation began operations.
Additionally, Tony Schiavone and Jerry Lawler were the commentators, along with the talents of Gene Okerlund and Bobby Heenan. Rena Mero was the on-screen XWF chief executive officer, with Rowdy Roddy Piper being the XWF Commissioner. Gene Simmons of KISS, also taped vignettes with The Demon Dale Torborg and former editor and publisher of WCW Magazine, Colin Bowman was the head writer.
The XWF taped more than ten hours of wrestling at Universal Studios, Orlando, Florida, of November 13 and 14, 2001. Primarily, these tapings were pilot episodes to show television executives in the hope of securing a major TV contract. The stage, lighting and overall production was considered to be of the highest quality, said to be like that of the World Wrestling Federation.
While the XWF awaited finalization of a national television contract, the promotion also experimented with live arena shows, likely to enhance their pitch to television executives.
The first show was held at the Civic Center, Hammond, Indiana, on December 28, 2001, with a reported two-thirds-capacity attendance. Other shows of late December, 2001, were in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Green Bay, Wisconsin. Further dates for the end of February, 2002, in Amarillo, Texas, and Lubbock, Texas, went ahead, but planned dates for early January, 2002, at Port Huron, Michigan, Toledo, Ohio and Battle Creek, Michigan were canceled and rescheduled for late March. However, these shows were again cancelled.
[edit] Downfall
The major problem for the XWF was the much-anticipated national television deal did not materialize. This was in part due to stars Hulk Hogan, Curt Hennig, Roddy Piper, Rena Mero, and Jerry Lawler among others being quickly snapped up by the World Wrestling Federation. Although those wrestlers were under contract with the XWF, Jimmy Hart did not want to have wrestlers who did not want to be there, and let them leave. Hart had said jokingly during one interview that "at least the WWF left (him) the ring".
As a result, the XWF could not promote their pilot tapings to television executives as they were no longer able to deliver the same big star wrestlers from their pilot shows, whose presence would attract viewers.
XWF was rumored to be considering paying a network to air a few XWF shows, since they felt so strongly on the product. By mid-2002, the promotion was said to be focusing on the European market rather than the United States market, with the promotion pursuing a television deal in Europe. None of this happened and the promotion looked to be at its end.
[edit] WWC and Memphis Wrestling
XWF's In Your Face television program did however air in Puerto Rico of August, 2002, with the promotion also invading the local World Wrestling Council promotion (WWC) in a wrestling story to promote their product. As part of the heel angle, XWF wrestlers attacked the WWC roster and spray painted "XWF" on the backs of their wrestlers. The two companies ran various 'WWC versus XWF' events and also had a show named Invasion in October, 2002.
Starting May, 2003, the XWF appeared on United States television via a second invasion angle, this time in the Memphis Wrestling promotion. The second XWF invasion, this time with a reduced XWF roster, included XWF Championship matches, Jimmy Hart changing the Memphis Wrestling opening title credits to XWF opening credits, and XWF ring announcer David Penzer replacing Memphis Wrestling's announcer. When this invasion angle came to an end, XWF more or less came to an end as well.
[edit] Criticism
Outspoken wrestler The Honky Tonk Man criticized the promotion in a 2004 shoot interview. Calling it "The Coke League", he said the organization was fraught with substance abuse and the event locales were poorly booked. "They tried to run shows in Laredo, Texas -- You can't draw flies with a mouthful of shit there", Honky said.
[edit] Legacy
Jimmy Hart acquired the rights for the XWF for $100,000 in 2004.
In September 2004, the idea of bringing a special television series about the XWF to The Wrestling Channel and likely other channels thereafter was explored by Hart.
During July 2005, the XWF released a three DVD series called In Your Face: The Lost Episodes of the XWF. It featured 19 matches from the original Universal Studios tapings with extras including an interview with Hulk Hogan. The series is hosted by Jimmy Hart and Brian Knobs.
In 2006, WWE licensed a match from the XWF tape library for use on the Hulk Hogan Anthology DVD.
[edit] Championships
- XWF Heavyweight Championship
- Fomer champions include Ian Harrison, Shock, and Mabel.
- XWF Cruiserweight Championship
- The belt was first won by Kid Kash, who defeated Billy Fives, Psicosis, Juventud Guerrera, AJ Styles, Low Ki, Prince Iaukea, and Christopher Daniels in a battle royal on November 13, 2001 in Universal Studios Orlando, Florida. Kash lost the belt the next day to Juventud Guerrera at the November 14, 2001 tapings. However, during the Memphis invasion Kid Kash served as the XWF Cruiserweight champion even though he had officially lost the title.
- XWF Tag Team Championship
- The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags) became the first champions after defeating the Road Warriors, Shane Twins, and the South Philly Posse in a Four Way Match to win the titles on November 14, 2001. The Nasty Boys defended the titles during the WWC Invasion. The XWF Tag Team Titles were also used during the invasion of Memphis and were held by teams such as Shock and Awe (Shock a.k.a. The Spellbinder and "British Storm" Ian Harrison), Shock & B.A.D., etc.
- XWF Women's Championship
- Former champions include Christie Ricci.
