| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Professional wrestling, Sports entertainment |
| Founded | 1993 (as Fratton Wrestling Association) 1999 (Frontier Wrestling Alliance) |
| Headquarters | London |
| Key people |
Tony Simpson (Managing Director/Owner)[1] Mark Sloan (Founder [Fratton Wrestling Alliance]) |
| Website | FWA Wrestling UK |
Frontier Wrestling Alliance (FWA) is a British professional wrestling promotion. Established in 1993 as the Fratton Wrestling Association it soon became the Frontier Wrestling Alliance six years later and until 2007 when it lost a scripted inter-promotional feud with International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom. As a result of losing the promotion was forced to close and the company XWA was founded, largely based on the old FWA with some old staff and wrestlers as well as some championships. However, in 2009 the FWA brand was relaunched again as a separate promotion to the XWA.
Contents |
The FWA initially started out as the Fratton Wrestling Association in 1993[2] by Mark Sloan in an attempt to create a forum for serious wrestling training and performance based in Portsmouth.[3] Renaming the promotion to the Fratton Wrestling Alliance 1999, it experienced a renovation that geared it towards national expansion and promoted its first show in February of that year, changing to Frontier Wrestling Alliance by the second show in June. The promotion soon produced a regional television programme in Portsmouth as well as founding a training academy to create its own talent.[4] The emphasis on new wrestlers organically led to an early storyline of new, internationally-influenced wrestling clashing with traditional British wrestling with some veterans brought in to help promote FWA's own performers.[5]
The company created a British championship later that year and in 2000 also crowned tag team champions as it continued to expand, performing across the south of the country. By August FWA began promoting shows with foreign talent, initially Sabu and Dan Severn, which it would continue to do so during its first run by cross promoting with other promotions.[3] This eventually led to the British Heavyweight Championship being won by American wrestler Christopher Daniels, the belt being defended on international soil and a joint-promoted event with American independent promotion Ring of Honor in 2003.[6] The company used international stars to gain notoriety and were further aided in advertisement when Alex Shane became a regular presenter on national talk radio station Talksport, aiding the company's expansion into the north of England.[4] The ties with Talksport became important when FWA promoted a show from the Crystal Palace Indoor Arena that was broadcast live on radio and later on national television, through Bravo.[3]
In late 2006, FWA entered into a scripted feud with International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom (IPW:UK) when FWA wrestlers invaded IPW:UK's annual Brawl At The Hall event and took some of the locker room hostage. In the elimination tag team contest, Team FWA beat Team IPW:UK[7] and proclaimed war on the company.[8] As the rivalry intensified over the next few months, wrestlers from both rosters had matches in both promotions and neutral ground with FWA gaining the early advantage.[9] After months of clashes three events were held under joint banners with the final show, IPW:UK vs. FWA: Final Frontiers, booked for a match between IPW's Martin Stone and an unnamed FWA wrestler to with both companies' future on the line.[10] The show featured lots of in-fighting, including the two commentators breaking out into a brawl and ended with the mystery FWA wrestler being revealed as the retired former FWA British Heavyweight Champion Flash Barker who lost the match, resulting in FWA folding in March 2007.[11]
After the FWA went out of business, Greg Lambert and Mark Kay held a press conference and formed a new promotion named XWA[12] alluding to their former company but insisting the two had a different ethos, with the new company gearing its product towards family entertainment rather than being adult orientated.[13] Despite only basing their promotion on the former company, XWA inherited the physical British Heavyweight and Flyweight Championship belts from FWA and continued to use them, promising to also resurrect the FWA Tag Team Championship, though they never would.[14] However, in April 2009 at XWA's War On The Shore V, Lambert finally announced the creation of XWA's own British Heavyweight Championship belts and gave the FWA belt to Alex Shane, making his only appearance at an XWA event, while Shane presented the new physical title to the winner of the evening's championship match, Sam Slam.[15]
Despite being on the losing end of the battle with IPW:UK and the XWA promotion purportedly taking its lineage, in May 2009, over two years after its original demise, Tony Simpson and Alex Shane announced their intention to revive the national promotion.[16] They held their comeback show, New Frontiers, in early August with matches designed to crown a new FWA World Champion and FWA Flyweight Champion.[17] On 13 February, 2010 at the British Uproar event in Broxbourne, Martin Stone defeated Andy Simmonz in the tournament finals to become the first FWA World Heavyweight Champion.[18] He subsequently turned heel and formed a faction called "The Agenda", whose aims are to decimate the UK's top talent in order to showcase their skills to the large American wrestling companies and earn a lucrative contract as a result. At the European Uprising show in Birmingham on 20th November 2010, Alex Shane turned heel and revealed it was he who was the real leader of the Agenda.
The promotion follows the same rules as seen in most of professional wrestling but has adopted the penalty card system from football, with the yellow card serving as a warning, and any red card offence resulting in disqualification. Piledrivers are banned under FWA rules and can result in a fine as well as disqualification.
Teams:
The Agenda (Greg Lambert, Alex Shane, Martin Stone, Joel Redman, Iestyn Rees, Dave Moralez, David Deville, Colossus)
The Resistance (Leroy Kincaide, Jonny Storm, Sha Samuels, Terry Frazier, El Ligero, Nick Riley)
LDRS of The New School (Zack Sabre Jr. and Marty Scurll)
The Kartel (Sha Samuels, Terry Frazier)
Stixx and Malen (Stixx, Paul Malen)
| Championship | Current champion(s) | Date won | Event | Defeated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FWA World Heavyweight Championship | Held by The Agenda | 13 February, 2010 | British Uproar | Andy Simmonz |
| FWA Flyweight Championship | TBD | Vacant |
| Championship | Last FWA Champion | Date won | Current champion | Current promotion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| British Heavyweight Championship | Robbie Brookside[19] | 15 July, 2006 | Spud[20] | XWA |
| British Flyweight Championship | Ross Jordan[19] | 10 December, 2006 | Spud[21] | XWA |
| All England Championship | Sam Slam[22] | 25 March, 2007 | Leroy Kincaide[23] | International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom |
| Championship | Date created | First champion(s) | Date retired | Last champions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FWA European Union Championship | 2000 | Stuart "Fury" Farrimond | 9 July 2001 | Scottie Rock |
| XPW European Championship | 16 March 2003[3][24] | Jonny Storm | 28 November 2004 | Jonny Storm |
| FWA Tag Team Championship | 24 March 2000[25] | The New Breed (Ashe and Curve) |
20 October 2006[19] | Stixx and Stone (Stixx and Martin Stone) |
| FWA Academy Championship | 28 June 2003[26] | James Tighe | 27 January 2007[26] | LT Summers |
| FWA Academy Tag Team Championship | 25 November 2005[26] | Mark Sloan & Ollie Burns | 27 January 2007[26] | Mark Sloan & Ollie Burns |
| Accomplishment | Latest winner | Date won | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold Rush | Jonny Storm[27] | 3 February, 2007 | Now competed for in XWA |
| King of England | Jody Fleisch[28] | 9 February 2002 | One-off tournament |
| Round Robin tournament | Jody Fleisch | 31 July 2005 | [29] |
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