Independent Wrestling Association
Independent Wrestling Association (IWA) is the name of an event banner used today to host independent wrestling promotions in the United States and Canada . There they are divided into territories . Up until 2008 there were five wrestling organizations in the USA that organized under this name.
But also in Europe , in Switzerland , there was a short-term wrestling promotion under this name.
Style furnishings
At the IWA today, both technically high-quality high-flying wrestling and extremely brutal hardcore and death matches are shown.
Official outlines
IWA Mid-South
In 1997, after leaving Extreme Championship Wrestling , Ian Rotten founded his own promotion, which was called the Independent Wrestling Association (Indiana / Kentucky) and which was based in Louisville, Kentucky. The first event took place on April 3, 1997 in Louisville, where the IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship was held for the first time .
The IWA Mid-South has seen itself as a representative of "true hardcore wrestling " since it was founded and thus stood in opposition to Extreme Championship Wrestling and, from 1999, Combat Zone Wrestling , which made the same claim. This promotion raised hardcore wrestling to a new label of violence and brutality, as it was one of the first US promotions to use fluorescent tubes , electrically charged, and burning barbed wire .
The competition between Ian Rotten, owner of the IWA Mid-South, and CZW owner John Zandig , which has existed since 1999, was intensified when Rotten won the IWA MS - King Of The Death Matches tournament organized by the IWA Mid-South in 1997 and became undisputed King of Hardcore . The IWA Mid-South joined the National Wrestling Alliance as a local wrestling organization ( Local Promotion ) in 1999 . And so on November 23, 2000 the then NWA champion Sabu was able to successfully defend his title in the IWA MS against Chris Hero .
In the early 2000s, IWA Mid-South relocated to Charlestown, Indiana.
After Extreme Championship Wrestling was closed and incorporated into the WWE in the summer of 2001, many former ECW wrestlers joined the IWA Mid-South who had not been taken over by the WWE. These included hardcore legends like Sandman and Balls Mahoney, as well as excellent technicians like Jerry Lynn , Sabu and Chris Candido . This changed the wrestling style of the IWA, in which the focus of the league shifted to technical wrestling and fans of the technical Lucha Libre style could now also be bound to the IWA.
At the CZW show Extreme Death Match Challenge 8 , which was organized on June 28, 2003 in Dover (Delaware), the "IWA Invasion" then took place. Ian and Axl Rotten came to this CZW event with their four best hardcore wrestlers and the CZW wrestlers challenged them to various death matches. Wrestler JC Bailey also made his ring debut at this show, who later became a fixture in the independent wrestling scene. With this invasion story began the close cooperation between IWA Mid-South and the CZW, which lasted until the promotion was closed.
The IWA Mid-South ran into payment difficulties several times during its existence. For example in 2007. But after a lengthy forced break, the IWA Mid-South was reactivated in 2008 and at the same time relocated to the state of Indiana. But the financial problems of the doctorate remained, as the expenses of the IWA Mid-South were always higher than their income. In August 2009, Ian Rotten announced that all the money reserves for the promotion had now been used up and that the last IWA Mid-South event would take place on August 28th. The short-term co-promoter Fannin also announced that he was retiring from wrestling and resigned from his post in IWA MS.
However, on November 20, 2009, the promotion was reactivated when it hosted the Chapter 2 event . According to their homepage, the last event of the IWA Mid-South took place on January 2, 2010, which was called IWA Mid-South - Wrestling with a Heart 3 .
The official final event was the promotion on September 11, 2010 with the show IWA Mid-South Kings Of The Crimson Mask 3 in Bellevue , Illinois . In March 2011 IWA Mid-South announced that the promotion was closed with immediate effect and their ring was offered for sale via internet portals.
IWA East-Coast
The IWA East-Coast was founded on October 5th, 2004 by wrestler Mad Man Pondo , when he was also staging a show called "The Battle of the Butchers" as part of a wrestling seminar. The IWA East-Coast encompasses the old NWA territory of West Virginia and sees itself as a subdivision or sister organization of the IWA Mid-South. The promotion is based in South Charleston , West Virginia.
IWA Deep South
The IWA Deep-South was founded in 2005 by Kevin Brennan and is a former wrestling promotion that had its wrestling territory in Alabama . The doctorate is based in Childersburg , Alabama.
The history of the promotion begins in October 2002 when von Brannen set up the promotion NWA Alabama Pro Wrestling as part of the National Wrestling Alliance . Due to a legal dispute over names, the promotion was reorganized in 2004 into the NWA Xtreme banner .
Since 2005, the promotion has often been organized under the new banner of IWA Deep-South and saw itself as an enemy of Ian Rotten's wrestling promotion , the IWA Mid-South . Brannen had worked out an interesting and above all extremely brutal storyline for hardcore fans . The new banner quickly became part of the American independent scene . In 2005 IWA Deep-South hosted a joint event called IWA Deep-South - King of the Death Matches with Full Throttle Wrestling in Elkmont, Alabama .
In June 2006 Brannen closed the NWA Xtreme and only organized under the IWA banner.
IWA Deep-South now regularly organized the Death Match tournament "Carage Cup" . On October 4th, 2008 the last official show was held in Elkmont. A little later the small doctorate was closed due to financial problems. Brennan announced the closure of his league on the IWA Mid-South message board .
But already in 2009 the promotion was reactivated and hosted three wrestling shows. The IWA Deep-South had a total of 14 events, including the “Carage Cup 5”.
Since its reactivation, the promotion - in contrast to the other independent promotions - has only held a show every eight weeks.
IWA Tri-State
The IWA Tri-State was founded in Sewell, New Jersey in March 2008 by the wrestler Atticus Rheinghns with the support of IWA Mid-South. This wrestling promotion is now based in Stratford , New Jersey. The debut of the IWA Tri-State took place with the event Tradition Reborn on August 18th of the same year. A show planned for September 2008, however, was not carried out because the owner was unable to organize it for family reasons.
The IWA Tri-State is currently on pause, but its officials emphasize that the promotion has not been discontinued.
Anarchy Championship Wrestling - IWA Texas
The wrestling promotion ACW was founded at the end of 2006 by the Canadian wrestler Darin Childs and is located in the US state of Texas . The doctorate is based in Austin .
The league had its first Guilty by Association event on January 14, 2007 in San Antonio . Among other fehdeten there Ian Rotten, Drake Younger and Mickie Knuckles against ACW wrestlers. Since this event, their tournaments have also taken place under the banner of the IWA, in which the organizing ACW now officially names itself as ACW - IWA Texas or IWA Texas - ACW .
This wrestling promotion is the most autonomous of the IWA associations, as it emphasizes its independence with its own name and logo and only uses the name of the IWA as an addition.
IWA Switzerland
IWA Switzerland was a European wrestling promotion that was founded in Switzerland in 2005 as a successor to the discontinued Swiss Wrestling Federation . It hosted its first event on August 25 of the same year. Schindellegi was the seat of the doctorate . IWA Switzerland was discontinued in 2007.
However, the Swiss Wrestling Promotion is still recognized by the IWA Mid-South as part of the Independent Wrestling Association and is officially listed as a sister organization on its homepage. The best-known representative of the former Swiss IWA is the former IWA Switzerland Champion Claudio Castagnoli , who was signed by WWE and also competed in the American IWA branches, Ring of Honor and CZW.
IWA Ontario All Pro Wrestling
Since 2008, Ontario All Pro Wrestling (OAPW), a division of the Independent Wrestling Association recognized by the American IWA Mid-South and East-Coast promotions, has existed in Canada . The promotion held until May 2009 and had its last show on May 24th. After that, she ceased operations until further notice.
Roster
The American Independent Wrestling Association does not have a fixed roster. Many of the committed wrestlers are listed in the rosters of all sub-associations and only booked for various IWA shows. The ACW - IWA Texas alone seems to have a more solid roster with permanently employed wrestlers.
Cooperation with other doctorates
The Independent Wrestling Association works with numerous other wrestling promotions. In addition to the former competition League Combat Zone Wrestling is also with the NWA belonging Canadian League Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling worked (ECCW). The best-known example today is the wrestler LuFisto , who belongs to the ECCW and regularly competes in IWA and CZW. For example, LuFisto also took part in the annual Best of the Best event in the CZW in 2008 .
For wrestlers from the ECCW, the Independent Wrestling Association provides a career springboard to the United States.
Another wrestling promotion that the IWA works with is Maryland Championship Wrestling (MCW). Many wrestlers who compete at IWA come from this league. The best known examples of the MCW are DJ Hyde, Ruckus and Sabian.
From Combat Zone Wrestling wrestlers whacks, Necro Butcher, Nick Cage, Drake Younger and Danny Havoc come. For example, wrestler Chris Hero , who was previously committed to CZW, comes from the CHIKARA league, which is affiliated with the CZW .
IWA wrestlers have also been hired by large wrestling organizations in various ways. For example IWA wrestler Mickie Knuckles, who was featured several times in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in their valet roster knockouts . But wrestlers from the current TNAW squad also often compete in the Independent Wrestling Association. For example Jay Lethal , who appeared there several times as Black Machismo (a Randy Savage parody ).
The Independent Wrestling Association also maintained close contacts with the German wrestling scene. IWA wrestlers regularly took part in shows in the leagues westside Xtreme wrestling (wXw) and German Stampede Wrestling (GSW). Wrestlers from the IWA promotions also regularly take part in events organized by the Japanese promotion Big Japan .
Footnotes
- ↑ http://www.solie.org/titlehistories/mshtiwassoc.html
- ↑ http://www.cagematch.de/?id=8&nr=10
- ↑ http://www.cagematch.de/?id=1&nr=55211
- ↑ http://www.cagematch.de/?id=71&nr=4603
- ↑ http://web1.marburg.gsw-wrestling.de/forum/thread.php?threadid=1743&sid=f317c8b9536fdc8f541160623c4b69ae ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ http://www.cagematch.de/?id=8&nr=174&view=events#events
- ↑ http://www.genickbruch.com/index.php?befehl=shows&sort=liga&liga=472
- ↑ http://www.genickbruch.com/index.php?befehl=shows&show=68845
- ↑ http://www.euro-wrestling.net/v2/
- ↑ http://www.cagematch.de/?id=8&nr=507
- ↑ Smart Mark Video: IWA Mid-South Wrestling "Point Proven" (tournament from June 30, 2007)
