Adrenaline Wrestling Foundation

From Bywpedia

Current revision as of 07:58, 13 December 2012

Adrenaline Wrestling Foundation
Details
Acronym	AWF
Established	March 12th, 1999
Management	Sports Entertainment, inc.
Style	Semi-professional wrestling
Wrestling base	Ring Ground Base
Location	Grovetown, Georgia
Formerly	American Wrestling Federation
External links	AWF Website Official Myspace YouTube Channel Facebook Page

Adrenaline Wrestling Foundation is an semi-professional wrestling promotion based out of Grovetown, Georgia.

History

AWF started officially on March 12th, 1999 in Grovetown, Ga. At the time, there were only four competitors, who are now considered the Four Fathers of AWF Wrestling, which at the time was known as American Wrestling Federation. Those four people were Jay Garganeous, Ben Hill, Chris Williams, and Chris Dickens. At the time, AWF was actual grappler wrestling, or what is known today as Full Contact. As time passed, more and more wrestlers joined, and more people became interested in AWF. This was also the time period that BFCW, or Brawl For All Championship Wrestling, which started before AWF by Bill Blanchard, would intergrate into AWF and Bill Blanchard would become AWF's newest and most dedicated talent to join the ranks. By the end of 2000, AWF had around thirty wrestlers, and crowds to watch events. It was during this period that the group Darkside would come in and fully engulf the promotion, only to relenqish its grip back to The founding fathers. Near the end of 2000, Alan Luke would take full control of AWF, and would keep control over what he called Alan's Wrestling Federation until April 1st, 2001, when He was defeated by Chris Dickens in a Last Man Standing match and banished from AWF. With Fury winning the last AWF Real Chapionship, AWF Real would close its doors on May 28th, 2001.

Old school picture of DP 2000, circa 1999.

AWF reopened its doors as an entertainment wrestling promotion on July 18th, 2001. The relaunch, named Resurrection, had two of the original four, Chris Dickens and Jay Garganeous, launching the promotion single handedly, and bringing in more talent. This was also the period that AWF would fued with a rival promotion by the name of FCW, and that rivalry would last for more years to come, with both companies being intertwined in each one's history. The end of this period would see the most imfamous match between the two men who relaunched AWF, Chris Dickens and Fury, take place at Annihilation, and set the tone for the future of the promotion.

Group photo of some of the new AWF talent, circa 2001.

In May of 2002, a merger of companies would create a new promotion, EWA, or Extreme Wrestling Alliance. This new promotion had no rules, and seen more fire, thumb tacks, and tables than any other, and was ran by the then King of Extreme, Brandon Parker. EWA was a cult-like promotion, and nothing like it has been seen since.

Shyan giving the CD-X to Chris Dickens, circa 2002.

Around the same time as EWA's induction, two overseas promotions launched within the US Military branches and claimed loyalty to the AWF namesake. Bill Blanchard started up Marine Corps Championship Wrestling, and had some great matches, which included an event on the top of Mt. Fuji. As well, Jay Garganeous began Army Championship Wrestling, and many matches took place in Germany and Iraq. Both were later intergrated into EWA.

In March of 2004, AWF Metro was launched by AWF original Chris Dickens as a sub-sidery of AWF. This new promotion, now located in Augusta, Ga, introduced the style now known as Underground Wrestling, or street wrestling, to a new audience. It also seen the introduction of new talent. It also seen the culmination of the fued between Draven and Chris Dickens, and the rise of Justin Spreewell as a top talent. It was also the rebirthing place of promotion ICW, which was governed by Devon Wright, and EWA, which was again controlled by Brandon Parker. AWF Metro shut down in November of 2004, and has since developed more of a following than when it was active. The period AWF Metro was an active promotion is considered by many as the highest period in AWF history.

ICW's Vapor and Damien(left) face off against Zeke Harris(right), circa 2004.

In 2005, two new promotions would rise from the ashes of old. DCW, or Dark Championship Wrestling, was started up by Chris Dickens in Columbia, SC, and began to show a different, darker wrestling product with the use of supernatural style talent and storylines. As well, AWF Worldwide launched in Grovetown, Ga, and immediatly began looking like the old AWF. This era would mark the debut of new talent, as well as the return of AWF original Ben Hill to active wrestling. The two promotions ran a joint show in March of 2005, with DCW holding its big event Saint Anger, and Worldwide holding the first part of Backyard Brawl 7. DCW shut down two months later, while Worldwide stayed active for another year before closing in December of 2006.

</span> The logos of DCW and AWF Worldwide.

With the return of Chris Dickens from a year long trip to Phoenix, Arizona in 2007, AWFX was launched. Immediatly, the impact was felt as some big named talent from other local indy promotions in and around the CSRA came in to compete. This would also be the period where AWFX would bring back the glory of the old SWF arena in Thompson, Ga, which was another local backyard wrestling fed. However, too much was going on backstage as far as politics, and AWFX shut down just after one year of running.

The logo of AWFX.

On May 10th, 2008, AWF reopened its doors, and gave themselves a facelift on their name, now calling themselves the Adrenaline Wrerstling Foundation. Many familiar faces returned, and the old magic that was there back in 1999 could be felt again. December 2008 would be the period that AWF gained new talent in the form of ABWA, Dead Reckoning, and many other young and hungry up and comers who breathed new life into AWF. The 2009 year was a crowning achievement for what was a lot of hard work and determination from all members of the AWF roster. AWF would become a member of the Battle Born Wrestling community, as well as garner attention from the GWC, and many other members of the BYW community. With many new twists and turns added throughout the year, AWF's 2009 season would culminate in an epic event called One Last Stand, where we saw the firing of Primetime Tim Sanders, the screwing over of many talents, and finally witnessed the demise of the reign and tyranny of Chris Dickens at the hands of Survivor of Pain.

The 2010 year proved to be a trying time for AWF. What seemed to start off as a promising year turned ugly quickly as Chris Dickens left the company after Dedication, and many people were attempting a takeover. The few positives that came from 2010 was the gaining of a pro wrestling ring, the debut of Oz Knight, and the stepping up of all AWF talent. November's event Remember the Fallen allowed members of the AWF to perform in memory of their fallen wrestling heroes, but would become synonymous with the screw job of the century, as Survivor of Pian would crown James Houston AWF Champion in a match that he wasn't even involved in, and cheated Oz Knight and NightStalker out of their title match altogether. The year ended on a high note with a fatal four way TLC match that involved James Houston, NightStalker, Oz Knight and Fury, with Oz Knight surviving and gaining the championship.

The 2011 year was a year of learning for AWF. With the inclusion of many new talents, like that of Damoan Rashad and Bayou Billy, AWF grew even more, but felt the blows of age. Many of the older talents were now just coming to select shows due to other bookings, and some just said their goodbyes. All was not lost, however, as Oz Knight and Christian Fury were able to tear the house down in a three match series for the AWF Championship, which started at Dedication. They brought back the fire that AWF had been lacking for a few months, and things took off. In October, Chris Dickens would challenge CEO Captain Obvious for control of AWF, and would end up back in the position after winning with the help of James Houston. 2011 ended on a bad note, however, as many talents didn't stay for the event, and the main event of Last Stand was the worst seen in many years.

The 2012 year started off strongly, but with the departure of Chris Dickens and Bill Blanchard, the promotion slumped. Even the biggest event dedication seemed to be poorly, with the exception of the main event between Rellik and The Professor, which they both went all out for. It took a bit for recovery, and for Dickens and Blanchard to return in October, and Halloween Massacre 5 became a runaway success for AWF, drawing its biggest crowd yet. With the year winding down to a close, AWF hopes that Last Stand this year will outdo everything they have done before, and move the company into the new year and towards becoming a more serious promotion.

Product style

Adrenaline Wrestling Foundation follows the southern style of pro wrestling, which focuses more on in-ring wrestling, with very limited high impact, high risk moves, and mixes it with northern soap opera style storylines. The result is a more compelling and entertaining product. The in ring wrestling product has been considered to be as close to the old school style of wrestling as one could get without wrestling in the early 80's.

Collaborations

Current AWF group photo.

AWF has done collaborations with promotions Flatline Championship Wrestling, Southern Wrestling Federation, Wrestling For Jesus, Shock Value Wrestling, Anarchist Backyard Wrestling Federation, and Augusta Wrestling Alliance.

Currently, AWF is collaborating with Genesis Wrestling.

External links

• Official AWF Website
• Official AWF Myspace
• Official AWF YouTube