Total Wrestling Fanatics

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Total Wrestling Fanatics

Details
Acronym	TWF
Founded by	Red Dragon and Tenacious Dan
Format	Backyard wrestling
Wrestling base	Base
Location	Lakewood, New Jersey
Started in	1998

The Beginning

The TWF was started in the summer of 1998 by two guys who were just looking to have a wrestling match one fateful evening. What came to be from that one match would eventually go down as the greatest makeshift backyard wrestling federation of all time that no one had ever heard of or talked about.

That night saw two lifelong friends engage in a wrestling match that lasted for over an hour and still holds the record for the longest match in the history of the company (although there was no company yet to speak of at this point). On one side was the short, stocky powerhouse who would go on to become the first and longest reigning champion in TWF history in Pizzo. His opponent, and greatest rival during his time in the TWF, was a short, scrawny, scrappy kid who would go on to amass the greatest losing streak in TWF history at over 100 straight losses before he ever won his first match. This competitor was The Red Dragon and would go on to become the face of the TWF and hold multiple championships although the one that mattered the most to him, the TWF Championship, was always just outside of his reach. On that fateful night night in the summer of ’98, Red Dragon and Pizzo engaged in a match that is still called the best in TWF history by those there who were fortunate enough to witness it.

The TWF Championship Born

A few months later, Red Dragon and Pizzo decided to lock horns again, this time in the first and only ladder match in TWF history to date. The prize: a title belt and the right to be called the inaugural TWF Champion. After a hotly contested back and forth contest and a vicious chair shot to Pizzo’s skull, it seemed like Red Dragon would be able to do the impossible as he grazed the belt with his fingertips. Unfortunately he underestimated the recuperative powers of Pizzo who tipped the ladder over, sending Red Dragon flying into a nearby wheelbarrow. Pizzo climbed the ladder and retrieved the belt to become the first, and longest reigning, TWF Champion in history.

TWF's "Original Era"

In the fall of 1998, the TWF (then called the Trampoline Wrestling Federation) was officially formed. Since Pizzo was not present for the very first “official” TWF show, a match was held to determine an unofficial interim TWF Champion who would go on to face Pizzo at a later date for the undisputed TWF Championship. That match was held between Red Dragon and the eventual winner and TWF mainstay: Punkster. Punkster would go on to win the match and become the unofficial interim TWF Champion. Also, on this night, Red Dragon would suffer the most embarrassing loss of his career to his own sister who wrestled as “Bandage” in a match to determine the TWF’s first ever Intercontinental Champion. Quick side note - One of the things that made the TWF so unique was the fact that the “shows,” more often than not, never consisted of more than one match. There was never any pressure of having to have everybody that was booked to wrestle show up or any need to work around anyone’s schedules. This led to longer title reigns, less stress, and a lot more fun in many people’s opinions. The TWF ran the most frequently during its first official year from the fall of 1998 to the fall of 1999. After that, it still ran but matches and shows were far more sporadic.

The match to determine the undisputed TWF Champion took place during TWF’s second show and it went from a one-on-one contest to a six-pack challenge (one fall). The participants in the six-pack challenge were Red Dragon, “The Muscle” Paige, Phazi, Anthony G, interim TWF Champion Punkster, and the “official” TWF Champion Pizzo. After a grueling contest, Pizzo came away with the victory and the right to call himself the undisputed TWF Champion: a title he would never lose and that he would hold until he retired from backyard wrestling. Over the years, Red Dragon was the only person who ever came close to ending Pizzo’s 6-year undefeated streak.

In what many regarded as one of the top three matches in TWF history, Raz (now called The Red Dragon) finally got another shot at Pizzo after becoming the first person to ever pin Punkster and end HIS undefeated streak while simultaneously picking up his first career win in February of 1999. One week later (we did matches a lot more frequently back then), Red Dragon got his shot at Pizzo in a match that will go down in TWF lore as "The Time Limit Draw." This Hardcore match for the TWF Championship was the closest Pizzo ever came to losing the title, or a match, in his 6-year undefeated reign of terror as TWF Champion. The 30-minute time limit expired after lots of back and forth action that saw Dragon come within inches of winning the title several times. Punkster, the special guest referee, decided that the match would go into sudden death overtime and that there had to be a winner. As the bell rang to start the overtime, Dragon was blindsided by Pizzo and hit his head on the wooden floor they were wrestling on as he fell. And 5 seconds into the OT period, Pizzo pinned Dragon and the match was over.

The first ever TWF European champion was determined in another classic from the summer of 1999 between long time partners and rivals: The Red Dragon and Daniel San. As result of winning a match against Daniel San the week prior, the stipulation was that Dragon only had to pin Daniel San once to win the match while Daniel San had to pin Dragon twice. This contriversial match ended with The Red Dragon pinning Daniel San. These two would go on to have a long historied rivalry.

These two competitors were also the only two TWF “Eurocontinental Champions” in history (meaning they held both the Euro and I.C. titles at the same time). Dragon was the first to accomplish this feat while Daniel San (now called Tenacious Dan) did it in the summer of 2009 when he put his Intercontinental title on the line against Dragon’s European title in what would be the Red Dragon’s final TWF match. These two longtime rivals ended their feud with a “finger poke of doom” when Dragon laid down for Tenacious Dan in order to allow Dan to become Eurocontinental Champion in what would be the final TWF match for almost a year (This match took place after the TWF took a hiatus of 5 years from the summer of 2004 to the summer of 2009).

The first ever tag team champions in the TWF were former longtime rivals Punkster and The Red Dragon. Dragon had this thing for winning the tag belts with rival wrestlers as he would also go on to win the belts with Daniel San.

Unfortunatly, none of the matches from the early TWF were captured on film and no records were ever officially kept as far as championships or matches. So all we have to go by are old notes and memory. We’re not exactly sure who held what titles and/or how many times. All we remember for certain is what you have read up to this point as far as that goes.

We do know that the final challenger to Pizzo’s TWF Championship was Paige in October of 2003 at “Halloween Hell.” Paige won a Fatal 4-Way Elmination Match to earn the title shot later on in the night by defeating Punkster, Red Dragon, and a wrestler by the name of Caps. In the night’s main event (and only other match), Pizzo defeated Paige in what would be his final defense of the TWF Championship.

The final show between 2004 and 2009 (and the “finger poke of doom” match) was June 2004’s “Operation Graduation.” This was the first time that the TWF had an actual “show” per se in front of a crowd of people. On this night, there was a Royal Rumble of sorts to determine a number one contender to Pizzo’s TWF Championship. The Rumble was won by Punkster who was injured in the process. That Rumble would be the final match in the career of Punkster. As a contingency plan, it was decided that The Red Dragon would get one final shot at Pizzo for the TWF Championship as Punkster’s replacement. But first, he and Tenacious Dan had to defend the TWF Tag Team Titles. Tenacious Dan and Red Dragon retained the titles via DQ but Jensen injured Dragon’s ankle in the match. Pizzo gained his second forfeit victory of the night and was the last “original” TWF Champion.

TWF's "Rebirth"

Now let’s fast forward to 2010 and the search for a new TWF Champion. For years, rumors flew about TWF reunion shows and an eventual TWF comeback. Those rumors picked up steam in early 2010 when the idea was brought up to the Red Dragon, one of the founders of the TWF, to conduct a talent search in order to determine a new TWF Champion. The idea was that if there was a TWF Champion defending the belt at other various promotions, interest would spike and other local backyard wrestlers would want to join in the cause of bringing back the TWF being that new blood would be needed in the wake of the retirements of many of the TWF Originals. Dragon would spend the next few months scouring the internet for local backyard wrestlers in the New Jersey area in order to find the one worthy individual that he felt could carry the torch of the TWF as the champion until such time that the fed could be started up full time once again.

The man who received the honor of being named only the 2nd TWF Champion in history was Mike Williams: An 11-year veteran of backyard wrestling. Williams, a veteran of such promotions as HBB (Head Bangers Brawl) and HHW (Howell Hardcore Wrestling), was awarded the TWF Championship by management after EWA Chaos II in late March of 2010 after he and Saint Vengeance easily handled JT Dynamite and Paulie Puckstuffer in their debut at the Avenel, NJ based EWA. For legal reasons, the name of the championship was changed to the "TFW Championship" until the recent rebirth of the TWF.

Williams enjoyed a whole 2 weeks as "TFW" Champion and had one successful title defense in that span, defeating Strife and Saint Vengeance in a Triple Threat Match before losing the Championship to Ryan Ragnarok at EWA Fuck It in mid-April 2010. It was the only time in history that the TWF Championship actually changed hands from one wrestler to another via a pinfall or submission and made Ragnarok only the third TWF Champion in the company's on-and-off 12-year history.

On May 1st, 2010 the TWF (now called Total Wrestling Fanatics) was officially reborn in Lakewood, NJ with a show called TWF Revival. During the show, Ryan Ragnarok successfully defended the TWF Championship against longtime rival Saint Vengeance in what would go down as his only title defense. On May 26th, 2010 at TWF Rage, Ragnarok would be stripped of the title due to his recent health problems. Later on in the show, he would attack Saint Vengeance, Joey Kaos, and the entire TWF roster in a blind rage over having been stripped of his title and this would lead to his indefinite suspension from the TWF.

With most of the TWF Originals having retired, the fed has seen an infusion of new blood having signed a bunch of wrestlers that impressed them during their talent search for a new TWF Champion. The TWF was built on the backs of guys like The Red Dragon, Tenacious Dan, Punkster, Paige, and Pizzo. The legacy will continue through wrestlers such as Mike Williams, Ryan Ragnarok, Saint Vengeance, Strife, Killa K, Kris Fenix, and Robbie Roller.

On June 23rd, 2010 at TWF Battlefront, Saint Vengeance won the TWF Championship by defeating Ryan Ragnarok(fresh of being reinstated) and Kris Fenix. He is only the 4th TWF Champion in history. Also TWF original Tenacious Dan won the new TWF Prestige Champion in (also a first) Scramble match. Also at this show, the new TWF Commisioner was revealed to be none other then TWF original Red Dragon.