| abstract
| - July 4, 1999. The beginning of something special. The launch of the European Wrestling Foundation. The EWF was a small but homely wrestling promotion which grew into something bigger. After a short and successful run the EWF became the ECWF, the Extreme Continental Wrestling Federation. The EWF had been run by Alan Galpin but his part of the company had been bought out by his brother, Martin Galpin. The ECWF took a regional UK promotion and turned it into a large European promotion. The ECWF ran shows all over Europe and was fairly successful, but the best years for the company were still to come. After the new ownership of ECWF failed to create a lasting company the reigns were passed back to original owner. Galpin brought the company back as a UK based promotion once more and renamed it. In June 2001 the British Wrestling Alliance was born. The BWA grew quickly into the biggest UK wrestling company and soon was pulling in global audiences. The BWA signed a deal with AXE (American eXtreme Ewrestling) for an inter-promotional title and stars often appeared for both companies. Later the company would share ties with the MWA (Millennium Wrestling Alliance). The BWA closed for a short while but was born again in 2003 as the United Kingdom Wrestling Alliance. Galpin stayed on in a supervisory role but the boss was now “The Major” Richard Kendall. The UKWA had closer ties with the MWA and on 4 July 2004 the two companies faced off at an inter-promotional pay-per-view called Independence. UKWA boss Kendall had made a bet with Barret Brand, MWA supremo. He wagered the future of his own company on this bet. There were 11 matches on the card, all pitting MWA against UKWA. If the UKWA failed to defeat the MWA then Brand would take ownership of all UKWA assets. After one no-contest the show was at 5-4 in favour of the BWA when the main event rolled around. UKWA Champion Tommy Danger facing off against MWA Champion Jack Griggs. At the end of the match Tommy Danger had a submission move locked in, although his shoulders were on the mat. At the count of 2 Griggs tapped out, but the BWA referee failed to spot it and counted Dangers’ shoulders down for the three. Barrett Brand announced his pleasure at his victory, Kendall could not understand this due to the fact the MWA had not won, the two companies were even. But the bet stated that if the UKWA failed to win, Barrett would become owner. Brand took ownership and instantly closed the company. Some UKWA stars, notably Steve Pinex, were offered full-time MWA contracts. The Major was given a small job in the MWA also. But after exactly 5 years the company had closed, the dream had ended. There was an unsuccessful attempt to re-light the BWA fire in the following years. Kendall got permission from Brand to launch an MWA offshoot, British Millennium Wrestling, back in the UK. But a lawsuit from the BMW motor company saw the effort fail to get off the ground and Barrett refused to support it further.
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