| abstract
| - Xtreme Fire Wrestling was an American hardcore promotion that lasted from 1995 to 1998. The youngest and shortest-lived of the four hardcore promotions that dominated the Tri-State Area during the mid-1990's, XFW was nonetheless a major player during the East Coast Wars. Run by Duncan Kendall, the main star of XFW was "Lone Wolf" Shawn Gonzalez, a three-time champion for the company. Like its main competitors Danger And Violence Extreme, Philadelphia Power Pro Wrestling and Rapid Pro Wrestling, XFW was geared toward an older audience with promos featuring profane language, sexually charged storylines, and hardcore matches with lots of weapons and blood. XFW was engaged in a four-way competition for the hearts and minds of these fans. All four promotions (with the exception of RPW, which was primarily focused on presenting hard-hitting, realistic matches) attempted to outdo each other with more brutal matches, dangerous stunts, and shocking promos, with XFW often on the furthest end of delivering the most risque content. This ultra-violent mindset and over-the-top presentation ultimately turned out to be XFW's undoing. In early 1998, XFW mainstay Big Trouble was set to have a match with Big Smack Scott, who was making his XFW debut. Trouble was unaware of Scott's reputation as a stiff and sloppy worker, and ultimately made the mistake of agreeing before the match to take one of Scott's powerbombs, a move that Scott was famous for botching and injuring opponents with. During the course of the match, Scott drove Trouble head-first into the canvas, breaking his neck and paralyzing him from the neck down. Unaware of the injury he caused, Scott continued to execute a series of sloppy and dangerous moves on his downed opponent. The incident became a lightning rod for the mass media, which was at the time heavily focused on the violence and drug use prevalent in professional wrestling. The incident made the wrestling industry as a whole, and XFW in particular, a pariah for media critics and parents' groups concerned about the impact of pro wrestling on children (despite the fact that XFW was strictly marketed to adults). In addition, the ensuing lawsuit filed by Big Trouble permanently wiped out the finances of the promotion, placing the company in debt that it had no possible way of recovering from. The Big Trouble incident forced the owners of XFW to sell their company to Phil Vibert, the owner of DAVE, who had also acquired PPPW and RPW during this time. A one-night tournament was held to unify the championships of the four promotions. Gonzalez, however, lost early on to PPPW champion Chris Rockwell, before the tournament was ultimately won by DAVE champion Johnny Martin.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)