A Look Back At XWF, A Failed But Important Wrestling Promotion

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2001 was one of the craziest years in professional wrestling history. After the late 90s saw WCW and WWE battle it out every week in the Monday Night Wars, the early 2000s saw Vince McMahon’s promotion emerge as the clear winner. WCW died a slow and embarrassing death until McMahon bought the company in March 2001.

WWE was left as the only big name professional wrestling company standing, as this was an era even before Ring of Honor and TNA. Later that year, many faces of the fallen WCW came together to try to recreate magic and offer an alternative to WWE called XWF, the Xcitement Wrestling Federation.

XWF’s Family Centered Wrestling Aimed To Counter WWE’s More Adult Entertainment

The man behind XWF was entrepreneur Kevin Harrington. Famous for helping to usher in the era of infomercials on TV, he saw an open market with WCW’s exit that could be filled. His aim was to do the opposite of WWE. While Vince McMahon’s promotion was edgy and raunchy, Harrington wanted to do something that everyone in the family could watch and enjoy. He found an unlikely partner in Brian Nobbs of The Nasty Boys, who in an interview with David Penzer for his Sitting Ringside podcast, shared how the promotion came to be.

“Well, there was no real place to wrestle anymore. A lot of the guys were actually personal friends of mine. I came up with a Brainiac idea to get everyone in the wrestling business who got along to create a family atmosphere, and go out there and do what we knew how to do best; which is professional wrestling. We’d get all the top talent that Vince let go to start our own league.”

“We started out with me (Brian Knobbs) Greg the ‘Hammer’ Valentine, we even had the ‘Macho Man” involved at the start! There was a guy by the name of Kevin Harrington who was a very intelligent man who had connections. Kevin Harrington ended up hooking us up with Walter Frank, who was very interested in investing in a wrestling company. We then created the name XWF.”

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Several Names From WCW’s Past Were In XWF, But A New Star Was Also Born

XWF got off the ground initially thanks to its abundance of starpower. “We had guys like Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, Tony Schiavone, Rowdy Piper, The Road Warriors, Mr. Perfect! I mean you name it, they were there! It was a fantastic atmosphere!” Nobbs said.

With Schiavone and Jerry Lawler on commentary, the initial storyline would see Piper as the commissioner battling the CEO Rena Mero (WWE fans will remember her as Sable.) A plethora of well known wrestlers lined up the roster, including one of the biggest names of all, Hulk Hogan. He was joined by several WCW veterans like Buff Bagwell, Vampiro, and Konnan, but the company also found a home for some smaller indie stars as well. One of those names was AJ Styles, who had a short stint in WCW. In XWF, he would face the likes of Christopher Daniels, Psychosis, and Juventud Guerrera.

As the roster was put together by Jimmy Hart, ten episodes were taped in front of a live audience, with hopes that XWF would find a television home. Any hope in success, however, ended at the hands of Vince McMahon.

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XWF Folded Due To A Lack Of Interest From Fans And McMahon's Interference

Soon after XWF filmed their ten episodes, WWE and Vince McMahon began to sign away their stars like Hulk Hogan. When network execs found this out, they quickly lost interest in pursuing XWF. What would be the point when so many initial stars would no longer be there?

XWF still tried their best, booking house shows and signing another big name in Rey Mysterio, but the promotion never took off. A lack of interest from fans resulted in very low ticket sales. Shows were canceled, and the promotion failed soon after.

While XWF didn’t work out, it showed that there was a possibility of another promotion existing outside of WWE. This provided the blueprint of what to do and what not to do for Ring of Honor and TNA Wrestling, both of which would form in 2002, one year after XWF’s creation. The Xcitement Wrestling Federation may not have been a success, but without them, one could argue that professional wrestling wouldn’t be where it’s at today.

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