2001 saw the closing of both WCW and ECW leaving a major void in the wrestling business. By 2002 both TNA and ROH would be up and running but before they came along other companies would start up and try to fill that void. There was World Wrestling All Stars (WWA) a company that would feature stars such as Sting, Jeff Jarrett, Rick Steiner, and Shane Douglas. Also a number of young talents like AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, and Chris Sabin would appear. They would run several shows and a few PPV but close in 2003. But Another company tapped popped up the XWF. The XWF was founded in 2001 when Brian Knobs, Greg Valentine, and Jimmy Hart got a few backers and held a TV taping more or less to serve as a pilot. Something they could pitch to networks and show what the show would look like. No networks picked the show up and quickly the XWF began letting guys out of there contract when they got offers from the WWE. There were a few final gasps out of the company as it invaded Memphis and Puerto Rico but ultimately the XWF was forgotten. Eventually three episodes were released on DVD along with a "Preview of the XWF" feature as well as a match with Hulk Hogan and Curt Henning that was tapped for a later episode.
A few notes before I get started. First these are not PPV's these were meant to be weekly TV show so I think the scale has to be different. What might be a boring PPV match is a good TV match. And yeah these are the first three shows and well if you go back at the early days of both TNA and ROH you will see there were some rough spots early on. Both companies saw what worked and got rid of the stuff that didn't. The XWF never got there chance to do that. Also I'm not reviewing everything. First there are plenty of little spots to hype who in on the roster that last maybe 15 seconds. Brian Knobs and Jimmy Hart also filmed host segment for each episode that I'm just going to ignore. Finally there was also match with Curt Henning and Hulk Hogan that was meant to included in a later episode witch I won't be reviewing. My real goal is to see if this company had gotten it's chances how would fans have reacted to this. If I had just found this on TV one day would I have kept watching?
Episode 1- Our intro features Hulk Hogan saying "Stones sink and Rocks fall but the greatest of them all stands tall." I am going to assume all these shows are edited like how they would have aired on TV if a deal had been reached. Its clear they wanted to send a message "We have Hogan!" But really guys starting out clearly taking a shot at the WWE's biggest two stars that's how you want to go? Once we are inside the arena Mean Gene Oakland explains this is the first show yes I'm serious. Than we cut over to play by play man Tony Schiavone just so Tony can introduce his co-host Jerry "The King" Lawler. Ok so we are several minutes into this and we have Hogan (who never appears on the 3 episodes outside of videos) Gene, Tony, and King just walking around. I also have to note Lawler has a valet named Kitten yes the color man has a valet. Than again this came during that time Lawler was off WWF and had been left by his wife so maybe having a hot blonde with him was a contract demand. Than Tony throws back to Gene so can introduce the CEO of the XWF Rena (Mario) aka Sable. Rena cuts a boring promo taking shots at well WWE and WCW. She also insist no more pre-madonnas or politics witch I laugh my ass of since clearly the XWF was counting on getting Hogan. Don't get me wrong I like Hogan but when you have his buddies running a company and later on clearly setting a monster heel for him to beat there no why those lines work. Rena introduces the commissioner Roddy Piper. And sadly this isn't lucid Piper this is full on crazy makes no sense Piper. This opening segment dragged on. Say this did air on TV and you just happened to tune in would seeing crazy Piper and Rena really make you keep watching. I can go ripping on the WWE because I'm just some guy running a blog. These guys were trying to win over wrestling fans who were watching WWE and WCW and you just told them they suck and you were a bad person for liking them.
Big Vito vs Buff Bagwell- It sounds like both guys used there WCW theme I assume that could be that Jimmy Hart had the rights. We get pre match comments from the Nasty Boys who say "were back." and than the graphic fades away. I really don't get why that had to air there when it wasn't a Nasty related match. Also just to note they set off pyro for Buff's entrance and the smoke lingered giving this weird haze to the match I guess this is one of those learning as we go on things. Buff was well Buff the gimmick he had been using for years and Vito was using his usual gimmick. This was a pretty typical TV match neither guy was looking to blow anyone away. Buff got the win after the Buff Blockbuster and man I remember how sloppy that move always looked as most of the time Buff didn't really touch the guy.
Prince Iaukea and Juventud Guerrera led the XWF Cruiserweight's to Piper's door and asked if he was serious about giving everyone a fair shake. Piper books a match with all of them to crown the first cruiserweight champion. Kind of a let down moment. Hell only Iaukea talked I think I saw AJ Styles and Low-Ki but I couldn't make out any of the other guys. I never like the logic of lets just have a title match when we know no one the Division. Now if I had been booking this I wold have taken a page out of WCW's playbook and had two Crusierweights be the first match ever and get people exciting. Also with WWE rarely using lighter guys it would have ben a great way to show they were different.
Marty Jannetty vs Hail with Jimmy Hart- Hail is a massive guy with a body builder look who I think sadly passed away a couple years ago. Before this he worked for WCW for a while and appeared once under the Machine gimmick that led to some comedy gold. Jannetty is well the other Rocker a talented guy that could never get out is own way to really be a huge star. Pure squash match as Hail dominated from start to finish winning after a shoulder breaker and than a leg drop. Funny note Schivaone says "Hart's sending a message to someone but who?" and this comes five seconds after they had pointed out Hart had managed Hulk Hogan and of course Hogan's finish the same style leg drop Hail used. Also Hail is the classic Big John Stud style big man Hogan faced for years. But all and all an effect segment Hail had a good look he moved well he looks like a monster and in 2001 wold anyone claim Jannetty could be the breakout star for a new company.
Horace Hogan vs British Storm Ian Harrison- Horace of course if the nephew of Hulk Hogan Harrison is another strongman type looking guy that had wrestled in the UK. Horrace jumped Harrison at the start. At one point Harrison had a chance to pin but chose to do mare damage on Hogan. In a strange finish Harrison won with a head scissors. Not as effect as the Hail match one having Hail and Harrison back to back kind of took away from Harrison since we just saw a massive big guy and also matching Harrison up with Hogan who was just as tall and also pretty well built hurt his look as well. Also I assume having him finish with head scissors was to get over how powerful he is but it just look strange given how that hold become more or less a rest hold. I think something like a bear hug wold have worked better.
Battle Royal for the XWF Cruiserweight Title- No one gets entrances and the match starts as the they come back from a break. Poor Low-Ki got stuck with the name Quick Kick man that's worse the Kaval. Another problem with having no build up and this being the first match in the division no one sticks out. At one point I thought they had named AJ Styles Billy Fives until I heard him get called AJ. The final four was Kash, Low Ki, The Tonga Prince (Iaukea) and Daniels (funny note still had hair than) in a pretty impressive spot Ki and Kash collied in the air. Also I think Tony thought it was Kid Crash not Kash since several time he said Crash. Kash won after knocking Daniels off the top rope to win. Remember this was the XWF's first champion at al but such a let down. The match was super short car crash style booking and no one got to stand out no came across as a heel or face. Post match Kash went over to Josh Matthews (yes that Josh Matthews) and according to Tony "Said he got a raw deal. And was going to introduce him to the boys in the back." Oh yeah one final note we never got a good look Kash's belt I mean first championship ever and we don't even really get to see it. Compare this to how TNA crowned the first X-Division champion. That match was the main event of week two. The match got plenty of time to allow all four men to show off. We got a story with Jerry Lynn the long time vet taking AJ Styles the young upstart in the final fall. The announcers put everyone very strongly and if you didn't know who AJ and Low Ki were at the start you knew who they were at the end. And AJ winning the title was a huge deal Ricky the Dragon Steamboat handed him the title as stood there holding the belt aloft confetti and streams fell the sky a moment and match that has been a part of TNA highlight packages for years. Kash got handed a belt and than walked over to talk to the runner up on Tough Enough.
The Nasty Boys vs The Shane Twins- The Nasty Boys hadn't teamed in four years at this point. The Shane's were two massive twin brothers who worked as the infamous Johnson's in TNA's early days and later as the Gymini in WWE. It looked like they were setting up for the Nasty Boys to get a win but to my shock The Shane's went over after one hit a lariat on Knobs and pinned him. The Nasties attacked post match only for the Road Warriors to enter and scare them off. The Road Warriors held up the Shane's arms. The Road Warriors said they here to get Nasty Boys. Match sucked the Nasty Boys never really did it for me and Shane's were just two guys that got by on there body for years. And I don't think even the most die hard Road Warrior fans needed a reborn feud with the Boys.
Hacksaw Jim Duggan than interviewed Willie Nelson…. Yes I'm serious… Well it really wasn't an interview as it was just clips of Willie saying random stuff and than he and Hacksaw going HOOO at the end. What the fuck was the for? is Willie going show up again? Is Duggan? I mean earlier in the show we saw Kiss briefly but that was introduced the Demon was part of XWF. Hell they didn't even show what Hacksaw said to Willie witch tell me the interview as a disaster and they just edited what they could into it.
Curt Henning with Bobby The Brian Henan vs Vampiro- Before the match we get a video from Vampiro saying this is his time. The Brian says he is no longer a manager but instead he's an agent. Henning looked like he had dropped some weight since his WCW days here.The match was ok but nothing great. Henning was on this day and so was Vampiro but it ended poorly. Heenan was setting up to nail Vamprio with something but Piper rand out to nail Henning with it instead. I'll admit it's kind of exciting to see Henning with Bobby The Brian at ringside again. But again this just didn't feel like a big main event to cap your first show. Compare it to ROH there first main event was Bryan Danielson vs Christopher Daniels vs Low Ki it showed off the style of what ROH was all about. This just seemed to a match a match WCW would have put on Thunder. Why not get the Road Warriors to main event your first show vs Simond Diamond and Johnny Swinger the legends vs the young guys.
So overall episode one was a bit of a mess- It looked decent production wise outside of the smoke covering due to pyro and to there credit they tried to have a nice mix of older and younger guys and given it was a TV taping none of the matches were going to be blow you away. They also had a nice touch of quick segment showing who was in the company to keep you watching if you were a fan of that talent. There were issues like I said bad booking and that awful intro that just dragged on and on. Also so many of the new guys looked the same about 6'8 or taller with huge muscles and the Cruiserweight's got screwed having there match booked like how it was.
Episode 2- We open with Tony and King talking about the Shane Twins beating the Nasty Boys one the first show. We get a set up for the rematch this week.
Juventud Guerra and Psychosis vs Konan and Ray Gonzalez- Konan does that damn "Where my dogs at" stuff he would do for years. Konan and Psychosis start it quickly becomes clear King has never really seen Konan work and just assumes because he's Mexican he will fly around. Gonzalez has to have one of the least impressive looks I have ever seen he's got 80's hair and is really chubby around the mid section. I swear the guy looks like central casting for jobber. The match was a decent TV opener but again nothing to special and nothing that would stop most average fans from checking out what else was on I could even see myself using this match to check e-mail or something. But I like that they didn't start with a long talking segment instead going right for action.
Mean Gene brings out Rena. Rena comes out with guards one of which was The Barbarian from WWF and WCW. Rena did the old thank the fans kind of like Dixie Carter does only Dixie actually means it I have a feeling Rena was deciding what she was going to buy with the money from this. Gene questions Rena about Piper's actions from the week before. Piper limped out and cut a rambling promo. As Piper was going insane Vampiro came out and cut a white meat promo thanking Rena and Piper for the chance. Its bad enough when a normal looking guy does that promo post 89 much less a guy with Vampiro's look it just makes a bad thing even worse.. Some how the segment became about giving Josh Matthews a spot on the roster. What a lost segment. It seems like the want to push Vampiro as a top single face but only because they don't have anyone else.
The South Philly Posse better known as Public Enemy are shown picking up Jasmine. With all due respect to Public Enemy who have both passed away I don't think the name was the issue why they isn't get over more in WWF or WCW. Simond Diamond along with Dawn Marie and Johnny Swinger came out upset about something King said about Dawn the week before. Witch I don't remember what he said but they acted like it had been a big deal. Diamond than insulted King's valet Kitten with led to a match.
Simond Diamond with Swinger and Dawn Marie vs Jerry Lawler with Kitten- Logic get tossed right out of the window as the bell rings Swinger jumps King leading to a double team. Now the ref can clearly see this is going on and never calls for the bell and even counts a pin attempt Diamond makes. Things only get worse as King starts to side step everything the heels do making it look like The Three Stooges would have been better to face King. King eventually hits the piledriver for the win. So let me get this straight you have two younger guys like Diamond and Swinger who if this project had gotten off the ground could have made a great heel team and you book this like this to give freaking Jerry Lawler a win on TV. What good did it really do to have Lawler win this match nothing the fans will always chant for him since he's a legend but it made Swinger and Diamond look like idiots that couldn't beat an old man even with the referee letting them cheat.
Hail with Jimmy Hart vs Knuckles- Sadly Knuckles wasn't dressed like the Sonic the Hedgehog character. Instead he was just a big bald fat guy her to job out to Hail who again won with the Leg Drop. Post match Hart put the boots to Knuckles. Match was super short but that was best you have a guy with potential like Hail and a guy that looked like he hadn't worked out ever so best thing you can do is make it short.
Backstage Greg Valentine and Horace Hogan are upset they aren't they don't have a match. Piper shows up and well I have no idea what happened as it was just Piper acting insane. And now is as good as a time as any to explain why having Piper as commissioner is a bad idea. Piper role is basically to be on screen match maker and in some cases explain certain moves "the company" is making. But the days where Piper was a great talker are long gone. Instead he comes off as a nut job that newer fans would go "Oh this is so fake no way a guy like that would be a boss." Hell if anything why not put Valentine who was to old to be in the ring at this point in that role.
Johnny B Badd vs Norman Smiley- Insert you own Badd only got this job because he was still married to Rena joke here. Badd aka Marc Mero looked great here still in solid shape and I don't the guy looked he had aged a day. Both guys are actually very solid in ring workers with a lot of charisma maybe they weren't your favorite wrestlers but I bet plenty of fans counted either guy as a guilty pleasure. Strange thing is King kept talking about a match Smiley had the week before so I am assuming it was never actually filmed or was cut from the DVD for some reason. Badd won the F5 (sorry I don't know what Mero called) decent TV match. Although I do wonder why you are pairing up two faces.
The Shane Twins vs The Road Warriors- They had been advertising a rematch with the Shanes and Nasty Boys and than the DVD spoils it for me by showing a Shane Twins vs Road Warriors graphic before the match. (They did this for all matches on this set) The Nasty Boys music played and of course they didn't come out. Finally the Road Warriors Music played and they came out instead. There was not expiation for why the Warriors could just come out and take the match not even a promo going "The Nasty Boys cowards that they are ran out of the building but Hawk and I are willing to fight you boys." Again that smoke issue was there this time after the Road Warriors pyro. To King and Tony's credit they really did try to put over the Shanes toughness and willingness to face the Road Warriors. There was one really awkward spot where Hawk was whipped into a corner and he falling backwards he hit one of the Shane's lightly but the Shane sold the bump. After the Warriors hit the Dooms day device the Nasty Boys came out and stopped the referee from counting three and the match was thrown out after. Post match The two face teams stood together and raised each other arms. Little better match from the Shane Twins this time. They pointed out that the Nasty Boys didn't want the Road Warriors to beat the Shanes after the Shanes beat the Nasty Boys so there is a story there.
Curt Henning with Bobby The Brian Heenan vs Buff Bagwell- I think they are trying to set Henning up as the top singles heel witch is a good idea given the fact the guy could still work great. Problem is the face singles side isn't that impressive. Vamprio was a big star in Mexico but never got to that same level in the US. And Buff had a fan base but again was a mid carder this match again seems like something you would see the second hour of Nitro or on Thunder. I get that a lot of talent at this time was locked up by WWF or waiting for there Time Warner contract to ride out but still. Henning got the win using the Heningplex after the Brian shoved Buff off the ropes when he was setting up for the Block Buster. Ok match but again it just doesn't feel like a main event level match. Nothing that would make you go "I have to see what's next."
Post match Vampiro came out and was trying to explain what went down only for Henning to deck him. Buff and Vampiro went after Henning and than Ian Harrison came out to jump Vampiro and Buff The show ended with Roddy Piper showing up and beating up Henning and than Rena yelling at Piper for getting involved. Witch I fund funny since the idea is Piper is authority figure and was breaking up a brawl. Maybe she was pissed due to the lack in logic of having Piper beat up the top heel.
Episode two was slightly better than the first one. Again I give them credit for trying to get the Shane Twins along with Hail and Harrison. But again it just feels like land of the giants how about doing a match with the smaller guys hell I don't think Kash was even mentioned after this title win on Episode one. More and more the show comes off like a WCW pro kind of thing. Another issue is King clearly didn't do any research into guys he had never seen before. I don't need him to like Mike Tenay and know everything but it's be nice if he knew a little bit.
Episode 3- Mean Gene brings down Rena to start the show and I die a little inside. Gene again asks Rena about Piper actions. The good news is this was very short just your basic recap. There is a funny moment when Rena claim calls and e-mails have flooded the XWF offices. We get a dumb segment with the South Philly Posse. All this segment told me was they just "Did you work for WWF, WCW or ECW? If yes your hired."
Marty Janetty vs Drezden- Drezden is a guy that had been showing vignettes for he was bother large body builder type. I'm not saying big guys can't be good talents but XWF had so many of them it's kind of hard to keep track, The Shanes, Hail, Harrison now Drezden it be bad if they had just hired all small guys with the same basic moves. Janetty got a little bit offense in but its mostly a squash. Drezden got the win after a power bomb. Decent squash but again so many big guys why care.
We get a backstage segment with Greg Valentine pouring on Piper's door demanding a match only for it be shown Piper wasn't in there as he walked past Valentine to get in his office. Someone had all these DVD's from WWE creative I fear they might get an idea to redo the Piper and Valentine feud which is clearly what XWF was thinking about doing.
Horrace Hogan vs Josh Matthews- Again yes that Josh Matthews the runner up on Tough Enough and now a long time WWE announcer. I"m all for giving a guy a break but they also were giving a pretty big push having his debut be a request by Rena. By the way I should call Josh, Josh from Tough Enough because that's what XWF pretty much did since they always pointed out he was on Tough Enough. Horrace tossed Josh around for a while and even slammed him on the floor. At one point Horrace had the pin after a choke slam bomb but pulled Josh up allowing Josh to school boy him for the win. It was an ok match as Josh sold well and I could see some in ring potential. And maybe if the XWF had gotten off the ground we could have seen him become a good underdog baby face
The Shane Twins vs South Philly Posse with Jasmine- SPP were once the Public Enemy and I get at one point the Public Enemy was a hot act with a following in ECW but the bloom was off the rose at this point. DId you really need another older tag team with The Nasty Boys and The Road Warriors? Not helping Johnny Grunge who wasn't a small guy to start had really let his weight get out of control. This was a really rough match not rough as in rough and tumble rough as in the guys couldn't work. Everything just looked awkward. The Nasty Boys came out but before they could interfer the Road Warriors jumped them. While this was going on the Shane's some how beat the South Philly Posse. As I said it was a rough match it really looked a match between four guys just learning to wrestle.
Gene Oakerland introduced Jimmy Snuka and his son Jimmy Snuka Jr who worked as Deuce and Sim Snuka in the WWE. Just as Snuka started to talk out came Roddy Piper and well since Piper and Snuka were together it was time to remind us all of the coconut segment. And even though Piper had been a face the first two weeks he went full blown heel here. You know what wrestling companies STOP TRYING TO USE THE PIPER and SNUKA FEUD! Yes that moment on WWF TV was legendary and everyone remembers it. But that was a long time ago yet pretty much every wrestling company at some point since 2000 has brought in Piper and Snuka to bring up that segment WWE had them in the rumble, TNA did a Pit at a Victory Road and XWF did this. But the thing is Piper and Snuka can barley move. Them trying to recreate the heat from that moment can't be done all these later. No one can just like when WWE or TNA bring back Kevin Nash and Scott Hall they can't find the magic of nWo. ROH, EVOLVE, Dragon Gate USA I am begging you don't book them on the same show. Finally Rena showed up and told Piper he had such a problem he could face Snuka Sr. in the ring. Only for Piper to try and duck out. Another mess of a segment.
XWF Crusierweight title Kid Kash © vs AJ Styles- Finally a chance for the lighter guys inn the XWF to show off. If you have seen the matches these two wold go on to have in TNA you know what they can do. Some fast and furious exchanges. Kash appeared to play the heel here as a he thumbed AJ in the eyes at one point but the fans seemed to back Kash since he was more well known. I have always heard both guys didn't like each other but knew they would have great matches. Kash Hit the money maker for the 1 2 3. Now this was by far the best match on the entire set and its easy to see why TNA hired both these guys for the X-Division not to long after this.
We saw Rena meeting with three random girls I think one was Che from the Nitro Girls one was Georges George (Randy's Savage valet in WCW) and there was one other one. In a moment I actually liked when Rena saw the camera she kicked it out. Witch I believe given this was 2001 makes Rena the first person ever in wrestling to know red light mean camera is on and filming.
Vapor with Sony Onoo vs Jimmny Snuka Jr. with Jimmny Snuka- Vapor is some guys I have never seen before he had a solid body type like you see a lot of asian wrestlers have. According to Tony at this time Snuka Jr had only been wrestling for two years. The problem Snuka Jr had here was he was Snuka Jr. It seemed like the only hired him so they could have his dad appear. It's to bad the kid did have potential. Vapor also was pretty impressive and move pretty well and had a few cool moves. Eventually Onoo and the Superfly got involved father and son took down the two heels and hits duel splashes for the win. I get Snuka always has a fan base but he moved awful her and when he goes up for the splash I was worried he was going to brea his hip.
Buff Bagwell and Vampiro vs Curt Henning and Ian Harrison with Bobby Heenan- They seemed to be setting it up that Harrison was now Heenan's clint. It did help a great deal that Harrison didn't follow up a match with another big guy in it. Also it being a tag match meant Harrison could come in destroy and than tag out to Henning . They missed the finish to the match. Henning rolled up Buff but it wasn't made clear if it was a cheating move or just clean pin. Post match Buff got pissed and shove Vampiro causing the locker room to empty to and break it up. Again nothing special Harrison looked like he had some potential but this wasn't a main event feeling once again. As I said the face side was lacking. I think they were holding off on really pushing someone until Hogan agreed to show up full time. As I said Hogan did wrestle a match with Henning at the taping but I don't think Hogan was willing to jump onboard until the TV deal was set.
Episode three was ok. It did feature the pretty awesome Styles and Kash match but it also had Piper and Snuka. They were starting some decent story lines but nothing was really hot yet. As I said the face side was lacking. I think they were holding off on really pushing someone until Hogan agreed to show up full time. As I said Hogan did wrestle a match with Henning at the taping but I don't think Hogan was willing to jump onboard until the TV deal was set.
Final Thoughts- The shows feel more like they were meant for the old territory days and not a post Monday Night War era audience. I do think Knobs, Hart and Valentine were hopeful there friendship with Hogan would led to him showing up to the give them that big star hero. Also I think the fell into a trap a lot of indy companies makes they want to get to the top quickly so they load up on all the "name" talent they can. And why yes it takes a star to make a star was anyone in 01 wanting to see Public Enemy did Vapor really need Sonny Onoo. I would have like a better mix of young and old and a better mix of monsters and normal looking guys. Now as I have said in the past the first TNA show I ever watched was the second one. I tuned into thanks to guys like Jeff Jarrett but I stayed thank to AJ Styles, Chris Daniels, James Storm etc. Sometimes you need that equal time the faces you know the ones you want to know. Now I do understand other episodes were filmed they just haven't seen the light of day. Now if I had seen the fist three XWF shows would I tuned in the next week to watch a fourth? Yes since I'm a huge wrestling fan but I would have been going out of my way to tell anyone about it like I did with TNA and ROH when I first saw them. End of the day the XWF wasn't meant to be.
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