Carolina Wrestling Federation Mid-Atlantic (CWF Mid-Atlantic, formerly known as the Carolina Wrestling Federation and FWA-Carolinas) is an American
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States
* Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
professional wrestling
Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...
promotion founded by Jeff Rudd in 2000. The promotion is based in the
southeastern United States
The Southeastern United States, also known as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical List of regions in the United States, region of the United States located in the eastern portion of the Southern United States and t ...
, largely covering the Carolinas and Virginia, with its headquarters in
Burlington, North Carolina
Burlington is a city in Alamance County, North Carolina, Alamance and Guilford County, North Carolina, Guilford counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the principal city of the Burlington, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area, which en ...
. It is one of the oldest "indy" groups in North Carolina, succeeding
Count Grog's
Southern Championship Wrestling as the state's top promotion shortly before its close in 2004.
CWF Mid-Atlantic was one of 32 territories affiliated with
AWA Superstars from 2005 to 2007, officially representing the
mid-Atlantic region, until Dale Gagne was forced by a court order to cease licensing under the
American Wrestling Association
The American Wrestling Association (AWA) was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 until 1991. It was founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo. The promotion was born out of the Minneapolis ...
name. Many of the top wrestlers in the Southeastern independents have competed for the promotion including
C. W. Anderson,
Caprice Coleman
Caprice Coleman (born 20 March 1977) is an American professional wrestler who has competed in Mid-Atlantic and Southern independent promotions including Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, NWA Wildside, Ring of Honor and, in recent years, Live Acti ...
,
Shane Helms,
Shannon Moore
Shannon Moore (born July 27, 1979) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is best known for his work with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) between 1999 and 2001 and with WWE, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) for ...
,
Cham Pain, Rob "The Bull" McBride,
Otto Schwanz,
The Dupps (Bo and Stan Dupp), and
Team MACKtion ("Krazy K"
Kirby Mack and T.J. Mack). It also had a working relationship with the
UK's
Frontier Wrestling Alliance bringing in such stars as
"The Anarchist" Doug Williams,
Jodie Fleisch,
Jonny Storm
Jonathan Whitcombe (born 19 April 1977) is an English professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Jonny Storm. He has worked for many independent promotions across the United Kingdom, including the Frontier Wrestling Alliance, Real ...
,
Alex Shane, Flash Barker,
Drew McDonald, British Women's Champion
Sweet Saraya, and FWA-UK Commissioner Victoria Demonfort.
The promotion enjoyed a long association with Mid-Atlantic wrestling legend
Johnny Weaver, who was a
commentator and presenter of the annual Johnny Weaver Invitational tournament until his death in 2008.
Rocky and
Don Kernodle,
Sandy Scott,
Jimmy Valiant,
Ivan
Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was the B ...
and
Nikita Koloff
Nikita Koloff (born Nelson Scott Simpson, March 9, 1959) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with Jim Crockett Promotions and its successor, World Championship Wrestling between 1984 and 1992, wher ...
,
Boris Zhukov,
"Rowdy" Roddy Piper, manager
J. J. Dillon, announcers
Bob Caudle and
Rich Landrum, and referee
Tommy Young, all fellow Mid-Atlantic stars in the 1970s and 80s, have appeared for CWF Mid-Atlantic as well as
Ring of Honor
Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011; the promotion was subs ...
's
Ricky Reyes and the
World Wrestling Federation's
D-Lo Brown and
"Dr. Death" Steve Williams.
CWF Mid-Atlantic is also an important organization for
women's wrestling in the Southeast. Its women's division has included former
WWF Women's Tag Team Champions Desiree Petersen and
Leilani Kai
Patty Seymour (born January 23, 1957) is an American retired professional wrestling, professional wrestler, better known by her ring name Leilani Kai. She is best known for her work in All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling, All Japan Women's Pro Wrestl ...
, and younger wrestlers
Brandi Alexander,
Lexie Fyfe,
Jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
,
Alexis Laree,
Lorelei Lee,
MsChif
Rachel Frobel (née Collins born June 11, 1976) is an American professional wrestler who is better known by her ring name MsChif. She has been wrestling since 2001 and in that time has worked for several independent promotions across the United ...
,
Amber O'Neal, and
Special K (later known as
Krissy Vaine).
On November 15, 2019, all future shows for the promotion were postponed, leaving the federation's future operation in doubt.
[
] The federation did go forward with its Battlecade XX event on December 28, 2019.
History
Formation and early years
Jeff Rudd, who wrestled under the name "The Gemini Kid", founded the Carolina Wrestling Federation in Burlington, North Carolina, in 1996. Rudd had previously wrestled in
Eddie Gilbert's
Continental Wrestling Federation with Mike Howell, who also had some involvement in the Alabama-based organization, and named their new promotion the "Carolina Wrestling Federation" (CWF) to honor Gilbert (who had died the previous year). They began running shows in
Durham and other parts of North Carolina off and on during the late 1990s, though the promotion was run on a part-time basis due to their work for
OMEGA
Omega (, ; uppercase Ω, lowercase ω; Ancient Greek ὦ, later ὦ μέγα, Modern Greek ωμέγα) is the twenty-fourth and last letter in the Greek alphabet. In the Greek numerals, Greek numeric system/isopsephy (gematria), it has a value ...
and other local independents.
Following the close of OMEGA in 1999, with
Matt and Jeff Hardy joining the
World Wrestling Federation, Rudd decided to begin running the CWF again. Rudd hoped the promotion would fulfill OMEGA's previous role to showcase younger talent in North Carolina as well as to recreate the "fun atmosphere" enjoyed by former OMEGA stars.
The following year, the promotion crowned its first champions; David Taylor, The Gemini Kid, and
The Dupps (Bo Dupp and Stan Dupp), as the CWF Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight, Cruiserweight and Tag Team Champions, respectively.
Territorial reach
CWF Mid-Atlantic was initially based in Durham, North Carolina. It later moved to Burlington, where it established the Carolina Sports Arena (renamed the Mid-Atlantic Sportatorium in 2009), an
industrial building near the
Burlington-Alamance Regional Airport, as its home arena and official
wrestling school. In spite of the large number of promotions in the state, they were eventually able to expand the CWF to cover a sizable area of the southeastern United States, based primarily in the Carolinas and Virginia. Though most of its supercards are run out of the Carolina Sports Arena in
Gibsonville, CWF Mid-Atlantic event tours have also included
national guard
National guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards.
...
armories, high school gyms and fairs in cities including
Asheboro,
Bear Creek,
Cameron,
Clayton,
Elkin,
Graham,
Liberty
Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...
,
Mount Airy,
Oxford
Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town.
The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
,
Pfafftown,
Pleasant Garden,
Ramseur,
Roxboro,
Seagrove,
Statesville,
Thomasville,
Wentworth, and
Wilson in North Carolina;
Manning,
Myrtle Beach
Myrtle Beach is a resort city on the East Coast of the United States in Horry County, South Carolina. It is located in the center of a long and continuous stretch of beach known as the " Grand Strand” in the northeastern part of the state. It ...
, and
Sharon
Sharon ( 'plain'), also spelled Saron, is a given name as well as a Hebrew name.
In Anglosphere, English-speaking areas, Sharon is now predominantly a feminine given name, but historically it was also used as a masculine given name. In Israel, ...
in South Carolina; and
Martinsville, Virginia
Martinsville is an Political subdivisions of Virginia#Independent cities, independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 13, ...
. Also, a few shows were held at
Ace Speedway in
Altamahaw, North Carolina
Altamahaw is a census-designated place (CDP) in Alamance County, North Carolina, United States. It is part of the Burlington, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 347. The community was list ...
, and the
Greensboro Coliseum and
Proehlific Sports Complex in
Greensboro, North Carolina
Greensboro (; ) is a city in Guilford County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 299,035; it was estimated to be 307,381 in 2024. It is the List of municipalitie ...
.
Its weekly television series, "CWF Championship Wrestling", was carried by
Adelphia Cable,
Charter Communications,
Lexcom,
Piedmont Cable, and
Time Warner
Warner Media, LLC ( doing business as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned by AT&T. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City.
It was established as Time Warne ...
and syndicated throughout the region. By 2003, the series was being broadcast locally on then-
UPN affiliate WUPN (now
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV (stylized as mynetworkTV; unofficially abbreviated MNT or MNTV) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its Fox Television Stations ...
affiliate
WMYV) and
PAX station
WGPX-TV, then the highest rated PAX affiliate in the country, reaching an audience of 1,500,000 in the Piedmont area alone and seen in at least 16
counties in North Carolina and
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
. A year later, it was airing in over 50 cities and towns. It was later
broadcast on the internet as well via Highspots.TV
and CWF's
official YouTube channel. CWF Mid-Atlantic additional exposure though its involvement in numerous fundraisers for charities, school clubs, civic groups, and similar organizations such as ARC of Alamance,
American Red Cross
The American National Red Cross is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Humanitarianism, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. Clara Barton founded ...
and the
Special Olympics
Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, providing year-round training and activities to 5 million participants and Unified Sports partners in 172 countries. Special Ol ...
. One of its most notable efforts was helping raise money for the Red Cross and
Salvation Army
The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...
, along with
Don Kernodle, in the days following the
September 11 terrorist attacks
The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
. They also held events for individuals in need of financial assistance to pay for medical expenses. On August 20, 2005, CWF Mid Atlantic held a
benefit show in
King, North Carolina
King is a city in Stokes County, North Carolina, Stokes and Forsyth County, North Carolina, Forsyth counties, North Carolina, United States. The population was 7,096 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. King is part of the Piedmont Tri ...
, for an 11-year-old wrestling fan, Stephen Arrowood,
who was left paralyzed from the waist-down following emergency surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his spinal cord.
The following year CWF Mid Atlantic promoted a
lucha libre
''Lucha libre'' (, meaning "freestyle wrestling" or literally translated as "free fight") is the term for the style of professional wrestling originating in Mexico. Since its introduction to Mexico in the early 20th century, it has develope ...
-themed event for Burlington's annual International Cultural Festival held at the Downtown Amphitheatre. The card featured Marcellus King and Señor Sábado Noche in a "lighting" (Relámpago) match and a
Best 2 out of 3 Falls Trios match pitting Ultra Dragon, the Kamakazi Kid, and Brass Munkey against El Gemini, El Sucio, and Double K which lasted nearly an hour.
The promotion had appeared at last year's festival and the success of the lucha libre show led to CWF Mid Atlantic becoming a regular attraction.
["Results From CWF Mid-Atlantic Live Events Held On September 2nd In Manninc, SC And Burlington, NC." ''DeclarationofIndependents.net.'' Ed. Sean McCaffrey. N.p., Sept. 2004. Web. Oct. 5, 2011. .]
Notable talent
The promotion featured some of top wrestlers in the Southern independents and provided an environment for younger talent, including
C. W. Anderson,
Caprice Coleman
Caprice Coleman (born 20 March 1977) is an American professional wrestler who has competed in Mid-Atlantic and Southern independent promotions including Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, NWA Wildside, Ring of Honor and, in recent years, Live Acti ...
,
Shane Helms, Tank Lawson, Rob "The Bull" McBride,
Shannon Moore
Shannon Moore (born July 27, 1979) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is best known for his work with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) between 1999 and 2001 and with WWE, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) for ...
,
Cham Pain,
Scotty Sabre, Seymour Snott,
The Dupps (Bo and Stan Dupp),
The Naturals (
Andy Douglas and
Chase Stevens), and
Team MACKtion ("Krazy K"
Kirby Mack and T.J. Mack).
Ricky Reyes of
Ring of Honor
Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011; the promotion was subs ...
,
["CWF Mid-Atlantic Results From July 29th & 30th AWA World Light Heavyweight Title Tournament Held In Burlington, NC." ''DeclarationofIndependents.net.'' Ed. Sean McCaffrey. N.p., Aug. 2005. Web. Oct. 5, 2011. .] World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...
's
D-Lo Brown and
"Dr. Death" Steve Williams have also made appearances for the promotion.
It later enhanced its roster through working agreements with the
Frontier Wrestling Alliance and AWA Superstars.
Johnny Weaver had a long association with CWF Mid-Atlantic, working as a guest commentator and presenter of the annual
Johnny Weaver Invitational tournament up until his death in 2008.
The 2007 Johnny Weaver Tournament was his last public appearance at a professional wrestling event.
Other former Mid-Atlantic stars to appear in the promotion included brothers Rocky and
Don Kernodle,
Sandy Scott,
Jimmy Valiant,
Ivan
Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was the B ...
and
Nikita Koloff
Nikita Koloff (born Nelson Scott Simpson, March 9, 1959) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with Jim Crockett Promotions and its successor, World Championship Wrestling between 1984 and 1992, wher ...
,
Boris Zhukov,
The Barbarian,
"Rowdy" Roddy Piper, manager
J. J. Dillon, announcers
Bob Caudle and
Rich Landrum, and referee
Tommy Young.
David Flair, the oldest son of former 7-time
NWA World Heavyweight Championship
The NWA World's Heavyweight Championship is a men's professional wrestling Professional wrestling championship#World championships, world heavyweight championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an American professiona ...
"The Nature Boy" Ric Flair, also wrestled for the promotion on occasion.
Rusty Loudermilk was a CWF mainstay, occupying a number of roles including
sports agent
A sports agent is a legal representative (hence agent (law), agent) for professional sports figures such as athletes and coaches. They procure and negotiate employment and Testimonial, endorsement contracts for the principal (commercial law), at ...
and manager (under his alter-ego Rusty James).
Affiliation with other independent promotions
In February 2001, CWF Mid-Atlantic became an official affiliate promotion for the
Frontier Wrestling Alliance based in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. This was part of an association of independent wrestling groups in North America and Europe headed by the FWA. It was one of two promotions in the United States, along with FWA Texas, and subsequently changed its name to "FWA-Carolinas". This new international working agreement saw the sharing of talent and interpromotional events.
"The Anarchist" Doug Williams,
Jodie Fleisch,
Jonny Storm
Jonathan Whitcombe (born 19 April 1977) is an English professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Jonny Storm. He has worked for many independent promotions across the United Kingdom, including the Frontier Wrestling Alliance, Real ...
,
Alex Shane, Flash Barker,
Drew McDonald, British Women's Champion
Sweet Saraya, and FWA-UK Commissioner Victoria Demonfort were among the FWA stars to appear for the CWF during the next three years.
It was around this time that state legislation which put professional wrestling under the jurisdiction of the state's boxing commission threatened to shut down many, if not all, of the independent promotions operating in North Carolina. The cost of promoters to put on a wrestling show was tripled due to state regulation and put severe financial burdens on an industry which was already in a recession in the years following the "
Attitude Era
The Attitude Era was a major era of professional wrestling within the WWE, World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). The term "WWF Attitude" was used to describe its programming from November 9, 1997 to May 6, 2002. It began during the Monday Ni ...
". CWF Mid-Atlantic was heavily involved in the campaign to stop the H-232 bill. The promotion's website provided fans with up-to-date information and encouraged them to contact their representatives. The efforts of Jeff Rudd in particular, through Senator
Hugh Webster, helped eventually remove pro wrestling from the bill.
Count Grog's
Southern Championship Wrestling, widely regarded as the state's top indy promotion, closed down in 2004. Many other promotions were forced to cease operations during this period which were absorbed by CWF Mid-Atlantic to some extent. The same year that SCW closed, it jointly promoted the final shows for Alternative Championship Wrestling (January 31, 2004) and South Atlantic Wrestling (November 27, 2004) in which both promotions were formerly merged with CWF Mid-Atlantic.
East Coast Pro Wrestling, another closely associated promotion, was also incorporated into the CWF.
AWA Superstars
The promotion had a three-year association with AWA Superstars (AWA), one of 32 territories across the continental United States, with CWF Mid-Atlantic officially representing the
Mid-Atlantic United States
The Mid-Atlantic is a region of the United States located in the overlap between the nation's Northeastern and Southeastern states. Traditional definitions include seven U.S. states: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virg ...
. Their membership in the AWA allowed the promotion to use its talent and many of its
world champions, among those including CWF's own wrestlers, made title defenses on CWF live events when touring the region. Their own titles were renamed "AWA Mid-Atlantic" with all their events sanctioned by the organization.
Key moments in the AWA-CWF relationship included
Ric Converse capturing the
AWA World Heavyweight Championship
The AWA World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship and the highest ranked championship in the defunct American Wrestling Association (AWA). All AWA trademarks, including the AWA World Heavyweight C ...
from
Takao Omori
is a Japanese professional wrestling, professional wrestler, working for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he is a one-time Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion and seven-time World Tag Team Championship ( ...
on June 14, 2006, and his subsequent feud with
Steve Corino over the title.
["Results From CWF Mid-Atlantic TV Taping Held On October 28th In Burlington, NC ." ''DeclarationofIndependents.net.'' Ed. Sean McCaffrey. N.p., Oct. 2006. Web. Oct. 5, 2011. .] Both Xsiris and T.J. Mack held the
AWA World Light Heavyweight Championship and The New Generation Dynasty (Ric Converse and Xsiris) held the
AWA World Tag Team Championship. On December 2, 2006, CWF Mid Atlantic hosted a major AWA supercard at the Carolina Sports Arena with many of its fellow AWA affiliates AWA Apex Wrestling (
West Virginia
West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...
), AWA Slam (
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
), AWA Brew City Wrestling (
Wisconsin
Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...
), AWA World Star Wrestling (
Connecticut
Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
, and
Ohio
Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
), AWA North Atlantic (
Maine
Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...
), and AWA Power Pro Wrestling (
North Carolina
North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
). The semi-main event featured T.J. Mack interfering in a title unification
ladder match
A ladder match is a type of match in professional wrestling, most commonly one in which an item (usually a title belt) is hung above the ring, and the winner is the contestant who climbs a ladder and retrieves the item. The ladder itself become ...
between Kirby Mack and Xsiris to win the AWA World Light Heavyweight title, and Rob McBride and Tank Lawson defeating the Old School Blondes (Steve Corino and
Ricky Landell) to win the AWA World Tag Team titles.
While champions, Converse and Xsiris defended the belts in a four-way "title vs. career" match against AWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Champions Rob McBride and Tank Lawson, AWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Champion Joey Silvia and AWA Mid-Atlantic Television Champion "Simply" Steve Greene, and Neon Lions (Chris Collins and Lee Valiant) at CWF's "Absolute Justice" on June 16, 2007. It was during this time that Dale Gagne, owner of AWA Superstars, was involved in a lawsuit with
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...
over the use of the AWA name. Many affiliate promotions were dropped by the organization in early-2007 with the AWA officially terminating the sanctioning rights with CWF Mid-Atlantic as of July 29, 2007.
Recent years
After their departure from AWA Superstars, CWF Mid-Atlantic continued their interpromotional activities. Two months before leaving the AWA, on May 19, 2007, CWF Mid-Atlantic held three live events in three different states; a Carolina Sports Arena television taping in Burlington, NC, a joint show with South Atlantic Wrestling at
Hooker Stadium in Martinsville, VA, and a house show in Sharon, SC.
They also joined another international governing body, Pro Wrestling International, which included US-based promotions in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Texas as well as in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, the
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
,
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
, and the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. Like their previous arraignment with the AWA, all members shared talent and recognized the PWI Ultra J-Crown Championship which was defended at live events by all involved. In the CWF, it was defending at many shows including at least two supercards. On November 14, 2009, a PWI event involving CWF Mid-Atlantic, Premier Wrestling Showcase, and Rider's Championship Wrestling was held at the Mid-Atlantic Sportatorium in Burlington, North Carolina.
In January 2011, CWF Mid-Atlantic co-promoted a show with
Dragon Gate USA
Dragon Gate USA (DGUSA) is an American professional wrestling promotion founded in 2009 as an international expansion of the Japanese promotion Dragon Gate.
Gabe Sapolsky, former head booker of Ring of Honor, served as the promotion's Vice Presi ...
at the Carolina Sports Arena. On April 1, 2011, the PWI International Heavyweight Championship changed hands between Ric Converse and
Shane Helms at the Mid-Atlantic Sportatorium in Burlington, North Carolina.
Postponement of all future events
On November 15, 2019, a post was made on the official website for CWF Mid-Atlantic announcing that all future events were postponed. The announcement suggested that "Our future is now going to be much different."
The federation did go forward with its Battlecade XX event on December 28, 2019.
No announcement or events have happened since, however, leaving the future of the federation in doubt.
Women's wrestling
CWF Mid-Atlantic is a major promotion in the Southeastern United States for
women's wrestling. Among the female wrestlers to compete for the promotion have included former
WWF Women's Tag Team Champions Desiree Petersen and
Leilani Kai
Patty Seymour (born January 23, 1957) is an American retired professional wrestling, professional wrestler, better known by her ring name Leilani Kai. She is best known for her work in All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling, All Japan Women's Pro Wrestl ...
as well as independent stars such as
Brandi Alexander,
Lexie Fyfe, GeeStar,
Alexis Laree,
Lorelei Lee,
MsChif
Rachel Frobel (née Collins born June 11, 1976) is an American professional wrestler who is better known by her ring name MsChif. She has been wrestling since 2001 and in that time has worked for several independent promotions across the United ...
,
Amber O'Neal,
Persephone,
Special K, (later known as
Krissy Vaine).
O'Neal, a former FWA-Carolinas Women's Champion, was a top contender for
Sherri Martel
Sherry Lynn Schrull (née Russell; February 8, 1958 – June 15, 2007) was an American professional wrestler and manager, better known by her ring names, Sherri Martel and Sensational Sherri.
Martel began her professional wrestling career in t ...
's AWA Women's Championship while competing for CWF Mid-Atlantic and, on occasion, acted as
special guest referee and took part in both
intergender and
mixed tag team matches.
In May 2010, the promotion formed a partnership with Amber O'Neal's Arena Chicks promotion. With its assistance, Arena Chicks was able to produce its first DVD release, ''ArenaChicks, Volume 1'', using matches held at the Mid-Atlantic Sportatorium including mixed tag matches with male CWF wrestlers. On February 5, 2011, CWF Mid-Atlantic's “End of an Era, Part 1″ supercard at the Mid-Atlantic Sportatorium featured an interpromotional match between and Amber O’Neal and
Jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
, the latter making her Arena Chicks debut. This match was included on the
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
release of ''ArenaChicks, Volume 2'' that same year.
Championships and programing
Johnny Weaver Memorial Tournament winners
CWF Mid-Atlantic has held an annual open invitational tournament in honor of
Johnny Weaver since 2004. It is typically a standard 8 or 16-man
single-elimination tournament
A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, ...
held annually in early May or late July with the finals ending at the end of August. The event not only showcased many of the younger wrestlers on the Southern independent circuit but also featured guest appearances by stars from the old
Mid-Atlantic wrestling territory. Weaver regularly attended these events and would traditionally present the winner with the "Johnny Weaver Cup".
Following his death in 2008, it was turned into a
memorial tournament
The Memorial Tournament (branded as the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday, Inc., Workday for sponsorship reasons, and also referred to as simply the Memorial) is a PGA Tour golf tournament founded in 1976 by Jack Nicklaus. It is played on ...
and an award ceremony for fellow Mid-Atlantic wrestling legends. At the 2009 Johnny Weaver Cup, brothers
Don and Rocky Kernodle,
Jimmy Valiant, and
Rich Landrum were all honored at the event. Wendi Weaver, the daughter of Johnny Weaver, also attended the event to accept the award on her father's behalf. Their new home arena, the Mid-Atlantic Sportatorium, was dedicated to the memory of the late Johnny Weaver.
Programming
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
Official website(second website, archived)
(original)
CWF Mid-Atlantic Title Histories at Wrestling-Titles.comat
Solie.orgCWF Mid-Atlantic at Cagematch.deSlamfest Wrestling Photography*
{{TNA Wrestling
Independent professional wrestling promotions based in North Carolina
Entertainment companies established in 1996