Championship Wrestling X-plained: The Story of CWX

2004 - 2006

Like anything that is worth something to anyone, CWX too has a story behind it, a story of innovation,heart and a great measure of luck

Originally conceptualized in late 2004 by Enforcer as a small independant promotion, a simple venture devoid of the politics and garish pageantry that pervades the sport today and built on his idea of what professional wrestling should be. No one could have predicted that it would become what it has since its eventual inception in April 2007. The three years from concept to reality nearly saw the loss of CWX in any capacity as Enforcer's career was threatened at the time by his disillusionment with what the business had become, leading him to a 14-month hiatus.

Upon his eventual return to the business in 2006, the idea for the company that would become CWX had been firmly implanted in the mind of its founder, having used his time away to sit back and plan his new promotion he returned to the drawing board armed with nearly unlimited finances, his keen wrestling mind and veritable 'whose who' of friends in the business the groundwork was laid. Operating below the radar of many in the wrestling business pieces were put in place to launch what we know today as CWX.

2007

Emails, Phone calls and handshake gentleman's agreements helped to form the very first roster of superstars that would comprise the first CWX 'Warriors'. Those efforts and agreements yielded names such as Ironman,Chase Landry,Ex,Johnny Nailz,Steve Anderson and Nick Manning. However after a subpar television debut and equally dismal second week that were panned by critics and fans alike the concept of CWX was taken back to the drawing board and re-vamped, dropping the tv show in favor of an on-demand and website-ready viewing format. By the time the show re-debuted on CWXwrestling.com a few weeks later radical roster changes and presentation overhauls had been made, truly laying the groundwork for the current CWX product.

Originally airing on saturdays, the re-vamped CWX took to the world wide web on Saturday May 19th 2007 touting its relaunch event the first ever 'Back 2 Basix' event, adding key names like Lady Demonica and newcomer Mike Savior were key additions in the early days of CWX as both would go on to thrive in the promotion for some time after.

The next major chapter in CWX's early days would come about at June 16, 2007's 'Manning vs. Anderson IV', an event named for the best of 7 series waged between early favorites Nick Manning and Steve Anderson. This event would see debuts of three perrenial CWX stars in Angel, Dragonsoldier and Liko Kanoa, all of whom would go on to great prominence and success in CWX as decorated champions.

June 2, 2007's 'Manning vs. Anderson III' would see the debut of one of CWX's most enduring cruiserweight stars, the unpredictable Chris Rayge as he took on Pro Wrestling Revolution-1 contracted wrestler Mark Spurlock in a spillover of their long-running feud at this event.

July 14 2007's 'Manning vs. Anderson VI' event would see the debut of the woman who many would call the most celebrated and decorated Lady Wrestler in CWX history, La Leona, later known as 'The Lioness' Leah Lopez and Enforcer's wife.

September 22, 2007 saw the return of CWX to full-feature pay-per-view with 'Operation:Osaka', an event that would feature the CWX debut of Genocide Wrestling all-timer Lance Perfection as well as the debut of MMA star and CWX Fighting Arts Division juggernaut 'The Japanese War Machine' Goro Fujimoto.

Always a place for open doors and innovation, CWX's 'Campeonato Des Lucha X' pay-per-view event was the venue for a long awaited dream rematch between CWX feature performer 'Rockstar' Randy Ramon and his long time rival Syn, a 60-minute Ironman match that was won by Ramon 2-1.This event also saw the first ever 1-on-1 meeting between Liko Kanoa and Mike Savior as well as the debut of GWA legend 'Nightmare'Chris Palmer in CWX.

2008

Tuesday, March 11, 2008's 'From The Ashes' pay-per-view event saw one of the finest main events in CWX history as CWX owner and wrestling megastar Enforcer faced off with then-champion Mike Savior for his title, Savior defended successfully on this night as it became one for the books. also at this event controversial former PWR-1 star Ryan Thriller made his CWX debut with a post match attack on Savior only to be trumped by the returning Lance Perfection who made the save on Savior.

After a first year full of ups and downs, CWX celebrated one full year in operation on April 22, 2008 with 'X-1: The CWX first Anniversary Show', a card that featured a double main event that saw Mike Savior against Jared Fox and the re-matching of Manning vs. Anderson for old times sake,for fans, it was a hell of a way to mark the first year. This event also saw Mike Savior crowned 'Mr.CWX 2007'

The CWX 'Hall Of Honor' was initiated in order to note and honor the work of CWX pioneers and legendary performers, it was at CWX's May 22, 2008 event, 'Rage At The Rock' that the first class of inductees was announced, a list comprised of Nick Manning,Steve Anderson, Chase Landry and Liko Kanoa.

The months following the HOH inductions saw the coming and going of several promising stars for one reason or another as Ladies hopefuls Kascha and Enforcer's cousin Airen Phillips as well as men's standouts Kris Obellix, Kyle Storm and Tommy Sirius had solid runs but ultimately faded away for reasons both personal and professional.

The late summer months of 2008 saw Enforcer, Ex and others become the victims of a series of heinous attacks that would later be discovered to have been orchestrated by Enforcer's mentor Ironman from within CWX operating on behalf of Enforcer and Exs' fiendish half-sibling Cross who was on his way to CWX.

Wednesday August 27, 2008 and the 'Iron Age' event would go down as the night that one of the most phenomenal and popular superstars in the history of CWX, The new sensation himself, the elevator...Matt Slater would make his first appearance in CWX fresh off of a red-hot run in the ACW promotion, arguably the biggest free agent signing in CWX's brief history. It would be only a month later when Slater, arriving amidst a flurry of excitement would make good on Enforcer's hopes and deliver big time as it was at September 24th's 'Operation California' one hour TV special that Slater's meteoric rise would peak with his defeat of former olympian Kris Obellix to claim his first CWX heavyweight title,a belt he would hold for the next six plus months, making him the second longest holder of that belt ever, behind Mike Savior's 8-month run.

October 22's 'Attack on The Yak' event from Yakima, Washington would serve to pad CWX's reputation as a constant source for world class main events as Matt Slater and Jason Blade teamed to take on Ironman and Cross as the brother vs. brother war waged on between Cross and Enforcer. This night also a masterful tactical stroke on behalf of Cross and Ironman as Ironman as Enforcer's mentor and a CWX shareholder anticipated his protege's attempt to fire Cross and sold him a share of his stock, protecting him from termination, much to Enforcer's chagrin.

It was also a major event as November 5, 2008's 'Loyalties Divided' Event as CWX mainstay Lance Perfection pulled the curtain on his time here as his contract was expiring and he was looking to pursue other avenues in his life. This night also unfortunately saw Cross and Ironman's reign of terror roll on as they defeated they team of Ex and Justin G(Parental Advisory). It also featured a solid main event between Chris Rayge and Matt Slater in a champion vs. champion match.

A history making night was to be had on November 19,2008 at 'X-Cellence Recognized' as Justin G faced off with Kascha in the first ever Intergender match in CWX history as they fought in a broken glass lined cage for Justin g's Mayhem title. This night also saw CWX owner Enforcer team with champuon Matt Slater to taker on Ironman and Cross in a match that the owner and champion would win by disqualification. Also on this show and the the preceeding couple of shows CWX HoH`er Nick Manning saw the resurfacing of an old rival from his time in japan, 'Firebomb' Atsushi Tokkan, who came back to grind a near decade-old axe with Manning what ensued was one of the most intensely personal feuds of Manning's career.

December 3, 2008's 'This Is Why We Fight!!!' pay-per-view event yielded one of the greatest matches in CWX history and eventual winner of Gfed's match of the year for 2008 as months of public verbal sparring followed by weeks of personal clashes came to a head between the controversial Mike Park and CWX's favorite son Matt Slater in a bad blood grudge steel cage match with Slater taking the win. This event also featured a singles match between Enforcer and Cross, marking the first time that the older half-sibling has defeated his younger brother in a match.

December 17, 2008's 'Now Or Never' event saw one of the greatest heavyweight championship matches in CWX history as a near thirty minute classic was waged between Matt Slater and Jason Blade for the CWX belt with Slater coming out with a hard-fought defense on this night. The two would wage a subsequent war a few weeks later in LCW, this time for Blade's LCW belt with Blade winning that bout.

2009

The new year kicked off in Baghdad,Iraq and the US military base located there were the backdrop of the 2009 New Beginnings event, dedicated to the US service personnel serving over there, this event featured a meet and greet with the soldiers and stars of CWX as well as a pay-per-view quality double main event of Slater vs. Savior for the CWX title and Jared Fox vs. Jason Blade in a champion vs. champion match, this event marked CWX's 'Armed Services Tribute' type event on foreign soil.

February 11th saw Matt Slater return to his native Manchester,UK in a triple threat match against Cross and Nick Manning, a match that yet furthered Slater's standing as CWX's premier performer.

Strong Style X on pay-per-view on March 12, saw the changing of the tide in Crosses bid for serious notice in CWX as he upset long-time champion Matt Slater for the belt via controversial referee stoppage.

Featuring the debut of impressive puroresu hybrid grappler UnderOath, CWX #38: Nagano Nights was highlited by a star-packed co-main event taht saw a three way dance between Jared Fox, Matt Slater and Mike Savior...followed by a singles match between Cross and Cruiserweight star Brian Seles.

The following show saw CWX pay tribute to Japan's Korakuen Hall, home of some of the most legendary matches in Japanese Wrestling History, it was at this event where Jared fox realized his dream after two years in CWX when he defeated Cross to claim the CWX heavyweight championship for the first time. After that match CWX fans also saw the return of Matt Slater as he attacked Cross after a month long self-imposed hiatus from the sport.

X-2: The CWX Second Anniversary show was the order of the day on April 24th as CWX celebrated its second year in existence with a card that was main evented by Mike Savior taking on Jared Fox, two of CWX's most enduring stars facing off to mark the occasion.

CWX broke new ground once again on May 9th as they became the first major American promotion to hold an event on Soviet Soil as the company hosted Glasnost-X from St.Petersburg, Russia to a crowd of nearly 18,000 people who came to see an event that featured Matt Slater vs. Cross and the returning Lance Perfection against Jared Fox and Mike Savior.

Back 2 Basix `09 on pay-per-view saw the beginning of teaser packages hinting of a return of a former CWX title holder, revealed weeks later to be CWX cruiserweight star Chris Rayge. This event saw Matt Slater lock Cross in a casket to win the main event of the night. Movement members Demon and Tha Joka battled the CWX's Red Team, Jared Fox and Mike Savior as part of the co-main event in a match that saw Demon and Joke escape the cage for the win.

Lucha Liberation on June 3 saw one of the most insane main event in CWX history as Malicious Intent(Justin G,Royal Powerhouse,Snave,Janahve Rae) took on the team of Pop Culture Phenomenon(Kyle Phillips,Tyler Diamond,Donnie Haywood and Sarah Shane) in a faction war that saw Malicious Intent come out on top.

Having decided to close the book on his career in CWX once and for all Lance Perfection called it a run at 'Canadian Incursion' on June 18 but not before he was brutally attacked by The Joka wielding a cheese grater, Perfection would be helped out by security and medics bleeding badly.

Siege of Saskatoon on July 1 saw two red-hot newcomers, Dale Anderson and Jack Kilger continue their march toward name status in CWX as they shined yet again on a card that also included Malicious Intent vs. The Movement and Slater& Fox vs. Axe Murder Inc.(Joka/Demon). Also in a shocking turn of events former DHW/LCW star 'The Icon' Matt Kamakazee made his CWX return taking Joka out of the company with a brutal beating to christen his return.

As July rolled on, Winnipeg Wargames on the 15th of the month saw the returns Aaron Storm, having re-adopted his more familliar moniker...Ice...he joined Cross's Movement faction. Also returning on this night was controversial CWX star player Liko Kanoa to help strengthen the CWX resistance.

The end of the month saw the holding of the PPV event, Classic Conflix 2009, a match that saw Cross, with help from debuting big man and former PWR-1 star Stephane 'Thanatos' Castro, take the CWX title from Jared Fox in usually underhanded fashion, It also Matt Slater put on the shelf after swelling was caused in hif face and eyes by a pepper spray attack into open cuts by his opponent Ice. all in all a huge night for the Movement.