Border City Wrestling
 | |
| Acronym | BCW |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1993 |
| Headquarters | Windsor, Ontario |
| Founder(s) |
Doug Chevalier Scott D'Amore Chuck Fader |
Border City Wrestling (BCW) is an independent professional wrestling promotion based in Windsor, Ontario. It is the base promotion for several Total Nonstop Action Wrestling wrestlers, including all of the former Team Canada, Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley. Many BCW employees were trained by Scott D'Amore, the owner and booker of BCW, at the Can-Am Wrestling School. The promotion merged with BSE Pro to create Maximum Pro Wrestling in 2010 before returning to running BCW shows in 2012.
History
1993–2003
Border City Wrestling (BCW) was founded in 1993 by Scott D'Amore, Chuck Fader, and "The Canadian Destroyer" Doug Chevalier. After Chevalier's departure in 1994 and Fader leaving the company due to his diagnosis with throat cancer in 2000, D'Amore became the sole owner of the company. D'Amore closed BCW for several months in 2000, but re-opened the company later that year.
In 2001, BCW began utilizing several Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) employees who had been left without full-time work when ECW declared bankruptcy in April of that year. On August 29, 2001, BCW held the "Mikey Whipwreck Retirement Bash" to honour the retirement of Mikey Whipwreck.
After his cancer went into remission in late 2001, Fader returned to BCW as a publicist and their kayfabe Commissioner. That year, BCW merged with Maximum Pro Wrestling (MXPW) out of Detroit. BCW/MXPW put on a few shows under the MXPW banner, but the merger was short-lived.
2004–2006
After another short hiatus the previous year, BCW returned in Spring 2004 after merging with rival promotion Ontario Championship Wrestling (OCW) and taking on OCW founder James Trepanier as a new partner. After the merger, BCW began running regular smaller scale shows at OCW's former venue in Windsor.
On December 12, 2004, BCW, and their partner promotion from Michigan, Prime Time Wrestling, held A Night of Appreciation for Sabu, to raise funds to assist Sabu in paying the costly medical bills he had incurred with his serious back injury and viral infection that year.
On January 21, 2005 they held the 4th Annual Doug Chevalier Memorial where the main event featured the culmination of a long running BCW feud between Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley for the BCW Can-Am Television Championship refereed by Mick Foley. The show also featured Abyss and Jimmy Hart.
On July 22 they held their annual WrestleFest show which was headlined by a four-way Can-Am Television Championship match between Chris Sabin, Petey Williams, Alex Shelley, and A.J. Styles. The show featured one of the first reunions of the original Hart Foundation of Bret "Hitman" Hart, Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart, and Jimmy Hart.
At International Incident on September 15 TNA wrestler Jeff Jarrett defeated Raven for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship with the unexpected help of America's Most Wanted.
After their WrestleFest event in the summer of 2006 featuring Christian Cage, BCW once again went on a hiatus, not holding a show for nearly 2 years.
2008–present
On May 3, 2008, BCW held its return show, 'Awakening', in Windsor, Ontario featuring Al Snow in the main event. Since the revival, BCW has returned to running regularly in Windsor and the surrounding area. This has included an ECW themed show entitled 'A Night of Extreme' on October 4, 2008 featuring Team 3D, Jerry Lynn, and Little Guido Maritato as well as their 15th anniversary show on December 13, 2008, featuring Kevin Nash.
On February 3, 2010 it was announced that owner Scott D'Amore had left TNA Wrestling and that BCW would be merging with Toronto's BSE Pro, run by Jason A. Brown, to become Maximum Pro Wrestling.[1][2] In August 2012, an offshoot of BCW known as CAN-AM Rising debuted featuring up-and-coming talent as well as past graduates from BCW's Can-Am Wrestling School. On the debut Can-Am Rising show Phil Atlas defeated Tyson Dux to become the new Can-Am Heavyweight Champion.
In October 2012, BCW returned with its first show in two years. It featured former WWE stars Kevin Nash and Carlito.
On May 9, 2014, BCW presented a special event featuring several wrestlers from New Japan Pro Wrestling.[3]
Champions
| Championship: | Current champion(s): | Held since: |
|---|---|---|
| BCW Can-Am Heavyweight Championship | Jon Bolen | August 22, 2014 |
| BCW Can-Am Tag Team Championship | Dormant | |
| BCW Can-Am Television Championship | Dormant |
Roster
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References
- ↑ http://www.wrestling-radio.com/feed_indy-194-Former_TNA_producer_to_form_new_wrestling_promotio.php
- ↑ http://bordercitywrestling.com/maxpro.html
- ↑ Meltzer, Dave (2014-04-24). "Notes on New Japan/Border City main matches for 5-9 in Windsor, Ontario". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
External links
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