Century Wrestling Alliance
The Century Wrestling Alliance, formerly known as NWA Cold Front and NWA New England, was a New England–based American independent wrestling promotion located in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded by Tony Rumble in 1989, a retired wrestler and manager in International World Class Championship Wrestling, and included much of its roster prior to and following its close during the early 1990s. The promotion eventually replaced IWCCW as the dominant independent promotion in the Greater Boston area and, in 1997, became an affiliated territory of the National Wrestling Alliance.
Among the wrestlers who followed Rumble to the CWA included The Pink Assassin, "Surfer" Ray Odyssey, Vic Steamboat and "Mr. USA" Tony Atlas. As with IWCCW, several future stars of Extreme Championship Wrestling spent their early careers in the promotion including Tommy Dreamer, The Tazmaniac and The Public Enemy as well as established Northeastern independent wrestlers such as Amanda Storm, April Hunter, LuFisto, Alex Arion, Juggernaut, Metal Maniac, Al Snow, Tom Brandi, Handsome Johnny, Dan Quirk, Rick Fuller, Wagner Brown, The Extremists and The Brotherhood. Sbraccia and Nelson later won the NWA World Tag Team Championship, as well as the NWA New England titles, while with the promotion.
World Championship Wrestling's Harley Race, Barry Windham, Kevin Sullivan, The Rock 'n' Roll Express and the World Wrestling Federation's Steve Keirn, Jake "the Snake" Roberts, Jimmy Snuka, King Kong Bundy, The Honky Tonk Man and The Iron Sheik also made frequent appearances.
History
Early history (1989–1992)
In 1989, veteran wrestler and longtime on-air IWCCW personality Tony Rumble opened a small wrestling promotion, the Century Wrestling Alliance, with his wife Ellen Magliaro. Many of its stars chose to leave the Savoldi's for his new promotion including The Pink Assassin, "Surfer" Ray Odyssey, Vic Steamboat and "Mr. USA" Tony Atlas, then IWCCW Heavyweight Champion. As the IWCCW declined during the early 1990s, Rumble was able build up the CWA and eventually succeeded the former as the dominant independent promotion in the Greater Boston area. With help from personal friends such as World Wrestling Federation manager Jim Cornette and World Championship Wrestling booker Kevin Sullivan, he was able to bring in a number of wrestlers from both organizations throughout the decade. Rumble also developed a collection of local wrestlers as unique or entertaining "gimmick workers", referring to them as his personal "whack pack". He also displayed an ability to pick up "sold shows", events in which the promotion is hired by a school or private organization, and then continuously promote upcoming events from these shows.Century Wrestling Alliance (1992–1997)
Within a few years, Rumble had carved out a sizable territory and was promoting shows throughout New England. While Rumble had already been a highly recognizable personality from his years in IWCCW, he also started a Public-access television show, Mass Madness, produced by Pat Doyle. The series had fairly high quality production and featured not only televised wrestling events but also comedic "wrap-around segments". One of these segments, "Tony Rumble's Mike Lano Chronicles", featured a continuing series of matches and skits of a wrestler impersonating wrestling "dirt sheet" writer Dr. Mike Lano. He was a self-claimed NWA World Heavyweight Champion but that his belt "was upstairs in the penthouse getting buffed by the Lano-ettes". The skits followed Lano as he attempted to convince Jim Cornette to become his manager. When Lano finally tracks down Cornette, who is seen stealing crackers from a hotel kitchen, he is challenged to a wrestling trivia duel. Following this, the skit ends with Lano going upstairs to the penthouse where he is attacked by Mae Young and the Fabulous Moolah.The promotion was mostly dominated by ex-IWCCW stars, and on occasion former WCW and WWF veterans, during its early years. Between 1993 and 1995, the CWA Heavyweight Championship was traded between The Iron Sheik, Vic Steamboat, Tony Atlas and Kevin Sullivan. Similarly, the CWA Light Heavyweight Championship was dominated by Ray Odyssey and The Pink Assassin, and Double Trouble were the first tag team champions, followed by Ray Odyssey and Vic Steamboat. Rumble himself would hold the CWA New England Heavyweight Championship a record 3-times during a five-year period before his wife, and then CWA President, stripped him of the title when the promotion joined the National Wrestling Alliance.
Rumble, having seen them perform in IWCCW, had also used future Extreme Championship Wrestling stars The Tazmaniac and Tommy Dreamer. In fact, Dreamer became the promotion's first heavyweight champion when he defeated Tony Atlas in a tournament final in Wallingford, Connecticut on 5 November 1992. On 3 January 1993, The Tazmaniac became the first CWA Light Heavyweight Champion defeating Flexx Wheeler in a tournament final in Windsor Locks, Connecticut and, three years later, The Public Enemy won the CWA Tag Team Championship. They would eventually lose the titles to The Extremists in Worcester, Massachusetts on 24 July 1996.
Association with Paul Heyman and ECW (1997–1998)
It was around this time that Rumble began working with then ECW promoter Paul Heyman and Sheldon Goldberg, then editor of the Mat Marketplace newsletter, collaborated on a working agreement with Michinoku Pro Wrestling to bring its stars to perform in the United States. In February 1997, the groups efforts paid off when Michinoku owner and main star, The Great Sasuke, brought a group of wrestlers with him to Boston where they appeared in exhibition matches at an ECW television taping and a house show for the CWA. The latter show was headlined by Kevin Sullivan, still a booker at WCW, and had held the heavyweight title for the past two years. He would eventually be stripped of the title after losing a Loser-Must-Retire match against Chris Benoit on 14 July 1997.Rumble was so impressed by Goldberg that he offered him a position as the official CWA Commissioner. Goldberg oversaw merchandise sales at house shows, but also ran the promotion's website, wrote and designed arena programs, posters and tickets. Sheldon was very well-connected due to his newsletter and his position on the Board of Directors of the Cauliflower Alley Club. He proved a valuable addition to the company and was especially involved in the promotion's association with the NWA. Sheldon would later become close friends with its president Howard Brody. Other important members were Patrick Doyle, television producer of Mass Madness, and Boston radio personality Jeff Katz. The promotion was also featured in Ringside Wrestling.
NWA New England (1998–1999)
On 24 January 1998, the Century Wrestling Alliance became an official affiliate for National Wrestling Alliance and renamed NWA New England, as was its titles. The secondary CWA New England title, previously held by Tony Rumble, would be merged with the main CWA Heavyweight title to create a new NWA New England Heavyweight Championship. The Light Heavyweight title was renamed as an NWA cruiserweight championship. In addition, several new titles were introduced including the Brass Knuckles and Women's titles. Tournaments were held for several of these new titles. On 17 January 1998, Erich Sbraccia defeated Vic Steamboat to win the NWA New England Heavyweight title in Southbridge, Massachusetts. Violet Flame defeated Amanda Storm for the women's title in Bridgeport, Connecticut on 15 October 1999, and Mike Johnson defeated Trooper Gilmore for the brass knuckles title in Somerville, Massachusetts on 22 June 2000. Although the promotion was primarily known as NWA New England, or sometimes NWA Cold Front, it ran under its original name when holding events outside New England itself such as an 25 April house show in Ogdensburg, New York. This was partly due to contractual obligations agreed to with the NWA and did not affect its regular shows elsewhere in New England.NWA New England was present at the NWA 50th Anniversary Show, held at the Cherry Hill Hilton's "Crystal Ballroom" in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, on 24 October 1998. The first match was a three-way dance between Tre, Ray Odyssey and The Inferno Kid for the NWA New England Junior Heavyweight Championship which lasted a little over 12 minutes and ended by count-out, allowing Tre to retain the title. The second match, part of the undercard, saw The Brotherhood defeat NWA World Tag Team Champions NWA All-Star's The Border Patrol in an interpromotional four corners match with NWA Southwest's Team Extreme and special guests Tully Blanchard and Dr. Tom Prichard. Barry Windham was originally scheduled to team with Blanchard but was unable to attend. Rumble had been the manager and cornerman for both events.
The Brotherhood continued to defend the World titles, as well as the NWA New England versions, and included other members, most notably Dukes Dalton and Rick Fuller, who substituted for Sbraccia when he was injured. Fuller and Knuckles Nelson eventually lost the titles to The Public Enemy at a house show in Bolton, Massachusetts on 17 June 1999. Also on the card were Wagner Brown and King Kong Bundy. Two days later, Knuckles Nelson and Dukes Dalton regained titles from The Public Enemy in Dorchester, Massachusetts. Jeff Mangles also defeated Jay Jaillet to win the NWA New England Junior Heavyweight title. Earlier that year, the promotion was profiled by the ESPN series Outside the Lines.
On 2 October, NWA New England hosted an NWA World Heavyweight title defense between Gary Steele and challenger Naoya Ogawa at a local high school in Thomaston, Connecticut, promoted by Ellen Magliaro. Tony Rumble had volunteered to manage Gary Steele but turned on him during the match, hitting Steele with his helmet, and allowing Ogawa to win the match with a choke-hold and regain the title. Ogawa, as well as Steele, were upset by his interference. A "visually upset" Ogawa challenged Rumble claiming he "didn't need his help" to win back the title. Steele also threatened Rumble in a post-match interview, "promising to return to New England in the near future for revenge".