Action Championship Wrestling League 1999-2009
ROSTER CHAMPIONS EVENTS HISTORY FORUMS RADIO TRAINING CAREERS
In late 1998, the AWFL had a full roster and yet there was still an overwhelming number of contracts being signed by young talent. In order to prevent these future superstars from signing with the competition, Commish Cancer worked with two-time AWFL World Champion Jim Rooster to build a farm system. Rooster called it the ACWL.
It started out as a small federation with four titles: The ACWL, United States, Canadian, and Tag Team championships. Rookies would have to prove themselves and earn titles in the ACWL before winning a spot on the AWFL roster.
The first ACWL event, titled Monday Night Mayhem, began with an over-the-top battle royal for the ACWL Title. Superkicker, a former AWFL World Champion who had been released and was trying to earn his way back, bested 14 other men to become the first ACWL Champion. One week later, he would lose the belt to a young rookie named Splash.
After winning the belt, Splash was offered a contract with the AWFL. (At this point, the AWFL was being run by Commissioner Kozzy because Cancer retired.) Splash respectfully declined, stating that he'd rather compete in the ACWL. This confused Jim Rooster and infuriated Kozzy. The new AWFL commissioner and Jim Rooster found themselves at odds over this and it wasn't long before Kozzy cut ties with the ACWL.
In early 1999, Jim Rooster was forced to turn the ACWL into it's own entity.
Jim Rooster knew that he needed to sign some big names in order to keep the fans interested in the young federation. He contacted former AWFL Tag Team Champions Pyro and Insanity (The Chicken Hunters), who had predicted his rise to stardom in the AWFL. The two veterans were already considering a return to the ring and eagerly signed contracts with the ACWL. This lured another legendary tag team, H-Strike, into the ACWL. H-Strike (Eddy H and Thunderstrike Kid) had a long-standing feud with The Chicken Hunters in the AWFL and so these acquisitions proved to increase attendance at ACWL shows two-fold.
The ACWL, however, could not rely on a tag team feud to maintain success. Jim Rooster had to find someone who could match Splash in the ring. Rooster began an exhausting talent search, holding try-outs all over New England, New York, and parts of Canada. Several great up-and-comers from Rhode Island signed contracts with the ACWL. One man, Maverik, proved to be the hero ACWL was looking for. The fans really connected with him, and he defeated Splash to become the ACWL Champion.
WIth sell-out crowds and high television ratings, you would think the federation was doing well. Unfortunately, Rooster's investment was not enough to sustain the company and he soon fell into debt. In order to save the company, Rooster needed to do something drastic. He chose to host the most ambitious wrestling tournament of all time, but he needed an investor.
Dean Hawthorne, who saved Alice's Toy Co. from going under and then turned it into a major competitor for Hasbro and Mattel in the early 90s, believed that the ACWL could become a great company if it had the right leadership. He granted Rooster a loan to produce a Pay-Per-View event called IronMania.
IronMania was a bracket tournament where competitors had to win thirty-minute Iron Man matches in the first round and forty-minutes in the second round to move on to the finals. The final match was a one-hour Iron Man match to earn the title of ACWL's Iron Man. The qualifying matches boosted the ratings for the ACWL's Monday Night Mayhem, but that was nothing compared to the number of orders the final Pay-Per-View event boasted. The revenue from IronMania'99 was enough for Dean Hawthorne to receive a return on his investment and for Jim Rooster to pay off the ACWL's debt. Finally, the federation was making money.