Anyone remember XPW?

XPW was an American independent professional wrestling promotion run by Rob Black. Alongside his wife porn star, Lizzy Borden, Black ran a heel stable called, the 'Black Army', who he used to terrorize anyone that questioned how he ran the company. The promotion focused mainly on the hardcore style that was prevalent in those days and because Rob Black also had connections in the adult entertainment industry, many of the valets and female talent such as Kristi Myst, Jessica Darlin, Bridget the Midget, Jasmin St. Claire and Lizzy Borden were porn stars.



It was also a place where drugged out stars that got fired from other federations found a home. After Juventud Guerrera went on a ecstasy fueled frenzy, running naked through a hotel and attacking security, he was fired from WCW but was still welcomed with in XPW. It was a crazy place like that. I remember Larry Rivera as color commentator, always using the word, 'chico', and often switching to Spanish when he got excited. I also had 'The Hardcore Homo', Angel, in one of my history classes but he did not seem thrilled that I recognized him.

There was also the incident where Rob Black purchased six front row tickets for ECW's Heat Wave pay-per-view in 2000 for the Messiah, Kid Kaos, Supreme, Kristi Myst, Homeless Jimmy and Kris Kloss. At the beginning of the main event, the XPW contingent donned shirts emblazoned with the logo of their home company, gaining the attention of security and Tommy Dreamer. Security ejected the XPW group and a brawl in the parking lot then broke out between the XPW and the ECW members.

The Messiah was my favorite XPW wrestler. He was a general in the Black Army and won both the World Heavyweight and the King of the Deathmatch Championships to become the company's first and only double champion. However after having a falling out, he left the company, but not before allegedly having sex with Lizzy Borden, off camera. These rumors may have fueled the speculation that Rob Black wanted revenge. Speculation that increased exponentially after the Messiah was attacked in his home by two men and had his thumb cut off during the assault. Rob Black would have his own problems soon though.

In April 2003, the premises of Extreme Associates were raided by federal agents. Black, his wife and his company were indicted for distributing obscene pornographic materials. Because of issues related to the obscenity prosecution, XPW folded in 2003 and in and in 2004, Black sold the company's footage to Xtreme Entertainment Group

Ahhh... XPW. It was the best of times and it was the worst of times. Too bad it was so short lived. A possible relaunch was scheduled for October 2013, but never materialized. It will always live on in my memories though..