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Border City Wrestling

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Border City Wrestling
AcronymBCW
Founded1993 (Original), 2012 (Revival)
Headquarters2501 Ouellette Avenue
Windsor, Ontario
N8X 4Y6
Founder(s)Doug Chevalier
Scott D'Amore
Chuck Fader
Websitebordercitywrestling.com

Border City Wrestling (BCW) is an independent professional wrestling promotion owned and booked by Scott D'Amore, and based in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.

Many of the promotion's employees were trained at the Can-Am wrestling school. After the promotion briefly merged with BSE Pro to create Maximum Pro Wrestling in 2010, an offshoot promotion named after the school would be launched in 2012. BCW would resume holding shows later that year.

History

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Early years (1993–2010)

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Border City Wrestling was founded in late 1992 by Scott D'Amore, Chuck Fader, and "The Canadian Destroyer" Doug Chevalier. The promotion's home base was LaSalle's Centennial Arena, with most their shows being held at this venue.[1] The promotion was known for featuring a mix of local talent and stars from major promotions, such as WWE (then known as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF)) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) in the United States.[1]

From 2002 to 2003, BCW had a weekly television series that was produced for Cogeco Cable and aired in several Ontario markets.[1][2] In 2004, BCW would merge with Ontario Championship Wrestling (OCW).[1] At BCW's International Incident event on September 15, 2005, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling founder Jeff Jarrett defeated Raven to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship with help from D'Amore.[3][4][5]

On February 3, 2010, it was announced that 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.[6] This merger would ultimately last for two years.[1]

Revival (2012–2024)

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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 show. Phil Atlas defeated Tyson Dux to become the new BCW Champion.[1] In October of that year, BCW returned with its first show since breaking off from the BSE merger.[1][7] One year later, on October 19, 2013, BCW held their 20th anniversary show at St. Clair College.[8]

On May 9, 2014, BCW presented a special event titled East Meets West, featuring talent from New Japan Pro-Wrestling.[9] The event featured appearances by Shinsuke Nakamura, Kazuchika Okada, Karl Anderson, and Hiroshi Tanahashi.[10]

BCW's "Excellence" event, held in October 2014 and headlined by Bret Hart[11] drew the promotion's largest crowd to date.[12] As a result, it would become a reoccurring, annual event.[13] The second Excellence event would be held at St. Clair College the following October in 2015.[14]

In the Spring of 2016, BCW revived their BCW Can-Am Tag Team Championship through a tournament, which was won by Phil Atlas & Brent Banks after defeating The Fraternity at Spring Loaded 2016 on May 28, 2016.[15]

In March 2017, BCW formed a partnership with Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling Noah to exchange talent between Japan and Canada.[16]

On December 5, 2017, D'Amore and Don Callis were announced as Impact Wrestling's (known as Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) from 2004–2016, and 2024–present) new executive vice presidents.[17] As a result, the two promotions began to work together, with content from BCW becoming available on Impact's streaming service,[18] and most BCW events serving as television tapings for both Impact's eponymous weekly program and Xplosion.[19][20]

Border City Wrestling announced their 25th Anniversary show in July 2018, on October 6 at St. Clair College.[21] The event was filmed as part of Impact's One Night Only series for the Global Wrestling Network.

2024–present

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On February 7, Anthem Sports & Entertainment, TNA's parent company, terminated their contract with Scott D'Amore.[22][23] Despite this, TNA talent would continue to be featured at BCW events.[24][25]

After D’Amore acquired the trademarks to Maple Leaf Wrestling, and announced a revival of the brand called Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling (MLP),[26][27] MLP's new YouTube and social media platforms would begin uploading classic content from BCW.

Champions

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Current Champions:

Championship: Current champion(s): Held since:
BCW Can-Am Heavyweight Championship Jake Something October 7, 2023
BCW Can-Am Tag Team Championship Aiden Prince & El Reverso September 15, 2024

Retired Championships:

Championship: Last Champion: Date won:
BCW Can-Am Television Championship Nate Mattson July 15, 2006

Roster

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  • Aiden Prince
  • Aurora Teves
  • Brent Banks
  • Bryce Hansen
  • El Reverso
  • Joe Coleman
  • John E. Bravo
  • Kurt Hendrick
  • Matrox
  • 'Psycho' Mike Rollins
  • 'Amazing' N8 Mattson
  • Nate Bock
  • Rohan Raja
  • Sam Beale
  • Sheldon Jean
  • Taylor Rising
  • Tyler Tirva

BCW Hall of Fame

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The BCW Hall of Fame is a professional wrestling hall of fame maintained by Border City Wrestling. It was established in 2009 to honor select wrestling personalities, mostly alumni of the Ontario-based promotion. The induction ceremony for the Class of 2009, the inaugural inductees into the Hall of Fame, took place at BCW's "War Without Honour" held at the Windsor Armories on November 13, 2009. Doug Chevalier and Chuck Fader, the original co-founders of BCW along with Scott D'Amore in 1992, led the class, along with other former BCW "originals".[28]

# Year Ring name
(Real name)[a] 		Inducted by Inducted for Notes[b]
1 2009 The Canadian Destroyer
(Doug Chevalier) 		Wrestling Posthumous inductee; won the BCW Can-Am Championship (1 time) and founder of the BCW Can-Am Wrestling School[29]
2 2009 Chuck Fader Promoting Co-founder of Border City Wrestling[29]
3 2009 Otis Apollo Wrestling Won the BCW Can-Am Tag Team Championship (5 times)[29]
4 2009 Bobby Clancy Wrestling Won the BCW Can-Am Tag Team Championship (5 times)[29]
5 2009 Mickey Doyle Wrestling Won the BCW Can-Am Championship (2 times)[29]
6 2009 Denny Kass
(Dennis Kasprowicz) 		Wrestling Won the BCW Can-Am Championship (1 time) and BCW Can-Am Tag Team Championship (1 time)[29]
7 2009 Larry Destiny
(Larry Brun) 		Wrestling Won the BCW Can-Am Tag Team Championship (1 time)[29]
8 2009 Scott D'Amore Wrestling Won the BCW Can-Am Championship (5 times) and BCW Can-Am Tag Team Championship (1 time)[29]
9 2023 Jeffrey Scott Promoting Referee, announcer, emcee, and promoter for BCW since 1993 [29]
  • a – Entries without a birth name indicates that the inductee did not perform under a ring name.
  • b – This section mainly lists the major accomplishments of each inductee in the promotion.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g "History".
  2. ^ "Border City celebrates 10 years". canoe.com. Archived from the original on January 19, 2018. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
  3. ^ "TNA stars coming to Border City Wrestling". canoe.com. Archived from the original on January 19, 2018. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
  4. ^ "Jarrett reclaims NWA World title". SLAM! Sports: Wrestling. Canadian Online Explorer. 2005-09-16. Archived from the original on January 15, 2013. Retrieved 2014-01-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. ^ Martin, Adam (2005-09-16). "Breaking News - NWA World Heavyweight Title changes hands in Canada". WrestleView.com. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
  6. ^ "Former TNA Producer to Form New Promotion". Archived from the original on 2010-02-07. Retrieved 2010-02-04.
  7. ^ "Border City Wrestling makes triumphant return". canoe.com. Archived from the original on January 19, 2018. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
  8. ^ "Slam Wrestling Homepage". Archived from the original on January 19, 2018.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ "New Japan tops Border City in stellar show". canoe.com. Archived from the original on January 19, 2018. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
  11. ^ "Wrestling Promotion Grapples with Excellence | windsoriteDOTca News - windsor ontario's neighbourhood newspaper windsoriteDOTca News".
  12. ^ "Border City Wrestling's 'Excellence' christens new arena". canoe.com. Archived from the original on January 19, 2018. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
  13. ^ "Border City show brings right mix for Excellence". canoe.com. Archived from the original on January 19, 2018. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
  14. ^ "BCW Excellence 2015 - the Doug Chevalier Memorial - Windsor & Essex County Events | windsoriteDOTca News - windsor ontario's neighbourhood newspaper windsoriteDOTca News". Archived from the original on 2018-08-02. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  15. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "BCW « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
  16. ^ "Border City Wrestling signs working agreement with Pro Wrestling Noah". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved 2017-03-15.
  17. ^ "Scott d'Amore & Don Callis named executive VPS of Impact Wrestling". 5 December 2017.
  18. ^ Meltzer, Dave (October 10, 2017). "Anthem Launches Global Wrestling Network On-Demand Service". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
  19. ^ "BCW Excellence 2017". bordercitywrestling.com. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
  20. ^ "BCW Motown Showdown". bordercitywrestling.com. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
  21. ^ "Border City Wrestling Announces 25th Anniversary Show". 4 July 2018.
  22. ^ "SCOTT D'AMORE FIRED AS TNA PRESIDENT, COMPLETE DETAILS AND STATEMENT FROM ANTHEM SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT | PWInsider.com". www.pwinsider.com. Retrieved 2024-02-07.
  23. ^ "Scott D'Amore Fired, Anthony Cicione Named TNA Wrestling President". February 7, 2024. Retrieved February 7, 2024.
  24. ^ "Scott D'Amore's Border City Wrestling Announces Event For June". May 13, 2024. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
  25. ^ "Scott D'Amore's Border City Wrestling Announces First Event Since TNA Exit". May 14, 2024. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
  26. ^ Currier, Joseph (August 8, 2024). "Former TNA executive Scott D'Amore announces revival of Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved August 17, 2024.
  27. ^ "Legendary Canadian wrestling brand gets a reboot thanks to this former grappler". CBC News. August 17, 2024. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  28. ^ "BCW fans will be excited to learn that War Without Honour will feature the induction of some BCW Legends into our Hall of Fame. Who do you think will join Doug Chevalier and Chuck Fader in the Hall?". Facebook.com. Border City Wrestling. October 8, 2009. Archived from the original on 2022-02-26.
  29. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Hall of Fame". BorderCityWrestling.com. Archived from the original on 2020-07-19. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
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