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Xcitement Wrestling Federation

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The X Wrestling Federation ( XWF ) (later referred to as the Xcitement Wrestling Federation ) was an American professional wrestling promotion that operated from 2001 to 2002.

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189-590: The previous number two and three American promotions, World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling , had folded earlier in 2001, leaving only one national wrestling company. As such, the letter "X" in XWF stood for the missing variable in the sport. The official definition of the "X" became Xcitement as cited by "Mean" Gene Okerlund in the Extras on the XWF DVD and not "Xtreme" as sometimes written. The idea of

378-451: A "family-friendly" orientation, and drop the reforms that turned around the company's fortunes. Concurrently to WCW beginning to struggle under the weight of its own momentum, the WWF began to turn the corner on its own reforms. Having been caught flatfooted by the total reconfiguration of WCW and the success of Nitro in 1996 and 1997, by 1998 the WWF was building its own momentum. Taking most of

567-584: A 3-on-3 match against Juventud Guerrera , Octagón and Ricky Marvin , where his team lost by disqualification. Two days later, he participated in a three-way match for José "Monster Pain" Torres 's WWL World Heavyweight Championship, but was not involved in the outcome after the champion pinned Guerrero. Colón lost the WAR World Heavyweight Championship to Pablo Marquez on April 19, 2014, as part of CCW's Spring Breakout. On January 31, 2021, at Royal Rumble , Carlito returned and entered

756-480: A botched move at Starrcade 1999 , followed just days later by Goldberg very seriously injuring himself during an angle on Thunder , and Hollywood Hogan seemingly quitting the company live on PPV at Bash at the Beach 2000 only seemed to further a sense that the company was spiralling out of control. By July 2000 Bischoff had walked off the job. In 2000, several potential buyers for WCW were rumored to show interest in

945-517: A cage match to win the Universal Heavyweight Championship. To open 2015, he retained in a Euphoria encounter where the ring was surrounded by fire. However, Ray González capitalized on this to win the belt the following night. The result proved controversial and Colón was able to defeat both González and Mighty Ursus in a three-way match at La Hora de la Verdad to regain it. The latter, however, remained successful against him and won

1134-420: A conclusion at Backlash , where Carlito defeated Masters via an illegal assist from the ropes. At Vengeance , Carlito fought in a Triple Threat match against Shelton Benjamin and Johnny Nitro for Benjamin's Intercontinental title. Nitro won the match after pulling Carlito outside of the ring and pinning him. Following Vengeance, Carlito began an on-screen relationship with Trish Stratus. He also engaged in

1323-472: A couple of matches over the trios of Skyfire, Mac Johnson, & Demond Thompson and Mike Taylor, Rob Begley & Steve Lewington . However, it also lost to Rod Steele, Mike Taylor & Rob Begley and Mac Johnson, Seth Skyfire, & Big Bad John. The trio wrestled the team of Adrenaline and Wavell Starr to a no contest. While working in OVW, Colón continued to appear in various World Wrestling Council events. Towards

1512-481: A dark match loss to Sean O'Haire and Matt Morgan that preceded WWE Velocity . In February 2004, Colón performed as a heel for the first time in his career by joining Bolin Services, a faction led by Kenny Bolin and completed by Shad Gaspard , Jerome Crony, Demond Thompson, Mike Mondo and fellow Puerto Rican Lourdes Guenard. He was paired with several members of the faction, with his team with Mondo trading wins against

1701-453: A double feud against Álvarez and Ayala, from which he emerged victorious. During this time frame, he also wrestled One Man Gang , who was involved a storyline where a $ 10,000 bounty was placed by La Familia to "end his career". On July 16, 2000, Colón defeated González to recover the championship in the main event of Aniversario, the promotion's anniversary event. This was followed with a feud with Curt Hennig , brought in by La Familia, who won

1890-558: A duo. The pairing was not cohesive and frequently chafed over the direction of the company. Creatively, the year 2000 saw WCW attempt numerous publicity stunts to gain traction, such as making actor David Arquette (who then had no professional wrestling experience) the WCW World Heavyweight Champion. These moves only served to push traditional wrestling fans away from WCW. Events such as Goldberg forcing WCW World Heavyweight Champion Bret Hart into retirement following

2079-494: A feud with Ric Flair , in which Flair insulted Carlito for leaving a show early by claiming that he had no heart, no passion and was undeserving of his spot on the roster. After Carlito challenged and lost to Flair in a match, they were booked as a tag team, with Flair serving as a mentor to Carlito. The team was involved in a Money in the Bank qualifying match which was declared a "no contest" after The Great Khali interfered. This led to

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2268-465: A feud with The Big Show after Big Show refused an offer to work in an enforcer role for Carlito. This feud involved Carlito tricking Big Show into eating a poisoned apple, and Matt Morgan becoming Carlito's enforcer. This feud ended with Carlito defeating Big Show at Judgment Day after interference from Morgan. Carlito was drafted to the Raw brand in the 2005 WWE draft lottery . He made his brand debut on

2457-567: A four-way match to advance to the Rey de Reyes tournament finals at the Rey de Reyes pay-per-view. In the finals of the tournament, Colón was defeated by Extreme Tiger . On October 31, 2011, he was booked for the Halloween Lucha Tour event held in Matamoros, Tamaulipas , in which he tagged with Chavo Guerrero and Rikishi Phatu to face Mil Mascaras , Dos Caras and Cassandro . They repeated

2646-463: A guitar. He dropped the title in the ensuing feud, recovering it back on November 23, 2002. To open 2003, Colón lost the belt to José "Chicky Starr" Laureano, winning it back the following month. On March 15, 2003, he lost the championship to Sabu , before recovering it two weeks later. In May 2003, Colón wrestled in two tryout matches for World Wrestling Entertainment . His opponents were Tommy Dreamer and Jamie Noble , with both contests ending in

2835-540: A jobber and member of La Familia. He was immediately booked in a major push, defeating almost the entirety of the heel locker room during the following two weeks. Despite being active for less than three months, he earned the support of the WWC fanbase. On January 29, 2000, Colón defeated González to become the youngest wrestler to win the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship . Following his victory, he

3024-523: A loss to Damien Sandow and Simon Dean , after which the team was dissolved. Hennigan then teamed with Cappotelli winning against Colón and his new partner, Joey Mercury . This team scored a win over Carl Lafon & Mondo, before being dissolved itself. Shortly afterwards, his ring name was changed as to the more formal "Carlos Colón, Jr.", his actual name. His performance in OVW was intercalated by appearances in dark matches that took place before WWE's main shows. On October 14, 2003, he teamed with Dean in

3213-417: A loss. Three different reports scouted his performance in a positive manner, with an official offer being made days after the initial appearances. On June 2, 2003, Colón signed a developmental contract with WWE, being assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling . He made a final appearance in WWC, winning a match over Mike Awesome at Aniversario 2003. Following this performance, Colón addressed the crowd and vacated

3402-592: A lost to Gilbert, the main associate of the now-heel Eddie Colón as part of a stable known as The Dynasty. On February 29, 2020, WWC aired a segment in which Nick Aldis announced a defense of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship as part of Alianza Letal, the first card held jointly by WWC and IWA-PR as part of a business agreement. Colón was selected as the challenger. Following his release, Colón began accepting dates to work for independent promotions. The first promotion to include him in its roster

3591-471: A low ebb. To counter this, Bischoff felt that WCW was in need of radical reform; to this end, Bischoff sought to modernise WCW and move its image away from that of a Southern-based " rasslin " company. To achieve this, Bischoff increased WCW's production values, avoided unprofitable house shows , increased the number of WCW pay-per-views (PPVs, which were profitable), decreased the number of Southern accents on commentary, and began recruiting top stars away from

3780-528: A match at WWE's annual Tribute to the Troops event, where Carlito won by pinfall. The angle involving Carlito's relationship with Trish Stratus lasted until Stratus' retirement from wrestling following Unforgiven. In the final months of 2006, Carlito competed in several matches involving the Intercontinental Championship. His involvement in this angle ended at Cyber Sunday , after being elected by

3969-594: A match between González and Colón Sr., aiding his father by interrupting while wielding a shovel, which became his trademark weapon early in his career. The feud between Colón Sr. and González continued, with him interfering on his father's behalf. The final match of this feud concluded in the same manner that the first Aniversario encounter. Soon after, vignettes depicting him training with Isaac Rosario began airing in WWC's show, Superestrellas de la Lucha Libre. Colón made his in-ring debut in January 2000 by defeating Félix Tapia,

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4158-501: A non-title match. Carlito was then involved in a storyline where his bodyguard Jesús stabbed Cena in a nightclub. Carlito held the United States Championship for forty-two days, losing it back to Cena after suffering a legitimate injury. Carlito made his pay-per-view debut at the 2004 Survivor Series , where he represented Team Angle in an eight-man tag team match against Team Guerrero, but did not actually participate in

4347-623: A non-titular encounter that granted an inconclusive shot at the title. During the Camino a la Gloria tour, Chicano unseated Colón as Universal Heavyweight Champion, making way for another encounter against Mighty Ursus. Afterwards, his feud with González continued, facing both him and the teenage Ray González Jr. in singles and tag team matches. Colón's perennial rival opened the Summer Madness tour by winning an ambulance match. Despite only defeating moscardee Xix Xavant, he received another opportunity for

4536-637: A notable exception for almost a decade and a half. After the Invasion storyline concluded, the WWF divided the roster into two brands which was originally intended to revive WCW under the WWF umbrella but was instead divided into Raw and SmackDown! brands, named after two WWF's top programs at the time. Many other WCW wrestlers moved to the World Wrestling All-Stars (WWA) or the XWF and then Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) which all started after

4725-464: A number one contendership match. At Aniversario 2012, Colón and González defeated Thunder and Lightning, unmasking them for the first time in their career. They teamed once again, but lost a rematch by disqualification. At Septiembre Negro, a third and final encounter was set in a liberation match. Colón was the one to be handcuffed to the ring apron, turning on González upon being released and assaulting Carlos Colón Sr. when he tried to interfere. During

4914-492: A partnership with Colón, looking for him in several locations. At Aniversario 2001: Septiembre Negro, he teamed with González to defeat Thunder and Lightning. However, the partnership was short lived, with González turning on Colón and regaining control of La Familia. On November 13, 2001, Colón participated in the television tapings of the X Wrestling Federation . In his only appearance for the promotion, he defeated David Sierra . On December 1, 2001, Colón defeated González to win

5103-590: A rematch held at Camino a la Gloria. In this event, he also aided Ray González, which resulted in both receiving an invitation to join La Nueva Familia, a recreation of La Familia del Milenio, proposed by Félix "Barrabás" López. González refused this approach, claiming that it was returning to the past. On May 12, 2012, Colón also declined the invitation by spitting an apple in López's face, who countered by ordering Thunder and Lightning to ambush both him and González during

5292-433: A result of these actions, Carlito created a petition in support of Long's destitution, but was unsuccessful. Carlito made his WrestleMania debut in a non-wrestling role at WrestleMania 21 , in which he interrupted an edition of Rowdy Roddy Piper 's Piper's Pit , with Stone Cold Steve Austin as the special guest. Following WrestleMania, Carlito created an interview segment entitled Carlito's Cabana . Carlito then entered

5481-526: A reunited nWo in the widely panned " Fingerpoke of Doom " angle. By September 1999, the rapidly declining ratings of Nitro (now half that of Raw ), drastic dropoff in revenue, and the increasing antagonism between Eric Bischoff and Time Warner executives prompted the head of Turner Sports , Harvey Schiller , to relieve Bischoff of his position. Almost immediately Schiller found a duo to replace Bischoff: former head writers for Raw Vince Russo and Ed Ferrera . Russo had just weeks prior walked off

5670-407: A shift to reality-based storylines , and notable hirings of former WWF talent. WCW also gained attention for developing a popular cruiserweight division, which showcased an acrobatic, fast-paced, lucha libre -inspired style of wrestling. In 1995, WCW debuted their live flagship television program Monday Nitro , and subsequently developed a ratings competition against the flagship program of

5859-486: A short feud with Johnny Nitro and Melina , which ended after Carlito and Stratus defeated Nitro and Melina in a mixed tag team match at Saturday Night's Main Event XXXIII . Carlito next feuded with Randy Orton , following a spot where Orton attempted to attack Stratus during a backstage segment. The two wrestlers were booked for a match at Unforgiven and a rematch on Raw ; Orton won both matches. The feud concluded in

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6048-513: A struggle for power in the company between Rena Mero (formerly Sable in the WWF), who was the heel CEO, and Rowdy Roddy Piper , the babyface commissioner. The XWF Roster was a mixture of former WWF, WCW, and ECW Stars, as well as several indy stars. They brought in Hulk Hogan , with the hope that he would be both a wrestler and a part owner of the company. He would then wrestle and defeat Curt Hennig (who

6237-478: A tag team match with Flair as his partner against the team of Chavo Guerrero and Gregory Helms . The team also lost a number one contender's match for the World Tag Team Championship against Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch . Carlito turned on Flair after the loss, which turned him heel again. Their feud ended with a match at Judgment Day , where Carlito lost to Flair by submission. Colón appeared in

6426-556: A tag team unification match, becoming the first team to simultaneously hold both sets of the company's Tag Team Championships since their creation. On April 15, 2009, both Carlito and Primo were drafted back to the Raw brand as part of the 2009 Supplemental Draft . At The Bash , the duo dropped the Unified Tag Team Titles to Edge and Chris Jericho in a Triple Threat Tag Team Match also involving Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes . Carlito and Primo invoked their rematch clause

6615-470: A tag team. Together they competed against Big Show and Kane for the World Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania 22 . Carlito and Masters lost when Masters accidentally attacked Carlito. Following the match, Carlito confronted Masters, igniting a feud between them. Carlito turned face when he attacked Chris Masters after his "Masterlock Challenge" the next night on Raw. This storyline came to

6804-413: A television deal, the promotion later folded. With the XWF folding, TNA and Ring of Honor Wrestling which were both formed in 2002 ultimately became the new alternatives to the WWF. Jimmy Hart acquired the rights for the XWF for an undetermined amount in 2004. In September 2004, the idea of bringing a special television series about the XWF to The Wrestling Channel and likely other channels thereafter

6993-486: A three volume series hosted by Diamond Dallas Page called The Very Best of WCW Monday Nitro . WCW's library content would be made available with the launch of WWE Network in 2014. WWE would revive several of WCW's events, including Great American Bash in 2004, Starrcade in 2017 and Halloween Havoc in 2020. WWE also utilized the Night of Champions name and theme used on the last episode of Nitro beginning in 2001, which

7182-650: A three-way match. In March 2013, Colón won the Millennium Wrestling Federation 's Undisputed Championship. He had previously performed for the promotion, mostly in matches involving Benny Jux (David Bentubo) between 2011 and 2012. On June 21, 2013, he dropped the FWE Heavyweight Championship to John Hennigan . The following day, Colón defeated Mike Bennett in HOH. In July 2013, he made a one-night appearance for All American Wrestling by headlining

7371-427: A triple threat match the following week which included and was won by Randy Orton. Prior to WrestleMania 23 , Colón expressed dissatisfaction with WWE management in an interview for not having plans to book him to appear at the pay-per-view and criticized their methods for selecting performers to push, making reference to backstage politics. Carlito, however, did participate in a dark match at WrestleMania, winning in

7560-481: A unique and popular identity by integrating and mixing wrestlers from all around the world and from vastly different wrestling styles, particularly Mexican luchadores such as Rey Misterio Jr. , Psicosis , and Juventud Guerrera , but also Japanese "Super Juniors" such as Último Dragón . North American wrestlers, such as Chris Jericho , Eddie Guerrero , Dean Malenko and Chris Benoit , who had travelled abroad to Mexico and Japan earlier in their careers and learned

7749-434: A win over the champion and Gilbert. At Aniversario 2019, Colón defeated Eli Drake . After a brief rivalry with El Hijo de Dos Caras , he was placed in the titular stage again. However, since Orlando Colón won the Universal Heavyweight Championship and his brother was also interested in the belt, all three cousins clashed for the first time in a match that saw the titlist retain. Colón's first home appearance of 2020 resulted in

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7938-433: A wrestler. It was not until completing his college education that he decided to train, after noticing that his condition was on par with the wrestlers despite his age. Despite this, Colón initially expected to retire within a decade and go on to run a private business. He has admitted that, during this initial stage, he received peer pressure to match the accomplishments of his father. In July 1999, Colón began working in

8127-607: Is also a member of The Judgment Day stable. He is a member of the Colón wrestling family , being the son of Carlos Colón . He made his debut for World Wrestling Council (WWC) in 1999, winning the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship 17 times and the WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship once. During the early years of his career, he made appearances for the X Wrestling Federation and Funking Conservatory, winning his first international championship for

8316-676: Is the only wrestler to win a championship on two separate debuts in WWE and the second Puerto Rican wrestler (after Pedro Morales ) to hold the Intercontinental Championship. At WrestleMania 25 , Colón and his brother Primo unified the WWE Tag Team Championship and World Tag Team Championship as the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship before leaving WWE in May 2010. In 2021, Colón briefly returned to WWE, first as an entrant in

8505-495: The Raw and SmackDown! brands. The outcome of these unofficial presentations were wins over Paul London , Ruffy Silverstein , Wavell Starr and Ricky Reyes , also including losses to Hardcore Holly , Shoichi Funaki , Shannon Moore and Billy Kidman . His work in OVW was a key plot device in WWC's main storyline of the year. On May 15, 2004, the promotion began a backstage angle where Enrique Cruz told Eddie Colón that Carly Colón

8694-470: The Latino World Order (LWO). It was later reported that Carlito had pulled out of multiple independent wrestling bookings, with independent promotion Great North Wrestling saying that the reason is because he had re-signed with WWE. On October 7 at Fastlane , Carlito returned to team up with the leader of LWO Rey Mysterio and Santos Escobar to defeat Bobby Lashley and The Street Profits . On

8883-664: The Royal Rumble and then the following night on Raw . He then returned in May 2023 at Backlash to assist Bad Bunny and the Latino World Order (LWO). Following this, Colón re-signed with WWE, but it was not until Fastlane that same year in October when he reappeared as the LWO's mystery tag team partner and was subsequently assigned to the SmackDown brand. Carlos Edwin Colón Coates Jr.

9072-492: The Royal Rumble match at number 8 as a face , where he was eliminated by Elias . The following night on Raw , Carlito teamed up with Jeff Hardy in his first match on Raw in 10 years to face off against Elias and Jaxson Ryker , in a winning effort. On May 6, 2023, at Backlash , Carlito interfered in the San Juan Street Fight between Bad Bunny and Damian Priest , helping Bunny defeat Priest on behalf of

9261-596: The USA Network . The meeting led to Turner greenlighting the creation of WCW Monday Nitro , which would air on TNT on the same day and in the same time slot as Raw . Nitro would debut on September 4, 1995, and directly lead into the Monday Night War era of professional wrestling, in which WCW Nitro and WWF Raw would fiercely compete to beat each other in the Nielson ratings each and every week. The struggle between

9450-541: The WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship at the Crossfire event. He made his first title defense against Banderas at WWC's last show of the year—Lockout. On January 8, 2011, Colón lost the Universal Heavyweight Championship to Banderas, following interference from Shane Sewell . On June 4, 2011, Carlito returned to WWC and defeated Steve Corino to win the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship for

9639-680: The X Division . Throughout the 2000s, WWE would incorporate elements into their shows formerly associated with WCW. Former WCW Championships such as the WCW World Heavyweight Championship , the WCW United States Championship and the WCW Cruiserweight Championship would be reactivated in WWE, with their WCW lineages acknowledged. The Cruiserweight division concept was introduced to WWE in 2002 and since then has been used intermittently throughout

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9828-521: The 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s, including WCW Wrestling , WCW SuperBrawl Wrestling , WCW vs. the World , WCW vs. nWo: World Tour , WCW/nWo Revenge and WCW Mayhem . Carly Col%C3%B3n Carlos Edwin Colón Coates Jr. (born February 21, 1979) is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler . As of May 2023, he is signed to WWE , where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Carlito and

10017-573: The 2000s, 2010s and 2020s from 2002 onwards. Some WCW mainstays such as Booker T, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho were able to achieve long-term top positions within WWE by the mid to late 2000s. Similarly, promotions such as Total Nonstop Action would also make use of former WCW talent when possible and also continued the legacy of the Cruiserweight with their X-Division. WWE has since released various WCW documentaries, anthologies, and compilations, including The Rise and Fall of WCW , and

10206-602: The August 13 episode of WWE Superstars , Carlito teamed with Rosa Mendes to defeat Kofi Kingston and Mickie James . Mendes would then become Carlito's manager until she was traded to the ECW brand in September. After a two-month hiatus, on the November 30 episode of Raw , Carlito returned to confront John Cena , after Cena challenged Sheamus to come out to the ring, telling him everyone on

10395-458: The Beach series of shows with AEW Bash at the Beach on January 15, 2020. However, a lawsuit by WWE prevented further reuse of that branding. Beginning in 2021, AEW began presenting their own version of WCW's WarGames match , held at the AEW Blood & Guts event. Who Killed WCW? , a four-part documentary series based off the downfall of WCW premiered June 6, 2024 on Vice TV . The series

10584-747: The Hall and Nash debuts as it gave the show an unscripted, "anything can happen at any time" feeling to the television audience. The start of the nWo angle, which immediately proved immensely popular and intriguing to wrestling fans, was part of a wider shift in the WCW presentation still being pursued by Eric Bischoff. As part of his overhaul of WCW, Bischoff wanted to grow WCW's audience amongst 18 to 35-year-olds . To that end, he alongside WCW's booker Kevin Sullivan began grounding WCW characters and storylines more in reality, utilising real names and darker themes in contrast to

10773-605: The IWA Florida Heavyweight Championship over Wes Brisco , he became the first Colón to appear under the brand. His reign ended in December, when he was stripped of the belt. In 2020, Colón has wrestled for CCW, UXW, GWF, serving as contender for the GWF World Championship. Upon becoming a free agent in 2010, Colón began traveling throughout the world, frequently making tours by country or region. Among

10962-636: The International Wrestling Federation's inaugural roster, where he debuted with a win over Willie Mack . His 2019 appearances within the circuit were less in comparison to previous years, and included World Class Revolution (Oklahoma), Pro Wrestling Experience (Maine), Immortal Championship Wrestling (New York) and WildKat with challenges for the MM Maximum, cOw/WPWI United, PWE United States and ICW Heavyweight titles. Despite this, by debuting for IWA-PR's eponymous Florida spin off and winning

11151-657: The June 20 episode of Raw in which he defeated Shelton Benjamin for the Intercontinental Championship . He then lost the Intercontinental title to Ric Flair at Unforgiven . Towards the end of 2005, Carlito was involved in a brand rivalry which led to him discontinuing Carlito's Cabana . The angle concluded with Carlito wrestling for Team Raw against Team SmackDown! in a Survivor Series match at Survivor Series , which Team Raw lost. In late 2005, Carlito

11340-469: The NWA and becoming a standalone wrestling promotion. In February 1993 former commentator Eric Bischoff was appointed as Executive Producer of WCW, and by 1994 he had been promoted once again to Senior Vice President, a position which gave Bischoff both creative and financial control of WCW. At this point, the promotion was struggling financially and was widely perceived within the wrestling industry to be at

11529-431: The November 10 episode of SmackDown , Carlito accused Escobar for purposefully leaving a brass knuckle at the side of the ring at Crown Jewel which costed Mysterio the United States Championship. After Carlito's match with Bobby Lashley, Escobar turned heel and assaulted Mysterio, who was checking on Carlito. A match between Carlito and Escobar was announced for Survivor Series: WarGames the following week. A day before

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11718-561: The President of the company. The basis of the XWF was to create a wrestling promotion showcasing family-friendly entertainment, all while displaying the talents of past legends and future superstars, similar to the format that was used on WCW Saturday Night and WCW Main Event . The intent was to create a PG-style of wrestling that was similar to what WCW presented before the nWo was formed. The XWF along with World Wrestling All-Stars which

11907-466: The United States [...] who has Capitol flowing through veins" and with whom González had differences in the past that were overcome when he opened his eyes (in reference to WWC's heel turn) so that he could "complete" an unspecified task in the invasion. IWA-PR further mocked Colón in a skit where Savio Vega dismissed this revelation, citing that he had video evidence of a match where Flash Flanagan (who

12096-471: The United States alongside the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), at one point surpassing the latter in terms of popularity. After initial success through utilization of established wrestling stars of the 1980s, the company appointed Eric Bischoff to executive producer of television in 1993. Under Bischoff's leadership, the company enjoyed a period of mainstream success characterized by

12285-420: The United States to meet with his brother. Upon arriving to the hotel where Carly Colón was staying, he asked to contact him, but the clerk refused to attend him after receiving the response that "Mr. Colón says that he has no brother" and receiving no response upon knocking on the room door. Eddie Colón was expelled from the hotel and tried to attend his brother's training, but he received the same response and

12474-409: The Universal Heavyweight Championship against Masters the following night. On November 11, 2011, he won a rematch. At WWC's Euphoria 2012, he wrestled in a rematch against Banderas, which was left inconclusive when a video depicting Vega was shown in the titantron, draining the time limit. Colón dropped the Universal Heavyweight Championship to Gilbert at Noche de Campeones 2012, failing to win it back in

12663-463: The Universal Heavyweight Championship within two months, which saw Mr. 450 retain. At Aniversario 2016, Colón defeated Apolo and had another unsuccessful shot inside a cage, closing the event with a loss in a four-way Texas tornado match where the champion and other challengers competed. On January 9, 2016, Colón defeated Chicano to become the first contender to the Universal Heavyweight Championship. He successfully cashed in on this opportunity to earn

12852-424: The Universal Heavyweight Championship, restarting the formula of bringing foreign wrestlers to challenge him. His next feud was against Vampiro , winning the first encounters between them, but losing the title in a no-disqualification contest. A rematch ended in a double disqualification, with the belt being held-up after both assaulted the designated referee. To close this rivalry, Colón defeated Vampiro to regain

13041-575: The Universal Heavyweight Championship, with the next titleholder being decided in a tournament following his departure. The staff of WWC's main rival, the International Wrestling Association (IWA-PR), was surprised by the event due to the promotion's previous association with WWE. They expected the tryout to conclude with the same outcome that the ones that WWE held with their talents ( Germán Figueroa , Ricky Banderas and Andy Anderson) without any offer being made, deciding to counter

13230-541: The Universal Heavyweight Championship. A Hair vs. Hair rematch was immediately scheduled for Lockout, which will feature a guest referee elected by popular vote between Vega and Huertas González. The following night marked the first time that Colón participated in a match where his father was among his opponents, but he avoided facing him directly, instead requesting a tag and only entering later to pin González. During this time frame, an angle began in which Colón began pursuing

13419-561: The Universal Heavyweight Championship. On March 16, 2002, he teamed with his brother to defeat Thunder and Lightning and win the WWC World Tag Team Championship . Their reign only lasted a day, losing a rematch the following date. He subsequently formed an alliance with Konnan , winning the belts again on March 26, 2002, and holding them for nearly three months. After losing the titles back to Thunder and Lightning, Konnan turned on Colón by attacking his sister, Stacy Colón, with

13608-559: The WWE as he was unhappy with the direction of his character. Following a meeting with Vince McMahon , however, he was convinced to stay. On December 10, 2007, he was featured in a ladder match at the Raw 15th Anniversary against Jeff Hardy for the WWE Intercontinental Championship , which Hardy won. Carlito defeated Cody Rhodes to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania XXIV . He failed to win at

13797-483: The WWE immediately and participated in The Invasion storyline as part of The Alliance which lasted until the end of 2001, however many of WCW's top stars had contracts with AOL Time Warner rather than WCW itself that the WWF did not acquire, and most choose to sit out the length of their contracts rather than breaking them in order to work for the WWF. Most would eventually find their way to WWE, although Sting remained

13986-565: The WWF free to acquire the key assets of WCW through its new subsidiary W. Acquisition Company, which was renamed WCW Inc. afterwards. AOL Time Warner sold the rights to the World Championship Wrestling name, branding, championships, and all other remaining assets aside from the talent roster and video library to WWF for $ 2.5 million in March 2001. Shortly afterwards WWF paid an additional $ 1.8 million to cover costs to AOL Time Warner in

14175-443: The WWF in January 2000, an incident which resulted in a number of firings amongst WCW management. With shakeups to WCW management becoming more and more frequent, the WCW talent began to lose any sense of leadership or direction, which in turn caused them to form bickering political cliques amongst themselves. In April 2000, WCW attempted to resolve its creative issues by asking Eric Bischoff to return but work alongside Vince Russo as

14364-560: The WWF seizing back the ratings lead as well as WCW's own internal problem caused tension amongst both the on-screen talent and management. By November 1998 Kevin Nash had become head booker of WCW, overseeing the creative direction of both Nitro and Thunder . Nash's tenure was fraught with unpopular decisions, such as the move that saw the popular undefeated streak of WCW Champion Goldberg ended by Nash himself, who then became champion, only for Nash to then lay down for Hollywood Hogan and reform

14553-736: The WWF throughout 2001. The storyline began proper at the WWF Invasion pay-per-view, which received 775,000 buys and became one of the highest-grossing wrestling pay-per-views of all time. Although WWF was able to recruit many of those on the WCW roster at the time of the purchase, it was unable to secure the use of most of its top-level stars, as they were signed to long-term contracts with AOL-Time Warner rather than WCW. As such, these stars could remain inactive but still continue to be paid, and were not incentivized to join WWF until those contracts expired. It would not be until 2002 onwards that headline WCW stars such as Goldberg or Scott Steiner would join

14742-453: The WWF to fight a proxy war. They also alleged that they would soon be joined by a third major figure; this "third man" was eventually revealed to be Hulk Hogan at Bash at the Beach 1996 . A major advantage WCW Nitro initially had over WWF Raw was that Nitro was live-to-air every week, while Raw alternated between live episodes and ones taped in advance and aired the following week. Nitro ' s live atmosphere enhanced segments such as

14931-483: The WWF, Monday Night Raw , in a period now known as the Monday Night War . From 1996 to 1998, WCW surpassed their rival program in the ratings for 83 consecutive weeks. Beginning in 1999, WCW endured significant losses in ratings and revenue due to creative missteps and suffered from the fallout from the 2001 merger of America Online (AOL) and Turner Broadcasting parent Time Warner (later WarnerMedia, now known as Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD)). Soon thereafter, WCW

15120-554: The World Wrestling Council as a cameraman, then known by his actual nickname "Carly", being subtly introduced to the television programming. Soon after his first appearance, the promotion's main heel (or villainous) wrestler, Ray González , took an interest in him after learning his identity. After weeks of being pestered, Colón responded by punching González, which resulted in a beat-down by the dominant heel stable, La Familia del Milenio. At Aniversario 1999, Colón interrupted

15309-425: The World Wrestling Council's Aniversario 2007 event where he faced Scott Hall , who retook his WWE gimmick, Razor Ramon, for the first time since leaving the promotion in 1996. As a way to promote the match, Hall claimed that the "Carlito Caribbean Cool" character was an imitation of him, giving it the nickname "Mini Razor". Colón defeated Ramon with his Back Stabber finisher, in a match that included interference by

15498-497: The World Wrestling Federation (WWF). This led to marquee names such as Hulk Hogan and "The Macho Man" Randy Savage joining WCW's ranks and helping to supplement its business. In 1995, during a face-to-face meeting with Ted Turner, Bischoff was able to convince Turner that in order for WCW to become competitive with the WWF, WCW would require an equivalent to WWF's new flagship cable show WWF Raw , which aired on

15687-600: The X-Division was considered a direct spiritual successor to the style developed in the WCW Cruiserweight division and became influential in its own right. WWE and TNA/Impact have continued to experiment and use the Cruiserweight/X-Division concept on and off throughout the 2000s and 2010s and into the 2020s. Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s WCW

15876-523: The XWF and had gone to the WWF. They would then get turned down. During the tapings, a joint angle was worked with the Puerto Rico-based World Wrestling Council (WWC) which began by having Ray González appear backstage speaking to Hogan, Bagwell and other talents in an effort to have them join his La Familia del Milenio stable. This was worked along WAPA-TV , which produced a prime time special titled XWF vs. WWC: Invasión, but

16065-506: The XWF was generated when Kevin Harrington pitched the idea of replacing the then- AOL Time Warner owned World Championship Wrestling , which was just purchased by rival competitor the World Wrestling Federation . He suggested this plan to several wrestling superstars at the time, including Hulk Hogan , Jimmy Hart , The Nasty Boys , and Greg Valentine . These conversations led to the X Wrestling Federation coming together and Hart becoming

16254-403: The XWF. A Special Collectors set including a DVD, T-shirt, autographs, and an actual piece of the ring apron from the 2001 tapings was expected to be released later in 2009. As of 2024, no further activity from the relaunched XWF has taken place, and the website has been taken down. XWF’s wrestling style was to encompass Sports Entertainment , Rasslin , Puroresu and Lucha Libre , as many of

16443-517: The acquisition of WCW by WWF/WWE in 2001, WWE revived the Cruiserweight division in 2002 to be a feature of its Smackdown brand, with the WWE Cruiserweight Championship being deemed by the promotion to be the direct lineal successor to the WCW title. Simultaneously, the newly formed Total Nonstop Action wrestling promotion heavily featured their X Division , which did not limit participants by weight but rather by style. Nonetheless,

16632-609: The angle was heavily modified since it featured the reduced roster and González left for the IWA-PR . More cards were co-promoted, with WWC ultimately winning a series where the only consequential outcome was a title change of the XWF World Tag Team Championship. Following the initial tapings held in fall 2001, the XWF held their first three shows in Hammond, Indiana; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Green Bay, Wisconsin. In Spring 2002

16821-489: The battle for the largest television audience. However, in June 1996, Nitro would begin a streak of 83 constructive victories over Raw , initially sparked by the start of the New World Order (nWo) storyline. The start of the nWo angle saw former WWF talent Scott Hall and Kevin Nash unexpectedly leave the WWF to come to Monday Nitro on consecutive episodes, and each time insinuate that they were there on behalf of

17010-483: The brand turning face , forming a tag team with his brother, Primo . They defeated WWE Tag Team Champions Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder in the match to gain their first victory as a team. Two weeks later, both teams competed in a title match, with The Colóns winning to become WWE Tag Team Champions. Subsequently, Carlito and Primo entered a feud with World Tag Team Champions John Morrison and The Miz . At WrestleMania 25 , The Colóns defeated Miz and Morrison in

17199-664: The circuit. WCW also had a presence in NASCAR from the mid-1990s to 2000, sponsoring the #29 team in the Busch Grand National Series full-time and the #9 Melling Racing team in the Winston Cup Series part-time. In 1996, Kyle Petty 's #49 car in the Busch Grand National series was sponsored by the nWo, and Greg Sacks briefly drove a WCW-sponsored for Galaxy Motorsports. Several WCW video games were made in

17388-423: The closure of WCW, several new professional wrestling promotions would launch featuring former talent associated with WCW. The most prominent of these, Total Nonstop Action (TNA), was founded by Jeff Jarrett in 2002 and would attempt to take over WCW's market position in the mid-to-late 2000s using some former WCW stars such as Sting. TNA would also adopt their own version of the Cruiserweight division, branded as

17577-450: The company initially less dependent on the nWo storyline for ratings. However, beginning in Spring 1998, WCW began an angle which saw the nWo split into a heel faction, nWo Hollywood (centered around "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan), and the rival face nWo Wolfpac (consisting of stars such as Kevin Nash, Sting, Lex Luger and Konnan ). Speaking in hindsight in 2023, Eric Bischoff has said the angle

17766-504: The company solely as the NWA, reasoning that "it has become apparent that the NWA and the World Championship area are one and the same." By late 1988, JCP was financially struggling after further territory acquisitions. Ted Turner , the namesake principal owner of Turner Broadcasting System, formed a new subsidiary in October 1988 to acquire most of the assets of JCP. The acquisition was completed on November 2, 1988. While initially

17955-496: The company went from struggling financially as late as 1995 to generating $ 55 million in profit in 1998. December 1997's Starrcade pay-per-view (PPV) event became the highest-grossing PPV of all time for the company, thanks in large part to the show being billed as the culmination of a year-and-a-half feud between Sting and "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan. 1996 and 1997 had been banner years for WCW, with profits and popularity soaring. 1998 saw profits continue to rise. However, maintaining

18144-651: The company. At the No Way Out pay-per-view in February 2002, WWE began their own version of the new World order centered around Hogan, Nash and Hall, but later incorporating former WCW stars the Giant (now known as the Big Show) and Booker T as well as WWE talent such as Shawn Michaels . Throughout the early 2000s, many former WCW headliners found it difficult to integrate into WWE, as there continued to be legitimate tensions between

18333-457: The company. Ted Turner, however, did not hold influence over Time Warner before the final merger of America Online (AOL) and Time Warner in 2001, and most offers were rejected. Eric Bischoff, working with Fusient Media Ventures, made a bid to acquire the company in January 2001. One of the primary backers in the WCW deal backed out after AOL Time Warner refused to allow WCW to continue airing on its networks, leaving Fusient to take that offer off

18522-505: The cruiserweight division and the talent represented therein probably had as much to do with the success of Nitro as the nWo storyline and Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, and Kevin Nash. I don’t think people recognize it. The talent in that division not only helped Nitro consistently defeat WWE...that talent forced WWE, as much as the nWo, to change the way they were presenting the product. The Cruiserweight division would continue to directly influence North American wrestling for many decades. Following

18711-468: The end of WCW. In the spring of 1996, WCW introduced its "Cruiserweight division", a segmented portion of the roster featuring smaller, faster and more agile wrestlers that contrasted starkly, both visually and stylistically, with their heavyweight counterparts. Although weight categories were not a new concept in wrestling or even WCW, the WCW Cruiserweight Division was quickly able to form

18900-409: The event due to being chased out of the building by Cena. While Carlito was recovering from an injury, he was kept on television and got involved in a comical angle with SmackDown!'s general manager , Theodore Long . The storyline consisted of Carlito being forced to do demeaning chores around the arena, such as selling hot dogs , removing snow from parking lots with a shovel and mopping floors. As

19089-510: The event due to travel issues) to LWO's Cruz Del Toro and Joaquin Wilde and defeated The No Quarter Catch Crew ( Drew Gulak , Damon Kemp , and Myles Borne ) in a six-man tag team match . Carlito entered the Royal Rumble match at the titular event as the tenth entrant, Carlito eliminated Escobar and was eliminated by Bobby Lashley. On the March 29 episode of SmackDown , Rey and Dragon Lee,

19278-401: The event, Escobar took out Carlito in the ring and backstage, Dragon Lee saved him from Escobar and SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis allowed Lee to face Escobar as Carlito's replacement at Survivor Series: WarGames, but Lee lost the match. On January 2, 2024, at NXT : New Year's Evil , Carlito returned as the third partner (replacing Lee, who was originally in the match but had to miss

19467-564: The event. Carlito then formed a tag team with Santino Marella . The team was placed in several matches involving the World Tag Team Championship , twice being named the number one contenders; however, they lost the relevant championship matches. As part of the 2008 WWE Supplemental Draft , Carlito was drafted back to the SmackDown brand. After the draft, he asked for a vacation, using this time to attend his father's official retirement ceremonies at Aniversario 2008 , where he also wrestled against Ray González. On September 12, he re-debuted on

19656-654: The events that became known as Black Saturday , in which GCW and its television program briefly came under the ownership of the WWF, the promotion was eventually purchased by Charlotte, North Carolina-based Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), the promoter of the Mid-Atlantic territory immediately north of Georgia. Influential wrestling magazine Pro Wrestling Illustrated and its sister publications thereafter habitually referred to JCP as "World Championship Wrestling", "WCW" and most commonly "the World Championship area" and continued to do so until early 1988 when it began referring to

19845-447: The fans by stating that they would be "buying PPVs to see [him]" and using the recent Puerto Rico national basketball team 's 19-point victory over the United States national basketball team to claim that they were "conformists" for celebrating a single win. The first match between brothers headlined Aniversario on August 21, 2004. Carly Colón won the match by faking a knee injury and then shoving his sister into Eddie Colón when she entered

20034-409: The fans to face Jeff Hardy for the championship. Carlito, however, lost the match. During this time period Carlito's gimmick underwent a slight change and was sold as a "ladies man", eventually getting involved in another fictional relationship with Torrie Wilson . Carlito participated in the 2007 Royal Rumble , where he was eliminated by The Great Khali . Following the Royal Rumble, Carlito started

20223-501: The final of the Caribbean Cup Tournament before losing to Jerry Lawler . On October 10, 2014, Colón lost the title against Gilbert. The following month he wrestled Mighty Ursus to a double count out as part of a new feud. This extended to Aniversario where Colón lost to the latter in a failed titular as part of a lackluster tour that also included a double count out against Hernandez . At Lockout, he defeated Mighty Ursus in

20412-493: The first contender to the Universal Heavyweight Championship. The passing of Hurricane Maria while he was immersed in an international tour led to a prolonged absence from WWC, which eventually returned at Camino a la Gloria in March 2018. In this event, Colón lost to Apolo. Returning during the summer for Aniversario, he failed to dethrone Mighty Ursus and lost an encounter with Jack Swagger . At Lockout, Colón defeated The Tahitian Warrior. At Euphoria 2019, The Colóns reunited in

20601-527: The first round of the WNC Championship tournament . On September 6, 2013, he made his debut for the World Wrestling League (marking the first time that he performed for another Puerto Rico-based promotion) as part of a tour of Mexico. In his first appearance, Colón defeated established Mexican performers Blue Demon, Jr. and La Parka II . Two days later, he lost a rematch by submission. Colón

20790-433: The first teaming with Brent Dail in a loss to Jim Steele & Mike Barton and on the second losing to Johnny Jeter in singles. WWC scheduled him to wrestle Abyss on April 10, 2004, but WWE did not grant the permission to perform at the event, considering that it could be promoted as an interpromotional match against its rival, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling . Throughout March and May, Colón wrestled in dark matches for both

20979-687: The first were Canadian Wrestling's Elite and the Canadian National Wrestling Alliance, receiving a titular opportunity in the former. In December 2010, Colón participated in Inoki Genome Federation in Japan , where he was pinned by Japanese superstar Kendo Kashin . On March 4, 2011, he made his debut for the Mexican promotion Lucha Libre AAA World Wide (AAA) billed as Carlito Caribbean Cool, defeating Decnnis, Jack Evans and Ozz in

21168-510: The following weeks, vignettes aired where he berated members of his own family, eventually being confronted by José Huertas González . On October 7, 2012, Savio Vega reappeared in Superestrellas de la Lucha Libre, issuing yet another challenge. However, this time Colón fired back with a challenge of his own, inviting Vega to a special edition of Carlito's Cabana. The edition of Carlito's Cabana that featured Vega took place on October 14, 2012. In

21357-425: The initial set of tapings. Shortly after the tapings, WWF owner Vince McMahon poached several of their key talents such as Lawler, Hogan, Hennig, Piper, and others. Hart expressed his frustration in an interview. He explained that they would go to network executives to pitch the show. The executives would get excited by the roster, but Hart and company would then have to explain that several talents were no longer with

21546-546: The innovations WCW had implemented and reapplying them to their own presentation, WWF began its " Attitude Era ". Building around newly emerging stars such as Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock , as well as WWF promoter Vince McMahon becoming a major on-screen character himself, the WWF finally ended Nitro ' s 83 weeks of ratings victories on April 13, 1998. For the next four months, Nitro and Raw would trade wins until October 26, 1998, when Nitro scored its last-ever ratings victory over Raw . The combined pressure of

21735-441: The job at the WWF after a dispute with Vince McMahon over work hours, and Ed Ferrera soon followed. Russo and Ferrera were heralded at the time as the main drivers in the turnaround at WWF over the previous two years with their writing philosophy of "Crash TV", a presentation style that emphasized Soap opera style storylines, lengthier non-wrestling segments, frequent heel/face turns, an increased amount of female representation on

21924-448: The latter extended throughout September and resulted in the title being vacated. However, Colón emerged from the series as champion after winning a rematch. He opened Aniversario by winning a matchup against Monster Pain , who returned to WWC after a prolonged absence that included a reign as WWL World Heavyweight Champion . In the main night of the tour, Colón defeated Jeff Hardy to retain the Universal Heavyweight Championship. However, he

22113-663: The likes of Shane Douglas and Gangrel . On August 7, 2010, he made his debut in Lucha Libre USA 's live shows, wrestling as "Carlitos". In February 2011, NWA Southwest in Texas booked Carlito in a match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship against Adam Pearce . Colón won Family Wrestling Entertainment 's Heavyweight Championship on October 6, 2012, in main event of House of Hardcore 's first show, defeating previous champions Tommy Dreamer and Mike Knox in

22302-429: The limited role, saying that: "I didn't feature Carlito, because he thought that he was more advanced than the rest of the guys and was cruising... but that wasn't what I wanted to see". Colón rebuffed this by saying that "they could have done more" with him in OVW and that the reason no to do it was because "Jim Cornette [doesn't] like" him. After noticing the hostile fan reaction and witnessing Carly's heel tactics from

22491-451: The line, but was ignored on several occasions. The wager became official following the outcome of a match that made it mandatory. On March 30, 2014, Colón defeated Huertas González in a one-sided bet match, remaining undefeated in matches where his hair was at risk. On July 19, 2014, Carlito defeated TNT to win his first WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship . In July, he participated in WWC's Wrestlefest held at St. Marteen, advancing to

22680-436: The local styles were also able to thrive in the division. The division as a whole became a showcase of a fast-paced, aerial and athletic style of wrestling which became highly influential in both the short and long term in the industry. Eric Bischoff has credited with the division as becoming a defining feature of Monday Nitro that was as fundamental to the late 1990s popularity of WCW as the New World Order faction: I think

22869-599: The match the following two days in different locations, but replaced Cassandro with El Hijo de Canek. On February 4, 2012, Colón continued by appearing on the World Wrestling Fan Xperience (WWFX) Champions Showcase Tour in Manila, Philippines , where he wrestled under his LLUSA name in a win over Snitsky . On October 26, 2012, he made a one-night appearance for Wrestling New Classic (WNC) in Japan, losing to Tajiri in

23058-470: The matches. Lawler had left the WWF earlier in the year, in protest, after he felt they had unfairly fired his then-wife Stacy Carter . Shortly after the tapings, Lawler and Carter divorced, he mended fences with the WWF, and asked the XWF to be let out of his contract so that he could return there. They also brought in Mean Gene Okerlund to be their locker room interviewer. The storylines were based on

23247-453: The more cartoon-like presentation which had dominated wrestling in the 1980s and early 90s. An example of this shift in tone was seen in the transformation of top WCW star Sting over the course of 1996 following the start of the nWo angle, whose persona shifted from a colorful and cheerful clean-cut face to a dark, depressed and brooding antihero inspired by the 1994 film The Crow . Another major innovation occurring concurrently in WCW

23436-424: The name of "Carlito Caribbean Cool" in a SmackDown! house show and defeated Scotty 2 Hotty . The creative team settled on this character and he wrestled under it in two more dark matches prior to Velocity , where he was booked in wins over Moore and Chris Cage. On October 7, 2004, Colón made his debut as a heel on SmackDown! as "Carlito Caribbean Cool" (though later shortened to simply "Carlito"), whose gimmick

23625-414: The name that WWC used during the 1970s-90s), which in storyline was being covertly operated by González in cooperation with his "business partners" (a reference to Colón Sr. and Jovica) with the intention of taking over the promotion. In a segment of their television show, the company ran a script where a surprise arrival was announced, which was promoted as "a young wrestler [...] with a tremendous future in

23814-419: The negotiations, bringing the final tally of WCW's sale to $ 4.3 million. AOL Time Warner maintained its subsidiary, which reverted to its original legal name of Universal Wrestling Corporation, to deal with legal obligations and liabilities not acquired by the WWF. The UWC was listed as a subsidiary of Time Warner until 2017, when it was merged into Turner Broadcasting System. Some of the WCW wrestlers joined

24003-430: The network for the first time since WCW's closure. On January 5, 2022, Dynamite moved to TNT's sibling network, TBS, marking the first time TBS has aired wrestling programming since the March 21, 2001, episode of WCW Thunder . TNT has also broadcast AEW's second show, AEW Rampage , since August 13, 2021, and added another AEW show with the June 17, 2023, debut of AEW Collision . In 2020, AEW revived WCW's Bash at

24192-509: The newest member of the LWO, challenged Escobar and "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio to a tag team match at WrestleMania XL , however, Lee was attacked backstage, and rendering him unable to compete at WrestleMania. 4 weeks later on the April 26 episode of SmackDown , Escobar revealed that Carlito was behind the attack on Lee, turning him heel and leaving the LWO. During night 2 of the WWE Draft , Carlito

24381-466: The next night on Raw, but were unsuccessful. On the July 6 episode of Raw , following their loss to Edge and Jericho, Carlito turned heel by attacking Primo. At Night of Champions , Carlito challenged for the United States Championship in a Six-Pack Challenge , which also involved Primo, but neither of them were able to win the title. On the August 3 episode of Raw , Carlito defeated Primo to end their feud. On

24570-421: The other trucks is most prominent with Goldberg. Driven by to great success by Tom Meents (including Monster Jam World Finals championships both years the truck ran), after the end of the sponsorship Meents continued to run the truck as "Team Meents" in 2002 before debuting its new name Maximum Destruction in 2003. Max-D continues to compete in the series and rivals the legendary Grave Digger in popularity on

24759-565: The ownership of WWC. This led to the creation of the Carlito Caribbean Company (CCC), which acquired power when Rivera defeated Victor Jovica following a Huertas González heel turn to force him to sell WWC's stocks. Despite Rivera's involvement as a favored heel, Colón was booked in a spot where the new CCC management turned on him. The ownership of WWC was to be decided in a match between Huertas González and Colón Sr. held on June 29, 2013, at Summer Madness in which CCC lost its bid. In

24948-525: The process. On the May 10 episode of Raw , Carlito and Primo attacked R-Truth for Ted DiBiase , who paid them afterwards. On May 21, Colón was released due to a violation of the WWE Wellness Program and refusal to attend a rehabilitation facility for a reported addiction to pain killers. On July 11, 2010, Colón was booked in a match called "The Three Faces of Fear" at WWC's Aniversario 2010 which also involved Booker T . The concept of this contest

25137-512: The promotion filing copyrights for the use of "Carlitos Colón", which is the nickname commonly associated with his father in Puerto Rico. On June 7, 2004, Colón wrestled under this name in a dark match, this time losing to Sean Morley . However, later that month, the name was modified to Carlito Colón and he was given the gimmick of a metrosexual man, originally intending to team him with Rico Constantino upon being promoted. However, this idea

25326-589: The promotion ran more shows, and a series of house shows in Texas. In addition to the wrestlers that stayed on, the XWF brought in Rey Mysterio , who teamed with his longtime friend Konnan against the Nasty Boys, and hardcore legend Terry Funk , who wrestled Greg Valentine. The XWF scheduled a second series of house shows in Michigan, but ultimately had to cancel them due to low ticket sales. After not being able to secure

25515-533: The promotion's Scars and Stripes event, in which Keith Walker was booked as the winner. On October 12, 2013, Colón lost to Dreamer in the first round of the FWE Open Weight Grand Prix. On November 9, 2013, he and Rosita defeated Tara and Stevie Richards at House of Hardcore 3. On November 30, 2013, at WrestleCade, Carlito was defeated by Matt Hardy for the WrestleCade championship. Colón was a member of

25704-478: The public, Eddie Colón sneaked and waited by the locker rooms and confronted him, which resulted in a faceoff that concluded with the heel locker jumping him. Upon learning this, Colón Sr. travelled to Kentucky and interrupted an OVW scrimmage, which resulted in Carly Colón asking for his expulsion from the building. This served as setup for a feud between brothers, which saw Carly Colón return to Puerto Rico and mock

25893-513: The quality of the shows became difficult, particularly after WCW's owners Time Warner Entertainment (who bought Turner Broadcasting System in 1996) ordered the creation of a second live cable WCW program WCW Thunder , to air on Thursdays on TBS Superstation starting on January 8, 1998 , as well as ordering a third hour to be added to Nitro ' s runtime. Nonetheless, the creation of new major headline babyface stars such as Diamond Dallas Page and Goldberg were causes for optimism, making

26082-436: The ring to help, using the distraction to score the pinfall. Two rematches were held the following month at Fase 3, the first of which ended in a time limit draw. He lost the rubber match, which concluded with the heel factions assaulting both brothers and Colón Sr. futilely asking them to join forces. In response to this angle, IWA-PR began hinting that Colón would be joining a heel stable known as "Capitol Sports" (borrowing

26271-531: The roster were tired of him and that Sheamus was their representative of what the roster believed and then tried to spit apple in Cena's face, which led to him getting hit with Cena's finisher, the Attitude Adjustment. The following week, Carlito was defeated by Cena. In February 2010, Carlito was announced as one of the eight WWE Pros for the first season of WWE NXT . On the February 22 episode of Raw , Carlito

26460-474: The same event, Colón faced Rivera for the first time, dominating throughout the match but losing after being sprayed in the face with "green mist". On July 13, 2013, he won a rematch by countering this same tactic. On August 18, 2013, Colón issued an open challenge for Aniversario 40, calling himself a "Puerto Rican icon". The following week the challenge was accepted by Sting , a former WCW and TNA world heavyweight champion commonly known as "The Icon". When Colón

26649-433: The second. In 2003, Colón signed a developmental contract with WWE. He worked in its developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) for 16 months, mostly wrestling in tag team matches while making appearances in WWC. In October 2004, he made his main roster debut. He went on to become a one-time United States Champion and one-time Intercontinental Champion , and was part of both the Raw and SmackDown brands. He

26838-409: The segment, both traded insults and it finished with the security removing Vega when he tried to assault Colón after the former spat an apple in his face. At Halloween Wrestling Xtravaganza he was disqualified, assaulting his opponent after his father, who served as special referee, did not allow Huertas González to use his finisher. At Honor vs. Traición, Colón unsuccessfully challenged Ray González for

27027-555: The show, expanded storyline depth, frequent title changes, and a greater focus on developing mid-card talent. The tenure of Russo and Ferrera at the creative helm of WCW was short-lived; by March 2000 the pair had been suspended from their positions as their provocative and edgy angles caused constant protest from AOL Time Warner executives. AOL and Time Warner had merged in January 2000 and, according to Bischoff and Russo, headquarters′ eagerness to tone down WCW had only grown more intense because of this. Mounting frustrations amongst

27216-458: The signing's impact with a storyline that benefited from it. The following month in the tour to promote the Summer Attitude 2003 event, IWA-PR began announcing the arrival of the "son of a former world champion" and "legend that is universally recognized" to the promotion, which was heavily implied to be Colón, but actually served as a plot device to introduce David Flair . Before the identity

27405-504: The subsidiary was incorporated as the "Universal Wrestling Corporation", following the purchase the decision was made to utilize the familiar "World Championship Wrestling" as the name for the promotion. In late Summer/early Autumn 1993, a behind-the-scenes dispute between WCW and the NWA Board of Directors over who had the right to authorize NWA World Heavyweight Championship title changes ultimately resulted in WCW formally withdrawing from

27594-514: The table while it attempted to bring a new deal around. In the meantime, Jamie Kellner was handed control over the Turner Broadcasting division in 2000, eventually succeeding Ted Turner on March 7, 2001. Along with AOL Time Warner, Kellner deemed WCW, along with Turner Sports as a whole, to be out of line with its image and saying that it "would not be favorable enough to get the 'right' advertisers to buy airtime" (even though Thunder

27783-399: The talent resulted in many leaving WCW for the WWF; The Giant and Chris Jericho were the first major talent to "jump" to the WWF in 1999, but they were soon followed by many others. Chris Benoit (WCW World Champion at the time), Dean Malenko , Eddie Guerrero and Perry Saturn , who performed together on WCW television as " The Revolution ", all collectively walked out of WCW and over to

27972-851: The talent signed to the federation trained primarily in each or all of these styles of wrestling. The XWF held four distinctive wrestling divisions with titles for each: The XWF Heavyweight Championship, the XWF Tag Team Championship, the XWF Cruiserweight Championship and the XWF Women’s Championship. Talks of a 5th championship were rumored and, if created, would have been a mid-card title similar to World Wrestling Entertainment ’s Intercontinental and United States Championships or Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ’s Television Championship . World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling ( WCW )

28161-541: The tapings. In November 2008 the XWF re-launched its wrestling website displaying the new logo. In January 2009 it was rumored that there were talks of a possible pay-per-view similar to how Total Nonstop Action and Ring of Honor received their television deals. Also, footage from the XWF "invasion" of WWC in 2002 was to be released. Additionally, plans were underway to launch a series of matches featuring living legends from 2001, new up and coming talent, as well as having living remaining members make personal appearances for

28350-413: The team of Mac Johnson & Seth Skyfire and defeating Adrenaline (a team composed by Chris Cage and Toland) twice. His teams with Shad Gaspard and Chris Masters did not meet the same success, losing three consecutive matches, two against Adrenaline and one to The British Knights respectively. Individually, Colón defeated Micah Taylor, but lost to Cappotelli. A trio formed by him, Mondo and Gaspard won

28539-442: The then-Universal Heavyweight Champion Apolo . All three were involved in a three-way match for the title the following day, which concluded with Ramon pinning Apolo. Following his feud with Flair he was involved in angles with The Sandman and Triple H . He then lost to Triple H at Unforgiven in a no disqualification match where the no disqualification rule only applied to Carlito. In late 2007, Colón requested his release from

28728-609: The thirteenth time. On July 17, 2011, at Aniversario 2011 Carlito made his first defense of the title against Abyss . In this event, Savio Vega cut a promo pursuing a feud as part of the first interpromotional angle between WWC and IWA-PR. However, this cooperation was stalled due to differences between the administration of both promotions, remaining fruitless for the rest of the year. On October 28, 2011, Colón returned to WWC first to join his brother and wrestled Gilbert Cruz and his cousin Orlando Colón , before successfully defending

28917-449: The title again. On April 30, 2016, Colón defeated Bobby Lashley to retain the Universal Heavyweight Championship. He then defeated Roger Díaz, whose “El Sensacional” Carlitos character had been created as a parody of Carlos Colón Sr. in IWA-PR, to remain titleholder. At Noche de Campeones 2016, Colón defeated Rey Mysterio and Mr. 450 to retain the Universal Heavyweight Championship. His feud with

29106-594: The title by pinning him on September 30, 2000. Both met in a rematch the following event, with the championship being held-up following a time limit draw. On November 25, 2000, Colón recovered the belt by defeating Hennig in a no-disqualification contest without time limit. On December 3, 2000, Colón wrestled "The Botswana Beast" Benjamin Peacock to a double count out. In his next match, he defeated Horace Hogan . González turned on Hennig and brought in Jerry Flynn to recapture

29295-470: The title. Colón won their first encounters, but Flynn won the Universal Heavyweight Championship on February 17, 2001. He resumed his feud with González, before migrating to another angle against La Familia's main tag team, Thunder and Lightning , composed of Reynaldo "Thunder" Rodríguez and Alex "Lightning" Cruz. Teaming with his father and brother, Eddie Colón , he earned a victory over them. Thunder and Lightning went on to turn on González, who then pursued

29484-432: The two groups. Former WCW performers such as Diamond Dallas Page (who had accepted a WWF contract in 2001) were perceived to be intentionally poorly used as part of a "victory lap" by WWF. In turn, this dissuaded some WCW stars from trusting WWE; for example, Sting choose to remain out of WWE until 2014, and even when he did join, WWE was criticised using Sting to perform yet another victory lap at WrestleMania 31 . After

29673-467: The two promotions, each one attempting to produce the best television show possible each week, led to an explosion in the popularity of professional wrestling in the United States and in hindsight is widely considered a golden era. WCW Monday Nitro proved a success for the company, which was immediately able to create a television audience of an equivalent size to WWF Raw . Between September 1995 and May 1996, Nitro and Raw regularly traded victories in

29862-533: The wrestling business. Other members of Colón's family have also been involved in the World Wrestling Council, including his cousin Orlando (best known in WWE as Epico) and uncle José. Colón graduated from the Jesuit school Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola in 1997. Unsatisfied with his physical conditioning, he joined a gym at the age of 11. He has said that he only did so for exercise and did not originally intend to become

30051-589: The year's end, he made sporadic appearances and feuded with the "Dominican Boy" Julio César López over the Universal Heavyweight Championship. Colón won a November encounter by disqualification, which prevented the title from changing hands. He won a rematch on December 20, 2003, and held on to the Universal Heavyweight Championship for two weeks, losing it to Abdullah the Butcher at WWC's Three Kings Weekend . During this timeframe, Colón also participated in several dark matches prior to Velocity and Sunday Night Heat , in

30240-446: Was World Wrestling Today. Colón challenged for the heavyweight titles of Big Time Wrestling, Coastal Championship Wrestling, International Wrestling Cartel and Crossfire Wrestling, but either lost these matches or won by count out. He made short tours for promotions such as Pro Wrestling Syndicate, NWA Southwest, World Wrestling Association , Border City Wrestling, National Wrestling Superstars and Vendetta Pro Wrestling, scoring wins over

30429-465: Was a television show produced by Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW) since 1982. Jim Barnett (who had briefly owned the Australian promotion of that name ) came to Atlanta in the 1970s during an internal struggle for control of GCW. Barnett ultimately became majority owner of the promotion, and began using his previous promotion's name for GCW's weekly Saturday television program in 1982. Following

30618-768: Was accompanied by Carlos Colón, Sr. ), Maximum Force ( Simon and Swinger , who were managed by Dawn Marie ), Johnny B. Badd , Norman Smiley , the KISS Demon (managed by Gene Simmons ), Devon Storm (Crowbar in WCW), Big Vito , the Road Warriors , Public Enemy (who wrestled as the South Philly Posse ), the Shane Twins , Josh Matthews , and Emory Hail (The Machine in WCW; managed by Jimmy Hart). Ten episodes were taped, and prepared for broadcast. The talents were only signed for

30807-525: Was accompanied by his "agent" Bobby Heenan ) in his only match at the tapings. In addition to Hogan and Hennig other stars included; Vampiro , Buff Bagwell , A.J. Styles , Christopher Daniels , the Nasty Boys , Hacksaw Jim Duggan , Jimmy Snuka Jr. (managed by Jimmy Snuka Sr.), Marty Jannetty , Greg Valentine , Horace Hogan , Ryan Sakoda (who wrestled as Vapor and was managed by Sonny Onoo ), Low Ki (who wrestled as Quick Kick), Kid Kash , Juventud Guerrera , Psicosis , Konnan , Carly Colón (who

30996-412: Was active in the promotion performing as "Slash Venom") pinned him at OVW. This angle was concluded in a segment where González berated an unknown individual during a call for being unable to appear in a card, claiming that "he [was] a failure like [his] father and brother". In preparation for his debut, the WWE's creative team began testing different characters for him to use. The first attempt involved

31185-567: Was added to angles involving the WWE Championship . After defeating Shelton Benjamin in a qualifying match, Carlito was added to the main event at New Year's Revolution in early 2006, the Elimination Chamber match. He was one of the final two wrestlers remaining, after eliminating Kane , Chris Masters and Shawn Michaels . He then lost the match to John Cena. Following New Year's Revolution, Carlito and Chris Masters joined forces as

31374-758: Was also formed in 2001 would provide fans an alternative to the WWF and also give the wrestlers another place to work, since the WWF had become the only nationally televised wrestling organization. The initial XWF tapings were conducted in November 2001 at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, in the soundstage that used to be the home for the WCW Worldwide Wrestling tapings, and later the home for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling 's TV tapings for iMPACT! and Xplosion as well as some of its pay-per-views. Former WCW play-by-play announcer Tony Schiavone and former WWF color commentator Jerry Lawler were brought in to call

31563-419: Was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System , through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) territory Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) (which had aired its programming on TBS ). For all of its existence, WCW was one of the two top professional wrestling promotions in

31752-535: Was an apple toting big mouth who would spit apple "in the face of people who don't want to be cool ". Carlito defeated John Cena for the United States Championship in his first match on the main roster by using a steel chain to knock out Cena. He immediately entered an undefeated streak of 14 contests, during which he successfully defended the title against Rob Van Dam , Rey Mysterio , Eddie Guerrero and Hardcore Holly, also defeating Shannon Moore in

31941-471: Was born in the Santurce district of San Juan on February 21, 1979, the son of Puerto Rican professional wrestler and World Wrestling Council founder Carlos Colón and his Canadian-born wife Nancy. He has three younger siblings, including fellow wrestlers Eddie (best known in the WWE as Primo) and Stacy Colón, both of whom performed in the World Wrestling Council. A second sister, Melissa, did not enter

32130-541: Was defeated by Christian in a Money in the Bank Qualifying match. The next night on WWE NXT , Carlito teamed with his NXT Rookie Michael Tarver in a losing effort against Christian and his NXT Rookie Heath Slater . On the May 6 episode of WWE Superstars , during his match with Primo, Carlito would stop the match and told Primo they shouldn't fight when the crowd cheers for two brothers to fight each other. Primo would agree and reunite with his brother, turning heel in

32319-492: Was denied access, buying a ticket for an OVW show held that night. After the event's start, Carly Colón was shown arriving late and being scolded by Jim Cornette . This skit reflected real conflicts between both. Cornette has stated that during Colón's stay in OVW he considered him a very talented performer, capable of doing "great stuff" but only did it when he "was on" due to being used to be treated as "wrestling royalty" in his role of "the boss' son". Cornette went on to explain

32508-456: Was drafted to WWE Raw with the rest of the LWO, despite leaving the group. Around this time, Carlito began to associate himself with The Judgment Day , but was kept at arm's length by Damian Priest , citing their past conflict. On the May 14 episode of Raw, Carlito helped Finn Bálor and JD McDonagh win a fatal four-way match to be the #1 contenders for the World Tag Team Championship . One week later, Bálor & McDonagh failed to win

32697-470: Was dropped when Constantino was legitimately injured in a match. An afro was introduced to his gimmick during the last week of June, when he lost to Shane Helms in another dark match. As his promotion drew nearer, his team with Mondo lost to Capotelli and alternate partners Nick Dinsmore and Flash Flanagan. However, it also won a match over Capotelli and Steve Lewington. In singles, he was defeated by Elijah Burke . On September 19, 2004, he wrestled under

32886-465: Was engulfed by fans and carried to the locker room by the Ejercíto de la Justicia, the main fan-favorite stable in the promotion. González countered by creating a coalition of wrestlers that had feuded with Colón Sr. in the past, led by Hercules Ayala and Ramón Álvarez . On February 19, 2000, Colón dropped the Universal Heavyweight Championship to González, following intervention from Álvarez. This led to

33075-453: Was explored by Hart. The collaboration with WWC was briefly revived during this time. During July 2005, the XWF released a three DVD series called In Your Face: The Lost Episodes of the XWF . It featured 19 matches from the original Universal Studios tapings with extras including an interview with Hulk Hogan. The series is hosted by Jimmy Hart and Brian Knobs. They also broadcast a series of pay-per-views on DISH Network featuring matches from

33264-416: Was extremely influential within professional wrestling in the 1990s and several elements innovated and introduced by WCW would continue to be used in professional wrestling decades after its closure. In the immediate aftermath of WWF's purchase of WCW, a significant portion of WCW's active roster was integrated into the WWF. These former WCW talents would be used as part of a "WCW vs WWF" storyline that ran in

33453-485: Was immediately placed in a feud against Alberto Del Rio , who managed to win a non-titular encounter. Colón closed the year with two double countouts at Lockout, the first against MVP and the second against “El Patrón”, which led to the title being vacated. At Euphoria 2017, Colón and Del Rio wrestled to a no contest in a titular match. Afterwards, his feud with González reignited and led to multiple double disqualifications. On March 27, 2017, Colón defeated Gilbert to become

33642-516: Was later known as Clash of Champions , similarly named from WCW's Clash of the Champions . In 2017, WWE held its first annual NXT WarGames event for its NXT brand , with that's year's event featuring the first WarGames match since the September 4, 2000, episode of Nitro . In 2019, new promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW) formed a partnership with WarnerMedia to air their flagship show, AEW Dynamite , on TNT, returning professional wrestling to

33831-416: Was now wrestling under a character known as "TNT". After losing two consecutive matches to Ray González, he was able to win a tag team match where he joined Huertas González. However, after the event was over his partner turned on him, forcing a face switch and beginning a new feud. He joined Ray González to win the first match of this storyline. Afterwards, Huertas González challenged Colón to place his hair on

34020-550: Was one of the first wrestlers to perform in Qatar Pro Wrestling, the first promotion in this Arabian state. At Wrestling Alliance Revolution's Super Leyendas del Ring, Colón won a three-way match for the WAR World Heavyweight Championship. On December 7, 2013, he wrestled at First Wrestling Society's Amo Del Hexágono winning the 1WS World Heavyweight Championship. On March 7, 2014, Colón participated in another of WWL's Mexican tours, joining Chavo Guerrero and Fuerza Guerrera in

34209-540: Was preparing to finish the match with the Back Stabber , a masked wrestler known as Rey Fénix intervened and costed him the match. Since that mask was usually worn by Ray González, he began pursuing a match against him. On November 16, 2013, Colón defeated Fénix in a Hair vs. Mask match that served as the main event of Crossfire. However, when Rey Fénix unmasked, he was Ricky Santana instead of González. At Lockout 2013, Colón defeated Germán Figueroa but lost to Rivera, who

34398-486: Was presented by Dwayne Johnson and featured former WCW personalities including Bill Goldberg , Eric Bischoff , Bret Hart , Booker T , Kevin Nash , amongst others. From 2000 to 2001, Monster Jam had a series of monster trucks based on wrestlers' names. These included the nWo , Sting , Nitro Machine, Madusa and Goldberg . Following the end of WCW, Debrah Miceli , the only one of the truck's namesakes to actually drive them, remained in monster trucks. The legacy of

34587-483: Was revealed, his music was played over the sound system, only for the crowd to be told by Savio Vega (Juan Rivera) that they should avoid "acting like morons". Upon joining OVW, Colón performed under his nickname of "Carly". On July 5, 2003, he debuted by teaming with Luther Reigns and John Hennigan in a loss to Tank Toland , Johnny Jeter , and Matt Cappotelli . In his first singles appearances, Colón defeated Rob Begley and Mike Mondo . He teamed with Henningan in

34776-487: Was rushed, ill-conceived and had no long-term direction. By this point, many critics began to argue that WCW was now completely overreliant on the nWo storyline and unable to pivot to a new grand concept. Additionally, beginning in the summer of 1998, Bischoff has claimed that Time Warner Entertainment management began to increasingly micromanage WCW and meddle in its presentation. Executives at Time Warner Entertainment began to increasingly advocate that WCW should pivot to more

34965-566: Was shut down, and the WWF purchased select WCW assets in 2001, including its video library, intellectual property (including the WCW name and championships), and some wrestler contracts. The corporate subsidiary, which was retained to deal with legal obligations and reverted to the Universal Wrestling Corporation name, officially became defunct in 2017. Its headquarters were located in Smyrna, Georgia . "World Championship Wrestling"

35154-416: Was that he would face three unknown adversaries successively. Colón also performed on a second date of this event, working under a "tweener" concept, representing a morally ambiguous team without clear allegiance. He returned to WWC on September 25, 2010, at the "Septiembre Negro" event, where he defeated " El Triple Mega Campeón " Ricky Banderas . On November 27, 2010, Colón defeated Shelton Benjamin to win

35343-510: Was the highest-rated show on TBS at the time). As a result, WCW programming was cancelled on TBS and TNT . Another factor in Kellner's decision to cancel all WCW programming was the terms of the company's purchase deal with Fusient, which included giving Fusient control over time slots on TNT and TBS even if those slots did not air WCW programming. WCW's losses were then written off via purchase accounting. The cancellation of WCW programming left

35532-532: Was the introduction of the Cruiserweight division, which saw the introduction of smaller, more agile and more athletic wrestlers performing fast-paced, high-flying dangerous matches on WCW shows. This added another unique element to WCW shows that helped propel their surging popularity. The combination of a more adult-orientated presentation, live and unedited television, more reality-based storylines, new top-level talent, new and intriguing characters, and more varied in-ring action saw WCW's fortunes dramatically shift;

35721-413: Was wrestling as a heel in OVW, only for José Rivera Jr. to dismiss it as "internet gossip". A subsequent phone conversation between brothers concluded without a direct response on the matter. On June 13, 2004, Carly Colón's role as a heel was made official in a segment where he told his sister that he was no longer interested in his father or the people of Puerto Rico. Consequently, Eddie Colón traveled to

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