
Strange TWF Facts
On this page, you will find some strange, weird and unusual facts about the Total Wrestling Federation, it's superstars and it's history.
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The TWF
- The TWF was formed on February 7th 2000 and it's first TV show was 2 days later. (That's longer ago than you may think.)
- TWF originally stood for 'Tremains Wrestling Federation' to reflect it's base, the TJS Centre, adjacent to the TWF Arena and TWF Towers.
- On July 4th 2002, the TWF Forums were hacked by Marz, The Shott and High Voltage. This was considered the turning point of the TWF as from then on in, it did not lose to TECW or the RWF in ratings or buyrates. TECW became NCW and went bust a year later, and the TWF bought out the RWF and under it's ownership, turned over more revenue in one house show than the RWF did for almost 2 years.
- On March 16th 2003, the inital 'T' was changed from 'Tremains' to 'Total', which means the TWF then stood for 'Total Wrestling Federation'. And it has been like that ever since.
- The TWF, along with it's great friends and partners at Xtreme Championship Wrestling were the co-founders of the xTreMe Wrestling Alliance, and ironically, were it's final two members after all other partners were founded.
- Contrary to popular belief, there have only been 2 Official TWF Logos. The Original using Times New Roman and the new Chello Playah version. A version using 'Rocket' was used during the ill-fated 2001 Invasion angle, but was never recognised as the offical logo. In 2005, a modified version of the Chello Playah logo replaced the original on television and is now widely recognised as the third logo.
- The TWF also owns the domains twfwrestling2k.cjb.net, twfwrestling2k.vze.com and twfforums.cjb.net
The Venues
- The TWF Arena held it's first show in June 2000. It was the first ever venue specifically built for wrestling. The basis of it's design was used when XCW decided to build the XCW Arena in 2002.
- The TWF Towers were opened in October 2000 and remain the two tallest structures in Western Europe.
- There were plans to make The Brynteg Arena the TWF's permanent home, in September 2000 to cut costs but were scrapped in favour of continuing to tour South Wales. Many shows were advertised as being the TWF's last ever, and the TWF was to change it's name to 'BCW' - Brynteg Championship Wrestling. Mr. BIG vetoed the plan in XWF-style fashion. The plan was drawn up by Marz during his ownership of the TWF.
- Now, BCW stands for 'Brutality Championship Wrestling'. It is the Development Section of TWF. It is based at the Brynteg Arena and was fitted with a £1.1 million gym in 2003.
- The Asylum is based on what was an old farm near Waterton, Bridgend and is within 5 mins drive of TWF Towers. The Asylum is a huge complex and was completed in 2001 and refurbished in early 2003. The head trainer is Wayne Morris, former TWF Chief Referee.
- Mr. Edwards may claim to be behind the very first TWF Tour of South England in October 2002, but there was a House Show Tour in Summer 2000 prior to Summer Break 2000.
- Summer Break 2002 (III) was originally slated to be held in the MGM Grande Garden for the 3rd year in a row, but record ticket demand saw the event moved to the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans instead. In 2005, the TWF returned to the Grande for Summer Break and despite a greater ticket demand, the event was not moved.
- As well documented, the 150,000 seater NCW Dome was scheduled to be home to TWF Summer Break 2003. However, Marz said he was going to charge the TWF £2.2 million rent for the 4 days needed to set up and use the Dome. So the TWF decided to hold the event in The Bridgend Dome 2 miles away instead.
- The Millennium Stadium was due to hold the most ill-fated TWF PPV of all time, Deadly MindGames 2003, but since the TWF was in such a dire financial status, the show was cancelled. Since then, the TWF has not held an event at the Stadium.
The Titles
- The TWF Full House consists of: TWF European, Intercontinental, Hardkore, Tag-Team and World Championships. When the European Championship was merged with the TV Championship, the TV Championship became part of the Full House in the European Title's place.
- Marz, High Voltage and NJS are the only TWF Full House Winners in history. AJ Jeffers needs a TWF TV Championship reign to become to join the elusive club. For Mr. BIG to join the club, he would need to win the Television and Hardkore Championships.
- Interestingly enough, Mr. BIG has never "lost" the Tag-Team Championships. Both times he became champion, his reign ended with the titles being vacated and put up for grabs in a Square Ladder Match.
- JT Money was the first man in history to win both the xWa Championship and xWa Tag-Team titles in the Alliance's tenure. At Summer Break VI, Silver become the second man to achieve the feat.
- Atomically Kool Kat holds the record for the longest TWF Title reign. Her first Women's Championship reign lasted for 623 days. FX's first tag-team championship reign comes second, with a period of 434 days. Mr. BIG's monumental 2nd title reign comes 3rd with a duration of 425 days.
- As TWF World Champion, the unluckiest place in TWF history is Porthcawl's Grand Pavillion. The title has changed hands at every televised event held there.
- When he became TWF World Champion, Mastermind was the first person to become a champion on his TWF in-ring debut. History repeated itself later on in 2005, when Chamera became TWF Women's Champion on her in-ring debut.
The Plans
- The original plan for TWF Summer Break 2002 was for Mr. BIG, Marz and The Shott to contest a Triple Threat Match. However, confusion among the wrestlers meant the match was scrapped in favour of a Suicide 6 Man. Again, that was changed to allow a Marz injury angle so he can re-cooperate from his back injury. Hence the Fatal 5 Way.
- The most ill-fated TWF angle of all time was the 2001 InVasion angle. Under Marz's suggestion, the TWF began a working relationship with BCW, and WWC (the latter would later rise out of the ashes a year later with XCW). The plan was for the three teams to wrestle at TWF events for almost 3 months, colminating in a combined title match at Dangerously Serious. The TWF's situation at the time and general poor planning lead this not to happen, leading many fans to wonder "what might have been?".
- Another one from the "bad ideas" folder was the supposed "Brand Extension", as Marz called it, in 2002 involving the RWF. High Voltage & The Shott had just co-founded the promotion and needed some airtime, so Marz, during his TWF ownership, gave over RAW to the RWF. This was panned by the fans and is largely regarded as the final straw and lead to Marz being booted off the TWF board. He then hacked the TWF Forums and destroyed offices in TWF Towers a few weeks later, and ironically, turned the tide in the TWF vs. TECW war.
- The original plan for TWF Summer Break 2003 involved Marz vs. Mr. BIG, but after Marz was fired, the plan never came to fruitation and Mr. BIG then wrestled with his friend 'Stone Kold' Karl Davies in his last match.
- It was widely suggested that at Summer Break 2005, NJS was to face Marz in the Main Event in a final bloodied battle between the two long rivals. This was changed so that Frekishi would instead face Marz in the main event. The two men eventually had a final battle at Summer Break the following year.
- Prior to retirement, Mr. BIG and Hawke's final matches together would have actually occured at Summer Break VI, rather than Cyberslam a few months prior. At that event, Frekishi was planned to face NJS, and Mastermind was to face The Bandit.
- A plan for Summer Break 2007 would have seen Mr. BIG finally take on NJS in a one-on-one match, after Biggie would have taken almost a full year out of the organisation.
- Mr. BIG and Marz have faced other twice one-on-one on Pay-Per-View. The first occasion was @ Easter HeAT 2000 in a 2-Falls Match, which saw Mr. BIG win 2-0 to retain his TWF World Championship and TWF CEO Position. Their second meeting was @ Against All Odds 2001 in a Steel Cage Match, where Mr. BIG executed The BIG Storm off the top of the cage and into the ring and scored a victory to retain the TWF World Championship.
The Shows
- The origin of the name for the TWF's flagship TV Show, Grit BasH is partly unknown. The "Bash" part of the name is a homage to the old WCW Pay-Per-View event, The Great American Bash. But, no-one quite knows where Grit BasH came into it.
- There has only ever been 1 Christmas Madness Pay-Per-View. After Mr. BIG became XWF owner, he purchased rights to the name PayBack from the company and PayBack has remained ever since.
- In TWF PPV History, only the following Pay-Per-Views are where the TWF World Championship was not on the line in a Main Event match (xWa PPVs):
No Way Out 2000, UnCeNsOrEd 2000, New Year Partee 2001, Summer Break 2001, Dangerously Serious : 2001, New Year Partee 2002, Against All Odds 2002 and The End is Nigh, New Year Partee 2003, Against All Odds 2003, Deadly MindGames 2004, No Way BacK 2, Total Chaos 2004, Halloween Hell 2004, Deadly MindGames 2005, Easter HeAT 2005, No Way BacK 3.
- The highest buyrate TWF Pay-Per-View of all time was Summer Break 2003 (IV). It drew a 1.88 Buyrate.
- The lowest buyrate for a TWF Pay-Per-View was 0.36 back in June 2000 for the 'UnCeNsOrEd' PPV.
- The biggest attendance for a TWF PPV was at Summer Break 2003, when 100,112 people watched inside The Bridgend Dome.
- The lowest attendance for a TWF PPV was No Mercy 2000, when just under 1,000 turned up at GCourt Green. This was seen as a turning point for the early days of the TWF as from there it only got better.
- The TWF had it's lowest ever viewing figures in June 2002, in an episode of RAW headlined by Mr. BIG and High Voltage fighting at Bridgend Town Football Club. This drew less than 3 million viewers to RAW that night and was at the time TECW was beating the TWF in it's "War on a Friday Night" regime.
- The highest viewing figures for a TWF Television Programme was the TWF RAW St. Valentines Day Special on February 14th 2003, which was the first night of the then xWa Network [now xWn]. Almost 8 million viewers tuned in to watch the show. The second highest viewing figures came in August 2002, when Mr. BIG and High Voltage fought TECW Wrestlers at the Ogmore Bridge in Bridgend Town Centre, and had a famous confrontation with Marz.
The People
- The original TWF superstars met in the TJS Centre in 1998 when Mr. BIG had just joined the school after a transfer from a Welsh-speaking school. In 2000, when people suggested a name for the wrestling promotion, the TWF was the name almost everyone came up with.
- On the first TWF TV Show, Wednesday Grit BasH, were; AJ Jeffers, Crazy Thunder, Marz, Mr. BIG, Sumo Samurai, NJS, Lance Thunder and Nutter Crazy [Crazy Thunder] and Matthew D. Jones. Of which, AJ Jeffers, Marz, Mr. BIG, NJS and Sumo Samurai are referred to as "The Original Five" as they have been the longest servants to the federation.
- Frekishi (then known as The BIG Show), The AshTaker (then known as MetalMan), The Terminator (then known as JJJ) debuted on the following show, which was the Friday Nitro where Mr. BIG began his first TWF World Championship reign.
- Team EV made their TWF debut on the very first TWF Monday Night RAW is WAR.
- The moniker and nickname 'Firebreathing Dragon' and the move 'The Firebreather', was meant to be used by The Red Dragon (a.k.a. Marz), but Mr. BIG used The Firebreather on the TWF's debut after Marz said he did not want to use it. Biggie did come up with the whole idea though.
- Mr. BIG came up with and taught NJS the N-Factor.
- Biggie also taught The Vamp his 'Bloodsucker' Submission.
- Biggie also devised the Blazer with Blade.
- Originally, the Z-Pack name was a piss-take of WWF Wrestler X-Pac. Marz came up with the name as Mr. BIG's alternatives were quickly forgotten. In fact, most of the TWF in 2000 was piss-taking the then WWF. Other prominant ideas included Future Generation-X, Triple J, A-Pac and the ludicirous matches that took place.
- The reason the TWF's favoured speciality match became the Lumberjack Match in the early days was because many superstars would show up to shows but would not wrestle but yet require a pay-check. Therefore, Mr. BIG would sign lumberjack matches to keep superstars happy. Since then, fewer lumberjack matches have taken place because they are not needed to complete contractual obligations.
- The Red Hoodie Crew gimmick and idea came about after the members of the group at the time (Adam Taylor, Stephen Dimmock, Joe Whelan and Tom Grubb) had to come up with a name for the group upon their debut. The TWF gave the group 2 hours to come up with a name and gimmick. Mr. BIG, a good friend of all 4 behind the scenes discussed a possible gimmick which involved them all being Metalheads and the four liked it, but they still lacked a name. They then twitched and to Biggie's surprise suggested 'Red Hoodie Crew' in honour of the Red Quiksilver Hoodie he was wearing at the time. The rest, as they say, is history.
- Originally, Mr. BIG devised The Assassin persona so he could continue to be in NCW under a mask and continue to terrorise it. However, he quickly realised that NCW could do a lot with the persona and ruin it, so Biggie modified it so one of his latest trainees could use it. That trainee is the man known as The Assassin.
- The Shott didn't intend on being a part of the TWF. He only joined thanks to a chance meeting with his friend Marz back in September 2000. Mr. BIG met up with him and offered him a contract which he accepted a few days later.
- Marz was also responsible for hiring Jean Claude Van Slam, The Vamp, Hawke, Falcon, Gareth Cole and partly High Voltage.
- Mr. BIG was responsible for hiring NJS, The Bandit, Deadman, JT Money, Frekishi, Holly, 'Stone Kold' Karl Davies, Jason Davies, Team EV, The Assassin, Hades, Mastermind & AJ Jeffers.
- Marz holds another unusual record, for appearing on TWF TV under the most personas. Cobra, Red Dragon, Demon, The Black Demon, MikeA, Michael Alexander, Dead Cool and Marz Holly have all been his previous guises.
The Music
- The TWF has used the name of Metallica songs from their album "Kill 'Em All" twice for the names of stables. Seek & Destroy was a prominant stable in 2004 and used the song they were named after for their theme song. In 2006, Mr. BIG christened his band of anti-Jock crusaders "The Metal Militia", which was the final track from the album. However, they did not use the song for their theme.
- Disturbed hold the record for the most times their music has been used as a theme. 4 PPV Themes and the themes of nWo Sickness and Mr. BIG.
- The TWF has signed an exclusive deals with Warner Bros Records, Sony Music Entertainment, Wind-Up Records enabling use of tracks for artists such as Evanescence, Disturbed, Trapt and Drowning Pool as PPV, TV or BG Music.
- In early 2006, the TWF agreed to distribute it's latest TWF Themes CD entitled "The Ultimate TWF Themes" 3-CD set on Century Media Records.
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Outside the Ring
- Marz is a huge circus freak and can juggle 3 balls in the air, use a diablo, spin plates and many other circus tricks.
- Mr. BIG is a huge video game fan, owning a Sega Master System, Mega Drive II, PlayStation and PlayStation 2.
- High Voltage shares Biggie's passion and on many occasions have held 'Video Game Balls' at each other's homes with many TWF Superstars attending. Adam Taylor, Stephen Dimmock, The Shott, Ryan Jenkins, JCVS, The Vamp, Blade, Frekishi, The Terminator, NJS and Big Martin are some of the names who have attended.
- Mr. BIG is a big fan of Manchester United, whilst High Voltage is an Arsenal supporter and NJS is a huge fan of Newcastle United. Frekishi supports Burnley FC, Lover Boy Jon Bennetta is a Cardiff City fan.
- High Voltage is a huge Rugby Union fan, his favourite player is Wales Outside Half, Stephan Jones.
- Mr. BIG and Jason Davies were both regulars at Celtic Warriors home games at the Brewery Field.
- Biggie and HV have since become regulars at Cardiff Devils home games at the Wales National Ice Rink.
- Mr. BIG, NJS and Frekishi are all Motor Sport nuts. NJS and Biggie are both F1 fans, whilst Frekishi is a rallying fan. NJS also follows the German DTM. NJS also managed to convert Biggie into a DTM fan.
- Mr. BIG owns a 2001 Ferrari 360 Spider and a 2002 Aston Martin DB7 Vantage. Biggie also races a 1998 Honda Accord which he has customised with the BTCC livery from that era. He also used to possess a Porsche 911, but sold it fairly recently to Big Martin.
- NJS has a 2002 Chevrolet Corvette, The Shott is in possession of a 2000 Lamborghini Diablo and HV has a Range Rover and Land Rover. HV is also intending on getting a Chevy TrailBlazer imported from the US.
- Biggie is also a huge Detroit Red Wings fan. His fave NHL Player of all time is Steve 'Stevie Y' Yzerman.
- NJS is a Carolina Hurricanes fan, High Voltage follows the San Jose Sharks and The Bandit enjoys watching the Chicago Wolves.
- Mr. BIG & The Bandit are both big Disturbed fans.
- The Bandit introduced Mr. BIG to both Disturbed and Trapt.
- NJS is also credited with introducing Biggie to his current favourite band, Savatage.
- Mr. BIG took up the Bass Guitar in January 2004. Biggie's band have performed on his TV show "The Last Word" on numerous occasions.
- Marz can play drums and High Voltage can play a bit of electric guitar and keyboards.
- NJS has recently taken up the electric guitar and is recieving tutition from the likes of The Terminator and Frekishi. Big Martin is also musically inclined and plays drums and bass guitar.
- Mr. BIG listens to Megadeth, Disturbed, Anadivine, Iced Earth, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Pantera, Slayer, Testament, (among others) outside of the ring.
- The Bandit is also a huge fan of Linkin Park, and in 2003, got a chance to see Disturbed, Linkin Park and Trapt live.
- Marz is a fan of Joe Satriani and Walter Trout. He had a chance to see Trout live back in 2001 at the Bridgend Recreation Centre.
- In February 2005, Mr. BIG, NJS and AJ Jeffers were all present as Megadeth rawked the Carling Academy in Birmingham.