Axl Rotten
Encyclopedia
Brian Knighton is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 professional wrestler
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...

 better known by his ring name
Ring name
A ring name is a stage name used by a professional wrestler, martial artist, or boxer. While some ring names may have a fictitious first name and surname, others may simply be a nickname, such as The Undertaker.-Wrestling:...

, Axl Rotten.

Early years

After watching a professional wrestling match on television, Knighton decided to become a wrestler. He trained under professional wrestler Jim Leon
Ricky Lawless
Medardo Jim "Jimmy" Leon, Jr. was an American professional wrestler, trainer and promoter, best known by his ringname "Bad Boy" Ricky Lawless, who competed in Eastern, Mid-Atlantic and Southern regional territories during the early-to mid 1980s, being a veteran of International Championship...

 in a boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

 gym
Gym
The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, that mean a locality for both physical and intellectual education of young men...

 in his hometown of Baltimore, receiving supplementary training from future World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...

 (WCW) wrestler Joey Maggs. Knighton debuted in 1986 and adopted the ring name "Axl Rotten". He won his first major championship teaming with Leon to win the tag team titles in Frank Cain's Star Cavalcade Wrestling during the summer of 1988. He also succeeded Leon as the promotion's heavyweight champion when, shortly after Leon's murder, he won the vacant title from The Psycho in Thomasville, Georgia
Thomasville, Georgia
Thomasville is the county seat of Thomas County, Georgia, United States. The city is the second largest in Southwest Georgia after Albany.The city deems itself the City of Roses and holds an annual Rose Festival. The town features plantations open to the public, a historic downtown, a large...

 on November 31, 1988.

In the early 1990s, Rotten trained Ian Rotten
Ian Rotten
John Benson Williams is an American professional Wrestler better known by his ring name Ian Rotten. He has wrestled in Global Wrestling Federation , Extreme Championship Wrestling , and his own wrestling promotion IWA: Mid-South.-Early career:After becoming a fan of Dusty Rhodes and "Superstar"...

, who formed a tag team
Tag team
Tag team professional wrestling is a variation in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. A tag team may comprise two wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of established teams who wrestle regularly as a unit and have a team name...

 with Axl, masquerading as his brother. The duo, known as the Bad Breed
Bad Breed
The Bad Breed was the professional wrestling tag team of Axl Rotten with his storyline brother/real life protégé Ian Rotten. The team achieved their greatest fame in the Philadelphia wrestling promotion Extreme Championship Wrestling but has also competed in the Global Wrestling Federation and...

, wrestled primarily in the Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation. Rotten later opened his own professional wrestling promotion
Professional wrestling promotion
A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling. Promotion also describes a role which entails management, advertising and logistics of running a wrestling event...

 in Maryland called "Universal Independent Wrestling". The promotion featured wrestlers such as the Bad Breed, Bam Bam Bigelow and Scotty The Body
Scott Levy
Scott Anthony Levy , better known by his ring name Raven, is an American professional wrestler, wrestling producer, wrestling writer, and occasional author and actor currently working for Juggalo Championship Wrestling , where he is co-holder of the JCW Tag Team Championship, as well as other...

, and had a television series that aired on Saturday nights on the local ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

 channel. The promotion closed in the mid 1990s.

In 1991, Rotten had a short stint with World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...

, where he feuded with wrestler/rapper PN News
Paul Neu
Paul Neu is an American professional wrestler. He is perhaps best known under the ring name PN News and for his stints in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling...

. After leaving WCW, Axl and his trainee Ian Rotten had a run with the Global Wrestling Federation
Global Wrestling Federation
Global Wrestling Federation was a professional wrestling promotion based in Dallas, Texas. It started in June 1991 and folded in September 1994. At one time its shows were presented on the ESPN television network. On many weeks, the promotion provided programming five days a week airing at 4 p.m...

 in Texas, being featured on their daily ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....

 show. While in GWF, Axl succeeded in winning both the GWF Commonwealth title and the GWF Tag Team Championship, with Ian Rotten.

Extreme Championship Wrestling (1993-1999)

In 1993, the Bad Breed were hired by Paul Heyman
Paul Heyman
Paul Heyman is an American entertainment producer, best known for his career in professional wrestling as a promoter, manager, commentator and journalist. He is also an occasional actor in film....

, the then-booker of the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

-based Extreme Championship Wrestling
Extreme Championship Wrestling
Extreme Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1992 by Tod Gordon and closed when his successor, Paul Heyman, declared bankruptcy in April 2001...

 (ECW) promotion. They competed in the ECW tag team division until November to Remember in 1994, when they lost a tag team match to The Pit Bulls with the stipulation that the losing team would be forced to separate. Both Rotten brothers blamed one another for the loss, and playing off real-life ill feelings, went on to a rivalry
Feud (professional wrestling)
A professional wrestling feud is a staged rivalry between multiple wrestlers or alliances of wrestlers. They are integrated into ongoing storylines, particularly in events which are televised...

 between the two that PWI named feud of the year in 1995.. The former partners wrestled their first match against one another in ECW at Double Tables on February 4, 1995, with Ian pinning Axl. They faced one another in a variety of hardcore
Hardcore wrestling
Hardcore wrestling is a form of professional wrestling that eschews traditional concepts of match rules in favor of matches that take place in unusual environments, using foreign objects that are not normally permitted...

 matches over the subsequent seventeen months, fighting in "hair versus hair" matches and "barbed wire baseball bat, barbed wire chair" matches. Their feud finally ended at Hardcore Heaven 1995 on July 1, 1995 when Axl defeated Ian in a "Taipei Death match" (a match that saw each man coat their taped fists with shards of broken glass) which turned out to be one of ECW's bloodier matches. The Bad Breed eventually reconciled and teamed together once again in early 1996.

Rotten competed in the ECW heavyweight division as a singles wrestler throughout the remainder of 1996. In 1997, he formed a tag team with Balls Mahoney
Balls Mahoney
Jonathan Rechner better known by his ring name Balls Mahoney , is an American professional wrestler...

 known as The Hardcore Chair Swingin' Freaks and teamed up with Spike Dudley
Matt Hyson
Matthew "Matt" Hyson is a retired American professional wrestler, best known for his performances in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment under the ring name Spike Dudley and in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name Brother Runt.In ECW, he was a two-time...

 and New Jack
New Jack
Jerome Young is an American professional wrestler, better known by his stage name New Jack in ECW.He is known for his willingness to take dangerous bumps and his stiff hardcore wrestling style, often taking high risks and "shooting" on opponents, though he is only known to shoot on opponents who...

 to take on their main rivals, the Dudley Boyz
Dudley Boyz
Team 3D was a professional wrestling tag team, consisting of Brother Ray and Brother Devon, formerly sporadically joined into a stable by Brother Runt on several intervals...

. Mahoney and Rotten teamed together until 1999, occasionally wrestling one another. Rotten eventually left ECW in 1999, and appeared with Xtreme Pro Wrestling
Xtreme Pro Wrestling
Xtreme Pro Wrestling is an independent professional wrestling promotion formerly owned by Extreme Associates CEO and director Rob Zicari, who appeared on shows under the name Rob Black. Zicari appeared on-camera as owner alongside his wife Lizzy Borden. The promotion focuses on hardcore wrestling,...

 and the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling promotion. Rotten then wrestled on the independent circuit
Independent circuit
In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indy circuit refers to the many independent promotions which are much smaller than major televised promotions. They are roughly analagous to a minor league for pro wrestling, or community or regional theatre.Specific promotions on the...

 throughout the early 2000s.

World Wrestling Entertainment (2005-2006)

On the June 6, 2005 episode of Raw
WWE RAW
WWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...

, Rotten debuted in World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...

 (WWE), storming the ring with several other ECW alumni. Rotten went on to appear at the two ECW reunion shows taking place that month. At Hardcore Homecoming
Hardcore Homecoming
Hardcore Homecoming was a series of professional wrestling events which were advertised as a reunion of talent from the defunct Extreme Championship Wrestling promotion....

on June 10, 2005, the Bad Breed reunited, participating in a wild brawl with The Gangstanators
The Gangstanators
The Gangstanators were a professional wrestling tag team in Extreme Championship Wrestling. The team consisted of New Jack, formerly of The Gangstas, and John Kronus, formerly of The Eliminators, with "Gangstanators" being a portmanteau of the names of their respective former tag teams.-History:New...

 although this was not announced as an official match due to Bad Breed sticking to a stipulation never to team again after losing a feud to the Pit Bulls. At ECW One Night Stand
ECW One Night Stand (2005)
ECW One Night Stand was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It was held on June 12, 2005 at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York, New York. The main event was a tag team match between The Dudley Boyz and the team of Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman...

 on June 12, 2005, Rotten, Mahoney and Kid Kash attacked the Blue World Order
Blue World Order
The Blue World Order was a stable of professional wrestlers formed at Extreme Championship Wrestling's November to Remember 1996 event at the ECW Arena...

 after they interfered in the main event tag team match. Following the events, Rotten and Mahoney wrestled several dark matches for WWE, but were not signed to contracts. At the second Hardcore Homecoming event on November 4, 2005, Axl defeated Ian Rotten in another "Taipei Death match".

Axl Rotten was listed as an ECW wrestler on the official ECW.com website, however events put his future with in the new ECW Brand in jeopardy. Rotten failed to show for the June 5 edition of Raw in an angle involving several other ECW wrestlers. WWE management was not happy with Rotten no showing at Raw. Furthermore, it was confirmed that Rotten was not backstage at the WWE vs. ECW Head to Head special that aired on USA Network
USA Network
USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...

 on June 7. Rotten also did appear at the ECW One Night Stand
ECW One Night Stand (2006)
ECW One Night Stand was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It was held on June 11, 2006 at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York, New York....

 pay-per-view event that was held on June 12, 2005. He was then removed from the roster on the ECW.com website. Rotten was released before he could even compete in the new ECW. After the release, he made a few appearances in Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South
Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South
Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South is an independent professional wrestling promotion based in Louisville, Kentucky.- History :...

 in tag team matches.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2010)

On July 29, 2010, it was confirmed that Rotten would take part in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling is a privately held professional wrestling promotion founded by Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Jarrett. The company broadcasts its events on television and the Internet fifty two weeks a year with over a million weekly viewers on its primary television program, Impact...

's ECW reunion show Hardcore Justice
Hardcore Justice (2010)
Hardcore Justice was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , which took place on August 8, 2010 at the TNA Impact! Zone in Orlando, Florida...

 on August 8. At the event Rotten and Balls Mahoney, billed as Kahoneys, were defeated by Team 3D
Dudley Boyz
Team 3D was a professional wrestling tag team, consisting of Brother Ray and Brother Devon, formerly sporadically joined into a stable by Brother Runt on several intervals...

 in a South Philadelphia Street Fight. After the match Mahoney vented his frustrations on Rotten, proclaiming that he would never again team with him. However, on October 23, 2010, Rotten and Mahoney reunited at a Jersey All Pro Wrestling
Jersey All Pro Wrestling
Jersey All Pro Wrestling is an independent wrestling promotion based in New Jersey.-1997:Jersey All Pro Wrestling is an independent wrestling promotion that was founded by "Fat" Frank Iadeavia on April 19, 1997. This promotion was born out of a dream of "Fat" Frank. He wanted to take the promotion...

 event, where they unsuccessfully challenged JAPW Tag Team Champions
JAPW Tag Team Championship
The JAPW Tag Team Championship is a championship in the Jersey All Pro Wrestling promotion. Being a professional wrestling championship, it is not won via direct competition; it is instead won via a predetermined ending to a match or awarded to a wrestler because of a wrestling angle...

 The Heavy Hitters (Monsta Mack & Havok) in a 3-Way Dance also involving Sammi Callihan & Chris Dickinson.

Television and film career

Rotten appeared in an uncredited, non-speaking role on the first episode of the show Homicide: Life on the Street
Homicide: Life on the Street
Homicide: Life on the Street is an American police procedural television series chronicling the work of a fictional version of the Baltimore Homicide Unit. It ran for seven seasons on NBC from 1993 to 1999, and was succeeded by a TV movie, which also acted as the de-facto series finale...

, entitled "Gone for Goode
Gone for Goode
"Gone for Goode" is the first episode of the first season of the American police drama television series Homicide: Life on the Street. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on January 31, 1993, immediately following Super Bowl XXVII. The episode was written by series creator Paul...

," seen being questioned in "The Box" while Lieutenant Al Giardello
Al Giardello
Alphonse Michael Giardello, Sr. is a fictional character from the television drama Homicide: Life on the Street. The character was played by Yaphet Kotto...

 gives Det. Tim Bayliss
Tim Bayliss
Timothy Bayliss is a fictional detective on Homicide: Life on the Street. He was a primary character, and was played by Kyle Secor. He was loosely based on the real-life Det...

 his introductory tour of the Homicide Unit.

In wrestling

  • Finishing moves
    • SST (Inverted brainbuster)
    • This Is Gonna Hurt (Chair shot)

  • Signature moves
    • Chokeslam
      Chokeslam
      A chokeslam refers to a type of body slam in professional wrestling in which the wrestler grasps their opponent's neck, lifts them up, and slams them to the mat. It is common in televised wrestling because it is simple and relatively safe, yet looks powerful on camera...

    • Death Valley driver
    • Exploder suplex
    • Inverted powerbomb
    • Over the shoulder belly to back piledriver
    • Sitout suplex slam
    • Spinning lifting DDT
    • Tiger driver

Championships and accomplishments

  • Allied Powers Wrestling Federation
    • APWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • Eastern Wrestling Alliance
    • EWA Hardcore Championship (1 time)
  • Global Wrestling Federation
    Global Wrestling Federation
    Global Wrestling Federation was a professional wrestling promotion based in Dallas, Texas. It started in June 1991 and folded in September 1994. At one time its shows were presented on the ESPN television network. On many weeks, the promotion provided programming five days a week airing at 4 p.m...

    • GWF Commonwealth Championship (1 time)
    • GWF Tag Team Championship
      GWF Tag Team Championship
      The GWF Tag Team Championship was the tag team title in the Global Wrestling Federation in Texas. The title existed from 1991 until 1994, when GWF closed. The title was featured on the promotion's show that aired nationally on ESPN...

       (1 time) with Ian Rotten
  • Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South
    Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South
    Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South is an independent professional wrestling promotion based in Louisville, Kentucky.- History :...

    • IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship
      IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship
      The IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship was the major title in the Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South based in Louisville, Kentucky...

       (2 times)
    • IWA Mid-South Tag Team Championship
      IWA Mid-South Tag Team Championship
      -Title history:-External links:*...

       (2 times) with Ian Rotten
  • Mid-America Wrestling
    • MAW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation
    Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation
    The Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation was a Mid-Atlantic independent professional wrestling promotion based in Essex, Maryland. Founded by promoter Dennis Wippercht and wrestler Tim "Lucifer" Burke in 1991, the MEWF was one of the leading independent promotions on the East Coast during the 1990s...

    • MEWF Heavyweight Championship
      MEWF Heavyweight Championship
      The Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation Heavyweight Championship is the highest ranking singles title in the Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation, one of three in the promotion....

       (2 time)
    • MEWF Tag Team Championship
      MEWF Tag Team Championship
      This is a chronological list of MEWF tag team champions. The MEWF Tag Team Championship is the oldest championship title in the Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation having been established when the Lords of Darkness defeated Cream Team at the MEWF's first show in Pasadena, Maryland on August 2, 1991...

       (1 time) with Corporal Punishment
      Corporal Punishment (wrestler)
      Daniel "Dan" McDevitt , best known by his ring name Corporal Punishment, is a semi-retired American professional wrestler, trainer and promoter...

  • National Wrestling Alliance
    National Wrestling Alliance
    The National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...

    • Regional
    • NWA Jersey Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
    • NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship
      NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship (New Jersey version)
      The New Jersey version of the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship was a short-lived National Wrestling Alliance title recognized in the U.S...

       (1 time)
  • National Wrestling League
    • NWL Hardcore Champion (1 time)
    • NWL Tag Team Champion (1 time) with Morgus the Maniac
      Morgus the Maniac
      Morgus the Maniac is an American professional wrestler who has competed on the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern independent promotions including the Eastern Wrestling Alliance, Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation, National Wrestling League/House of Pain Wrestling Federation and Extreme Championship...

  • Pro Wrestling Illustrated
    Pro Wrestling Illustrated
    Pro Wrestling Illustrated is a professional wrestling magazine. PWI is currently based in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania and published by Kappa Publishing Group.-History:The first issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated was released in 1979...

    • PWI ranked him #132 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1996
    • PWI ranked him # 437 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003
    • 1995 Feud of the Year – vs. Ian Rotten
      Ian Rotten
      John Benson Williams is an American professional Wrestler better known by his ring name Ian Rotten. He has wrestled in Global Wrestling Federation , Extreme Championship Wrestling , and his own wrestling promotion IWA: Mid-South.-Early career:After becoming a fan of Dusty Rhodes and "Superstar"...


  • Star Cavalcade Wrestling
    • SCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
    • SCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Ricky Lawless
      Ricky Lawless
      Medardo Jim "Jimmy" Leon, Jr. was an American professional wrestler, trainer and promoter, best known by his ringname "Bad Boy" Ricky Lawless, who competed in Eastern, Mid-Atlantic and Southern regional territories during the early-to mid 1980s, being a veteran of International Championship...


  • Universal Independent Wrestling
    • UIW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

  • Other titles
    • AAWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

External links

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