Brazilian Wrestling Federation (BWF) is a Brazilian

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

association, the largest in the country. The federation holds one internet show, the BWF

Telecatch ''Telecatch'' was a Brazilian professional wrestling TV program originally called ''Telecatch Montilla''. It was broadcast by TV Globo from 1967 to 1969. The name of the program would later be changed to ''Os Reis do Ringue in the 1970s by RecordTV ...

. The company was founded with the mission to revive the popularity of

Pro Wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

and

in Brazil.

History

The BWF was founded in 2002 by Bob Junior. The first televised match was in 2009 and concerts were also broadcast via the official site and

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel. The company was the first Brazilian wrestling promotion to reportedly support a wrestler to compete outside the country. Female wrestler Bia fought under the name Bianca in a match at

Combat Zone Wrestling Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) is an American independent wrestling promotion. In 1998, John Zandig and five of his students, Ric Blade, T.C.K, Lobo, Nick Gage and Justice Pain, along with trainer Jon Dahmer, began to run professional wrestling sh ...

(CZW) in 2003 alongside Sabian, fighting Joker and Mercedez Martinez. In 2012, BWF became a stage of the “Torneio Sul-Americano de Luta Livre” (South American Wrestling Tournament) and in its first year brought international wrestlers like

Super Crazy Francisco Islas Rueda (born December 3, 1973), better known by his ring name Super Crazy, is a Mexican ''luchador'' (or professional wrestler). In Mexico, Islas has worked for Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) and made appearances f ...

and Zumbi to Brazil. Since 2013, BWF has been more visible in the media. That year the company announced the participation of

KENTA Kenta (written: , , , or in katakana) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese baseball player *, Japanese film director *, Japanese kickboxer *, Japanese professional wrestler *, Japanese profession ...

, Eddie Edwards,

Naomichi Marufuji (born September 26, 1979) is a Japanese professional wrestler who competes for Pro Wrestling Noah, with occasional appearances in other professional wrestling promotions including New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), R ...

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and other international wrestlers for the "Torneio Latino Americano de Luta Livre" (Latin American Wrestling Tournament). On April 27, 2014 BWF debuted a special event called "Convocado Para Lutar" (Called to Fight) that was attended by

William Regal Darren Kenneth Matthews (born 10 May 1968), better known by the ring name William Regal, is an English retired professional wrestler. He is known for his over 20 years spent in WWE, as both a performer and an on-screen authority, and for his ti ...

and Director of Development Canyon Ceman as part of the assessment of BWF wrestlers for a tryout in

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

. BWF was present at an

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

convention in 2014 and announced the debut of BWF Rookies, a developmental division whose group of young talents would form the "new wrestlers" division. In 2015, a new tournament called "Backyard Arena" was presented, and bring some Brazilian independent wrestlers to fight for a BWF contract. The winner of tournament was Death Rider. In 2015

Cezar Bononi Cezar Bononi (born June 15, 1986) is a Brazilian professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling. He is also known for his time in WWE NXT from October 2015 to April 2020. Early life Prior to his wrestling career Bononi played Amer ...

, which competed under the ring name of V8 Big Block and held the ''BWF Rei Do Ringue Championship'' once, was recruited into

WWE NXT ''WWE NXT'', also known as ''NXT'', is an American professional wrestling television program. It is produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, featuring performers from the promotion's NXT brand division. The show currently ...

and debuted in 2017 against

Aleister Black Tom Budgen (born 19 May 1985) is a Dutch professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under the ring name Malakai Black. He is also known for his time in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Aleister Black from 2017 ...

. In 2019, BWF partnered with

MMA Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on strike (attack), striking, grappling and ground f ...

promotion SFT to transmit their programming in

Rede Bandeirantes Rede Bandeirantes (, ''Bandeirantes Network''), or simply known as Band (), is a Brazilian free-to-air television network. It began broadcasting on May 13, 1967 on VHF channel 13 in São Paulo. Its founder was businessman João Saad with t ...

, having now national reach.

Championships and accomplishments

Roster

References

{{Reflist 2002 establishments in Brazil Professional wrestling in Brazil Professional wrestling promotions