The Bad Breed was the

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 ...

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...

Axl Rotten Brian Knighton (April 21, 1971 – February 4, 2016), better known by the ring name Axl Rotten, was an American professional wrestler. In the early 1990s, he was a part of the tag team The Bad Breed with Ian Rotten. He had a short stint with Wor ...

with his storyline brother/real life protégé

Ian Rotten John Benson Williams (born June 1, 1970) is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Ian Rotten. He has wrestled in the Global Wrestling Federation (GWF), Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), the United States Wrestling As ...

. The team achieved their greatest fame in the

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

professional wrestling promotion A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling that has little relationship to the rules of the amateur olympic form. "Promotion" also describes a role which entails man ...

Extreme Championship Wrestling HHG Corporation, doing business as Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), was a professional wrestling promotion and media company that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as National Wrest ...

but has also competed in the

Global Wrestling Federation Global Wrestling Federation was an American 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. Often the promotion pr ...

and

Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South Independent Wrestling Association (IWA) Mid-South (also known as IWA Mid-South, IWA-MS, and IWA Mid South Wrestling) is an American independent professional wrestling promotion based in New Albany, Indiana. It was formed by Ian Rotten in 199 ...

History

Global Wrestling Federation

The storyline brothers Axl and Ian Rotten first started to team as the Bad Breed in the

(GWF) in 1992. On January 29, 1993 Axl and Ian defeated the Texas Mustangs (

Bobby Duncum, Jr. Bobby Edward Duncum Jr. (August 26, 1965 – January 24, 2000) was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his stint in World Championship Wrestling as a member of The West Texas Rednecks. Professional wrestling career Ea ...

and John Hawk aka. JBL) to win the

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. It is known a ...

. Their run with the GWF gold did not last long as they were defeated less than a month later by The Ebony Experience (

Booker T Booker T or Booker T. may refer to * Booker T. Washington (1856–1915), African American political leader at the turn of the 20th century ** List of things named after Booker T. Washington, some nicknamed "Booker T." * Booker T. Jones (born 1944) ...

and

Stevie Ray Lash Steven Huffman (born August 22, 1958) is an American semi-retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Stevie Ray. Stevie Ray is best known for his seven-year tenure with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from 1993 to 200 ...

), and they left the promotion soon after.

Extreme Championship Wrestling

In October that same year the Rotten ”Brothers” made their debut for a relatively new promotion in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

then known as

Eastern Championship Wrestling HHG Corporation, doing business as Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), was a professional wrestling promotion and media company that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as National Wrest ...

(ECW) at the event

NWA Bloodfest NWA Bloodfest was a professional wrestling live event produced by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) affiliate Eastern Championship Wrestling (ECW) on October 1 and October 2, 1993. The event was held in the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylva ...

. In their debut they defeated the makeshift team of

Chad Austin Chad Slivenski (born September 15, 1972) is a semi-retired American professional wrestler, known by his ringname Chad Bowman, who competed in East Coast and Mid-Atlantic independent promotions during the 1990s and 2000s. Early in his career, Sl ...

and Todd Shawn at

on October 1, but lost to

Badd Company Badd Company was a professional wrestling tag team in the American Wrestling Association in the late 1980s, which later went by the name the Orient Express. They used the song "Bad Company", by the band of the same name as their theme song. Hi ...

(

Pat Tanaka Patrick Tanaka (born August 5, 1963) is an American professional wrestler best known for his work in the American Wrestling Association as one half of Badd Company and the World Wrestling Federation as one half of The Orient Express. He is the s ...

and Paul Diamond) less than two hours later. The next night they main evented the show in a loss to

Public Enemy "Public enemy" is a term which was first widely used in the United States in the 1930s to describe individuals whose activities were seen as criminal and extremely damaging to society, though the phrase had been used for centuries to describe ...

in a "Three Way Steel Cage Match" (third team was Badd Company). A few weeks later Bad Breed unsuccessfully challenged for the

ECW Tag Team Championship The ECW World Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling world tag team championship in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). It was introduced in National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) affiliate and ECW precursor, Eastern Championship Wrestli ...

as they lost to champions

Tony Stetson Anthony Matteo (born March 21, 1959) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Hitman" Tony Stetson. He is best known for his time in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) during the 1990s. Stetson was one of ECW's ini ...

and

Johnny Hotbody John Weiss (born February 19, 1963) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Johnny Hotbody. In Eastern Championship Wrestling, he won the ECW Championship, ECW Tag Team Championship, and ECW Television Champions ...

. Bad Breed gained a measure of revenge by defeating Stetson and Hotbody on November 12 in a non-title match. In June 1994, Bad Breed started a feud with Public Enemy over the ECW Tag Team Title, but throughout the feud Bad Breed was never able to defeat Public Enemy for the gold. After feuding with Public Enemy the Rottens next targeted

The Pitbulls The Pitbulls (sometimes written as The Pit Bulls) were a professional wrestling tag team that consisted of "Pitbull #1" Gary Wolfe and "Pitbull #2" Anthony Durante. They were best known for their tenure in Extreme Championship Wrestling, where ...

, this feud led to the two teams facing off at

November to Remember November to Remember (commonly abbreviated to N2R) was a professional wrestling event produced by Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). It was held during the month of November from 1993 to 2000. Starting with the 1997 edition the event was broadca ...

in a match where the losing team was forced to split up. Bad Breed lost when Pittbull #2 pinned Ian. Since the brothers both blamed each other for the loss, they began a feud against one another after teaming together for two years. The first match between the two "brothers" was at Double Tables on February 4, 1995 which Ian won. They next clashed in a “Hair vs Hair” match on the April 8 show Three Way Dance. After being shaved bald Ian came looking for revenge at Hostile City Showdown 1995 only a week later, this time in a “Barbedwire Baseball Bat” match, but once again Axl beat his “brother”. Their final match took place at

Hardcore Heaven Hardcore Heaven was a professional wrestling event produced by Eastern/Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). It took place annually from 1994 to 2000, with the exception of 1998. The 1997, 1999 and 2000 iterations aired on pay-per-view Pay-per-v ...

in a Taipei Death match.

Reunions

Axl and Ian Rotten would reunite in 2002 where the duo won the

IWA Mid-South Tag Team Championship The IWA Mid-South Tag Team Championship is a tag team title in the IWA Mid-South promotion. The title debuted in 1997, but was abandoned before the year was out, and had a brief revival in 2002. The title was brought back from 2004 to 2008 and the ...

on March 2, but Axl would not be around long enough to see the team lose the belts, which forced

Necro Butcher Dylan Keith Summers (born July 13, 1973), better known by the ring name Necro Butcher, is an American professional wrestler. Throughout the years he has worked for various promotions, including Ring of Honor, Full Impact Pro, IWA Mid-South, Pro W ...

to team with Ian as they lost the titles on April 5. The Bad Breed reunited at ''

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. The tour was booked and promoted by Cody Michaels, Shane Douglas (a forme ...

'' on June 10, 2005, when they took on the reunion of The Gangstinators in an "ECW fight" (an un-sanctioned match where there are no rules, only a fight until there is one man or team standing). On the heels of their success at ''Hardcore Homecoming'', Bad Breed once again teamed up in IWA Mid-South to win the IWA Mid-South tag team title from Vito and Sal Thomaselli, but were forced to vacate the titles when Ian suffered a concussion and had to take time off.

Championships and accomplishments

(1 time) *

(2 times)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bad Breed, The Extreme Championship Wrestling teams and stables Independent promotions teams and stables