Future of Wrestling was an American independent wrestling promotion based in

southern Florida South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of ...

starting during the late 1990s. Founded by

Bobby Rogers Robert Edward Rogers (February 19, 1940 – March 3, 2013) was an American musician and tenor singer, best known as a member of Motown vocal group the Miracles from 1956 until his death. He was inducted, in 2012, as a member of the Miracles to t ...

, the promotion was a predecessor of

Full Impact Pro Full Impact Pro (FIP) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is currently part of the World Wrestling Network (WWN) along with Shine Wrestling. Sal Hamaoui founded the company and serves as the President while Trevin Adams is the ...

, Independent Pro Wrestling and NWA Florida and featured independent wrestlers as well as

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) 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 Nati ...

veterans

Dusty Rhodes Virgil Riley Runnels Jr. (October 11, 1945 – June 11, 2015), better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, was an American professional wrestler, booker, and trainer who most notably worked for the National Wrestling Alliance, Jim Crocket ...

, Kevin Sullivan, Norman Smiley and

Curt Hennig Curtis Michael Hennig (March 28, 1958 – February 10, 2003) was an American professional wrestler. He performed under his real name for promotions including the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF; now WWE) ...

, the latter holding the FOW Heavyweight Championship at the time of his death in February 2003, just prior to the promotions closure. The promotion was associated with

Rusty Brooks Kurt Koski (February 7, 1958 – February 11, 2021) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Rusty Brooks. He competed in several North American independent promotions, including International World Class Championship W ...

's School of Hard Knocks, which acted as its training school throughout its five year history. Former mainstays such as

Low Ki Brandon Silvestry (born September 6, 1979) is an American professional wrestler of Italian and Puerto Rican descent, better known by his ring name Low Ki. He is known for his time with Impact Wrestling, Ring of Honor and Major League Wrestli ...

The Shane Twins The Shane Twins (born December 21, 1967) are a professional wrestling tag team that consist of twin brothers Mike and Todd Shane. They were best known for their appearances in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) as Gymini. History Independe ...

and

Phi Delta Slam Phi Delta Slam (ΦΔS) is a professional wrestling tag team, consisting of Big Tilly and Bruno Sassi. They wrestle principally on the Floridian independent circuit. History When Sassi began wrestling on the Floridian independent circuit, he f ...

(

Bruno Sassi Bruno Sassi (born December 15, 1970) is an American professional wrestler best known for being a member of the tag team Phi Delta Slam, as well as his appearances in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. In early 2009 he returned to TNA under the ring ...

Big Tilly James Tilquist is an American professional wrestler better known by the ring name Big Tilly. He is best known for being a member of the tag team Phi Delta Slam as well as his appearances in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. In early 2009 he returne ...

) have since signed with

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Impact Wrestling (stylized as ''IMPACT! Wrestling''), is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment. Founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett in 2002, the prom ...

. In 2005, former FOW Tag Team Champion Hassan Assad signed a developmental contract with

World Wrestling Entertainment 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 var ...

to compete in its developmental territory

Ohio Valley Wrestling Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) is an American professional wrestling promotion and former developmental promotion based in Louisville, Kentucky. The company is currently run by Al Snow and Matt Jones and Louisville mayor elect, Craig Greenberg. ...

History

In early 1998, Bobby Rogers began promoting in local gyms and small auditoriums in the Broward- Palm Beach area with , Johnny Evans being crowned as the first FOW Heavyweight Champion in May while The Masked Assassins ( Masked Assassin I & Masked Assassin II) won the FOW Tag Team Championship later that month. During the next year, he soon developed a talented roster of local independent wrestlers which included Antonio Banks, best known as MontelVontavious Porter. The following year, the promotion toured

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sou ...

during which time the FOW International Championship was created with

Cyborg A cyborg ()—a portmanteau of ''cybernetic'' and ''organism''—is a being with both organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline.

winning the title in

Lima, Peru Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of ...

on April 24, 1999. The promotion would also begin broadcasting its local televised events through its website and eventually DVD releases. On March 13, the promotion held one of its biggest shows, King of Carnage, at the Davie Rodeo Arena in

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County, Florida, Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 Unit ...

. With over 3,000 in attendance, the

supercard In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

included Barry Horowitz, The Sandman,

Christopher Daniels Daniel Christopher Covell (born March 24, 1970), better known by the ring name Christopher Daniels, is an American semi-retired professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and is the Head of Talent Relations. He is best kn ...

The Bad Street Boys The Bad Street Boys was a professional wrestling tag team in the independent circuit. It was initially formed as a stable, consisting of Gregory Helms, Shannon Moore, Joey Matthews and Christian York. The stable later became a tag team when Hel ...

(

Joey Matthews Adam Birch (born July 18, 1979), better known by the ring names Joey Mercury and Joey Matthews, is an American professional wrestler who is best known for his two tenures in WWE. Birch was most recently signed to Ring of Honor, where he worked ...

Christian York Jason Spence (born April 13, 1977) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Christian York. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling, Extreme Championship Wrestling and Impact Wrestling. Ch ...

) and ECWA Heavyweight Champion Scoot Andrews defending his title against Low Ki and Mike Sullivan in a "Three Way Dance". In the semi-main event, Kevin Sullivan defeated

Terry Funk Terrence Funk (born June 30, 1944) is an American retired professional wrestler, rapper, disc jockey and actor. Funk is known for the longevity of his career – which spanned more than 50 years and included multiple short-lived retirements – ...

and

Abdullah the Butcher Lawrence Robert Shreve (born January 11, 1941), better known by the ring name Abdullah the Butcher, is a Canadian retired professional wrestler. He has a reputation for being involved in some of the most violent and bloody hardcore wrestling m ...

in a "Fatal Four Way" match while Al Bino defeated FOW Light Heavyweight Champion J-Dawg for the title in a match including Johnny Vandal. The promotion received further exposure from the show which was released on dvd soon after. In July, the promotion also toured

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the Ara ...

. Its success was short-lived however as it's the promotion began experiencing financial difficulties, which worsened as promoter Bobby Rogers would be involved in legal problems during this time, and the promotion was forced to close in early 2003.

Revival

In the ending weeks of 2010, original founder, Bobby Rogers surfaced after years away and announced the relaunch of Future Of Wrestling. The FOW held an event on January 29, 2011 in Davie, Florida with many of the promotions former stars, combined with the next generation of wrestlers in this territory. Billy Fives won a single elimination tournament to become a 6 time FOW Champion and Tommy & Johnny Vandal won a Tag Team scramble to become the NEW FOW Tag Team Champions. Later that night, Tommy Vandal was named the #1 Contender for the FOW championship. At the following event, Atomic August on August 6, Tommy Vandal Captured the title from mentor Billy Fives.

Former personnel

Championships

FOW Heavyweight Championship The FOW Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling title in American independent promotion Future of Wrestling. The title was created when "Ram Man" Johnny Evans won the title in Miami, Florida on May 1, 1998. It was defended throughout ...

FOW International Heavyweight Championship The FOW International Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling title in American independent promotion Future of Wrestling. The title was created when Cyborg won the title in Lima, Peru on April 24, 1999. It was defended throughout so ...

FOW Hardcore Championship The FOW Hardcore Championship was a professional wrestling title in American independent promotion Future of Wrestling. The title was created when "Mr. Extreme" Pat McGuire won the title in Oakland Park, Florida on October 8, 1998. It was defen ...

* FOW Light Heavyweight Championship * FOW Tag Team Championship

Media

* FOW King of Carnage. Prod. Bobby Rogers. DVD. Future of Wrestling/World Wrestling Network, 2003.

References

External links

*
CageMatch.de - Future of Wrestling
{{Professional wrestling in the United States Entertainment companies established in 1998 Companies disestablished in 2003 Independent professional wrestling promotions based in Florida Defunct companies based in Florida