10 Wrestling Promotions You Never Knew Existed

8. Xcitement Wrestling Federation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmWTMcLk3Q0 The XWF -- later dubbed the Xcitement Wrestling Federation -- was the first attempt to establish a secondary, competitive wrestling brand to the now-dominant WWE. In 2001, following WWE€™s purchase of World Championship Wrestling, the XWF was created. The promotion was to be a family friendly affair, in stark contrast to the WWE€™s Attitude Era and WCW€™s programming. In November of 2001, the XWF held a series of television tapings at the former WCW Worldwide soundstage at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. These tapings featured many famous WCW and WWE talents, including Roddy Piper, Curt Hennig, Vampiro, Buff Bagwell, Psicosis, Konnan, the Road Warriors, and the Immortal Hulk Hogan. However, these stars only signed short-term deals to appear the first set of TV tapings. As a result, Vince McMahon quickly signed away many of the XWF€™s top talents. Jimmy €œThe Mouth of the South€ Hart was the company€™s president and one of its founders. Hart attempted to use the tapings as a pitch to potential television networks. However, no channels were interested when they learned that many of the established names had already departed the promotion. The XWF continued to run a number of house shows following the unsuccessful TV tapings, bringing in other top talents like Terry Funk and Rey Mysterio. Ultimately, however, the company soon found itself incapable of continuing, as ticket sales began to plummet. After Jimmy Hart acquired all of the XWF rights and footage, there was a small smattering of a resurgence, however, it never came to be.