5 Worst Wrestling Promotions You May Not Have Heard Of
4. American Wrestling Federation
The American Wrestling Federation was the brainchild of another money mark - Paul Alperstein, who paid television stations across the United States to air his bizarre fusion of WWF Golden Era cartoonish midcard dross and legitimate combat sports scoring systems.
The roster was comprised of a who's who - or rather, who was that again? - of the 1980s and early 1990s. The likes of Nailz, the Honky Tonk Man and the Warlord duked it out in a promotion which existed just one echelon above the fake WWF shows your local leisure centre used to promote amid the buzz of SummerSlam 1992.
In fairness to Alperstein, he did at least show some foresight by booking a legendary WWE Hall Of Fame inductee - erm, Koko B. Ware.
The histrionic patriotism and Day-Glo aesthetic of the WWF was imitated at a time when that model was wheezing by on the crude oil fumes of Diesel power. The wider fanbase - which summarily ignored a knock off of a company that was dying on its a*se - were years removed from the goodwill of nostalgia. The AWF was as inexplicable as it was dated; in an attempt to differentiate itself from the very company it plagiarised (!), Alperstein implemented a ridiculous scoring system in a total contravention of what makes wrestling work. The best wrestling matches ebb and flow, sustaining audience interest throughout the duration with a careful build an epic pay-off.
In the AWF, any momentum was literally halted; the matches were divvied up into three four minute rounds, with a one-minute rest period occurring between in each sequence. If was unnecessary; fans got enough rest during the dated non-action.