IWA Top 50

OLW's primary predecessor fed was the Innovative Wrestling Alliance - IWA. IWA started as a US-wide fed, but joined the Coalition of Affiliated Leagues [CAL] after two months, settling down in Orlando, Florida. IWA was the longest reigning CAL federation, spending three years as a territory. In June of 2004, IWA was on its last legs. Departing the CAL in a last ditch effort to save itself, it nonetheless closed its doors on June 14th, 2004, less than a week after its third anniversary.

IWA put together a Top 50 list - a list of the stars of IWA which made it the cornerstone of the CAL.

While many of the IWA's stars moved on to OLW, the spirit of the two feds is entirely different. IWA rests in peace, remembered only by those who lived through it, and by this list, to commemorate them.

50. The
Hooded Ronin		 Hooded Ronin joined the IWA along with the influx of talent from the Internet Wrestling Alliance that also included Zaibatsu and D.Leprechaun. He held the Tropical Sun Title for a week, and was in the running for the Florida Nightlife Title when he left the fed.
49. OsKar OsKar came to IWA with an influx of wrestlers from another fed also called IWA. He was half of a tag team called Punk Rawk Show, and although he never won the tag titles, he DID end up as the Tropical Sun Champion, after defeating Mark Daniels for the belt. With PRS in a rivalry with the Prodigy Bros, he fittingly lost the belt to Chris Prodigy.
48. Pitch Black Pitch Black didn't have a very long career with IWA, but what was there, was promising. He was the IWA Television Champion when IWA joined the NWCal, losing the title to Violent Dave at NWCal A Newer Era.
47. Mark Daniels Mark Daniels has only a short Tropical Sun Title reign to his name. However, he'd probably have been a long time Florida Nightlife Champion if it weren't for the fact that Tracy Richter held the belt. He also placed #2 in the third Best of the Rest battle royal.
46. Kid Xtreme Actually did more when he was Crosslatch. Never won a title, but he was a solid member of the Sinful eXperience, and pretty much shook up the IWA with some ‘comment's he made in regards to the main event scene in IWA. As Kid X, he joined Gazz Maybury's stable E.F.O.
45. Canadian Psycho Psycho was, to quote a famous CALvanist, the “right hand Bomberman of Jeffy Andrews” during the days of The Unforgiven. Psycho's IWA career was vanishingly short, but solidly main eventer for the duration. And he had one of the best first appearances ever – busting out of a Mandeep the Great costume to club Mr. Dude.
44. Carrie Prodigy Carrie Prodigy will mostly be remembered as the IWA Valet who acted like a valet. But she did have a 90 day run as the IWA Cruiserweight Champion. She defended the belt several times, and didn't lose it. Her brother fought in her stead in the Triple Crown merger match.
43. The Fury Fury also never won a belt in IWA. Her claim to fame was winning the BOTR #2. She did not manage to take the South Atlantic Title off Mr. Dude, however. She left IWA shortly after this, feeling that she had been short-changed. Went on to major success in NPW as Amalie.
42. Zaibatsu Zai was the instigator of the influx from the “other” IWA. He debuted in BOTR #3, and would wallow in the undercard until he shockingly upset Chris Prodigy to win the TV Title. Zai moved up into the South Atlantic division, where some unusual circumstances cut his career short.
41. Miah DeVan Miah DeVan was half of the tag team Alternative 2.0. He only wrestled without Brad Andrews a handful of times, but picked up a fair few upsets, beating Gemma Lockhart and placing #6 in BOTR #3. Hit his stride after departing IWA for BWWa.
40. Ryan O'Brien O'Brien was one of the IWAers who came from the CAL. During his first stint, he won the Hardcore Title, renaming it the Technical Title. After defending it well, he up and quit unexpectedly. Made a return some months later as half of a tag team, but that didn't go well.
39. Paul Bunyan Former Television champion remembered for his hilarious brand of misogynistic stoner humor. He had a tag team run with Mike Destroyer, and was a member of The Unforgiven. He also had a manager, Babe tha Blue Ox… but that's better not spoken of.
38. Brian Simon Rofl. Brian Simon was one third of one of the IWA's all time greatest tag teams – Sexcellence. In fact, he was the driving force behind the team, converting Chris Wright and Ronnie Long to his ‘style'. Simon actually got fired for behavior problems later, but was in the South Atlantic Division at that time.
37. Dawn Dawn was the first person to win a title in IWA, winning the IWA Womans title at LBWF End of an Era 2. She and Heidi made a bid for the tag titles that ended when she quit. Dawn will be remembered for the sexily sadistic commissioner that she was, but she had a fair list of wrestling credentials as well.
36. Outro Outro was a talented young cruiserweight that showed up a few weeks after IWA opened. He had a short TV Title reign, pinning Magik to win the belt. He took leave and then returned as the masked El Dangeroso. His title record isn't impressive, but this kid could have – and should have – been big.
35. Hawk Hawk was an old school LBWFer who never found his feet in IWA. He switched gimmicks a few times, going as Jason “The Hawk” Knight, and as the masked Punisher. He won the Television Title as Punisher. He also won BOTR #2, but left the federation promptly after that. He was just making his comeback the week IWA closed.
34. Chris Wright Wright came into IWA out of nowhere, and dropped into the Cruiserweight Division, running a rather entertaining feud with Heidi (although he was never quite able to beat her). Abandoning the Cruiserweight Division, Wright turned heel and joined the Foundation, first teaming and winning the tag titles with Ronnie Long, then adding Brian Simon to the mix to form the infamous Sexcellence.
33. Ronnie Long Aside from a brief stab at the main event scene after a bloodbath of a match with Neo, Long found his greatest success as the other third of Sexcellence, alongside Chris Wright and Brian Simon. Long played lackey for any number of heel bosses. Eventually he gave up on his heelish ways and allied himself with Jeffy Andrews, forming a tag team called The Outcasts that tripped at the starting block. His IWA career was low on wins, but not on memories.
32. Jeff Wheeldon Jeffy Dubya was one of The Axis, alongside Loki, Fury, Laslow and Jack Cross. Wheeldon won the IWA Tag Titles alongside Jonathan Laslow in an 8 team boiler room rumble match. When the Axis broke up, Wheeldon was without direction, and eventually left IWA for NPW. While a member of The Axis he was known as Apathy, reverting to his real name when he left that stable..
31. Danny Argus A relative newcomer to IWA, Danny Argus made waves. First as half of the ZnF tag team with Zaibatsu, and then as a singles competitor. He won the Triple Crown title, handing Llewelyn Yr Penaig one of his only two clean defeats whilst in IWA. Also brought Destiny Hunter to IWA (Destiny would be on this list if she'd been around for more than 5 cards when the fed closed). His biggest win was in a 30 person battle royal at CAL Reindeer Games 3 that resulted in a CAL World Title contendership shot, although he couldn't force past Freddy Phoenix to get that shot.
30. Jonathan Laslow Laslow may be remembered unfairly for leaving IWA on bad terms. What people don't remember is that not only did he win the Tropical Sun Championship, but that he defended the Tag Titles for… basically forever, teaming with first Apathy, then Loki, and then defending them by himself where he finally lost to Big D and Impact.
29. Bryan Prodigy Big Angry helped make the tag team division hot again. Teaming with his brother Chris and his sister Carrie, Bryan lead his team to Prodigy Inc's dominance over the IWA midcards in late 2003. Only had one singles match in IWA as he preferred to let others have the spotlight.
28. Mike Destroyer If it were at all reasonable to put Destroyer higher on the list, we would. Destroyer made the IWA Hardcore Title the hottest item in IWA's early days. Remembered for his ‘Destroyer Stare', his blunt way of talking, his tag team with Paul Bunyan, and his way of powerbombing that which displeased him. Destroyer vs Long would've been a dream match for many people.
27. Brad Andrews IWA's resident psycho. Brad Andrews lead his team Alternative 2.0 to the IWA Tag Titles. Although BA never won an important singles title, he seemed perpetually on the edge of taking that one step into the big time, pinning SA champion Mr. Dude in a non title match at the height of his reign. Won the FNL Title, then dropped it due to being committed… like I said, he was a psycho. Went on to his greatest fame by winning the CAL World Tag Titles with Miah DeVan in BWWa.
26. Downtime The other half of the Commonwealth Hoodlums. Unable to get situated in singles competition, Material Boy brought Downtime in as a bodyguard and tag team partner. Downtime looked to be embarking upon a singles career just prior to the Hoodlums first disappearance from IWA.
25. Chris Prodigy The Prodigy who got the greatest success, Chris would rank as the second best TS Champion behind Deion Bonds. His TS title reign could take credit for elevating the Prodigies from their position at the bottom of the card, to their domination of the midcards throughout 2003. He was also a pretty damn good tag team wrestler as well, winning the tag titles with his brother Bryan.
24. Max Bryant Max didn't spend too much time wrestling in IWA, but he was one of the three founding fathers of the federation. He main evented IWA Outrage along with Jeffy Andrews, Daeriq Damien and Canadian Psycho. He also had an ongoing feud with Jeffy Andrews over… just about everything. He stole Andrews' stable The Unforgiven in a coup, and turned it into the Inner Circle. After that, Bryant sort of faded out of the IWA picture, popping up every now and again to cause some controversy.
23. Cole Christenson Cole blasted upon the IWA scene very late in its career. He stampeded to the top of the fed quickly despite a few early losses, and managed to pin then CAL Champion Freddy Phoenix in a non title match. He was the official #2 Contender to the CAL World Title (#2 because IWA had dumbly booked a #1 contender match when there was already a #1 contender) when the IWA closed.
22. Material Boy Leader of the Commonwealth Hoodlums. MB was kind of an e-fedding Honky Tonk Man – he took a gimmick that shouldn't work, and made it awesome. The Hoodlums played both faces and heels, and MB had entertaining feuds with both Katie Weller (as a singles wrestler), and Alternative 2.0 (with the Hoodlums). Unfortunately, he was prone to falling off the face of the earth, and after the second time he did that, he fell off the face of the roster.
21. Gemma Lockhart A great wrestler who could have been top 5. Gemma came to IWA from its former fed BBW, one of 4 people (the others being Katie Weller, Kid Xtreme and Brad Andrews). Gemma was in IWA for 2 and a half of the 3 years it was open. She was the inaugural FNL Champion, held the SA Title for a brief reign, and held the IWA Tag Titles with Daeriq Damien. Prior to her tag wrestling stint, she was in the contendership for the CAL World Title. Her feud with Heidi was arguably the hottest feud IWA ever saw. Known as MaCe for the first part of her IWA career.
20. Loki Loki wasn't around for very long, but he was the FIRST IWAer to win CAL Gold. He beat NPW's Rock Brothers to pick up the CAL Tag Titles alongside Jack Cross. He also had a brief IWA Tag Title reign with Laslow, but had to drop the IWA Tag Titles when he won the CAL Tag Titles. Bounced feds a few times, always part of The Axis and frequently overshadowed by his stablemates.
19. Violent Dave Half the Beer Buddies. Aside from being a former CAL Tag Team Champion and a former Television Champion, Dave will be remembered for bringing the incomparable BIG PETE to the IWA. BOLLOCKS! #### IT ALL!!! Oh yeah, there was that heel run as part of the World of Hurt too. It was good. And if you don't believe him, just ask him.
18. Impact Tag team partner of first Ronnie Long, then of Karl Pace, and then of Big D. Impact and Long formed The Enforcers, then Impact and Pace became The New Enforcers. With Big D, Impact held the CAL World Tag Titles, despite never having a tag team name. There's not much to say about Impact because, as a mute, he never said anything and followed D's lead.
17. Deion Bonds If IWA had stayed open, Bonds would probably have been the IWA Heavyweight Champion. Bonds is notable for his slow but thorough climb up the roster, putting record title reigns into the Tropical Sun AND South Atlantic division. He was in the middle of making a bid for the main event, and had also beaten both Heidi and Kai Scott. Also notable, Bonds managed to not side with a stable his entire career in the IWA.
16. Gazz Maybury Gazz may have some of the best memories of anyone in the IWA. Half of the Beer Buddies (and a former CAL Tag Champion). Leader of E.F.O. Gazz was the last ever FNL Champion, beating Cole Christenson to win said title. He also managed to win the South Atlantic Title towards the end of his career. Last ever SA/US champ, in fact. Gazz will be remembered for being a perennial good sport, and for his own unique sense of humor he brought to the IWA.
15. Daeriq Damien Ah, Daeriq Damien. Daeriq was one of IWA's original signings, and pretty much stepped into the top heel slot – only to be replaced by Craig Deids. Not one to be set back by such, Damien promptly forged an alliance with Deids… only to smash his knee up with a chair. This pattern of extra-violent attacks against those who displeased him would be one of Damien's trademarks. Other victims of his pain-lust included Brandon Pride (with whom he feuded over the South Atlantic Title) and Heidi.

Damien won the IWA Heavyweight Title at the end of 2002 in a match against Mr. Dude and Heidi. Unfortunately, he was thrown off a roof by The Outcasts. Situations kept him away from the ring for a few months. He made a return teaming with Gemma Lockhart, joined the Sinful eXperience, and began battling it out with the Prodigies. However, shortly after he dropped the titles, he was fired for undisclosed reasons. Damien was let back into IWA a scant 2 weeks before the federation closed
14. Tracy Richter He came, he saw, he won belts, and he left. That's Richter's career in a nut-shell.

Richter showed up in IWA inauspiciously, jobbing to Justin Pike (Kai Scott's bodyguard). He then wouldn't lose another match until months later. He picked up the FNL Title and feuded with D. Leprechaun over it. He then beat Jack Cross to win the IWA Heavyweight Title. Refusing to drop the FNL Title even though he was the Heavyweight Champion, he amassed a FNL title reign of over 160 days – the longest singles title reign in IWA history, although it falls short of Heidi's combined Womans/Cruiserweight Title reigns.

Richter's feud with D. Leprechaun was hot, and unlike most similar feuds, not hatred fueled. Richter respected Leppy, and Leppy thought the whole thing was a lot of fun. Richter dropped the IWA Heavyweight Title to Leppy in the end. The next week he was forced to drop the FNL Title, and he promptly departed the IWA for NWC:P. Currently out of wrestling… still welcome back in IWA, although technically there's no IWA anymore.
13. Adam Delicious Adam D. was an old school LBWFer. He came to IWA as half of the tag team Vicious n' Delicious, with his friend Danny Vicious. He aligned himself with Jeffy Andrews and The Unforgiven, planning to act as a mole… but he got found out, and VnD were whacked. Adam D came back a few months later alone, by himself for the first time in his career. And he stormed right to one hell of a SA Title reign. It's been said that while Delicious was champion, the SA Title was considered more prestigious than the Heavyweight Title. Adam's goals took him to the Heavyweight Title by the summer of 2003. Although he failed to win in a 4 way TLC match with Neo, Daeriq Damien and Freddy Phoenix, he beat Neo in an I Quit match later.

Adam was part of The Untouchables, and when Mr. Dude left the stable, took up the leadership. His biggest mistake was trying to protect Heidi – she eventually lashed out and won the IWA Heavyweight Title off him. Adam's career began an irreversible downward spiral after that loss, and after a few months of sliding down the card, he was put out of action by Brad Andrews for a year. Like many others, Adam had only just returned when IWA shut down.
12. Jack Cross Cross started in IWA inauspiciously enough, losing to the otherwise unknown Reaver in his debut match. However, it didn't take Cross long to get set on the path to the top of the IWA. His early days in IWA saw him with his hands in a lot of different things, although short on titles. He brought The Axis – Fury, Loki, Jonathan Laslow and Jeff “Apathy” Wheeldon.

Cross's first contribution to IWA was being the first person to bring CAL Gold to IWA, when he won the CAL Tag Titles alongside Loki. After 2 successful defenses, they dropped the belts to the Beer Buddies in a match that caused The Axis to depart IWA for CSWA, leaving Cross by his lonesome. Undaunted, Cross turned his attention to the IWA Heavyweight Title. Unfortunately, Cross believed in chivalry, and with Heidi running around the main event scene, it kinda put a cramp in his main event bid. The end result left Cross on the upper crust of the upper midcard, frustrated. He eventually turned back to tag teaming, bringing Slava Yakolinov in as a tag partner. But the tag division was also saturated with women too… and in the end, Cross and IWA mutually agreed that parting ways was in everyone's best interest.
11. Brandon Pride Brandon Pride came from the LBWF like several other IWA wrestlers. And he quickly shot up the roster, main eventing Evolution 1. His career faltered afterwards, with situations repeatedly conspiring against him and dropping him away from the elusive Heavyweight Title. Pride was briefly a member of the Untouchables, and also briefly reformed his LBWF stable, Violence Inc… before giving up on that and siding with Max Bryant and The Inner Circle.

Pride was never really into the heel routine, and promptly went face again. He chalked up 2 South Atlantic Title reigns to his name, but never could turn the trick and bring the IWA Heavyweight Title home. Eventually, frustrated to distraction, he left for PSW. After a few months, he returned to IWA, and was no longer the underappreciated workhorse he had been before. Pride got his main event bid, but couldn't beat Kai Scott (not that there's anything wrong with that). Finally, he decided to retire. In his farewell match, he got the one thing he probably wanted more than the IWA Heavyweight Title – a clean pinfall win over Jeffy Andrews.

After his retirement, Pride acted as an IWA 2% owner, his job being to mediate between the 49% owners Dawn and Set Malachai. He did a good job, but it didn't last long, as he went back into retirement.
10. Mr. Dude Also known as Taranis, Mr. Dude had one of the longest IWA tenures of any wrestler. He was pretty much beyond argument the greatest South Atlantic champion the IWA ever saw. He lead the Untouchables (Kai Scott, Heidi, Adam Delicious). He came within inches of winning the IWA Heavyweight Title, winning the match but being denied the title on a technicality.

Taranis-Dude – also known by his real name, Chris Redpath – contributed loads to IWA. His first title win was the Tag Titles, alongside Kai Scott. When Kai left IWA for the first time, Dude became the IWA Commissioner for the better part of a year. He became embroiled in a feud with his long time enemy Jeffy Andrews, that saw him run the man out of IWA entirely, even though he had to sell out to Alexander Zanatos and The Foundation to do that. He lost the commissionership in a 6 man tag, after Kai Scott backstabbed him.

Mr. Dude's career never recovered after he lost the subsequent grudge match to Kai Scott at Ground Zero. He jumped ship to CSWA and changed his identity to Taranis. He came back as part of The Darkness, intending to bring IWA to its knees. When he ran into differences with CSWA, he found his way back, but never truly hit his stride before the federation closed. None the less, Taranis is possibly the greatest wrestler in IWA never to win the IWA Heavyweight Title.
9. Neo Neo came into IWA with jokes Sean Senn and Nick Welsh. Fortunately he learned better than they did. It was obvious from the beginning that Neo was cut out to be a star. He won the South Atlantic Title off Daeriq Damien, and held it for a long time, although he didn't really defend it much. Neo would go on to win the IWA Heavyweight Title in a TLC match with Adam Delicious, Freddy Phoenix and Daeriq Damien. Unfortunately he lost the belt to Adam Delicious shortly afterwards.

Neo was a self proclaimed Bodhisattva. His threats to ‘enlighten' the IWA roster caught on with the fans, and he became one of those you love to hate. Even though it was neither high profile nor for a title, Neo's bloody and furious feud with Ronnie Long caught the eyes of everyone. He also started building himself an empire, bringing in MSWA wrestler Sebastian Lector as a bodyguard. Then there was his membership in Alexander Zanatos's Foundation – Neo joined as a third-in-command, behind Zanatos and Freddy Phoenix, but worked continuously to undermine Freddy, eventually putting him out of the game for 2 years following the TLC.

Neo suffered an arm injury after he lost the IWA Title to Adam Delicious, and frankly was never the same afterwards. Of course, Neo below his normal self is still really damn good, so take that as you will…
8. Jeffy Andrews Ah, where to start? Jeffy's backstory played a big role in his actions in IWA, and going through it all would take forever. The abbreviated version – Max Bryant talked him into backstabbing the Youngbloods, including his girlfriend Heidi, to open IWA. Andrews ran IWA during its early stage. He formed The Unforgiven (Canadian Psycho, Mike Destroyer, Paul Bunyan, Ronnie Long). However, his ego got out of control, and eventually the stable dumped him for Max Bryant.

Andrews booked himself in the main event of Outrage for the IWA Heavyweight Title, and subsequently won. But the title win just caused him to feel guilty about one more thing. This lead Jeffy Andrews into an emotional downward spiral that resulted in him selling his share of IWA to Alexander Zanatos, who showed his favor by trying to throw Andrews out of IWA, and finally succeeding by working behind Mr. Dude. Andrews then did what he was most famous for – tried to kill himself, but failed.

Yes, that was what really happened.

Anyway, Andrews came back to IWA trying to help Heidi win the CAL World Title… but he didn't manage that. So he focused on his tag team with Ronnie Long… only that tripped out of the starting block. And then, somehow, Andrews ended up as CAL President. Sam Carnage gave him the job. Although Andrews didn't spend a lot of time in the ring during this time period, he was sure doing a lot. Feuding with Daeriq Damien, then Max Bryant, then Ripper Longshanks… and then, pissed off over various things, he sided with Angelina Bishop to cheat the CAL. He handed it to her, and got the 51% majority share of IWA in exchange. He responded by pulling IWA from the CAL. Angelina Bishop responded by suing him for $20 million. Andrews, who couldn't afford a court battle, agreed to settle, and closing IWA was part of the settlement.
7. Kai Scott Kai Scott is known for a lot of things, a few of them good. He started as Mr. Dude's tag partner and sidekick, and was best known for killing Hulk Hogan in various creative ways. He once shot Hogan out of a submarine. He logged a paper Hardcore Title reign, and a Tag Title reign along with Dude. Then, having consistency problems in those days, Kai embarked upon a pattern of quitting, returning, winning a big match, flaking and quitting again.

Well, that changed in September 2002. Kai was siding with Mr. Dude in a feud against Dawn… only he backstabbed Dude and sided with Dawn. Under Dawn's tutelage, he beat Mr. Dude in a grudge match, and that same night, finally won the IWA Heavyweight Title in an entire fed ladder match. Soon after winning, Kai became involved in some controversy with Jack Cross, and he dropped the title, cutting a promo that set the CAL on its back for a week and got him his reputation as a complete loose cannon.

When he returned to the spotlight, it was on the same side as CAL President Jeffy Andrews, acting as an advisor… only that turned out to be bullshit, as Kai backstabbed Andrews and joined the Sinful eXperience. Only, THAT was the bullshit, as Kai was on Andrews side the whole time, and backstabbed the Sinful eXperience, killing the stable. He then joined NPW to fight the CAL, only to backstab NPW and side with Angelina Bishop and the new authority… only to backstab HER and side with Andrews as he removed IWA from the CAL. Some would even speculate that Andrews wouldn't have pulled that one off if not for Kai's influence.

With the closing of IWA, Kai Scott has announced his retirement. There goes one of the greatest heels that God ever blew breath into.
6. Big D Big D never won the IWA Heavyweight Title. What he did, was a combination of putting more into the IWA than anyone save Jeffy Andrews, dominating the IWA midcard for most of 2003 nearly single handedly, and winning the CAL Tag Titles.

D's original job was the workhorse of the Andrews/Bryant/D staff. He was cheated out of this position by Andrews, but managed to stick around IWA anyway, doing whatever he could do to help the fed that was 1/3rd his keep alive. D's wrestling career started when he sided with Max Bryant and The Inner Circle. It didn't take off, however, until 2002, when D participated in the 6 man tag match that would see Dawn become IWA commissioner.

Following this, D took a break, then formed his tag team with Impact. And with the tag division on a low ebb, this gave him that foothold into the spotlight that everyone needs. D and Impact held the tag titles for over 140 days [/b]– a reign equivalent to the IWA Heavyweight Title reigns of Heidi and Freddy Phoenix. Big D also won the South Atlantic Title for himself, beating off again on again rival Gemma Lockhart. D's break came when he and Impact managed to upset The Whiskey Devils to win the CAL World Tag Titles.

It was a record upset, and D and Impact would get a successful defense off before dropping the titles to Mind Skew. Following the title loss, D would fade out of the IWA picture to deal with real life.
5. Llewelyn Yr Penaig Llew would probably be higher up on the rankings if he'd been around longer. Of course, he won the CAL World Title (one of 3 IWAers to do so), so who's going to put him lower than #5? Llew came into IWA and threw himself into the Sinful eXperience. SeX was a stable formed in BWWa that spread CAL wide, and Llew's enthusiasm for the stable resulted in the IWA faction becoming stronger by far than the BWWa faction.

On his way to the top of the cards, Llew feuded off and on again with fellow Welshman Gazz Maybury, and with Heidi. He won the IWA Heavyweight Title in a 3 way dance with Cole Christenson and Deion Bonds, cheating to pin Cole… and promptly forming an alliance with the rookie monster to prevent retribution. Llew increased the size of IWA SeX to nearly 10 people, assimilating the entire World of Hurt. And he beat Flare to win the CAL World Title.

Then he dropped the title to Freddy Phoenix on his first defense, got stripped of the IWA Heavyweight Title for lack of activity, and eventually fired for failing to make scheduled appearances, so he's lucky he got as high as he did.
4. Craig Deids Say what you want about everyone involved in the IWA, Craig Deids did something none of them will ever do. Deids was FIRST. Deids was the ONLY IWA World Champion ever.

Coming into IWA as a complete unknown, one of the few non LBWFers on the roster, Deids stomped to a victory in his debut match. He continued to wipe the ground with the competition. Turning heel due to an incident involving reknowed all around dumbass Dynamite Danz, Deids allied himself with Daeriq Damien. At IWA Evolution 1, he defeated Freddy Phoenix and Brandon Pride in an Empire Deathmatch (triple cage plus weapons) to win the IWA World Title.

Deids would be attacked by Daeriq Damien and have his knee smashed, forcing him to drop the title. His career in IWA really wasn't very long, only lasting a few months. None the less, Deids' name is sure to come up any time someone mentions an IWA dream card.
3. D. Leprechaun Leppy the Lepster, as some called him, was one of the ‘other' IWAers. He came to IWA, and unlike them, made an immediate and resounding impact. Toting his gold plated sledgehammer Ycul (it's Lucy spelled backwards… get it?), he bashed his way into the FNL division and came up with the belt in short order. He dropped the belt to Tracy Richter after a brief but intense run, and then plowed right on up into the main event scene.

Lep's feud with Jack Cross was the stuff of legends in the IWA. They duked it out over the IWA Heavyweight Title, and Lep became one of 3 IWA Heavyweight Champions to ever retain the title successfully. Unfortunately, he suffered an injury during the match, after delivering a 900 diving headbutt to Cross. Lep attempted a comeback so he was not stripped of the title at the time, but when that fell through he was retroactively stripped of it.

Lep brought his unique sense of humor, his insane skill and his general all around kickassness to IWA. He made a comeback that wasn't to be, and he was – is – sorely missed by the IWA. Our hats off to you, Leppy.
2. Freddy Phoenix Freddy Phoenix has been called the IWA legend. He showed up in the LBWF, and joined IWA the day it opened. Phoenix was one of those guys who was very good, but not really that attention grabbing. He won match after match, and never got the damn opportunity he deserved, until by fluke, he was given to IWA champ Jeffy Andrews as a ‘warm up' for Brandon Pride. Phoenix won the belt then and there. Phoenix also defended the belt successfully, and lost it in a TLC match to Adam Delicious, Neo and Daeriq Damien.

Phoenix's early run saw him as the figure head of The Foundation. He kicked ass, took names, and feuded with Neo over rights to the top slot in the Foundation. Neo was responsible for the injury that put Freddy out of action for nearly two years.

Phoenix's return to IWA was in his grand evil manner, as he front suplexed Jeffy Andrews off a balcony in a true “holy shit” moment. But this time, he finally did what the fans had been begging him to do forever, and turned face. He stood up to Llewelyn Yr Penaig and the Sinful eXperience, and in the end took down the Welshman to win the CAL World Title and fulfil a dream. He dropped the CAL World Title to Flare, some would say undeservingly as there was interference from Llew and Cole Christenson, and the match ‘should have been thrown out'.

Phoenix nearly retired… but in the end, didn't, and instead went after Cole, attacking the Creole Colossus like no one before him. The IWA closed before Cole retaliated… and now Phoenix and Cole are taking it to MSWA to finish their business.

Many wrestlers are good. Freddy Phoenix was more than that.
1. Heidi Like Llew and Freddy, Heidi was a former IWA Heavyweight and CAL World champion. She was, at one point, referred to as the best wrestler in the entire Coalition of Affiliated Leagues.

Heidi's career started as an undercard novelty. She was no stranger to intergender wrestling, having teamed with Dawn in the tag team depleted LBWF. She became a more determined competitor after placing 4th in BOTR #1, coming down with a TV title shot against Paul Bunyan. She lost that match, but the path was set. Heidi defeated Russia to win the IWA Womans title. But in a historic decision, Jeffy Andrews declared that IWA didn't have enough Women for a division, and so the Womans Title was now a Cruiserweight Title, with Heidi still recognized as champion.

This is when it started. Heidi won… and won… and won… and won… and kept a hold of the Cruiserweight belt with a grip of steel. By the time she dropped it, throwing a match to Katie Weller to spite Jeffy over a dispute, she had the CAL's attention. Heidi still might have been content to be an undercard novelty… but then, Scott Anderson stepped in. Anderson was a womanizer from the invading federation CCW, and he badgered Heidi until she retaliated, beating him senseless in a kitchen.

The Queen had arrived. Heidi began her path to dominance. Stomping her rivals from the Cruiserweight Division flat, she nearly took the South Atlantic Title off Neo. Alexander Zanatos had the bell rung with Neo trapped in Heidi's inescapable ‘Beautiful Dreamer' submission hold. Undeterred, Heidi defeated Adam Delicious for the IWA Heavyweight Title a month later. She attempted to ‘turn heel' on Adam Delicious, but her popularity was at such a level that the fans were all “fuck it, I'm cheering her anyway”. Her title reign was, unquestionably, the best in IWA, as she retained the title 3 times - in singles matches against Neo and Kai Scott, and in a 4 way dance against Neo, Brandon Pride and Daeriq Damien. During this run, she obtained a shot at the CAL World Title. And as part of the proceeds, PSW's Lawrence Cheung smashed her knee with a pipe. Heidi did participate in that match, although she came up short. She then lost the IWA title, after beating Daeriq Damien and Mr. Dude in a 3 way match by DQ – Damien got DQed by smashing her knee up with a chair.

Heidi's return to IWA saw her lose her return match to Gemma Lockhart, setting off a vicious feud that culminated in a 42 minute Ultimate Submission match at Evolution 2 that's been called IWA's best match ever. Heidi won, 5-4, in overtime. It wasn't much later she upended Catastrophic Chris Kline of BWWa to win the CAL World Title… and unlike the other two CAL World Champs from IWA, Heidi retained, beating CSWA's Alex Constantine.

Like so many champions, Heidi's career faltered after she dropped the belt in a situation that doesn't bear describing. Back to back losses at CAL PPVs to Kline and Lawrence Cheung didn't help matters any. Not that she was useless in the ring – she beat Freddy Phoenix while he was CAL World Champion. Reunited with Jeffy Andrews, she was the part of the conspiracy to kill NPW that doesn't get mentioned, ‘pinning' Kai to kill NPW. Heidi is of course on the OLW roster, and is as succesful, and popular, as ever.