Over the course of two days at EPW, the entire independent wrestling world was shaken due to the events that took place at First Nation Showdown and Last Stand. Our main event at the VFW in Kiln, MS featured the AIWF MidSouth Heavyweight Champion Cale Connors challenging Chief Attakullakulla, the reigning AIWF World Heavyweight Champion. The match ended in controversy as The Chief chokeslamed Cale Connors as Cale reversed the chokeslam into a DDT at the same time. Both men fell to the mat, laying flat on their backs, with an arm draped over one another. The referee counted the pin in hopes one man would get his shoulder up and avoid an uncertain ending, but neither man did.
We received word within minutes of the match's end that the AIWF Board of Directors made the knee-jerk decision to declare the AIWF World Heavyweight Championship vacant until a rematch could be held. AIWF MidSouth President Chris Black responded in turn to defend the honor of the AIWF World Championship, by holding the rematch the very next day in Bay St. Louis at Cricket's Honky Tonk in a No DQ match, saying there must be a winner.
The rematch was a nail-biter with Cale Connor's new associate, Daniel (formerly Danny) Daniels coming to Cale's aid at any moment possible, even setting up a makeshift table out of two chairs and a ¾ inch plywood board. Despite the interference, the Chief was able to finally defeat Cale Connors and re-earn the AIWF World Heavyweight Championship.
The controversy of the AIWF Board vacating the title instead of having the champion retain the title in such circumstances rippled through many other AIWF promotions, with the uncertainty of whether or not the AIWF Board may decide to vacate other titles at lesser whims.
During the week after the show, Chief Attakullakulla announced he would no longer be defending the World Title as an AIWF associate, but instead, has re-aligned the title with the newly formed United Independent Wrestling Associates, or UIWA, and has now declared himself to be the UIWA World Champion. Also joining him in moving to the UIWA is the AIWF North American Champion Diafullah Dobashi, now the UIWA North American Champion.
EPW has joined the newly formed UIWA along with numerous other promotions across the United States as well as affiliates in Australia and Europe. The man who was the AIWF MidSouth Heavyweight Champion, Cale Connors, is now recognized as the UIWA Southern Heavyweight Champion. This is a new association that has, in a matter of days, grown to match the AIWF, with the scope and ability to be the top-tier affiliation in the world.
We received word within minutes of the match's end that the AIWF Board of Directors made the knee-jerk decision to declare the AIWF World Heavyweight Championship vacant until a rematch could be held. AIWF MidSouth President Chris Black responded in turn to defend the honor of the AIWF World Championship, by holding the rematch the very next day in Bay St. Louis at Cricket's Honky Tonk in a No DQ match, saying there must be a winner.
The rematch was a nail-biter with Cale Connor's new associate, Daniel (formerly Danny) Daniels coming to Cale's aid at any moment possible, even setting up a makeshift table out of two chairs and a ¾ inch plywood board. Despite the interference, the Chief was able to finally defeat Cale Connors and re-earn the AIWF World Heavyweight Championship.
The controversy of the AIWF Board vacating the title instead of having the champion retain the title in such circumstances rippled through many other AIWF promotions, with the uncertainty of whether or not the AIWF Board may decide to vacate other titles at lesser whims.
During the week after the show, Chief Attakullakulla announced he would no longer be defending the World Title as an AIWF associate, but instead, has re-aligned the title with the newly formed United Independent Wrestling Associates, or UIWA, and has now declared himself to be the UIWA World Champion. Also joining him in moving to the UIWA is the AIWF North American Champion Diafullah Dobashi, now the UIWA North American Champion.
EPW has joined the newly formed UIWA along with numerous other promotions across the United States as well as affiliates in Australia and Europe. The man who was the AIWF MidSouth Heavyweight Champion, Cale Connors, is now recognized as the UIWA Southern Heavyweight Champion. This is a new association that has, in a matter of days, grown to match the AIWF, with the scope and ability to be the top-tier affiliation in the world.