[BYU 14]

December 1st 1997

Being a life long wrestling fan I like many others had grown sick of the big two. I grew up as a huge mark for the territory structure, following Georgia Championship wrestling and the AWA particularly closely. In my mind WWF and WCW had all but destroyed that legacy, turning Wrestling into a B rate soap opera. By January 1997 I had all but given up on Professional Wrestling, but a chance trip to a Bingo hall while in Philadelphia changed all that.

ECW Wrestling was all I remembered from the old days and more, compelling Matches, hardcore brawls and insane stunts, where the Wrestlers busted their Asses and risked their safety to entertain the fans, no matter how big or small the crowd was. I became obsessed with ECW over the next few Months and more and more the passion for the business returned….To the point where I wanted to be more than just a fan. ECW had inspired me to start my own Wrestling Company.

During the Summer Months of 1997 I sold off a literal lifetime of work, real estate holdings and developments that netted me roughly 1.5 Million Dollars. As I prepared to enter the business I was determined to open up shop as the last Company I had religiously followed, the now defunct AWA. Being as this brand was almost like a member of Gagne family, I was met with complete indifference and a terse “forget it” when I approached family Patriarch Verne. Luckily the tenacity that helped me succeed in the real estate business would come in handy here as well….After laying out my dream, applying relentless pressure and all but begging for the chance, Verne relented. The conditions were steep, One Million dollars for the brand, plus a 12 month buy back clause, in which the Gagne’s could return half of my payment, and force me to relinquish naming rights if I did had not acquired a TV contract and met certain other growth benchmarks.

With $500,000.00 left, I filed my articles of incorporation and on December 1st 1997, inspired by the critical success of ECW, and the lingering dreams from my youth, the AWA was back in name, now it was time to build a roster.

One benefit of the wrestling monopoly enjoyed by WCW and the WWF was the surplus of Wrestlers looking for a chance to either recapture past glory, or youngsters, hungry to prove they could make it in the business. I elected to build my initial roster using a combination of Veterans nearing the end of their Careers (for name recognition) and some talented young Lions, who could carry my dream into the future.