 Rotten at the York County School Of Technology in 2009 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Brian Knighton[1] (1971-04-21)April 21, 1971 Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.[1] |
| Died | February 4, 2016(2016-02-04) (aged 44) Linthicum, Maryland, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Heroin overdose |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Axl Rotten[1][2] Brian Knighton |
| Billed height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)[3] |
| Billed weight | 277 lb (126 kg)[3] |
| Billed from | "Hostile City" Newcastle, England[4] |
| Trained by | Ricky Lawless Joey Maggs |
| Debut | 1987 |
| Retired | October 30, 2014 |
Brian Knighton (April 21, 1971 – February 4, 2016), better known by thering nameAxl Rotten, was an Americanprofessional wrestler. In the early 1990s, he was a part of the tag teamThe Bad Breed withIan Rotten. He had a short stint withWorld Championship Wrestling in 1991, and was better known for his matches inExtreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) from 1993 to 1999.[1]
Bad Breed competed in ECW's tag team division in the early years of the company until the team was forced to disband after losing toThe Pitbulls and engaged in arivalry against each other thatPro Wrestling Illustrated namedFeud of the Year in 1995.
After an unsuccessful singles career, Rotten formed short-lived tag teams withHack Meyers andD-Von Dudley before forming Hardcore Chair Swingin' Freaks withBalls Mahoney in 1997. The team lasted until he departed ECW in 1999. He then wrestled on the independent circuit and appeared atWorld Wrestling Entertainment'sECW One Night Stand pay-per-view in 2005.
Knighton was trained to wrestle byRicky Lawless at a gym on Baltimore'sNorth Avenue, receiving supplementary training fromJoey Maggs. He debuted on theindependent circuit at the age of 17, adopting the ring name "Axl Rotten", aportmanteau of therockersAxl Rose andJohnny Rotten.[1] Rotten won his first championship teaming with Lawless to win the tag team titles in Frank Cain's Star Cavalcade Wrestling during the summer of 1988. He also succeeded Lawless as the promotion's heavyweight champion when, shortly after reigning champion Ricky Lawless was murdered, he won the vacant title from The Psycho inThomasville, Georgia, on November 30, 1988.[5]
In the early 1990s, Rotten trainedIan Rotten, who formed atag team with Axl, masquerading as his brother and taking his stage name fromCheech Marin's character inGet Out of My Room. The duo, known asThe Bad Breed, wrestled primarily in the Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation. Axl later opened his ownprofessional wrestling promotion in Maryland called Universal Independent Wrestling. The promotion featured wrestlers such as the Bad Breed,Bam Bam Bigelow andScotty The Body. It had a television series that aired on Saturday nights on the localABC channel. The promotion closed in the mid-1990s.
From 1991 to 1993, Axl and Ian Rotten had a run with theGlobal Wrestling Federation (GWF) in Texas, being featured on their dailyESPN show. While in GWF, Axl succeeded in winning both the GWF Commonwealth title and the GWF Tag Team Championship, with Ian Rotten.
In 1991, Rotten had a short stint withWorld Championship Wrestling (WCW), where he feuded withP. N. News. During his time with WCW, Rotten befriendedPaul E. Dangerously, the future owner of Extreme Championship Wrestling.[1][6]
In 1993, the Bad Breed were hired byPaul Heyman, the then-booker of thePhiladelphia, Pennsylvania-basedEastern Championship Wrestling (ECW)promotion as afan favorite tag team, debuting for the promotion atNWA Bloodfest on October 1 by defeatingChad Austin and Todd Shaw.[7] They made their televised debut on the October 5 episode ofHardcore TV, losing toBadd Company.[8] They competed in ECW's tag team division, where they unsuccessfully challengedTony Stetson andJohnny Hotbody for theTag Team Championship atNovember to Remember.[9] They were initially allied withTerry Funk until the team were sent toUnited States Wrestling Association (USWA) in 1994. Bad Breed returned to ECW on the June 21 episode ofHardcore TV, where they challengedThe Public Enemy for the Tag Team Championship, which Public Enemy retained as the match ended in a no contest.[10] Bad Breed defeatedHack Myers andRockin' Rebel atHeat Wave,[11] and then unsuccessfully challenged Public Enemy for the World Tag Team Championship in aBaseball Brawl match atHardcore Heaven.[12]
Bad Breed next entered a feud withThe Pitbulls, to whom they lost in a match atNovember to Remember.[13] On the January 17, 1995, episode ofHardcore TV, Bad Breed lost to Pitbulls in a rematch which stipulated that the losing team would be forced to break up. Both Rotten brothers blamed one another for the loss and Ianturned on Axl by hitting him with a chair after the loss, playing offreal-life ill feelings, arivalry developed thatPro Wrestling Illustrated namedFeud of the Year in 1995.[14] The former partners traded wins atDouble Tables[15] andReturn of the Funker.[16] They faced one another in a variety ofhardcore matches over the next few months, including ahair versus hair match atThree Way Dance,[17] abarbed wire baseball bat match atHostile City Showdown[18] and a barbed wire baseball bat barbed wire chair match atEnter the Sandman, all of which Axl won.[19] A reunion was teased between Bad Breed atBarbed Wire, Hoodies and Chokeslams on June 17, where they were supposed to take on Public Enemy for the World Tag Team Championship butBill Alfonso overruled the decision due to Bad Breed being banned from competing as a team.[20] Their feud finally ended atHardcore Heaven, when Axl defeated Ian in aTaipei Deathmatch.[21]
Following his feud with Ian Rotten, it was announced on the July 4 episode ofHardcore TV that Axl would receive his very first opportunity for theWorld Heavyweight Championship againstThe Sandman atHeat Wave, where Rotten failed to win the title.[22][23] Rotten then floundered in the mid-card, defeatingJ.T. Smith atNovember to Remember.[24]
Rotten lost to the debutingRob Van Dam in RVD's first ECW match atHouse Party on January 5, 1996.[25] Rotten would then team withEl Puerto Riqueño in a loss toThe Headhunters atBig Apple Blizzard Blast.[26] His failures in singles competition continued as he would lose against the likes ofJ.T. Smith,[27][28]The Sandman[29] andShane Douglas in subsequent matches.[30] Rotten began a rivalry withThe Full Blooded Italians, defeating FBI memberLittle Guido atHostile City Showdown.[31] AtA Matter of Respect, Rotten teamed withHack Meyers against FBI members J.T. Smith and Little Guido in a losing effort.[32] Rotten then formed a tag team with Meyers as they took onThe Samoan Gangsta Party atHardcore Heaven, which ended in a no contest due to interference byThe Gangstas andThe Eliminators.[33] AtHeat Wave, Rotten competed againstTarzan Goto in a losing effort.[34]
AtThe Doctor Is In, Rotten competed againstD-Von Dudley in a match which ended in a no contest after interference byDudley Brothers. Rotten left with D-Von after the match and formed a tag team with D-Von, thusturning into avillainouscharacter for the first time in his ECW career.[35] Beginning atNatural Born Killaz, Rotten and Dudley wrestled Dudley Brothers in a series of matches throughout the fall of 1996.[36][37][38] Rotten defeated his former tag team partner Hack Meyers atNovember to Remember.[39] Rotten and D-Von pursued theWorld Tag Team Championship, receiving title shots against The Gangstas on the December 10 episode ofHardcore TV[40] and The Eliminators atHouse Party on January 11, 1997,[41][42] but failed to win the titles. Rotten followed with a feud against Dudley Brothers memberSpike Dudley, whom he defeated in matches atWinter Blowout[43] andCyberSlam.[44]
D-Von Dudley went on to form a tag team withBuh Buh Ray Dudley calledDudley Boyz atCrossing the Line Again,[45] which broke up Rotten's team with D-Von and Rotten moved on to singles competition. Shortly after, he formed a tag team with newcomerBalls Mahoney called The Hardcore Chair Swingin' Freaks, thusturning into afan favorite again. The team began pursuing theWorld Tag Team Championship and feuded with teams such as Dudley Boyz,The Full Blooded Italians andThe Gangstanators for the title. Rotten made hispay-per-view debut atNovember to Remember, where Hardcore Chair Swingin' Freaks competed against Gangstanators, FBI and Dudley Boyz in afour-way dance for the tag team titles, where they were the last team eliminated by defending champions Full Blooded Italians.[46] Mahoney and Rotten often teamed with the likes ofNew Jack andSpike Dudley to feud with Dudley Boyz and The Full Blooded Italians.
Mahoney and Rotten were frequent contenders for the World Tag Team Championship but came up short in their bid for the titles. They received several title shots againstChris Candido andLance Storm for the tag team titles including one atWrestlepalooza on May 3, 1998, but came up short in their title opportunities.[47] Rotten was out of action due to injury in September and returned to ECW on December 4 by attacking Buh Buh Ray Dudley with a barbed wire baseball bat after a match between Dudley Boyz and The Gangstanators.[48] Hardcore Chair Swingin' Freaks would then challengeRob Van Dam and Sabu for the World Tag Team Championship on numerous occasions including theHouse Partyevent on January 16, 1999, but failed to win the title.[49] They also entered a feud withDanny Doring and Roadkill after beating Doring and Roadkill and FBI in athree-way dance atGuilty as Charged,[50] resulting in Mahoney and Rotten taking on Doring and Roadkill in a series of matches including one atCrossing the Line, which Mahoney and Rotten won.[51] AtCyberSlam, Hardcore Chair Swingin' Freaks and New Jack lost toMr. Mustafa and the Dudley Boyz in anUltimate Jeopardy match.[52]
AtAnarchy Rulz, Rotten issued a challenge toMike Awesome for theWorld Heavyweight Championship, right before theWorld Television Championshipmain event match but was confronted and attacked byImpact Players andJohnny Smith, who was the scheduled opponent for World Television ChampionRob Van Dam. Balls Mahoney and Spike Dudley made the rescue for Rotten by attacking Impact Players and Smith, resulting in Mahoney substituting for Smith and went on to lose.[53] Hardcore Chair Swingin' Freaks would feud with the likes ofThe New Dangerous Alliance and Da Baldies during the fall of 1999. AtNovember to Remember, the Freaks teamed with New Jack to take on Da Baldies (Spanish Angel,Tony DeVito,P. N. News andVito LoGrasso) in a three-on-fourhandicap match, which they lost to Baldies.[54] On the December 19 episode ofECW on TNN, Hardcore Chair Swingin' Freaks defeated Baldies members P. N. News and Vito LoGrasso in afalls count anywhere match, in which theloser of the fall would be forced to leave ECW, thus forcing Vito out of ECW.[55] Rotten wrestled his last ECW match on December 9, 1999, in which he and New Jack defeated Tony DeVito and P.N. News.[56]
After leaving ECW in December 1999, Rotten appeared withXtreme Pro Wrestling and the JapaneseFrontier Martial Arts Wrestling promotion. Rotten then wrestled on theindependent circuit throughout the early 2000s.
Rotten performed at the ECW reunion eventHardcore Homecoming on June 10, 2005, reuniting with Ian Rotten in a loss toThe Gangstanators.[57] At the follow-up event, November Reign, on November 6, 2005, Rotten defeated Ian Rotten in aTaipei Death match.[58] Rotten also wrestled at theExtreme Reunion event on April 28, 2012, defeating Balls Mahoney.[59] His last match was teaming with partner Ian Rotten defeating Peter B. Beautiful and Simon Seez in a Taipei Deathmatch at IWA Mid-South on June 14, 2013.
On October 30, 2014 Rotten's back gave away, and was left agony on the floor. He was hospitalized making him retire form the sport.
In June 2005, Rotten was temporarily hired byWorld Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) for its ECW tributepay-per-view,One Night Stand. He debuted in WWE on the June 6, 2005, episode ofRaw, storming the ring with several other ECW alumni.[60] At One Night Stand on June 12, 2005, Rotten, Balls Mahoney andKid Kash brawled withThe Blue World Order prior to the main event.[61] Rotten went to wrestle severaldark matches for WWE in July 2005.[62]
Rotten made a one-night appearance withTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling on August 8, 2010, at the ECW tribute showHardcore Justice. Rotten teamed with Kahoneys (Balls Mahoney), losing to Team 3D in a "South Philadelphia Street Fight".[63]
Rotten appeared in an uncredited, non-speaking role on the first episode of the showHomicide: Life on the Street, entitled "Gone for Goode", seen being questioned in "The Box" whileLieutenant Al Giardello givesDet. Tim Bayliss his introductory tour of the Homicide Unit.
Knighton was born in theFell's Point neighborhood ofBaltimore, Maryland. He attendedSouthern High School, leaving ineleventh grade to pursue his ambition of becoming a professional wrestler.[1]
Knighton experienced a spine injury in his final years that forced him out of the ring and required the use of a wheelchair. He was living in Anchorage Rehab Center inSalisbury, Maryland.[64]
Knighton was found dead by police in aMcDonald's bathroom next to the hotel he was staying at inLinthicum, Maryland, on February 4, 2016. An autopsy showed that Knighton's cause of death was a heroin overdose.[65][66]
In July 2016, his estate was named part of aclass action lawsuit filed against WWE which alleged that wrestlers incurred traumatic brain injuries during their tenure and that the company concealed the risks of injury. The suit was litigated by attorney Konstantine Kyros, who has been involved in a number of other lawsuits against WWE.[67] On October 21, 2016, it was revealed Knighton experiencedCTE.[68] US District JudgeVanessa Lynne Bryant dismissed the lawsuit in September 2018.[69]
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