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Revision as of 10:36, 19 January 2011

New ERA of Wrestling
NewERA Sig
Logo (Jan 2010+)
Previous Logos
Neweraold
Jan 2004 - Dec 2006

Newnew
Jan 2007 - May 2009

Wfwne
Jun 2009 - Jan 2010
Federation Name New ERA of Wrestling
Abbreviation New ERA
Television Shows Cyberstrike
Time Open January 29, 2004 - present
Owner(s) EC Enterprises
President Marcus LaRoque
Commentators Natalie Newman
Jason Tripp
Headquarters Boston, Massachusetts
Federation Type Roleplay based
Pay-Per-View Schedule Premier Shows 4-times/yr
Website New ERA of Wrestling

New ERA of Wrestling (New ERA) is a professional wrestling promotion whose main headquarters are based in Boston, Massachusetts. The promotion was first formed on January 29, 2004. After a brief period of time as part of the WFW:NE organization (formed when New ERA and WFW merged) from June 1, 2009 to January 20, 2010, Marcus LaRoque, the owner of New ERA of Wrestling, announced on January 20, 2010 that New ERA of Wrestling was back in full force and would continue on with the New ERA Destrucity II pay per view. On the April 25, 2010 edition of RAUCOUS, aired 5 months later on September 3, 2010, the CEO of EC Enterprises appeared and revealed to LaRoque that the corporation had pulled all funding. LaRoque immediately filed suit in the District Court of Eastern Massachusetts. After a lengthy trial, the District Judge ruled in "LaRoque v. EC Enterprises" that EC Enterprises had every right to pull funding. The league closed on September 25, 2010. The second iteration of New ERA is scheduled to begin on January 29, 2011, even years to the day it began, and will begin to run as a smaller, Boston-based promotion.

New ERA of Wrestling

The promotion was created on January 29, 2004 with funding provided by EC Enterprises.

New ERA opened its doors alongside two other mainline promotions, Empire Pro Wrestling (EPW) based out of Houston, and the National Wrestling League (NWL) based out of New York. While Empire Pro remains one of New ERA's sister leagues, the NWL folded seven months after it opened due to financial difficulties.

New ERA merged with World's Finest Wrestling (WFW), a sister league, to operate under the banner WFW:NE on June 1, 2009. However, WFW:NE collapsed on January 20, 2010 when WFW pulled out of the merger. New ERA operated under its old name until September 25, 2010 when EC Enterprises pulled funding. At the time of the September 25th closing, there were two television wrestling shows, RAUCOUS and RAPTURE, with a third show on the horizon, four championship belts, and an active singles and tag team division.

On December 24th, it was announced that EC Enterprises had decided to fund operations for New ERA of Wrestling in 2011. After slashing the operating budget, New ERA announced its intentions to run a "season-based" promotion. No longer running a televised weekly show, but a webstream for New ERA Cyberstrike, a season would last six to eight shows with a set roster. The end of each season would be celebrated by a "premier" event which would be televised on ESENtv.

The first year (January 29, 2004 - January 28, 2005) ...

On January 1, 2004 EC Enterprises placed announcements promoting the creation of their first venture into professional wrestling. EC Enterprises, a venture capital company, placed an ad looking for a multitude of positions, including sixteen men's wrestlers and six men's tag teams. Their first show, RAUCOUS, was on January 29th, 2004 at the Worcester Centrum in Worcester, Massachusetts. While claiming to be a sell out, the company neglected to count the nearly 3,500 seats that were given away in a massive promotion by local radio stations. The actual number of sold tickets was 11,143.

The first big thing that New ERA did was the BattleBowl Mania tournament to determine which four wrestlers would have a chance to compete for the World Heavyweight Championship. There were eight teams of randomly paired wrestlers who competed in tag team matches. The four teams who were eliminated on the first show were immediately placed in a sudden death wild card round for the chance to win the Television Championship. As the shows moved on and two more teams were eliminated, those four men received "byes" into the quarterfinals of the Television Championship tournament facing the four men who survived the sudden death wild card round.

New ERA was plagued with inconsistent wrestlers, as is still the case today, during its first few shows. Superstars such as Pyro, who only wrestled 2 shows before being released, were not missed and easily replaced. However, New ERA took a giant hit when three superstars (Chris McMillan, Shawn Hart, and Scotty Michaels) decided to leave at similar times.

New ERA crowned its first World Heavyweight and Television champions at a special Champion's Crowning Edition of RAUCOUS from the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina on April 5, 2004. Larry Tact defeated Jonathan Marx, El Arco Iris, and Peter File in the BattleBowl Mania Battle Royal for the World Heavyweight Championship after tossing Jonathan Marx out to end the match in 29:23. Jean Rabesque, who came in as a replacement in the Television Championship tournament, defeated John Doe, who also came in as a replacement, by submission at 23:54 to become the first Television champion.

The World Tag Team Championships, though initially created at the start of the promotion's run, had not been officially incorporated until July 16th, 2007 at the joint showcase WrestleSTOCK pay per view where The Inner Circle and Bored of Edukashun battled to a double countout, leaving the championships vacant.

Fans consider New ERA's first year to be their most successful to date. In total there were 23 shows, including 2 pay per view events, that occurred. Due to New ERA's television contract with HBO that offered time slots sporadically, there was never a weekly wrestling show. Although the league's television contract was canceled in late 2004, the league maintained its sporadic television coverage when they signed a contract with on DEMAND.

The first year saw New ERA expand its wrestler base to more than 20 wrestlers. It also produced its television show RAUCOUS twice a month until September, which only produced one show, as well as October. November did not see any RAUCOUS', but New ERA came back strong in December with 3 shows, one RAUCOUS, one RAPTURE, and the third a pay per view.

The World Heavyweight Championship changed hands once as Jean Rabesque defeated Larry Tact in the main event of New ERA's first pay per view, Destrucity. The Television Championship changed hands multiple times due to several mitigating factors unrelated to wrestling. MWG ended the year as Television Champion, but the beginning of year 2 marked the return of the problems facing the Championship.

The first year also saw the debut of the Women's Division and the first Women's Champion. Karla Starr defeated Caitlyn Daymon in a Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal Gauntlet match at New ERA's second pay per view, BattleBRAWL on December 3, 2004.

The second year (January 29, 2005 - January 28, 2006) ...

The second year started off with a bang as New ERA RAUCOUS, just into the Canadian Invasion TOUR, took place in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. That show saw Television Champion MWG have his titled withheld by New ERA President Marcus LaRoque and New ERA Vice President Juliet Marceau as both his and Jason Payne's shoulders were counted to the mat after a German Suplex. Other incredible match ups included Caitlyn Daymon taking on Whisper in a #1 Contender's match for the Women's Championship, a shocking No Holds Barred Match between Chaos and John Doe which resulted in Doe being powerbombed into a truckbed full of manure, a highly competitive match between Mr. Entertainment and Cameron Cruise that also featured the debut of RAPTURE announcer Dean Julius, and a non-title Flag Pole match between Jonathan Marx and World Heavyweight Champion Jean Rabesque.

The Canadian Invasion TOUR led to New ERA's third pay per view, scheduled to take place in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Due to lack of finances and legal problems with on DEMAND, New ERA had a three month delay in putting out a show. The promotion promoted their RAPTURE and RAUCOUS shows in May of 2005 and headed into their third pay per view International Intrigue on June 20, 2005. International Intrigue saw the debut of a new championship for New ERA as the PRODIGY© Classic Xtreme (P©X) title debuted in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match between Chaos and Dallas Carter. Chaos won the match to become the first ever P©X Champion. The Television Championship situation was finally settled as MWG defeated Jason Payne in a Blood Frenzy Dance Party Death Match after hitting his Disappear Here DDT onto a chair he had just dumped toxic chemicals (from broken glow sticks) on. The main event saw a Chamber Cage match (two men start off and have to unlock their partners who are in separated chambers on top of the cage) between Jonathan Marx and the Masked Man against Alister Hayze and World Heavyweight champion Jean Rabesque. The surprise came when the Phantom Republican came out in place of Jonathan Marx and wrestled in the match (he had attacked and bound Marx to prevent him from wrestling).

New ERA would once again take a three month break before hitting the airwaves in September, putting on one last show in New Brunswick as well as the first RAUCOUS back in the United States on September 19, 2005 in Hanover, New Hampshire. This show marked the crowning of a new champion as The Phantom Republican defeated Jean Rabesque after surprising him with a roll up for the World Heavyweight Championship. It would be another four months after this before New ERA appeared on television.

Just after the crowning of the new year, January 5, 2006, Jean Rabesque announced his retirement from New ERA, citing frustration with the fact that he could not defeat the Phantom Republican. It is a long standing rumor that President Marcus LaRoque knew that Rabesque would retire from the promotion if he went ahead with plans to strap the Phantom Republican and did so anyway.

While New ERA managed to promote 23 cards in their first year of operation, the massive slow downs caused that production to drop to just 8 cards their second year.

The third year (January 29, 2006 - January 28, 2007) ...

New ERA kicked off its third year with a special anniversary RAUCOUS on February 3, 2006 back in the Worcester Centrum. The show is remembered for the unmasking of the Masked Man, a masked character who had been causing problems for former World Champion Jean Rabesque for almost a year. After losing to LoC superstar Turk, the Masked Man removed the mask to reveal himself as former World Champion Larry Tact.

Fans of New ERA were disenfranchised when the league took another five month break until their July 3, 2006 edition of RAPTURE, but New ERA assured their fans, their wrestlers, and their television advertisers that the promotion would work to remedy the issues that had caused the delays.

The Phantom Republican lost his title to 'Gentleman' Jonathan Marx on the 07.05.06 edition of RAUCOUS in the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in a Texas Tornado Tag Team match where anyone could be pinned and the person who won the fall won the title. Marx won after Phantom Republican got caught in the ropes and could not prevent Beau Michaels from submitting to Marx's Marxism submission hold.

The next pay per view was the second edition of New ERA BattleBRAWL. New ERA announced that the BattleBRAWL rumble would be open to any competitor who wished to enter, even if they were not a member of New ERA's roster. The winner would receive the BattleBRAWL Cup (trophy) as well as a title shot against the World Heavyweight champion at the card of their choosing. The event, held at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York saw Karla Starr retain the Women's Championship in a hard fought battle against Foxx, Larry Tact defeat PRODIGY© Classic Xtreme champion Chaos in a non-title match, while Shawn Hart, who had entered the ring at #1, ended up fighting his way to the end and winning the BattleBRAWL rumble. In the main event, World Heavyweight champion Jonathan Marx retained the championship after defeating the Phantom Republican. After the main event, the crowd were in shock when The Phantom Republican, who was walking backwards up the ramp watching Jonathan Marx celebrate in the ring, turned right into a steel chair shot .. from none other than former World Heavyweight champion, Jean Rabesque!

New ERA began its BEAT the HEAT tour in Miami, Florida with the 12.17.06 edition of RAPTURE. The BEAT the HEAT tour was their Caribbean tour as the league made its way to the Havana Harbor for their BANNED in the US pay per view. On the 12.19.06 edition of RAUCOUS, from the Thomas Robinson Stadium in Nassau, Bahamas, things took a strange turn. Jean Rabesque refused to talk to reporters, Larry Tact and the Phantom Republican battled it out .. and in one of the biggest events of the night, New ERA Vice President Juliet Marceau, who earlier had Marcus LaRoque sign "the usual paperwork," came out and announced that LaRoque had signed over to her the RAPTURE program. Marceau then announced that she was annexing the show and creating an all-female wrestling promotion called the VENUS Wrestling Alliance or for short, VENUS. Furthermore, Marceau announced that she had already signed Women's Champion, Karla Starr to become her first VENUS World Heavyweight champion! In the main event, well, the first it would be discovered, Mr. Entertainment defeated Daymon via countout. Daymon walked out of the ring after hitting the Brain Rocker Redux to the wonderment of everyone in the arena. The "Special Contract Signing" for the World Heavyweight Championship match between Jonathan Marx and Shawn Hart was to end the show. After signing the contract for Hart's Championship shot, Marx began to walk out of the ring.. that is until Hart stopped him and told him that the contract he just signed, was for a match then and there! Marx was terribly unprepared, and as a result, lost a hard fought match, and the World Heavyweight Championship, to Shawn Hart.

Marx would regain the World Heavyweight Championship 12 days later when RAUCOUS came from the Dominican Republic after defeating Shawn Hart in a FAO Scwartz, Dominican Style match .. where the two brawled through a mall in downtown Santiago. The event also saw the return of Peter File, the injury and subsequent departure of Trevor Cane, and the groundbreaking revelation that former World Heavyweight champion Larry Tact was preparing multiple competitor match for the recently announced joint showcase even by New ERA and their sister promotion, Empire Pro.

2006 TEAM Dupree Cup Champions

New ERA of Wrestling also participated in the TEAM Dupree Cup tournament where promotions from across the wrestling spectrum would send in four man teams representing their leagues. New ERA's team originally consisted of Larry Tact, Mr. Entertainment, Chaos, and HAL. However, Tact notified officials that he wouldn't be able to participate, so the alternate, Madonna Wayne Gossard (MWG) was tapped to replace him. New ERA went undefeated in the tournament and defeated Message Board Entertainment in the finals.

  • ROUND ROBIN RESULTS:
  1. New ERA of Wrestling - 7pts
  2. New Alberta Pro Wrestling - 5pts
  3. Empire Pro Wrestling - 3pts
  4. WarZone Wrestling - 0pts

Quarterfinals Round

New ERA received a bye due to the fact that they had their score was high enough to ensure the #2 seed in the tournament.

Semifinals Round

New ERA defeated A1 Entertainment by a score of 2-1 to advance to the finals. Mr. Entertainment and MWG defeated Troy Douglas and Andy Gilkison in the tag team match, Chaos lost to James Irish in a Chaos-chosen stipulation (since New ERA was the higher seed) where teammates would bring the weapons .. except A1E members were barred from ringside. In the tiebreaker match, HAL defeated Big Dog.

Finals

New ERA defeated MBE by a score of 2-1. Chaos and Mr. Entertainment defeated IrishRed and Whitenoise, MWG lost to the Spoiler in a Last Man Standing match, and HAL defeated Hida Yakamo.

  • HAL was named the 2006 TEAM Dupree Cup Co-Most Valuable Wrestler. The Spoiler, representing MBE, was named the other Co-MVW.

The fourth year (January 29, 2007 - January 28, 2008) ...

The 3 year anniversary show of RAUCOUS came live from San Juan, Puerto Rico and saw two four-man battle royal events. The first featuring Daymon, the Phantom Republican, Jean Rabesque, and Shawn Hart was dubbed "the CREME de le CREME" Battle Royal. This was because these four wrestlers had impacted the roster incredibly despite not being apart of the original sixteen on the roster. The second featured World Heavyweight champion Jonathan Marx, Larry Tact, Peter File, and a return by El Arco Iris (wrestling as Spectrum) for one night only, in a "BLAST from the PAST" Battle Royal. These four men were the same four who wrestled in the battle royal to crown the first World Heavyweight champion. The Phantom Republican won the CREME de le CREME battle royal, and Tact, repeating his prior performance, won the BLAST from the PAST battle royal. This set up a match between Phantom Republican and Tact to determine who would face Jonathan Marx for the World Heavyweight Championship. It was also on this show where Larry Tact began to hand out his invitations to the main event he was planning for the SuperCard between EPW and New ERA.

After Jason Payne tricked Tact into sliding an invitation meant for Shawn Hart into his locker, Payne and Hart battled for the chance to see who would actually be invited to the five man main event. Hart won the contest and reclaimed his invitation. However, Marcus LaRoque had other plans for Tact's event, and decided to place a sixth competitor into the match; Jean Rabesque. As it stood the main event included Larry Tact, Phantom Republican, Shawn Hart, and Jean Rabesque. Daymon was added to the main event at the RAUCOUS from Antigue and Barbados after Tact attacked him and dropped the invitation on his body. Also announced was that New ERA's World Tag Team Championship tournament, which had begun earlier, would be completed at the SuperCard, and the first ever World Tag Team champions would be crowned. In the main event between Tact and Phantom Republican for the World Heavyweight Championship shot, GOP defeated Tact after Marx came to ringside to distract Tact, allowing GOP to hit his finisher. All of a sudden the ring began to fill with the competitors as Shawn Hart, Daymon, Tact, Larry Tact and Phantom Republican began to fight in the ring. As the show went off the air, Jean Rabesque slowly walked to ringside and watched his future opponents.

That led to the final show before the joint showcase pay per view. On the 05.04.07 edition of RAUCOUS it was declared that the event would be a two-day affair and christened EPW / NEW WrestleSTOCK '07. After defeating Jonathan Marx in a Television Championship defense (Marx's name was randomly drawn as the opponent) on the RAUCOUS before, Mr. Entertainment came out and claimed that he was the World Heavyweight, Actually Defended, Actually Held TV champion. He brandished a new championship belt, which was a combination of the championships, even though Marx's World Heavyweight Championship was not on the line in their match. The WHADAHTT Championship, Mr. Entertainment claimed, was only winnable if an opponent defeated Mr. Entertainment, and pinned him and the World Heavyweight champion at the same time: in other words, it would never happen. Larry Tact also invigorated the crowd when he announced that the last person invited to the main event at WrestleSTOCK would be World Heavyweight champion Jonathan Marx. New ERA President Marcus LaRoque then came out and claimed that the main event would be for the World Heavyweight Championship, and unbeknownst to Tact, made it a Dueling Ladders match. This meant that there would be six ladders outside, while two briefcases would hang above the middle of the ring. One briefcase would hold the World Heavyweight Championship, and the other would hold a contract for a title shot at BANNED in the US, which is the event immediately following the joint showcase.

The last RAUCOUS saw the Inner Circle and Bored of Edukashun win their respective World Tag Team Championship tournament matches to face each other in the finals at EPW / NEW WrestleSTOCK '07. Also, in the lumberjack match between Jonathan Marx and The Phantom Republican, where the lumberjacks on the outside were their opponents at WrestleSTOCK, anarchy ensued after a helicopter dropped tons of thousands of dollar bills into the ring and the surrounding area. The fans, seeing the cash, poured over the security barriers that were set up and rampaged the ring trying to get as much money as they could. While the five other competitors ran up the rampway to get to safety, Jonathan Marx was airlifted out of the arena by the helicopter. The show ended as the ring collapsed from the weight of the fans who had piled in.

The joint showcase pay per view between Empire Pro and New ERA turned out to be a rousing success, but not without serious questions still unanswered. The World Tag Team Championships remained vacant as the two final teams, the Inner Circle and Bored of Edukashun battled to a double countout on Day ONE. However, after the Saviors of Wrestling defeated Jack n' Hoff in the #1 contender match on Day TWO, New ERA President Marcus LaRoque announced that the World Tag Team Championships would be decided in a three team Survivor Match at New ERA's BANNED in the US pay per view. A ring would be set up floating in the middle of the Havana Harbor and all nine wrestlers would be inside. The winning team, and thus first champions, would be the ones who tossed their opponents over the top rope and into the harbor. Both members of the team would have to be tossed over to be officially eliminated. In the other Championship match of the evening, the PRODIGY© Classic Xtreme champion Chaos defeated Trevor Cane in a barbwire baseball bat match to retain his title. Day TWO saw WHADAHTT Champion Mr. Entertainment retain over HAL. Afterwards both men brawled to the back causing LaRoque to once again schedule another match at BANNED in the US. Apparently annoyed at the fact the two men decided to brawl during the joint pay per view, LaRoque scheduled a Falls Count Anywhere on the Cruise Ship match for the Television Championship. Just when things were looking up, the huge main event featuring six ladders and two briefcases, one holding the World Heavyweight Championship, and the other a title shot at BANNED in the US, made the World Heavyweight Championship picture even more murky. During the match Brandon Jacobs, the manager of World Heavyweight champion "Gentleman" Jonathan Marx, appeared at the top of the scaffolding and dropped a third briefcase into the mix. During the ensuing commotion once Caitlyn Daymon came out and attacked Jacobs, the three briefcases became mixed and three men, Daymon, Marx and Larry Tact, each came into possession of one. Tact's briefcase held the championship shot, but both Daymon and Marx's briefcases held World Heavyweight Championship belts. The show went off the air with no explanation of what would happen at the next pay per view.

The lineups however did answer the question. The main event for BANNED in the US was a Triple Threat Elimination match for the New ERA World Heavyweight Championship. Under normal single elimination rules, the Championship could technically change hands during the match should Daymon or Marx be eliminated first. The winner of the elimination match will become the sole World Heavyweight Champion.

2007 TEAM Dupree Cup

As defending champions, New ERA officially entered the 2007 TEAM Dupree Cup tournament on July 26, 2007. New ERA's representatives included: Larry Tact, Shawn Hart, HAL, John Doe, and Jason Payne. Unfortunately for the defending champions, they did not make it out of the round robin part of the tournament coming in a disappointing third out of the three official teams in the division with only 2 points.

  • Tact was originally on the 2006 Championship squad, but pulled out at the last minute.
  • Payne competed for NFW in the 2006 TEAM Dupree Cup.
  • HAL was the only returning member of the 2006 Championship Squad, but pulled out after the 1st Round.
  • John Doe "replaced" HAL in the tournament.
  • ROUND ROBIN RESULTS:
  1. Empire Pro Wrestling - 6pts
  2. New Frontier Wrestling - 3pts
  3. New ERA of Wrestling - 2pts

The fifth year (January 29, 2008 - January 28, 2009) ...

Due to the political fall out of having their BANNED in the US pay per view in the Havana Harbor, the company was reportedly forced to cancel all events for six months as part of a bargain with the United States government for violating trade embargoes. As of January 28 2009, the company still had not aired the trouble-causing pay per view, and therefore failed to promote or organize any televised events thus far the year. Sources close to the organization have hinted towards a tight gag rule imposed by the federal government that prohibited the company from even speaking about the "ban." The pay per view and all the results had been a closely guarded secret. None of the results were leaked to the internet, which is something of an anomaly in current times.

The sixth year (January 29, 2009 - January 28, 2010) ...

While New ERA of Wrestling's main headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts were often times shuttered during the past year and a half, wrestling circles began to circulate rumors that the wheels were beginning to spin again. In March and April of 2009, Marcus LaRoque was often times seen flying to and from New Jersey, and Washington D.C. With the New ERA Headquarters up and running, fans were beginning to expect that perhaps the long awaited BANNED in the US results would finally air on pay per view.

They were right. On May 10, 2009, New ERA of Wrestling, through its parent company EC Enterprises, released a press statement inviting all to tune in to on DEMAND for New ERA's pay per view on May 13, 2009. On the 13th, before the taped results were officially released, LaRoque came on screen and finally cleared the air and confirmed what the rumor mills had originally thought. Bush Administration officials issued a cease and desist operations notice based on the organization's pay per view from Havana, Cuba. There was indeed a gag order. However, with the new administration coming to power, EC Enterprises was able to petition the government and received notice that their ban was essentially lifted. LaRoque thanked the fans and, almost two years after they were taped, the results for New ERA's BANNED in the US pay per view were played in their entirety.

On June 1, 2009, EC Enterprises announced that New ERA of Wrestling had merged with its sister promotion, World's Finest Wrestling to become the WFW:NE. The RAPTURE program was replaced with WFW:NE Almost Live, and the BANNED in the US pay per view was dropped in favor of adding two old WFW pay per views to the rotation: Merrython and Superbowl of Wrestling.

On January 20, 2010, EC Enterprises reverted the WFW:NE back to the New ERA name after WFW pulled out of the merger, days before the New ERA Destrucity II pay per view.

WFW:NE

The Announcement

The announcement recognizing and formalizing the merger between New ERA of Wrestling and World's Finest Wrestling was announced on June 1, 2009. The operating name of the promotion was revealed as "World's Finest Wrestling: the New ERA."

The organization announced on June 26, 2009 that it would be revamping the pay per view cycles. Instead of the five RAUCOUS cycles that New ERA of Wrestling had in between pay per view events, the WFW:NE would have four cycles. However, unlike New ERA, which did not offer the New ERA RAPTURE program every cycle, the WFW:NE would offer WFW:NE Almost Live all four cycles. There was also to be one WFW:NE Unplugged event per full cycle: taking place in between the 2nd and 3rd round of shows.

The company immediately crowned a WFW:NE Television champion in Mr. Entertainment when the company retired the WFW North American Championship. The company announced it would be holding unification matches at the first pay per view, WFW:NE Destrucity II for each respective organization's World Heavyweight, Hardcore-esque, and World Tag Team championships in order to have official WFW:NE versions. However, on November 20, 2009, the organization announced the retirement of the New ERA World Tag Team Championship therefore christening the WFW's versions as the official championships.

The organization, which had been not seen a show from either organization in two years, had a successful second half of 2009 after the official merging. From June 1, 2009 to December 31, 2009, the organization held eight wrestling shows, including two "live" events in the form of WFW:NE Unplugged.

The organization announced that it would be participating in an all-day wrestling extravaganza with Empire Pro Wrestling. The event would begin with the Aggression 50 supershow, celebrating 50 editions of EPW's Aggression television program. The fans will then be treated to WFW:NE's Destrucity II pay per view. Finally, in the evening, the two leagues will come together to compete against one another at EPW/WFW:NE Sin City Showdown.

Closure and Rebirth of New ERA of Wrestling

The league announced on January 20, 2010 that the WFW had left the merger. New ERA President Marcus LaRoque announced the official closure of the WFW:NE later the same morning. He also announced that New ERA of Wrestling was officially operational and would continue on with the storylines, including those that led up to Destrucity II. LaRoque announced that New ERA would be replacing WFW:NE as the partner with Empire Pro for Sin City Showdown.

With the closing of WFW:NE, the Television championship and World Tag Team championships would be reverted from WFW:NE to New ERA.

The seventh year (January 29, 2010 - September 03, 2010) ...

The organization celebrated its anniversary in a quiet fashion; no press releases were given and a small party was thrown in the corporate offices. All wrestlers on the roster were given a bonus for their continued support.

The year began with a bang as New ERA put on its New ERA Destrucity II pay per view from Las Vegas, Nevada. The event was a resounding success even though the lineups had to be heavily altered with the pull-out by WFW. The event saw Cameron Cruise lose both his championships, however, the New ERA World Heavyweight Championship remained in the hands of Shawn Hart. Following the Destrucity II pay per view, by only a few hours, was the EPW & New ERA present .. Sin City Showdown pay per view, also from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. This was the first time the two organizations faced off head to head. New ERA superstars Mr. Entertainment and "Mr. Old School" Steve Burke were victorious in their matches against their EPW counterparts, whereas former New ERA World Heavyweight champion Rocko Daymon lost a Career vs. Career Last Man Standing match against EPW's Stalker. In the War Games main event, New ERA World Heavyweight champion Shawn Hart fought valiantly after his teammates were eliminated and left him with a 3-1 disadvantage. Hart eliminated both the EPW Television champion and the EPW World Heavyweight champion before falling victim for The First, who secured the main event victory for Empire Pro.

The promotion was on the right track leading up to the 37th edition of RAUCOUS. The show was taped on April 25, 2010. Fans waited patiently for the results. They waited through May. They waited through June. Fans began to wonder what the problem was. On September 3, 2010 the show finally aired. It turned out, to the shock of all involved, that after the show ended (with Television champion Erik Black retaining his belt) that the CEO of EC Enterprises informed New ERA President Marcus LaRoque that the corporation was pulling all funding.

LaRoque v. EC Enterprises

Marcus LaRoque immediately filed a suit in the US District Court of Eastern Massachusetts. He first filed an emergency injunction to stop EC Enterprises from pulling all funding. The Judge denied the injunction. The court case dragged on for five months, draining the remaining resources of the promotion. On September 3, 2010, the US District Court ruled in favor of EC Enterprises and stated that the organization had "every right to use its funds as it saw fit, including pulling all sources of funding for plaintiff."

The two legal teams met with one another and hammered out a separation contract. EC Enterprises retained control of the New ERA copyright, including the RAUCOUS and RAPTURE brands. The championship belts were also given to EC Enterprises, as well as most of the staff. Marcus LaRoque was given control of the Cyberstrike brand as well as the remaining wrestler contracts. It is said that LaRoque has planned on using those parts of the settlement to being a new wrestling promotion, and is currently looking for financial backers.

The Re-Emergence of New ERA of Wrestling

As early as October 13th, rumors began swirling that the closure of New ERA was either a work or that the two brothers had amicably resolved their differences and decided to join forces once more.

On December 24, 2010, it was further reported that New ERA of Wrestling would indeed return, although in a much smaller manner than before. It would no longer be a national corporation, instead focusing solely on the Boston-area. Likewise, instead of running continuously, New ERA would run seasons, a series of six to eight shows, and that wrestlers would only sign on for one season and would have the option to leave, or sign on for more.

The eighth year (January 29, 2011 - present)

The second iteration of New ERA of Wrestling is scheduled to begin with Cyberstrike airing on January 29, 2011.

Champions

  • New ERA Championship: Shawn Jessica Hart, PhD
    • defeated Larry Tact in a Unification match at WFW:NE Unplugged in Birmingham, Alabama to become the sole New ERA of Wrestling World Heavyweight champion on August 27, 2009.

Defunct Championships

  • New ERA PRODIGY© Classic Xtreme Championship: Chaos
    • defeated Ashe Corvin in the finals of the Single Night Tournament after grabbing the championship belt in the HELLRAISER match at New ERA Destrucity II from Las Vegas, Nevada.
      • Championship was retired after the first iteration of New ERA of Wrestling closed on September 25, 2010.
  • New ERA World Tag Team Championships: Jack n' Hoff
    • defeated Cruise & PC after hitting the Sweet, Sweet Release on Cruise, just moments after Problem Child abandoned Cruise in the middle of the ring during their first defense as a team at New ERA Destrucity II from Las Vegas.
      • Championship was retired after the first iteration of New ERA of Wrestling closed on September 25, 2010.
  • Women's Championship / VENUS World Heavyweight Championship: Karla Starr
    • defeated Caitlyn Daymon after sliding into the ring right after Daymon eliminated another competitor during the Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal gauntlet match at New ERA BattleBRAWL on December 3, 2004.
      • Championship was retired after Juliet Marceau's all-female wrestling promotion, VENUS, closed its doors on January 29, 2007.

Programming

Events

Past Television Shows

Pay Per Views

Joint or One-Time-Only

Staff

On-Screen

  • Announcers:
    Natalie Newman
    Jason Tripp
  • Ring Announcer:
    Jamie Links
  • Back Stage Interviewers:
    Jennifer Harding

Off Screen

  • Owner: EC Enterprises
  • President: Marcus LaRoque
  • OOC Fed Heads: Sean Edmunds

See Also