Front Row Wrestling

Front Row Wrestling was started by Scott C. Despres, better known as New England independent wrestler Maverick Wild, in 2003 and held its first show in Milford, New Hampshire, that year. When Steve Bradley's Wrestling Federation of America closed its doors a year later, the promotion became the sole wrestling promotion in the state of New Hampshire.[1][2] Although the promotion struggled financially during its first years, partly due to Despres' inexperience as a promoter, it eventually gained a small but loyal following in the Rochester area. The promotion not only established a home arena at the Rochester American Legion Hall but began touring cities throughout New Hampshire within two years. In the summer of 2006, they visited Claremont where it performed at a children's community center in Claremont Park.[3] That same year, they co-promoted an event in Gardner, Massachusetts, with the Eastern Wrestling Alliance. It was one of FRW's first successful shows, with a record 175 fans in attendance.

It eventually took over the WFA's former home base in Dover, New Hampshire, as well. This change influenced one of the promotion's earliest storylines, which pitted one-time WFA stars, known as the Dover Legends, against "heel" manager The Grand Wizard of Wrestling and his Stable of Assassins. Among its earliest stars were former WFA mainstays such as "The Alpha Male" Justin Powers and Antonio "The Promise" Thomas as well as Northeastern independent stars including Maverick Wild, Chase Del Monte, Tommaso Ciampa, Brian Milonas,[4] and Johnny Handsome. Handsome spent part of his early career in the promotion. FRW also developed a small women's division, largely dominated by Sarah Blackheart, Mistress Belmont and Vanity Vixxxen,[5] and would come to include Sara Del Rey, Mercedes Martinez, Ariel, Alere Little Feather and Awesome Kong. Matt Calamare, the only working deaf referee in professional wrestling, also frequently appeared for the promotion.[6]

In early 2007, the promotion was involved in a minor controversy with Rochester city officials when they suddenly shut down Rochester American Legion Hall a little over eight hours before the start of FRW's January 12 supercard "Friday the 12th". According to Despres, an estimated 90-150 fans were turned away. FRW was forced to offer a full refund for all the tickets purchased and was prohibited from running shows in the city until he was issued a special permit by the city council. He met with the council in May[7] and again in November 2007[8] in order to promote shows in the town. Meanwhile, FRW continued to tour New Hampshire, returning to Claremont in the spring[9] and looking into securing an alternate venue outside of Rochester. Eventually, Despres and the city came to a settlement allowing FRW the use of the Rochester American Legion Hall.

On June 23, 2007, FRW held its first card outside the New Hampshire area at the Memorial Ice Arena in Winchendon, Massachusetts. The main event featured a first-ever "champion vs. champion" match between FRW All Star Champion Kid Krazy and Granite State Champion Christian Angers. On February 8, 2008, Despres was a guest on the internet radio show Rumble Radio Online.[1] On June 11, FRW was one of several New England independent promotions which participated in a special benefit show for Brandon Cusick, a 5-year-old child diagnosed with leukemia, at the Bank Street Armory in Fall River, Massachusetts.[10][11] Seven months later in Rochester, on November 15, 2008, the FRW Tag Team Championship changed hands in a 6-person intergender match between The Pleasures of Pain & Mistress Belmont and Tony Star, Sethoran and Vanity Vixxxen. Also on the card, Shane Sharpe defeated Justin Shaype in a 2 out of 3 falls match to win the heavyweight championship.[12]

On July 31, 2009, on the first night of his tour of the East Coast of the United States, Antonio Thomas defeated Shane Sharpe in an Iron Man match in Rochester.[13] In addition to running shows in New Hampshire and Massachusetts,[12] FRW made its Vermont debut in White River Junction on September 25.[14] Tony Spencer, then FRW Granite State Champion, appeared on the October 10th edition of the internet call-in radio show Late Nite JengaJam. Among the topics he discussed included his thoughts on the death of Lou Albano, the state of the wrestling industry and World Wrestling Entertainment, and his own career in Front Row Wrestling.[2] On November 6, 2009, Maverick Wild was forced to leave FRW after losing to Bruiser Costa at the American Legion in Rochester.[15] Also on the card, Christian Angers & Stephen Marriott won the FRW Tag Team Championship from Shawn Sharp and Cameron Blaze, and Johnny Vegas defeated Sethoran to become the new FRW All Star Champion.[16]

On February 26, 2010, Despres announced the promotion would be forming a partnership with NWA Liberty States, formerly No Limits Pro, to promote wrestling events throughout New England under the banner of the National Wrestling Alliance.[17] Despres continued co-promoting NWA Liberty States with Joey Eastman for another year. The promotion was then taken over by Todd Sople, which left the NWA around this time, and relocated to Dracut, Massachusetts as Liberty States Pro Wrestling. In an October 2017 interview, Despres confirmed he would not bring back Front Row Wrestling due to his retirement and believed running an independent promotion in New England was no longer profitable.[18]

Maverick Wild

Johnny Punch

Alex Arion

Antonio "The Promise" Thomas

"Brutal" Bob Evans

"The Duke of Elegance" Don Chesterfield

Matt Taven

Taeler Hendrix

Male wrestlers

Female wrestlers

Stables and tag teams

Managers and valets

• FrontRowWrestling.net
• Front Row Wrestling, original website
• Photographs: Front Row Wrestling