The early 2000s was an interesting time for wrestling. Fans were starting to come down from their Attitude Era high. Major companies were closing up, midcarders were retiring, and companies were starting up. We got the first version of Major League Wrestling, Ring of Honor, PWG, and TNA in those first three years of the decade. We also got some trash companies such as WXO.
I Know You Guys Remember WXO
If you don’t then consider yourself lucky. WXO was a largely forgettable promotion that ran about two or three episodes on TV. Then the roster. Have you ever gone to the store to find a particular product only to find that the product, its competitors, and the cheapomatic versions are all sold out. Gone!
That was the star power pool WXO entered in 2000. You show up for your Crest or whatever toothpaste and end up trying to do the thing with baking soda. WXO had a roster of baking soda and was trying to push them as top stars.
The company’s main event was made up of former midcarders from WWE and WCW. It used indy unknowns and future indy stars to fill out the bottom and the tag division. Let’s not forget that WXO brought in Ted DiBiase as the GM. Actually, he was announced as both CEO and CFO because why not.
I’ll say that the first show was the best one WXO put on. The other episodes had sparse crowds but that first one had a nice little crowd and some canned noise. I mean no one was going to be that excited and noisy for an opening match featuring Erik Watts and Zandig against Tommy Rogers and Adam Pearce—in January 2000.
The match itself wasn’t bad but c’mon now. They dropped that canned crowd and it was painful. WXO’s audience for this match should’ve been as hype as WCW Saturday Night tapings when High Voltage came out to wrestle. Some are excited by the crowd isn’t just buzzing throughout.
The Company’s Legacy in Wrestling
The promotion left no legacy! Barely anyone remembers it! Fans remember WOW more than WXO. They came on the same day (Saturday) and made up this five-show Saturday with WCW World Wide, WCW Saturday Night, and WWE Shotgun Saturday Night.
WXO just stunk up Saturdays. Yeah, I watched it. I was 14 and watching any wrestling on TV at the time. If I could, I would go back in time and tell 14-year old me “Find something else to do. WXO is trash and they never explained what the letters meant.”
The company did drop a few good things. I liked Barry Darsow being a major focus. Chris Cruise and Stan Lane were a solid commentary team—for what they had to work with. Also, WXO gave us a really bad discount Kevin Nash named Scott Nash. It wasn’t all bad. The good was still pretty mediocre though.
So, if you still don’t remember WXO, rejoice! The first episode is available below!
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