This is the first in an eight part series on the dramatic downfall of Apartment Championship Wrestling.
The world of catfighting and specifically apartment wrestling has been scratching its collective head, wondering what has happened to Apartment Championship Wrestling. The promotion’s website has been moribund for more than a year and no new videos have been released during that time. The silence from ACW headquarters has been deafening leaving many to wonder whether the promotion is dead. That question is currently hovering over the promotion and its principle partners.
In 2010, Tanako X was on top of the world, leading the top catfighting promotion in the world to new heights. After years of success based out of Chicago, X took the promotion for a tour of Europe and Asia. When the company returned to the United States, X decided to move its operations to Miami, Florida. His reasoning was that there was an almost unlimited line of sexy women living near South Beach, many with dreams of getting into the world of entertainment. Also, Miami enjoyed a large Hispanic population and with the changing demographics in the United States, the company needed to make more of an attempt to appeal to the Latino community. Finally, because Miami is one of the great tourist spots, it would be easier to draw potential talent, fans and investors to the warmer climate. There were other reasons as well but these were the primary ones behind the decision.
The decision seemed to be an immediate success as the promotion announced its rookie class which included Megan Jones, Galas Looner, Katie Anderson, Katie Cummings, Kaila Ali and Kristin James. These women were rough and tumble fighters with no fear of nudity, willing to put it all on the line and do whatever it took to attain success in the world of catfighting. This same mindset, however, would ultimately send the promotion into a downward spiral that it is still trying to recover from.
Megan Jones and Galas Looner were the obvious immediate stars of the class. Megan came in with a great fan following in Miami, wrestling independently, modeling in the fetish scene and working her way into the mainstream local media scene. She was tall, strong and athletic, with augmented breasts and a great work ethic. Galas was a platinum blonde bombshell, with natural breasts and a phat ass. She also had a big following on the internet, having performed in balloon popping fetish videos.
Perhaps if these two had been the only rookies brought in, ACW management might have been able to retain better control over the roster and therefore its business operations. The two girls wrestled numerous times over their first year, pulling off four and five star matches. Flying back and forth between Miami and Chicago, they set the catfighting world on fire, making personal appearances throughout the midwest and wrestling in ACW arranged private matches for Hollywood producers and Silicon Valley heavyweights. With money raining down upon the promotion, X made the decision to expand the operations, adding Chicago-based veterans Rosario Delgado, Mandy Taylor and Diane Hunter and rookie All-American blonde Katie Anderson to the traveling tour. Things could not have been going better, but that is often what happens before trouble starts.
Back in Miami, Jen Capone and Katie Cummings had gotten restless and were yearning for the stardom that Jones and Looner were enjoying. The two were improving their wrestling skills, fighting against other ACW wrestlers as well as independent cat fighters in tryout matches for ACW. As their wrestling skills improved, so did their confidence. This extended beyond their wrestling, as they took it upon themselves to seek out appearance opportunities based on their being members of the ACW roster. After no-showing a few of these events, word got back to ACW headquarters as customers demanded refunds. In the midst of the most profitable time in ACW history, Tanako X was called back to Miami to clean these matters up.
X found things in disarray and immediately called Diane Hunter back from the tour and put her in charge as the head trainer and well as a 21st century den mother for the young performers. Hunter cancelled all appearances not sanctioned by the promotion but the negative experiences made their way in the Miami media machine. Several State and County commissions made inquiries into the matter and X made the decision to cancel the rest of the Midwestern tour as well as the impending tour of South America. He also suspended Capone and Cummings for 60 days.
Eventually things got straightened out and the promotion got back into gear. Megan and Galas were still tearing it up and Katie Anderson began a winning streak that had her in contention for the Inter-Condominium title. As more and more performers from the Miami area became a part of the talent roster, a number of Chicago based wrestlers left the promotion. Rosario Delgado and Mandy Taylor retired from apartment wrestling and Brycee Adams left to start her own short-lived promotion. Alex Del Monacco, the former ACW champion left the world of apartment wrestling and abandoned her burgeoning modeling and acting career and seemed to just disappear from the face of the Earth. The company had changed over the course of a year with only one constant on the roster… ACW Champion Daniella Cartier. Cartier, having been a multi-time champion, had gained a great deal of respect behind the scenes and ACW management had begun grooming her for a post-catfighting career with the promotion. Along with Hunter, Cartier laid down the law in the locker and maintained control of the girls on the roster. While this stabilized the locker room and kept the young girls in line, it also built resentment towards the champion and in the cattiness of the world of catfighting, that’s all it took to prompt some of the girls to get their backs up and revolt against the system. But not at first.
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