After WWE purchased WCW in 2001, Jimmy Hart and Kevin Harrington helped launch the XWF, a short-lived promotion that featured the likes of Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper, Sable, AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, the Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs & Jerry Saggs), and more.
Former WCW ring announcer David Penzer was the ring announcer and a producer for the promotion.
Speaking to Jeremy Lambert & Stephen Jensen on The Spotlight, Penzer reflected on the launch of the XWF.
“A lot of guys flirted with the promotion [XWF]. The ones who went all-in, I’ll tell you from the very get-go, were Roddy Piper, Tony Schiavone, and Jerry Lawler, which is a whole different side-story. Although he did do the tapings [Lawler], a little inside baseball, Lawler had gotten offered his job back in WWF (WWE) the day before the tapings were scheduled. He took the job but he said he’d do the tapings because he was contractually obligated, which he was.
That was the beginning of Vince [McMahon] just saying, 'Alright, how many people can I purge from this promotion before they can get it on TV, and screw their chances of getting a deal?' It’s not all Vince’s fault by the way, or WWE’s fault."
Penzer continued, "Guys like Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan were a little bit more hesitant. Even [Scott] Hall and [Kevin] Nash came by a couple of times to the office. They were a little bit more hesitant to risk their name and their legacy on this promotion since nobody knew if it had a chance. I know before I was brought in Randy Savage flirted around with it. He stepped away right before I was brought in and before they decided that they were going to hire full-time staff and all that.
"Hulk flirted back-and-forth. You know, it was funny. In the boardroom there was a whiteboard, and I was the one who would write down people's ideas, matches, and storylines. There was always one side for 'If Hulk decides to do it' and the other side for 'If Hulk doesn’t decide to do it.' One day, Knobbs would come in and say, 'Hey man, I hung out with Hulk last night, I think I convinced him to do it,' and then a couple days later he’d be like, 'It doesn’t look good.'"
Despite holding TV tapings, the XWF failed to secure a television deal, leading to the promotion folding.
Penzer goes into more detail regarding the XWF in his new book Sitting Ringside Volume 2. Fans can order the book by clicking here.
Fans can watch the full interview with Penzer in the video above.
