EWF was founded in 1996 by Bill Anderson and Jesse Hernandez. The promotion's name comes from the Inland Empire, the popular name of the area surrounding San Bernardino.
They held their 20th Anniversary Extravaganza at the EWF Arena in Covina, Ca on May 6, 2016.
School of Hard Knocks
The EWF School of Hard Knocks is owned and operated by Jesse Hernandez and is currently located at the American Sports University, 399 North "D" Street in San Bernardino, CA. The School of Hard Knocks became the Official Training Facility of the National Wrestling Alliance in 2007 and has trained countless students from such countries as Canada, France, Australia, India, Great Britain, Russia, Mexico and others, in addition to those students who come to the school from all regions of the United States. The EWF's School of Hard Knocks has sent several wrestlers to prominent promotions across the globe including Melina, Rico Constantino, Frankie Kazarian, Awesome Kong, Rocky Romero, Ricky Reyes, Alex Koslov and Shelly Martinez. The School of Hard Knocks also has served as the training area for Chris Jericho, Layla, Eve Torres, Rhaka Khan, Lena Yada and others, who looked to brush up on their in-ring skills. The school and some of its students are set to be promoted in the upcoming reality show, "Slam School".
The EWF Cruiserweight Championship was introduced in 2004 and was won by Liger Rivera in a 4-Way match. It was defended from 2004 until it was retired in 2011. It had been featured in the EWF's Match of the Year in both 2009 and 2010. Ray Rosas was the last EWF Cruiserweight Champion. Also defunct was the women's championship belt. It has yet to be brought back into the company.
Annual events
The Empire Wrestling Federation previously held two annual events, the Great Goliath and the Inland Title Tournament. The Great Goliath is a battle royal, held in honor of the wrestler who trained Jesse Hernandez, the EWF's owner and promoter, it has been held during the EWF's Anniversary Extravaganza in May since 2006. The winner is awarded a shot at the EWF Heavyweight Championship.
Great Goliath Battle Royal
Won By:
Year Won:
Location:
Notes:
Anthony Idol
2022
San Bernardino, CA
Used his title shot against J2 Mattioli at Jingle slam 2022 & won.
Anthony Idol & Raunchy Rico
2021
San Bernardino , CA
This was for the Vacant EWF Tag Team championship.
Both men eliminated each other simultaneously, declared Co-Winners
Chris Kadillak
2010
Covina, CA
Devon Willis
2009
Covina, CA
Used his title shot at The Covina Classic, winning the match by countout against then champion, Brandon Gatson. Lost their rematch at Knockdown Dragout 3
Gave the trophy to Great Goliath's daughter, Paloma, and forfeited his right to a title match.
Inland Title Tournament / Series
Up until 2014 the EWF held the Inland Title Tournament. Originally conceived as a Round Robin Tournament it was later changed to a traditional single elimination format. The winner each year would receive an EWF Championship title match.
The Empire Wrestling Federation is always giving back to the communities it runs in. On March 10, 2012, the EWF put on a show for the students of Thompson Elementary School in Highland, CA. "Honestly, I see this as a way to keep the families engaged and involved," said Principal Funchess, adding, “This is just a great opportunity for Thompson families to come enjoy a positive event here at the school while supporting academic achievement.”[1]
In 2016 The Empire Wrestling Federation held an event at the Fox Theatre in San Bernardino to benefit victims of the 2015 San Bernardino Attack.[2]
Hall of Fame
In 2016, EWF announced its first hall of Fame inductees, who were inducted in its 20th anniversary show in Covina California. The first Inductees were:
Melina Perez — Former EWF women's wrestler, and former three-time WWE Women's Champion and two-time WWE Divas Champion. She is also the first woman in WWE history to have held both titles on more than one occasion.[3]
Bobby Bradley — The first EWF world champion who held the title three times.[4]
Frankie Kazarian — Former EWF world and Tag Team champion who is most famous for wrestling for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling where he was Five time TNA X-Division and three time TNA Tag team champion. He has held Ring Of Honor tag team championship once with Christopher Daniels and wrestled briefly in WWE.[5]
The 2017 class included:
Vizzon — three-time EWF World Champion and three Time America Champion despite being legally blind.
Awesome Kong — Former EWF women's wrestler, Former two time TNA Knockouts Champion, Knockouts tag team Champion, NWA World Women's Champion, WWWA world Women's Champion, and AWA Superstars of Wrestling Women's Champion as well as WWE Diva under the name of Karma. She was Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Woman of the Year in 2008
Jeff Walton — long time wrestling promoter and manager
