Axl Rotten

Brian Knighton (April 21, 1971 – February 4, 2016), better known by the ring name Axl Rotten, was an American professional wrestler.

Rotten won his first championship teaming with Lawless to win the tag team titles in Frank Cain's Star Cavalcade Wrestling during the summer of 1988.

He also succeeded Lawless as the promotion's heavyweight champion when, shortly after reigning champion Ricky Lawless was murdered, he won the vacant title from The Psycho in Thomasville, Georgia, on November 30, 1988.

In the early 1990s, he was a part of the tag team The Bad Breed with Ian Rotten.

In the early 1990s, Rotten trained Ian Rotten, who formed a tag team with Axl, masquerading as his brother and taking his stage name from Cheech Marin's character in Get Out of My Room.

The duo, known as The Bad Breed, wrestled primarily in the Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation.

Axl later opened his own professional wrestling promotion in Maryland called Universal Independent Wrestling.

The promotion featured wrestlers such as the Bad Breed, Bam Bam Bigelow and Scotty The Body.

It had a television series that aired on Saturday nights on the local ABC channel.

The promotion closed in the mid-1990s.

He had a short stint with World Championship Wrestling in 1991, but he was best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) from 1993 to 1999.

From 1991 to 1993, Axl and Ian Rotten had a run with the Global Wrestling Federation (GWF) in Texas, being featured on their daily ESPN show.

While in GWF, Axl succeeded in winning both the GWF Commonwealth title and the GWF Tag Team Championship, with Ian Rotten.

In 1991, Rotten had a short stint with World Championship Wrestling (WCW), where he feuded with P. N. News.

During his time with WCW, Rotten befriended Paul E. Dangerously, the future owner of Extreme Championship Wrestling.

In 1993, the Bad Breed were hired by Paul Heyman, the then-booker of the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based Eastern Championship Wrestling (ECW) promotion as a fan favorite tag team, debuting for the promotion at NWA Bloodfest on October 1 by defeating Chad Austin and Todd Shaw.

They made their televised debut on the October 5 episode of Hardcore TV, losing to Badd Company.

They competed in ECW's tag team division, where they unsuccessfully challenged Tony Stetson and Johnny Hotbody for the Tag Team Championship at November to Remember.

They were initially allied with Terry Funk until the team were sent to United States Wrestling Association (USWA) in 1994.

Bad Breed returned to ECW on the June 21 episode of Hardcore TV, where they challenged The Public Enemy for the Tag Team Championship, which Public Enemy retained as the match ended in a no contest.

Bad Breed defeated Hack Myers and Rockin' Rebel at Heat Wave, and then unsuccessfully challenged Public Enemy for the World Tag Team Championship in a Baseball Brawl match at Hardcore Heaven.

Bad Breed next entered a feud with The Pitbulls, to whom they lost in a match at November to Remember.

Bad Breed competed in ECW's tag team division in the early years of the company until the team was forced to disband after losing to The Pitbulls and engaged in a rivalry against each other that Pro Wrestling Illustrated named Feud of the Year in 1995.

On the January 17, 1995, episode of Hardcore TV, Bad Breed lost to Pitbulls in a rematch which stipulated that the losing team would be forced to break up.

Both Rotten brothers blamed one another for the loss and Ian turned on Axl by hitting him with a chair after the loss, playing off real-life ill feelings, a rivalry developed that Pro Wrestling Illustrated named Feud of the Year in 1995.

The former partners traded wins at Double Tables and Return of the Funker.

They faced one another in a variety of hardcore matches over the next few months, including a hair versus hair match at Three Way Dance, a barbed wire baseball bat match at Hostile City Showdown and a barbed wire baseball bat barbed wire chair match at Enter The Sandman, all of which Axl won.

A reunion was teased between Bad Breed at Barbed Wire, Hoodies and Chokeslams on June 17, where they were supposed to take on Public Enemy for the World Tag Team Championship but Bill Alfonso overruled the decision due to Bad Breed being banned from competing as a team.

Their feud finally ended at Hardcore Heaven, when Axl defeated Ian in a Taipei Deathmatch.

Following his feud with Ian Rotten, it was announced on the July 4 episode of Hardcore TV that Axl would receive his very first opportunity for the World Heavyweight Championship against The Sandman at Heat Wave, where Rotten failed to win the title.

Rotten then floundered in the mid-card, defeating J.T. Smith at November to Remember.

Rotten lost to the debuting Rob Van Dam in RVD's first ECW match at House Party on January 5, 1996.

Rotten would then team with El Puerto Riqueño in a loss to The Headhunters at Big Apple Blizzard Blast.

His failures in singles competition continued as he would lose against the likes of J.T. Smith, The Sandman and Shane Douglas in subsequent matches.

Rotten began a rivalry with The Full Blooded Italians, defeating FBI member Little Guido at Hostile City Showdown.

After an unsuccessful singles career, Rotten formed short-lived tag teams with Hack Meyers and D-Von Dudley before forming Hardcore Chair Swingin' Freaks with Balls Mahoney in 1997.

The team lasted until Rotten departed ECW in 1999.

Knighton then wrestled on the independent circuit and appeared at World Wrestling Entertainment's ECW One Night Stand pay-per-view in 2005.

Knighton was trained to wrestle by Ricky Lawless at a gym on Baltimore's North Avenue, receiving supplementary training from Joey Maggs.

He debuted on the independent circuit at the age of 17, adopting the ring name "Axl Rotten", a portmanteau of the rockers Axl Rose and Johnny Rotten.