Dream Factory Wrestling

Table of contents
  1. History
    1. Before 2015: Local backyard
    2. 2015: The first shows
    3. 2016: The peak year
    4. 2017: Slower but bolder
    5. 2018: Final shows, on-line activity
  2. Scene relations
  3. Championships
  4. References
  5. Events
  6. All-time roster
  7. Gallery

Dream Factory Wrestling was a short-lived wrestling organization from Toruń, established in 2015. Widely considered to be just another backyard, they nevertheless managed to hold multiple showcases and events in 2016, before fizzling out at the end of 2017. DFW wrestlers were not trained by an experienced pro wrestler directly, nor by someone who received such training. Some of them later received proper training in places like PAW, but only after DFW dissolved. Dream Factory, unlike other backyards, did not do any sort of ultraviolent matches. They did dabble in hardcore wrestling, as several Street Fight-style matches were held, with kendo sticks, chairs, ladders and Legos.

History

Before 2015: Local backyard

Dream Factory Wrestling came to be as a result of two backyard organizations merging: Toruń Wrestling Federation (TWF) from Toruń, and BGW from Grudziądz. TWF started in 2011 and had some presence on the wrestling forums at the time. Facebook still has some relics of their fanpage, but none of their videos are available anymore. BGW is more obscure, and probably had no online presence.

2015: The first shows

The new organization named itself after its members' shared dream to be wrestlers, hence "Dream Factory". In May 2015, Chris Hunter posted about getting their own ring and holding a total of 10 training sessions before their first show in June that year.

2016: The peak year

DFW held 10 shows in 2016, some of them sideshows to community festivals in smaller towns and villages around Toruń. Others were held at various local high schools, often to an indifferent audience. In June, Norris joined their roster, appearing in every event since then. Rob Scaffold debuted in August, then Faust in November - all coming from the backyard-era PpW.

An interesting event was Lesson of Respect, with an audience of mostly schoolchildren, held in Toruń's historical Artus Court. Norris, a teacher in real life, was clearly the kids' favorite in his superhero character.

2017: Slower but bolder

The next year only saw six DFW shows, some with as many as five matches on the card (whereas in the previous years three matches were typical). DFW gained its first female wrestler, who debuted in the ring on their Valentine's day show. More characters from the Polish scene appeared: PpW's Steven Strong at that same show, later joined by Cade Bruce.

However, later in the year, two important characters left to subsequently appear in MZW: Charlie and Revage, the DFW Champion at the time. On October 29th, Hunter posted about the organization suspending its activity.

2018: Final shows, on-line activity

Despite the suspension, there were two small events held in 2018. One was a gauntlet match for the vacant DFW Championship, and the other, with only two matches, was a sideshow to a community festival.

On April 1st, 2019, the fanpage teased a comeback show, which would feature a tournament for a new Poland-wide championship, split across three cities: Toruń, Gdynia (KPW's territory) and Wrocław (MZW's), a reference to their own Tournament of Dreams which was split over two events in two months. The finale would be contested as a three-way match and a tournament ladder graphic was later posted. The event was to also feature a rematch between Hunter and Norris for the DFW belt, and Direk against Seagal for the FOW belt. This was obviously an April Fools joke, which did bring some activity back to the page. A later post explained that, and invited fans to follow some of the talent on-line in non-wrestling activities.

The Facebook page was briefly active again between 2020 and 2021, reminiscing about past events and re-posting videos.

DFW also had an online merch shop which, as of August 2024, is still available and appears to be functional.

Scene relations

DFW had neither the budget nor the recognition to afford any sort of foreign guests. On the Polish scene they were cooperating with PpW with some of their talent, notably Charlie and Direk, appearing in PpW's backyard-era events. At Recent Dreams PJ Blake had a comedy match against Amisz, at that time merely an Internet personality still to make his debut for MZW later that year. Direk and Charlie also returned to the new, more professional PpW after 2019.

After the organization dissolved in 2018, some unspecified wrestlers were announced to have joined the Polish Wrestling Academy (PAW), which is MZW's wrestling school.

Championships

DFW had one singles championship, introduced and awarded at the first (and only) Tournament of Dreams. The inaugural champion was Chris Hunter, and the final person to hold the belt was Norris.

Norris brought the belt to PpW, although it was never defended there. At some point the belt's faceplate was damaged, showing a large fracture line down the middle. The plate was also removed from the leather strap, which was reused for another belt.

References

Events

2018

2017

2016

2015

All-time roster