The Birth and Legacy of XICW
I moved to Michigan, in the Metro Detroit area, 20 years ago this past summer. In August 2005, I was 26 years old, my daughter was six, and my son was less than one year-old. Their mom was just starting graduate school while I was teaching at two or three different universities, depending on the semester. Perhaps needless to say, we didn’t have much spare time for entertainment, so I had little to no idea how active the local pro wrestling scene was, and it was several years before I began regularly attending wrestling shows in Michigan. At the time, I had no idea that TNA Bound for Glory 2006 took place mere minutes away from where I lived. I was barely aware that WrestleMania 23 took place in Detroit, at Ford Field, in 2007. Professional wrestling just wasn’t in my periphery. But it wasn’t long before that changed.
Moving to Michigan reopened my eyes to so many things I loved while growing up in the 1980s and 90s, especially comic books, trading cards, and professional wrestling. Michigan, and specifically Metro Detroit, had, and still has, a thriving market for all of these things. Once I started to pay attention, I couldn’t believe how many comic book and trading card shops there were, and I was blown away by all of the opportunities to watch live professional wrestling. In addition to WWE, TNA/Impact booked dates in the area, Ring of Honor carved it’s own exciting niche in the Michigan wrestling market, and as for the local independent scene, there was a hot new company called XICW (Xtreme Intense Championship Wrestling), run by “the most dangerous man in Michigan,” Malcolm Monroe II, aka “The DBA,” the patriarch of the Monroe Dynasty.
XICW’s first event took place on October 15, 2000, at the Hot Rocks Sports Bar and Music Cafe, in Warren, Michigan, and while Hot Rocks is sadly no longer open, XICW is stronger than ever, and they’re putting together a big card for their 25th anniversary event on October 18, 2025, at the Premier Events Center in Clinton Township, Michigan.
XICW’s first announcement for their 25th anniversary event made massive internet waves when they advertised free agents “The Killer Smokeshow,” Scarlett and Killer Kross, would be appearing, resulting in a quick sellout of their first few rows of reserved seats. After this, XICW posted appearances by Trey Miguel (of The Rascalz), Simon Gotch (formerly of NXT’s The Vaudevillains), and Jimmy Jacobs, as well as XICW veterans Jack Price, Jake Crist, Jaimy Coxxx, Tommy Vendetta, MM3, Caden Monroe, and Soultaker, with more to be announced in the days leading up to the event.
The first official match announced is a throwback to the very first XICW main event in 2000, with a no holds barred street fight rematch between “Mr. Insanity” Toby Klein and the 51 year-old “DBA” Malcolm Monroe II, who’s been actively wrestling for 29 years, as of this past summer. In a video posted by Klein from the 2300 Arena, where he recently participated in the Gypsy Joe Invitational Six Man Tag Team Gauntlet, “Mr. Insanity” acknowledged the historic significance of XICW’s run of 25 years, and says he’ll see the DBA at “the scene of the crime,” and the DBA replied with his own video, stating, “We’re no spring chickens, but we’re gonna beat the f*ck out of each other.” Folks, somebody’s gonna get hurt, and it’ll probably be both of these men.
But the DBA isn’t the only member of the Monroe Dynasty set for action on October 18. DBA’s son, “The Second Sun” Caden Monroe, is scheduled for a one-on-one match against “The Vehicle City Villain” Aaron Orion. Caden is one of the younger wrestlers on the XICW roster, having only been wrestling for two years now, so he’s getting quite an opportunity to shine against the larger and more experienced Orion, on possibly the biggest stage of his life.
In a text conversation with Slam’s Brad McFarlin, the 20 year-old Caden Monroe said he wakes up and breathes pro wrestling.
He said, “It’s been in my blood for three generations,” including himself, his father (Malcolm Monroe II/DBA), and his grandfather (Sweet Daddy Malcolm Monroe), and he hopes to make that four generations, now that he has a son of his own.
Like much of the XICW roster, Caden was trained by Truth Martini, and he says he’s “in this business to be a storyteller. When I’m in a ring, I’m not just a wrestler, I’m an author of a story that the fans are invested in.” But in addition to this, the young Monroe says he’s dedicated to taking his family’s name “worldwide,” and put it “on the marquees in the biggest arenas in the world.” Caden said his goals right now are to “fight in ICW No Holds Barred, wrestle for the IWTV World Championship,” and eventually wrestle GCW’s Jordan Oliver, which his brother MM3 has done, but first, he’s going to have to face Aaron Orion.
Caden’s older brother, Malcolm Monroe III, aka “The Process” MM3, who’s been wrestling since 2011 and was also trained by Truth Martini, also has a match on October 18, tagging with Tommy Vendetta as The Pillars, against the team of Jake Crist and Trey Miguel. The Pillars recently main evented GCW’s latest Detroit show, Evil Deeds, on September 12, 2025 in a tag team deathmatch against John Wayne Murdoch and Reed Bentley, aka the Rejects, so MM3 and Vendetta, who regularly wrestle for Horror Slam and ICW No Holds Barred, among other local and national independent wrestling promotions, aren’t afraid to get bloody as hell, but in a match facing Miguel and Crist, this battle is more likely to be a high-flying, acrobatic spectacle, which MM3 can also do, but either way, this one should go crazy.
Other announced matches, so far, include XICW’s United States Champion “The Black Diamond” Jack Price versus Simon Gotch, an XICW legends match between LJ Lawrence and Andy Muscat, and a huge, 6-person tag team main event, featuring Scarlett, Killer Kross, and Jimmy Jacobs versus XICW’s “The Suicide Boyz” Adam F’n Wick, Thee Maxximillian, and Heather Blue. As she recently mentioned on the Chris Van Vliet show, this will be Scarlett’s first official match since she and Kross parted ways with WWE, so if I were a betting man, I’d place my money on Scarlett, Kross, and Jacobs.
Over the past 25 years, XICW has run a lot of memorable shows in and around Detroit, such as their historic return to Cobo Hall in 2017, where Malcolm Monroe II proudly proclaimed he was “the first Black man to run a pro wrestling show at Cobo,” and I’ve had the honor and pleasure of attending a number of these shows, but XICW’s 25th Anniversary event, on October 18, 2025, at the Premier Events Center in Clinton Township, Michigan, is primed to be their biggest and most “xtreme” show ever.
Limited general admission tickets for XICW’s 25th Anniversary can still be purchased while supplies last.
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