Ultra Wrestling Federation

The  (UWF), formerly known as NWA United, is an American independent professional wrestling promotion headquartered in. It is owned and operated by the husband-wife duo of Jeremy and Bonnie Richards, who previously served as bookers for the promotion.

The promotion runs two TV shows, UWF Wrestling, which airs locally on WHWN-TV and is carried nationally in first-run syndication in the United States, and UWF Scions, which airs nationally on Qubo.

Formation and early years
Frank St. John created the promotion in 1996 as NWA United after signing an affiliation agreement with the. He was backed financially by businessman, philanthropist and record label founder. The first events and TV tapings were held in August and October 1996. Matches from these shows were first shown in February 1997. The first NWA United Heavyweight Champion, "Bad Boy" Frank Ranford, won the championship in a tournament held at Port City Slam on May 18, 1997 in. The first NWA United Tag Team Champions were crowned in a tournament final at a TV taping on April 20, 1997 in, when The Bad Humor Men defeated The Flying Gilford Brothers.

NWA United promoted itself as a "no frills", family-friendly alternative to the adult-oriented, "mature" content of promotions at the time such as World Championship Wrestling, the World Wrestling Federation and ECW, running events with the tagline "No Anti-Heroes, No Ultraviolence, Just Wrestling." Play-by-play announcer Louie Herlihy would proclaim at the start of every show that NWA United was "old-school pro wrestling that's just the way you like it." NWA United's brand of old-school "good guys and bad guys" wrestling was in stark contrast to the pro wrestling norm of the time, wherein edgy angles, "tweeners" and anti-heroes had mostly taken precedence over clearcut heroes and villains.

Originally, the promotion's biggest towns included Wilmington, North Carolina, and. NWA United event tours also included smaller arenas, high school gyms and fairs in cities throughout, and. The promotion also ran a few house shows at the in.