Elisar Cabrera, an independent film producer from London, England and best remembered by the wrestling community as one of the owners of Frontier Wrestling Alliance (FWA) from 1999 to 2007 passed away on Monday following a four-year battle with cancer. He had just turned 49 years old this past May.
This is Elisar’s wife @lisagifford. Lovely Elisar died this morning after a 4 year illness with cancer. I was fortunate and honoured to be able to hold his hand from beginning to end. He is finally out of pain. I’ve never met a braver man than my husband. pic.twitter.com/jPhhkDclr4
— Elisar Cabrera (is being shielded) (@elicab) July 20, 2020
FWA originally started in 1993 as Fratton Wrestling Association, founded by Mark Sloan, but it was when Cabrera joined Sloan as a co-owner in 1999, rebranding at Frontier Wrestling Association, that FWA began to make big moves in the UK indie scene. Up until that time, indie wrestling in the United Kingdom was very much secluded to the small venues, still recovering from the void created when World of Sport Wrestling ended back in 1985. The addition of a film producer like Cabrera to the ownership opened up new production that the UK indies hadn’t seen before and soon FWA became the only UK indie to have a television program. Early stars like Jody Fleisch, Doug Williams, Robbie Brookside, La Familia (Alex Castano & Jorge Castano), Five Star Flash, Zebra Kid (Roy Knight), and others helped bring a return to the excitement for UK indie wrestling fans, as well as bringing in North American imports like AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Chris Hamrick, Sabu, and Jerry Lynn.
As the promotion grew in stature, they began to showcase more of the rising stars in the UK scene, like Rampage Brown, Paul Burchill, Rockstar Spud, and others. The rise of FWA throughout the early 2000s helped create the blueprint that led to the formation of new promotions like International Pro Wrestling (IPW:UK, 2004), Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW, 2006), New Generation Wrestling (NGW, 2008), Fight Club: PRO (2009), Preston City Wrestling (PCW, 2011), Revolution Pro Wrestling (RevPro, 2012), PROGRESS Wrestling (2012), and countless others.
The influence of Elisar Cabrera in the UK indie scene was instrumental in getting indie wrestling to as many eyes as possible, and his love of film production expanded far beyond pro wrestling. In 1992, he founded the Raindance Web Fest, the UK’s first festival for independent digital and web series, which celebrates their 28th edition this fall. He’s also produced countless feature films and TV series in the UK, including Zombie Spring Breakers (2016), 3some (2013), Talking Who (2012), and many more.
Last Word on Pro Wrestling sends our deepest condolences to the Cabrera family, as well as his friends, peers, and colleagues in the pro wrestling and film community. Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.
Very sad to hear the passing of Elisar Cabrera after a brave 4 year battle with Cancer that you would never hear him complain about. A quiet, softly spoken man who as one of the founders of the FWA was in many ways responsible for a revolution.
— Andy Quildan (@AQuildan) July 20, 2020
Sad news today regarding the death of Elisar Cabrera, who had battled cancer for the past four years. An unsung figure in the growth of U.K. wrestling with FWA.
— Dave Meltzer (@davemeltzerWON) July 20, 2020
Saddened to hear today of the passing of Elisar Cabrera
He played a big part in the FWA, and in part with that one of the unsung heroes of British wrestling and helping it get to where it is today
Condolences to all his family and friends
Rest in Peace
— Mikey Van Riot (@mikey_van_riot) July 20, 2020
Sad to hear about Elisar Cabrera's passing, a man who had a substantial influence on British wrestling during its first period of real excitement after the World of Sport era when FWA was *the* place to watch in the European scene.
— Head Drop 🏳️🌈📸 (@theheaddrop) July 20, 2020
