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On Episode 1 of Belts, Bumps, & Barbed Wire, I asked Shawn Hardy about working with the late Axl Rotten. Here’s his reply:

Brian Knighton was born in Baltimore in 1971 and grew up in the Fells Point neighborhood. He left high school in eleventh grade to become a professional wrestler. He took the ring name of Axl Rotten, an amalgamation of the names of Axl Rose and Johnny Rotten.

He started out on the independent circuit and formed a tag team called The Bad Breed with his kayfabe brother Ian Rotten. During his brief time in WCW, Axl Rotten became friends with Paul E. Dangerously (a.k.a. Paul Heyman).

Heyman hired The Bad Breed to work for ECW. After the team broke up, there was a feud between the Rotten brothers. Axl eventually formed a team with Balls Mahoney that was called The Hardcore Chair Swingin' Freaks.

Rotten appeared in a non-speaking role in the first episode of NBC’s Homicide: Life on the Streets, which was set in Baltimore.

On February 4, 2016, Axl Rotten was found dead of a heroin overdose. His former partner Balls Mahoney died on April 12, 2016, The families of both men joined a class action suit against the WWE over CTE-related issues.