In 1991, Rotten had a short stint with World Championship Wrestling (WCW), where he feuded with P.N. News.
In 1993, Axl, along with his brother Ian as the Bad Breed, was hired by Paul Heyman, the then-booker of Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) as a fan favorite tag team, debuting for the promotion at Bloodfest: Day 1 on October 1 by defeating Chad Austin and Todd Shaw. They made their televised debut on the October 5 episode of Hardcore TV, losing to Badd Company. They competed in ECW's tag team division, where they unsuccessfully challenged Tony Stetson and Johnny Hotbody for the ECW Tag Team Championship at November to Remember. They were initially allied with Terry Funk until the team taken off television in 1994. Bad Breed returned to ECW on the June 21 episode of Hardcore TV, where they challenged The Public Enemy for the Tag Team Championship, which Public Enemy retained as the match ended in a no contest. Bad Breed defeated Hack Meyers and Rockin' Rebel at Heat Wave, and then unsuccessfully challenged Public Enemy for the World Tag Team Championship in a Baseball Brawl match at Hardcore Heaven.
Bad Breed next entered a feud with The Pitbulls, to whom they lost in a match at November to Remember. On the January 17, 1995 episode of Hardcore TV, Bad Breed lost to Pitbulls in a rematch which stipulated that the losing team would be forced to break up. Both Rotten brothers blamed one another for the loss and Ian turned on Axl by hitting him with a chair after the loss. The former partners traded wins at Double Tables and Return of the Funker. They faced one another in a variety of hardcore matches over the next few months, including a hair versus hair match at Three Way Dance, a barbed wire baseball bat match at Hostile City Showdown and a barbed wire baseball bat barbed wire chair match at Enter Sandman, all of which Axl won. A reunion was teased between Bad Breed at Barbed Wire, Hoodies and Chokeslams on June 17, where they were supposed to take on Public Enemy for the World Tag Team Championship but Bill Alfonso overruled the decision due to Bad Breed being banned from competing as a team. Their feud finally ended at Hardcore Heaven, when Axl defeated Ian in a Taipei Deathmatch.
Following his feud with Ian Rotten, it was announced on the July 4 episode of Hardcore TV that Axl would receive his very first opportunity for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship against The Sandman at Heat Wave, where Rotten failed to win the title. Rotten then floundered in the mid-card, defeating J.T. Smith at November to Remember.
Rotten lost to the debuting Rob Van Dam in RVD's first ECW match at House Party on January 5, 1996. Rotten would then team with El Puerto Riqueño in a loss to The Headhunters at Big Apple Blizzard Blast. His failures in singles competition continued as he would lose against the likes of J.T. Smith, The Sandman and Shane Douglas in subsequent matches. Rotten began a rivalry with The Full Blooded Italians, defeating FBI member Little Guido at Hostile City Showdown. At A Matter of Respect, Rotten teamed with Hack Meyers against FBI members J.T. Smith and Little Guido in a losing effort. Rotten then formed a tag team with Meyers as they took on The Samoan Gangsta Party at Hardcore Heaven, which ended in a no contest due to interference by The Gangstas and The Eliminators. At Heat Wave, Rotten competed against Tarzan Goto in a losing effort.
At The Doctor is In, Rotten competed against D-Von Dudley in a match which ended in a no contest after interference by the Dudley Brothers. Rotten left with D-Von after the match and formed a tag team with D-Von, thus turning into a villainous character for the first time in his ECW career. Rotten and Dudley wrestled the Dudley Brothers in a series of matches throughout the fall of 1996. Rotten defeated his former tag team partner Hack Meyers at November to Remember. Rotten and D-Von pursued the World Tag Team Championship, receiving title shots against The Gangstas on the December 10 episode of Hardcore TV and The Eliminators at House Party on January 11, 1997, but failed to win the titles. Rotten followed with a feud against Dudley Brothers member Spike Dudley, whom he defeated in matches at Winter Blowout and CyberSlam.
D-Von Dudley went on to form a tag team with Buh Buh Ray Dudley called the Dudley Boyz at Crossing the Line Again, which broke up Rotten's team with D-Von and Rotten moved on to singles competition. Shortly after, he formed a tag team with newcomer Balls Mahoney called The Hardcore Chair Swingin' Freaks, thus turning into a fan favorite again. The team began pursuing the World Tag Team Championship and feuded with teams such as the Dudley Boyz, The Full Blooded Italians and The Gangstanators for the title. Rotten made his pay-per-view debut at November to Remember, where Hardcore Chair Swingin' Freaks competed against Gangstanators, FBI and the Dudley Boyz in a four-way dance for the tag team titles, where they were the last team eliminated by defending champions Full Blooded Italians. Mahoney and Rotten often teamed with the likes of New Jack and Spike Dudley to feud with the Dudley Boyz and The Full Blooded Italians.
Mahoney and Rotten were frequent contenders for the World Tag Team Championship but came up short in their bid for the titles. They received several title shots against Chris Candido and Lance Storm for the tag team titles including one at Wrestlepalooza on May 3, 1998, but came up short in their title opportunities. Rotten was out of action due to injury in September and returned to ECW on December 4 by attacking Buh Buh Ray Dudley with a barbed wire baseball bat after a match between the Dudley Boyz and The Gangstanators. Hardcore Chair Swingin' Freaks would then challenge Rob Van Dam and Sabu for the World Tag Team Championship on numerous occasions including the House Party event on January 16, 1999, but failed to win the title. They also entered a feud with Danny Doring and Roadkill after beating Doring and Roadkill and FBI in a three-way dance at Guilty as Charged, resulting in Mahoney and Rotten taking on Doring and Roadkill in a series of matches including one at Crossing the Line, which Mahoney and Rotten won. At CyberSlam, Hardcore Chair Swingin' Freaks and New Jack lost to Mr. Mustafa and the Dudley Boyz in an Ultimate Jeopardy match.
At Anarchy Rulz, Rotten issued a challenge to Mike Awesome for the World Heavyweight Championship, right before the ECW World Television Championship main event match but was confronted and attacked by the Impact Players and Johnny Smith, who was the scheduled opponent for World Television Champion Rob Van Dam. Balls Mahoney and Spike Dudley made the rescue for Rotten by attacking Impact Players and Smith, resulting in Mahoney substituting for Smith and went on to lose. Hardcore Chair Swingin' Freaks would feud with the likes of The New Dangerous Alliance and Da Baldies during the fall of 1999. At November to Remember, the Freaks teamed with New Jack to take on Da Baldies (Angel, Tony DeVito, P.N. News and Vito LoGrasso) in a three-on-four handicap match, which they lost to the Baldies. On the December 19 episode of ECW on TNN, Hardcore Chair Swingin' Freaks defeated Baldies members P.N. News and Vito LoGrasso in a falls count anywhere match, in which the loser of the fall would be forced to leave ECW, thus forcing Vito out of ECW. Rotten wrestled his last ECW match on December 9, in which he and New Jack defeated Tony DeVito and P.N. News.
In June 2005, Rotten was temporarily hired by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) for its ECW tribute pay-per-view, One Night Stand. He debuted in WWE on the June 6, 2005 episode of Raw, storming the ring with several other ECW alumni. At One Night Stand on June 12, 2005, Rotten, Balls Mahoney and Kid Kash brawled with The Blue World Order prior to the main event. Rotten went to wrestle several dark matches for WWE in July 2005.
On February 4, 2016, Rotten passed away.