Xtreme Pro Wrestling
.jpg) | |
| Acronym | XPW |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1999 |
| Defunct | 2009 |
| Style |
Hardcore wrestling Sports entertainment |
| Headquarters |
Southern California Philadelphia Pittsburgh |
| Founder(s) | Rob Zicari |
| Owner(s) | Tom Byron |
| Parent |
Extreme Associates (1999–2003) Xtreme Entertainment Group (2004–2008) Big Vision Entertainment (2008–2012) Rob Black Entertainment (2012–2013) |
Xtreme Pro Wrestling (XPW) was an American independent professional wrestling promotion in Los Angeles owned by Rob Zicari. Zicari appeared on shows as the on-camera owner under the name Rob Black alongside his wife Lizzy Borden. The promotion focused on hardcore wrestling, and under Zicari, it had connections to the Los Angeles porn industry as real life owner of Extreme Associates. From 2000 to 2002, XPW held an annual deathmatch tournament called Baptized in Blood.
In 2002, Shane Douglas returned to XPW, and the "All-New XPW" was relocated in Pennsylvania. Thanks to promotional efforts on the part of Shane Douglas and Cody Michaels, the East Coast invasion featured XPW garnering some success in cities like Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
Big Vision Entertainment held two XPW reunion shows, Cold Day In Hell in May 2008 and XPW X in August 2009.
History
Original West Coast Edition (1999–2002)
| Xtreme Pro Wrestling | |
|---|---|
| Country of origin |
 United States |
| Release | |
| Original release | 2001 – 2003 |
XPW was founded in the summer of 1999 on the West Coast, particularly Los Angeles, California. The promotion based its style around hardcore wrestling, featuring many violent matches reminiscent of the Japanese death matches popularized overseas. In addition, XPW kept a huge focus on the soap opera aspect of wrestling, as the storylines involved porn stars,[1] alternative lifestyles, profanity, and sadistic violence. The first show was on July 31, 1999.[1] The announce team for XPW consisted of Kris Kloss and Larry Rivera, with Kloss doing the play-by-play and Rivera taking on the role as a heel color commentator. Kloss's trademark was screaming expletives or shrieking a high pitched scream when something shocking occurred in a match, typically ruining the effect of the high spot. Rivera often sided with Rob Black, and his trademark announcing consisted of referring to Kloss as "chico", using "chico" in nearly all of his sentences, and occasional wandering into Spanish announcing. In this period, the promotion's main stars were homegrown wrestlers, but many former stars of Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) passed through XPW following the fall of that promotion.
In 2000, Rob Black purchased six front row tickets for ECW's Heat Wave pay-per-view in 2000. The tickets for the show were given to a cadre of XPW talent, as their mission was to make it clear that ECW was on enemy's turf. At the beginning of the main event, the XPW contingent (The Messiah, Kid Kaos, Supreme, Kristi Myst, Homeless Jimmy and Kris Kloss) donned shirts emblazoned with the logo of their home company, gaining the attention of security and Tommy Dreamer. Security ejected the XPW group. A brawl in the parking lot then broke out between the XPW ring crew and the ECW locker room, but the XPW wrestlers were not involved. In the parking lot, several of the ECW wrestlers brutalized the XPW ring crew in a street fight until several of the ring crew members were left bloodied.[2] Initial reports claimed that Kristi Myst somehow touched Francine and that prompted the incident, but Francine herself has since gone on record as saying that she was never grabbed or in any other way touched by any of the XPW crew, and other eyewitnesses support the story that Francine never had a hand laid on her. Although fans did throw up the XPW arm signature, XPW was not officially acknowledged on the telecast. On screen Joey Styles, ECW's color commentator, stated during the incident "apparently The Sandman has shared a few too many beers with the fans at ringside" and "apparently a drunken fan at ringside put his hands on Francine." Also you can see Francine angry on camera due to being touched by XPW member, even though years later it was revealed that none of the XPW crew touched Francine.
Shortly after the ECW Incident, XPW would have their one-year anniversary show "Go Funk Yourself" at the Los Angeles Sports Arena on July 22, 2000. The main event being XPW World Heavyweight Champion Sabu facing off against Terry Funk. The event was considered by many a high point for XPW. Unfortunately, it would be four more months until XPW would put on another show. In that time period a failed attempt to bring in Japanese Deathmatch Pioneer Atsushi Onita for an exploding ring match.
One of the main storylines for most of 2001 concerned heel stable called the "Black Army". The Black Army was run by Rob Black, assisted by his wife (porn star Lizzy Borden), with their top star The Messiah and his feud with Sabu. Also, throughout most of 2001, another heel stable called the "Enterprise" emerged to eventually feud with the Black Army the following year. Originally consisting of former "Black Army" henchmen Steve Rizzono, Motivational Speaker TJ Rush, porn star Veronica Caine and GQ Money, the stable was completed at the Damage Inc. show when Kid Kaos won the brand new XPW Television Title, turned his back on his uncle, Supreme, and aligned himself with the Enterprise. After this surprise heel turn, Kid Kaos dropped the "Kid" from his name and nicknamed himself "The Rock Superstar" Kaos.
For a year, April 2001 to April 2002, XPW would run shows at the legendary Los Angeles venue Grand Olympic Auditorium. Although they would usually only get around one thousand for attendance for the shows there, which tremendously undersold the building. Such notable events were their two-year anniversary show "Damage Inc.", a double ringed War Games style cage match "Genocide", and the infamous 40 foot scaffold match between Vic Grimes and New Jack at "Free Fall". Also many big names debuted in XPW at the time, such as The Sandman, Vampiro, Konnan, Insane Clown Posse, and Psicosis.
At XPW's three year anniversary show, "Night of Champions" in July 2002, Shane Douglas made his return to XPW as the mystery opponent of Johnny Webb, winning the XPW title. Following the match, the revelation that Douglas and Lizzy Borden were allies emerged, which would crush Rob Black to the point that Borden inherited the power of XPW. The organization then based its operations to the East Coast in Philadelphia, PA at the New Alhambra Arena. The event also saw the Third King of the Deathmatch Tournament, which got released on home video as Baptized In Blood III.
East Coast Invasion (2002–2003)
XPW debuted at the former ECW Arena on August 31, 2002, at the Hostile Takeover event, and Shane Douglas was the promotion's focal point for the rest of the year. Controversy arose when XPW signed an exclusive lease with the New Alhambra Arena, preventing other independent promotions from holding shows at the venue. As XPW continued to run on the East Coast, the risque storylines were quickly phased out, and a majority of XPW's West Coast employees were not a part of the "All-New XPW." The relocation to the East Coast also resulted in many former ECW stars passing through XPW, whether it be on a regular basis or one-night appearances. At one point, Kris Kloss was dropped from the announcing booth and replaced with former ECW commentator Joey Styles. Styles, however, left the company in December 2002.[3]
They would eventually return to their home of Los Angeles for a few shows in early 2003. On March 8, 2003, they did a show in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which sold quite well (approximately 1,500 in attendance) mainly due to Pittsburgh being Shane Douglas's hometown. This would be XPW's very last show. There were scheduled shows in April 2003 on The East Coast. Supposedly tickets were selling very poorly prior to the event, then XPW announced they were canceling the event due to a storm that was not as big as XPW boasted to be on their website.
In April 2003, Rob Black and Lizzy Borden were indicted on obscenity charges due to pornographic material produced by XPW's parent company, Extreme Associates. Federal agents in Pittsburgh had purchased the offending material, which depicted scenes of rape, urination, and murder. The stress of the trial took a toll on the owners of the company, and XPW could no longer be subsidized financially. In January 2005, the charges were dropped but on December 8, 2005, an appeals court revived the charges (See United States v. Extreme Associates). Xtreme Entertainment Group (which later split into XEG and Big Vision Entertainment, the company of which XPW employee Kevin Kleinrock would later become Executive Vice President) purchased the XPW name and video library in 2004. The only XPW pay-per-view was "The Best of XPW", a compilation of highlights which aired in the Summer of 2003.
As of 2009, the first three seasons of XPW's weekly television series have been released on DVD by Big Vision Entertainment. XPW matches have also been extras on several other Big Vision wrestling DVDs, including Forever Hardcore and the Hardcore Homecoming series. Several XPW alumni worked for Wrestling Society X, which was produced by Big Vision Entertainment.
Cold Day in Hell (2008)
| Cold Day in Hell | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Theme song(s) | "Keep Moving On" by Five Victims Four Graves[1] |
| Information | |
| Promotion | Xtreme Pro Wrestling |
| Date | May 24, 2008 |
| Venue | Aviation Park |
| City | Redondo Beach, California[4] |
An XPW reunion show called Cold Day in Hell took place on May 24, 2008, at Aviation Park in Redondo Beach, California. Big Vision Entertainment released it on DVD and Blu-ray. The event was produced by Kevin Kleinrock, Mike Hartsfield and Kris Kloss.
| # | Results | Stipulations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carnage defeated Robbie Phoenix, Stepfather, Exciter, Sexy Chino, RCG Leroy and Youth Suicide[5] | Dynamite D Tribute Battle Royal |
| 2 | Nicky defeated the other contestants[5] | Miss Xtreme Pageant (hosted by Joey Ryan) |
| 3 | Kaos defeated Vampiro[5] | Grudge Match |
| 4 | GQ Money (with Bo Cooper) defeated Angel "The Hardcore Homo" (with Kraq)[5] | Rubber match |
| 5 | The Sandman defeated Pogo the Clown[5] | Singles match |
| 6 | Khan Kusion (replacing Sabu) and Homeless Jimmy defeated Raven and Johnny Webb[5] | Tag Team War with special guest referee Terry Funk[4] |
| 7 | Team Rev Pro (Ron Rivera, Disco Machine and Joey Ryan) (with Mr. McPhenom and CW Anderson) defeated Team XPW (Jardi Frantz, Vinnie Massaro and X-Pac)[5] | Six-man tag team match |
| 8 | Luke Hawx defeated Jack Evans and Scorpio Sky[5] | Triple Threat Respect Match |
| 9 | The Gangstas (New Jack and Mustafa) defeated The Westside NGZ (Big Rott and Chronic)[5] | Tag Team Match |
| 10 | Supreme defeated Necro Butcher[5] | Double Hell, Barbed Wire Chairs, Barbed Wire Light Tube Tables, Light Tube Table, Thumbtacks, Beds of Mouse Traps & Light Tubes Death match for the XPW King of the Deathmatch Championship |
Return (2009)
A second XPW reunion show called Ten Year Anniversary Spectacular! took place on August 22, 2009. The show and official website implied a full return for XPW, as "The Real Deal" Damien Steel was named XPW Commissioner and an XPW World Championship tournament began. Supreme also defended the XPW King of the Deathmatch Title against "The Artist Formerly Known As The Hardcore Homo" Angel.
Matt Cross and Scorpio Sky wrestled to a time limit draw, only to have Luke Hawx come out and challenge Matt Cross to put his XPW Tag Team Titles on the line (despite his partner Josh Prohibition not being in attendance). Cross accepted, asking Sky to be his partner. However, after Scorpio agreed, Luke Hawx revealed that Sky was in fact his partner. Luke Hawx and Scorpio Sky defeated Matt Cross in a handicap match and walked away as the new XPW Tag Team Champions, even though there were no physical belts.
Rob Black Returns (2012 - 2013)
In 2012, Rob Black regained ownership of XPW. Black talked about a relaunch of XPW and the return of live shows in 2013. A live show was announced in July 2013 for October 2013, but never happened.
Championships
- XPW World Heavyweight Championship (1999–2003)
- XPW World Tag Team Championship (2002–2003)
- XPW King of the Deathmatch Championship (2000–2002, 2008)
- XPW Television Championship (2001–2003)
- XPW European Championship (2003–2005)
Notes
- 1 2 3 Mackinder, Matt (May 22, 2008). "XPW heads back to Los Angeles this weekend". SLAM! Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
- ↑ http://www.trashtalkingradio.com/tt/2005/tt06-28-05b.ram
- ↑ "Joey Styles". SLAM! Wrestling. June 4, 2006. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
- 1 2 Marvez, Alex (May 22, 2008). "XPW brings in 'da Funk again - as a guest ref". Rocky Mountain News. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Nielsen, Kurt (May 25, 2008). "XPW return violent and emotional". SLAM! Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-08-09.