Misplaced Pages

#166833

41-778: The Los Angeles Red Devils were an independent basketball team that played from 1946 to 1947. They were founded by sports promotor Jack Duddy and played out of the Grand Olympic Auditorium . Duddy also coached the team. The Red Devils were one of the first integrated basketball teams. Their players included USC All-American Eddie Oram , two-sport Indiana athlete George Crowe , and Jackie Robinson (both Robinson and Crowe went on to also play Major League Baseball). The Red Devils played exhibition games against National Basketball League teams, including winning one versus George Mikan ’s Chicago American Gears . The Red Devils were considered as an expansion franchise for

82-513: A few events in early 2003. On March 8, 2003, the promotion held an event in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania , which had 1,500 people in attendance, mainly due to Pittsburgh being Shane Douglas's hometown. This would be XPW's very last event; there was event scheduled for April 2003 but it was cancelled. Tickets for the April 2003 event were reported to be selling very poorly prior to the event, leading to

123-589: A landmark for boxing history. Charles Bukowski wrote about the Olympic: "even the Hollywood (Legion Stadium) boys knew the action was at the Olympic. Raft came, and the others, and all the starlets, hugging those front row seats. the gallery boys went ape and the fighters fought like fighters and the place was blue with cigar smoke, and how we screamed, baby baby, and threw money and drank our whiskey, and when it

164-569: A locally televised TV show, simply known as XPW TV . The show original aired on KDOC-TV in Los Angeles, California, but later switched to WBGN-TV in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, when the promotion relocated to that city. Following the relocation to Philadelphia, XPW TV would be referred to as XPW Monday Nightmare , with the television series airing on Mondays instead of its original Saturday night timeslot. In November 2002, Kris Kloss

205-492: A major focus on the soap opera aspect of wrestling, as the storylines involved porn stars , alternative lifestyles, profanity, and sadistic violence. The first XPW event was held on July 31, 1999 at the Reseda Country Club . The initial 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

246-495: A musical venue after 1980. This period in music performances began with a concert by the band Public Image Ltd. which was produced by Punk Rock impresario David Ferguson and his independent CD Presents production company. This was the first concert held at the auditorium since the early 1970s and is credited with beginning the Olympic's reputation for being a notorious Punk Rock venue. Thereafter legendary promoter Gary Tovar and Goldenvoice Productions started booking shows at

287-453: A promotion called MEXPW, which billed itself as a successor to XPW, was founded by Damián 666 and former XPW producer Mike Hartsfield. MEXPW later changed its name to MEXPRO Wrestling (MPW), this was a result of legal action from Big Vision Entertainment. During the summer of 2021, Zicari announced on Instagram and Twitter his plans to relaunch XPW. The first event of the revived XPW, Rebirth , streamed on FITE TV pay-per-view from

328-697: A third XPW reunion show, Perros del Mal vs. XPW: Xtremo y Sangriento , in August 2011. In 2021, after XPW was featured on Vice 's Dark Side of the Ring series, Zicari relaunched the promotion, basing it out of Rochester, New York . Xtreme Pro Wrestling (XPW) was founded in summer 1999 on the West Coast, based primarily in Los Angeles, California . The promotion based its style on hardcore wrestling , featuring many dangerous matches. In addition, XPW kept

369-583: Is an American independent professional wrestling promotion owned by Rob Zicari and operated by Extreme Gifts. The promotion is known for its deathmatch style . From 2000 to 2002, XPW held an annual death match tournament called Baptized in Blood, also known as the King of the Deathmatch Tournament. Zicari originally ran the promotion out of Los Angeles from 1999 to 2002. He appeared on shows as

410-654: The Insane Clown Posse , and Psicosis . At XPW's third-anniversary event, Night of Champions in July 2002, Shane Douglas made his return to XPW as the mystery opponent of Johnny Webb, winning the XPW World title. The event also saw the XPW's third King of the Deathmatch Tournament, matches from which got released on home video as Baptized In Blood III . Douglas would work as both an in-ring performer and booker for

451-750: The Main Street Armory in Rochester, New York on November 7, 2021. Eight wrestlers competed during the event in a traditional single-elimination tournament for the then-vacated XPW World Heavyweight Championship , which was won by Brian Cage . XPW's Killifornia event took place at the Derby Room in Pomona, California on April 9, 2022. During the event, sixteen wrestlers competed in Baptized in Blood, XPW's signature deathmatch tournament, for

SECTION 10

#1732783623167

492-660: The XPW King of the Deathmatch Championship . The tournament was won by Shlak. Beautiful Disaster took place on June 25 and featured an eight-woman tournament to determine the first holder of the XPW Women's Championship. In the tournament final, Taya Valkyrie defeated Kamille Brickhouse , Ludark Shaitan, and Sage Sin Supreme in a ladder match to win the title. From April 2000 until March 2003, XPW ran

533-550: The "All-New XPW" to his home state of Pennsylvania . Credited to the promotional efforts of Douglas and Cody Michaels , XPW's East Coast move was initially successful in cities like Philadelphia and Pittsburgh before, ultimately, being deemed a failure and contributing to the promotion's closure in 2003. After the promotion became defunct, Big Vision Entertainment held two XPW reunion shows, Cold Day In Hell in May 2008 and XPW X in August 2009. Perros del Mal Producciones held

574-687: The ECW Arena, preventing other independent promotions from holding events at the venue. As XPW continued to run on the East Coast, the risqué storylines were quickly phased out, and a majority of XPW's West Coast employees were not a part of the East Coast-based "All-New XPW." The relocation to the East Coast also resulted in more former ECW stars passing through XPW, whether it be on a regular basis or one-night appearances. XPW would eventually return to their former home of Los Angeles for

615-595: The Enterprise emerged and would 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 G. Q. Money , the stable became fully formed at the Damage Inc. event when Kid Kaos won the newly created XPW Television Championship and turned his back on his uncle Supreme, aligning himself with

656-561: 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, from April 2001 to April 2002, XPW ran events at Los Angeles' Grand Olympic Auditorium . Notable events during this period, included Genocide , which featured a double-ringed WarGames-style cage match and Free Fall , which included the infamous 40-foot scaffold match between Vic Grimes and New Jack . Many marquee names debuted in XPW during these events, such as The Sandman , Vampiro , Konnan ,

697-634: The Grand Olympic Auditorium where New Jack tossed Vic Grimes off a 40-foot scaffold. Wrestling legends such as Jim Londos, Joe Stecher, Ed "Strangler" Lewis, Gus Sonnenberg, Ray Steele, Frank Sexton, Man Mountain Dean, Everett Marshall, Ed Don George, Enrique Torres, Baron Michele Leone, Freddie Blassie , John Tolos , Buddy Roberts , The Sheik , Fritz Von Erich , Gorgeous George , The Great Goliath, Black Gordman, Bobo Brazil , Buddy Rogers , Roddy Piper and Chris Adams competed in

738-481: The National Basketball League, but that didn’t happen and the team folded. Grand Olympic Auditorium Seating capacity in the 1920s and 1930s was 10,400. In 1936 it had more gate entries than Chicago Stadium and Madison Square Garden combined, and had about double the ticket sales of rival Hollywood Legion Stadium . Throughout the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s it was home to some of

779-668: The Olympic Auditorium for their music videos. Below are a few named who have used the venue. Rage Against the Machine played their final show in September 2000 at the Olympic Auditorium before their break-up a month later. The concert was filmed and later released in 2003 as a DVD and CD Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium . In 2005, the Glory Church of Jesus Christ, a Korean-American Christian church, purchased

820-524: The Olympic Auditorium was host to many music concerts and shows, as well as boxing and wrestling. The arena is famous for its box office number "RI-9-5171" (213) 749-5171 which is no longer in use. As far back as 1951, there had been rhythm and blues concerts at the Grand Olympic. In 1969-70, The Grand Olympic Auditorium hosted concerts by hard rock acts such as Mountain , Jack Bruce , and Ten Years After . It would be used more extensively as

861-542: The XPW contingent and members of the ECW roster, which spilt out into the parking lot of the venue. Shortly after the ECW incident, XPW had their first-anniversary event, Go Funk Yourself , at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena on July 22, 2000. The main event saw XPW World Heavyweight Champion Sabu defeat Terry Funk . The event was considered by many as a high point for XPW; though it

SECTION 20

#1732783623167

902-648: The arena at one point in their careers, along with the legendary Lou Thesz , Mil Mascaras and André the Giant . Adams was one of the last big draws at the Olympic before promoters Mike Le Bell and Gene LeBell ended its wrestling cards in 1982. Adams went to Portland afterwards and eventually to Dallas to join Fritz Von Erich 's World Class Championship Wrestling , as the sport's top wrestling city shifted from Los Angeles to Dallas and Atlanta before Vince McMahon's WWF reached national prominence. Until 2005,

943-399: The arena floor, which measured 12,100 square feet (110' by 110'). Throughout the early and mid 1990s, the venue was often the host of many large, all-night rave parties, often held outdoors in the back parking lot, as well as inside the auditorium. On New Year's Eve of 1996/1997, a large-scale rave called In Seventh Heaven was being held at the Olympic. Dozens of people had to be taken to

984-529: The biggest boxing, wrestling, and roller derby events. The Auditorium was leased by the 1932 Summer Olympics Organizing Committee for a very nominal sum sufficient to cover expenses, for the purpose of conducting the training and competitions of the boxing , wrestling and weightlifting events of the Games. At the time it was the largest indoor venue in the United States . It has become somewhat of

1025-596: The boom of the professional wrestling era began. This was when the wrestling scene shifted from Los Angeles to Dallas' World Class, Minneapolis' AWA , Jim Crockett Promotions Mid-Atlantic/NWA, and Stamford's WWF, now known as the WWE . It reopened in 1993, but the capacity was reduced from 10,400 to just over 7,300. In the 2000s the Auditorium sat 7,030 for boxing and wrestling, 4,514 for seated concerts, and 7,007 for general admission concerts. Up to 773 seats could be put on

1066-535: The entire event and its 45-minute pre-show. A second reunion show, called Ten Year Anniversary Spectacular , was held on August 22, 2009. A third and final XPW reunion show, called Perros del Mal vs. XPW: Xtremo y Sangriento was held on August 20, 2011. The show was a co-promoted event with the Perros del Mal promotion in Tultitlan, Mexico . In the aftermath of Perros del Mal vs. XPW: Xtremo y Sangriento ,

1107-578: The entire property. Although the name Grand Olympic Auditorium ceased to exist, many locals and longtime residents of Los Angeles still refer to the property by its former names. In 2007, the arena was given a new facelift back to its original brown coat of paint that was abandoned in 1993 when the arena reopened. Films and TV series with scenes shot at the Grand Olympic Auditorium include: 34°02′03″N 118°16′05″W  /  34.0341°N 118.2680°W  / 34.0341; -118.2680 Xtreme Pro Wrestling Xtreme Pro Wrestling ( XPW )

1148-498: The event being cancelled, though XPW announced they were canceling the event due to a large storm. 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 trial took a financial toll on Black and Borden, and

1189-426: The fall of that promotion. In July 2000, ECW made its West Coast debut, holding its annual summer pay-per-view Heat Wave in Los Angeles, California. Rob Black purchased six front row tickets and sent The Messiah , Kid Kaos, Supreme, Kristi Myst , Homeless Jimmy, and Kris Kloss to attend the show. Prior to the main event, the XPW crew began disrupting the show, which led to a legitimate out-of-character brawl between

1230-468: The hospital from a suspected overdose of a legal high called Liquid fX, which was being handed out at the party. The event which had already gathered over 10,000 ravers was shut down by the LAPD before midnight, sending much of the crowd into the street, where a melee broke out between upset revelers and riot police. On July 16, 2000, ECW held its Heatwave pay-per-view at the Grand Olympic Auditorium. It

1271-472: The on-camera owner under the ring name Rob Black alongside his then-wife Lizzy Borden . The promotion focused on hardcore wrestling and had connections to the Los Angeles porn industry, as Zicari was the real life owner of the Extreme Associates pornographic film production company. In 2002, Shane Douglas , who previously wrestled for the promotion, returned to XPW as its booker and moved

Los Angeles Red Devils - Misplaced Pages Continue

1312-532: The promotion; under Douglas' influence, the promotion would move its operations from the West Coast to the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania , basing itself at the former ECW Arena . XPW debuted at the former ECW Arena on August 31, 2002, at the Hostile Takeover event, and Shane Douglas became the promotion's focal point for the rest of the year. Controversy arose when XPW signed an exclusive lease with

1353-534: The two could no longer financially subsidize XPW, with the promotion going out of business. Xtreme Entertainment Group (which would later split into two companies, XEG and Big Vision Entertainment ), the company of which former XPW employee Kevin Kleinrock would later become Executive Vice President of, purchased the rights to use the XPW name under license in 2004, through bankruptcy proceedings. Black later stated "If I never got indicted I would have definitely kept

1394-425: The venue, with monthly concerts by the likes of GBH , The Exploited , T.S.O.L. , SIN 34 , Suicidal Tendencies , UK Subs , New Regime , Circle Jerks , Angelic Upstarts , The Dickies , Wasted Youth , Dead Kennedys , The Vandals , D.O.A. , Love Canal , Bad Religion , FEAR , M.I.A. and many others. Black Flag was the headliner for a New Year's Eve show 1981-82. Famous musical celebrities have also used

1435-420: The wrestling thing going." In the summer of 2003, the only pay-per-view (PPV) of the original XPW, The Best of XPW , aired. The PPV featured a compilation of highlights from XPW's past events. In 2006, Big Vision Entertainment founded Wrestling Society X , the de facto successor to XPW. Between 2008 and 2011, three XPW reunion shows were held, two in Los Angeles and a third in Tultitlan, Mexico . The first

1476-558: Was Cold Day in Hell , held on May 24, 2008. The event came about when Big Vision Entertainment, the owners of XPW, worked on MTV 's Wrestling Society X which featured many XPW alumni. While working on the project, the company came up with the idea to hold an XPW reunion show. The event was produced by Kevin Kleinrock and Kris Kloss. Big Vision Entertainment released Cold Day in Hell on DVD and Blu-ray in January 2009, which included

1517-631: Was ECW's first and only West Coast appearance. Prior to the main event, six wrestlers from the LA-based Xtreme Pro Wrestling promotion, who were given front row tickets by promotion owner Rob Zicari , donned shirts of their promotion, which caught the attention of Tommy Dreamer and ECW security and were promptly ejected. A brawl followed in the parking lot between XPW ring crew and the ECW locker room, based on false reporting that Francine had been touched by someone from XPW. On February 23, 2002, XPW held its Freefall event at

1558-546: Was four more months until XPW put on another event. During the hiatus, an attempt to bring in Atsushi Onita , a pioneer of Japanese deathmatch wrestling, for an exploding ring match failed. One of the main storylines for most of 2001 concerned the heel stable known as the Black Army. The Black Army was headed by Rob Black, assisted by his wife Lizzy Borden and XPW's top star The Messiah , and feuded with Sabu . Also, throughout most of 2001, another heel stable called

1599-591: Was over, there was the drive in, the old lovebed with our dyed and vicious women. you slammed it home, then slept like a drunk angel." The 1960s and 1970s were a major boom period for the Olympic, as major boxing and wrestling events were held at the arena every other Friday night, as well as being the home to the Roller Games Los Angeles T-Birds . The arena closed its doors in the mid-1980s when promoter Mike Le Bell discontinued his weekly wrestling shows due to low attendance figures when

1640-456: Was removed from XPW TV ' s announcing booth and replaced with former ECW commentator Joey Styles . Styles, however, left the company in December 2002, only spending about one month in the promotion. In 2009, the first three seasons of XPW TV were released on DVD by Big Vision Entertainment . XPW TV matches have also been extras on several other Big Vision wrestling DVDs, including

1681-540: Was screaming expletives or shrieking a high pitched scream when something shocking occurred in a match. Rivera often sided with owner Rob Black, calling him the " Donald Trump of the pro wrestling business", 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

Los Angeles Red Devils - Misplaced Pages Continue

#166833