Mid 20th Century
149-589: Texas All-Star Wrestling ( TASW ) is a professional wrestling promotion that was established by Bob Murphy in Humble , Texas in 1994. It is the oldest independent promotion in the state of Texas and one of three based in the Greater Houston area along with Booker T 's Reality of Wrestling and Lone Star Championship Wrestling. It was the first successful wrestling promotion to open in Texas following
298-411: A First Blood match , after using fake blood on him, following a run–in from a planted fan . On the following episode of Impact! , the alliance of Hernandez, Sarita and Rosita was named Mexican America . The three of them were then defeated in a six-person street fight by Morgan, Angelina Love and Winter . After the match, the "fan", who had interfered in the match at Victory Road, once again entered
447-446: A " gimmick " consisting of a specific persona , stage name , entrance theme , and other distinguishing traits. Matches are the primary vehicle for advancing storylines, which typically center on interpersonal conflicts, or feuds , between heroic " faces " and villainous " heels ". A wrestling ring , akin to the platform used in boxing , serves as the main stage ; additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of
596-530: A 6-Person Tag. On April 29, 2015, Hernandez defeated King Cuerno and Cage in a Three-Way to win an opportunity for Puma's title. On May 6, 2015, Hernandez turned on Puma when he left alone in a match against Cage and King Cuerno . On May 13, 2015, Hernandez retained his title match against Alberto el Patrón . On May 27, 2015, he unsuccessfully challenged Prince Puma for the Championship. On June 10, 2015 Drago Defeated Cage , Hernandez, King Cuerno on
745-638: A Concrete Jungle Death at Bound for Glory in a match that they lost again. After several months, Hernandez moved to alumni section. On the April 14, 2020, episode of Impact! , Hernandez made his return to Impact Wrestling, where he defeated Rohit Raju . At Rebellion , he was defeated by Moose in a three-way match also involving Michael Elgin . Hernandez then aligned himself with Johnny Swinger , accompanying him to matches and teaming with him. At Bound for Glory in October 2020, Hernandez competed in
894-439: A Dark 6-Person Tag. Hernandez's last dark match was a 5-Way match defeating Jeff Cobb, Marty Martinez , Killshot and Willie Mack . However Hernandez's first televised appearance was on Episode 20 that aired on March 25, 2015. He was aligned with Konnan and Lucha Underground Champion Prince Puma . However, on his first televised match Cage , King Cuerno and Texano, Jr. Defeated Hernandez, Johnny Mundo & Prince Puma on
1043-531: A Four-Way match and become the number one contender to the Lucha Underground Championship. Soon after, Hernandez faced Drago and lost via disqualification, before a rematch between the rivals would be announced for the upcoming Ultima Lucha event. A week later they both faced each other In an Atomicos Tag Team Match. Hernandez, Jack Evans , Johnny Mundo and Super Fly Defeated Aero Star , Alberto el Patrón , Drago and Sexy Star . At
1192-473: A January 15 episode of TNA Impact, Hernandez cashed in his "Feast or Fired" World Title shot against Sting, and won by disqualification when The Main Event Mafia interfered, which meant that he did not win the title. However, executive shareholder Mick Foley ruled that because of the interference Hernandez would receive another TNA Title Shot in the future. On the April 30, episode of Impact! , Hernandez
1341-502: A Little Italy Street fight) and Destination X (in a Ghetto Brawl), lost the NWA tag-team championships to Team 3D at Lockdown in an Electrified Cage match , when Homicide was pinned. When Konnan left TNA in the summer of 2007, both Hernandez and Homicide turned face and at Bound for Glory defeated Senshi and Elix Skipper of Triple X in an Ultimate X match to get back in the tag team title picture. They would receive their shot at
1490-413: A background in authentic wrestling no longer mattered. After this time, matches became more outlandish and gimmicky and any semblance professional wrestling had to catch wrestling faded. The personas of the wrestlers likewise grew more outlandish. Gorgeous George , who performed throughout the 1940s and 1950s, was the first wrestler whose entrance into the arena was accompanied by a theme song played over
1639-515: A bigger star. Hernandez returned to the company on March 12, 2010, at Rey de Reyes , entering the Rey de Reyes tournament as a surprise competitor and defeating El Elegido , Crazy Boy and Kenzo Suzuki in the semifinal four-way elimination match to make his way to the finals. Later in the night Hernandez turned rudo and once again aligned himself with La Legión Extranjera by attacking Cibernético after his match with Legión leader Konnan. In
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#17327981061801788-532: A carny term for a shooting gallery gun whose sights were not deliberately misaligned. Wrestling in the United States blossomed in popularity after the Civil War , with catch wrestling eventually becoming the most popular style. At first, professional wrestlers were genuine competitive fighters, but they struggled to draw audiences because Americans did not find real wrestling to be very entertaining, so
1937-470: A central authority. Nor could any of them stomach the idea of leaving the NWA themselves to compete directly with McMahon, for that would mean their territories would become fair game for the other NWA members. McMahon also had a creative flair for TV that his rivals lacked. For instance, the AWA's TV productions during the 1980s were amateurish, low-budget, and out-of-touch with contemporary culture, which lead to
2086-585: A champion that Curley put forth: Dick Shikat . The National Wrestling Association shut down in 1980. In 1948, a number of promoters from across the country came together to form the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The NWA recognized one "world champion", voted on by its members, but allowed member promoters to crown their own local champions in their territories. If a member poached wrestlers from another member, or held matches in another member's territory, they risked being ejected from
2235-578: A champion. Hernandez's return to TNA was hinted at on the June 3 episode of Impact! , when Matt Morgan was distracted by somebody in the crowd which cost him a four-way match with Samoa Joe, Sting and the winner of the match, TNA World Heavyweight Champion Rob Van Dam . The camera's immediately showed what was distracting Morgan, but nobody could clearly see who it was, although Taz and Mike Tenay believed it to be Hernandez. The following week, Hernandez made his official return by attacking Morgan, leading to
2384-435: A degree. Vince Russo, the boss of WCW in 2000, completely disregarded kayfabe by routinely discussing business matters and office politics in public, which alienated fans. I watch championship wrestling from Florida with wrestling commentator Gordon Solie . Is this all "fake"? If so, they deserve an Oscar . Shawn Hernandez Shawn Hernandez (born February 11, 1973) is an American professional wrestler . He
2533-410: A fee, a visitor could challenge the wrestler to a quick match. If the challenger defeated the champion in a short time frame, usually 15 minutes, he won a prize. To encourage challenges, the carnival operators staged rigged matches in which an accomplice posing as a visitor challenged the champion and won, giving the audience the impression that the champion was easy to beat. This practice taught wrestlers
2682-414: A genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has a more literal meaning in those places. A notable example is India's Pro Wrestling League . In numerous American states, professional wrestling is legally defined as a non-sport. For instance, New York defines professional wrestling as: Professional wrestling means an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for
2831-461: A herniated disc and cervical damage to his neck in the assault and will be out of action indefinitely. The neck injury storyline was created so Hernandez could work in Mexico for three months. With Hernandez scheduled to miss months of action, Morgan declared himself the sole World Tag Team Champion on the April 5 episode of Impact! and TNA went along with this and no longer recognized Hernandez as
2980-421: A journalist for The Galveston County Daily News, wrote in early-2004 that TASW was "arguably the top independent wrestling group in the entire state". On January 10, 2004, several TASW wrestlers participated in a show for High Impact Wrestling at Texas City’s Nessler Center headlined by Johnny Blade and Kamala. The event also served as the professional wrestling debut of Scott E. Williams who agreed to participate as
3129-405: A legitimate sport. Firstly, wrestling was more entertaining when it was faked, whereas fakery did not make boxing any more entertaining. Secondly, in a rigged boxing match, the designated loser must take a real beating for his "defeat" to be convincing, but wrestling holds can be faked convincingly without inflicting injury. This meant that boxers were less willing to "take dives"; they wanted to have
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#17327981061803278-593: A major angle, when he, Alex Koslov and Decnnis interrupted a Smashing Pumpkins concert for MTV World Stage . Hernandez went to Border Toss lead singer Billy Corgan , before being stopped and driven away by La Parka, El Mesías and Extreme Tiger . On October 1 in the main event of Héroes Inmortales IV , Hernandez represented La Sociedad in an eight-man elimination steel cage match, where he, El Zorro, Electroshock and L.A. Park were defeated by AAA representatives Dark Cuervo , Dark Ozz , Heavy Metal and La Parka. In November, while El Zorro moved on to battling for
3427-542: A match against Mr. Anderson . On February 13 at Against All Odds Hernandez explained the change in his attitude by claiming that in the United States he was treated like a second class citizen, while in Mexico he was treated like a star. On the following episode of Impact! , Hernandez aligned himself with Sarita and Rosita . On the March 3 episode of Impact! Hernandez was defeated by Morgan via disqualification. On March 13 at Victory Road , Hernandez defeated Morgan in
3576-799: A match against Gus Sonnenberg in January 1929. Bowser then broke away from the trust to form his own cartel, the American Wrestling Association (AWA), in September 1930, and he declared Sonnenberg to be the AWA champion. This AWA should not be confused with Wally Kadbo's AWA founded in 1960. Curley reacted to this move by convincing the National Boxing Association to form the National Wrestling Association , which in turn crowned
3725-473: A match between the two at Slammiversary VIII . The match at Slammiversary VIII ended in Hernandez being disqualified for assaulting the referee, when he was being reprimanded for going too violently after Morgan. The following month at Victory Road Hernandez defeated Morgan in a Steel Cage match to end the feud. In November it was reported that Hernandez had turned down TNA's request for him to return to
3874-552: A match with Steve "Bones" Monckton. In February 2008, the Houston Chronicle also covered the Texas All-Star Wrestling's 15th-annual "Humble Rumble" where a photo was taken of "BLT" Bubba Lee Travis and an 8-year-old child attending the event with his father. The event boasted a sold-out crowd and was one of the promotion's biggest show of the new year. The following month at "Scar Wars", Daivari who
4023-482: A member of the rudo (heel) stable La Legión Extranjera (The Foreign Legion) in a six-man tag team match, where he, Elix Skipper and Headhunter A were defeated by El Alebrije , La Parka and Octagón via disqualification. In early 2010 TNA restarted their working relationship with AAA in order to send Hernandez to the company for an extended stay to gain exposure in front of the Mexican audience and make him
4172-400: A more stereotypical stable, but Hernandez refused to use Mexican jargon, so TNA gave the promos to Anarquia. Hernandez said Mexican America was the worst part of his career and the stable was doomed from the beginning. Following Anarquia's departure, Hernandez remained inactive, before returning on June 10 at Slammiversary , which took place in his home state of Texas, defeating Kid Kash in
4321-440: A new city, attendance was high because there was a waiting fanbase cultivated in advance by the cable TV shows. The NWA's traditional anti-competitive tricks were no match for this. The NWA attempted to centralize and create their own national cable television shows to counter McMahon's rogue promotion, but it failed in part because the members of the NWA, ever protective of their territories, could not stomach submitting themselves to
4470-669: A new contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling . He returned on the March 31, 2006, episode of TNA Xplosion as the newest member of the heel stable The Latin American Xchange (LAX), teaming with Homicide and being managed by Konnan . On the August 24, 2006, episode of TNA Impact! , Hernandez and Homicide defeated A.J. Styles and Christopher Daniels in a Border Brawl for the NWA World Tag Team Championship . Styles and Daniels regained
4619-478: A positive response from readers, however, Warriors of Wrestling (World of Wrestling) promoter wrote a letter to the editor criticizing the article for its "lack of research and professionalism" as well as the TASW for its inappropriate fan behavior. She requested the newspaper provide "equal exposure" and invited the author, Jesse Washington, to attend an upcoming show. A year later, "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan wrestled for
Texas All-Star Wrestling - Misplaced Pages Continue
4768-608: A singles match. On the following episode of Impact Wrestling , Hernandez unsuccessfully challenged Devon for the TNA Television Championship. On June 28, Hernandez confirmed that he had signed a one-year contract extension with TNA. On the July 26 episode of Impact Wrestling , Hernandez aligned himself with the debuting Chavo Guerrero by saving him from Gunner and Kid Kash. On August 12 at Hardcore Justice , Hernandez and Guerrero defeated Gunner and Kash in
4917-485: A six-man tag team steel cage match, where they defeated Heavy Metal , Octagón and Pimpinela Escarlata , representing referee Pierro, with the hair of the referees on the line. In the summer of 2010, La Legión Extranjera joined forces with Los Perros del Mal , La Milicia and Los Maniacos to form La Sociedad , under the leadership of Dorian Roldan, while Hernandez began regularly teaming with his Legión stablemate El Zorro . On August 26 Hernandez took part in
5066-549: A strong and loyal following in the Greater Houston area. Many fans were so enthusiastic at the events that many wanted to participate themselves prompting Murphy to open a small gym in the back of the Humble Bingo Arena in 1996. Within two years, this eventually evolved into the present-day training facility and wrestling school where many of the top wrestlers on the Texas "indy" circuit would be trained, most notably, Shawn "Hot Stuff" Hernandez . Prospective students of
5215-505: A tag team match. On the September 6 episode of Impact Wrestling , Hernandez and Guerrero, after being hand-picked by Hulk Hogan as the number one contenders, unsuccessfully challenged Christopher Daniels and Kazarian for the TNA World Tag Team Championship . On October 14 at Bound for Glory , Hernandez and Guerrero defeated Daniels and Kazarian, and A.J. Styles and Kurt Angle in a three-way match to become
5364-503: A typical American household only received four national channels by antenna, and ten to twelve local channels via UHF broadcasting . But cable television could carry a much larger selection of channels and therefore had room for niche interests. The WWF started with a show called All-American Wrestling airing on the USA Network in September 1983. McMahon's TV shows made his wrestlers national celebrities, so when he held matches in
5513-586: A victory for all the pain to which they subjected themselves. In the 1910s, promotional cartels for professional wrestling emerged in the East Coast (outside its traditional heartland in the Midwest ). These promoters sought to make long-term plans with their wrestlers, and to ensure their more charismatic and crowd-pleasing wrestlers received championships, further entrenching the desire for worked matches. The primary rationale for shoot matches at this point
5662-410: Is a true sport. Wrestlers would at all times flatly deny allegations that they fixed their matches, and they often remained in-character in public even when not performing. When in public, wrestlers would sometimes say the word kayfabe to each other as a coded signal that there were fans present and they needed to be in character. Professional wrestlers in the past strongly believed that if they admitted
5811-481: Is best known for his time with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , where he performed under the ring name Hernandez . He is an eight-time tag team champion, having won the TNA World Tag Team Championship five times, the NWA World Tag Team Championship twice and IWA World Tag Team Championship once. He is also the co-promoter of the Houston, Texas -based promotion Latino Wrestling Entertainment (LWE). Following
5960-428: Is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment and showmanship . The staged nature of matches is an open secret , with both wrestlers and spectators nonetheless maintaining the pretense that performances are bona fide competitions, which is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction . Professional wrestlers perform as characters and usually maintain
6109-421: Is the longest in the title's history. Steve Demarco's second reign was the shortest in the history of the title as he lost it minutes after he won it. Bret Basics was the youngest wrestler ever to hold the title. Overall, there have been 42 reigns shared between 31 wrestlers, with eight vacancies. The TASW Cruiserweight Championship is a professional wrestling championship in Texas All-Star Wrestling. It
Texas All-Star Wrestling - Misplaced Pages Continue
6258-413: Is the main cruiserweight championship title established in TASW, having been introduced in 1994, and remains the oldest active championship in the state of Texas. The inaugural champion was Rico Suave, who defeated Witchita Willie in a tournament final on December 22, 1994 to become the first TASW Cruiserweight Champion. Willie also holds the record for most reigns, with three. Ken Hoffman, a reporter for
6407-415: Is the only person to have held the championship. Professional wrestling 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling ) is a form of athletic theater that combines mock combat with drama , with the premise that the performers are competitive wrestlers. Professional wrestling
6556-473: The Houston Chronicle is a former champion and donated his prize money to charity. He successfully defended the title for six months before surrendering the belt to promoter Bob Murphy. At 427 days, Estrella Galactica's third reign is the longest in the title's history. Thunder Jet's first and only reign was the shortest in the history of the title being stripped of the belt only 7 days after winning
6705-556: The "Deuces Wild Tournament" . LAX lost the title at Hard Justice to Beer Money, Inc. ( James Storm and Robert Roode ). At the second Final Resolution pay-per-view of 2008 , both Hernandez and Homicide each captured a briefcase from the "Feast or Fired" match which contained a shot at the TNA World Heavyweight Championship for Hernandez and a shot at the TNA X Division Championship for Homicide. On
6854-566: The AAA Mega Championship , Hernandez formed a new tag team with La Legión Extranjera' s newest member, Puerto Rican El Ilegal . On December 5 at Guerra de Titanes Hernandez and El Ilegal faced Los Maniacos ( Silver King and Último Gladiador ) and La Hermandad 187 ( Nicho el Millonario and Joe Líder ) in a ladder match for the AAA World Tag Team Championship , but were unable to capture
7003-586: The Houston Chronicle three months later. Scoby Gober, a three-time TASW Hardcore Champion, was interviewed for the story. On October 13, Ken Hoffman also made a return appearance as TASW's "SlamFest '07" supercard where he and Sean Pendergast won the TASW Tag Team Championship from Scoby Gober & Bones in a Triple Threat match with Nate Slater & Rocco Carmanooch at the Humble Bingo Arena. Like his previous victory, Hoffman
7152-781: The NWA North American Heavyweight Championship on May 3, 2003, in Cornelia, Georgia . On September 28, 2003, in Hawaii, he lost the title to J.T. Wolfen. Hernandez debuted in NWA Total Nonstop Action on the November 22, 2003, episode of TNA Xplosion , losing to Shane Douglas . He returned to TNA on June 16, 2004, as one-third of the "Elite Guard", a trio of mercenaries working for Jeff Jarrett after his first King of
7301-624: The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board that professional wrestling is not a real sport because its matches have predetermined outcomes. Shortly thereafter, New Jersey deregulated professional wrestling. The WWF then rebranded itself as a " sports entertainment " company. In the early years of the 20th century, the style of wrestling used in professional wrestling matches was catch wrestling . Promoters wanted their matches to look realistic and so preferred to recruit wrestlers with real grappling skills. In
7450-569: The Rey de Reyes final three-way elimination match Hernandez was the first man eliminated at the hands of Marco Corleone . Despite his elimination, Hernandez stayed at ringside and in the end cost Corleone the match against Legión member Chessman . Hernandez then began portraying an anti-Mexican character, refusing to speak or even acknowledge he could understand Spanish and doing his interviews through an interpreter. On June 6 at Triplemanía XVIII Hernandez and fellow Legión members Alex Koslov and Chessman represented referee Hijo del Tirantes in
7599-428: The TNA World Tag Team Championship on the November 1 episode of Impact! , but were defeated by the defending champions A.J. Styles and Tomko . In 2008 LAX got another title shot by beating Rock 'n Rave Infection ( Jimmy Rave and Lance Rock ) and The Motor City Machine Guns ( Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin ) at Destination X and cashed it in during a three-way match on the April 17 episode of Impact! against
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#17327981061807748-776: The United States , Mexico , Japan , and northwest Europe (the United Kingdom , Germany/Austria and France ), which have each developed distinct styles, traditions, and subgenres within professional wrestling. Professional wrestling has developed its own culture and community , including a distinct vernacular . It has achieved mainstream success and influence within popular culture , with many terms, tropes , and concepts being referenced in everyday language as well as in film , music , television , and video games . Likewise, numerous professional wrestlers have become national or international icons with recognition by
7897-481: The special guest referee in the main event in exchange for a donation to The Daily News’ United Way fund . On June 5, Tom Prichard , the top talent scout for World Wrestling Entertainment , conducted a "no-holds-barred" clinic at TASW's wrestling school in Humble. Also that summer, Jim Duggan returned to the promotion and, at the August 7th "Tomball Streetfight" supercard, defeated TASW Heavyweight Champion Zen-Zen for
8046-510: The "Humble Rumble", a 20-man battle royale for $ 15,000 and a title shot against then TASW Heavyweight Champion "Mean" Mike Tatum, but quickly eliminated himself after entering the ring. He retained the title in a rematch with Bones on February 12 and successfully defended the title for six months against opponents such as Brother Icarus, Bonez and the Jester until finally surrendering the title to TASW promoter Bob Murphy that summer. By 2000, TASW
8195-584: The 1920s, a group of wrestlers and promoters known as the Gold Dust Trio introduced moves which have since become staples of the mock combat of professional wrestling, such as body slams, suplexes , punches, finishing moves, and out-of-ring count-outs. By the early 1930s, most wrestlers had adopted personas to generate public interest. These personas could broadly be characterized as either faces (likeable) or heels (villainous). Native Americans, cowboys, and English aristocrats were staple characters in
8344-400: The 1930s and 1940s. Before the age of television, some wrestlers played different personas depending on the region they were performing in. This eventually came to an end in the age of national television wrestling shows, which forced wrestlers to stick to one persona. Wrestlers also often used some sort of gimmick, such as a finishing move, eccentric mannerisms, or out-of-control behavior (in
8493-500: The 1970s and 1980s, but had considerably declined in the years following the retirement of legendary wrestling personality Paul Boesch in 1987. It was not until the close of World Class Championship Wrestling in 1990, and the Global Wrestling Federation in 1994, that Murphy began promoting wrestling events after an absence of several years. It was the first successful independent promotion in Texas and, with
8642-509: The 1990s, WCW became a credible rival to the WWF, but by end it suffered from a series of creative missteps that led to its failure and purchase by the WWF. One of its mistakes was that it diminished the glamor of its World Heavyweight Championship . Between January 2000 and March 2001, the title changed hands eighteen times, which sapped fan enthusiasm, particularly for the climactic pay-per-view matches. In professional wrestling, two factors decide
8791-411: The 19th century, who later sought to make matches shorter, more entertaining, and less physically taxing. As the public gradually realized and accepted that matches were predetermined, wrestlers responded by increasingly adding melodrama, gimmickry, and outlandish stunt work to their performances to further enhance the spectacle . By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from
8940-420: The 2009 "Humble Rumble" at the Humble Bingo Arena on January 10, 2009. At the end of the year, TexasIndyWrestling.com ranked Texas All-Star Wrestling #5 of the top ten wrestling promotions in Texas. The TASW Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling heavyweight championship in Texas All-Star Wrestling. It is the main championship title established in TASW, having been introduced in 1995, and remains
9089-558: The AWR Wrestling Academy, producing and booking, as well as wrestling. In February 2018, Hernandez made his return to Lucha Underground at Aztec Warfare IV on the first episode of Season 4 competing in the Aztec Warfare entering at number 10 but was soon eliminated by pinfall by Pentagon Dark . He left Lucha Underground once more in October 2018. Hernandez made his return to TNA, now known as Impact Wrestling, on
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#17327981061809238-653: The Atlantic Athletic Corporation (AAC). The AAC shut down in 1960. In 1958, Omaha promoter and NWA member Joe Dusek recognized Verne Gagne as the world champion without the approval of the NWA. Gagne asked for a match against the recognized NWA champion Pat O'Connor. The NWA refused to honor the request, so Gagne and Minneapolis promoter Wally Karbo established the American Wrestling Association in 1960. This AWA should not be confused with Paul Bowser's AWA, which ceased operations just two months prior. Gagne's AWA operated out of Minnesota . Unlike
9387-686: The British Invasion by defeating Rob Terry in nine seconds. On the September 10 episode of Impact! , Homicide turned heel by betraying Hernandez and joining World Elite, thus signaling the official end of the Latin American Xchange. At No Surrender Hernandez cashed in his "Feast or Fired" briefcase, but was unable to win the World Heavyweight Championship in the 5-way main event match after World Elite leader Eric Young interfered and took him out of
9536-769: The Carnage Crew in a violent feud that lasted several months. In 2001, Hernandez began wrestling for the National Wrestling Alliance . At the October 13, 2001 NWA Anniversary Show in St. Petersburg, Florida , he defeated Kevin Northcutt to win the NWA National Heavyweight Championship . He held the title for over a year before losing to Ricky Murdock on January 11, 2003, in Greenville, Missouri . Hernandez defeated Jorge Estrada for
9685-648: The Humble Bingo Arena on March 22, 1997. Older veterans such as "Mean" Mike Tatum, "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan and Kamala the Ugandan Giant also had short stints in the promotion. Both Tatum and Duggan held the TASW Heavyweight Championship during the early-2000s. Although speculated to become a major promotion, Murphy himself said in interviews that he was unconcerned about the expansion of the company and instead wanted to focus on developing younger locally based talent and "help them make it to
9834-548: The July 5, 2018, episode of Impact , aligning himself with King and former tag team partner Homicide , attacking Latin American Xchange members Konnan , Ortiz and Santana. They later became known as The OGz. At Slammiversary XVI , they faced LAX for the Impact Tag Team Championship in a Street Fight, but they lost. In their next two appearances, they defeated jobbers, while keeping their feud with LAX alive. Then they challenged LAX again, this time in
9983-535: The Mountain match victory. The Elite Guard (Hernandez, Chad Collyer and Onyx ) feuded with the 3Live Kru over the next two months. On July 14, 2004, Jarrett, the Elite Guard and Ken Shamrock lost to Dusty Rhodes , Larry Zbyszko and the 3Live Kru in a ten-man tag team bout. The Elite Guard remained with TNA until September 2004, when all three wrestlers were released. In March 2006, Hernandez signed
10132-408: The NWA, at which point his territory became fair game for everyone. The NWA would blacklist wrestlers who worked for independent promoters or who publicly criticized an NWA promoter or who did not throw a match on command. If an independent promoter tried to establish himself in a certain area, the NWA would send their star performers to perform for the local NWA promoter to draw the customers away from
10281-488: The NWA, which only allowed faces to be champions, Gagne occasionally allowed heels to win the AWA championship so that they could serve as foils for him. In August 1983, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), a promotion in the north-east , withdrew from the NWA. Vince K. McMahon then took over as its boss. No longer bound by the territorial pact of the NWA, McMahon began expanding his promotion into
10430-660: The TNA World Tag Team Champions British Invasion. At Genesis Hernandez and Morgan defeated the British Invasion to win the TNA World Tag Team Championship. At Against All Odds as part of the 8 Card Stud Tournament Hernandez and Morgan were forced to face each other in the first round. Morgan defeated Hernandez by taking advantage of his injured shoulder and pinning him, while grabbing a hold of his trunks. At Destination X Hernandez and Morgan retained
10579-408: The TNA World Tag Team Championship against Ink Inc. The following month at Turning Point , Anarquia, Hernandez and Sarita defeated Ink Inc.'s Jesse Neal, Shannon Moore and Toxxin in a six-person tag team match to retain the TNA World Tag Team Championship. On the following episode of Impact Wrestling , Hernandez and Anarquia lost the TNA World Tag Team Championship to Crimson and Matt Morgan. On
10728-493: The TNA World Tag Team Championship to Gunner and James Storm in a fatal four-way elimination match, also involving Austin Aries and Bobby Roode and Bad Influence. On the following episode of Impact Wrestling , Hernandez defeated Guerrero to qualify for the 2013 Bound for Glory Series . On the July 4 episode of Impact Wrestling , Hernandez defeated Jay Bradley after an interference from Guerrero via pinfall to earn seven points in
10877-567: The TNA World Tag Team Championship. On September 11 at No Surrender , Hernandez and Anarquia successfully defended the title against D'Angelo Dinero and Devon, following interference from Rosita and Sarita. Later that month, Mexican America began feuding with Ink Inc., stemming from their match at Sacrifice in May, where Hernandez had legitimately injured Jesse Neal. On October 16, during the Bound for Glory Preshow, Mexican America successfully defended
11026-446: The TNA World Tag Team Championship. Hernandez and Anarquia received their shot at the TNA World Tag Team Championship on August 7 at Hardcore Justice , but were defeated by the defending champions, Beer Money, Inc. Two days later, at the tapings of the August 18 episode of Impact Wrestling , Hernandez and Anarquia defeated Beer Money, Inc. in a rematch, following interference from the " Mexican Heavyweight Champion " Jeff Jarrett, to win
11175-601: The TNA World Tag Team Championship. Hernandez and Guerrero received their title shot on the April 11 episode of Impact Wrestling , where they defeated Aries and Roode in a Two-out-of-Three Falls match, with the added stipulation that they would have to break up if they lost, to regain the TNA World Tag Team Championship. On the April 25 episode of Impact Wrestling , Hernandez and Guerrero successfully defended their titles against Aries and Roode in rematch after an inadvertent interference from Christopher Daniels and Kazarian. On June 2 at Slammiversary XI , Hernandez and Guerrero lost
11324-479: The Tag Team Champions A.J. Styles and Tomko and the team that ended up winning the match, Eric Young/Super Eric and Kaz . The controversial ending of this match led to the title being vacated and being put up for grabs in a tournament. At Sacrifice , LAX, with their new manager Hector Guerrero in their corner, won the vacant TNA World Tag Team Championship, after defeating Team 3D in the finals of
11473-631: The Tag Team Title in a match against Beer Money despite plenty of miscommunication between the two champions. After the match Morgan nailed Hernandez with the Carbon Footprint. The following day on Impact! Morgan defeated Hernandez via referee stoppage after sandwiching his head between his boot and the ring post. After the match Homicide came out to check on his former partner, who was being helped by medics. TNA later reported on Hernandez's kayfabe injuries, claiming that he had suffered
11622-520: The arena on October 4, 2003. Ken Hoffman, who had wrestled him two years before, wrote a column in memory of his passing. He recalled in a later column that during the match he secretly had Jim Adler, a celebrity TV attorney known as the "Tough Texas Lawyer", interfere in the match on his behalf. He ordered Brother Icarus to stop attacking Hoffman, who had been choking him and pulling his hair, and threatened to have Icarus arrested for assault and battery . When fans began booing, Adler threatened to subpoena
11771-401: The arena's loudspeakers, his being Pomp and Circumstance . He also wore a costume: a robe and hairnet, which he removed after getting in the ring. He also had a pre-match ritual where his "butler" would spray the ring with perfume. In the 1980s, Vince McMahon made entrance songs, costumes, and rituals standard for his star wrestlers. For instance, McMahon's top star Hulk Hogan would delight
11920-418: The art of staging rigged matches and fostered a mentality that spectators were marks to be duped. The term kayfabe comes from carny slang. By the turn of the 20th century, most professional wrestling matches were "worked" and some journalists exposed the practice: American wrestlers are notorious for the amount of faking they do. It is because of this fact that suspicion attaches to so many bouts that
12069-561: The audience by tearing his shirt off before each match. The first major promoter cartel emerged on the East Coast, although up to that point, wrestling's heartland had been in the Midwest. Notable members of this cartel included Jack Curley , Lou Daro, Paul Bowser and Tom and Tony Packs. The promoters colluded to solve a number of problems that hurt their profits. Firstly, they could force their wrestlers to perform for less money. As
12218-412: The broader public. In the United States, wrestling is generally practiced in an amateur context. No professional league for competitive wrestling exists due to a lack of popularity. For example, Real Pro Wrestling , an American professional freestyle wrestling league, dissolved in 2007 after just two seasons. In other countries, such as Iran and India , wrestling enjoys widespread popularity as
12367-424: The cartel grew, there were fewer independent promoters where independent wrestlers could find work, and many were forced to sign a contract with the cartel to receive steady work. The contracts forbade them from performing at independent venues. A wrestler who refused to play by the cartel's rules was barred from performing at its venues. A second goal of the wrestling cartels was to establish an authority to decide who
12516-418: The case of heels). The matches could also be gimmicky sometimes, with wrestlers fighting in mud and piles of tomatoes and so forth. The most successful and enduring gimmick to emerge from the 1930s were tag-team matches. Promoters noticed that matches slowed down as the wrestlers in the ring tired, so they gave them partners to relieve them. It also gave heels another way to misbehave by double-teaming. Towards
12665-423: The character in shows must be considered fictional, wholly separate from the life of the performer. This is similar to other entertainers who perform with a persona that shares their own name. Some wrestlers also incorporate elements of their real-life personalities into their characters, even if they and their in-ring persona have different names. Kayfabe is the practice of pretending that professional wrestling
12814-642: The close World Class Championship Wrestling in 1990, and the Global Wrestling Federation in 1994. It not only remained the only major "indy" promotion in the state during the 1990s but is one of the oldest wrestling promotions in operation in the United States. The promotion has been profiled by both the Houston Press and the Houston Chronicle . Ken Hoffman, a longtime columnist for the Chronicle , has participated in several wrestling matches for charity. The Galveston County Daily News has called TASW
12963-461: The commission. The Commission did on very rare occasions hand out such authorizations, such as for a championship match between Jim Londos and Jim Browning in June 1934. This decree did not apply to amateur wrestling, which the commission had no authority over. Wrestling fans widely suspected that professional wrestling was fake, but they did not care as long as it entertained. In 1933, a wrestling promoter named Jack Pfefer started talking about
13112-418: The company. At Turning Point Rhino and Team 3D defeated Morgan, Hernandez and Dinero in a street fight. At Final Resolution Morgan, Hernandez, Dinero and Suicide defeated Neal, Team 3D and Rhino in an eight-man elimination tag team match. On the January 4, 2010, live, three-hour, Monday night episode of Impact! Hernandez and Morgan defeated Dr. Stevie and Raven to become the number one contenders to
13261-468: The competitive sport to become an artform and genre of sports entertainment . Professional wrestling is performed around the world through various " promotions ", which are roughly analogous to production companies or sports leagues . Promotions vary considerably in size, scope, and creative approach, ranging from local shows on the independent circuit , to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in
13410-540: The current fashion of wrestling is the universal discussion as to the honesty of the matches. And certainly the most interesting phrase of this discussion is the unanimous agreement: "Who cares if they're fixed or not—the show is good." Newspapers tended to shun professional wrestling, as journalists saw its theatrical pretense to being a legitimate sport as untruthful. Eventually promoters resorted to publishing their own magazines in order to get press coverage and communicate with fans. The first professional wrestling magazine
13559-936: The end of his Arena Football career, Hernandez trained under Tugboat Taylor and later under Rudy Boy Gonzalez in the Texas Wrestling Academy. He debuted in Texas All-Star Wrestling in November 1996. In 2000 and 2001 Hernandez worked for the World Wrestling Federation as a jobber , appearing on episodes of WWF Jakked and in dark matches . He also wrestled dark matches for NWA Total Nonstop Action , and competed for Texas All Star Wrestling, Extreme Texas Wrestling and NWA Southwest. He also toured Japan on numerous occasions and worked for Ring of Honor in 2003, joining Team Texas (Texas Wrestling Academy) Don Juan, Fast Eddie led by TWA head trainer Rudy Boy Gonzalez facing
13708-405: The end of the 1930s, faced with declining revenues, promoters chose to focus on grooming charismatic wrestlers with no regard for their skill because it was charisma that drew the crowds, and wrestlers who were both skilled at grappling and charismatic were hard to come by. Since most of the public by this time knew and accepted that professional wrestling was fake, realism was no longer paramount and
13857-443: The entire audience as witnesses. This distraction allowed Hoffman to roll-up his opponent for the victory and quickly escaped with the belt. The promotion was praised by The Galveston County Daily News , the oldest newspaper of record in the state of Texas, as "the best-run independent group in the state" and crediting Bob Murphy for keeping TASW out of the well-publicized feuding seen among rival Texas promotions. Scott E. Williams,
14006-411: The exception of occasional events held by Tugboat Taylor at Hofheinz Pavilion , remained the only organization in the entire state for nearly a decade. The shows immediately found an audience with its traditional Southern-style wrestling, rather than the " sports entertainment " favored by mainstream promotions such as World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation , and established
14155-603: The facade of kayfabe as best as they could. In 1989, Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey government that professional wrestling was not a true sport and therefore should be exempted from sports-related taxes. Many wrestlers and fans resented McMahon for this, but Lou Thesz accepted it as the smart move as it gave the industry more freedom to do as it pleased, and because by that point professional wrestling no longer attempted to appear real. The demise of WCW in 2001 provided some evidence that kayfabe still mattered to
14304-478: The first TASW Tag Team Champions. No team has ever won the championship more than once. Scoby Gober, however, has the most individual reigns with 3. At 882 days, The Pump Patrol's first and only reign is the longest in the title's history. Brutality Inc.'s (Ken Hoffman and Sean Pendergast) only reign was the shortest in the history of the title lasting only 35 days. Both men were reporters from the Houston Chronicle and donated their prize money to charity upon winning
14453-604: The first night of Ultima Lucha, Drago defeated Hernandez in a Believer's Backlash Match. Hernandez returned to TNA on June 24, 2015, attacking the Rising and joining the Beat Down Clan . However, in July, following a legal dispute between TNA and Lucha Underground regarding Hernandez's contract, he was released from the company, and the Beat Down Clan was pulled from television. Hernandez had reportedly claimed he
14602-470: The first place. "Double-crosses", where a wrestler agreed to lose a match but nevertheless fought to win, remained a problem in the early cartel days. At times a promoter would even award a victorious double-crosser the title of champion to preserve the facade of sport. But promoters punished such wrestlers by blacklisting them, making it quite challenging to find work. Double-crossers could also be sued for breach of contract, such as Dick Shikat in 1936. In
14751-481: The following episode of Impact Wrestling , Hernandez and Arnaquia failed to regain the title in a rematch. After spending three months off television, Hernandez returned on the March 22, 2012, episode of Impact Wrestling , when he and Anarquia unsuccessfully challenged Magnus and Samoa Joe for the TNA World Tag Team Championship. In April, Anarquia was released from his TNA contract, thus ending his partnership with Hernandez. According to Hernandez, TNA wanted to create
14900-610: The game is not popular here. Nine out of ten bouts, it has been said, are pre-arranged affairs, and it would be no surprise if the ratio of fixed matches to honest ones was really so high. The wrestler Lou Thesz recalled that between 1915 and 1920, a series of exposés in the newspapers about the integrity of professional wrestling alienated a lot of fans, sending the industry "into a tailspin". But rather than perform more shoot matches, professional wrestlers instead committed themselves wholesale to fakery. Several reasons explain why professional wrestling became fake whereas boxing endured as
15049-460: The government. They pledged to stop allocating exclusive territories to its promoters, to stop blacklisting wrestlers who worked for outsider promoters, and to admit any promoter into the Alliance. The NWA would flout many of these promises, but its power was nonetheless weakened by the lawsuit. Paul Bowser's AWA joined the NWA in 1949. The AWA withdrew from the Alliance in 1957 and renamed itself
15198-526: The independent. By 1956, the NWA controlled 38 promotions within the United States, with more in Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. The NWA's monopolistic practices became so stifling that the independents appealed to the government for help. In October 1956 the US Attorney General's office filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NWA in an Iowa federal district court. The NWA settled with
15347-492: The individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in a professional wrestling exhibition. All engagements of professional wrestling shall be referred to as exhibitions, and not as matches. In the industry's slang, a fixed match is referred to as a worked match, derived from the slang word for manipulation, as in "working the crowd". A shoot match is a genuine contest where both wrestlers fight to win and are therefore "straight shooters", which comes from
15496-480: The industry was anything but a competitive sport. The first wrestling promoter to publicly admit to routinely fixing matches was Jack Pfefer . In 1933, he started talking about the industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , resulting in a huge exposé. The exposé neither surprised nor alienated most wrestling fans, although some promoters like Jack Curley were furious and tried to restore
15645-496: The industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , maintaining no pretense that wrestling was real and passing on planned results just before the matches took place. While fans were neither surprised nor alienated, traditionalists like Jack Curley were furious, and most promoters tried to maintain the facade of kayfabe as best they could. Not the least interesting of all the minor phenomena produced by
15794-442: The latter holding the promotion's heavyweight title in 2003. Texas All-Star Wrestling was started by Bob Murphy, a 10-year veteran who wrestled throughout Texas during the 1980s, who grew frustrated with the unethical business practices of small-time promoters following the collapse of the NWA territory system at the end of the decade. With the civic center yet to be built, he considered using Humble High School or another venue in
15943-588: The local area. Murphy and his then tag team partner rented out a bingo hall by U.S. Route 59 in Humble, Texas and promised the owner, Casey Musick, $ 500 plus the proceeds from the concession stand. Renaming the building the "Humble Bingo Arena", they held their first show on January 15, 1994, which was attended by 450 fans and brought in over $ 2,000. The promotion established its first championship titles between December 1994 and December 1996. Professional wrestling had been very popular in Houston, especially during
16092-526: The match. At Bound for Glory , Hernandez was unsuccessful in capturing the TNA Legends Championship in a three-way match, involving champion Kevin Nash and Eric Young, after Young turned on Nash and captured the title. In late-2009, Hernandez teamed up with Matt Morgan and D'Angelo Dinero and moved on to feuding with Rhino and Team 3D, who accused TNA of favoring the younger talent of
16241-498: The members of wrestling cartels as the champion drew big crowds wherever he performed, and this would occasionally lead to schisms. By 1925, this cartel had divided the country up into territories which were the exclusive domains of specific promoters. This system of territories endured until Vince McMahon drove the fragmented cartels out of the market in the 1980s. This cartel fractured in 1929 after one of its members, Paul Bowser , bribed Ed "Strangler" Lewis to lose his championship in
16390-572: The new TNA World Tag Team Champions. Hernandez and Guerrero made their first title defense on November 11 at Turning Point , defeating Daniels and Kazarian in rematch to retain their titles. On December 9 at Final Resolution , Hernandez and Guerrero retained the World Tag Team Championship against Joey Ryan and Matt Morgan via disqualification. Hernandez and Guerrero then defeated Ryan and Morgan again on January 13, 2013, at Genesis , to retain their titles. On January 25, at
16539-837: The next few years donating his prize money to charities. The journalist was signed to a series of Texas Death-style matches , with no referee present and "anything goes", against The Jester. These matches were held at the Silverwings Ballroom in Brenham on February 13, the Civic Center in Diboll on March 5, the Humble Bingo Arena on March 6, in Port Lavaca on March 13 and at Spring High School in Spring, Texas on March 20, 1999. Miss Hooters Girl 1999 winner Alisa Wong
16688-630: The next level". In addition to its Houston-based roster, Texas independent wrestlers Rasta Savage and Necro Butcher also regularly competed in the promotion. Later stars to emerge during the next decade included Bobby 2-Badd, Mr. Mayhem, Zen-Zen, VooDoo the Xecutioner, Nasty Nick Daniels, Dylan Starr and Nark the Nevulon. River City Wrestling 's Joey "Super Shot" Spector, an alumnus of the Texas Wrestling Academy , also wrestled for
16837-414: The oldest active championship in the state of Texas. The inaugural champion was Humungous (Bob Murphy), who defeated Dynamite Dixon in a tournament final on November 18, 1995 to become the first TASW Heavyweight Champion. Mr. Mayhem holds the record for most reigns, with three. He also holds the distinction of being the only champion never to have been pinned for the title. At 735 days, ZenZen's second reign
16986-404: The promotion during the summer and early fall of 2001. During this first stint with TASW, Duggan feuded Harlem Heat 2000 ( Big T and Stevie Ray ) from World Championship Wrestling . Kamala and Mike Tatum headlined a TASW show at the Humble Bingo Arena on February 22, 2003. Later that year, the promotion held a memorial show for one of its former stars and official announcer, Brother Icarus, at
17135-425: The promotion early in his career. On January 16, 1999, at the TASW's 6th annual "Rumble in Humble" supercard , Houston Chronicle columnist Ken Hoffman made his pro wrestling debut against The Jester in the opening bout; he not only lost the match but had to be carried out of the ring on a stretcher. Hoffman had previously covered the promotion during the mid-1990s and would continue to make occasional appearances over
17284-553: The promotion from his stint in Mexico. Hernandez returned to TNA from his stint in Mexico at the February 1, 2011, tapings of the February 10 episode of Impact! . He made his return as a heel, when he was hired by Eric Bischoff to "hurt a few people" for his Immortal stable. Hernandez then re–ignited his feud with the now–face Matt Morgan by costing him the TNA World Heavyweight Championship in
17433-717: The promotion's closing in 1991. In the spring of 1984, the WWF purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), which had been ailing for some time due to financial mismanagement and internal squabbles. In the deal, the WWF acquired the GCW's timeslot on TBS . McMahon agreed to keep showing Georgia wrestling matches in that timeslot, but he was unable to get his staff to Atlanta every Saturday to fulfill this obligation, so he sold GCW and its TBS timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). JCP started informally calling itself World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 1988, Ted Turner bought JCP and formally renamed it World Championship Wrestling. During
17582-439: The purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise a bona fide athletic contest or competition. Professional wrestling is not a combative sport. Wrestling constituting bona fide athletic contests and competitions, which may be professional or amateur combative sport, shall not be deemed professional wrestling under this Part. Professional wrestling as used in this Part shall not depend on whether
17731-470: The ring and attacked Morgan. On the March 24 episode of Impact! , he was officially presented as the newest member of Mexican America and named Anarquia . According to Hernandez, the original plan was to find a partner in Mexico, but TNA decided to include Anarquia as his tag team partner. On April 17 at Lockdown , Morgan defeated Hernandez in a steel cage match to win the feud. After defeating Ink Inc. ( Jesse Neal and Shannon Moore ) at Sacrifice and
17880-467: The school were required to volunteer at events in roles such as refereeing matches, escorting wrestlers to the ring as a "valet" or acting as security for several months prior to their first match. The entire training period generally took six months to one year, though some students graduated within four to five months. Humongous defended the TASW Heavyweight Championship against Abdullah the Butcher at
18029-440: The stamina for an hours-long fight. Audiences also preferred short matches. Worked matches also carried less risk of injury, which meant shorter recovery. Altogether, worked matches proved more profitable than shoots. By the end of the 19th century, nearly all professional wrestling matches were worked. A major influence on professional wrestling was carnival culture. Wrestlers in the late 19th century worked in carnival shows. For
18178-595: The tapings of the January 31 episode of Impact Wrestling in Manchester , England , Hernandez and Guerrero lost the TNA World Tag Team Championship to Austin Aries and Bobby Roode, ending their reign at 103 days. Hernandez and Guerrero received their rematch for the titles on March 10 at Lockdown , but were again defeated by Aries and Roode in a three-way match, also involving Bad Influence (Christopher Daniels and Kazarian). On following episode of Impact Wrestling , Hernandez and Guerrero were set for another shot at
18327-426: The team of Alex Shelley and TNA World Tag Team Champion James Storm on the June 9 episode of Impact Wrestling , Hernandez and Anarquia began demanding a tag team title shot, claiming that they were held back because of their race. On the July 14 episode of Impact Wrestling , Hernandez and Anarquia defeated The British Invasion (Douglas Williams and Magnus), with help from Rosita, to become the number one contenders to
18476-426: The territories of his former NWA peers, now his rivals. By the end of the 1980s, the WWF would become the sole national wrestling promotion in the U.S. This was in part made possible by the rapid spread of cable television in the 1980s. The national broadcast networks generally regarded professional wrestling as too niche an interest, and had not broadcast any national wrestling shows since the 1950s. Before cable TV,
18625-637: The title from Hernandez and Homicide in an Ultimate X match on September 24, 2006, at No Surrender , but Hernandez and Homicide won the title back on October 22, 2006, at Bound for Glory inside the Six Sides of Steel . After winning the title back, they engaged in a feud with America's Most Wanted , defeating them in a match at Genesis and then a flag match at Turning Point . Their next rivalry involved Team 3D ( Brother Devon and Brother Ray ), and, after winning three consecutive matches at Final Resolution (by disqualification), Against All Odds (in
18774-421: The title. (Anthony Andrews and Nate Andrews) (Jared Wayne, Curt Mathews, and Jonny Flex) The TASW Women's Championship is a professional wrestling tag team championship contested in Texas All-Star Wrestling (TASW). It was introduced in 2019. The inaugural champion was Killa Kate, who defeated Phoebe & Livi Loca on September 7, 2019 to become the first TASW Women's Champion. Currently she
18923-489: The title. Hernandez finished his run with AAA on December 21, 2010. Hernandez debuted on Lucha Underground in a dark match against Ricky Mandel on October 15, 2014, defeating him. Hernandez returned on other dark matches. On January 17, 2015, Hernandez teamed up with Jeff Cobb defeating The Crew ( Cortez Castro , Mr. Cisco and Bael ) on a Dark Handicap Tag 3 on 2. Then he teamed again with Jeff Cobb and Argenis defeating Mariachi Loco & Ricky Mandel and Son of Havoc on
19072-495: The title. At the time of its 11th anniversary at the 2005 "Humble Rumble", Williams wrote "In addition to being one of the country’s longest-lived independents, TASW has become the best one in Texas". On May 20, 2007, the promotion had its first card at the Armadillo Event Center where it held a 10-man "Hardcore Street Fight" inside a steel cage as the main event. The promotion and its school was again featured in
19221-557: The title. Overall, there have been 50 reigns shared between 38 wrestlers, with eight vacancies. The TASW Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling tag team championship contested in Texas All-Star Wrestling (TASW). It was the third of four championship titles established in TASW, having been introduced in 1996, and remains the oldest active tag team championship in the state of Texas. The inaugural champions were Natural Born Killers (Rico Suave and G.Q. Knight), who defeated Top Guns (Ace and Jag) on December 7, 1996 to become
19370-452: The titles, but the two were ambushed by the Aces & Eights before the match could start. The title match took place the following week, where Hernandez and Guerrero failed again to regain the TNA World Tag Team Championship, following interference from Daniels and Kazarian. On the next episode of Impact Wrestling , Hernandez and Guerrero defeated Daniels and Kazarian to earn another shot at
19519-442: The top promotion in the entire state. Necro Butcher and Shawn Hernandez , both started their careers in TASW. Samoa Joe , Harlem Heat 2000 ( Big T and Stevie Ray ) from World Championship Wrestling , and Tammy Lynn Sytch , Christy Hemme and Daivari from World Wrestling Entertainment have all made appearances for the promotion as well as older wrestlers such as Abdullah the Butcher , Kamala and "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan ,
19668-587: The tournament. at Bound for Glory , Hernandez and Guerrero competed in a Gauntlet match to determine #1 contenders to the TNA World Tag Team Championship which was won by The BroMans . Their alliance ended on December 19, when Guerrero was fired, and afterwards Hernandez took time off from TNA. On May 12, 2014, Hernandez was fired from TNA. According to Hernandez, TNA never notified him of his release and he noticed it via internet. Hernandez made his debut for Mexican promotion Lucha Libre AAA World Wide (AAA) on August 12, 2006, at Guerra de Titanes , appearing as
19817-519: The trial, witnesses testified that most of the "big matches" and all of the championship bouts were fixed. By the 1930s, with the exception of the occasional double-cross or business dispute, shoot matches were essentially nonexistent. In April 1930, the New York State Athletic Commission decreed that all professional wrestling matches held in the state had to be advertised as exhibitions unless certified as contests by
19966-471: The truth, their audiences would desert them. Today's performers don't "protect" the industry like we did, but that's primarily because they've already exposed it by relying on silly or downright ludicrous characters and gimmicks to gain popularity with the fans. It was different in my day, when our product was presented as an authentic, competitive sport. We protected it because we believed it would collapse if we ever so much as implied publicly that it
20115-405: The venue, in a format similar to reality television . Performers generally integrate authentic wrestling techniques and fighting styles with choreography , stunts , improvisation , and dramatic conventions designed to maximize entertainment value and audience engagement. Professional wrestling as a performing art evolved from the common practice of match-fixing among American wrestlers in
20264-535: The way of proceedings: the "in-show" happenings, presented through the shows; and real-life happenings outside the work that have implications, such as performer contracts, legitimate injuries, etc. Because actual life events are often co-opted by writers for incorporation into storylines of performers, the lines between real life and fictional life are often blurred and become confused. Special discern must be taken with people who perform under their own name (such as Kurt Angle and his fictional persona ). The actions of
20413-420: The wrestlers quietly began faking their matches so that they could give their audiences a satisfying spectacle. Fixing matches was also convenient for scheduling. A real ("shoot") match could sometimes last hours, whereas a fixed ("worked") match can be made short, which was convenient for wrestlers on tour who needed to keep appointments or share venues. It also suited wrestlers who were aging and therefore lacked
20562-425: Was Wrestling As You Like It , which printed its first issue in 1946. These magazines were faithful to kayfabe . Before the advent of television, professional wrestling's fanbase largely consisted of children, the elderly, blue-collar workers and minorities. When television arose in the 1940s, professional wrestling got national exposure on prime-time television and gained widespread popularity. Professional wrestling
20711-652: Was a free agent before being signed by TNA, despite never actually receiving his release from Lucha Underground. On June 19, 2014, Hernandez made his Chikara debut, taking part in the 2014 King of Trios tournament alongside Chavo Guerrero and Homicide. They were defeated in their first round match by the Golden Trio ( Dasher Hatfield , Icarus and Mark Angelosetti ). In October 2014, Hernandez appeared in World Wrestling Council , attacking Ray Gonzalez under Ricardo Rodríguez's orders. Hernandez
20860-458: Was attacked by the debuting British Invasion faction of Brutus Magnus , Doug Williams and Rob Terry , to allow him time off to recover from a legitimate neck surgery. On the July 23 episode of Impact! Hernandez returned to aid Homicide, who was being attacked by Samoa Joe and Taz . A week later, on July 30, he defeated Joe in his return match with a top rope splash. At Hard Justice Hernandez regained his "Feast or Fired" briefcase from
21009-488: Was challenges from independent wrestlers. But a cartelized wrestler, if challenged, could credibly use his contractual obligations to his promoter as an excuse to refuse the challenge. Promotions would sometimes respond to challenges with "policemen": powerful wrestlers who lacked the charisma to become stars, but could defeat and often seriously injure any challenger in a shoot match. As the industry trend continued, there were fewer independent wrestlers to make such challenges in
21158-487: Was helped by valet Alisa Wong and manager Sheik Ali Ramzanali. Both men donated their prize money to charity. On December 8, 2007, Tammy Lynn Sytch made an appearance at the "Seasons Beatings" supercard at the Humble Bingo Arena. That same month, The Houston Press covered a TASW event at the Armadillo Events Center featuring Spider Boy, whom the author referred to as "the world's laziest Spider-Man ", in
21307-541: Was his valet for these matches. That summer, the promotion began producing a weekly late-night series which aired on KNWS-TV . Hoffman also made a return at the "Rumble in Humble" where he unexpectedly won the TASW Cruiserweight Championship in a Three-Way Dance with Bones and "Loverboy" Joey Corman. He was helped in his victory due to outside interference from Alisa Wong and his manager Sean "The Cablinasian" Pendergast. Hoffman also entered
21456-417: Was originally there for an autograph signing but was later involved in an altercation with Dylan Starr which led to impromptu match between the two. Later that night, he became involved in a post-match brawl after Starr interfered in a Triple Threat match between Hector Montoya, Nasty Nick Daniels and TASW Cruiserweight Champion Chip Dumas causing a no-contest. The promotion celebrated its 16th anniversary at
21605-571: Was previously considered a niche interest, but the TV networks at the time were short on content and thus were willing to try some wrestling shows. In the 1960s, however, the networks moved on to more mainstream interests such as baseball, and professional wrestling was dropped. The core audience then shrunk back to a profile similar to that of the 1930s. In 1989, Vince McMahon was looking to exempt his promotion (the World Wrestling Federation ) from sports licensing fees. To achieve this, he testified before
21754-626: Was regularly drawing between 300 and 800 fans each month at its home arena in Humble and also promoted shows in other cities outside Harris County and Houston including Texas City , Baytown , Port Lavaca , Brenham and El Campo . In August of that year, a story on Murphy and TASW was featured in the Houston Press and profiled several its top stars including female wrestlers Skyler and Nadia Payne, Big Daddy from Cincinnati, Mini Stuff, Mr. Fu Ku, Spanish Fly, "Playboy" Joey Corman, Rasta Savage, Necro Butcher and Shawn Hernandez. The story received
21903-673: Was slated to return to Texas All-Star Wrestling on June 25, 2016, in Cypress, Texas . Prior to the show, he was involved in altercations with both "Killer" Brent McKenzie and Byron "Big Daddy Yum Yum" Wilcott. Hernandez left the building and did not compete. Hernandez took on Kenzo Richards at Cheltenham Town Hall on February 18, 2018, for World Pro Wrestling. Since around 2018, Hernandez has been working with Austin Wrestling Revolution based in Lockhart, TX as head trainer of
22052-415: Was something other than what it appeared to be. I'm not sure now the fear was ever justified given the fact that the industry is still in existence today, but the point is no one questioned the need then. "Protecting the business" in the face of criticism and skepticism was the first and most important rule a pro wrestler learned. No matter how aggressive or informed the questioner, you never admitted
22201-417: Was the "world champion". Before the cartels, there were multiple wrestlers in the U.S. simultaneously calling themselves the "world champion", and this sapped public enthusiasm for professional wrestling. Likewise, the cartel could agree on a common set of match rules that the fans could keep track of. The issue over who got to be the champion and who controlled said champion was a major point of contention among
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