Luchawiki - User contributions [en]

Black Scorpio

2007-08-21T02:06:47Z

Parsonsburg:

{{bioFields|
|image=2ColdScorpio.jpg
|name=2 Cold Scorpio
|realName=Charles Skaggs
|nicknames=
|nameHistory=Black Scorpio, Flying Scorpio (NJPW), 2 Cold Scorpio (ECW, WCW, Japan), Too Cold Scorpio (ECW, WCW), Flash Funk (WWF), Scorpio, Black Wozma, Flying Wazama (Japan)
|family=
|maestro=[[Michelle Starr]]
|birthdate=[[October 25]], [[1965]] - [[Denver]], [[Colorado]]
|debut=[[1987]]
|lostmaskto=[[Scorpio Jr.]] (as Black Scorpio)
|height=5'11"/180 cm
|weight=229 lbs/104 kg
|obituarydate=N/A
|signatureMoves='''''[[450 Splash|Scorpio Splash / Funky Flash Splash]]''''', '''''[[Somersault Leg Drop|Tumbleweed]]''''', '''''[[Moonsault Leg Drop|Drop Da Bomb]]''''', [[Leg drop#Diving leg drop|Diving leg drop]], [[Shooting star press]], [[Suplex#Double underhook suplex|Double arm suplex]], [[Superkick]]
|titles=[[ASWA Heavyweight Championship]], [[ECW World Television Championship]] (4), [[ECW World Tag Team Championship]] (with [[The Sandman]]), [[GWF Heavyweight Championship]], [[PCW Heavyweight Championship]], [[GHC Tag Team Championship]] (2) (with [[Vader]], with [[Doug Williams]]), [[GHC Openweight Hardcore Championship]], [[PWU Heavyweight Championship]], [[UWA Hardcore Championship]], [[WCW Tag Team Championship]] (with [[Marcus Alexander Bagwell]])
|}}

 
== Luchas de apuestas record ==
{{astart}}
{{aline|92/10/11|hair|Black Scorpio|[[Scorpio]]|El Toreo - Naucalpan, Mexico State}}
{{aline|92/10/25|mask|[[Scorpio Jr.]]|Black Scorpio|El Toreo - Naucalpan, Mexico State}}
{{aend|}}

== Gallery ==
{{Gallery|
|name=BlackScorpio.jpg
|caption=in the middle as Black Scorpio
}}

{{Gallery|
|name=2cold.jpg
|caption=Promo Shot from WCW
}}

[[Category:United States wrestlers]]
[[Category:Foreign wrestlers]]

ECW

2007-08-21T02:05:45Z

Parsonsburg: /* Gallery */

[[Image:ECW.jpg|right]]
'''Extreme Championship Wrestling''' '''(ECW)''' was a professional wrestling promotion, founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1992 by Tod Gordon. The company was well known for its loyal fan base, as well as its tendency to push the envelope with storylines. The group showcased many different styles of professional wrestling, ranging from lucha libre to hardcore wrestling.

[[World Wrestling Entertainment]] (WWE) purchased the rights to ECW and its video library in the summer of 2003. In 2005 and 2006, WWE promoted an ECW pay-per-view event called ECW One Night Stand. However, it is not to be confused with the current '''ECW brand''', whose weekly series premiered on June 13, 2006 on the Sci Fi Channel and bears little similarity (outside of the name) to the original ECW.

== History ==
ECW was founded in 1992, under the name '''Eastern Championship Wrestling''' and as a member of the [[National Wrestling Alliance]] (NWA). After owner Tod Gordon had a falling out with head booker "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert (over his unstable behavior and drug abuse), Gordon hired Gilbert's friend and fellow WCW alumni Paul Heyman to replace him. Heyman's first show with the promotion was ''NWA Ultra Clash '93'' on September 18, 1993 at the New Alhambra Arena (which would eventually be dubbed '''The ECW Arena''') in Philadelphia.

When ECW was branching out, professional wrestlers had far more cartoonish gimmicks, and the overall product was marketed more towards children than the 18-35 male demographic that ECW was aiming towards. There were also far more taboos, such as blading and women getting regularly beaten up by the male wrestlers; Heyman envisioned ECW as the professional wrestling equivalent to the grunge movement.

=== Extreme Championship Wrestling ===
In 1994, Jim Crockett's no-compete clause with Ted Turner (who purchased [[World Championship Wrestling from Crockett in 1988) was up, and he decided to use ECW as the vehicle to promote the NWA again. A tournament for the [[NWA World Heavyweight Championship]] was held at the New Alhambra Arena on August 27, 1994, but NWA President Dennis Coralluzzo thought that Crockett and Gordon were going to try to monopolize the title (much like Crockett did in the 1980s) and informed them they didn't have the NWA board's approval, so he took control over the tournament. Gordon was upset at Coralluzzo for his power plays so Gordon and Shane Douglas (who was booked to win the title against 2 Cold Scorpio) planned to have Douglas throw the title down after he won it and break ECW away from the NWA. In a now classic post-match speech, Shane Douglas said that he didn't want to be a part of an organization that "died" seven years earlier (presumably in reference to Jim Crockett selling WCW to Turner Broadcasting in 1988).
After ECW withdrew from the NWA and officially changed its name from '''Eastern Championship Wrestling''' to '''Extreme Championship Wrestling''', it became an underground sensation; the group would showcase many different styles of professional wrestling, popularizing bloody hardcore wrestling matches and the 3-Way Dance. ECW always intended to be counter-culture and a grittier alternative to multi-million dollar organizations such as [[World Wrestling Entertainment|World Wrestling Federation]] (WWF) and WCW. In addition to their hardcore match types, they provided an alternative to North American wrestling with technical wrestling that was common overseas. International stars such as [[Eddie Guerrero]], [[Chris Benoit]] and [[Dean Malenko]] anchored a solid technical wrestling core in ECW, and lucha libre stars such as [[Rey Misterio, Jr.]], [[Psicosis]], [[Konnan]] and [[Juventud Guerrera]] imported a style of wrestling rarely seen in national wrestling promotions.

Wrestlers such as Shane Douglas, Tommy Dreamer, Raven, The Sandman, Cactus Jack, Terry Funk, [[Sabu]], Public Enemy and Taz were seen as being too dangerous for the multi-million dollar companies and were given a chance in ECW, as well as being the main competitors that assisted in launching the new ECW at the time. One of the promotion's marquee feuds was the long-standing feud between Tommy Dreamer and Raven, which involved many ECW wrestlers over a period of two and a half years. Another was between Raven and the Sandman, which included the now infamous crucifixion angle. The bulk of ECW's shows remained at the New Alhambra Arena (soon renamed the ECW Arena), a rundown bingo hall secluded under a section of Interstate 95. Seating comprised simple folding chairs and four sets of portable bleachers, and the unconventional set up reflected the gritty style of the wrestling itself. Shows were actually broadcast on Sports Channel Philadelphia (a Philadelphia local cable sports station) on Tuesday evenings. After Sports Channel Philadelphia went off the air in 1997, the show moved to WPPX-TV 61, and later to WGTW 48 (a former independent broadcast station) in Philadelphia on either Friday or Saturday nights at 1 or 2 a.m. Shows were also aired on the MSG Network in NYC on early Saturday mornings at 2 a.m. Due to the obscurity of the stations and ECW itself, expletives and violence were not edited out on a majority of the broadcasts, which helped ECW get noticed.

After noticing ECW's growing popularity, the "Big Two" (WCW and WWF) started adopting their ideas and hiring away their talent; Paul Heyman contends that ECW was the first victim of the "Monday Night Wars" between WCW Monday Nitro and Monday Night RAW. While the WWF had a somewhat working relationship with ECW (going as far as allowing cross-promotional angles, and providing financial aid to Heyman for a considerable period of time), WCW refused to even mention ECW by name with a few notable exceptions, including a passing remark by Raven in late 1997, referring to it as "barbed wire city" and "a major independent promotion" that wrestled in bingo halls during a segment directed at Diamond Dallas Page. Vince McMahon claimed that he put Paul Heyman on the WWF's payroll as compensation for the talent (namely Taz, Steve Austin, Cactus Jack and The Dudley Boyz) defecting ECW for the WWF. On the other hand, Heyman believed that Eric Bischoff never compensated him for ECW bred talent such as Mikey Whipwreck, Raven, The Sandman, [[Chris Benoit]], [[Dean Malenko]], [[Eddie Guerrero]], Perry Saturn, Stevie Richards, The Public Enemy and Chris Jericho leaving to go to WCW.

=== Cross-promotion ===
Storyline-wise, Vince McMahon first became "aware" of ECW during the 1995 King of the Ring event in ECW's home base of Philadelphia; during the tournament final between Mabel and Savio Vega, the crowd suddenly started to angrily chant ''"ECW ECW ECW"''. At the September 22, 1996 In Your House 10: Mind Games event in Philadelphia, ECW stars The Sandman, Tommy Dreamer, Paul Heyman, and Taz were in the front row, with Sandman even interfering in one match (when he threw beer on Savio Vega during his strap match with Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw); McMahon acknowledged ECW's status as a local, up and coming promotion on the air. On February 24, 1997, ECW "invaded" ''Monday Night RAW'' from the Manhattan Center. They advanced a storyline, plugged their first ever pay-per-view and worked three matches in front of the WWF audience, as Vince McMahon called the action with both Jerry "The King" Lawler and Paul Heyman. The Manhattan Center in New York City was peppered with a large number of ECW fans, who gave the WWF wrestlers ''"BORING!"'' chants when they felt it was warranted. Likewise, when the ECW performers arrived, they popped and introduced the WWF Monday night audience to some trademark ECW group chants. It was said that this episode was the beginning of what would eventually be called ''The Attitude Era'' of the WWF. After a series of struggles, ECW broadcasted its first pay-per-view wrestling card ("Barely Legal") on April 13, 1997, which was highlighted by Terry Funk winning the ECW World Heavyweight Title. At the 1997 ''Wrestlepalooza'' event, Jerry Lawler (a noted critic of ECW) made a surprise appearance at the ECW Arena, aiding Rob Van Dam and Sabu in a post-match (against Raven, who made his final appearance in ECW) attack on Tommy Dreamer; this set up a match between Tommy Dreamer and Jerry Lawler at the 1997 Hardcore Heaven PPV on August 17, which was won by Dreamer.

ECW continued through 1998 and early 1999 with a string of successful pay-per-views. In August 1999, ECW began to broadcast nationally on The Nashville Network for what was initially a three year contract; despite no advertising and a low budget, ECW became TNN's highest rated show. In March 2000, Mike Awesome suddenly defected to WCW, even though he was still the reigning ECW World Heavyweight Champion. There were rumors that Eric Bischoff wanted to drop the ECW belt in the trash can on television (much like he did with the WWF Women's Championship with Alundra Blayze), which led to threats of legal action from ECW. As a result, Awesome agreed to drop the title to anyone, which turned out to be current WWF star/former ECW champion Tazz; it marked the only time that a WCW contracted wrestler would wrestle against a WWF contracted wrestler at an ECW sanctioned event.

ECW on TNN was canceled in October 2000 (with the final episode airing on October 6, 2000), in favor of broadcasting WWF Monday Night RAW; to this day, Paul Heyman still maintains that the lack of a national television deal was the main cause of ECW's demise.

=== Bankruptcy ===
ECW struggled for months after the cancellation, trying to secure a new national TV deal. On December 30, 2000, ECW Hardcore TV aired for the final time, and ECW Guilty as Charged 2001 (which aired on January 7, 2001) would turn out to be ECW's final PPV. ECW Living Dangerously was going to air on March 11, 2001, but it was cancelled because of financial trouble; despite help from the WWF, Heyman could not get out of financial trouble and filed for bankruptcy on April 4, 2001. The company was listed as having assets totaling $1,385,500; included in that amount was $860,000 in accounts receivable owed to the company by iN DEMAND, Acclaim Entertainment and Original San Francisco Toy Makers. The balance of the assets were the video tape library ($500,000), a 1998 Ford Truck ($19,500) and the remaining inventory of merchandise ($4).

The liabilities of the company totaled $8,881,435.17; the bankruptcy filing included hundreds of claims, including production companies, buildings ECW ran in, TV stations ECW was televised on, travel agencies, phone companies, attorney's fees, wrestlers, and other talent. Wrestlers and talent were listed, with amounts owed ranging from $1 for Sabu and Steve Corino to hundreds (and in some cases) and thousands of dollars; the highest amounts owed to talents were Rob Van Dam ($150,000), Tommy Dreamer ($100,000), Joey Styles ($50,000), Shane Douglas ($48,000) and Francine ($47,875).

== Revival ==
=== Alliance storyline ===
A few months after the promotion's 2001 demise, ECW resurfaced as a stable in the WWF's Invasion storyline. As a participant in the inter-promotional feud between Shane McMahon's WCW and Vince McMahon's WWF, ECW was initially "owned" by Paul Heyman and harbored no loyalty to either promotion. On the very same night, it was revealed that Stephanie McMahon was ECW's new "owner", and she would soon conspire with her brother Shane to oust their father from his leadership position in the World Wrestling Federation. With the creation of The Alliance, the inter-promotional feud shifted into an internal power struggle among the McMahon family. The defection of WWF superstars to The Alliance continued the shift, resulting in less focus on WCW and ECW performers. The feud lasted six months and concluded with WWF defeating The Alliance at the 2001 Survivor Series. The WWF's victory also marked the end of the Invasion storyline, and WCW and ECW wrestlers were reintegrated into the WWF.

=== Documentaries ===
In the summer of 2003, WWE purchased ECW's assets in bankruptcy court, acquiring the rights to ECW's video library. They used this video library to put together a two-disc DVD entitled ''The Rise and Fall of ECW''. The set was released in November 2004, with the feature of the first disc being a three-hour documentary on the company's history, and the other disc featured 7 classic matches from the promotion. The DVD sold very well, and is still ranked as WWE's second highest-selling DVD of all time (behind WrestleMania 21) to this day.

An unauthorized DVD called ''Forever Hardcore'' was produced by former WCW crew member Jeremy Borash, in response to ''The Rise and Fall of ECW''. The DVD featured stories from wrestlers who were not employed by WWE, as well as providing their side of ECW's history.

=== Reunion shows ===
The strong sales of ''The Rise and Fall of ECW'' prompted both World Wrestling Entertainment and Shane Douglas to promote ECW reunion shows in 2005. Douglas's inaugural ''Hardcore Homecoming'' event was held before WWE's ''ECW One Night Stand'' pay-per-view, and both shows produced phenomenal revenue. While WWE chose not to pursue ECW any further, Shane Douglas ran a brief 2-date Hardcore Homecoming tour, which did not produce a revenue as successful as the first event; Hardcore Homecoming ran one last event, ''November Reign'', in late 2005.

== Lawsuits ==
On November 23, 1996, aspiring wrestler Eric Kulas teamed with D-Von Dudley to wrestle The Gangstas; substituting for Axl Rotten, Kulas was beaten with various weapons and suffered a deep cut as a result of a blading incident by his opponent New Jack. Kulas sued ECW and New Jack for physical and psychological damage, claiming he was unaware the match was going to be a hardcore match. Furthermore, criminal charges were filed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts against New Jack. During the civil trial, it was revealed that Kulas and his father lied about Kulas' age (claiming he was 19 years old, instead of 17). In addition, Kulas had misrepresented his wrestling experience by claiming that he was trained by retired wrestler Killer Kowalski. In the end, ECW and New Jack were acquitted of the charges, but the lawsuit delayed (and at one point resulted in the cancelation of) the broadcast of ECW's first pay-per-view after distributors viewed video of the incident. Eric Kulas died on May 12, 2002 at the age of 22 due to complications from gastric bypass surgery.

In [[December 2005]], ECW founder Tod Gordon challenged WWE's ownership of the Eastern Championship Wrestling section of the ECW video library, claiming that the state didn't have the authority to sell that section of the video library to Vince McMahon and World Wrestling Entertainment; he claimed that Eastern Championship Wrestling, Inc. was a separate entity from Extreme Championship Wrestling/HHC inc. On May 8, 2006, the case was thrown out, and Gordon is now one of the owners of the New Alhambra Arena-based Pro Wrestling Unplugged promotion.

== Tradition ==
There were several distinctive fans that were always in the front row at ECW shows. Among them were ''Sign Guy'', ''Tye Dye Guy'', ''Hat Guy'' (also known in the Philadelphia area as ''Straw Hat''), ''Faith No More Guy'', and ''Kato''. They gained their respective nicknames because Sign Guy always had different creative signs with him, Hat Guy always wore a straw hat and Hawaiian shirt, Faith No More Guy bore an uncanny resemblance to "Big" Jim Martin (former guitarist for rock band Faith No More) and Kato resembled OJ Simpson house guest Kato Kaelin. Regular patrons of ECW Arena events were given ''Club ECW'' status by the promotion and were able to reserve seats ahead of the general public. Many members of ''Club ECW'' were present at Shane Douglas's 2005 ''Hardcore Homecoming'' shows in Philadelphia, and at ECW One Night Stand.
Crowds at ECW events were well known for their rowdiness and distinctive chants that either supported or demeaned what was transpiring in the ring. ECW chants such as ''"You fucked up!"'' and ''"Holy shit!"'' became infamous during those shows, and are still used by fans in other promotions.

In ECW, there were virtually no rules; weapons were abundant, with much blood spilled. There were referees, but their role was normally limited to counting pinfalls and acknowledging submissions, occasionally performing tag team maneuvers with a wrestler during the match and several times becoming the winner of the match themselves (though not officially a part of the bout). ECW was known for popularizing several types of matches, such as the Barbed Wire Match, the Flaming Tables Match, the Singapore Cane Match, the Stairway to Hell Match, the Three-Way Dance and Fans Bring Their Own Weapons Matches.

== Championships ==
*ECW World Heavyweight Championship (1992-2001, 2006-present)
*ECW World Tag Team Championship (1992-2001)
*ECW World Television Championship (1992-2001)
*ECW Maryland Championship (1993)
*ECW Pennsylvania Championship (1993)
*FTW Heavyweight Championship (1998-1999)

== Books ==
*''Hardcore History: The Extremely Unauthorized Story of the ECW'' (ISBN 1-59670-021-1) - Scott Williams
*''Rise And Fall of ECW'' (ISBN 1-4165-1058-3) - Thom Loverro for World Wrestling Entertainment
*''Turning the Tables'' (ISBN 1-905363-78-8) - John Lister
*''Sex, Drugs, and Wrestling - The Truth, The Lies, and the Extreme'' - Tod Gordon

== Gallery ==
{{Gallery||name=EasternCW.jpg|caption=Vintage Logo}}
{{Gallery||name=PublicEnemy1.jpg|caption=Public Enemy spray-painting "Extreme" on the vintage ECW banner}}
{{Gallery||name=Ecwcollage.jpg|caption=Collage}}
{{Gallery||name=Sandman.jpg|caption=5-Time Former ECW World Heavyweight Champion, The Sandman}}
{{Gallery||name=Riseandfall.jpg|caption=DVD cover of the critically-acclaimed WWE-produced documentary, "The Rise and Fall of ECW"}}
 
{{Gallery||name=2ColdScorpio.jpg|caption=2 Cold Scorpio @ November to Remember 1995}}
{{Gallery||name=SuperDestroyers.gif|caption=The Super Destroyers (with Hunter Q. Robbins), the very first ECW Tag Team Champions}}
{{Gallery||name=TripleThreat.jpg|caption=The ORIGINAL Version of the Triple Threat}}
 

== External links ==
*[http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/ Official ECW Website at WWE.com]
*[http://solie.org/titlehistories/ecw.html Solie.org - ECW Title Histories]
*[http://www.geocities.com/wisereborn/EasternCW.html The Wrestling Follower - Eastern Championship Wrestling Results Archive]
*[http://www.myspace.com/wwerealspace WWE's Official MySpace]

ECW

2007-08-21T02:04:42Z

Parsonsburg: /* Gallery */

[[Image:ECW.jpg|right]]
'''Extreme Championship Wrestling''' '''(ECW)''' was a professional wrestling promotion, founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1992 by Tod Gordon. The company was well known for its loyal fan base, as well as its tendency to push the envelope with storylines. The group showcased many different styles of professional wrestling, ranging from lucha libre to hardcore wrestling.

[[World Wrestling Entertainment]] (WWE) purchased the rights to ECW and its video library in the summer of 2003. In 2005 and 2006, WWE promoted an ECW pay-per-view event called ECW One Night Stand. However, it is not to be confused with the current '''ECW brand''', whose weekly series premiered on June 13, 2006 on the Sci Fi Channel and bears little similarity (outside of the name) to the original ECW.

== History ==
ECW was founded in 1992, under the name '''Eastern Championship Wrestling''' and as a member of the [[National Wrestling Alliance]] (NWA). After owner Tod Gordon had a falling out with head booker "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert (over his unstable behavior and drug abuse), Gordon hired Gilbert's friend and fellow WCW alumni Paul Heyman to replace him. Heyman's first show with the promotion was ''NWA Ultra Clash '93'' on September 18, 1993 at the New Alhambra Arena (which would eventually be dubbed '''The ECW Arena''') in Philadelphia.

When ECW was branching out, professional wrestlers had far more cartoonish gimmicks, and the overall product was marketed more towards children than the 18-35 male demographic that ECW was aiming towards. There were also far more taboos, such as blading and women getting regularly beaten up by the male wrestlers; Heyman envisioned ECW as the professional wrestling equivalent to the grunge movement.

=== Extreme Championship Wrestling ===
In 1994, Jim Crockett's no-compete clause with Ted Turner (who purchased [[World Championship Wrestling from Crockett in 1988) was up, and he decided to use ECW as the vehicle to promote the NWA again. A tournament for the [[NWA World Heavyweight Championship]] was held at the New Alhambra Arena on August 27, 1994, but NWA President Dennis Coralluzzo thought that Crockett and Gordon were going to try to monopolize the title (much like Crockett did in the 1980s) and informed them they didn't have the NWA board's approval, so he took control over the tournament. Gordon was upset at Coralluzzo for his power plays so Gordon and Shane Douglas (who was booked to win the title against 2 Cold Scorpio) planned to have Douglas throw the title down after he won it and break ECW away from the NWA. In a now classic post-match speech, Shane Douglas said that he didn't want to be a part of an organization that "died" seven years earlier (presumably in reference to Jim Crockett selling WCW to Turner Broadcasting in 1988).
After ECW withdrew from the NWA and officially changed its name from '''Eastern Championship Wrestling''' to '''Extreme Championship Wrestling''', it became an underground sensation; the group would showcase many different styles of professional wrestling, popularizing bloody hardcore wrestling matches and the 3-Way Dance. ECW always intended to be counter-culture and a grittier alternative to multi-million dollar organizations such as [[World Wrestling Entertainment|World Wrestling Federation]] (WWF) and WCW. In addition to their hardcore match types, they provided an alternative to North American wrestling with technical wrestling that was common overseas. International stars such as [[Eddie Guerrero]], [[Chris Benoit]] and [[Dean Malenko]] anchored a solid technical wrestling core in ECW, and lucha libre stars such as [[Rey Misterio, Jr.]], [[Psicosis]], [[Konnan]] and [[Juventud Guerrera]] imported a style of wrestling rarely seen in national wrestling promotions.

Wrestlers such as Shane Douglas, Tommy Dreamer, Raven, The Sandman, Cactus Jack, Terry Funk, [[Sabu]], Public Enemy and Taz were seen as being too dangerous for the multi-million dollar companies and were given a chance in ECW, as well as being the main competitors that assisted in launching the new ECW at the time. One of the promotion's marquee feuds was the long-standing feud between Tommy Dreamer and Raven, which involved many ECW wrestlers over a period of two and a half years. Another was between Raven and the Sandman, which included the now infamous crucifixion angle. The bulk of ECW's shows remained at the New Alhambra Arena (soon renamed the ECW Arena), a rundown bingo hall secluded under a section of Interstate 95. Seating comprised simple folding chairs and four sets of portable bleachers, and the unconventional set up reflected the gritty style of the wrestling itself. Shows were actually broadcast on Sports Channel Philadelphia (a Philadelphia local cable sports station) on Tuesday evenings. After Sports Channel Philadelphia went off the air in 1997, the show moved to WPPX-TV 61, and later to WGTW 48 (a former independent broadcast station) in Philadelphia on either Friday or Saturday nights at 1 or 2 a.m. Shows were also aired on the MSG Network in NYC on early Saturday mornings at 2 a.m. Due to the obscurity of the stations and ECW itself, expletives and violence were not edited out on a majority of the broadcasts, which helped ECW get noticed.

After noticing ECW's growing popularity, the "Big Two" (WCW and WWF) started adopting their ideas and hiring away their talent; Paul Heyman contends that ECW was the first victim of the "Monday Night Wars" between WCW Monday Nitro and Monday Night RAW. While the WWF had a somewhat working relationship with ECW (going as far as allowing cross-promotional angles, and providing financial aid to Heyman for a considerable period of time), WCW refused to even mention ECW by name with a few notable exceptions, including a passing remark by Raven in late 1997, referring to it as "barbed wire city" and "a major independent promotion" that wrestled in bingo halls during a segment directed at Diamond Dallas Page. Vince McMahon claimed that he put Paul Heyman on the WWF's payroll as compensation for the talent (namely Taz, Steve Austin, Cactus Jack and The Dudley Boyz) defecting ECW for the WWF. On the other hand, Heyman believed that Eric Bischoff never compensated him for ECW bred talent such as Mikey Whipwreck, Raven, The Sandman, [[Chris Benoit]], [[Dean Malenko]], [[Eddie Guerrero]], Perry Saturn, Stevie Richards, The Public Enemy and Chris Jericho leaving to go to WCW.

=== Cross-promotion ===
Storyline-wise, Vince McMahon first became "aware" of ECW during the 1995 King of the Ring event in ECW's home base of Philadelphia; during the tournament final between Mabel and Savio Vega, the crowd suddenly started to angrily chant ''"ECW ECW ECW"''. At the September 22, 1996 In Your House 10: Mind Games event in Philadelphia, ECW stars The Sandman, Tommy Dreamer, Paul Heyman, and Taz were in the front row, with Sandman even interfering in one match (when he threw beer on Savio Vega during his strap match with Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw); McMahon acknowledged ECW's status as a local, up and coming promotion on the air. On February 24, 1997, ECW "invaded" ''Monday Night RAW'' from the Manhattan Center. They advanced a storyline, plugged their first ever pay-per-view and worked three matches in front of the WWF audience, as Vince McMahon called the action with both Jerry "The King" Lawler and Paul Heyman. The Manhattan Center in New York City was peppered with a large number of ECW fans, who gave the WWF wrestlers ''"BORING!"'' chants when they felt it was warranted. Likewise, when the ECW performers arrived, they popped and introduced the WWF Monday night audience to some trademark ECW group chants. It was said that this episode was the beginning of what would eventually be called ''The Attitude Era'' of the WWF. After a series of struggles, ECW broadcasted its first pay-per-view wrestling card ("Barely Legal") on April 13, 1997, which was highlighted by Terry Funk winning the ECW World Heavyweight Title. At the 1997 ''Wrestlepalooza'' event, Jerry Lawler (a noted critic of ECW) made a surprise appearance at the ECW Arena, aiding Rob Van Dam and Sabu in a post-match (against Raven, who made his final appearance in ECW) attack on Tommy Dreamer; this set up a match between Tommy Dreamer and Jerry Lawler at the 1997 Hardcore Heaven PPV on August 17, which was won by Dreamer.

ECW continued through 1998 and early 1999 with a string of successful pay-per-views. In August 1999, ECW began to broadcast nationally on The Nashville Network for what was initially a three year contract; despite no advertising and a low budget, ECW became TNN's highest rated show. In March 2000, Mike Awesome suddenly defected to WCW, even though he was still the reigning ECW World Heavyweight Champion. There were rumors that Eric Bischoff wanted to drop the ECW belt in the trash can on television (much like he did with the WWF Women's Championship with Alundra Blayze), which led to threats of legal action from ECW. As a result, Awesome agreed to drop the title to anyone, which turned out to be current WWF star/former ECW champion Tazz; it marked the only time that a WCW contracted wrestler would wrestle against a WWF contracted wrestler at an ECW sanctioned event.

ECW on TNN was canceled in October 2000 (with the final episode airing on October 6, 2000), in favor of broadcasting WWF Monday Night RAW; to this day, Paul Heyman still maintains that the lack of a national television deal was the main cause of ECW's demise.

=== Bankruptcy ===
ECW struggled for months after the cancellation, trying to secure a new national TV deal. On December 30, 2000, ECW Hardcore TV aired for the final time, and ECW Guilty as Charged 2001 (which aired on January 7, 2001) would turn out to be ECW's final PPV. ECW Living Dangerously was going to air on March 11, 2001, but it was cancelled because of financial trouble; despite help from the WWF, Heyman could not get out of financial trouble and filed for bankruptcy on April 4, 2001. The company was listed as having assets totaling $1,385,500; included in that amount was $860,000 in accounts receivable owed to the company by iN DEMAND, Acclaim Entertainment and Original San Francisco Toy Makers. The balance of the assets were the video tape library ($500,000), a 1998 Ford Truck ($19,500) and the remaining inventory of merchandise ($4).

The liabilities of the company totaled $8,881,435.17; the bankruptcy filing included hundreds of claims, including production companies, buildings ECW ran in, TV stations ECW was televised on, travel agencies, phone companies, attorney's fees, wrestlers, and other talent. Wrestlers and talent were listed, with amounts owed ranging from $1 for Sabu and Steve Corino to hundreds (and in some cases) and thousands of dollars; the highest amounts owed to talents were Rob Van Dam ($150,000), Tommy Dreamer ($100,000), Joey Styles ($50,000), Shane Douglas ($48,000) and Francine ($47,875).

== Revival ==
=== Alliance storyline ===
A few months after the promotion's 2001 demise, ECW resurfaced as a stable in the WWF's Invasion storyline. As a participant in the inter-promotional feud between Shane McMahon's WCW and Vince McMahon's WWF, ECW was initially "owned" by Paul Heyman and harbored no loyalty to either promotion. On the very same night, it was revealed that Stephanie McMahon was ECW's new "owner", and she would soon conspire with her brother Shane to oust their father from his leadership position in the World Wrestling Federation. With the creation of The Alliance, the inter-promotional feud shifted into an internal power struggle among the McMahon family. The defection of WWF superstars to The Alliance continued the shift, resulting in less focus on WCW and ECW performers. The feud lasted six months and concluded with WWF defeating The Alliance at the 2001 Survivor Series. The WWF's victory also marked the end of the Invasion storyline, and WCW and ECW wrestlers were reintegrated into the WWF.

=== Documentaries ===
In the summer of 2003, WWE purchased ECW's assets in bankruptcy court, acquiring the rights to ECW's video library. They used this video library to put together a two-disc DVD entitled ''The Rise and Fall of ECW''. The set was released in November 2004, with the feature of the first disc being a three-hour documentary on the company's history, and the other disc featured 7 classic matches from the promotion. The DVD sold very well, and is still ranked as WWE's second highest-selling DVD of all time (behind WrestleMania 21) to this day.

An unauthorized DVD called ''Forever Hardcore'' was produced by former WCW crew member Jeremy Borash, in response to ''The Rise and Fall of ECW''. The DVD featured stories from wrestlers who were not employed by WWE, as well as providing their side of ECW's history.

=== Reunion shows ===
The strong sales of ''The Rise and Fall of ECW'' prompted both World Wrestling Entertainment and Shane Douglas to promote ECW reunion shows in 2005. Douglas's inaugural ''Hardcore Homecoming'' event was held before WWE's ''ECW One Night Stand'' pay-per-view, and both shows produced phenomenal revenue. While WWE chose not to pursue ECW any further, Shane Douglas ran a brief 2-date Hardcore Homecoming tour, which did not produce a revenue as successful as the first event; Hardcore Homecoming ran one last event, ''November Reign'', in late 2005.

== Lawsuits ==
On November 23, 1996, aspiring wrestler Eric Kulas teamed with D-Von Dudley to wrestle The Gangstas; substituting for Axl Rotten, Kulas was beaten with various weapons and suffered a deep cut as a result of a blading incident by his opponent New Jack. Kulas sued ECW and New Jack for physical and psychological damage, claiming he was unaware the match was going to be a hardcore match. Furthermore, criminal charges were filed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts against New Jack. During the civil trial, it was revealed that Kulas and his father lied about Kulas' age (claiming he was 19 years old, instead of 17). In addition, Kulas had misrepresented his wrestling experience by claiming that he was trained by retired wrestler Killer Kowalski. In the end, ECW and New Jack were acquitted of the charges, but the lawsuit delayed (and at one point resulted in the cancelation of) the broadcast of ECW's first pay-per-view after distributors viewed video of the incident. Eric Kulas died on May 12, 2002 at the age of 22 due to complications from gastric bypass surgery.

In [[December 2005]], ECW founder Tod Gordon challenged WWE's ownership of the Eastern Championship Wrestling section of the ECW video library, claiming that the state didn't have the authority to sell that section of the video library to Vince McMahon and World Wrestling Entertainment; he claimed that Eastern Championship Wrestling, Inc. was a separate entity from Extreme Championship Wrestling/HHC inc. On May 8, 2006, the case was thrown out, and Gordon is now one of the owners of the New Alhambra Arena-based Pro Wrestling Unplugged promotion.

== Tradition ==
There were several distinctive fans that were always in the front row at ECW shows. Among them were ''Sign Guy'', ''Tye Dye Guy'', ''Hat Guy'' (also known in the Philadelphia area as ''Straw Hat''), ''Faith No More Guy'', and ''Kato''. They gained their respective nicknames because Sign Guy always had different creative signs with him, Hat Guy always wore a straw hat and Hawaiian shirt, Faith No More Guy bore an uncanny resemblance to "Big" Jim Martin (former guitarist for rock band Faith No More) and Kato resembled OJ Simpson house guest Kato Kaelin. Regular patrons of ECW Arena events were given ''Club ECW'' status by the promotion and were able to reserve seats ahead of the general public. Many members of ''Club ECW'' were present at Shane Douglas's 2005 ''Hardcore Homecoming'' shows in Philadelphia, and at ECW One Night Stand.
Crowds at ECW events were well known for their rowdiness and distinctive chants that either supported or demeaned what was transpiring in the ring. ECW chants such as ''"You fucked up!"'' and ''"Holy shit!"'' became infamous during those shows, and are still used by fans in other promotions.

In ECW, there were virtually no rules; weapons were abundant, with much blood spilled. There were referees, but their role was normally limited to counting pinfalls and acknowledging submissions, occasionally performing tag team maneuvers with a wrestler during the match and several times becoming the winner of the match themselves (though not officially a part of the bout). ECW was known for popularizing several types of matches, such as the Barbed Wire Match, the Flaming Tables Match, the Singapore Cane Match, the Stairway to Hell Match, the Three-Way Dance and Fans Bring Their Own Weapons Matches.

== Championships ==
*ECW World Heavyweight Championship (1992-2001, 2006-present)
*ECW World Tag Team Championship (1992-2001)
*ECW World Television Championship (1992-2001)
*ECW Maryland Championship (1993)
*ECW Pennsylvania Championship (1993)
*FTW Heavyweight Championship (1998-1999)

== Books ==
*''Hardcore History: The Extremely Unauthorized Story of the ECW'' (ISBN 1-59670-021-1) - Scott Williams
*''Rise And Fall of ECW'' (ISBN 1-4165-1058-3) - Thom Loverro for World Wrestling Entertainment
*''Turning the Tables'' (ISBN 1-905363-78-8) - John Lister
*''Sex, Drugs, and Wrestling - The Truth, The Lies, and the Extreme'' - Tod Gordon

== Gallery ==
{{Gallery||name=EasternCW.jpg|caption=Vintage Logo}}
{{Gallery||name=PublicEnemy1.jpg|caption=Public Enemy spray-painting "Extreme" on the vintage ECW banner}}
{{Gallery||name=Ecwcollage.jpg|caption=Collage}}
{{Gallery||name=Sandman.jpg|caption=5-Time Former ECW World Heavyweight Champion, The Sandman}}
{{Gallery||name=Riseandfall.jpg|caption=DVD cover of the critically-acclaimed WWE-produced documentary, "The Rise and Fall of ECW"}}
 
{{Gallery||name=2ColdScorpio.jpg|caption=2 Cold Scorpio @ November to Remember 1995}}
{{Gallery||name=SuperDestroyers.gif|caption=The Super Destroyers (with Hunter Q. Robbins), the very first ECW Tag Team Champions}}
{{Gallery||name=TripleThreat.jpg|caption=The ORIGINAL Version of the Triple Threat}}

== External links ==
*[http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/ Official ECW Website at WWE.com]
*[http://solie.org/titlehistories/ecw.html Solie.org - ECW Title Histories]
*[http://www.geocities.com/wisereborn/EasternCW.html The Wrestling Follower - Eastern Championship Wrestling Results Archive]
*[http://www.myspace.com/wwerealspace WWE's Official MySpace]

File:SuperDestroyers.gif

2007-08-21T02:03:26Z

Parsonsburg:

File:2ColdScorpio.jpg

2007-08-21T01:59:39Z

Parsonsburg:

ECW

2007-08-21T01:57:35Z

Parsonsburg: /* Gallery */

[[Image:ECW.jpg|right]]
'''Extreme Championship Wrestling''' '''(ECW)''' was a professional wrestling promotion, founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1992 by Tod Gordon. The company was well known for its loyal fan base, as well as its tendency to push the envelope with storylines. The group showcased many different styles of professional wrestling, ranging from lucha libre to hardcore wrestling.

[[World Wrestling Entertainment]] (WWE) purchased the rights to ECW and its video library in the summer of 2003. In 2005 and 2006, WWE promoted an ECW pay-per-view event called ECW One Night Stand. However, it is not to be confused with the current '''ECW brand''', whose weekly series premiered on June 13, 2006 on the Sci Fi Channel and bears little similarity (outside of the name) to the original ECW.

== History ==
ECW was founded in 1992, under the name '''Eastern Championship Wrestling''' and as a member of the [[National Wrestling Alliance]] (NWA). After owner Tod Gordon had a falling out with head booker "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert (over his unstable behavior and drug abuse), Gordon hired Gilbert's friend and fellow WCW alumni Paul Heyman to replace him. Heyman's first show with the promotion was ''NWA Ultra Clash '93'' on September 18, 1993 at the New Alhambra Arena (which would eventually be dubbed '''The ECW Arena''') in Philadelphia.

When ECW was branching out, professional wrestlers had far more cartoonish gimmicks, and the overall product was marketed more towards children than the 18-35 male demographic that ECW was aiming towards. There were also far more taboos, such as blading and women getting regularly beaten up by the male wrestlers; Heyman envisioned ECW as the professional wrestling equivalent to the grunge movement.

=== Extreme Championship Wrestling ===
In 1994, Jim Crockett's no-compete clause with Ted Turner (who purchased [[World Championship Wrestling from Crockett in 1988) was up, and he decided to use ECW as the vehicle to promote the NWA again. A tournament for the [[NWA World Heavyweight Championship]] was held at the New Alhambra Arena on August 27, 1994, but NWA President Dennis Coralluzzo thought that Crockett and Gordon were going to try to monopolize the title (much like Crockett did in the 1980s) and informed them they didn't have the NWA board's approval, so he took control over the tournament. Gordon was upset at Coralluzzo for his power plays so Gordon and Shane Douglas (who was booked to win the title against 2 Cold Scorpio) planned to have Douglas throw the title down after he won it and break ECW away from the NWA. In a now classic post-match speech, Shane Douglas said that he didn't want to be a part of an organization that "died" seven years earlier (presumably in reference to Jim Crockett selling WCW to Turner Broadcasting in 1988).
After ECW withdrew from the NWA and officially changed its name from '''Eastern Championship Wrestling''' to '''Extreme Championship Wrestling''', it became an underground sensation; the group would showcase many different styles of professional wrestling, popularizing bloody hardcore wrestling matches and the 3-Way Dance. ECW always intended to be counter-culture and a grittier alternative to multi-million dollar organizations such as [[World Wrestling Entertainment|World Wrestling Federation]] (WWF) and WCW. In addition to their hardcore match types, they provided an alternative to North American wrestling with technical wrestling that was common overseas. International stars such as [[Eddie Guerrero]], [[Chris Benoit]] and [[Dean Malenko]] anchored a solid technical wrestling core in ECW, and lucha libre stars such as [[Rey Misterio, Jr.]], [[Psicosis]], [[Konnan]] and [[Juventud Guerrera]] imported a style of wrestling rarely seen in national wrestling promotions.

Wrestlers such as Shane Douglas, Tommy Dreamer, Raven, The Sandman, Cactus Jack, Terry Funk, [[Sabu]], Public Enemy and Taz were seen as being too dangerous for the multi-million dollar companies and were given a chance in ECW, as well as being the main competitors that assisted in launching the new ECW at the time. One of the promotion's marquee feuds was the long-standing feud between Tommy Dreamer and Raven, which involved many ECW wrestlers over a period of two and a half years. Another was between Raven and the Sandman, which included the now infamous crucifixion angle. The bulk of ECW's shows remained at the New Alhambra Arena (soon renamed the ECW Arena), a rundown bingo hall secluded under a section of Interstate 95. Seating comprised simple folding chairs and four sets of portable bleachers, and the unconventional set up reflected the gritty style of the wrestling itself. Shows were actually broadcast on Sports Channel Philadelphia (a Philadelphia local cable sports station) on Tuesday evenings. After Sports Channel Philadelphia went off the air in 1997, the show moved to WPPX-TV 61, and later to WGTW 48 (a former independent broadcast station) in Philadelphia on either Friday or Saturday nights at 1 or 2 a.m. Shows were also aired on the MSG Network in NYC on early Saturday mornings at 2 a.m. Due to the obscurity of the stations and ECW itself, expletives and violence were not edited out on a majority of the broadcasts, which helped ECW get noticed.

After noticing ECW's growing popularity, the "Big Two" (WCW and WWF) started adopting their ideas and hiring away their talent; Paul Heyman contends that ECW was the first victim of the "Monday Night Wars" between WCW Monday Nitro and Monday Night RAW. While the WWF had a somewhat working relationship with ECW (going as far as allowing cross-promotional angles, and providing financial aid to Heyman for a considerable period of time), WCW refused to even mention ECW by name with a few notable exceptions, including a passing remark by Raven in late 1997, referring to it as "barbed wire city" and "a major independent promotion" that wrestled in bingo halls during a segment directed at Diamond Dallas Page. Vince McMahon claimed that he put Paul Heyman on the WWF's payroll as compensation for the talent (namely Taz, Steve Austin, Cactus Jack and The Dudley Boyz) defecting ECW for the WWF. On the other hand, Heyman believed that Eric Bischoff never compensated him for ECW bred talent such as Mikey Whipwreck, Raven, The Sandman, [[Chris Benoit]], [[Dean Malenko]], [[Eddie Guerrero]], Perry Saturn, Stevie Richards, The Public Enemy and Chris Jericho leaving to go to WCW.

=== Cross-promotion ===
Storyline-wise, Vince McMahon first became "aware" of ECW during the 1995 King of the Ring event in ECW's home base of Philadelphia; during the tournament final between Mabel and Savio Vega, the crowd suddenly started to angrily chant ''"ECW ECW ECW"''. At the September 22, 1996 In Your House 10: Mind Games event in Philadelphia, ECW stars The Sandman, Tommy Dreamer, Paul Heyman, and Taz were in the front row, with Sandman even interfering in one match (when he threw beer on Savio Vega during his strap match with Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw); McMahon acknowledged ECW's status as a local, up and coming promotion on the air. On February 24, 1997, ECW "invaded" ''Monday Night RAW'' from the Manhattan Center. They advanced a storyline, plugged their first ever pay-per-view and worked three matches in front of the WWF audience, as Vince McMahon called the action with both Jerry "The King" Lawler and Paul Heyman. The Manhattan Center in New York City was peppered with a large number of ECW fans, who gave the WWF wrestlers ''"BORING!"'' chants when they felt it was warranted. Likewise, when the ECW performers arrived, they popped and introduced the WWF Monday night audience to some trademark ECW group chants. It was said that this episode was the beginning of what would eventually be called ''The Attitude Era'' of the WWF. After a series of struggles, ECW broadcasted its first pay-per-view wrestling card ("Barely Legal") on April 13, 1997, which was highlighted by Terry Funk winning the ECW World Heavyweight Title. At the 1997 ''Wrestlepalooza'' event, Jerry Lawler (a noted critic of ECW) made a surprise appearance at the ECW Arena, aiding Rob Van Dam and Sabu in a post-match (against Raven, who made his final appearance in ECW) attack on Tommy Dreamer; this set up a match between Tommy Dreamer and Jerry Lawler at the 1997 Hardcore Heaven PPV on August 17, which was won by Dreamer.

ECW continued through 1998 and early 1999 with a string of successful pay-per-views. In August 1999, ECW began to broadcast nationally on The Nashville Network for what was initially a three year contract; despite no advertising and a low budget, ECW became TNN's highest rated show. In March 2000, Mike Awesome suddenly defected to WCW, even though he was still the reigning ECW World Heavyweight Champion. There were rumors that Eric Bischoff wanted to drop the ECW belt in the trash can on television (much like he did with the WWF Women's Championship with Alundra Blayze), which led to threats of legal action from ECW. As a result, Awesome agreed to drop the title to anyone, which turned out to be current WWF star/former ECW champion Tazz; it marked the only time that a WCW contracted wrestler would wrestle against a WWF contracted wrestler at an ECW sanctioned event.

ECW on TNN was canceled in October 2000 (with the final episode airing on October 6, 2000), in favor of broadcasting WWF Monday Night RAW; to this day, Paul Heyman still maintains that the lack of a national television deal was the main cause of ECW's demise.

=== Bankruptcy ===
ECW struggled for months after the cancellation, trying to secure a new national TV deal. On December 30, 2000, ECW Hardcore TV aired for the final time, and ECW Guilty as Charged 2001 (which aired on January 7, 2001) would turn out to be ECW's final PPV. ECW Living Dangerously was going to air on March 11, 2001, but it was cancelled because of financial trouble; despite help from the WWF, Heyman could not get out of financial trouble and filed for bankruptcy on April 4, 2001. The company was listed as having assets totaling $1,385,500; included in that amount was $860,000 in accounts receivable owed to the company by iN DEMAND, Acclaim Entertainment and Original San Francisco Toy Makers. The balance of the assets were the video tape library ($500,000), a 1998 Ford Truck ($19,500) and the remaining inventory of merchandise ($4).

The liabilities of the company totaled $8,881,435.17; the bankruptcy filing included hundreds of claims, including production companies, buildings ECW ran in, TV stations ECW was televised on, travel agencies, phone companies, attorney's fees, wrestlers, and other talent. Wrestlers and talent were listed, with amounts owed ranging from $1 for Sabu and Steve Corino to hundreds (and in some cases) and thousands of dollars; the highest amounts owed to talents were Rob Van Dam ($150,000), Tommy Dreamer ($100,000), Joey Styles ($50,000), Shane Douglas ($48,000) and Francine ($47,875).

== Revival ==
=== Alliance storyline ===
A few months after the promotion's 2001 demise, ECW resurfaced as a stable in the WWF's Invasion storyline. As a participant in the inter-promotional feud between Shane McMahon's WCW and Vince McMahon's WWF, ECW was initially "owned" by Paul Heyman and harbored no loyalty to either promotion. On the very same night, it was revealed that Stephanie McMahon was ECW's new "owner", and she would soon conspire with her brother Shane to oust their father from his leadership position in the World Wrestling Federation. With the creation of The Alliance, the inter-promotional feud shifted into an internal power struggle among the McMahon family. The defection of WWF superstars to The Alliance continued the shift, resulting in less focus on WCW and ECW performers. The feud lasted six months and concluded with WWF defeating The Alliance at the 2001 Survivor Series. The WWF's victory also marked the end of the Invasion storyline, and WCW and ECW wrestlers were reintegrated into the WWF.

=== Documentaries ===
In the summer of 2003, WWE purchased ECW's assets in bankruptcy court, acquiring the rights to ECW's video library. They used this video library to put together a two-disc DVD entitled ''The Rise and Fall of ECW''. The set was released in November 2004, with the feature of the first disc being a three-hour documentary on the company's history, and the other disc featured 7 classic matches from the promotion. The DVD sold very well, and is still ranked as WWE's second highest-selling DVD of all time (behind WrestleMania 21) to this day.

An unauthorized DVD called ''Forever Hardcore'' was produced by former WCW crew member Jeremy Borash, in response to ''The Rise and Fall of ECW''. The DVD featured stories from wrestlers who were not employed by WWE, as well as providing their side of ECW's history.

=== Reunion shows ===
The strong sales of ''The Rise and Fall of ECW'' prompted both World Wrestling Entertainment and Shane Douglas to promote ECW reunion shows in 2005. Douglas's inaugural ''Hardcore Homecoming'' event was held before WWE's ''ECW One Night Stand'' pay-per-view, and both shows produced phenomenal revenue. While WWE chose not to pursue ECW any further, Shane Douglas ran a brief 2-date Hardcore Homecoming tour, which did not produce a revenue as successful as the first event; Hardcore Homecoming ran one last event, ''November Reign'', in late 2005.

== Lawsuits ==
On November 23, 1996, aspiring wrestler Eric Kulas teamed with D-Von Dudley to wrestle The Gangstas; substituting for Axl Rotten, Kulas was beaten with various weapons and suffered a deep cut as a result of a blading incident by his opponent New Jack. Kulas sued ECW and New Jack for physical and psychological damage, claiming he was unaware the match was going to be a hardcore match. Furthermore, criminal charges were filed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts against New Jack. During the civil trial, it was revealed that Kulas and his father lied about Kulas' age (claiming he was 19 years old, instead of 17). In addition, Kulas had misrepresented his wrestling experience by claiming that he was trained by retired wrestler Killer Kowalski. In the end, ECW and New Jack were acquitted of the charges, but the lawsuit delayed (and at one point resulted in the cancelation of) the broadcast of ECW's first pay-per-view after distributors viewed video of the incident. Eric Kulas died on May 12, 2002 at the age of 22 due to complications from gastric bypass surgery.

In [[December 2005]], ECW founder Tod Gordon challenged WWE's ownership of the Eastern Championship Wrestling section of the ECW video library, claiming that the state didn't have the authority to sell that section of the video library to Vince McMahon and World Wrestling Entertainment; he claimed that Eastern Championship Wrestling, Inc. was a separate entity from Extreme Championship Wrestling/HHC inc. On May 8, 2006, the case was thrown out, and Gordon is now one of the owners of the New Alhambra Arena-based Pro Wrestling Unplugged promotion.

== Tradition ==
There were several distinctive fans that were always in the front row at ECW shows. Among them were ''Sign Guy'', ''Tye Dye Guy'', ''Hat Guy'' (also known in the Philadelphia area as ''Straw Hat''), ''Faith No More Guy'', and ''Kato''. They gained their respective nicknames because Sign Guy always had different creative signs with him, Hat Guy always wore a straw hat and Hawaiian shirt, Faith No More Guy bore an uncanny resemblance to "Big" Jim Martin (former guitarist for rock band Faith No More) and Kato resembled OJ Simpson house guest Kato Kaelin. Regular patrons of ECW Arena events were given ''Club ECW'' status by the promotion and were able to reserve seats ahead of the general public. Many members of ''Club ECW'' were present at Shane Douglas's 2005 ''Hardcore Homecoming'' shows in Philadelphia, and at ECW One Night Stand.
Crowds at ECW events were well known for their rowdiness and distinctive chants that either supported or demeaned what was transpiring in the ring. ECW chants such as ''"You fucked up!"'' and ''"Holy shit!"'' became infamous during those shows, and are still used by fans in other promotions.

In ECW, there were virtually no rules; weapons were abundant, with much blood spilled. There were referees, but their role was normally limited to counting pinfalls and acknowledging submissions, occasionally performing tag team maneuvers with a wrestler during the match and several times becoming the winner of the match themselves (though not officially a part of the bout). ECW was known for popularizing several types of matches, such as the Barbed Wire Match, the Flaming Tables Match, the Singapore Cane Match, the Stairway to Hell Match, the Three-Way Dance and Fans Bring Their Own Weapons Matches.

== Championships ==
*ECW World Heavyweight Championship (1992-2001, 2006-present)
*ECW World Tag Team Championship (1992-2001)
*ECW World Television Championship (1992-2001)
*ECW Maryland Championship (1993)
*ECW Pennsylvania Championship (1993)
*FTW Heavyweight Championship (1998-1999)

== Books ==
*''Hardcore History: The Extremely Unauthorized Story of the ECW'' (ISBN 1-59670-021-1) - Scott Williams
*''Rise And Fall of ECW'' (ISBN 1-4165-1058-3) - Thom Loverro for World Wrestling Entertainment
*''Turning the Tables'' (ISBN 1-905363-78-8) - John Lister
*''Sex, Drugs, and Wrestling - The Truth, The Lies, and the Extreme'' - Tod Gordon

== Gallery ==
{{Gallery||name=EasternCW.jpg|caption=Vintage Logo}}
{{Gallery||name=PublicEnemy1.jpg|caption=Public Enemy spray-painting "Extreme" on the vintage ECW banner}}
{{Gallery||name=Ecwcollage.jpg|caption=Collage}}
{{Gallery||name=Sandman.jpg|caption=5-Time Former ECW World Heavyweight Champion, The Sandman}}
{{Gallery||name=Riseandfall.jpg|caption=DVD cover of the critically-acclaimed WWE-produced documentary, "The Rise and Fall of ECW"}}
 

== External links ==
*[http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/ Official ECW Website at WWE.com]
*[http://solie.org/titlehistories/ecw.html Solie.org - ECW Title Histories]
*[http://www.geocities.com/wisereborn/EasternCW.html The Wrestling Follower - Eastern Championship Wrestling Results Archive]
*[http://www.myspace.com/wwerealspace WWE's Official MySpace]

ECW

2007-08-21T01:57:04Z

Parsonsburg:

[[Image:ECW.jpg|right]]
'''Extreme Championship Wrestling''' '''(ECW)''' was a professional wrestling promotion, founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1992 by Tod Gordon. The company was well known for its loyal fan base, as well as its tendency to push the envelope with storylines. The group showcased many different styles of professional wrestling, ranging from lucha libre to hardcore wrestling.

[[World Wrestling Entertainment]] (WWE) purchased the rights to ECW and its video library in the summer of 2003. In 2005 and 2006, WWE promoted an ECW pay-per-view event called ECW One Night Stand. However, it is not to be confused with the current '''ECW brand''', whose weekly series premiered on June 13, 2006 on the Sci Fi Channel and bears little similarity (outside of the name) to the original ECW.

== History ==
ECW was founded in 1992, under the name '''Eastern Championship Wrestling''' and as a member of the [[National Wrestling Alliance]] (NWA). After owner Tod Gordon had a falling out with head booker "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert (over his unstable behavior and drug abuse), Gordon hired Gilbert's friend and fellow WCW alumni Paul Heyman to replace him. Heyman's first show with the promotion was ''NWA Ultra Clash '93'' on September 18, 1993 at the New Alhambra Arena (which would eventually be dubbed '''The ECW Arena''') in Philadelphia.

When ECW was branching out, professional wrestlers had far more cartoonish gimmicks, and the overall product was marketed more towards children than the 18-35 male demographic that ECW was aiming towards. There were also far more taboos, such as blading and women getting regularly beaten up by the male wrestlers; Heyman envisioned ECW as the professional wrestling equivalent to the grunge movement.

=== Extreme Championship Wrestling ===
In 1994, Jim Crockett's no-compete clause with Ted Turner (who purchased [[World Championship Wrestling from Crockett in 1988) was up, and he decided to use ECW as the vehicle to promote the NWA again. A tournament for the [[NWA World Heavyweight Championship]] was held at the New Alhambra Arena on August 27, 1994, but NWA President Dennis Coralluzzo thought that Crockett and Gordon were going to try to monopolize the title (much like Crockett did in the 1980s) and informed them they didn't have the NWA board's approval, so he took control over the tournament. Gordon was upset at Coralluzzo for his power plays so Gordon and Shane Douglas (who was booked to win the title against 2 Cold Scorpio) planned to have Douglas throw the title down after he won it and break ECW away from the NWA. In a now classic post-match speech, Shane Douglas said that he didn't want to be a part of an organization that "died" seven years earlier (presumably in reference to Jim Crockett selling WCW to Turner Broadcasting in 1988).
After ECW withdrew from the NWA and officially changed its name from '''Eastern Championship Wrestling''' to '''Extreme Championship Wrestling''', it became an underground sensation; the group would showcase many different styles of professional wrestling, popularizing bloody hardcore wrestling matches and the 3-Way Dance. ECW always intended to be counter-culture and a grittier alternative to multi-million dollar organizations such as [[World Wrestling Entertainment|World Wrestling Federation]] (WWF) and WCW. In addition to their hardcore match types, they provided an alternative to North American wrestling with technical wrestling that was common overseas. International stars such as [[Eddie Guerrero]], [[Chris Benoit]] and [[Dean Malenko]] anchored a solid technical wrestling core in ECW, and lucha libre stars such as [[Rey Misterio, Jr.]], [[Psicosis]], [[Konnan]] and [[Juventud Guerrera]] imported a style of wrestling rarely seen in national wrestling promotions.

Wrestlers such as Shane Douglas, Tommy Dreamer, Raven, The Sandman, Cactus Jack, Terry Funk, [[Sabu]], Public Enemy and Taz were seen as being too dangerous for the multi-million dollar companies and were given a chance in ECW, as well as being the main competitors that assisted in launching the new ECW at the time. One of the promotion's marquee feuds was the long-standing feud between Tommy Dreamer and Raven, which involved many ECW wrestlers over a period of two and a half years. Another was between Raven and the Sandman, which included the now infamous crucifixion angle. The bulk of ECW's shows remained at the New Alhambra Arena (soon renamed the ECW Arena), a rundown bingo hall secluded under a section of Interstate 95. Seating comprised simple folding chairs and four sets of portable bleachers, and the unconventional set up reflected the gritty style of the wrestling itself. Shows were actually broadcast on Sports Channel Philadelphia (a Philadelphia local cable sports station) on Tuesday evenings. After Sports Channel Philadelphia went off the air in 1997, the show moved to WPPX-TV 61, and later to WGTW 48 (a former independent broadcast station) in Philadelphia on either Friday or Saturday nights at 1 or 2 a.m. Shows were also aired on the MSG Network in NYC on early Saturday mornings at 2 a.m. Due to the obscurity of the stations and ECW itself, expletives and violence were not edited out on a majority of the broadcasts, which helped ECW get noticed.

After noticing ECW's growing popularity, the "Big Two" (WCW and WWF) started adopting their ideas and hiring away their talent; Paul Heyman contends that ECW was the first victim of the "Monday Night Wars" between WCW Monday Nitro and Monday Night RAW. While the WWF had a somewhat working relationship with ECW (going as far as allowing cross-promotional angles, and providing financial aid to Heyman for a considerable period of time), WCW refused to even mention ECW by name with a few notable exceptions, including a passing remark by Raven in late 1997, referring to it as "barbed wire city" and "a major independent promotion" that wrestled in bingo halls during a segment directed at Diamond Dallas Page. Vince McMahon claimed that he put Paul Heyman on the WWF's payroll as compensation for the talent (namely Taz, Steve Austin, Cactus Jack and The Dudley Boyz) defecting ECW for the WWF. On the other hand, Heyman believed that Eric Bischoff never compensated him for ECW bred talent such as Mikey Whipwreck, Raven, The Sandman, [[Chris Benoit]], [[Dean Malenko]], [[Eddie Guerrero]], Perry Saturn, Stevie Richards, The Public Enemy and Chris Jericho leaving to go to WCW.

=== Cross-promotion ===
Storyline-wise, Vince McMahon first became "aware" of ECW during the 1995 King of the Ring event in ECW's home base of Philadelphia; during the tournament final between Mabel and Savio Vega, the crowd suddenly started to angrily chant ''"ECW ECW ECW"''. At the September 22, 1996 In Your House 10: Mind Games event in Philadelphia, ECW stars The Sandman, Tommy Dreamer, Paul Heyman, and Taz were in the front row, with Sandman even interfering in one match (when he threw beer on Savio Vega during his strap match with Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw); McMahon acknowledged ECW's status as a local, up and coming promotion on the air. On February 24, 1997, ECW "invaded" ''Monday Night RAW'' from the Manhattan Center. They advanced a storyline, plugged their first ever pay-per-view and worked three matches in front of the WWF audience, as Vince McMahon called the action with both Jerry "The King" Lawler and Paul Heyman. The Manhattan Center in New York City was peppered with a large number of ECW fans, who gave the WWF wrestlers ''"BORING!"'' chants when they felt it was warranted. Likewise, when the ECW performers arrived, they popped and introduced the WWF Monday night audience to some trademark ECW group chants. It was said that this episode was the beginning of what would eventually be called ''The Attitude Era'' of the WWF. After a series of struggles, ECW broadcasted its first pay-per-view wrestling card ("Barely Legal") on April 13, 1997, which was highlighted by Terry Funk winning the ECW World Heavyweight Title. At the 1997 ''Wrestlepalooza'' event, Jerry Lawler (a noted critic of ECW) made a surprise appearance at the ECW Arena, aiding Rob Van Dam and Sabu in a post-match (against Raven, who made his final appearance in ECW) attack on Tommy Dreamer; this set up a match between Tommy Dreamer and Jerry Lawler at the 1997 Hardcore Heaven PPV on August 17, which was won by Dreamer.

ECW continued through 1998 and early 1999 with a string of successful pay-per-views. In August 1999, ECW began to broadcast nationally on The Nashville Network for what was initially a three year contract; despite no advertising and a low budget, ECW became TNN's highest rated show. In March 2000, Mike Awesome suddenly defected to WCW, even though he was still the reigning ECW World Heavyweight Champion. There were rumors that Eric Bischoff wanted to drop the ECW belt in the trash can on television (much like he did with the WWF Women's Championship with Alundra Blayze), which led to threats of legal action from ECW. As a result, Awesome agreed to drop the title to anyone, which turned out to be current WWF star/former ECW champion Tazz; it marked the only time that a WCW contracted wrestler would wrestle against a WWF contracted wrestler at an ECW sanctioned event.

ECW on TNN was canceled in October 2000 (with the final episode airing on October 6, 2000), in favor of broadcasting WWF Monday Night RAW; to this day, Paul Heyman still maintains that the lack of a national television deal was the main cause of ECW's demise.

=== Bankruptcy ===
ECW struggled for months after the cancellation, trying to secure a new national TV deal. On December 30, 2000, ECW Hardcore TV aired for the final time, and ECW Guilty as Charged 2001 (which aired on January 7, 2001) would turn out to be ECW's final PPV. ECW Living Dangerously was going to air on March 11, 2001, but it was cancelled because of financial trouble; despite help from the WWF, Heyman could not get out of financial trouble and filed for bankruptcy on April 4, 2001. The company was listed as having assets totaling $1,385,500; included in that amount was $860,000 in accounts receivable owed to the company by iN DEMAND, Acclaim Entertainment and Original San Francisco Toy Makers. The balance of the assets were the video tape library ($500,000), a 1998 Ford Truck ($19,500) and the remaining inventory of merchandise ($4).

The liabilities of the company totaled $8,881,435.17; the bankruptcy filing included hundreds of claims, including production companies, buildings ECW ran in, TV stations ECW was televised on, travel agencies, phone companies, attorney's fees, wrestlers, and other talent. Wrestlers and talent were listed, with amounts owed ranging from $1 for Sabu and Steve Corino to hundreds (and in some cases) and thousands of dollars; the highest amounts owed to talents were Rob Van Dam ($150,000), Tommy Dreamer ($100,000), Joey Styles ($50,000), Shane Douglas ($48,000) and Francine ($47,875).

== Revival ==
=== Alliance storyline ===
A few months after the promotion's 2001 demise, ECW resurfaced as a stable in the WWF's Invasion storyline. As a participant in the inter-promotional feud between Shane McMahon's WCW and Vince McMahon's WWF, ECW was initially "owned" by Paul Heyman and harbored no loyalty to either promotion. On the very same night, it was revealed that Stephanie McMahon was ECW's new "owner", and she would soon conspire with her brother Shane to oust their father from his leadership position in the World Wrestling Federation. With the creation of The Alliance, the inter-promotional feud shifted into an internal power struggle among the McMahon family. The defection of WWF superstars to The Alliance continued the shift, resulting in less focus on WCW and ECW performers. The feud lasted six months and concluded with WWF defeating The Alliance at the 2001 Survivor Series. The WWF's victory also marked the end of the Invasion storyline, and WCW and ECW wrestlers were reintegrated into the WWF.

=== Documentaries ===
In the summer of 2003, WWE purchased ECW's assets in bankruptcy court, acquiring the rights to ECW's video library. They used this video library to put together a two-disc DVD entitled ''The Rise and Fall of ECW''. The set was released in November 2004, with the feature of the first disc being a three-hour documentary on the company's history, and the other disc featured 7 classic matches from the promotion. The DVD sold very well, and is still ranked as WWE's second highest-selling DVD of all time (behind WrestleMania 21) to this day.

An unauthorized DVD called ''Forever Hardcore'' was produced by former WCW crew member Jeremy Borash, in response to ''The Rise and Fall of ECW''. The DVD featured stories from wrestlers who were not employed by WWE, as well as providing their side of ECW's history.

=== Reunion shows ===
The strong sales of ''The Rise and Fall of ECW'' prompted both World Wrestling Entertainment and Shane Douglas to promote ECW reunion shows in 2005. Douglas's inaugural ''Hardcore Homecoming'' event was held before WWE's ''ECW One Night Stand'' pay-per-view, and both shows produced phenomenal revenue. While WWE chose not to pursue ECW any further, Shane Douglas ran a brief 2-date Hardcore Homecoming tour, which did not produce a revenue as successful as the first event; Hardcore Homecoming ran one last event, ''November Reign'', in late 2005.

== Lawsuits ==
On November 23, 1996, aspiring wrestler Eric Kulas teamed with D-Von Dudley to wrestle The Gangstas; substituting for Axl Rotten, Kulas was beaten with various weapons and suffered a deep cut as a result of a blading incident by his opponent New Jack. Kulas sued ECW and New Jack for physical and psychological damage, claiming he was unaware the match was going to be a hardcore match. Furthermore, criminal charges were filed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts against New Jack. During the civil trial, it was revealed that Kulas and his father lied about Kulas' age (claiming he was 19 years old, instead of 17). In addition, Kulas had misrepresented his wrestling experience by claiming that he was trained by retired wrestler Killer Kowalski. In the end, ECW and New Jack were acquitted of the charges, but the lawsuit delayed (and at one point resulted in the cancelation of) the broadcast of ECW's first pay-per-view after distributors viewed video of the incident. Eric Kulas died on May 12, 2002 at the age of 22 due to complications from gastric bypass surgery.

In [[December 2005]], ECW founder Tod Gordon challenged WWE's ownership of the Eastern Championship Wrestling section of the ECW video library, claiming that the state didn't have the authority to sell that section of the video library to Vince McMahon and World Wrestling Entertainment; he claimed that Eastern Championship Wrestling, Inc. was a separate entity from Extreme Championship Wrestling/HHC inc. On May 8, 2006, the case was thrown out, and Gordon is now one of the owners of the New Alhambra Arena-based Pro Wrestling Unplugged promotion.

== Tradition ==
There were several distinctive fans that were always in the front row at ECW shows. Among them were ''Sign Guy'', ''Tye Dye Guy'', ''Hat Guy'' (also known in the Philadelphia area as ''Straw Hat''), ''Faith No More Guy'', and ''Kato''. They gained their respective nicknames because Sign Guy always had different creative signs with him, Hat Guy always wore a straw hat and Hawaiian shirt, Faith No More Guy bore an uncanny resemblance to "Big" Jim Martin (former guitarist for rock band Faith No More) and Kato resembled OJ Simpson house guest Kato Kaelin. Regular patrons of ECW Arena events were given ''Club ECW'' status by the promotion and were able to reserve seats ahead of the general public. Many members of ''Club ECW'' were present at Shane Douglas's 2005 ''Hardcore Homecoming'' shows in Philadelphia, and at ECW One Night Stand.
Crowds at ECW events were well known for their rowdiness and distinctive chants that either supported or demeaned what was transpiring in the ring. ECW chants such as ''"You fucked up!"'' and ''"Holy shit!"'' became infamous during those shows, and are still used by fans in other promotions.

In ECW, there were virtually no rules; weapons were abundant, with much blood spilled. There were referees, but their role was normally limited to counting pinfalls and acknowledging submissions, occasionally performing tag team maneuvers with a wrestler during the match and several times becoming the winner of the match themselves (though not officially a part of the bout). ECW was known for popularizing several types of matches, such as the Barbed Wire Match, the Flaming Tables Match, the Singapore Cane Match, the Stairway to Hell Match, the Three-Way Dance and Fans Bring Their Own Weapons Matches.

== Championships ==
*ECW World Heavyweight Championship (1992-2001, 2006-present)
*ECW World Tag Team Championship (1992-2001)
*ECW World Television Championship (1992-2001)
*ECW Maryland Championship (1993)
*ECW Pennsylvania Championship (1993)
*FTW Heavyweight Championship (1998-1999)

== Books ==
*''Hardcore History: The Extremely Unauthorized Story of the ECW'' (ISBN 1-59670-021-1) - Scott Williams
*''Rise And Fall of ECW'' (ISBN 1-4165-1058-3) - Thom Loverro for World Wrestling Entertainment
*''Turning the Tables'' (ISBN 1-905363-78-8) - John Lister
*''Sex, Drugs, and Wrestling - The Truth, The Lies, and the Extreme'' - Tod Gordon

== Gallery ==
{{Gallery||name=EasternCW.jpg|caption=Vintage Logo}}
{{Gallery||name=PublicEnemy1.jpg|caption=Public Enemy spray-painting "Extreme" on the vintage ECW banner on the final Eastern Championship Wrestling broadcast}}
{{Gallery||name=Ecwcollage.jpg|caption=Collage}}
{{Gallery||name=Sandman.jpg|caption=5-Time Former ECW World Heavyweight Champion, The Sandman}}
{{Gallery||name=Riseandfall.jpg|caption=DVD cover of the critically-acclaimed WWE-produced documentary, "The Rise and Fall of ECW"}}
 

== External links ==
*[http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/ Official ECW Website at WWE.com]
*[http://solie.org/titlehistories/ecw.html Solie.org - ECW Title Histories]
*[http://www.geocities.com/wisereborn/EasternCW.html The Wrestling Follower - Eastern Championship Wrestling Results Archive]
*[http://www.myspace.com/wwerealspace WWE's Official MySpace]

File:Sandman.jpg

2007-08-21T01:56:07Z

Parsonsburg:

File:ECW.jpg

2007-08-21T01:51:24Z

Parsonsburg:

ECW

2007-08-20T02:55:50Z

Parsonsburg:

'''Extreme Championship Wrestling''' '''(ECW)''' was a professional wrestling promotion, founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1992 by Tod Gordon. The company was well known for its loyal fan base, as well as its tendency to push the envelope with storylines. The group showcased many different styles of professional wrestling, ranging from lucha libre to hardcore wrestling.

[[World Wrestling Entertainment]] (WWE) purchased the rights to ECW and its video library in the summer of 2003. In 2005 and 2006, WWE promoted an ECW pay-per-view event called ECW One Night Stand. However, it is not to be confused with the current '''ECW brand''', whose weekly series premiered on June 13, 2006 on the Sci Fi Channel and bears little similarity (outside of the name) to the original ECW.

== History ==
ECW was founded in 1992, under the name '''Eastern Championship Wrestling''' and as a member of the [[National Wrestling Alliance]] (NWA). After owner Tod Gordon had a falling out with head booker "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert (over his unstable behavior and drug abuse), Gordon hired Gilbert's friend and fellow WCW alumni Paul Heyman to replace him. Heyman's first show with the promotion was ''NWA Ultra Clash '93'' on September 18, 1993 at the New Alhambra Arena (which would eventually be dubbed '''The ECW Arena''') in Philadelphia.

When ECW was branching out, professional wrestlers had far more cartoonish gimmicks, and the overall product was marketed more towards children than the 18-35 male demographic that ECW was aiming towards. There were also far more taboos, such as blading and women getting regularly beaten up by the male wrestlers; Heyman envisioned ECW as the professional wrestling equivalent to the grunge movement.

=== Extreme Championship Wrestling ===
In 1994, Jim Crockett's no-compete clause with Ted Turner (who purchased [[World Championship Wrestling from Crockett in 1988) was up, and he decided to use ECW as the vehicle to promote the NWA again. A tournament for the [[NWA World Heavyweight Championship]] was held at the New Alhambra Arena on August 27, 1994, but NWA President Dennis Coralluzzo thought that Crockett and Gordon were going to try to monopolize the title (much like Crockett did in the 1980s) and informed them they didn't have the NWA board's approval, so he took control over the tournament. Gordon was upset at Coralluzzo for his power plays so Gordon and Shane Douglas (who was booked to win the title against 2 Cold Scorpio) planned to have Douglas throw the title down after he won it and break ECW away from the NWA. In a now classic post-match speech, Shane Douglas said that he didn't want to be a part of an organization that "died" seven years earlier (presumably in reference to Jim Crockett selling WCW to Turner Broadcasting in 1988).
After ECW withdrew from the NWA and officially changed its name from '''Eastern Championship Wrestling''' to '''Extreme Championship Wrestling''', it became an underground sensation; the group would showcase many different styles of professional wrestling, popularizing bloody hardcore wrestling matches and the 3-Way Dance. ECW always intended to be counter-culture and a grittier alternative to multi-million dollar organizations such as [[World Wrestling Entertainment|World Wrestling Federation]] (WWF) and WCW. In addition to their hardcore match types, they provided an alternative to North American wrestling with technical wrestling that was common overseas. International stars such as [[Eddie Guerrero]], [[Chris Benoit]] and [[Dean Malenko]] anchored a solid technical wrestling core in ECW, and lucha libre stars such as [[Rey Misterio, Jr.]], [[Psicosis]], [[Konnan]] and [[Juventud Guerrera]] imported a style of wrestling rarely seen in national wrestling promotions.

Wrestlers such as Shane Douglas, Tommy Dreamer, Raven, The Sandman, Cactus Jack, Terry Funk, [[Sabu]], Public Enemy and Taz were seen as being too dangerous for the multi-million dollar companies and were given a chance in ECW, as well as being the main competitors that assisted in launching the new ECW at the time. One of the promotion's marquee feuds was the long-standing feud between Tommy Dreamer and Raven, which involved many ECW wrestlers over a period of two and a half years. Another was between Raven and the Sandman, which included the now infamous crucifixion angle. The bulk of ECW's shows remained at the New Alhambra Arena (soon renamed the ECW Arena), a rundown bingo hall secluded under a section of Interstate 95. Seating comprised simple folding chairs and four sets of portable bleachers, and the unconventional set up reflected the gritty style of the wrestling itself. Shows were actually broadcast on Sports Channel Philadelphia (a Philadelphia local cable sports station) on Tuesday evenings. After Sports Channel Philadelphia went off the air in 1997, the show moved to WPPX-TV 61, and later to WGTW 48 (a former independent broadcast station) in Philadelphia on either Friday or Saturday nights at 1 or 2 a.m. Shows were also aired on the MSG Network in NYC on early Saturday mornings at 2 a.m. Due to the obscurity of the stations and ECW itself, expletives and violence were not edited out on a majority of the broadcasts, which helped ECW get noticed.

After noticing ECW's growing popularity, the "Big Two" (WCW and WWF) started adopting their ideas and hiring away their talent; Paul Heyman contends that ECW was the first victim of the "Monday Night Wars" between WCW Monday Nitro and Monday Night RAW. While the WWF had a somewhat working relationship with ECW (going as far as allowing cross-promotional angles, and providing financial aid to Heyman for a considerable period of time), WCW refused to even mention ECW by name with a few notable exceptions, including a passing remark by Raven in late 1997, referring to it as "barbed wire city" and "a major independent promotion" that wrestled in bingo halls during a segment directed at Diamond Dallas Page. Vince McMahon claimed that he put Paul Heyman on the WWF's payroll as compensation for the talent (namely Taz, Steve Austin, Cactus Jack and The Dudley Boyz) defecting ECW for the WWF. On the other hand, Heyman believed that Eric Bischoff never compensated him for ECW bred talent such as Mikey Whipwreck, Raven, The Sandman, [[Chris Benoit]], [[Dean Malenko]], [[Eddie Guerrero]], Perry Saturn, Stevie Richards, The Public Enemy and Chris Jericho leaving to go to WCW.

=== Cross-promotion ===
Storyline-wise, Vince McMahon first became "aware" of ECW during the 1995 King of the Ring event in ECW's home base of Philadelphia; during the tournament final between Mabel and Savio Vega, the crowd suddenly started to angrily chant ''"ECW ECW ECW"''. At the September 22, 1996 In Your House 10: Mind Games event in Philadelphia, ECW stars The Sandman, Tommy Dreamer, Paul Heyman, and Taz were in the front row, with Sandman even interfering in one match (when he threw beer on Savio Vega during his strap match with Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw); McMahon acknowledged ECW's status as a local, up and coming promotion on the air. On February 24, 1997, ECW "invaded" ''Monday Night RAW'' from the Manhattan Center. They advanced a storyline, plugged their first ever pay-per-view and worked three matches in front of the WWF audience, as Vince McMahon called the action with both Jerry "The King" Lawler and Paul Heyman. The Manhattan Center in New York City was peppered with a large number of ECW fans, who gave the WWF wrestlers ''"BORING!"'' chants when they felt it was warranted. Likewise, when the ECW performers arrived, they popped and introduced the WWF Monday night audience to some trademark ECW group chants. It was said that this episode was the beginning of what would eventually be called ''The Attitude Era'' of the WWF. After a series of struggles, ECW broadcasted its first pay-per-view wrestling card ("Barely Legal") on April 13, 1997, which was highlighted by Terry Funk winning the ECW World Heavyweight Title. At the 1997 ''Wrestlepalooza'' event, Jerry Lawler (a noted critic of ECW) made a surprise appearance at the ECW Arena, aiding Rob Van Dam and Sabu in a post-match (against Raven, who made his final appearance in ECW) attack on Tommy Dreamer; this set up a match between Tommy Dreamer and Jerry Lawler at the 1997 Hardcore Heaven PPV on August 17, which was won by Dreamer.

ECW continued through 1998 and early 1999 with a string of successful pay-per-views. In August 1999, ECW began to broadcast nationally on The Nashville Network for what was initially a three year contract; despite no advertising and a low budget, ECW became TNN's highest rated show. In March 2000, Mike Awesome suddenly defected to WCW, even though he was still the reigning ECW World Heavyweight Champion. There were rumors that Eric Bischoff wanted to drop the ECW belt in the trash can on television (much like he did with the WWF Women's Championship with Alundra Blayze), which led to threats of legal action from ECW. As a result, Awesome agreed to drop the title to anyone, which turned out to be current WWF star/former ECW champion Tazz; it marked the only time that a WCW contracted wrestler would wrestle against a WWF contracted wrestler at an ECW sanctioned event.

ECW on TNN was canceled in October 2000 (with the final episode airing on October 6, 2000), in favor of broadcasting WWF Monday Night RAW; to this day, Paul Heyman still maintains that the lack of a national television deal was the main cause of ECW's demise.

=== Bankruptcy ===
ECW struggled for months after the cancellation, trying to secure a new national TV deal. On December 30, 2000, ECW Hardcore TV aired for the final time, and ECW Guilty as Charged 2001 (which aired on January 7, 2001) would turn out to be ECW's final PPV. ECW Living Dangerously was going to air on March 11, 2001, but it was cancelled because of financial trouble; despite help from the WWF, Heyman could not get out of financial trouble and filed for bankruptcy on April 4, 2001. The company was listed as having assets totaling $1,385,500; included in that amount was $860,000 in accounts receivable owed to the company by iN DEMAND, Acclaim Entertainment and Original San Francisco Toy Makers. The balance of the assets were the video tape library ($500,000), a 1998 Ford Truck ($19,500) and the remaining inventory of merchandise ($4).

The liabilities of the company totaled $8,881,435.17; the bankruptcy filing included hundreds of claims, including production companies, buildings ECW ran in, TV stations ECW was televised on, travel agencies, phone companies, attorney's fees, wrestlers, and other talent. Wrestlers and talent were listed, with amounts owed ranging from $1 for Sabu and Steve Corino to hundreds (and in some cases) and thousands of dollars; the highest amounts owed to talents were Rob Van Dam ($150,000), Tommy Dreamer ($100,000), Joey Styles ($50,000), Shane Douglas ($48,000) and Francine ($47,875).

== Revival ==
=== Alliance storyline ===
A few months after the promotion's 2001 demise, ECW resurfaced as a stable in the WWF's Invasion storyline. As a participant in the inter-promotional feud between Shane McMahon's WCW and Vince McMahon's WWF, ECW was initially "owned" by Paul Heyman and harbored no loyalty to either promotion. On the very same night, it was revealed that Stephanie McMahon was ECW's new "owner", and she would soon conspire with her brother Shane to oust their father from his leadership position in the World Wrestling Federation. With the creation of The Alliance, the inter-promotional feud shifted into an internal power struggle among the McMahon family. The defection of WWF superstars to The Alliance continued the shift, resulting in less focus on WCW and ECW performers. The feud lasted six months and concluded with WWF defeating The Alliance at the 2001 Survivor Series. The WWF's victory also marked the end of the Invasion storyline, and WCW and ECW wrestlers were reintegrated into the WWF.

=== Documentaries ===
In the summer of 2003, WWE purchased ECW's assets in bankruptcy court, acquiring the rights to ECW's video library. They used this video library to put together a two-disc DVD entitled ''The Rise and Fall of ECW''. The set was released in November 2004, with the feature of the first disc being a three-hour documentary on the company's history, and the other disc featured 7 classic matches from the promotion. The DVD sold very well, and is still ranked as WWE's second highest-selling DVD of all time (behind WrestleMania 21) to this day.

An unauthorized DVD called ''Forever Hardcore'' was produced by former WCW crew member Jeremy Borash, in response to ''The Rise and Fall of ECW''. The DVD featured stories from wrestlers who were not employed by WWE, as well as providing their side of ECW's history.

=== Reunion shows ===
The strong sales of ''The Rise and Fall of ECW'' prompted both World Wrestling Entertainment and Shane Douglas to promote ECW reunion shows in 2005. Douglas's inaugural ''Hardcore Homecoming'' event was held before WWE's ''ECW One Night Stand'' pay-per-view, and both shows produced phenomenal revenue. While WWE chose not to pursue ECW any further, Shane Douglas ran a brief 2-date Hardcore Homecoming tour, which did not produce a revenue as successful as the first event; Hardcore Homecoming ran one last event, ''November Reign'', in late 2005.

== Lawsuits ==
On November 23, 1996, aspiring wrestler Eric Kulas teamed with D-Von Dudley to wrestle The Gangstas; substituting for Axl Rotten, Kulas was beaten with various weapons and suffered a deep cut as a result of a blading incident by his opponent New Jack. Kulas sued ECW and New Jack for physical and psychological damage, claiming he was unaware the match was going to be a hardcore match. Furthermore, criminal charges were filed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts against New Jack. During the civil trial, it was revealed that Kulas and his father lied about Kulas' age (claiming he was 19 years old, instead of 17). In addition, Kulas had misrepresented his wrestling experience by claiming that he was trained by retired wrestler Killer Kowalski. In the end, ECW and New Jack were acquitted of the charges, but the lawsuit delayed (and at one point resulted in the cancelation of) the broadcast of ECW's first pay-per-view after distributors viewed video of the incident. Eric Kulas died on May 12, 2002 at the age of 22 due to complications from gastric bypass surgery.

In [[December 2005]], ECW founder Tod Gordon challenged WWE's ownership of the Eastern Championship Wrestling section of the ECW video library, claiming that the state didn't have the authority to sell that section of the video library to Vince McMahon and World Wrestling Entertainment; he claimed that Eastern Championship Wrestling, Inc. was a separate entity from Extreme Championship Wrestling/HHC inc. On May 8, 2006, the case was thrown out, and Gordon is now one of the owners of the New Alhambra Arena-based Pro Wrestling Unplugged promotion.

== Tradition ==
There were several distinctive fans that were always in the front row at ECW shows. Among them were ''Sign Guy'', ''Tye Dye Guy'', ''Hat Guy'' (also known in the Philadelphia area as ''Straw Hat''), ''Faith No More Guy'', and ''Kato''. They gained their respective nicknames because Sign Guy always had different creative signs with him, Hat Guy always wore a straw hat and Hawaiian shirt, Faith No More Guy bore an uncanny resemblance to "Big" Jim Martin (former guitarist for rock band Faith No More) and Kato resembled OJ Simpson house guest Kato Kaelin. Regular patrons of ECW Arena events were given ''Club ECW'' status by the promotion and were able to reserve seats ahead of the general public. Many members of ''Club ECW'' were present at Shane Douglas's 2005 ''Hardcore Homecoming'' shows in Philadelphia, and at ECW One Night Stand.
Crowds at ECW events were well known for their rowdiness and distinctive chants that either supported or demeaned what was transpiring in the ring. ECW chants such as ''"You fucked up!"'' and ''"Holy shit!"'' became infamous during those shows, and are still used by fans in other promotions.

In ECW, there were virtually no rules; weapons were abundant, with much blood spilled. There were referees, but their role was normally limited to counting pinfalls and acknowledging submissions, occasionally performing tag team maneuvers with a wrestler during the match and several times becoming the winner of the match themselves (though not officially a part of the bout). ECW was known for popularizing several types of matches, such as the Barbed Wire Match, the Flaming Tables Match, the Singapore Cane Match, the Stairway to Hell Match, the Three-Way Dance and Fans Bring Their Own Weapons Matches.

== Championships ==
*ECW World Heavyweight Championship (1992-2001, 2006-present)
*ECW World Tag Team Championship (1992-2001)
*ECW World Television Championship (1992-2001)
*ECW Maryland Championship (1993)
*ECW Pennsylvania Championship (1993)
*FTW Heavyweight Championship (1998-1999)

== Books ==
*''Hardcore History: The Extremely Unauthorized Story of the ECW'' (ISBN 1-59670-021-1) - Scott Williams
*''Rise And Fall of ECW'' (ISBN 1-4165-1058-3) - Thom Loverro for World Wrestling Entertainment
*''Turning the Tables'' (ISBN 1-905363-78-8) - John Lister
*''Sex, Drugs, and Wrestling - The Truth, The Lies, and the Extreme'' - Tod Gordon

== External links ==

*[http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/ Official ECW Website at WWE.com]
*[http://solie.org/titlehistories/ecw.html Solie.org - ECW Title Histories]
*[http://www.geocities.com/wisereborn/EasternCW.html The Wrestling Follower - Eastern Championship Wrestling Results Archive]
*[http://www.myspace.com/wwerealspace WWE's Official MySpace]

ECW

2007-08-20T02:39:16Z

Parsonsburg:

ECW

2007-08-20T02:38:27Z

Parsonsburg:

ECW

2007-08-20T02:07:50Z

Parsonsburg:

'''Extreme Championship Wrestling''' '''(ECW)''' was a professional wrestling promotion, founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1992 by Tod Gordon. The promotion initally began as Eastern Championship Wrestling, acting as a territory in the National Wrestling Alliance. His successor, Paul Heyman, took control of the promotion from 1997 until his declaration of bankruptcy in April 2001. The company was well known for its loyal fan base, as well as its tendency to push the envelope with storylines. The group showcased many different styles of professional wrestling, ranging from lucha libre to hardcore wrestling.

[[World Wrestling Entertainment]] (WWE) purchased the rights to ECW and its video library in the summer of 2003. In 2005 and 2006, WWE promoted an ECW pay-per-view event called ECW One Night Stand. However, it is not to be confused with the current '''ECW brand''', whose weekly series premiered on June 13, 2006 on the Sci Fi Channel.

ECW

2007-08-20T02:07:29Z

Parsonsburg:

'''Extreme Championship Wrestling''' '''(ECW)''' was a professional wrestling promotion, founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1992 by Tod Gordon. The promotion initally began as Eastern Championship Wrestling, acting as a territory in the National Wrestling Alliance. His successor, Paul Heyman, took control of the promotion from 1997 until his declaration of bankruptcy in April 2001. The company was well known for its loyal fan base, as well as its tendency to push the envelope with storylines. The group showcased many different styles of professional wrestling, ranging from lucha libre to hardcore wrestling.

[[World Wrestling Entertainment]] (WWE) purchased the rights to ECW and its video library in the summer of 2003. In [[2005]] and [[2006]], WWE promoted an ECW pay-per-view event called ECW One Night Stand. However, it is not to be confused with the current '''ECW brand''', whose weekly series premiered on [[June 13]], [[2006]] on the Sci Fi Channel.

ECW

2007-08-20T02:06:51Z

Parsonsburg:

'''Extreme Championship Wrestling''' '''(ECW)''' was a professional wrestling promotion, founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1992 by Tod Gordon. The promotion initally began as Eastern Championship Wrestling, acting as a territory in the National Wrestling Alliance. His successor, [[Paul Heyman]], took control of the promotion from 1997 until his declaration of [[bankruptcy]] in April 2001. The company was well known for its loyal fan base, as well as its tendency to push the envelope with [[angle (professional wrestling)|storylines]]. The group showcased many different styles of professional wrestling, ranging from [[lucha libre]] to [[hardcore wrestling]].

[[World Wrestling Entertainment]] (WWE) purchased the rights to ECW and its video library in the summer of 2003. In [[2005]] and [[2006]], WWE promoted an ECW pay-per-view event called ECW One Night Stand. However, it is not to be confused with the current '''ECW brand''', whose weekly series premiered on [[June 13]], [[2006]] on the Sci Fi Channel.

ECW

2007-08-20T02:04:12Z

Parsonsburg:

'''Extreme Championship Wrestling''' '''(ECW)''' was a [[professional wrestling]] [[professional wrestling promotion|promotion]] that was founded in [[Philadelphia|Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]] in [[1992]] by [[Tod Gordon]], and closed when his successor, [[Paul Heyman]], declared [[bankruptcy]] in April 2001. The company became well known for its loyal fan base, as well as its tendency to push the envelope with [[angle (professional wrestling)|storylines]]. The group showcased many different styles of professional wrestling, ranging from [[lucha libre]] to [[hardcore wrestling]].

[[World Wrestling Entertainment]] (WWE) purchased the rights to ECW and its video library in the summer of 2003. In [[2005]] and [[2006]], WWE promoted an ECW pay-per-view event called ECW One Night Stand. However, it is not to be confused with the current '''ECW brand''', whose weekly series premiered on [[June 13]], [[2006]] on the Sci Fi Channel.

AAA

2007-08-20T01:59:11Z

Parsonsburg: /* Gallery */

[[Image:Aaa.jpg|left]]'''Asistencia Asesoria y AAdministracion''' (Assistance, Consulting and Administration) is a touring lucha libre promotion founded in 1992 by the late [[Antonio Pena]]. The promotion usually holds cards in suburban areas or places with regular promoters in Mexico, and is known for its outlandish gimmicks and characters. AAA is regularly broadcast on Televisa in Mexico and Galavisión in the United States.
[[Image:Pap.jpg|right]]
AAA is also referred to as PAPSA (Promociones Antonio Pena S.A.). It's been a long held belief that Televisa (AAA's television partner) owns the AAA name and the promotion keeps the PAPSA name visible in case they ever left Televisa and had to change names. The names AAA and PAPSA are interchangeable.

== History ==
AAA was established on 15 May 1992 when EMLL booker Antonio Peña left the company to establish his own. Along with Konnan, much of the young and exciting talent defected to AAA, which left CMLL with a middle-aged roster and a seemingly bleak future. AAA also looked for talent from other markets, as they found and signed Tijuana natives [[Rey Mysterio, Jr.]] and [[Psicosis]]. The promotion flourished with top talent (such as [[El Hijo del Santo]], [[Octagón]], [[Blue Panther]] and the Casas brothers) and top draws ([[Los Gringos Locos]], [[Cien Caras]], [[Konnan]] and [[Perro Aguayo]]). The rising popularity of AAA soon caused rival UWA (Universal Wrestling Association) to fold, and Peña was quick to sign [[El Canek]], [[Dos Caras]] and [[Los Villanos]].

The peak of what is considered AAA's "golden years" (1993-1995) was the [[When Worlds Collide]] Pay-Per-View, which was promoted in conjunction with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and broadcast in the United States on November 8, 1994. Two weeks after the show, [[Art Barr]] (a key member of Los Gringos Locos) died while visiting his family, while resulted in the AAA Tag Team Championships being vacated. In addition, [[Eddie Guerrero]] departed the promotion to compete full-time in Extreme Championship Wrestling (where Art Barr was planning to go as well), and Madonna's Boyfriend also departed the promotion. El Hijo del Santo also departed as a result of creative problems, and would soon be followed by stars such as Fuerza Guerrera and Blue Panther when the Mexican economy began to slow down. Many of the promotion's young stars (such as Rey Misterio, Jr., Psicosis, La Parka, and Juventud Guerrera) signed with WCW in 1996. In early 1997, AAA established a working agreement with WWE, but the only significant outcome was that several luchadores were featured in the 1997 Royal Rumble.

AAA continues to sell out big arenas (like Toreo de Cuatro Caminos) for their big shows (such as Triplemanía and Guerra de Titanes), despite the fact that their talent pool isn't as deep as it once was. On 6 October 2006, founder Antonio Peña died of a massive heart attack.

The promotion is currently performing on the Vans Warped Tour.

===Working Relationship with TNA Wrestling===
AAA developed a working relationship with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in 2004. Through the relationship, AAA sent luchadors Juventud Guerrera, Hector Garza, Abismo Negro, Heavy Metal, and Mr. Aguila to TNA to compete in the America's X-Cup Tournament as a contingent known as Team Mexico. Team Mexico dominated the America's X-Cup Tournament, defeating Team USA in the first round before retaining the Cup against both Team Canada and Team Britain. They eventually lost at the World X-Cup, which saw Team USA defeat Team Canada and Team Mexico in the Ultimate X finals to win the Cup.

Following the World X-Cup, Hector Garza jumped ship to AAA's primary rival, the Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre. It was reported that Garza was upset that he was not compensated by Pena for dates he worked with TNA as per their original agreement. Garza has worked for CMLL since.

Due to multiple reasons, TNA and AAA broke off their working relationship late in 2004. TNA continued utilizing luchadors, but opted to contract them individually as opposed to working through AAA. It is rumored that this break in the relationship was due to problems the company had with AAA owner Antonio Pena, who was said to have been a difficult man to work with at times. In 2006, AAA and TNA worked again for an event in Toreo de Cuatro Caminos, utilizing some of TNA's talent and stage (which includes the tunnel and lasers). After Konnan left TNA in June 2007, it is unknown if TNA and AAA will continue their working relationship.

== Current Champions ==
{{AAATitleBox}}

== Gallery ==
{{Gallery|name=Portadaplayboy.jpg|caption=AAA valets in Playboy Mexico}}
{{Gallery||name=Gringos Locos.jpg|caption=Art Barr & Eddy Guerrero in 1994}}
{{Gallery|name=ReyJrvsPsic 006 0001.jpg|caption=September 22, 1995, prior to a 2/3 Falls Contest between Rey Mysterio Jr. & Psicosis}}
{{Gallery|name=Antonipena.jpg|caption=Founder [[Antonio Pena]]}}
 

== Links ==
* [[:Category:Current AAA/PAP wrestlers]]
* [http://www.triplea.com.mx/ Triple A/AAA/PAPSA's website]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asistencia_Asesoría_y_Administración wikipedia]

[[Category:Promotions]]

L.A. Park

2007-08-20T01:55:43Z

Parsonsburg: /* Profile */

{{Status}}
== Profile ==
{{bioFields|
|image=Tapia.jpg
|name=L.A. Park (The Skeleton of Death)
|realName=Adolfo Tapia Ibarra
|nicknames=The Chairman, La Calaca
|nameHistory=Adolfo Tapia (debut - ??),El Gringo(Monclova Coah. 1982?), El Minero (DF), Príncipe Island (?? - 05/90), Invasor Del Norte I (??/90 - ??/92), La Parka/La Parka Original (05/92 - ), L.A. Park (12/03 - )
|family=[[El Hijo Del Cien Caras]] (brother), [[Super Parka]], [[Johnny Ibarra]] & [[Desalmado]] (uncles), [[Volador Jr.]] (cousin)
|maestro=[[Alberto Mora]], [[Raúl Reyes]]
|birthdate=November 14, 1965 - Monclova, Coahuila
|obituarydate=n/a
|debut=1982 - Deportivo Arena 47 - Monclova, Coahuila
|lostmaskto=[[El Hijo del Santo]] - November 21, 1987 (as Príncipe Island)
|height=6'0"/183 cms
|weight=255 lbs/116 kg
|signatureMoves=[[Corkscrew Bodyblock]], [[Enzuigiri]], [[Sunset Flip Power Bomb]], [[Tope Suicida into an Armdrag]]
|titles=[[Distrito Federal Light Heavyweight Title]] (as Príncipe Island), Panama: [[European Middleweight Title]] (2, as Príncipe Island), [[WWA World Light Heavyweight Title]] (2), [[National Light Heavyweight Title]] (4), [[IWC World Heavyweight Title]] (foto), [[XLAW Heavyweight Title]] (2/ foto), [[WWC Hardcore Title]] (3/ foto), [[WWA World Tag Team Championship]] (w/ [[Antifaz Del Norte]]/ foto), [[CMLL World Tag Team Championship]] (w/[[Shocker]]), [[IWR Heavyweight Title]], [[NWG Intercontinental Championship]]|
}}

== Biography ==

LA Park is a regular in [[CMLL]]. He's recently turned rudo in [[Mexico City]], but still wrestles as a tecnico in many places and outside of CMLL. When he started his current stint with CMLL, he was presented as a freelancing outsider, and it's unclear if he still maintains that status (or if there's any real meaning to that distinction.)

As a tecnico, LA Park was getting a negative reaction from some of the tecnicos fans in 2006. (It's comparable, though not nearly as loud, as what happened with [[Atlantis]] a year earlier.) On [[April 30]], [[2006]] - a special Kid's Day show at [[Arena Mexico]] - LA Park turned on his partners [[Mistico]], [[Negro Casas]], and [[Heavy Metal]]. Park teased a feud with Mistico and at an alliance with [[Perros del Mal]], but his rudo turn has ended up more focused on a feud with [[Dr. Wagner Jr.]]

LA Park is best known to North American wrestling fans for his stint in World Championship Wrestling, where his trademark was striking his opponents over the head with a chair; thus, the nickname ''Chairman of the Board'' came into play. He is also remembered for his strutting and leg-wiggling dancing.
Adolfo Tapia started wrestling in 1982, but he did not really start making a name for himself until he started wrestling as the masked La Parka in 1992. His costume and mask are a skeleton resembling the outfits used in Mexico's Day of the Dead ceremony. He is a very flamboyant wrestler, sometimes wearing sombreros to the ring, playing guitar on the chair he always brings to the ring, strutting and dancing in the ring, and even strutting on the turnbuckle.

His biggest and longest running feud in Mexico was against Lizmark. They feuded for years. He also feuded with Jerry Estrada, Konnan, Super Calo, La Calaca and Pierroth, Jr. He frequently teamed with Psychosis. He was part of the "When Worlds Collide" joint AAA/WCW PPV in 1994 and wrestled briefly in ECW in 1995.

In 1996, he went to WCW and picked up his feud with Super Calo. He became known as "The Chairman of WCW" because he would hit his opponents with a chair, stand it up and pose on it after strutting. In 1997, he reformed his team with Psychosis with Sonny Onoo as their manager. They feuded with Wrath, Mortis, and Ultimo Dragon. By 1998, he had left Onoo and feuded with Disco Inferno and Psychosis. He was used on some WCW PPV's but never got a push to the top. In June 1998, he tore his ACL in a match after a Goldberg spear. He returned in September and got into some trouble for competing in Mexico without Eric Bischoff's permission.

In November 1998, he joined Eddie Guerrero's Latino World Order (LWO) with Psychosis, Juventud Guerrera, Los Villanos, El Dandy, Silver King, Héctor Garza, Damien, and a reluctant Rey Misterio Jr.. They feuded with Konnan and Perry Saturn. The LWO disbanded in January 1999 when Guerrero was injured in a car accident. La Parka started teaming with Silver King and picked up his feud with Super Calo again. He briefly feuded with Eddie Guerrero upon his return since Eddie caused the LWO to disband.

When Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara took over booking in late 1999, they had Ferrara's voice speaking English over the intercom while La Parka would be doing interviews in Spanish in the ring. The voiceovers would comically explain La Parka was a fan of Skeletor from Masters of the Universe, hence his in-ring wear. This ended after a few weeks when La Parka heard something he did not want said and tossed the mic down as Ferrera was speaking. By early 2000, he had left WCW for Mexico where he had some trouble with the AAA promotion over the use of the La Parka name. They had it trademarked and he did not want to work for them, so he changed his name to L.A. Park and debuted with AAA's rival, Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre. In January of 2004, Park and Shocker defeated Los Guerreros Del Infierno for the CMLL World Tag Team Championship. Rey Bucanero and Último Guerrero would win their titles back in a rematch in March but L.A. Park challenged Último Guerrero for the CMLL Light-Heavyweight title at the CMLL 71st anniversary show but was unsuccessful. He continued wrestling in CMLL as well as independent promotions in Tijuana and else where in the country.

2002 and 2003 saw him wrestle for XPW, All Japan Pro Wrestling, Major League Wrestling and the revived AWA Superstars. In 2004, he made brief appearances in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, using his chair on his opponents, but was soon back in Mexico teaming with Shocker. In 2005, L.A. Park can be found wrestling in his native Mexico and in the United States for LXW and UCW and occasionally for FCW.

In October 2005 L.A. Park debuted for Detroit's Independent Wrestling Revolution (IWR) brand "Revolucha", teaming with American Kickboxer vs. El Hijo del Santo & Konnan, with special referee Zach Gowen. Park continued his rivalry with El Hijo del Santo culminating in May 2006 at Revolucha 2: "Dia de los Muertos" inside "Lucha en la Juala" (a steel cage match). Both Park and Santo had their masks ripped 50% off their faces during this violent cage match. In February 2006, L.A. Park began a bitter feud with then IWR Champion Conrad Kennedy III (CK3). L.A. Park finally defeated CK3 in August 2006 at "Brawl at the Hall" and is currently the IWR/Revolucha Heavyweight Champion.

As of June 2006, he's currently still performing on the CMLL, has become a heel and has had a very successful run of matches on Mexico, mainly due to his current feud with Dr. Wagner Jr., which have a very positive fan reaction. In one of their most recent matches, which happened on the Arena Mexico in June 9, 2006, L.A. Park won when he faked a foul and Dr. Wagner Jr. was disqualified.

EMPRESAS: UWA, CMLL, AAA/PAP, IWRG, Promo Azteca, WWA, NJPW, WCW, TNA-NWA, IWA (Puerto Rico), X-LAW, XPW, NWG, WWC (Puerto Rico), IWR (USA), FILL, LLI, IWC, WWA...

== Controversy over the La Parka gimmick ==
LA Park is the original La Parka from [[AAA]] in the early '90s and the one who was in WCW and XPW. The rights to the gimmick of La Parka have been the subject of court battles since La Parka left AAA; so far, they've ruled that AAA owner [[Antonio Pena]] owns the name and the look, and LA Park can not use the "La Parka" on television in Mexico. (He's allowed to and does use La Parka in the US and elsewhere.) The name L.A. Park means, La Autentica ParK (Where the k is pronounces as ka), so the name means "The Authentic Parka"

 

== Luchas de apuestas record ==
{{astart}}
{{aline|??/??/??|mask|Principe Island|[[Gran Cóndor]]|unknown}}
{{aline|??/??/??|hair|Principe Island|[[Gran Cóndor]]|unknown}}
{{aline|??/??/??|mask|Principe Island|[[Príncipe Judas]]|unknown}}
{{aline|??/??/??|mask|Principe Island|[[Guerrero Negro]]|unknown}}
{{aline|??/??/??|mask|Principe Island|[[Bestia Negra I (90s)|Bestia Negra I]]|unknown}}
{{aline|85/02/17|mask|[[Clímax II]]|El Minero|Pista Arena Revolución - Mexico City}}
{{aline|87/11/21|mask|[[El Hijo del Santo]]|Principe Island|Arena Apatlaco - Apatlaco, Mexico State}}
{{aline|91/??/??|hair|Principe Island|[[Bestia Negra I (90s)|Bestia Negra I]]|unknown}}
{{aline|91/06/26|mask|[[Stuka]]|Invasor del Norte I|Plaza de Toros Monumental - Monterrey, N.L.}}
{{aline|92/??/??|hair|[[Panterita del Ring]]|Principe Island|Monterrey, Nuevo León}}
{{aline|98/07/20|mask|La Parka|[[Pierroth Jr.]]|Plaza de Toros Lauro Luis Longoria - Nuevo Laredo, Tamps.}}
{{aline|98/[[September 20|09/20]]|mask|La Parka|[[Wolf]]|Reynosa, Tamaulipas}}
{{aline|00/07/17|hair|La Parka|[[Gran Markus Jr.]]|Plaza de Toros Lauro Luis Longoria - Nuevo Laredo, Tamps.}}
{{aline|01/??/??|mask (1)|La Parka|[[Shiryu Dragon]]|Gimnasio México 68 - Guadalajara, Jalisco}}
{{aline|01/06/04|hair (2)|La Parka|[[El Dandy]]|Plaza de Toros Lauro Luis Longoria - Nuevo Laredo, Tamps.}}
{{aline|01/06/25|mask (3)|La Parka|[[Huracán Ramírez Jr.]]|Salon Premier - Monclova, Coahuila}}
{{aline|01/12/21|hair (4)|La Parka|[[Damian 666]]|Auditorio de Tijuana - Tijuana, Baja California}}
{{aline|04/10/08|hair|L. A. Park|[[Nicho el Millonario]]|Auditorio de Tijuana - Tijuana, Baja California}}
{{aline|05/05/27|hair (5)|L. A. Park|[[Super Parka]]|Palenque de Tijuana - Tijuana, Baja California}}
{{aline|06/02/04|mask|L. A. Park|[[Black Tiger III]]|Auditorio Municipal - Torreon}}
{{aline|07/05/05|hair (6)|L. A. Park|[[Villano III]]|Arena Mexico - Mexico, City}}
{{aend|(1) Relevos suicidas vs. Roberto Paz Jr. & Zandokan II; (2) Triangle match with Bestia Salvaje; (3) Relevos suicidas vs. Villanos IV & V; (4) Cage Match; (5) Cage Match: also w/[[Dr. Wagner Jr.]] & [[Perro Aguayo Jr.]]; (6) RULETA DE LA MUERTE: Silver King, Satanico, Villano IV, Villano V, Blue Demon Jr, Hijo del Solitario, L.A. Park & Villano III}}

== Gallery ==
{{Gallery|name=masked_principeisland.jpg|caption=losing his mask to [[Hijo del Santo]]}}
{{Gallery|name=PrincipeIsland.jpg|caption=as Principe Island}}
{{Gallery|name=panama_lapark.jpg|caption=as Panama European Middleweight Champ}}
{{Gallery|name=Parka.jpg|caption=1996}}
{{Gallery|name=LaPark.jpg|caption=2004}}
{{Gallery|name=Parka_WWCHardcore.jpg|caption=w/ WWC Hardcore Title on right}}
 
{{Gallery|name=LaParka2003.jpg|caption=2003}}
{{Gallery|name=LaParka2005_1.jpg|caption=2005-1}}
{{Gallery|name=LaParka2005_2.jpg|caption=2005-2}}
{{Gallery|name=Park_Wagner_01.jpg|caption=2006}}
{{Gallery|name=SouthParkParka.jpg|caption=South Park Parka by a Fan}}
{{Gallery|name=laparka.jpg|caption=scary!}}
 
{{Gallery|name=Parka7.jpg|caption=AAA 1994}}
{{Gallery|name=parka-flama.jpg|caption=w/[[Flama Solar]] 2002}}
{{Gallery|name=lapark_iwr.jpg|caption=IWR? Title}}
{{Gallery|name=parka_demon_2007.jpg|caption=in LA with [[Blue Demon Jr.]]}}
[[Category:Mexican wrestlers]]
[[Category:Current CMLL wrestlers]]
[[Category:TNA wrestlers]]

La Parka AAA

2007-08-20T01:54:47Z

Parsonsburg: /* Biography */

__NOTOC__
== Profile ==
{{bioFields|
|image= La_parka_el_bonito.jpg‎
|name=La Parka
|realName=
|nicknames=none
|nameHistory=Bello Sexy (debut - 05/92), Maligno (05/92 - ??), Crater, Santa Esmeralda, Karis la Momia (95 - 11/96), La Parka Jr./La Parka (11/96 - ), Duro (1998)
|family=none
|maestro=[[America Salvaje]], [[Resplandor]]
|birthdate=[[January 4]], [[1966]] - [[Hermosillo]], [[Sonora]]
|obituarydate=n/a
|debut=1987 - [[Hermosillo]], [[Sonora]]
|lostmaskto=n/a
|height=6'0"/183 cms
|weight=216 lbs/98 kg
|signatureMoves=[[Small Package]], Dancing, uh... dancing
|titles=[[Pacific Coast Heavyweight Title]], [[National Cruiserweight Title]], [[LAW Light Heavyweight Title]], [[AAA Rey de Reyes]] 2001-2003-2005-2007, [[National Tag Team Titles]] (w/[[Octagon]] and w/[[Máscara Sagrada AAA]]), [[GPCW SUPER-X Monster Title]]
}}

== Biography ==
Not to be confused with the original [[La Parka]], who was forced to give up the rights to the name (as it was owned by AAA founder Antonio Peña) when he jumped to EMLL in 2003, and is now known as [[L.A. Park]]. La Parka Jr. is a cruiserweight technico who competes in [[AAA]].

== Luchas de apuestas record ==
{{astart}}
{{aline|96/07/15|mask (1)|Karis la Momia|[[Halcón Dorado Jr.]]|Centro de Convenciones - Acapulco, Guerrero}}
{{aline|01/04/20|mask|La Parka Jr.|[[El Hijo Del Espectro]]|Auditorio De Tijuana}}
{{aline|01/08/10|mask (2)|La Parka Jr.|[[Akuma]]|Auditorio De Tijuana}}
{{aline|04/06/20|mask|La Parka Jr.|[[Cibernetico]]|El Toreo De Naucalpan}}
{{aline|04/08/31|mask|La Parka Jr.|[[La Bestia]]|Arena Juba - Reynosa, Tamaulipas}}
{{aline|05/08/30|hair (3)|La Parka Jr.|[[El Angel (Juba)]]|Arena Juba - Reynosa, Tamaulipas}}
{{aline|05/10/25|mask|La Parka Jr.|[[Destroyer II]]|Arena Coliseo - Reynosa, Tamaulipas}}
{{aline|06/06/18|mask|La Parka Jr.|[[Muerte Cibernetica]]|Toreo de Cuatro Caminos - Naucalpan, Mexico State}}
{{aend|(1) Cage match w/ Junior Atomicos vs. Karis/Payasos; (2) Hexagonal de la Muerte; (3) Not El Angel(Oscar Sevilla) from AAA}}

== Gallery ==


{{Gallery|
|name=Duro.jpg
|caption=as Duro
}}

{{Gallery|
|name=Karis.jpg
|caption=as Karis la Momia
}}

{{Gallery|
|name=ParkaJr.jpg
|caption=as La Parka AAA
}}

{{Gallery|
|name=Laparkajr3.jpg
|caption=as La Parka AAA (old entrance Attire)
}}

{{Gallery|
|name=laparkajr.jpg
|caption=older}}

{{Gallery|
|name=Duroydirecto.jpg
|caption=as Duro with [[Directo]]
}}

[[Category:Mexican wrestlers]][[Category:Current AAA/PAP wrestlers]]

NWA World Heavyweight Championship

2007-08-20T01:42:43Z

Parsonsburg: /* History */

== History ==
The principal title of the [[National Wrestling Alliance]], this title traces its lineage back to the turn of the 20th Century, descended from the battles of George Hackenschmidt, Frank Gotch, and [[Strangler Lewis]]. The lineage was largely unbroken until the 1960's, when Vince McMahon Sr. continued to recognize Buddy Rogers as champion when he had actually lost the title. This created the [[WWF World Heavyweight Championship]].

The main branch of the belt (the one recognized by the NWA and its member promotions) continued through the 1990's until Ted Turner bought [[WCW]] and pulled out of the NWA. All NWA titiles were stripped and replaced with WCW titles, including the [[WCW World Heavyweight Championship]], [[WCW World Tag Team Championship]], and [[WCW United States Championship]].
The NWA later held tournaments in independent promotions to fill these vacancies, although the World Heavyweight championship necessitated two tournaments due to the actions of Eastern Championship Wrestling's Shane Douglas in the first, where he threw down the title and declared himself the World Heavyweight Championship of the newly-renamed (by Tod Gordon) [[Extreme Championship Wrestling]].

The NWA titles were defended on small independent shows throughout the United States from the mid 1990's to the early 200's until [[Total Nonstop Action]] was established and purchased the rights to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, as well as the NWA World Tag Team Championship. At noon on May 13, 2007, the NWA Board of Directors officially stripped Christian Cage of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and immediately began a tournament (dubbed "Reclaiming the Glory") spanning the entire summer of 2007 to crown a new champion. A new champion will be crowned on September 1, 2007 in Puerto Rico, as Bryan Danielson will compete against Brent Albright in the finals of "Reclaiming the Glory."

For a complete history, please visit [http://www.wrestling-titles.com/nwa/world/nwa-h.html WrestlingTitles.com].

==Relation to Lucha Libre==

NWA Heavyweight champions occasionally wrestled in Mexico and defended the championship, though in has never changed hands in Mexico.

==Past Champions==

Past champions who have wrestled in Mexico include:

* [[Jeff Jarrett]]
* [[Ron Killings]]
* [[Tatsumi Fujinami]]
* [[Giant Baba]]
* [[Sabu]]
* [[Dory Funk Jr.]]

[[Category: Championships (without history)]]

NWA World Heavyweight Championship

2007-08-20T01:41:14Z

Parsonsburg: /* History */

== History ==
The principal title of the [[National Wrestling Alliance]], this title traces its lineage back to the turn of the 20th Century, descended from the battles of George Hackenschmidt, Frank Gotch, and [[Strangler Lewis]]. The lineage was largely unbroken until the 1960's, when Vince McMahon Sr. continued to recognize Buddy Rogers as champion when he had actually lost the title. This created the [[WWF World Heavyweight Championship]].

The main branch of the belt (the one recognized by the NWA and its member promotions) continued through the 1990's until Ted Turner bought [[WCW]] and pulled out of the NWA. All NWA titiles were stripped and replaced with WCW titles, including the [[WCW World Heavyweight Championship]], [[WCW World Tag Team Championship]], and [[WCW United States Championship]].
The NWA later held tournaments in independent promotions to fill these vacancies, although the World Heavyweight championship necessitated two tournaments due to the actions of Eastern Championship Wrestling's Shane Douglas in the first, where he threw down the title and declared himself the World Heavyweight Championship of the newly-renamed (by Tod Gordon) [[Extreme Championship Wrestling]].

The NWA titles were defended on small independent shows throughout the United States from the mid 1990's to the early 200's until [[Total Nonstop Action]] was established and purchased the rights to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, as well as the NWA World Tag Team Championship. At noon on May 13, 2007, the NWA Board of Directors officially stripped Christian Cage of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and will complete a summer tournament to crown the new champion on September 1, 2007 in Puerto Rico, when Bryan Danielson faces Brent Albright in the finals of "Reclaiming the Glory."

For a complete history, please visit [http://www.wrestling-titles.com/nwa/world/nwa-h.html WrestlingTitles.com].

==Relation to Lucha Libre==

NWA Heavyweight champions occasionally wrestled in Mexico and defended the championship, though in has never changed hands in Mexico.

==Past Champions==

Past champions who have wrestled in Mexico include:

* [[Jeff Jarrett]]
* [[Ron Killings]]
* [[Tatsumi Fujinami]]
* [[Giant Baba]]
* [[Sabu]]
* [[Dory Funk Jr.]]

[[Category: Championships (without history)]]

NWA World Heavyweight Championship

2007-08-20T01:40:42Z

Parsonsburg: /* History */

== History ==
The principal title of the [[National Wrestling Alliance]], this title traces its lineage back to the turn of the 20th Century, descended from the battles of George Hackenschmidt, Frank Gotch, and [[Strangler Lewis]]. The lineage was largely unbroken until the 1960's, when Vince McMahon Sr. continued to recognize Buddy Rogers as champion when he had actually lost the title. This created the [[WWF World Heavyweight Championship]].

The main branch of the belt (the one recognized by the NWA and its member promotions) continued through the 1990's until Ted Turner bought [[WCW]] and pulled out of the NWA. All NWA titiles were stripped and replaced with WCW titles, including the [[WCW World Heavyweight Championship]], [[WCW World Tag Team Championship]], and [[WCW United States Championship]].
The NWA later held tournaments in independent promotions to fill these vacancies, although the World Heavyweight championship necessitated two tournaments due to the actions of Eastern Championship Wrestling's Shane Douglas in the first, where he threw down the title and declared himself the World Heavyweight Championship of the newly-renamed (by Tod Gordon) [[Extreme Championship Wrestling]].

The NWA titles were defended on small independent shows throughout the United States from the mid 1990's to the early 200's until [[Total Nonstop Action]] was established and purchased the rights to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, as well as the NWA World Tag Team Championship. At noon on May 13, 2007, the NWA Board of Directors officially stripped Christian Cage of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and will complete a summer tournament to crown the new champion on September 1, 2007, where Bryan Danielson will face Brent Albright in the finals of "Reclaiming the Glory."

For a complete history, please visit [http://www.wrestling-titles.com/nwa/world/nwa-h.html WrestlingTitles.com].

==Relation to Lucha Libre==

NWA Heavyweight champions occasionally wrestled in Mexico and defended the championship, though in has never changed hands in Mexico.

==Past Champions==

Past champions who have wrestled in Mexico include:

* [[Jeff Jarrett]]
* [[Ron Killings]]
* [[Tatsumi Fujinami]]
* [[Giant Baba]]
* [[Sabu]]
* [[Dory Funk Jr.]]

[[Category: Championships (without history)]]

Sabu

2007-08-20T01:36:47Z

Parsonsburg: /* Biography */

== Profile ==

{{bioFields|
|image=sabu.jpg
|name=Sabu
|realName=Terry Michael Brunk
|nicknames=The Arabian Machine of Destruction; The Suicidal, Homicidal, Genocidal, Death-Defying Maniac
|nameHistory=Terry Snuka (debut - ??), Sabu (?? - )
|family=[[The Sheik]] (uncle)
|maestro=[[The Sheik]]
|birthdate=[[December 12]], [[1964]] - [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]]
|debut=[[1984]]
|lostmaskto=
|height=6'0"/183 cms
|weight=230 lbs/110 kg
|obituarydate=
|signatureMoves=[[Leg Drop|Arabian Facebuster]], [[Triple-Jump Moonsault]], [[Cross-body block|Air Sabu]], [[Plancha]]
|titles=[[ACW Heavyweight Championship]], [[BCW Can-Am Heavyweight Championship]], [[ECW FTW Heavyweight Championship]], [[ECW World Tag Team Championship]] (3) (2 w/ [[Rob Van Dam]], 1 w/ [[Taz]]), [[ECW World Heavyweight Championship]] (2), [[ECW World Television Championship]], [[EWA Junior Championship]], [[FMW World Martial Arts Tag Team Championship]] (w/ [[Horace Boulder]]), [[IWF Heavyweight Championship]] (2), [[JCW Heavyweight Championship]], [[MECW APW (Alternative Pro Wrestling) Championship]], [[Motor City Wrestling Heavyweight Championship]], [[NWA Independent World Heavyweight Championship]], [[NWA World Heavyweight Championship]], [[NWC Heavyweight Championship]] (2), [[IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship]], [[PCW Television Championship]], [[3PW Heavyweight Championship]], [[Stampede Pacific Heavyweight Championship]], [[UCW Heavyweight Championship]], [[UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship]], [[USA Pro Heavyweight Championship]], [[USPW Heavyweight Championship]], [[WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship]], [[XPW Heavyweight Championship]]
|}}

== Biography ==
Sabu is a world-renowned professional wrestler who is known for his wreckless style of wrestling. Sabu has competed in every major wrestling organization in the world and is considered by many to be a true innovator of aerial offense, as well as being one of the first wrestlers to utilize a table during a match on a regular basis; Terry Funk even claims Sabu as "the greatest innovator of professional wrestling in the last 40 years" in the ''Forever Hardcore'' documentary in 2005.

== A broken arm, a severed fingertip and a partial scalping ==

On April 15, 2006 Sabu competed in a six-man tag match (alongside [[Damien 666]] and [[Hijo del Perro Aguayo]]) against [[L.A. Park]], [[Silver King]] and [[Pierroth]]. Sabu's team lost by disqualification, but the match left Sabu with a broken arm, part of a fingertip was severed and a partial scalping.

Despite the severity of the injuries, he still appeared at the TNA pay-per-view Lockdown on April 23, 2006. He competed in a cage match against Samoa Joe for the TNA X-Division title, and lost in barely 6 minutes.

This is certainly a testament towards Sabu's relentless determination to compete, no matter what condition he is in.

== Sources ==

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Brunk Wikipedia]

[[Category: Foreign wrestlers]]
[[Category: United States wrestlers]]
[[Category: TNA wrestlers]]

AAA/IWC World Tag Team Championship

2007-08-19T16:18:11Z

Parsonsburg:

The AAA/IWC World Tag Team Championship was introduced in 1993. It was formerly known as the Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship, as [[Konnan]] and [[Love Machine]] defeated Polynesian Prince and the Tazmanian Devil for the titles on a [[CWUSA]] show in [[Portland]], [[Oregon]] on [[January 9]], [[1993]]. Shortly thereafter, Konnan and Love Machine imported the belts to Mexico and never brought them back.

== Champions Listing ==
{{TitleHistoryStart}}
{{TitleHistoryLine|1|[[El Hijo del Santo]] and [[Octagon]]|[[Love Machine]] and [[Eddy Guerrero]]|1993.11.05|Auditorio Rio Nilo - Tonala, Jalisco}}
{{TitleHistorySpan|decision match to determine the first champions}}
{{TitleHistoryLine|2|[[Love Machine]] and [[Eddy Guerrero]]|[[El Hijo del Santo]] and [[Octagon]]|1994.07.23|Chicago, IL}}
{{TitleHistorySpan|Vacated in November [[1994]] when Art Barr passes away}}
{{TitleHistoryEnd}}

== AAA World Tag Team Championship ==
In 2007, the [[AAA World Tag Team Championship]] was introduced. Though the title bears a similar name to this one, it is considered to be completely irrelated to the AAA/IWC World Tag Team Championship.

== Sources ==
[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/mexico/aaa/aaa-t.html Wrestling-Titles.com]
{{AAATitleBox}}
[[Category: Championships]]

AAA/IWC World Tag Team Championship

2007-08-19T16:17:05Z

Parsonsburg: /* Champions Listing */

The AAA/IWC World Tag Team Championship was introduced in 1993. It was formerly known as the Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship, as [[Konnan]] and [[Love Machine]] defeated Polynesian Prince and the Tazmanian Devil for the titles on a [[CWUSA]] show in [[Portland]], [[Oregon]] on [[January 9]], [[1993]]. Shortly thereafter, Konnan and Love Machine imported the belts to Mexico and never brought them back.

== Champions Listing ==
{{TitleHistoryStart}}
{{TitleHistoryLine|1|[[El Hijo del Santo]] and [[Octagon]]|[[Love Machine]] and [[Eddy Guerrero]]|1993.11.05|Auditorio Rio Nilo - Tonala, Jalisco}}
{{TitleHistorySpan|decision match for first champions}}
{{TitleHistoryLine|2|[[Love Machine]] and [[Eddy Guerrero]]|[[El Hijo del Santo]] and [[Octagon]]|1994.07.23|Chicago, IL}}
{{TitleHistorySpan|Vacated in November [[1994]] when Art Barr passes away}}
{{TitleHistoryEnd}}

== AAA World Tag Team Championship ==
In 2007, the [[AAA World Tag Team Championship]] was introduced. Though the title bears a similar name to this one, it is considered to be completely irrelated to the AAA/IWC World Tag Team Championship.

==Sources==

[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/mexico/aaa/aaa-t.html Wrestling-Titles.com]
{{AAATitleBox}}
[[Category: Championships]]

AAA/IWC World Tag Team Championship

2007-08-19T16:13:23Z

Parsonsburg:

The AAA/IWC World Tag Team Championship was introduced in 1993. It was formerly known as the Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship, as [[Konnan]] and [[Love Machine]] defeated Polynesian Prince and the Tazmanian Devil for the titles on a [[CWUSA]] show in [[Portland]], [[Oregon]] on [[January 9]], [[1993]]. Shortly thereafter, Konnan and Love Machine imported the belts to Mexico and never brought them back.

==Champions Listing==
{{TitleHistoryStart}}
{{TitleHistorySpan|decision match for first champions}}
{{TitleHistoryLine|1|[[El Hijo del Santo]] and [[Octagon]]|[[Love Machine]] and [[Eddy Guerrero]]|1993.11.05|Auditorio Rio Nilo - Tonala, Jalisco}}
{{TitleDefenseLine|1|[[La Parka]] & [[Satanico]]|1993.12.01|Aguascalientes}}
{{TitleHistoryLine|2|[[Love Machine]] and [[Eddy Guerrero]]|[[El Hijo del Santo]] and [[Octagon]]|1994.07.23|Chicago, IL}}
{{TitleHistorySpan|Vacated in November [[1994]] when Art Barr passes away}}
{{TitleHistoryEnd}}

==Sources==

[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/mexico/aaa/aaa-t.html Wrestling-Titles.com]
{{AAATitleBox}}
[[Category: Championships]]

AAA World Tag Team Championship

2007-08-19T16:07:15Z

Parsonsburg:

The AAA World Tag Team Championship was introduced in 2007. It is not to be confused with the earlier [[AAA/IWC World Tag Team Championship]], as the two are generally considered irrelated from one another.

== History ==
{{TitleHistoryStartShort}}
{{TitleHistorySpan|[[AAA World Tag Team Tournament, 2006|16 team league style tournament to determine first champion]]}}
{{TitleHistoryLine|1|[[Cuervo]] & [[Ozz]]|[[Alan Stone]] & [[Zumbido]] [[Super Fly]] & [[Pegasso]] [[Crazy Boy]] & [[Joe Lider]]|2007.03.18|[[El Toreo De Naucalpan]]}}
{{TitleHistoryLine|2|[[Crazy Boy]] & [[Joe Lider]]|[[Cuervo]] & [[Ozz]]|2007.07.15|[[El Toreo De Naucalpan]]}}
{{TitleHistoryEnd}}

== Sources ==
[[Category:Championships]]
{{AAATitleBox}}

When Worlds Collide

2007-08-19T16:02:12Z

Parsonsburg:

[[image:AAAWhenWorldsCollideLogo.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Official Logo]]
'''When Worlds Collide''' ('''''Cuando Los Mundos Chocan''''') was a historical Pay-Per-View from [[AAA]] and [[IWC]], with co-promotion by [[WCW]]. The event took place on November 8, 1994 at the Los Angeles Sports Arena and is credited as being the first introduction of the Lucha Libre phenomenon to a North American Audience. The event was available in both English and Spanish, as Chris Cruise and current [[TNA]] commentator Mike Tenay performed the English commentary, and Arturo Rivera and Andres Maronas handled the Spanish commentary.

When Worlds Collide is most remembered for it's semi-main event: a double hair versus double mask, two-out-of-three falls match that pitted [[Los Gringos Locos]] members [[Art Barr]] & [[Eddie Guerrero]] (the rudo team) against the team of [[Octagon]] & [[El Hijo Del Santo]] (the tecnicos). The match was built around the former partnership between not only [[Eddie Guerrero]] and [[El Hijo Del Santo]], but also around the former partnership of their fathers ([[Gory Guerrero]] and [[El Santo]]); Both men claimed that one carried the other throughout the partnership, as well as claiming that their father carried the other's father throughout the partnership.

Allegedly, there were backstage problems prior to the show, as WCW production decided to cut the broadcast down 45 minutes from the original run time, resulting in all of the undercard matches becoming one-fall to a finish. In addition, Art Barr and Octagon were removed from the booking sheet and booked as seconds to their partners. In addition, the tag team semi-main event was cut down from 30 minutes to 20 minutes.

==Results==
1) [[Mascarita Sagrada]] & [[Octagoncito]] beat [[Espectrito]] & [[Jerrito Estrada]] 
''Octagoncito forced Estrada to submit at 8:46'' 
2) [[Fuerza Guerrera]], [[Madonna's Boyfriend]], [[Psicosis]] beat [[Rey Mysterio Jr.]], [[Heavy Metal]], [[Latin Lover]] 
''Guerrera forced Heavy Metal to submit at 12:54'' 
3) [[Chris Benoit]], [[2 Cold Scorpio]], [[Tito Santana]] beat [[Jerry Estrada]], [[LA Park|La Parka]], [[Blue Panther]] 
''Benoit pinned Blue Panther at 14:51.'' 
4)[[Octagón]] & [[El Hijo del Santo]] beat [[Art Barr]] & [[Eddy Guerrero]] in a mask vs. hair match 
-1)Guerrero pinned Santo at 3:38 and Barr pinned Octagon at 4:04 
-2)Octagon pinned Guerrero at 8:49 and Octagon forced Barr to submit at 8:58 
-3)Barr pinned Octagon at 14:16, Santo pinned Barr at 16:53, and Santo pinned Guerrero at 19:20 
5)[[Perro Aguayo]] beat [[Konnan]] in a steel cage match at 17:54

==External links==
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Worlds_Collide_%28wrestling%29/ Wikipedia Entry]
*[http://www.prowrestlinghistory.com/ Wrestling Supercards & Tournaments]
*[http://members.tripod.com/~lucharan/wwc.htm Cuando Los Mundos Chocan]
[[Category:Events]]

File:AAAWhenWorldsCollideLogo.jpg

2007-08-19T15:59:04Z

Parsonsburg: Logo for the PPV

Logo for the PPV

When Worlds Collide

2007-08-19T15:58:37Z

Parsonsburg:

'''When Worlds Collide''' ('''''Cuando Los Mundos Chocan''''') was a historical Pay-Per-View from [[AAA]] and [[IWC]], with co-promotion by [[WCW]]. The event took place on November 8, 1994 at the Los Angeles Sports Arena and is credited as being the first introduction of the Lucha Libre phenomenon to a North American Audience. The event was available in both English and Spanish, as Chris Cruise and current [[TNA]] commentator Mike Tenay performed the English commentary, and Arturo Rivera and Andres Maronas handled the Spanish commentary.

When Worlds Collide is most remembered for it's semi-main event: a double hair versus double mask, two-out-of-three falls match that pitted [[Los Gringos Locos]] members [[Art Barr]] & [[Eddie Guerrero]] (the rudo team) against the team of [[Octagon]] & [[El Hijo Del Santo]] (the tecnicos). The match was built around the former partnership between not only [[Eddie Guerrero]] and [[El Hijo Del Santo]], but also around the former partnership of their fathers ([[Gory Guerrero]] and [[El Santo]]); Both men claimed that one carried the other throughout the partnership, as well as claiming that their father carried the other's father throughout the partnership.

Allegedly, there were backstage problems prior to the show, as WCW production decided to cut the broadcast down 45 minutes from the original run time, resulting in all of the undercard matches becoming one-fall to a finish. In addition, Art Barr and Octagon were removed from the booking sheet and booked as seconds to their partners. In addition, the tag team semi-main event was cut down from 30 minutes to 20 minutes.

==Results==
1) [[Mascarita Sagrada]] & [[Octagoncito]] beat [[Espectrito]] & [[Jerrito Estrada]] 
''Octagoncito forced Estrada to submit at 8:46'' 
2) [[Fuerza Guerrera]], [[Madonna's Boyfriend]], [[Psicosis]] beat [[Rey Mysterio Jr.]], [[Heavy Metal]], [[Latin Lover]] 
''Guerrera forced Heavy Metal to submit at 12:54'' 
3) [[Chris Benoit]], [[2 Cold Scorpio]], [[Tito Santana]] beat [[Jerry Estrada]], [[LA Park|La Parka]], [[Blue Panther]] 
''Benoit pinned Blue Panther at 14:51.'' 
4)[[Octagón]] & [[El Hijo del Santo]] beat [[Art Barr]] & [[Eddy Guerrero]] in a mask vs. hair match 
-1)Guerrero pinned Santo at 3:38 and Barr pinned Octagon at 4:04 
-2)Octagon pinned Guerrero at 8:49 and Octagon forced Barr to submit at 8:58 
-3)Barr pinned Octagon at 14:16, Santo pinned Barr at 16:53, and Santo pinned Guerrero at 19:20 
5)[[Perro Aguayo]] beat [[Konnan]] in a steel cage match at 17:54

==External links==
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Worlds_Collide_%28wrestling%29/ Wikipedia Entry]
*[http://www.prowrestlinghistory.com/ Wrestling Supercards & Tournaments]
*[http://members.tripod.com/~lucharan/wwc.htm Cuando Los Mundos Chocan]
[[Category:Events]]

Love Machine

2007-08-19T15:56:32Z

Parsonsburg: /* When Worlds Collide and Death */

== Profile ==



{{bioFields|
|image=lovemachine.jpg
|name=Love Machine
|realName=Arthur Leon Barr
|nicknames=El Gringo Loco
|nameHistory=Art Barr (debut - death), The Intruder (PNW, 87), Beetlejuice (PNW, 88 - 90), The Juicer (NWA/WCW, 1990), Love Machine (91 - death), American Love Machine, American Machine (NJPW, 1994)
|family=[[Sandy Barr]] (father), [[Jesse Barr]]/Jimmy Jack Funk (brother), [[Shawn Barr]] (brother)
|maestro=[[Sandy Barr]], [[Roddy Piper]]
|birthdate=[[October 8]], [[1966]] - [[Portland]], [[Oregon]], [[USA]]
|obituarydate=[[November 23]], [[1994]] - [[Springfield]], [[Oregon]], [[USA]]
|debut=[[April 2]], [[1987]] - [[Salem]], [[Oregon]], [[USA]]
|lostmaskto=[[Blue Panther]] - [[April 3]], [[1992]] - [[Arena México]]
|height=6'1''
|weight=240lbs.
|signatureMoves=[[Frog Splash]], [[Tombstone]], [[Belly-to-belly Suplex]], [[Dropkick to the face]]
|titles=[[PNW TV Title]], [[PNW/NWA Tag Team Titles]] (2, w/ [[Big Juice]] - The Juicer Patrol, w/ [[Jesse Barr]]), [[PNW/USA Tag Team Titles]] (w/ [[Konnan|Konnan El Barbaro]]), [[AAA/IWC World Tag Team Titles]] (w/ [[Eddy Guerrero]])
}}

== Career ==
Art Barr was the son of Sandy (wrestler, referee and long time promoter in the Oregon area) and the brother of Jesse (who wrestled in the WWF as Jimmy Jack Funk). Art was an accomplished amatuer wrestler, as he became a 4-time district champion and a 2-time Oregon State champion, but he had to drop out when his first wife became pregnant. Art worked in a steel mill during the day, and would train to become a pro-wrestler at night with his father and Roddy Piper, who taught him how to properly use his natural charisma. Art made his professional wrestling debut April 2, 1987 under his real name in Salem, Oregon; weighing only 175 pounds, he was way too small to become a serious threat to the main eventers, so he mainly competed in the opening contests of the shows he worked. On January 21, 1989, while Art was in the ring during a televised show, Piper and other three wrestlers entered the ring, covered Art with a sheet, stripped him naked, threw his clothes to the crowd and gave him a new suit. Piper had also sprayed something in Art's hair, grabbed the mic claimed that he created The Beetlejuice, took off the sheet and revealed Art with his new Bettlejuice gimmick. Ironically, in a a traditionalist promotion, he became the most popular wrestler among the fans. He especially was a hero to children, as he'd usually fight and defeat heels including Al Madril or Abuddah Dean.
Beetlejuice also tasted success in the tag ranks teaming with "Big Juice" as The Juice Patrol. In 1990, they were the top men in the division along with the team of Ricky Santana and Curtis Thompson. On June 30, 1990, Big Juice lost a "loser-leaves-town" match, but it didn't negatively affect Barr as WCW management had began to take notice of him.

=== World Championship Wrestling & EMLL ===
At the time, WCW was very distant to the WWF in terms of popularity among the younger viewers, but they noticed a lot of potential in Barr as a new idol for kids. Art entered WCW as the same character, but changed his name to the Juicer, in order to avoid potential copyright problems. While in WCW, Ole Anderson allegedly told Art that he'd never get over beacuse he was way too small, in which Art remaked that "I'm as tall as you are, you are just fat."

Ten weeks after Barr signed with WCW, he was found guilty of sexual harassment on a 19 year old girl named Angela. The 16th of July of 1989, after a wrestling show in Pendleton, OR, Arthur had a late-night sexual meeting at a deserted armory, underneath a stairwell, with that female fan that later charged him with rape. Art always claimed that he had had that meeting with the fan and that he knew that she didn't want to have sex with him at that place, but that he thought that she would have wanted it somewhere else, and he never accepted that he was guilty. In the end, he was fined with $1,000 and with the payment of the medical and counseling bills of the victim, and he was sentenced to 180 hours of community service work. Barr didn't take the case to court and accepted the plea-bargain, and what was expected to be a chapter of his life that would get quickly forgotten, got worse as local media (TV and newspapers) started putting huge pressure to the commision to revoke his wrestling license. The Oregon boxing & wrestling commission found out that in his license questionary he claimed that he had never been convicted of felony and denied him the right to renew his license anymore. Even though Barr was involved in controversy over sexual harassment ten weeks after signing with WCW, owner Jim Herd didn't fire him, as he felt that Barr had already paid his debt to society. However, news of the incident resulted in condemnation from the audience, as they chanted "rapist" during his matches. As a result, Herd decided to stop using Barr, because he felt that promoting "a nasty rapist" as a hero to the kids would tarnish the company's image.

Barr's charisma and ability was noticed by Konnan in December 1990, as he was invited (along with Rey Misterio Sr.) to compete at WCW Starrcade 90. Konnan would bring Barr and Norman Smiley to Mexico's EMLL promotion in early 1991. Art was given the gimmick of The American Love Machine, a masked American tecnico (babyface) with a sexy playboy gimmick, in March 1991. He soon became a popular performer and was given the chance to have a singles feud with Blue Panther, who was one of the most respected wrestlers from Mexico. His rivalry with Panther further elevated Love Machine as a top draw for the promotion, and following a huge build-up, a máscara contra máscara contest was scheduled for April 3, 1992 at Arena México; 18,000 fans packed in the 17,100 capacity building, while the other 8,000 fans were turned away at the door. EMLL management predicted that the attendance would overflow, so a set of giant TV screens were set up in the parking lot of the building. Panther won that match, after Love Machine was instantly disqualified for using the "martinete" (a tombstone piledriver) on Blue Panther during the third and final fall; Machine apparently didn't know that the martinete was a banned move, as the audience was more concerned about the health of Panther (who was stretchered out of the ring) than Love Machine removing his mask.

=== Asistencia, Asesoría y Administración ===
A month later, booker Antonio Peña left the promotion (along with Konnan, Cien Caras, Perro Aguayo and others) to form the [[AAA|Asistencia, Asesoría y Administración]] promotion. Konnan, who had developed a very solid friendship with Art, managed to recruit Machine for a three-year $3,500 per week contract with the new promotion. Art debuted on November 6, 1992, Rey Misterio Jr. faced Tony Arce (of Los Destructores) in a mask vs. hair match in the main event of a show in Acapulco, Gro; a masked Rey Misterio Sr. was the "second" of his nephew, while Blue Panther was seconding Arce. During the third fall, Panther was getting too involved, which resulted in "Rey Sr." unmasking himself as Love Machine; Panther ran back to the locker room while being chased by Machine, while Rey Jr. cleanly defeated Tony Arce in the middle of the ring. By December of 1992, Machine was finally allowed to wrestle in Oregon again, and on January 9, 1993, Art (wrestling as American Love Machine) and Konnan defeated Polynesian Prince and Tazmanian Devil to win the Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championships at the Sports Arena. Later, the belts were imported to Mexico and renamed the AAA World Tag Team Championships.

The Panther vs. Machine feud reached its highest point on July 18, 1993, when the headlining hair vs. mask match in Tonala, Jal. drew a crowd of 20,000; even though Machine was the tecnico for this match, he was met with chants of "Mexico! Mexico!". In the third fall. Machine already had his opponent beaten when he started fooling around, as he'd cover Panther for the pin and lift him up at the two count while acting cocky and proud. He picked up Panther to execute a tombstone and held the position (while the crowd told him not to do it) until Perro Aguayo pushed them, as Machine was instantly disqualified for outside interference by Aguayo; this enraged Machine, who (along with Panther's second and longtime Aguayo enemy Fishman) started beating up Perro until Panther made the save, which resulted in Machine becoming a rudo and Aguayo becoming a tecnico. During a trios match a month after Machine's rudo turn, Machine ripped off Santo's mask, put it on, and attacked (Santo's team mate) Eddy Guerrero while pointing to himself; Machine returned the mask to Santo, as Eddy Guerrero turn on Santo. A week later, Guerrero formed "La Pareja Del Terror" (The team of terror) with Machine.

On December 4, 1993, Barr showed up unannounced at the Portland Sports Arena to fight John Rambo, even though he didn't have a wrestling license to compete there. The show was held between a commission meeting regarding Sandy Barr's promotional license, and earlier in the night, a drunk former local wrestler showed up saying that Rambo was a stooge for the commissioner. As a result, the Rambo/Barr match turned into a total shoot, as Barr threw a very stiff forearm that destroyed Rambo's nose. Following the match, Barr claimed that it had been an accident, but that Rambo had shoot kicked him in the throat earlier in the match to the point that Barr was coughing up blood. After the match, Rambo and Art got into a backstage fight again, but no criminal charges were pressed as no jury would believe that a real assault incident would happen at a wrestling show.

During an AAA card in Chicago on July 23, 1994, Machine and Guerrero captured the AAA World Tag Team Championships by defeating El Hijo del Santo and Octagon. A few weeks later, Konnan turned on Aguayo and joined the evil Americans team during a Konnan/Cien Caras vs. Satanico/Perro Aguayo "parejas increíbles" (incredible teams) match. The Konnan, Guerrero & Machine alliance, better known as Los Gringos Locos (The Crazy Americans), mixed charisma with wrestling ability in a way that had never been seen before. Seeing as though Guerrero wasn't available full-time time (due to commitments working as Black Tiger II in New Japan), wrestlers including Black Cat, [[Louie Spicolli|Madonna's Boyfriend]], El Misterioso, Chicano Power and King Lion eventually joined group at different times. Barr made his New Japan Pro Wrestling debut as "American Machine" in Summer 1994, wrestling under an old American Love Machine mask. His debut match was a 6-Man Tag involving himself, Black Cat & Black Tiger II against Shinjiro Otani, El Samurai & Jushin Liger, in which Machine's team won. Liger apparently had big plans to feud with Barr (including a match for the IWGP Jr Heavyweight Title), but they never materialized after Liger broke his ankle.

=== When Worlds Collide and Death ===
On November 8, 1994, Barr was featured in one of the main events at the WCW-produced AAA/IWC When Worlds Collide PPV; Barr and Guerrero competed against Octagon and El Hijo del Santo in a Best 2/3 Falls, Double Hair vs. Double Mask match. There were backstage problems prior to the match, as Art and Octagon were removed from the booking sheet and booked as seconds to their partners. In addition, WCW production decided to cut the broadcast down 45 minutes from the original run time, resulting in all of the undercard matches becoming one-fall to a finish, and cutting the tag team semi-main event from 30 minutes to 20 minutes. The match ended up impressing promotors all over America, as ECW booker Paul Heyman immediately contacted Art Barr and Eddy Guerrero about coming in to feud against The Public Enemy (who were the top tag team in ECW at the time); Art confirmed this in a shoot interview following the PPV, and said that he looked forward to competing in ECW. Art additionally was scheduled to compete at New Japan's annual Tokyo Dome show on January 4, 1995. WCW and WWF additionally showed interest in Barr and Guerrero as a tag team

Three weeks after the pay-per-view, Art Barr was found lying in bed without a pulse and bleeding from the nose by his mother. Preliminary reports claimed that Barr died of an aneurysm, but later reports ruled that he died under unknown circumstances. Barr suffered from no heart problems, there was no aneurysm or internal bleeding from ring injuries and a drug overdose was ruled out, even though sleeping pills were found in his system. Prior to his death, he was planning to marry his pregnant fiancé and had finally quit drugs and wild partying.

 

== Luchas de apuestas record ==
{{astart}}
{{aline|92/04/03|mask|[[Blue Panther]]|Love Machine|Arena México - Mexico City}}
{{aline|93/07/18|hair|[[Blue Panther]]|Love Machine|Auditorio Rio Nilo - Tonala, Jalisco}}
{{aline|94/11/06|hairs|[[El Hijo del Santo]] & [[Octagon]]|Love Machine & [[Eddy Guerrero]]|Los Angeles Sports Arena - Los Angeles, CA, USA}}
{{aend|}}

== Gallery ==
{{Gallery|name=LoveMachineMask.jpg|caption=Masked}}
{{Gallery||name=5930.jpg|caption=}}
{{Gallery|name=lovemachine2.jpg|caption= }}
{{Gallery|name=5937.jpg |caption= }}
{{GalleryX|GRINGOS20LOCOS.jpg|With Konnan|250}}
 
{{Gallery|name=5931.jpg |caption= }}
{{Gallery|name=5932.jpg |caption= }}
{{Gallery|name=5929.jpg |caption= }}
{{Gallery||name=Gringos Locos.jpg|caption=With Eddy Guerrero}}
{{Gallery|name=Lovealedes.jpg |caption= }}
{{Gallery|name=Artbarrboxylucha.jpg |caption=On the cover of Box Y Lucha }}

[[Category:Foreign wrestlers]]
[[Category:United States wrestlers]]
[[Category:Deceased wrestlers]]

AAA

2007-08-19T15:56:25Z

Parsonsburg: /* History */

[[Image:Aaa.jpg|left]]'''Asistencia Asesoria y AAdministracion''' (Assistance, Consulting and Administration) is a touring lucha libre promotion founded in 1992 by the late [[Antonio Pena]]. The promotion usually holds cards in suburban areas or places with regular promoters in Mexico, and is known for its outlandish gimmicks and characters. AAA is regularly broadcast on Televisa in Mexico and Galavisión in the United States.
[[Image:Pap.jpg|right]]
AAA is also referred to as PAPSA (Promociones Antonio Pena S.A.). It's been a long held belief that Televisa (AAA's television partner) owns the AAA name and the promotion keeps the PAPSA name visible in case they ever left Televisa and had to change names. The names AAA and PAPSA are interchangeable.

== History ==
AAA was established on 15 May 1992 when EMLL booker Antonio Peña left the company to establish his own. Along with Konnan, much of the young and exciting talent defected to AAA, which left CMLL with a middle-aged roster and a seemingly bleak future. AAA also looked for talent from other markets, as they found and signed Tijuana natives [[Rey Mysterio, Jr.]] and [[Psicosis]]. The promotion flourished with top talent (such as [[El Hijo del Santo]], [[Octagón]], [[Blue Panther]] and the Casas brothers) and top draws ([[Los Gringos Locos]], [[Cien Caras]], [[Konnan]] and [[Perro Aguayo]]). The rising popularity of AAA soon caused rival UWA (Universal Wrestling Association) to fold, and Peña was quick to sign [[El Canek]], [[Dos Caras]] and [[Los Villanos]].

The peak of what is considered AAA's "golden years" (1993-1995) was the [[When Worlds Collide]] Pay-Per-View, which was promoted in conjunction with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and broadcast in the United States on November 8, 1994. Two weeks after the show, [[Art Barr]] (a key member of Los Gringos Locos) died while visiting his family, while resulted in the AAA Tag Team Championships being vacated. In addition, [[Eddie Guerrero]] departed the promotion to compete full-time in Extreme Championship Wrestling (where Art Barr was planning to go as well), and Madonna's Boyfriend also departed the promotion. El Hijo del Santo also departed as a result of creative problems, and would soon be followed by stars such as Fuerza Guerrera and Blue Panther when the Mexican economy began to slow down. Many of the promotion's young stars (such as Rey Misterio, Jr., Psicosis, La Parka, and Juventud Guerrera) signed with WCW in 1996. In early 1997, AAA established a working agreement with WWE, but the only significant outcome was that several luchadores were featured in the 1997 Royal Rumble.

AAA continues to sell out big arenas (like Toreo de Cuatro Caminos) for their big shows (such as Triplemanía and Guerra de Titanes), despite the fact that their talent pool isn't as deep as it once was. On 6 October 2006, founder Antonio Peña died of a massive heart attack.

The promotion is currently performing on the Vans Warped Tour.

===Working Relationship with TNA Wrestling===
AAA developed a working relationship with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in 2004. Through the relationship, AAA sent luchadors Juventud Guerrera, Hector Garza, Abismo Negro, Heavy Metal, and Mr. Aguila to TNA to compete in the America's X-Cup Tournament as a contingent known as Team Mexico. Team Mexico dominated the America's X-Cup Tournament, defeating Team USA in the first round before retaining the Cup against both Team Canada and Team Britain. They eventually lost at the World X-Cup, which saw Team USA defeat Team Canada and Team Mexico in the Ultimate X finals to win the Cup.

Following the World X-Cup, Hector Garza jumped ship to AAA's primary rival, the Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre. It was reported that Garza was upset that he was not compensated by Pena for dates he worked with TNA as per their original agreement. Garza has worked for CMLL since.

Due to multiple reasons, TNA and AAA broke off their working relationship late in 2004. TNA continued utilizing luchadors, but opted to contract them individually as opposed to working through AAA. It is rumored that this break in the relationship was due to problems the company had with AAA owner Antonio Pena, who was said to have been a difficult man to work with at times. In 2006, AAA and TNA worked again for an event in Toreo de Cuatro Caminos, utilizing some of TNA's talent and stage (which includes the tunnel and lasers). After Konnan left TNA in June 2007, it is unknown if TNA and AAA will continue their working relationship.

== Current Champions ==
{{AAATitleBox}}

== Gallery ==
{{Gallery|name=Portadaplayboy.jpg|caption=AAA valets in Playboy Mexico}}
{{Gallery||name=Gringos Locos.jpg|caption=Art Barr & Eddy Guerrero in 1994}}
{{Gallery|name=ReyJrvsPsic 006 0001.jpg|caption=September 22, 1995, prior to a 2/3 Falls Contest between Rey Mysterio Jr. & Psicosis}}
 

== Links ==
* [[:Category:Current AAA/PAP wrestlers]]
* [http://www.triplea.com.mx/ Triple A/AAA/PAPSA's website]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asistencia_Asesoría_y_Administración wikipedia]

[[Category:Promotions]]

AAA

2007-08-19T15:53:11Z

Parsonsburg: /* Gallery */

[[Image:Aaa.jpg|left]]'''Asistencia Asesoria y AAdministracion''' (Assistance, Consulting and Administration) is a touring lucha libre promotion founded in 1992 by the late [[Antonio Pena]]. The promotion usually holds cards in suburban areas or places with regular promoters in Mexico, and is known for its outlandish gimmicks and characters. AAA is regularly broadcast on Televisa in Mexico and Galavisión in the United States.
[[Image:Pap.jpg|right]]
AAA is also referred to as PAPSA (Promociones Antonio Pena S.A.). It's been a long held belief that Televisa (AAA's television partner) owns the AAA name and the promotion keeps the PAPSA name visible in case they ever left Televisa and had to change names. The names AAA and PAPSA are interchangeable.

== History ==
AAA was established on 15 May 1992 when EMLL booker Antonio Peña left the company to establish his own. Along with Konnan, much of the young and exciting talent defected to AAA, which left CMLL with a middle-aged roster and a seemingly bleak future. AAA also looked for talent from other markets, as they found and signed Tijuana natives [[Rey Mysterio, Jr.]] and [[Psicosis]]. The promotion flourished with top talent (such as [[El Hijo del Santo]], [[Octagón]], [[Blue Panther]] and the Casas brothers) and top draws ([[Los Gringos Locos]], [[Cien Caras]], [[Konnan]] and [[Perro Aguayo]]). The rising popularity of AAA soon caused rival UWA (Universal Wrestling Association) to fold, and Peña was quick to sign [[El Canek]], [[Dos Caras]] and [[Los Villanos]].

The peak of what is considered AAA's "golden years" (1993-1995) was the [[When Worlds Collide]] Pay-Per-View, which was promoted in conjunction with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and broadcast in the United States in November 1994. Two weeks after the show, [[Art Barr]] (a key member of Los Gringos Locos) died while visiting his family, while resulted in the AAA Tag Team Championships being vacated. In addition, [[Eddie Guerrero]] departed the promotion to compete full-time in Extreme Championship Wrestling (where Art Barr was planning to go as well), and Madonna's Boyfriend also departed the promotion. El Hijo del Santo also departed as a result of creative problems, and would soon be followed by stars such as Fuerza Guerrera and Blue Panther when the Mexican economy began to slow down. Many of the promotion's young stars (such as Rey Misterio, Jr., Psicosis, La Parka, and Juventud Guerrera) signed with WCW in 1996. In early 1997, AAA established a working agreement with WWE, but the only significant outcome was that several luchadores were featured in the 1997 Royal Rumble.

AAA continues to sell out big arenas (like Toreo de Cuatro Caminos) for their big shows (such as Triplemanía and Guerra de Titanes), despite the fact that their talent pool isn't as deep as it once was. On 6 October 2006, founder Antonio Peña died of a massive heart attack.

The promotion is currently performing on the Vans Warped Tour.

===Working Relationship with TNA Wrestling===
AAA developed a working relationship with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in 2004. Through the relationship, AAA sent luchadors Juventud Guerrera, Hector Garza, Abismo Negro, Heavy Metal, and Mr. Aguila to TNA to compete in the America's X-Cup Tournament as a contingent known as Team Mexico. Team Mexico dominated the America's X-Cup Tournament, defeating Team USA in the first round before retaining the Cup against both Team Canada and Team Britain. They eventually lost at the World X-Cup, which saw Team USA defeat Team Canada and Team Mexico in the Ultimate X finals to win the Cup.

Following the World X-Cup, Hector Garza jumped ship to AAA's primary rival, the Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre. It was reported that Garza was upset that he was not compensated by Pena for dates he worked with TNA as per their original agreement. Garza has worked for CMLL since.

Due to multiple reasons, TNA and AAA broke off their working relationship late in 2004. TNA continued utilizing luchadors, but opted to contract them individually as opposed to working through AAA. It is rumored that this break in the relationship was due to problems the company had with AAA owner Antonio Pena, who was said to have been a difficult man to work with at times. In 2006, AAA and TNA worked again for an event in Toreo de Cuatro Caminos, utilizing some of TNA's talent and stage (which includes the tunnel and lasers). After Konnan left TNA in June 2007, it is unknown if TNA and AAA will continue their working relationship.

== Current Champions ==
{{AAATitleBox}}

== Gallery ==
{{Gallery|name=Portadaplayboy.jpg|caption=AAA valets in Playboy Mexico}}
{{Gallery||name=Gringos Locos.jpg|caption=Art Barr & Eddy Guerrero in 1994}}
{{Gallery|name=ReyJrvsPsic 006 0001.jpg|caption=September 22, 1995, prior to a 2/3 Falls Contest between Rey Mysterio Jr. & Psicosis}}
 

== Links ==
* [[:Category:Current AAA/PAP wrestlers]]
* [http://www.triplea.com.mx/ Triple A/AAA/PAPSA's website]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asistencia_Asesoría_y_Administración wikipedia]

[[Category:Promotions]]

AAA

2007-08-19T15:51:03Z

Parsonsburg:

[[Image:Aaa.jpg|left]]'''Asistencia Asesoria y AAdministracion''' (Assistance, Consulting and Administration) is a touring lucha libre promotion founded in 1992 by the late [[Antonio Pena]]. The promotion usually holds cards in suburban areas or places with regular promoters in Mexico, and is known for its outlandish gimmicks and characters. AAA is regularly broadcast on Televisa in Mexico and Galavisión in the United States.
[[Image:Pap.jpg|right]]
AAA is also referred to as PAPSA (Promociones Antonio Pena S.A.). It's been a long held belief that Televisa (AAA's television partner) owns the AAA name and the promotion keeps the PAPSA name visible in case they ever left Televisa and had to change names. The names AAA and PAPSA are interchangeable.

== History ==
AAA was established on 15 May 1992 when EMLL booker Antonio Peña left the company to establish his own. Along with Konnan, much of the young and exciting talent defected to AAA, which left CMLL with a middle-aged roster and a seemingly bleak future. AAA also looked for talent from other markets, as they found and signed Tijuana natives [[Rey Mysterio, Jr.]] and [[Psicosis]]. The promotion flourished with top talent (such as [[El Hijo del Santo]], [[Octagón]], [[Blue Panther]] and the Casas brothers) and top draws ([[Los Gringos Locos]], [[Cien Caras]], [[Konnan]] and [[Perro Aguayo]]). The rising popularity of AAA soon caused rival UWA (Universal Wrestling Association) to fold, and Peña was quick to sign [[El Canek]], [[Dos Caras]] and [[Los Villanos]].

The peak of what is considered AAA's "golden years" (1993-1995) was the [[When Worlds Collide]] Pay-Per-View, which was promoted in conjunction with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and broadcast in the United States in November 1994. Two weeks after the show, [[Art Barr]] (a key member of Los Gringos Locos) died while visiting his family, while resulted in the AAA Tag Team Championships being vacated. In addition, [[Eddie Guerrero]] departed the promotion to compete full-time in Extreme Championship Wrestling (where Art Barr was planning to go as well), and Madonna's Boyfriend also departed the promotion. El Hijo del Santo also departed as a result of creative problems, and would soon be followed by stars such as Fuerza Guerrera and Blue Panther when the Mexican economy began to slow down. Many of the promotion's young stars (such as Rey Misterio, Jr., Psicosis, La Parka, and Juventud Guerrera) signed with WCW in 1996. In early 1997, AAA established a working agreement with WWE, but the only significant outcome was that several luchadores were featured in the 1997 Royal Rumble.

AAA continues to sell out big arenas (like Toreo de Cuatro Caminos) for their big shows (such as Triplemanía and Guerra de Titanes), despite the fact that their talent pool isn't as deep as it once was. On 6 October 2006, founder Antonio Peña died of a massive heart attack.

The promotion is currently performing on the Vans Warped Tour.

===Working Relationship with TNA Wrestling===
AAA developed a working relationship with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in 2004. Through the relationship, AAA sent luchadors Juventud Guerrera, Hector Garza, Abismo Negro, Heavy Metal, and Mr. Aguila to TNA to compete in the America's X-Cup Tournament as a contingent known as Team Mexico. Team Mexico dominated the America's X-Cup Tournament, defeating Team USA in the first round before retaining the Cup against both Team Canada and Team Britain. They eventually lost at the World X-Cup, which saw Team USA defeat Team Canada and Team Mexico in the Ultimate X finals to win the Cup.

Following the World X-Cup, Hector Garza jumped ship to AAA's primary rival, the Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre. It was reported that Garza was upset that he was not compensated by Pena for dates he worked with TNA as per their original agreement. Garza has worked for CMLL since.

Due to multiple reasons, TNA and AAA broke off their working relationship late in 2004. TNA continued utilizing luchadors, but opted to contract them individually as opposed to working through AAA. It is rumored that this break in the relationship was due to problems the company had with AAA owner Antonio Pena, who was said to have been a difficult man to work with at times. In 2006, AAA and TNA worked again for an event in Toreo de Cuatro Caminos, utilizing some of TNA's talent and stage (which includes the tunnel and lasers). After Konnan left TNA in June 2007, it is unknown if TNA and AAA will continue their working relationship.

== Current Champions ==
{{AAATitleBox}}

== Gallery ==
{{Gallery|name=Portadaplayboy.jpg|caption=AAA valets in Playboy Mexico}}
 
== Links ==
* [[:Category:Current AAA/PAP wrestlers]]
* [http://www.triplea.com.mx/ Triple A/AAA/PAPSA's website]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asistencia_Asesoría_y_Administración wikipedia]

[[Category:Promotions]]

AAA

2007-08-19T15:50:01Z

Parsonsburg:

[[Image:Aaa.jpg|left]]'''Asistencia Asesoria y AAdministracion''' (Assistance, Consulting and Administration) is a touring lucha libre promotion founded in 1992 by the late [[Antonio Pena]]. The promotion usually holds cards in suburban areas or places with regular promoters in Mexico, and is known for its outlandish gimmicks and characters. AAA is regularly broadcast on Televisa in Mexico and Galavisión in the United States.
[[Image:Pap.jpg|right]]
AAA is also referred to as PAPSA (Promociones Antonio Pena S.A.). It's been a long held belief that Televisa (AAA's television partner) owns the AAA name and the promotion keeps the PAPSA name visible in case they ever left Televisa and had to change names. The names AAA and PAPSA are interchangeable.

== History ==
AAA was established on 15 May 1992 when EMLL booker Antonio Peña left the company to establish his own. Along with Konnan, much of the young and exciting talent defected to AAA, which left CMLL with a middle-aged roster and a seemingly bleak future. AAA also looked for talent from other markets, as they found and signed Tijuana natives [[Rey Mysterio, Jr.]] and [[Psicosis]]. The promotion flourished with top talent (such as [[El Hijo del Santo]], [[Octagón]], [[Blue Panther]] and the Casas brothers) and top draws ([[Los Gringos Locos]], [[Cien Caras]], [[Konnan]] and [[Perro Aguayo]]). The rising popularity of AAA soon caused rival UWA (Universal Wrestling Association) to fold, and Peña was quick to sign [[El Canek]], [[Dos Caras]] and [[Los Villanos]].

The peak of what is considered AAA's "golden years" (1993-1995) was the [[When Worlds Collide]] Pay-Per-View, which was promoted in conjunction with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and broadcast in the United States in November 1994. Two weeks after the show, [[Art Barr]] (a key member of Los Gringos Locos) died while visiting his family, while resulted in the AAA Tag Team Championships being vacated. In addition, [[Eddie Guerrero]] departed the promotion to compete full-time in Extreme Championship Wrestling (where Art Barr was planning to go as well), and Madonna's Boyfriend also departed the promotion. El Hijo del Santo also departed as a result of creative problems, and would soon be followed by stars such as Fuerza Guerrera and Blue Panther when the Mexican economy began to slow down. Many of the promotion's young stars (such as Rey Misterio, Jr., Psicosis, La Parka, and Juventud Guerrera) signed with WCW in 1996. In early 1997, AAA established a working agreement with WWE, but the only significant outcome was that several luchadores were featured in the 1997 Royal Rumble.

AAA continues to sell out big arenas (like Toreo de Cuatro Caminos) for their big shows (such as Triplemanía and Guerra de Titanes), despite the fact that their talent pool isn't as deep as it once was. On 6 October 2006, founder Antonio Peña died of a massive heart attack.

The promotion is currently performing on the Vans Warped Tour.

===Working Relationship with TNA Wrestling===
AAA developed a working relationship with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in 2004. Through the relationship, AAA sent luchadors Juventud Guerrera, Hector Garza, Abismo Negro, Heavy Metal, and Mr. Aguila to TNA to compete in the America's X-Cup Tournament as a contingent known as Team Mexico. Team Mexico dominated the America's X-Cup Tournament, defeating Team USA in the first round before retaining the Cup against both Team Canada and Team Britain. They eventually lost at the World X-Cup, which saw Team USA defeat Team Canada and Team Mexico in the Ultimate X finals to win the Cup.

Following the World X-Cup, Hector Garza jumped ship to AAA's primary rival, the Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre. It was reported that Garza was upset that he was not compensated by Pena for dates he worked with TNA as per their original agreement. Garza has worked for CMLL since.

Due to multiple reasons, TNA and AAA broke off their working relationship late in 2004. TNA continued utilizing luchadors, but opted to contract them individually as opposed to working through AAA. It is rumored that this break in the relationship was due to problems the company had with AAA owner Antonio Pena, who was said to have been a difficult man to work with at times. In 2006, AAA and TNA worked again for an event in Toreo de Cuatro Caminos, utilizing some of TNA's talent and stage (which includes the tunnel and lasers). After Konnan left TNA in June 2007, it is unknown if TNA and AAA will continue their working relationship.

== Current Champions ==
{{AAATitleBox}}

== Gallery ==
{{Gallery|name=Portadaplayboy.jpg|caption=AAA valets in Playboy Mexico}}

== Links ==
* [[:Category:Current AAA/PAP wrestlers]]
* [http://www.triplea.com.mx/ Triple A/AAA/PAPSA's website]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asistencia_Asesoría_y_Administración wikipedia]

[[Category:Promotions]]

AAA

2007-08-19T15:49:06Z

Parsonsburg:

[[Image:Aaa.jpg|left]]'''Asistencia Asesoria y AAdministracion''' (Assistance, Consulting and Administration) is a touring lucha libre promotion founded in 1992 by the late [[Antonio Pena]]. The promotion usually holds cards in suburban areas or places with regular promoters in Mexico, and is known for its outlandish gimmicks and characters. AAA is regularly broadcast on Televisa in Mexico and Galavisión in the United States.
[[Image:Pap.jpg|right]]
AAA is also referred to as PAPSA (Promociones Antonio Pena S.A.). It's been a long held belief that AAA's television partner, Televisa owns the AAA name and the promotion keeps the PAPSA name visible in case they ever left Televisa and had to change names. The names AAA and PAPSA are interchangeable.

== History ==
AAA was established on 15 May 1992 when EMLL booker Antonio Peña left the company to establish his own. Along with Konnan, much of the young and exciting talent defected to AAA, which left CMLL with a middle-aged roster and a seemingly bleak future. AAA also looked for talent from other markets, as they found and signed Tijuana natives [[Rey Mysterio, Jr.]] and [[Psicosis]]. The promotion flourished with top talent (such as [[El Hijo del Santo]], [[Octagón]], [[Blue Panther]] and the Casas brothers) and top draws ([[Los Gringos Locos]], [[Cien Caras]], [[Konnan]] and [[Perro Aguayo]]). The rising popularity of AAA soon caused rival UWA (Universal Wrestling Association) to fold, and Peña was quick to sign [[El Canek]], [[Dos Caras]] and [[Los Villanos]].

The peak of what is considered AAA's "golden years" (1993-1995) was the [[When Worlds Collide]] Pay-Per-View, which was promoted in conjunction with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and broadcast in the United States in November 1994. Two weeks after the show, [[Art Barr]] (a key member of Los Gringos Locos) died while visiting his family, while resulted in the AAA Tag Team Championships being vacated. In addition, [[Eddie Guerrero]] departed the promotion to compete full-time in Extreme Championship Wrestling (where Art Barr was planning to go as well), and Madonna's Boyfriend also departed the promotion. El Hijo del Santo also departed as a result of creative problems, and would soon be followed by stars such as Fuerza Guerrera and Blue Panther when the Mexican economy began to slow down. Many of the promotion's young stars (such as Rey Misterio, Jr., Psicosis, La Parka, and Juventud Guerrera) signed with WCW in 1996. In early 1997, AAA established a working agreement with WWE, but the only significant outcome was that several luchadores were featured in the 1997 Royal Rumble.

AAA continues to sell out big arenas (like Toreo de Cuatro Caminos) for their big shows (such as Triplemanía and Guerra de Titanes), despite the fact that their talent pool isn't as deep as it once was. On 6 October 2006, founder Antonio Peña died of a massive heart attack.

The promotion is currently performing on the Vans Warped Tour.

===Working Relationship with TNA Wrestling===
AAA developed a working relationship with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in 2004. Through the relationship, AAA sent luchadors Juventud Guerrera, Hector Garza, Abismo Negro, Heavy Metal, and Mr. Aguila to TNA to compete in the America's X-Cup Tournament as a contingent known as Team Mexico. Team Mexico dominated the America's X-Cup Tournament, defeating Team USA in the first round before retaining the Cup against both Team Canada and Team Britain. They eventually lost at the World X-Cup, which saw Team USA defeat Team Canada and Team Mexico in the Ultimate X finals to win the Cup.

Following the World X-Cup, Hector Garza jumped ship to AAA's primary rival, the Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre. It was reported that Garza was upset that he was not compensated by Pena for dates he worked with TNA as per their original agreement. Garza has worked for CMLL since.

Due to multiple reasons, TNA and AAA broke off their working relationship late in 2004. TNA continued utilizing luchadors, but opted to contract them individually as opposed to working through AAA. It is rumored that this break in the relationship was due to problems the company had with AAA owner Antonio Pena, who was said to have been a difficult man to work with at times. In 2006, AAA and TNA worked again for an event in Toreo de Cuatro Caminos, utilizing some of TNA's talent and stage (which includes the tunnel and lasers). After Konnan left TNA in June 2007, it is unknown if TNA and AAA will continue their working relationship.

== Current Champions ==
{{AAATitleBox}}

== Gallery ==
{{Gallery|name=Portadaplayboy.jpg|caption=AAA valets in Playboy Mexico}}

== Links ==
* [[:Category:Current AAA/PAP wrestlers]]
* [http://www.triplea.com.mx/ Triple A/AAA/PAPSA's website]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asistencia_Asesoría_y_Administración wikipedia]

[[Category:Promotions]]

AAA

2007-08-19T15:38:38Z

Parsonsburg:

[[Image:Aaa.jpg|left]]'''Asistencia Asesoria y AAdministracion''' (Assistance, Consulting and Administration) is a touring lucha libre promotion founded in 1992 by the late [[Antonio Pena]]. The promotion usually holds cards in suburban areas or places with regular promoters in Mexico, and is known for its outlandish gimmicks and characters. AAA is regularly broadcast on Televisa in Mexico and Galavisión in the United States.
[[Image:Pap.jpg|left]]
AAA is also referred to as PAPSA (Promociones Antonio Pena S.A.). It's been a long held belief that AAA's television partner, Televisa owns the AAA name and the promotion keeps the PAPSA name visible in case they ever left Televisa and had to change names. The names AAA and PAPSA are interchangeable.

== History ==
AAA was established on 15 May 1992 when EMLL booker Antonio Peña left the company to establish his own. Along with Konnan, much of the young and exciting talent defected to AAA, which left CMLL with a middle-aged roster and a seemingly bleak future. AAA also looked for talent from other markets, as they found and signed Tijuana natives [[Rey Mysterio, Jr.]] and [[Psicosis]]. The promotion flourished with top talent (such as [[El Hijo del Santo]], [[Octagón]], [[Blue Panther]] and the Casas brothers) and top draws ([[Los Gringos Locos]], [[Cien Caras]], [[Konnan]] and [[Perro Aguayo]]). The rising popularity of AAA soon caused rival UWA (Universal Wrestling Association) to fold, and Peña was quick to sign [[El Canek]], [[Dos Caras]] and [[Los Villanos]].

The peak of what is considered AAA's "golden years" (1993-1995) was the [[When Worlds Collide]] Pay-Per-View, which was promoted in conjunction with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and broadcast in the United States in November 1994. Two weeks after the show, [[Art Barr]] (a key member of Los Gringos Locos) died while visiting his family, while resulted in the AAA Tag Team Championships being vacated. In addition, [[Eddie Guerrero]] departed the promotion to compete full-time in Extreme Championship Wrestling (where Art Barr was planning to go as well), and Madonna's Boyfriend also departed the promotion. El Hijo del Santo also departed as a result of creative problems, and would soon be followed by stars such as Fuerza Guerrera and Blue Panther when the Mexican economy began to slow down. Many of the promotion's young stars (such as Rey Misterio, Jr., Psicosis, La Parka, and Juventud Guerrera) signed with WCW in 1996. In early 1997, AAA established a working agreement with WWE, but the only significant outcome was that several luchadores were featured in the 1997 Royal Rumble.

AAA continues to sell out big arenas (like Toreo de Cuatro Caminos) for their big shows (such as Triplemanía and Guerra de Titanes), despite the fact that their talent pool isn't as deep as it once was. On 6 October 2006, founder Antonio Peña died of a massive heart attack.

The promotion is currently performing on the Vans Warped Tour.

===Working Relationship with TNA Wrestling===
AAA developed a working relationship with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in 2004. Through the relationship, AAA sent luchadors Juventud Guerrera, Hector Garza, Abismo Negro, Heavy Metal, and Mr. Aguila to TNA to compete in the America's X-Cup Tournament as a contingent known as Team Mexico. Team Mexico dominated the America's X-Cup Tournament, defeating Team USA in the first round before retaining the Cup against both Team Canada and Team Britain. They eventually lost at the World X-Cup, which saw Team USA defeat Team Canada and Team Mexico in the Ultimate X finals to win the Cup.

Following the World X-Cup, Hector Garza jumped ship to AAA's primary rival, the Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre. It was reported that Garza was upset that he was not compensated by Pena for dates he worked with TNA as per their original agreement. Garza has worked for CMLL since.

Due to multiple reasons, TNA and AAA broke off their working relationship late in 2004. TNA continued utilizing luchadors, but opted to contract them individually as opposed to working through AAA. It is rumored that this break in the relationship was due to problems the company had with AAA owner Antonio Pena, who was said to have been a difficult man to work with at times. In 2006, AAA and TNA worked again for an event in Toreo de Cuatro Caminos, utilizing some of TNA's talent and stage (which includes the tunnel and lasers). After Konnan left TNA in June 2007, it is unknown if TNA and AAA will continue their working relationship.

== Current Champions ==
{{AAATitleBox}}

== Gallery ==
{{Gallery|name=Portadaplayboy.jpg|caption=AAA valets in Playboy Mexico}}

== Links ==
* [[:Category:Current AAA/PAP wrestlers]]
* [http://www.triplea.com.mx/ Triple A/AAA/PAPSA's website]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asistencia_Asesoría_y_Administración wikipedia]

[[Category:Promotions]]

Eddy Guerrero

2007-08-17T22:19:33Z

Parsonsburg: /* Gallery */

== Profile ==



{{bioFields|
|image=eddyguerrero.jpg
|name=Eddy Guerrero
|realName=Eduardo Gori Guerrero Llanes
|nicknames=El Gringo Loco, Latino Heat
|nameHistory=Eddy/Eddie Guerrero (debut - ), Máscara Mágica (EMLL/AAA, 06/92 - 11/92), Black Tiger (second version, NJPW, 09/93 - 10/98), El Caliente (WCW, 08/29/97)
|family=[[Gori Guerrero]] (father), [[Mando Guerrero]], [[Chavo Guerrero]] and [[Héctor Guerrero]] (brothers), [[Enrique Llanes]] (uncle), [[Javier Llanes]] (cousin), [[Chavo Guerrero Jr.]] (nephew), "Vengador" [[Héctor Mejía]] (nephew)
|maestro=[[Gori Guerrero]]
|birthdate=[[October 9]], [[1967]] - [[Ciudad Juárez]], [[Chihuahua]]
|obituarydate=[[November 13]], [[2005]] - Minneapolis, Minnesota
|debut=[[1987]] - [[Auditorio Municipal]] - Cd. Juárez, Chihuahua
|lostmaskto=(as Mascara Magica) voluntarily unmasked
|height=5'9"/174 cms
|weight=205 lbs/93 kg
|signatureMoves=[[Frog Splash]], [[Gori Special]], [[Tope Atómico]], [[Brainbuster]], [[Swinging DDT]]
|titles=Cd. Juárez: [[LAWA Heavyweight Title]], [[WWA World Trios Titles]] (w/ [[Chavo Guerrero]] & [[Mando Guerrero]]), [[WWA World Welterweight Title]], [[AAA/IWC World Tag Team Titles]] (w/ [[Love Machine]]), ECW TV Title (2), WCW United States Title, WCW World Cruiserweight Title (2), North Carolina: PWF World Tag Team Titles (w/ Hector Guerrero), WWF European Title (2), WWF Intercontinental Title (2), WWA World Cruiserweight Title, IWA-Mid South Heavyweight Title, WWE SD! Tag Team Titles (4, w/ [[Chavo Guerrero Jr (2 times with him).]], w/ [[Tajiri]], w/ [[Rey Mysterio]]), WWE United States Title, WWE Title
}}{{WONHOF}}

== Biography ==


Eddie Guerrero, born Eduardo Gory Guerrero Llanes ([[October 9]], [[1967]] ? [[November 13]], [[2005]]) was an Mexican professional wrestler. Born into a legendary wrestling family, Guerrero managed to maintain the storied Guerrero family legacy. Through the 1990s, he had a distinguished career, working for every major professional wrestling promotion in Mexico and the United States during that period: [[Extreme Championship Wrestling]], [[World Championship Wrestling]] and [[World Wrestling Entertainment]].

Guerrero's in-ring character was that of a crafty, resourceful wrestler who would do anything to win a match. His famous mantra became "Cheat to Win." Despite being a heel for much of his career, he became extremely popular because of his charisma and the fact that his character seemed to largely be a reflection of himself.

Throughout his career, Guerrero encountered various substance abuse problems outside of wrestling, including alcoholism and an addiction to pain killers. His problems outside of the ring were sometimes integrated into his professional wrestling storylines. Despite all these issues, Guerrero managed to be extremely popular, winning numerous titles during his career, including the [[WWE Championship]]. Guerrero became a born again Christian in [[2002]].

'''Early career'''

Guerrero came from a legendary wrestling family. His late father, [[Gory Guerrero]], is considered one of the greatest wrestlers in Mexican history. His three brothers [[Chavo Guerrero]], [[Hector Guerrero]] and [[Mando Guerrero]] all followed in their father's footsteps and became professional wrestlers. Guerrero's nephew, [[Chavo Guerrero, Jr.]] also became a wrestler. Guerrero's uncle [[Enrique Llanes]] and cousin [[Javier Llanes]] are popular wrestlers in Mexico.

Guerrero was raised in [[El Paso]], [[Texas]] and attended the University of New Mexico as well as New Mexico Highlands University on an athletic scholarship, where he wrestled collegiately, before returning to El Paso to train as a professional wrestler. He debuted in [[1987]] in Cd Juarez Mexico and the Mexican [[Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre]] promotion. He became a star in Mexico long before he main evented in the United States.

In [[1993]], Guerrero began wrestling in Japan for [[New Japan Pro Wrestling]], where he was known as Black Tiger II. In Mexico, he wrestled mainly for [[Asistencia Asesoria y Administracion]], teaming with [[El Hijo del Santo]] as the new version of La Pareja Atómica (The Atomic Pair), the legendary tag team of Gory Guerrero and [[El Santo]]. After Guerrero turned on Santo and allied with [[Art Barr]] as La Pareja del Terror o los gringos locos (The Pair of Terror), the duo became arguably the most hated tag team in lucha libre history. Along with Barr, [[Konnan]] and [[Madonna's Boyfriend]], Guerrero formed Los Gringos Locos (The Crazy Americans), a heel stable.

Guerrero and Barr's first break would come when they were noticed in late [[1994]] by the owner of Extreme Championship Wrestling, [[Paul Heyman]], and were approached about wrestling for him in [[1995]]. However, Barr died before he could join ECW with Guerrero. As an homage to his fallen friend, Guerrero adopted his friend's finishing move, the [[Frog Splash]].

Guerrero won the [[ECW World Television Championship]] on his debut and went on to have a series of acclaimed matches with [[Dean Malenko]] before they both signed with World Championship Wrestling later that year. After their last match at the ECW arena, the locker room emptied and the two were carried around the ring by their fellow wrestlers while the crowd chanted "Please don't go."

'''World Championship Wrestling'''

In WCW, Guerrero found considerable singles success, winning the [[WCW United States Heavyweight Championship]] in late [[1996]] and the [[WCW World Cruiserweight Championship]] twice in [[1997]].

Guerrero was a member of the [[Latino World Order]]. Despite Guerrero's success and popularity, he was one of many wrestlers who were frustrated at never being given a chance to be main event stars in WCW. These frustrations came to a head when Guerrero got coffee thrown at him when he requested that WCW President [[Eric Bischoff]] push his character or he asked for a raise in his pay for family reasons. Guerrerro responded by asking for a release from his WCW contract on a live episode of WCW Monday Nitro. Guerrero then left the company for a period of months, angry at Bischoff for what he had done. However, Guerrero later returned to WCW, leading to the belief that maybe Guerrero's angry speeches against Bischoff were actually worked. Guerrero would later rebut this on WWE's DVD Monday Night War claiming that he tried to put personal differences aside for the good of the company, yet found himself angry and outraged once more because of Bischoff's continued refusal to elevate Guerrero and other similar wrestlers.

Guerrero responded to Bischoff's actions by forming the Latino World Order (or lWo), which was understood by the fans to be a mockery of Bischoff's New World Order. The group was an answer to Bischoff's refusal to push Latino wrestlers in ways they deserved. The group eventually grew to encompass almost all the Mexican wrestlers working for WCW at the time. However, Guerrero was involved in a serious car accident in [[1999]] that cut short the lWo storyline. Guerrero managed to survive the accident and in a matter of months he returned to wrestling.

After his return, he continued to be displeased with WCW management and signed with the WWF in [[2000]] along with top WCW stars [[Chris Benoit]], Dean Malenko, and [[Perry Saturn]].

'''World Wrestling Federation'''

Guerrero and the other WCW wrestlers debuted in the WWF on [[January 31]], [[2000]] as The Radicalz. In March 2000, Guerrero began pursuing the affections of [[Chyna]], who he referred to as his "Mamacita." Chyna initially rejected his advances, but allied with him following WrestleMania 2000, declaring that she "couldn't resist his "Latino Heat."

Guerrero won his first WWF title by defeating another former WCW wrestler, [[Chris Jericho]] for the [[WWF European Championship]]. He and Chyna began a feud with [[Essa Rios]] and [[Lita]], which culminated in a European title defence at the 2000 Backlash, which was also billed as the night of Guerrero's prom (he was said to have just earned a GED). Guerrero defeated Rios after arriving at ringside in a [[1957]] Chevrolet. Guerrero successfully retained the title in matches against Saturn and Malenko before finally losing the title to Saturn on [[July 23]].

Over the next few months, friction began to build between Guerrero and Chyna. Chyna was upset when Guerrero pinned her to advance in the King of the Ring tournament. On [[August 27]], Chyna won the [[WWF Intercontinental Championship]]. Guerrero claimed to not mind and then begged Commissioner [[Mick Foley]] to let him take part in a title defense between Chyna and [[Kurt Angle]], claiming he was afraid that Angle would injure Chyna. After Angle knocked Chyna down with the title belt, Guerrero "accidentally" pinned her while trying to revive her.

Chyna became visibly uncomfortable as Guerrero began to cheat in order to retain his title, while Guerrero was upset that Chyna was posing for Playboy magazine, even trying to invade the Playboy Mansion to stop the photoshoot. Just when it appeared that Chyna would leave Guerrero, he proposed to her and she accepted. The engagement was called off when Guerrero was caught showering with two of [[The Godfather]]'s hos claiming that "Two Mamacitas are better than one!" Guerrero turned heel once again as a result of the incident and was later defeated for the Intercontinental Championship by Chyna's friend [[Billy Gunn]].

The Radicalz reunited in late 2000, assisting [[Triple H]] in his match with [[Stone Cold Steve Austin]] at Survivor Series. In early [[2001]], Guerrero feuded with [[Andrew Martin|Test]], winning the European Championship for a second time at WrestleMania X-Seven with help from Saturn and Malenko. Guerrero eventually left the Radicalz, siding with [[The Hardy Boyz]] and Lita. At this point, Guerrero developed an addiction to pain medication stemming from his 1999 car accident and in May 2001 was sent to rehabilitation. On [[November 9]], [[2001]] he was arrested for drunk driving and was subsequently released by the WWF three days later.

Guerrero then appeared with numerous independent promotions, including [[World Wrestling All-Stars]] and [[IWA Mid-South]]. He was also one of the original wrestlers in the [[Ring of Honor]] promotion. Following a number of highly acclaimed matches, such as his bout with [[Doug Williams]] at [[FWA]] British Uprising, as well as his series of matches with [[CM Punk]], he was rehired by the renamed WWE in March [[2002]]. When he signed, he was committed to one more ROH and IWA Mid-South show. WWE permitted him to fulfill the obligations, and on [[April 19]], he wrestled CM Punk and [[Colt Cabana]] in Dayton, Ohio. A little over a week later on [[April 27]], he teamed with [[The Amazing Red]] to defeat [[The S.A.T.]] at A Night of Appreciation, an ROH show dedicated to him.

'''World Wrestling Entertainment'''

Guerrero returned to RAW on [[April 1]], [[2002]], attacking [[Rob Van Dam]] and reuniting with Chris Benoit. On [[April 21]] at Backlash 2002 he defeated Van Dam for the Intercontinental Championship. He lost the belt to RVD a month later in a ladder match. Guerrero then started a feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin, but Austin left WWE before a match could take place. Guerrero then went on to feud briefly with [[The Rock]].

'''Los Guerreros'''

On August 1, Guerrero and Benoit began to wrestle exclusively for WWE's SmackDown! brand. With Benoit starting to focus on Kurt Angle, Guerrero aligned himself with his nephew Chavo, forming the tag team Los Guerreros. In contrast to a previous WCW storyline with his nephew, Chavo fully adopted his uncle's policy of "Lie, Cheat and Steal" to win matches. The duo entered the eight-team tournament for the new [[WWE Tag Team Championship]] and began a feud with the newly formed tag team of Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit. In one of the team's definitive moments, Chavo told Benoit that his former friend Guerrero was assaulted by his tag team partner Kurt Angle. Benoit ran to make the save, only to have himself locked inside a room. Guerrero then materialised in the room and assaulted Benoit with a steel chair.

Benoit and Angle managed to overcome their differences and eventually defeated Los Guerreros in the tournament semi-finals. Later on, Benoit and Angle won the WWE Tag Team Championships. Benoit and Angle then fought for a trophy for being the first WWE Tag Team Champion. Much to Benoit's surprise, Los Guerreros helped him win the match.

Los Guerreros would then be given another shot at the WWE Tag Team titles and the new champions, [[Edge]] and [[Rey Mysterio Jr]]. At Survivor Series 2002, Guerrero made Mysterio submit to The Lasso From El Paso. With this victory, Los Guerreros began their reign as the WWE Tag Team Champions, a reign that lasted until they were defeated by Team Angle. Los Guerreros participated at WrestleMania XIX as contenders for the Tag Titles, along with the team of Chris Benoit and [[Rhyno]]. Prior to Judgment Day, Chavo tore his bicep. This forced Guerrero to look for another partner. He chose [[Tajiri]]. They won the Tag Titles at Judgment Day in a ladder match. The following week, Guerrero and Tajiri managed to retain their titles by cheating. In addition, they also defeated the legendary [[Roddy Piper]] and his protegè [[Sean O'Haire]]. After Guerrero and Tajiri lost the titles to Team Angle on July 1, Guerrero turned on Tajiri, slamming his partner through the windshield of his low-rider truck.

In mid-2003, Guerrero competed in a tournament for the [[WWE United States Championship]]. He managed to advance to the final round, defeating [[Ultimo Dragon]] in the process, where he would meet Chris Benoit. In this match, Guerrero turned to his cheating tactics, hitting Benoit with the belt at one point in the match. Guerrero tried to get Benoit in trouble by placing the title belt on top of the unconscious Benoit. It did not work, however, since he knocked out the ref earlier with a belt shot to the kidneys. The match ended with interference by and a Gore from Rhyno, Benoit's own partner, who was furious at the team's failure. Guerrero pinned Benoit and won the United States Championship.

At SummerSlam, Guerrero retained his title by defeating Rhyno, Benoit and Tajiri in a four way match. He turned face again by engaging in a rivalry with [[John Cena]]. Guerrero challenged Cena to a "Latino Heat" street fight for the United States Championship, which Guerrero won. Chavo made his return in this match, assisting Guerrero in executing his Frog Splash on Cena. On [[September 16]], [[2003]], Los Guerreros defeated The World's Greatest Tag Team to regain the WWE Tag Team Championships. Eddie Guerrero thus held the United States Championship and one-half of the Tag Team Championships concurrently.

Guerrero lost the United States Championship to [[The Big Show]] at No Mercy 2003 in October after a feud which involved Guerrero poisoning the Big Show with some laxative laced burritos and then later spraying the Big Show with a sewage truck. Four days later, Los Guerreros would lose the WWE Tag Team Championship to the Basham Brothers. As Los Guerreros attempted to regain the tag team titles, things began to go downhill between Chavo and Guerrero, and the two fought one another at the [[2004]] Royal Rumble in a match that was won by Guerrero.

'''WWE Champion'''

As Guerrero's popularity grew, he began seeking the WWE Championship. In a storyline, Guerrero's singles success made Chavo jealous and Chavo broke from the team.

During the summer of 2003, Guerrero had begun driving a customized lowrider to ringside as part of his ring entrance. Guerrero would also capitalize on his "Lie, Cheat, and Steal" anti-hero image by brazenly using illegal tactics behind the referee's back to win matches on occasion. He was well known for hitting someone with a steel chair (or handing the opponent the steel chair and then pretending to be knocked out himself, just as the referee turned around), or using illegal weapons during the match. Despite (or possibly because of) his immoral tactics, Guerrero continued to increase in popularity.

On [[February 15]], [[2004]] Guerrero won the [[WWE Championship]] at No Way Out 2004, defeating [[Brock Lesnar]] following interference from [[Bill Goldberg]]. He would enjoy many months of success as champion, which included a win against Kurt Angle at WrestleMania XX as well as victories over the Big Show and Rey Mysterio. He would later lose the title to [[Vampiro Americano|John "Bradshaw" Layfield]], due to Angle's interference. At SummerSlam, Angle made Guerrero submit to the Ankle Lock. Guerrero then allied himself with the Big Show, who also despised Kurt Angle for firing him while Angle was still SmackDown! general manager.

Each week Angle and his new allies [[Luther Reigns]] and [[Marcos Corleone|Mark Jindrak]] began targeting Guerrero and the Big Show. General Manager [[Theodore Long]] booked a Survivor Series Elimination Match between a team led by Guerrero and a team led by Kurt Angle. Guerrero's team consisted of himself, Big Show, Rey Mysterio and Rob Van Dam. The following week, Guerrero was forced to find another member for his team because Rey Mysterio had just been given an opportunity to regain the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. Guerrero selected John Cena, who was feuding with [[Carlito]], a member of Angle's Survivor Series team. At Survivor Series, Guerrero landed the Frog Splash on Kurt Angle for the victory.

Guerrero, along with [[Booker T]] and [[The Undertaker]], then challenged John "Bradshaw" Layfield for a WWE Championship rematch. Along the way, Guerrero found a partner in Booker T. Despite losing two matches in a row as a tag team, Guerrero and Booker managed to get along. At Armageddon, Guerrero and Booker worked as a unit, taking down both Bradshaw and Undertaker. However, during the match, the two broke away from the team and made it clear that it was every man for themselves. Guerrero would then be taken out by The Undertaker while Bradshaw pinned Booker following the Clothesline From Hell. Afterwards, Guerrero and Booker briefly and unsuccessfully attempted to win the WWE Tag Team Championships.

'''Feud with Rey Mysterio'''

On [[February 20]], [[2005]], Guerrero once again became a tag team champion, this time with long time friend and sometimes rival Rey Mysterio when they defeated [[Doug Basham|Doug]] and [[Danny Basham]] at No Way Out 2005.

Many expected the new champions to defend their titles at WrestleMania 21, but after encouragement from Chavo, instead Guerrero challenged Rey to a one-on-one match so they could "bring the house down." The two wrestled a match at WrestleMania with Mysterio getting the win. Although visibly frustrated, Guerrero congratulated his partner. After several mishaps in the weeks following WrestleMania, the growing tension between Guerrero and Mysterio finally erupted when they lost their tag titles to new team [[Melina Perez|M]][[John Hennigan|N]][[Joey Matthews|M]] on the [[April 21]] episode of SmackDown! Although they received a match to regain the titles, Guerrero turned heel once again by abandoning his partner, who he had dubbed "his family" earlier in the show.

'''Eddie Guerrero in 2005'''

Guerrero then adopted a new, somewhat sociopathic gimmick. During this time, he also stopped driving his low-riders down the ring and walked to the ring with a frown on his face, and reverted to using the Lasso from El Paso as his finishing move. At the end of one edition of SmackDown!, he viciously and emotionlessly beat up his former tag team partner, leaving him bruised and bloody after suplexing him onto a set of steel steps. At Judgment Day 2005 on [[May 22]], Guerrero lost to Mysterio by disqualification.

Several weeks after the match at Judgment Day, Guerrero threatened to reveal a secret about Rey and Rey's son Dominick. The storyline (which involved equal parts of work and truth, and had Rey's full approval) grew to involve the families of both men, with both sides pleading for Guerrero not to reveal the secret. Rey defeated Guerrero at the Great American Bash, a match with a stipulation that if Guerrero lost, he would not tell the secret. Yet Guerrero revealed the secret any way on the following episode of SmackDown! - telling Dominick and the audience that Guerrero was his real father. The following weeks had Guerrero revealing the details of the secret in a series of what he called "Eddie's Bedtime Stories". He claimed that he had a child out of wedlock (Dominick) while his marriage was going through hard times. He claimed he then allowed Mysterio and his wife, who were "having trouble conceiving", to adopt the child as their own.

At SummerSlam 2005, Guerrero lost a ladder match over Dominick's custody to Mysterio. Their emotional feud ended at the premiere of Friday Night SmackDown!, where Guerrero finally gained a victory over Mysterio in a steel cage match.

'''World Heavyweight Championship contender'''

Following his feud with Rey Mysterio, Guerrero was named number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship and given a title match with [[Dave Batista|Batista]] at No Mercy 2005. Despite this, Guerrero quickly proclaimed himself to be Batista's friend. However, Batista was wary of Guerrero and a series of matches with MNM only supported his suspicions, as Guerrero appeared to have reverted to his cheating ways. In response to Batista's suspicions, Guerrero helped Batista win a match against his tag team partners, John "Bradshaw" Layfield and [[Jay Reso|Christian]].

Batista defeated Guerrero at No Mercy to retain his World title. During the match, Guerrero struggled with a decision about whether or not to use a steel chair to secure the victory, eventually opting not to use it and losing as a result. Though the two demonstrated mutual respect after the match, Guerrero seemed displeased by the loss. Eventually, Batista and Guerrero would become allies against [[Randy Orton]], [[Bob Orton]] and [[Ken Kennedy]]. Guerrero would tell Batista that he realized how low he had sunk since being WWE Champion in 2004, having attacked his best friend Rey Mysterio. Guerrero told him that Batista shaking his hand at No Mercy had returned his respect to him.

On the November 11 edition of Friday Night SmackDown!, Eddie Guerrero wrestled what turned out to be the final televised match of his career, a victory by disqualification using his trademark cheating tactics over Ken Kennedy.

'''Death'''

On [[November 13]], [[2005]], Guerrero was found dead in his hotel room in Minneapolis, Minnesota, at the Marriott City Center Hotel by his nephew, Chavo. Several hours later, WWE.com released the following announcement:

"WWE is deeply saddened by the news that Eddie Guerrero has passed away. He was found dead this morning in his hotel room in Minneapolis. Eddie is survived by his wife Vickie and daughters Shaul, 14, Sherilyn, 9, and Kaylie Marie, 3."

The same day, WWE held a press conference with a speech from his nephew Chavo, who spoke of Guerrero's four years of sobriety that would have come on November 15 of that year. Chavo adamantly defended his uncle, saying he had defeated his "personal demons." WWE Chairman [[Vince McMahon]] declined to speculate on the causes of Guerrero's death, and both men said that Guerrero would have "wanted the show to go on."

'''Cause'''

An autopsy revealed that Guerrero died as a result of acute heart failure, caused by undiagnosed arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease and enlargement of the heart as a result of prior anabolic steroid abuse. Although Guerrero had not taken alcohol or illicit drugs for over four years, his past excesses contributed to his heart failure. At the time of his death, he had recently used narcotics.

Guerrero's wife Vicky said that he had been lethargic and unwell in the week preceding his death, but that this had been attributed to the stress of continuously traveling and performing. She added that the doctors had told her that Guerrero's blood vessels had shriveled and weakened owing to undiagnosed heart disease, and that he had simply dropped into a deep sleep.

On the [[November 30]], [[2005]] edition of Byte This!, Chavo Guerrero, Jr. said that Guerrero had been working very hard and was at peak physical fitness as a result, doing cardiovascular and weight training exercises every day. There had been no symptoms or cause for concern. Guerrero, Jr. noted that, while many people abuse drugs for over ten years with no ill effects, Guerrero, despite having ceased to abuse drugs four years earlier, had suffered heart complications that were not detected in time to prevent his death.

'''Events following Guerrero's death'''

An emotional Chavo Guerrero performs at the SmackDown! tribute show to his late uncle. See also: Tributes to Eddie Guerrero. On the day of his death, Guerrero was set to face Batista and Randy Orton in a triple threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship on the [[November 13]] taping of Friday Night SmackDown! (which would have aired on [[November 18]]). [[Stephanie McMahon]] hinted that Guerrero had been scheduled to defeat Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship, which would have begun Guerrero's first reign as World Heavyweight Champion.

The episodes of RAW on [[November 14]], [[2005]], and Friday Night SmackDown! on November 18, 2005, each aired as a tribute to Eddie Guerrero. No WWE employees were compelled to perform, although several matches took place, including one featuring Chavo. These shows were similar in format to the RAW is Owen special edition of RAW, which paid tribute to the late [[Owen Hart]], and the SmackDown! special in [[Houston, Texas]] two days after the [[September 11]], [[2001]] attacks. In addition to the RAW and SmackDown! tribute shows, [[Total Nonstop Action Wrestling]] dedicated the pay-per-view TNA Genesis (which aired the evening of his passing) to Guerrero.

Eddie Guerrero's funeral took place on Thursday, [[November 17]] in [[Phoenix, Arizona]] at Green Acres Cemetery. The private service was performed by retired wrestler [["Superstar" Billy Graham]]. Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, Chris Jericho, John "Bradshaw" Layfield, Vince McMahon, [[Tom Prichard]], all of Guerrero's brothers, one of his sisters, Chavo Guerrero and Valerie Coleman Graham all spoke at the funeral. Wrestlers and wrestling personalities from all around the world of wrestling were in attendance, including:

[[Billy Anderson]], Stone Cold Steve Austin, Doug Basham, Chris Benoit, Christian, CM Punk, [[Tommy Drake]], [[Kevin Dunn]], Edge, [[Jackie Gayda]], [[Charlie Haas]], [[Michael Hayes]], [[Gregory Helms]], Chris Jericho, Mark Jindrak, Konnan, [[Billy Kidman]], [[Gail Kim]], [[John Laurinaitis]], John "Bradshaw" Layfield, Lita, Dean Malenko, [[Linda McMahon]], [[Shane McMahon]], Stephanie McMahon, Vince McMahon, Rey Mysterio Jr, [[Jamie Noble]], [[Bruce Prichard]], Tom Prichard, [[Raven]], [[Sting]], [[Mike Tenay]] and [[Torrie Wilson]].



== Luchas de apuestas record ==
{{astart}}
{{aline|¿?/¿?/¿?|hairs|[[Eddy Guerrero]]|[[Ari Romero]] |Auditorio Municipal Josue Neri santos - Cd. Juarez, Chih, Mexico}}
{{aline|¿?/¿?/¿?|hairs|[[Eddy Guerrero]]|[[Negro Casas]] |Auditorio Municipal Josue Neri santos - Cd. Juarez, Chih, Mexico}}
{{aline|94/11/06|hairs|[[El Hijo del Santo]] & [[Octagon]]|[[Love Machine]] & Eddy Guerrero|Los Angeles Sports Arena - Los Angeles, CA, USA}}

{{aend|}}

== Gallery ==
{{Gallery||name=Gringos Locos.jpg|caption=With Art Barr}}
{{Gallery||name=111.jpg|caption=With Gory Guerrero}}
{{Gallery||name=161.jpg|caption=With El Santo and Satanico}}
{{Gallery||name=022.jpg|caption=With Art Barr}}
{{Gallery||name=151.jpg|caption=In WCW}}
 
{{Gallery||name=091.jpg|caption=As the WWF European Champion}}
{{Gallery||name=371.jpg|caption=As WWE Champion}}
{{Gallery||name=Eddyh.jpg|caption=As Black Tiger}}
{{Gallery||name=Mascaramagicaeddie86bl.jpg|caption=As Mascara Magica}}

[[Category:Mexican wrestlers]]
[[Category:Deceased wrestlers]]
[[Category:WCW Nitro wrestlers]]

Abdullah the Butcher

2007-08-17T22:14:24Z

Parsonsburg:

{{bioFields|
|image=Abby1988.JPG
|name=Abdullah the Butcher
|realName=Lawrence Shreve
|nicknames=The Madman from the Sudan
|nameHistory=Abdullah the Butcher, Pussycat Pickens, Black Wizard, Zelis Amara, Kuroi Jujutsushi
|family=
|maestro=[[Stu Hart]], [[Gino Brito]]
|birthdate=[[November 2]], [[1936]] in Windsor, Ontario, Canada
|debut=[[1958]]
|lostmaskto=
|height=6'1" (1.85m)
|weight=360lbs (164kg)
|obituarydate=
|signatureMoves=[[Elbow Drop|Sudanese Meat Cleaver]], Fork to the eye
|titles=[[NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Detroit version)]], [[NWA World Tag Team Championship (Detroit version)]] (w/ [[Killer Tim Brooks]]), [[NWA World Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version)]] (w/ [[Dr. Jerry Graham]]), [[AJPW United National Heavyweight Championship]], [[AJPW International Tag Team Championship]] (w/ [[Ray Candy]]), [[PWF Heavyweight Championship]], [[PWF United States Heavyweight Championship]], [[Stampede North American Championship]] (5), [[WCCW Texas Brass Knuckles Championship]] (2), [[WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship]] (4), [[WWC Puerto Rican Championship]] (3), [[WWC North American Championship]] (3), [[WWC Caribbean Championship]] (2), [[WWC Hardcore Championship]], [[Canadian Tag Team Championship]] (2) (w/ [[Dr. Jerry Graham]], w/ [[Armand Hussein]]), [[NWF International Championship]], [[NWF Heavyweight Championship]], [[New Zealand British Commonwealth Championship]], [[Georgia Heavyweight Championship]], [[Georgia Television Championship]], [[IWA Heavyweight Championship]], [[Canadian Heavyweight Championship]], [[Canadian International Heavyweight Championship]], [[WWA Tag Team Championship]] (2) (w/ [[Ali Hassan]], w/ [[Jerry Valiant]]), [[Central States Tag Team Championship]] (w/ [[Roger Kirby]]), [[Tokyo Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship]] (w/ [[Benkei]]), [[Big Japan Wrestling Death Match Championship]]
|}}

== Gallery ==
{{Gallery|
|name=Butcher.jpg
|caption= Butcher the champ & drinker
}}

{{Gallery|
|name=Abby.jpg
|caption= Very early photo of Abby
}}

 

==Sources==

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullah_The_Butcher Wikipedia]

[[Category: Foreign wrestlers]]
[[Category: Canadian wrestlers]]

File:Abby.jpg

2007-08-17T22:13:39Z

Parsonsburg:

File:Abby1988.JPG

2007-08-17T22:11:51Z

Parsonsburg:

Minoru Suzuki

2007-08-16T16:17:25Z

Parsonsburg:

== Profile ==
{{bioFields|
|image=MinoruSuzuki.JPG
|name=Minoru Suzuki
|realName=Minoru Suzuki
|nicknames=
|nameHistory=Minoru Suzuki (1988 - current)
|family=
|maestro=
|birthdate=June 7, 1968 - Yokohama, Kanagawa
|obituarydate=
|debut=June 23, 1988 - vs Takayuki Iizuka
|height=5'10"/178 cms
|weight=220 lbs/100 kg
|signatureMoves=Saka-Otoshi (Inverted facelock takeover into rear naked choke), Suzuki Sleeper, Gotch Piledriver
|titles=AJPW Triple Crown Championship (current), IWGP World Tag Team Championship, King of Pancrease Openweight Championship, GHC Tag Team Championship
}}

== Career ==
Trained at the [[New Japan Pro Wrestling]] dojo, he made his debut in 1988, but pretty soon left with mentor [[Yoshiaki Fujiwara]] for the newborn [[Universal Wrestling Federation (Japan)|UWF]]. He then joined Fujiwara's [[Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi]] but then formed [[Pancrase]] in [[1993]] with [[Masakatsu Funaki]]. In Pancrase he was one of the most successful fighters, winning the King of Pancrase (now KOP Open-Weight) title. Though he dropped bouts to [[Bas Rutten]], [[Frank Shamrock]] and [[Masakatsu Funaki|Funaki]], he twice defeated [[Ken Shamrock]] and is the only man to hold two wins over Shamrock in the Pancrase arena. Suzuki witnessed the transition Pancrase made from the so-called "hybrid wrestling" style to that of regular MMA. Eventually, Suzuki's body became damaged and worn down from various injuries. He decided to focus on the business and training side of Pancrase. He collaborated with the [[Tekken]] series of [[fighting game|fighting video games]] as a motion [[actor]]. His last non-worked fight for Pancrase was against a professional wrestler, [[Jushin Liger]], whom Suzuki had known as Keiichi Yamada in his first NJPW stint. At the time he competed in grappling matches almost exclusively.

In [[2003]] Suzuki and [[Yusuke Fuke|Takaku Fuke]] announced their plan to return to puroresu and invade promotions under the stable name '''Pancrase Mission'''. Suzuki began competing for his old turf, NJPW, as a freelancer. He allied with [[Yoshihiro Takayama]] and they won the IWGP Tag Team Titles from [[Hiroyoshi Tenzan]] & [[Osamu Nishimura]] on [[February 1]], [[2004]]. Nevertheless, they were stripped of the title later in the year after Takayama was injured. In [[2005]] Suzuki jumped to [[Pro Wrestling NOAH]] to challenge the talent there. He received a shot at GHC Heavyweight Champion [[Kenta Kobashi]] but was defeated. Again turning to tag teams, he found an unlikely ally in [[Naomichi Marufuji]], whose style was [[Lucha Libre]] rather than shoot-style. Nonetheless, Suzuki taught Marufuji some of what he knew and they clicked, winning the GHC Tag Team Titles from [[Charles Skaggs|2 Cold Scorpio]] and [[Doug Williams (wrestler)|Doug Williams]] on [[June 18]], [[2005]]. After losing the belts to Muhammad Yone and Takeshi Morishima in October, Suzuki challenged [[Jun Akiyama]] for the GHC Heavyweight Title on March 5, 2006, although he failed to win it.

On March 10, 2006, Suzuki made a surprise appearance in [[All Japan Pro Wrestling]], attacking Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion [[Satoshi Kojima]] after he had just defended his title against [[The Great Muta]]. Pundits at once considered Suzuki to have issued a challenge for the Triple Crown. Suzuki participated in the 2006 Champion Carnival, and made it to the semifinals before being defeated by [[Taiyō Kea]]. On [[September 3]], Suzuki challenged Kea, who had won the Triple Crown from Kojima in July. He was successful in his bid to become the new Triple Crown Champion. Suzuki has formed a grouping called "'''Minoru Gundan'''" consisting of himself, NOSAWA Rongai, and MAZADA. In May 2007 he went on a tour of [[Mexico]]'s [[CMLL]] with Takayama and experienced [[Lucha Libre]] battles. He successfully defended the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship against Keiji Mutoh on [[July 1]], 2007.

== Gallery ==
{{Gallery|name=Suzuki.jpg}}
{{Gallery|name=SuzukiSlap.jpg}}
{{Gallery|name=SuzukiSleeper.JPG}}
{{Gallery|name=SuzukiBelts.jpg}}
{{Gallery|name=SuzukiCartoon.jpg}}
 
{{Gallery|name=SuzukiHeadshot.JPG}}
{{Gallery|name=SuzukiPancrease.jpg}}
{{Gallery|name=SuzukiPromo.jpg}}

[[Category:Japanese wrestlers]]
[[Category:Foreign wrestlers]]

Giant Baba

2007-08-16T16:11:15Z

Parsonsburg: /* Gallery */

{{bioFields|

|name=Giant Baba (ジャイアント馬場)|image=Baba1.jpg
|realName=Shohei Baba (馬場正平)
|nicknames=Touyou No Kyojin, Giant of the East
|nameHistory=Giant Baba, Great Baba, Shohei Baba, Ishope Baba
|family=[[Motoko Baba]] (wife)
|maestro=[[Rikidozan]], [[Great Togo]], [[Fred Atkins]]
|birthdate=[[January 23, 1938]] - [[Niigata]], [[Japan]]
|debut=[[September 30, 1960]]
|lostmaskto=
|height=6'10"/208 cm
|weight=330/150 kg
|obituarydate=[[January 31, 1999]]
|signatureMoves=[[Coconut Crush]], [[Running Neckbreaker]], [[DDT]], [[Russian Legsweep]], [[Overhead Chop]], Yakuza Kick ([[Big Boot]]), [[Dropkick]]
|titles=[[NWA World Heavyweight Championship]] (3), [[NWA International Heavyweight Championship]] (3), [[NWA World Tag Team Championship (Detroit version)]] (1) (w/ [[Jumbo Tsuruta]]), [[NWA International Tag Team Championship]] (12) (1 w/ [[Michiaki Yoshimura]], 4 w/ [[Antonio Inoki]], 1 w/ [[Seiji Sakaguchi]], 6 w/ [[Jumbo Tsuruta]]), [[PWF Heavyweight Championship]] (4), [[All Asia Heavyweight Championship]] (1), [[AJPW Champion's Carnival Tournament]] (7)
|}}

== Career ==
Before entering professional wrestling he had been a professional baseball pitcher for the Yomiuri Giants. It was around this time when national wrestling hero Mitsuhiro Momota Sr. (owner of the Japanese Wrestling Association, who competed as Rikidozan) believed that he needed to start grooming a successor in order to keep business strong. In April 1960, Baba began training in Rikidozan's dojo along with fellow student Antonio Inoki. The two trained together under Rikidozan and made their debuts on September 30th, 1960 at the old Daito Ku Gymnasium in Tokyo, where Baba beat Yonetaro Tanaka and Inoki lost to Korean star (and fellow student) Kintaro Oki. The period between 1967 and 1971 is mostly revered by Japanese wrestling fans for Baba and Inoki teaming up to win the NWA International Tag Team Titles; the duo won the titles on October 31st, 1967 after defeating Bill Watts and Tarzan Tyler, and would go on to hold the belts four times. Baba would later break the record with his new partner, Jumbo Tsuruta.

Several months after Inoki had formed New Japan Pro Wrestling and with JWA on the decline, Baba left the promotion in October 1972 to form All Japan Pro Wrestling. The promotion had the backing of Nippon TV and eventually replaced the JWA's membership (following its collapse) in the National Wrestling Alliance. Baba became the first Japanese wrestler to ever hold the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, defeating Jack Brisco in a best 2/3 falls match on December 2, 1974 in Kagoshima, Japan. He would hold the championship on two more occassions, but his reigns were short and limited to Japanese territory. Baba was also the first former NWA World Champion to be defeated by Ric Flair, as Flair was becoming a top contender for the title.

By 1984, Baba began phasing himself out of the main event picture, in order to elevate the next generation of wrestlers, who were led by Jumbo Tsuruta and Genichiro Tenryu. He voluntarily became a "curtain jerker", as he moved slowly and only won against mid-card talent. Under his leadership, All Japan Pro Wrestling became the number one wrestling company in the world during the 1990s. Following the formation of the SWS (Super World Sports), Tenryu, Hara and Great Kabuki left All Japan and Baba was forced to quickly elevate younger talent such as Toshiaki Kawada, Kenta Kobashi, Akira Taue and Tsuyoshi Kikuchi up the card. The biggest move Baba made at this time was taking the mask off Tiger Mask II and giving Mitsuharu Misawa the push as the biggest new singles star, which began with Misawa's pinfall victory over Jumbo Tsuruta in one of the most emotional matches in company history on June 8, 1990 at Budokan Hall; the show was close to a sellout and Misawa was immediately catapulted to main event status due to his victory over the legend. Budokan Hall would became the hotbed of pro wrestling with a string of sellouts in the building lasting for several years, which validated Baba's insistance on clean finishes in matches. With the Triple Crown Championship as the focal point, All Japan sold out more than 250 consecutive shows in Tokyo throughout the early the mid 1990s, routinely drawing houses in the $1,000,000 range eight times a year at Budokan Hall. At the peak of the company, tickets for the next Budokan show would be sold at the live event and completely sell out that night. Baba finally agreed to run the Tokyo Dome and despite it being a few years since the company peaked they still drew 58,300 paid fans.

Baba's last "comeback" was during the World's Strongest Tag League in 1993, when he teamed with old rival Stan Hansen in hopes of winning the Double Cup. The duo made it to the finals, but were defeated by Mitsuharu Misawa and Kenta Kobashi. His final match occurred in 1998, prior to being confined to a hospital bed. On 22 January, 1999, Baba saw his last wrestling match, as Toshiaki Kawada defeated Mitsuharu Misawa for the Triple Crown Championship. Nine days later, Baba died of cancer, a mere week after celebrating his 61st birthday.

== Gallery ==
{{Gallery|name=Giant Baba.jpg}}
{{Gallery|name=BabaFood.JPG}}
{{Gallery|name=BabaGameShow.JPG}}
{{Gallery|name=BabaGameShow2.JPG}}

 

== Sources ==
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shohei_Baba Wikipedia]

[[Category:Foreign wrestlers]]
[[Category:Japanese wrestlers]]
[[Category:Deceased wrestlers]]

File:BabaGameShow2.JPG

2007-08-16T16:11:02Z

Parsonsburg:

File:BabaGameShow.JPG

2007-08-16T16:10:35Z

Parsonsburg:

Love Machine

2007-08-16T04:33:04Z

Parsonsburg:

== Profile ==



{{bioFields|
|image=lovemachine.jpg
|name=Love Machine
|realName=Arthur Leon Barr
|nicknames=El Gringo Loco
|nameHistory=Art Barr (debut - death), The Intruder (PNW, 87), Beetlejuice (PNW, 88 - 90), The Juicer (NWA/WCW, 1990), Love Machine (91 - death), American Love Machine, American Machine (NJPW, 1994)
|family=[[Sandy Barr]] (father), [[Jesse Barr]]/Jimmy Jack Funk (brother), [[Shawn Barr]] (brother)
|maestro=[[Sandy Barr]], [[Roddy Piper]]
|birthdate=[[October 8]], [[1966]] - [[Portland]], [[Oregon]], [[USA]]
|obituarydate=[[November 23]], [[1994]] - [[Springfield]], [[Oregon]], [[USA]]
|debut=[[April 2]], [[1987]] - [[Salem]], [[Oregon]], [[USA]]
|lostmaskto=[[Blue Panther]] - [[April 3]], [[1992]] - [[Arena México]]
|height=6'1''
|weight=240lbs.
|signatureMoves=[[Frog Splash]], [[Tombstone]], [[Belly-to-belly Suplex]], [[Dropkick to the face]]
|titles=[[PNW TV Title]], [[PNW/NWA Tag Team Titles]] (2, w/ [[Big Juice]] - The Juicer Patrol, w/ [[Jesse Barr]]), [[PNW/USA Tag Team Titles]] (w/ [[Konnan|Konnan El Barbaro]]), [[AAA/IWC World Tag Team Titles]] (w/ [[Eddy Guerrero]])
}}

== Career ==
Art Barr was the son of Sandy (wrestler, referee and long time promoter in the Oregon area) and the brother of Jesse (who wrestled in the WWF as Jimmy Jack Funk). Art was an accomplished amatuer wrestler, as he became a 4-time district champion and a 2-time Oregon State champion, but he had to drop out when his first wife became pregnant. Art worked in a steel mill during the day, and would train to become a pro-wrestler at night with his father and Roddy Piper, who taught him how to properly use his natural charisma. Art made his professional wrestling debut April 2, 1987 under his real name in Salem, Oregon; weighing only 175 pounds, he was way too small to become a serious threat to the main eventers, so he mainly competed in the opening contests of the shows he worked. On January 21, 1989, while Art was in the ring during a televised show, Piper and other three wrestlers entered the ring, covered Art with a sheet, stripped him naked, threw his clothes to the crowd and gave him a new suit. Piper had also sprayed something in Art's hair, grabbed the mic claimed that he created The Beetlejuice, took off the sheet and revealed Art with his new Bettlejuice gimmick. Ironically, in a a traditionalist promotion, he became the most popular wrestler among the fans. He especially was a hero to children, as he'd usually fight and defeat heels including Al Madril or Abuddah Dean.
Beetlejuice also tasted success in the tag ranks teaming with "Big Juice" as The Juice Patrol. In 1990, they were the top men in the division along with the team of Ricky Santana and Curtis Thompson. On June 30, 1990, Big Juice lost a "loser-leaves-town" match, but it didn't negatively affect Barr as WCW management had began to take notice of him.

=== World Championship Wrestling & EMLL ===
At the time, WCW was very distant to the WWF in terms of popularity among the younger viewers, but they noticed a lot of potential in Barr as a new idol for kids. Art entered WCW as the same character, but changed his name to the Juicer, in order to avoid potential copyright problems. While in WCW, Ole Anderson allegedly told Art that he'd never get over beacuse he was way too small, in which Art remaked that "I'm as tall as you are, you are just fat."

Ten weeks after Barr signed with WCW, he was found guilty of sexual harassment on a 19 year old girl named Angela. The 16th of July of 1989, after a wrestling show in Pendleton, OR, Arthur had a late-night sexual meeting at a deserted armory, underneath a stairwell, with that female fan that later charged him with rape. Art always claimed that he had had that meeting with the fan and that he knew that she didn't want to have sex with him at that place, but that he thought that she would have wanted it somewhere else, and he never accepted that he was guilty. In the end, he was fined with $1,000 and with the payment of the medical and counseling bills of the victim, and he was sentenced to 180 hours of community service work. Barr didn't take the case to court and accepted the plea-bargain, and what was expected to be a chapter of his life that would get quickly forgotten, got worse as local media (TV and newspapers) started putting huge pressure to the commision to revoke his wrestling license. The Oregon boxing & wrestling commission found out that in his license questionary he claimed that he had never been convicted of felony and denied him the right to renew his license anymore. Even though Barr was involved in controversy over sexual harassment ten weeks after signing with WCW, owner Jim Herd didn't fire him, as he felt that Barr had already paid his debt to society. However, news of the incident resulted in condemnation from the audience, as they chanted "rapist" during his matches. As a result, Herd decided to stop using Barr, because he felt that promoting "a nasty rapist" as a hero to the kids would tarnish the company's image.

Barr's charisma and ability was noticed by Konnan in December 1990, as he was invited (along with Rey Misterio Sr.) to compete at WCW Starrcade 90. Konnan would bring Barr and Norman Smiley to Mexico's EMLL promotion in early 1991. Art was given the gimmick of The American Love Machine, a masked American tecnico (babyface) with a sexy playboy gimmick, in March 1991. He soon became a popular performer and was given the chance to have a singles feud with Blue Panther, who was one of the most respected wrestlers from Mexico. His rivalry with Panther further elevated Love Machine as a top draw for the promotion, and following a huge build-up, a máscara contra máscara contest was scheduled for April 3, 1992 at Arena México; 18,000 fans packed in the 17,100 capacity building, while the other 8,000 fans were turned away at the door. EMLL management predicted that the attendance would overflow, so a set of giant TV screens were set up in the parking lot of the building. Panther won that match, after Love Machine was instantly disqualified for using the "martinete" (a tombstone piledriver) on Blue Panther during the third and final fall; Machine apparently didn't know that the martinete was a banned move, as the audience was more concerned about the health of Panther (who was stretchered out of the ring) than Love Machine removing his mask.

=== Asistencia, Asesoría y Administración ===
A month later, booker Antonio Peña left the promotion (along with Konnan, Cien Caras, Perro Aguayo and others) to form the [[AAA|Asistencia, Asesoría y Administración]] promotion. Konnan, who had developed a very solid friendship with Art, managed to recruit Machine for a three-year $3,500 per week contract with the new promotion. Art debuted on November 6, 1992, Rey Misterio Jr. faced Tony Arce (of Los Destructores) in a mask vs. hair match in the main event of a show in Acapulco, Gro; a masked Rey Misterio Sr. was the "second" of his nephew, while Blue Panther was seconding Arce. During the third fall, Panther was getting too involved, which resulted in "Rey Sr." unmasking himself as Love Machine; Panther ran back to the locker room while being chased by Machine, while Rey Jr. cleanly defeated Tony Arce in the middle of the ring. By December of 1992, Machine was finally allowed to wrestle in Oregon again, and on January 9, 1993, Art (wrestling as American Love Machine) and Konnan defeated Polynesian Prince and Tazmanian Devil to win the Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championships at the Sports Arena. Later, the belts were imported to Mexico and renamed the AAA World Tag Team Championships.

The Panther vs. Machine feud reached its highest point on July 18, 1993, when the headlining hair vs. mask match in Tonala, Jal. drew a crowd of 20,000; even though Machine was the tecnico for this match, he was met with chants of "Mexico! Mexico!". In the third fall. Machine already had his opponent beaten when he started fooling around, as he'd cover Panther for the pin and lift him up at the two count while acting cocky and proud. He picked up Panther to execute a tombstone and held the position (while the crowd told him not to do it) until Perro Aguayo pushed them, as Machine was instantly disqualified for outside interference by Aguayo; this enraged Machine, who (along with Panther's second and longtime Aguayo enemy Fishman) started beating up Perro until Panther made the save, which resulted in Machine becoming a rudo and Aguayo becoming a tecnico. During a trios match a month after Machine's rudo turn, Machine ripped off Santo's mask, put it on, and attacked (Santo's team mate) Eddy Guerrero while pointing to himself; Machine returned the mask to Santo, as Eddy Guerrero turn on Santo. A week later, Guerrero formed "La Pareja Del Terror" (The team of terror) with Machine.

On December 4, 1993, Barr showed up unannounced at the Portland Sports Arena to fight John Rambo, even though he didn't have a wrestling license to compete there. The show was held between a commission meeting regarding Sandy Barr's promotional license, and earlier in the night, a drunk former local wrestler showed up saying that Rambo was a stooge for the commissioner. As a result, the Rambo/Barr match turned into a total shoot, as Barr threw a very stiff forearm that destroyed Rambo's nose. Following the match, Barr claimed that it had been an accident, but that Rambo had shoot kicked him in the throat earlier in the match to the point that Barr was coughing up blood. After the match, Rambo and Art got into a backstage fight again, but no criminal charges were pressed as no jury would believe that a real assault incident would happen at a wrestling show.

During an AAA card in Chicago on July 23, 1994, Machine and Guerrero captured the AAA World Tag Team Championships by defeating El Hijo del Santo and Octagon. A few weeks later, Konnan turned on Aguayo and joined the evil Americans team during a Konnan/Cien Caras vs. Satanico/Perro Aguayo "parejas increíbles" (incredible teams) match. The Konnan, Guerrero & Machine alliance, better known as Los Gringos Locos (The Crazy Americans), mixed charisma with wrestling ability in a way that had never been seen before. Seeing as though Guerrero wasn't available full-time time (due to commitments working as Black Tiger II in New Japan), wrestlers including Black Cat, [[Louie Spicolli|Madonna's Boyfriend]], El Misterioso, Chicano Power and King Lion eventually joined group at different times. Barr made his New Japan Pro Wrestling debut as "American Machine" in Summer 1994, wrestling under an old American Love Machine mask. His debut match was a 6-Man Tag involving himself, Black Cat & Black Tiger II against Shinjiro Otani, El Samurai & Jushin Liger, in which Machine's team won. Liger apparently had big plans to feud with Barr (including a match for the IWGP Jr Heavyweight Title), but they never materialized after Liger broke his ankle.

=== When Worlds Collide and Death ===
On November 6, 1994, Barr was featured in one of the main events at the WCW-produced AAA/IWC When Worlds Collide PPV; Barr and Guerrero competed against Octagon and El Hijo del Santo in a Best 2/3 Falls, Double Hair vs. Double Mask match. There were backstage problems prior to the match, as Art and Octagon were removed from the booking sheet and booked as seconds to their partners. In addition, WCW production decided to cut the broadcast down 45 minutes from the original run time, resulting in all of the undercard matches becoming one-fall to a finish, and cutting the tag team semi-main event from 30 minutes to 20 minutes. The match ended up impressing promotors all over America, as ECW booker Paul Heyman immediately contacted Art Barr and Eddy Guerrero about coming in to feud against The Public Enemy (who were the top tag team in ECW at the time); Art confirmed this in a shoot interview following the PPV, and said that he looked forward to competing in ECW. Art additionally was scheduled to compete at New Japan's annual Tokyo Dome show on January 4, 1995. WCW and WWF additionally showed interest in Barr and Guerrero as a tag team

Three weeks after the pay-per-view, Art Barr was found lying in bed without a pulse and bleeding from the nose by his mother. Preliminary reports claimed that Barr died of an aneurysm, but later reports ruled that he died under unknown circumstances. Barr suffered from no heart problems, there was no aneurysm or internal bleeding from ring injuries and a drug overdose was ruled out, even though sleeping pills were found in his system. Prior to his death, he was planning to marry his pregnant fiancé and had finally quit drugs and wild partying.

 
== Luchas de apuestas record ==
{{astart}}
{{aline|92/04/03|mask|[[Blue Panther]]|Love Machine|Arena México - Mexico City}}
{{aline|93/07/18|hair|[[Blue Panther]]|Love Machine|Auditorio Rio Nilo - Tonala, Jalisco}}
{{aline|94/11/06|hairs|[[El Hijo del Santo]] & [[Octagon]]|Love Machine & [[Eddy Guerrero]]|Los Angeles Sports Arena - Los Angeles, CA, USA}}
{{aend|}}

== Gallery ==
{{Gallery|name=LoveMachineMask.jpg|caption=Masked}}
{{Gallery||name=5930.jpg|caption=}}
{{Gallery|name=lovemachine2.jpg|caption= }}
{{Gallery|name=5937.jpg |caption= }}
{{GalleryX|GRINGOS20LOCOS.jpg|With Konnan|250}}
 
{{Gallery|name=5931.jpg |caption= }}
{{Gallery|name=5932.jpg |caption= }}
{{Gallery|name=5929.jpg |caption= }}
{{Gallery||name=Gringos Locos.jpg|caption=With Eddy Guerrero}}
{{Gallery|name=Lovealedes.jpg |caption= }}
{{Gallery|name=Artbarrboxylucha.jpg |caption=On the cover of Box Y Lucha }}

[[Category:Foreign wrestlers]]
[[Category:United States wrestlers]]
[[Category:Deceased wrestlers]]

Love Machine

2007-08-16T04:32:49Z

Parsonsburg:

== Profile ==



{{bioFields|
|image=lovemachine.jpg
|name=Love Machine
|realName=Arthur Leon Barr
|nicknames=El Gringo Loco
|nameHistory=Art Barr (debut - death), The Intruder (PNW, 87), Beetlejuice (PNW, 88 - 90), The Juicer (NWA/WCW, 1990), Love Machine (91 - death), American Love Machine, American Machine (NJPW, 1994)
|family=[[Sandy Barr]] (father), [[Jesse Barr]]/Jimmy Jack Funk (brother), [[Shawn Barr]] (brother)
|maestro=[[Sandy Barr]], [[Roddy Piper]]
|birthdate=[[October 8]], [[1966]] - [[Portland]], [[Oregon]], [[USA]]
|obituarydate=[[November 23]], [[1994]] - [[Springfield]], [[Oregon]], [[USA]]
|debut=[[April 2]], [[1987]] - [[Salem]], [[Oregon]], [[USA]]
|lostmaskto=[[Blue Panther]] - [[April 3]], [[1992]] - [[Arena México]]
|height=6'1''
|weight=240lbs.
|signatureMoves=[[Frog Splash]], [[Tombstone]], [[Belly-to-belly Suplex]], [[Dropkick to the face]]
|titles=[[PNW TV Title]], [[PNW/NWA Tag Team Titles]] (2, w/ [[Big Juice]] - The Juicer Patrol, w/ [[Jesse Barr]]), [[PNW/USA Tag Team Titles]] (w/ [[Konnan|Konnan El Barbaro]]), [[AAA/IWC World Tag Team Titles]] (w/ [[Eddy Guerrero]])
}}

== Biography ==
Art Barr was the son of Sandy (wrestler, referee and long time promoter in the Oregon area) and the brother of Jesse (who wrestled in the WWF as Jimmy Jack Funk). Art was an accomplished amatuer wrestler, as he became a 4-time district champion and a 2-time Oregon State champion, but he had to drop out when his first wife became pregnant. Art worked in a steel mill during the day, and would train to become a pro-wrestler at night with his father and Roddy Piper, who taught him how to properly use his natural charisma. Art made his professional wrestling debut April 2, 1987 under his real name in Salem, Oregon; weighing only 175 pounds, he was way too small to become a serious threat to the main eventers, so he mainly competed in the opening contests of the shows he worked. On January 21, 1989, while Art was in the ring during a televised show, Piper and other three wrestlers entered the ring, covered Art with a sheet, stripped him naked, threw his clothes to the crowd and gave him a new suit. Piper had also sprayed something in Art's hair, grabbed the mic claimed that he created The Beetlejuice, took off the sheet and revealed Art with his new Bettlejuice gimmick. Ironically, in a a traditionalist promotion, he became the most popular wrestler among the fans. He especially was a hero to children, as he'd usually fight and defeat heels including Al Madril or Abuddah Dean.
Beetlejuice also tasted success in the tag ranks teaming with "Big Juice" as The Juice Patrol. In 1990, they were the top men in the division along with the team of Ricky Santana and Curtis Thompson. On June 30, 1990, Big Juice lost a "loser-leaves-town" match, but it didn't negatively affect Barr as WCW management had began to take notice of him.

=== World Championship Wrestling & EMLL ===
At the time, WCW was very distant to the WWF in terms of popularity among the younger viewers, but they noticed a lot of potential in Barr as a new idol for kids. Art entered WCW as the same character, but changed his name to the Juicer, in order to avoid potential copyright problems. While in WCW, Ole Anderson allegedly told Art that he'd never get over beacuse he was way too small, in which Art remaked that "I'm as tall as you are, you are just fat."

Ten weeks after Barr signed with WCW, he was found guilty of sexual harassment on a 19 year old girl named Angela. The 16th of July of 1989, after a wrestling show in Pendleton, OR, Arthur had a late-night sexual meeting at a deserted armory, underneath a stairwell, with that female fan that later charged him with rape. Art always claimed that he had had that meeting with the fan and that he knew that she didn't want to have sex with him at that place, but that he thought that she would have wanted it somewhere else, and he never accepted that he was guilty. In the end, he was fined with $1,000 and with the payment of the medical and counseling bills of the victim, and he was sentenced to 180 hours of community service work. Barr didn't take the case to court and accepted the plea-bargain, and what was expected to be a chapter of his life that would get quickly forgotten, got worse as local media (TV and newspapers) started putting huge pressure to the commision to revoke his wrestling license. The Oregon boxing & wrestling commission found out that in his license questionary he claimed that he had never been convicted of felony and denied him the right to renew his license anymore. Even though Barr was involved in controversy over sexual harassment ten weeks after signing with WCW, owner Jim Herd didn't fire him, as he felt that Barr had already paid his debt to society. However, news of the incident resulted in condemnation from the audience, as they chanted "rapist" during his matches. As a result, Herd decided to stop using Barr, because he felt that promoting "a nasty rapist" as a hero to the kids would tarnish the company's image.

Barr's charisma and ability was noticed by Konnan in December 1990, as he was invited (along with Rey Misterio Sr.) to compete at WCW Starrcade 90. Konnan would bring Barr and Norman Smiley to Mexico's EMLL promotion in early 1991. Art was given the gimmick of The American Love Machine, a masked American tecnico (babyface) with a sexy playboy gimmick, in March 1991. He soon became a popular performer and was given the chance to have a singles feud with Blue Panther, who was one of the most respected wrestlers from Mexico. His rivalry with Panther further elevated Love Machine as a top draw for the promotion, and following a huge build-up, a máscara contra máscara contest was scheduled for April 3, 1992 at Arena México; 18,000 fans packed in the 17,100 capacity building, while the other 8,000 fans were turned away at the door. EMLL management predicted that the attendance would overflow, so a set of giant TV screens were set up in the parking lot of the building. Panther won that match, after Love Machine was instantly disqualified for using the "martinete" (a tombstone piledriver) on Blue Panther during the third and final fall; Machine apparently didn't know that the martinete was a banned move, as the audience was more concerned about the health of Panther (who was stretchered out of the ring) than Love Machine removing his mask.

=== Asistencia, Asesoría y Administración ===
A month later, booker Antonio Peña left the promotion (along with Konnan, Cien Caras, Perro Aguayo and others) to form the [[AAA|Asistencia, Asesoría y Administración]] promotion. Konnan, who had developed a very solid friendship with Art, managed to recruit Machine for a three-year $3,500 per week contract with the new promotion. Art debuted on November 6, 1992, Rey Misterio Jr. faced Tony Arce (of Los Destructores) in a mask vs. hair match in the main event of a show in Acapulco, Gro; a masked Rey Misterio Sr. was the "second" of his nephew, while Blue Panther was seconding Arce. During the third fall, Panther was getting too involved, which resulted in "Rey Sr." unmasking himself as Love Machine; Panther ran back to the locker room while being chased by Machine, while Rey Jr. cleanly defeated Tony Arce in the middle of the ring. By December of 1992, Machine was finally allowed to wrestle in Oregon again, and on January 9, 1993, Art (wrestling as American Love Machine) and Konnan defeated Polynesian Prince and Tazmanian Devil to win the Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championships at the Sports Arena. Later, the belts were imported to Mexico and renamed the AAA World Tag Team Championships.

The Panther vs. Machine feud reached its highest point on July 18, 1993, when the headlining hair vs. mask match in Tonala, Jal. drew a crowd of 20,000; even though Machine was the tecnico for this match, he was met with chants of "Mexico! Mexico!". In the third fall. Machine already had his opponent beaten when he started fooling around, as he'd cover Panther for the pin and lift him up at the two count while acting cocky and proud. He picked up Panther to execute a tombstone and held the position (while the crowd told him not to do it) until Perro Aguayo pushed them, as Machine was instantly disqualified for outside interference by Aguayo; this enraged Machine, who (along with Panther's second and longtime Aguayo enemy Fishman) started beating up Perro until Panther made the save, which resulted in Machine becoming a rudo and Aguayo becoming a tecnico. During a trios match a month after Machine's rudo turn, Machine ripped off Santo's mask, put it on, and attacked (Santo's team mate) Eddy Guerrero while pointing to himself; Machine returned the mask to Santo, as Eddy Guerrero turn on Santo. A week later, Guerrero formed "La Pareja Del Terror" (The team of terror) with Machine.

On December 4, 1993, Barr showed up unannounced at the Portland Sports Arena to fight John Rambo, even though he didn't have a wrestling license to compete there. The show was held between a commission meeting regarding Sandy Barr's promotional license, and earlier in the night, a drunk former local wrestler showed up saying that Rambo was a stooge for the commissioner. As a result, the Rambo/Barr match turned into a total shoot, as Barr threw a very stiff forearm that destroyed Rambo's nose. Following the match, Barr claimed that it had been an accident, but that Rambo had shoot kicked him in the throat earlier in the match to the point that Barr was coughing up blood. After the match, Rambo and Art got into a backstage fight again, but no criminal charges were pressed as no jury would believe that a real assault incident would happen at a wrestling show.

During an AAA card in Chicago on July 23, 1994, Machine and Guerrero captured the AAA World Tag Team Championships by defeating El Hijo del Santo and Octagon. A few weeks later, Konnan turned on Aguayo and joined the evil Americans team during a Konnan/Cien Caras vs. Satanico/Perro Aguayo "parejas increíbles" (incredible teams) match. The Konnan, Guerrero & Machine alliance, better known as Los Gringos Locos (The Crazy Americans), mixed charisma with wrestling ability in a way that had never been seen before. Seeing as though Guerrero wasn't available full-time time (due to commitments working as Black Tiger II in New Japan), wrestlers including Black Cat, [[Louie Spicolli|Madonna's Boyfriend]], El Misterioso, Chicano Power and King Lion eventually joined group at different times. Barr made his New Japan Pro Wrestling debut as "American Machine" in Summer 1994, wrestling under an old American Love Machine mask. His debut match was a 6-Man Tag involving himself, Black Cat & Black Tiger II against Shinjiro Otani, El Samurai & Jushin Liger, in which Machine's team won. Liger apparently had big plans to feud with Barr (including a match for the IWGP Jr Heavyweight Title), but they never materialized after Liger broke his ankle.

=== When Worlds Collide and Death ===
On November 6, 1994, Barr was featured in one of the main events at the WCW-produced AAA/IWC When Worlds Collide PPV; Barr and Guerrero competed against Octagon and El Hijo del Santo in a Best 2/3 Falls, Double Hair vs. Double Mask match. There were backstage problems prior to the match, as Art and Octagon were removed from the booking sheet and booked as seconds to their partners. In addition, WCW production decided to cut the broadcast down 45 minutes from the original run time, resulting in all of the undercard matches becoming one-fall to a finish, and cutting the tag team semi-main event from 30 minutes to 20 minutes. The match ended up impressing promotors all over America, as ECW booker Paul Heyman immediately contacted Art Barr and Eddy Guerrero about coming in to feud against The Public Enemy (who were the top tag team in ECW at the time); Art confirmed this in a shoot interview following the PPV, and said that he looked forward to competing in ECW. Art additionally was scheduled to compete at New Japan's annual Tokyo Dome show on January 4, 1995. WCW and WWF additionally showed interest in Barr and Guerrero as a tag team

Three weeks after the pay-per-view, Art Barr was found lying in bed without a pulse and bleeding from the nose by his mother. Preliminary reports claimed that Barr died of an aneurysm, but later reports ruled that he died under unknown circumstances. Barr suffered from no heart problems, there was no aneurysm or internal bleeding from ring injuries and a drug overdose was ruled out, even though sleeping pills were found in his system. Prior to his death, he was planning to marry his pregnant fiancé and had finally quit drugs and wild partying.

 
== Luchas de apuestas record ==
{{astart}}
{{aline|92/04/03|mask|[[Blue Panther]]|Love Machine|Arena México - Mexico City}}
{{aline|93/07/18|hair|[[Blue Panther]]|Love Machine|Auditorio Rio Nilo - Tonala, Jalisco}}
{{aline|94/11/06|hairs|[[El Hijo del Santo]] & [[Octagon]]|Love Machine & [[Eddy Guerrero]]|Los Angeles Sports Arena - Los Angeles, CA, USA}}
{{aend|}}

== Gallery ==
{{Gallery|name=LoveMachineMask.jpg|caption=Masked}}
{{Gallery||name=5930.jpg|caption=}}
{{Gallery|name=lovemachine2.jpg|caption= }}
{{Gallery|name=5937.jpg |caption= }}
{{GalleryX|GRINGOS20LOCOS.jpg|With Konnan|250}}
 
{{Gallery|name=5931.jpg |caption= }}
{{Gallery|name=5932.jpg |caption= }}
{{Gallery|name=5929.jpg |caption= }}
{{Gallery||name=Gringos Locos.jpg|caption=With Eddy Guerrero}}
{{Gallery|name=Lovealedes.jpg |caption= }}
{{Gallery|name=Artbarrboxylucha.jpg |caption=On the cover of Box Y Lucha }}

[[Category:Foreign wrestlers]]
[[Category:United States wrestlers]]
[[Category:Deceased wrestlers]]

Love Machine

2007-08-16T04:30:18Z

Parsonsburg: /* Biography */

== Profile ==



{{bioFields|
|image=lovemachine.jpg
|name=Love Machine
|realName=Arthur Leon Barr
|nicknames=El Gringo Loco
|nameHistory=Art Barr (debut - death), The Intruder (PNW, 87), Beetlejuice (PNW, 88 - 90), The Juicer (NWA/WCW, 1990), Love Machine (91 - death), American Love Machine, American Machine (NJPW, 1994)
|family=[[Sandy Barr]] (father), [[Jesse Barr]]/Jimmy Jack Funk (brother), [[Shawn Barr]] (brother)
|maestro=[[Sandy Barr]], [[Roddy Piper]]
|birthdate=[[October 8]], [[1966]] - [[Portland]], [[Oregon]], [[USA]]
|obituarydate=[[November 23]], [[1994]] - [[Springfield]], [[Oregon]], [[USA]]
|debut=[[April 2]], [[1987]] - [[Salem]], [[Oregon]], [[USA]]
|lostmaskto=[[Blue Panther]] - [[April 3]], [[1992]] - [[Arena México]]
|height=6'1''
|weight=240lbs.
|signatureMoves=[[Frog Splash]], [[Tombstone]], [[Belly-to-belly Suplex]], [[Dropkick to the face]]
|titles=[[PNW TV Title]], [[PNW/NWA Tag Team Titles]] (2, w/ [[Big Juice]] - The Juicer Patrol, w/ [[Jesse Barr]]), [[PNW/USA Tag Team Titles]] (w/ [[Konnan|Konnan El Barbaro]]), [[AAA/IWC World Tag Team Titles]] (w/ [[Eddy Guerrero]])
}}

== Biography ==
Art Barr was the son of Sandy (wrestler, referee and long time promoter in the Oregon area) and the brother of Jesse (who wrestled in the WWF as Jimmy Jack Funk). Art was an accomplished amatuer wrestler, as he became a 4-time district champion and a 2-time Oregon State champion, but he had to drop out when his first wife became pregnant. Art worked in a steel mill during the day, and would train to become a pro-wrestler at night with his father and Roddy Piper, who taught him how to properly use his natural charisma. Art made his professional wrestling debut April 2, 1987 under his real name in Salem, Oregon; weighing only 175 pounds, he was way too small to become a serious threat to the main eventers, so he mainly competed in the opening contests of the shows he worked. On January 21, 1989, while Art was in the ring during a televised show, Piper and other three wrestlers entered the ring, covered Art with a sheet, stripped him naked, threw his clothes to the crowd and gave him a new suit. Piper had also sprayed something in Art's hair, grabbed the mic claimed that he created The Beetlejuice, took off the sheet and revealed Art with his new Bettlejuice gimmick. Ironically, in a a traditionalist promotion, he became the most popular wrestler among the fans. He especially was a hero to children, as he'd usually fight and defeat heels including Al Madril or Abuddah Dean.
Beetlejuice also tasted success in the tag ranks teaming with "Big Juice" as The Juice Patrol. In 1990, they were the top men in the division along with the team of Ricky Santana and Curtis Thompson. On June 30, 1990, Big Juice lost a "loser-leaves-town" match, but it didn't negatively affect Barr as WCW management had began to take notice of him. At the time, WCW was very distant to the WWF in terms of popularity among the younger viewers, but they noticed a lot of potential in Barr as a new idol for kids. Art entered WCW as the same character, but changed his name to the Juicer, in order to avoid potential copyright problems. While in WCW, Ole Anderson allegedly told Art that he'd never get over beacuse he was way too small, in which Art remaked that "I'm as tall as you are, you are just fat."

Barr's charisma and ability were noticed by Konnan in December 1990, as he was invited (along with Rey Misterio Sr.) to compete at WCW Starrcade 90. Konnan would bring Barr and Norman Smiley to Mexico's EMLL promotion in early 1991. Art was given the gimmick of The American Love Machine, a masked American tecnico (babyface) with a sexy playboy gimmick, in March 1991. He soon became a popular performer and was given the chance to have a singles feud with Blue Panther, who was one of the most respected wrestlers from Mexico. His rivalry with Panther further elevated Love Machine as a top draw for the promotion, and following a huge build-up, a máscara contra máscara contest was scheduled for April 3, 1992 at Arena México; 18,000 fans packed in the 17,100 capacity building, while the other 8,000 fans were turned away at the door. EMLL management predicted that the attendance would overflow, so a set of giant TV screens were set up in the parking lot of the building. Panther won that match, after Love Machine was instantly disqualified for using the "martinete" (a tombstone piledriver) on Blue Panther during the third and final fall; Machine apparently didn't know that the martinete was a banned move, as the audience was more concerned about the health of Panther (who was stretchered out of the ring) than Love Machine removing his mask.

== Asistencia, Asesoría y Administración ==
A month later, booker Antonio Peña left the promotion (along with Konnan, Cien Caras, Perro Aguayo and others) to form the [[AAA|Asistencia, Asesoría y Administración]] promotion. Konnan, who had developed a very solid friendship with Art, managed to recruit Machine for a three-year $3,500 per week contract with the new promotion. Art debuted on November 6, 1992, Rey Misterio Jr. faced Tony Arce (of Los Destructores) in a mask vs. hair match in the main event of a show in Acapulco, Gro; a masked Rey Misterio Sr. was the "second" of his nephew, while Blue Panther was seconding Arce. During the third fall, Panther was getting too involved, which resulted in "Rey Sr." unmasking himself as Love Machine; Panther ran back to the locker room while being chased by Machine, while Rey Jr. cleanly defeated Tony Arce in the middle of the ring. By December of 1992, Machine was finally allowed to wrestle in Oregon again, and on January 9, 1993, Art (wrestling as American Love Machine) and Konnan defeated Polynesian Prince and Tazmanian Devil to win the Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championships at the Sports Arena. Later, the belts were imported to Mexico and renamed the AAA World Tag Team Championships.

The Panther vs. Machine feud reached its highest point on July 18, 1993, when the headlining hair vs. mask match in Tonala, Jal. drew a crowd of 20,000; even though Machine was the tecnico for this match, he was met with chants of "Mexico! Mexico!". In the third fall. Machine already had his opponent beaten when he started fooling around, as he'd cover Panther for the pin and lift him up at the two count while acting cocky and proud. He picked up Panther to execute a tombstone and held the position (while the crowd told him not to do it) until Perro Aguayo pushed them, as Machine was instantly disqualified for outside interference by Aguayo; this enraged Machine, who (along with Panther's second and longtime Aguayo enemy Fishman) started beating up Perro until Panther made the save, which resulted in Machine becoming a rudo and Aguayo becoming a tecnico. During a trios match a month after Machine's rudo turn, Machine ripped off Santo's mask, put it on, and attacked (Santo's team mate) Eddy Guerrero while pointing to himself; Machine returned the mask to Santo, as Eddy Guerrero turn on Santo. A week later, Guerrero formed "La Pareja Del Terror" (The team of terror) with Machine.

During an AAA card in Chicago on July 23, 2004, Machine and Guerrero captured the AAA World Tag Team Championships by defeating El Hijo del Santo and Octagon. A few weeks later, Konnan turned on Aguayo and joined the evil Americans team during a Konnan/Cien Caras vs. Satanico/Perro Aguayo "parejas increíbles" (incredible teams) match. The Konnan, Guerrero & Machine alliance, better known as Los Gringos Locos (The Crazy Americans), mixed charisma with wrestling ability in a way that had never been seen before. Seeing as though Guerrero wasn't available full-time time (due to commitments working as Black Tiger II in New Japan), wrestlers including Black Cat, [[Louie Spicolli|Madonna's Boyfriend]], El Misterioso, Chicano Power and King Lion eventually joined group at different times. Barr made his New Japan Pro Wrestling debut as "American Machine" in Summer 1994, wrestling under an old American Love Machine mask. His debut match was a 6-Man Tag involving himself, Black Cat & Black Tiger II against Shinjiro Otani, El Samurai & Jushin Liger, in which Machine's team won. Liger apparently had big plans to feud with Barr (including a match for the IWGP Jr Heavyweight Title), but they never materialized after Liger broke his ankle.

== When Worlds Collide and Death ==
On November 6, 1994, Barr was featured in one of the main events at the WCW-produced AAA/IWC When Worlds Collide PPV; Barr and Guerrero competed against Octagon and El Hijo del Santo in a Best 2/3 Falls, Double Hair vs. Double Mask match. There were backstage problems prior to the match, as Art and Octagon were removed from the booking sheet and booked as seconds to their partners. In addition, WCW production decided to cut the broadcast down 45 minutes from the original run time, resulting in all of the undercard matches becoming one-fall to a finish, and cutting the tag team semi-main event from 30 minutes to 20 minutes. The match ended up impressing promotors all over America, as ECW booker Paul Heyman immediately contacted Art Barr and Eddy Guerrero about coming in to feud against The Public Enemy (who were the top tag team in ECW at the time); Art confirmed this in a shoot interview following the PPV, and said that he looked forward to competing in ECW. Art additionally was scheduled to compete at New Japan's annual Tokyo Dome show on January 4, 1995. WCW and WWF additionally showed interest in Barr and Guerrero as a tag team

Three weeks after the pay-per-view, Art Barr was found lying in bed without a pulse and bleeding from the nose by his mother. Preliminary reports claimed that Barr died of an aneurysm, but later reports ruled that he died under unknown circumstances. Barr suffered from no heart problems, there was no aneurysm or internal bleeding from ring injuries and a drug overdose was ruled out, even though sleeping pills were found in his system. Prior to his death, he was planning to marry his pregnant fiancé and had finally quit drugs and wild partying.

== Controversy ==
Ten weeks after Barr signed with WCW, he was found guilty of sexual harassment on a 19 year old girl named Angela. The 16th of July of 1989, after a wrestling show in Pendleton, OR, Arthur had a late-night sexual meeting at a deserted armory, underneath a stairwell, with that female fan that later charged him with rape. Art always claimed that he had had that meeting with the fan and that he knew that she didn't want to have sex with him at that place, but that he thought that she would have wanted it somewhere else, and he never accepted that he was guilty. In the end, he was fined with $1,000 and with the payment of the medical and counseling bills of the victim, and he was sentenced to 180 hours of community service work. Barr didn't take the case to court and accepted the plea-bargain, and what was expected to be a chapter of his life that would get quickly forgotten, got worse as local media (TV and newspapers) started putting huge pressure to the commision to revoke his wrestling license. The Oregon boxing & wrestling commission found out that in his license questionary he claimed that he had never been convicted of felony and denied him the right to renew his license anymore. Even though Barr was involved in controversy over sexual harassment ten weeks after signing with WCW, owner Jim Herd didn't fire him, as he felt that Barr had already paid his debt to society. However, news of the incident resulted in condemnation from the audience, as they chanted "rapist" during his matches. As a result, Herd decided to stop using Barr, because he felt that promoting "a nasty rapist" as a hero to the kids would ruin the company's image.

On December 4, 1993, Barr showed up at the Portland Sports Arena without a previous announcement to fight John Rambo, even though he didn't have a wrestling license to compete there. The show was held between a commission meeting regarding Sandy Barr's promotional license, and earlier in the night, a drunk former local wrestler showed up saying that Rambo was a stooge for the commissioner. As a result, the Rambo/Barr match turned into a total shoot, as Barr threw a very stiff forearm that destroyed Rambo's nose. Following the match, Barr claimed that it had been an accident, but that Rambo had shoot kicked him in the throat earlier in the match to the point that Barr was coughing up blood. After the match, Rambo and Art got into a backstage fight again, but no criminal charges were pressed as no jury would believe that a real assault incident would happen at a wrestling show.

 
== Luchas de apuestas record ==
{{astart}}
{{aline|92/04/03|mask|[[Blue Panther]]|Love Machine|Arena México - Mexico City}}
{{aline|93/07/18|hair|[[Blue Panther]]|Love Machine|Auditorio Rio Nilo - Tonala, Jalisco}}
{{aline|94/11/06|hairs|[[El Hijo del Santo]] & [[Octagon]]|Love Machine & [[Eddy Guerrero]]|Los Angeles Sports Arena - Los Angeles, CA, USA}}
{{aend|}}

== Gallery ==
{{Gallery|name=LoveMachineMask.jpg|caption=Masked}}
{{Gallery||name=5930.jpg|caption=}}
{{Gallery|name=lovemachine2.jpg|caption= }}
{{Gallery|name=5937.jpg |caption= }}
{{GalleryX|GRINGOS20LOCOS.jpg|With Konnan|250}}
 
{{Gallery|name=5931.jpg |caption= }}
{{Gallery|name=5932.jpg |caption= }}
{{Gallery|name=5929.jpg |caption= }}
{{Gallery||name=Gringos Locos.jpg|caption=With Eddy Guerrero}}
{{Gallery|name=Lovealedes.jpg |caption= }}
{{Gallery|name=Artbarrboxylucha.jpg |caption=On the cover of Box Y Lucha }}

[[Category:Foreign wrestlers]]
[[Category:United States wrestlers]]
[[Category:Deceased wrestlers]]

Love Machine

2007-08-16T04:29:12Z

Parsonsburg: Re-worded the entire article, as it was written very poorly.

== Profile ==



{{bioFields|
|image=lovemachine.jpg
|name=Love Machine
|realName=Arthur Leon Barr
|nicknames=El Gringo Loco
|nameHistory=Art Barr (debut - death), The Intruder (PNW, 87), Beetlejuice (PNW, 88 - 90), The Juicer (NWA/WCW, 1990), Love Machine (91 - death), American Love Machine, American Machine (NJPW, 1994)
|family=[[Sandy Barr]] (father), [[Jesse Barr]]/Jimmy Jack Funk (brother), [[Shawn Barr]] (brother)
|maestro=[[Sandy Barr]], [[Roddy Piper]]
|birthdate=[[October 8]], [[1966]] - [[Portland]], [[Oregon]], [[USA]]
|obituarydate=[[November 23]], [[1994]] - [[Springfield]], [[Oregon]], [[USA]]
|debut=[[April 2]], [[1987]] - [[Salem]], [[Oregon]], [[USA]]
|lostmaskto=[[Blue Panther]] - [[April 3]], [[1992]] - [[Arena México]]
|height=6'1''
|weight=240lbs.
|signatureMoves=[[Frog Splash]], [[Tombstone]], [[Belly-to-belly Suplex]], [[Dropkick to the face]]
|titles=[[PNW TV Title]], [[PNW/NWA Tag Team Titles]] (2, w/ [[Big Juice]] - The Juicer Patrol, w/ [[Jesse Barr]]), [[PNW/USA Tag Team Titles]] (w/ [[Konnan|Konnan El Barbaro]]), [[AAA/IWC World Tag Team Titles]] (w/ [[Eddy Guerrero]])
}}

== Biography ==
Art Barr was the son of Sandy (wrestler, referee and long time promoter in the Oregon area) and the brother of Jesse (who wrestled in the WWF as Jimmy Jack Funk). Art was an accomplished amatuer wrestler, as he became a 4-time district champion and a 2-time Oregon State champion, but he had to drop out when his first wife became pregnant. Art worked in a steel mill during the day, and would train to become a pro-wrestler at night with his father and Roddy Piper, who taught him how to properly use his natural charisma. Art made his professional wrestling debut April 2, 1987 under his real name in Salem, Oregon; weighing only 175 pounds, he was way too small to become a serious threat to the main eventers, so he mainly competed in the opening contests of the shows he worked. On January 21, 1989, while Art was in the ring during a televised show, Piper and other three wrestlers entered the ring, covered Art with a sheet, stripped him naked, threw his clothes to the crowd and gave him a new suit. Piper had also sprayed something in Art's hair, grabbed the mic claimed that he created The Beetlejuice, took off the sheet and revealed Art with his new Bettlejuice gimmick. Ironically, in a a traditionalist promotion, he became the most popular wrestler among the fans. He especially was a hero to children, as he'd usually fight and defeat heels including Al Madril or Abuddah Dean.
Beetlejuice also tasted success in the tag ranks teaming with "Big Juice" as The Juice Patrol. In 1990, they were the top men in the division along with the team of Ricky Santana and Curtis Thompson. On June 30, 1990, Big Juice lost a "loser-leaves-town" match, but it didn't negatively affect Barr as WCW management had began to take notice of him. At the time, WCW was very distant to the WWF in terms of popularity among the younger viewers, but they noticed a lot of potential in Barr as a new idol for kids. Art entered WCW as the same character, but changed his name to the Juicer, in order to avoid potential copyright problems. While in WCW, Ole Anderson allegedly told Art that he'd never get over beacuse he was way too small, in which Art remaked that "I'm as tall as you are, you are just fat."

Barr's charisma and ability were noticed by Konnan in December 1990, as he was invited (along with Rey Misterio Sr.) to compete at WCW Starrcade 90. Konnan would bring Barr and Norman Smiley to Mexico's EMLL promotion in early 1991. Art was given the gimmick of The American Love Machine, a masked American tecnico (babyface) with a sexy playboy gimmick, in March 1991. He soon became a popular performer and was given the chance to have a singles feud with Blue Panther, who was one of the most respected wrestlers from Mexico. His rivalry with Panther further elevated Love Machine as a top draw for the promotion, and following a huge build-up, a máscara contra máscara contest was scheduled for April 3, 1992 at Arena México; 18,000 fans packed in the 17,100 capacity building, while the other 8,000 fans were turned away at the door. EMLL management predicted that the attendance would overflow, so a set of giant TV screens were set up in the parking lot of the building. Panther won that match, after Love Machine was instantly disqualified for using the "martinete" (a tombstone piledriver) on Blue Panther during the third and final fall; Machine apparently didn't know that the martinete was a banned move, as the audience was more concerned about the health of Panther (who was stretchered out of the ring) than Love Machine removing his mask.

A month later, booker Antonio Peña left the promotion (along with Konnan, Cien Caras, Perro Aguayo and others) to form the [[AAA|Asistencia, Asesoría y Administración]] promotion. Konnan, who had developed a very solid friendship with Art, managed to recruit Machine for a three-year $3,500 per week contract with the new promotion. Art debuted on November 6, 1992, Rey Misterio Jr. faced Tony Arce (of Los Destructores) in a mask vs. hair match in the main event of a show in Acapulco, Gro; a masked Rey Misterio Sr. was the "second" of his nephew, while Blue Panther was seconding Arce. During the third fall, Panther was getting too involved, which resulted in "Rey Sr." unmasking himself as Love Machine; Panther ran back to the locker room while being chased by Machine, while Rey Jr. cleanly defeated Tony Arce in the middle of the ring. By December of 1992, Machine was finally allowed to wrestle in Oregon again, and on January 9, 1993, Art (wrestling as American Love Machine) and Konnan defeated Polynesian Prince and Tazmanian Devil to win the Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championships at the Sports Arena. Later, the belts were imported to Mexico and renamed the AAA World Tag Team Championships.

The Panther vs. Machine feud reached its highest point on July 18, 1993, when the headlining hair vs. mask match in Tonala, Jal. drew a crowd of 20,000; even though Machine was the tecnico for this match, he was met with chants of "Mexico! Mexico!". In the third fall. Machine already had his opponent beaten when he started fooling around, as he'd cover Panther for the pin and lift him up at the two count while acting cocky and proud. He picked up Panther to execute a tombstone and held the position (while the crowd told him not to do it) until Perro Aguayo pushed them, as Machine was instantly disqualified for outside interference by Aguayo; this enraged Machine, who (along with Panther's second and longtime Aguayo enemy Fishman) started beating up Perro until Panther made the save, which resulted in Machine becoming a rudo and Aguayo becoming a tecnico. During a trios match a month after Machine's rudo turn, Machine ripped off Santo's mask, put it on, and attacked (Santo's team mate) Eddy Guerrero while pointing to himself; Machine returned the mask to Santo, as Eddy Guerrero turn on Santo. A week later, Guerrero formed "La Pareja Del Terror" (The team of terror) with Machine.

During an AAA card in Chicago on July 23, 2004, Machine and Guerrero captured the AAA World Tag Team Championships by defeating El Hijo del Santo and Octagon. A few weeks later, Konnan turned on Aguayo and joined the evil Americans team during a Konnan/Cien Caras vs. Satanico/Perro Aguayo "parejas increíbles" (incredible teams) match. The Konnan, Guerrero & Machine alliance, better known as Los Gringos Locos (The Crazy Americans), mixed charisma with wrestling ability in a way that had never been seen before. Seeing as though Guerrero wasn't available full-time time (due to commitments working as Black Tiger II in New Japan), wrestlers including Black Cat, [[Louie Spicolli|Madonna's Boyfriend]], El Misterioso, Chicano Power and King Lion eventually joined group at different times. Barr made his New Japan Pro Wrestling debut as "American Machine" in Summer 1994, wrestling under an old American Love Machine mask. His debut match was a 6-Man Tag involving himself, Black Cat & Black Tiger II against Shinjiro Otani, El Samurai & Jushin Liger, in which Machine's team won. Liger apparently had big plans to feud with Barr (including a match for the IWGP Jr Heavyweight Title), but they never materialized after Liger broke his ankle.

On November 6, 1994, Barr was featured in one of the main events at the WCW-produced AAA/IWC When Worlds Collide PPV; Barr and Guerrero competed against Octagon and El Hijo del Santo in a Best 2/3 Falls, Double Hair vs. Double Mask match. There were backstage problems prior to the match, as Art and Octagon were removed from the booking sheet and booked as seconds to their partners. In addition, WCW production decided to cut the broadcast down 45 minutes from the original run time, resulting in all of the undercard matches becoming one-fall to a finish, and cutting the tag team semi-main event from 30 minutes to 20 minutes. The match ended up impressing promotors all over America, as ECW booker Paul Heyman immediately contacted Art Barr and Eddy Guerrero about coming in to feud against The Public Enemy (who were the top tag team in ECW at the time); Art confirmed this in a shoot interview following the PPV, and said that he looked forward to competing in ECW. Art additionally was scheduled to compete at New Japan's annual Tokyo Dome show on January 4, 1995. WCW and WWF additionally showed interest in Barr and Guerrero as a tag team

Three weeks after the pay-per-view, Art Barr was found lying in bed without a pulse and bleeding from the nose by his mother. Preliminary reports claimed that Barr died of an aneurysm, but later reports ruled that he died under unknown circumstances. Barr suffered from no heart problems, there was no aneurysm or internal bleeding from ring injuries and a drug overdose was ruled out, even though sleeping pills were found in his system. Prior to his death, he was planning to marry his pregnant fiancé and had finally quit drugs and wild partying.

== Controversy ==
Ten weeks after Barr signed with WCW, he was found guilty of sexual harassment on a 19 year old girl named Angela. The 16th of July of 1989, after a wrestling show in Pendleton, OR, Arthur had a late-night sexual meeting at a deserted armory, underneath a stairwell, with that female fan that later charged him with rape. Art always claimed that he had had that meeting with the fan and that he knew that she didn't want to have sex with him at that place, but that he thought that she would have wanted it somewhere else, and he never accepted that he was guilty. In the end, he was fined with $1,000 and with the payment of the medical and counseling bills of the victim, and he was sentenced to 180 hours of community service work. Barr didn't take the case to court and accepted the plea-bargain, and what was expected to be a chapter of his life that would get quickly forgotten, got worse as local media (TV and newspapers) started putting huge pressure to the commision to revoke his wrestling license. The Oregon boxing & wrestling commission found out that in his license questionary he claimed that he had never been convicted of felony and denied him the right to renew his license anymore. Even though Barr was involved in controversy over sexual harassment ten weeks after signing with WCW, owner Jim Herd didn't fire him, as he felt that Barr had already paid his debt to society. However, news of the incident resulted in condemnation from the audience, as they chanted "rapist" during his matches. As a result, Herd decided to stop using Barr, because he felt that promoting "a nasty rapist" as a hero to the kids would ruin the company's image.

On December 4, 1993, Barr showed up at the Portland Sports Arena without a previous announcement to fight John Rambo, even though he didn't have a wrestling license to compete there. The show was held between a commission meeting regarding Sandy Barr's promotional license, and earlier in the night, a drunk former local wrestler showed up saying that Rambo was a stooge for the commissioner. As a result, the Rambo/Barr match turned into a total shoot, as Barr threw a very stiff forearm that destroyed Rambo's nose. Following the match, Barr claimed that it had been an accident, but that Rambo had shoot kicked him in the throat earlier in the match to the point that Barr was coughing up blood. After the match, Rambo and Art got into a backstage fight again, but no criminal charges were pressed as no jury would believe that a real assault incident would happen at a wrestling show.

 
== Luchas de apuestas record ==
{{astart}}
{{aline|92/04/03|mask|[[Blue Panther]]|Love Machine|Arena México - Mexico City}}
{{aline|93/07/18|hair|[[Blue Panther]]|Love Machine|Auditorio Rio Nilo - Tonala, Jalisco}}
{{aline|94/11/06|hairs|[[El Hijo del Santo]] & [[Octagon]]|Love Machine & [[Eddy Guerrero]]|Los Angeles Sports Arena - Los Angeles, CA, USA}}
{{aend|}}

== Gallery ==
{{Gallery|name=LoveMachineMask.jpg|caption=Masked}}
{{Gallery||name=5930.jpg|caption=}}
{{Gallery|name=lovemachine2.jpg|caption= }}
{{Gallery|name=5937.jpg |caption= }}
{{GalleryX|GRINGOS20LOCOS.jpg|With Konnan|250}}
 
{{Gallery|name=5931.jpg |caption= }}
{{Gallery|name=5932.jpg |caption= }}
{{Gallery|name=5929.jpg |caption= }}
{{Gallery||name=Gringos Locos.jpg|caption=With Eddy Guerrero}}
{{Gallery|name=Lovealedes.jpg |caption= }}
{{Gallery|name=Artbarrboxylucha.jpg |caption=On the cover of Box Y Lucha }}

[[Category:Foreign wrestlers]]
[[Category:United States wrestlers]]
[[Category:Deceased wrestlers]]

Love Machine

2007-08-16T03:34:34Z

Parsonsburg: /* Gallery */

== Profile ==



{{bioFields|
|image=lovemachine.jpg
|name=Love Machine
|realName=Arthur Leon Barr
|nicknames=El Gringo Loco
|nameHistory=Art Barr (debut - death), The Intruder (PNW, 87), Beetlejuice (PNW, 88 - 90), The Juicer (NWA/WCW, 1990), Love Machine (91 - death), American Love Machine, American Machine (NJPW, 1994)
|family=[[Sandy Barr]] (father), [[Jesse Barr]]/Jimmy Jack Funk (brother), [[Shawn Barr]] (brother)
|maestro=[[Sandy Barr]], [[Roddy Piper]]
|birthdate=[[October 8]], [[1966]] - [[Portland]], [[Oregon]], [[USA]]
|obituarydate=[[November 23]], [[1994]] - [[Springfield]], [[Oregon]], [[USA]]
|debut=[[April 2]], [[1987]] - [[Salem]], [[Oregon]], [[USA]]
|lostmaskto=[[Blue Panther]] - [[April 3]], [[1992]] - [[Arena México]]
|height=6'1''
|weight=240lbs.
|signatureMoves=[[Frog Splash]], [[Tombstone]], [[Belly-to-belly Suplex]], [[Dropkick to the face]]
|titles=[[PNW TV Title]], [[PNW/NWA Tag Team Titles]] (2, w/ [[Big Juice]] - The Juicer Patrol, w/ [[Jesse Barr]]), [[PNW/USA Tag Team Titles]] (w/ [[Konnan|Konnan El Barbaro]]), [[AAA/IWC World Tag Team Titles]] (w/ [[Eddy Guerrero]])
}}

== Biography ==


Arthur Barr was one of those persons whose destiny was to become a pro wrestler. Some wrestle for the fun. Others do it for the money. Art had wrestling in his blood.

His father Sandy Barr was a not-really-successful former wrestler, referee, and long time promoter in the Oregon area, and his brother Jesse already was involved in the business too, in fact he even wrestled in the WWF as the "lost brother" of Terry Funk, Jimmy Jack Funk, so little Arthur's life was full of wrestling basically since he was born.

Just like his brother Jesse, Art was a very good amateur wrestler. Art achieved big success as he became a 4-time district champion and a 2-time state (Portland) champion, but he had to quit the university when his first wife became pregnant, so Art stated to work in a steel mill at day while training to become a pro-wrestler at night.

His father gets credited for Art's early training, however his mentor was none other than the great Roddy Piper. When Art was 12, Piper (who was a big name in Oregon at the time) used to take him to the gym. Piper was more than just a mentor though - he was a friend. There's no doubt that Piper played a very important part in Art's training as he taught him how to use properly the immense natural charisma he had.

The 2nd of April of 1987, Art Barr made his pro-wrestling debut under his real name in a card at Salem, OR, but at just 175 pounds, he was way too small to become a serious threat to the main eventers, so despite the fact that he always was a good worker, it was predictable that he would never get past the low-card spots, as even though he owned the TV title for a few weeks, he would rarely wrestle other match than the opening bout.

But... a few months later, Piper had one idea for him. On January 21, 1989, while Arthur was in the middle of the ring during a televised show, Piper and other three wrestlers entered the ring. They covered Art with a sheet, stripped him naked throwing his clothes to the crowd and gave him a new suit. Piper also sprayed something in Art's hair. Then, Piper got the mic and said: "Now I have created The Beetlejuice, the meanest little son-of-a-gun that I have ever seen". He took off the sheet and Arthur was there with his new gimmick, Beetlejuice, a character based on the movie of the same name. Ironically, in a a traditionalist promotion, he became the most popular wrestler among the fans. He especially was a hero to the kids, and he'd usually fight against and defeat the bad guys of the promotion like Al Madril or Abuddah Dean.

Beetlejuice was a big singles player but he also tasted success in the tag ranks teaming with "Big Juice" (Jeff Warker aka P.W. Storm) as "The Juice Patrol". In 1990 they were the top men in the division along with the team of the U.S. Males of Ricky Santana and Curtis Thompson (Firebreaker Chip). The 30th of June, Big Juice lost a "loser-leaves-town" match but that wasn't a big problem for Art's rise to stardom as the WCW management had noticed him. At the time, WCW was very distant to the WWF in terms of popularity among the younger viewers but they noticed a lot of potential in Barr as a new idol for the little kids. So Arthur got his first break in a big promotion as The Juicer, basically the same character with a different name to avoid copyright problems.

Ten weeks after Barr signed with WCW he was found guilty of sexual harassment to a 19-year-old girl called Angela. The 16th of July of 1989, after a wrestling show in Pendleton, OR, Arthur had a late-night sexual meeting at a deserted armory, underneath a stairwell, with that female fan that later charged him with rape. Art always claimed that he had had that meeting with the fan and that he knew that she didn't want to have sex with him at that place, but that he thought that she would have wanted it somewhere else, and he never accepted that he was guilty. In the end, he was fined with $1,000 and with the payment of the medical and counseling bills of the victim, and he was sentenced to 180 hours of community service work. Barr didn't take the case to court and accepted the plea-bargain, and what was expected to be a chapter of his life that would get quickly forgotten, got worse as local media (TV and newspapers) started putting huge pressure to the commision to revoke his wrestling license. The Oregon boxing & wrestling commission found out that in his license questionary he claimed that he had never been convicted of felony and denied him the right to renew his license anymore.

WCW owner Jim Herd didn't fire him as he felt that Barr had already paid his debt to society, but news of the incident made him very impopular to the point that there were crowd chants of "rapist" during his matches, so Herd decided to stop using Barr to avoid damaging the image of the company promoting "a nasty rapist" as a hero to the kids.

As a funny fact, Ole Anderson once told Art that "he'd never get over beacuse he was way too small". Art's response was "Ole, I'm as tall as you are, you are just fat".

Konnan, who along with Rey Misterio (Sr.) was invited to December's WCW Starrcade 90, noticed Barr's tremendous charisma and ability and took him, and Norman Smiley, to the Mexican promotion EMLL in early 1991. Now Art had a chance to work in a place where he didn't have a bad reputation and where he could become a big star as he wouldn't be hold down for not being big enough.

Art was given a mask and a new personality, and The American Love Machine was born in March 1991: an American tecnico (babyface) with a sexy boy gimmick. Word got to Oregon about his new wrestling personality, however this time pressure didn't cross the border and his looks and his ability made him a popular performer very soon, so he was given the chance to have a singles feud with one of the most respected wrestlers from Mexico, Blue Panther. Now Art was earning $3,500 a week, but he and his family hated living in Mexico.

His rivalry widh Panther helped Love Machine become a real top draw for the promotion and after a huge feud build-up, a máscara contra máscara was scheduled for the 3rd of April, 1992 at Mexico's most important wrestling building, Arena México. For that match, not only 18,000 fans overcrowded the 17,100 building, but 8,000 more fans were turned away at the door. EMLL management predicted that overflow so a set of giant TV screens was set up at the parking lot of the building. Panther won that match, as in the 3rd fall Love Machine used the "martinete" (piledriver, usually a tombstone piledriver) on Blue Panther and was instantly DQ'd. The angle here was that Machine didn't know that the martinete is a banned move. In Mexico, the martinete is pretty much considered a move that can kill you dead, it is sort of the wrestling move that separates in-ring hate with REAL hate. Almost every time somebody gets hit with that move, he sells it acting unconscious and being stretchered out. Even still, Arthur kept himself as a babyface though that night the crowd wasn't exactly cheering for him while he removed his mask as they were more concerned about the health of Panther, who was stretchered out of the ring.

EMLL was at a high business point then, but a month later, one of the bookers, Antonio Peña, with help of Konnan, Cien Caras, Perro Aguayo and others left the promotion to create a new group - AAA (Asistencia, Asesoría y Administración). Konnan, who had developed a very solid friendship with Arthur, got Machine a three-year $3,500 per week contract with the new promotion.

== AAA (Asistencia, Asesoría y Administración) ==

Arthur's first appearance for AAA was a fine example of excellent booking. On November 6, 1992, another rising star, Rey Misterio Jr., faced Tony Arce of Los Destructores in a mask vs. hair match, in the main event of a show in Acapulco, Gro. A masked Rey Misterio Sr. was the "second" of his nephew, while Blue Panther was seconding Arce. During the 3rd fall, Panther was interfering too much, so "Rey Sr." got tired and unmasked himself as Love Machine (now the "American" part was removed from the name)! Panther ran in fear back to the locker rooms chased by his American enemy, while Rey Jr. cleanly defeated Tony Arce in the middle of the ring.

By December of 1992, Machine was finally allowed to wrestle in Oregon again, and on January 9, 1993, Art, this time wrestling as American Love Machine, and his buddy Konnan El Barbaro won the Pacific Northwest USA defeating Polynesian Prince and Tazmanian Devil at the Sports Arena. Those belts would be later teken to Mexico and renamed the AAA World Tag Team titles.

The Panther vs. Machine feud reached its highest point on July 18, 1993, when a Blue Panther and Love Machine hair vs. mask match headlined a show in Tonala, Jal. that drew a crowd of 20,000. Even though Machine was the tecnico for this match, he was met with chants of "Mexico! Mexico!". The third fall of this bout is one of the main examples of Machine's true greatness. He already had his opponent beaten when he started fooling around. He'd cover Panther for the pin and lift him up at the two count while acting all cocky and proud. Then he picked up Panther to execute a tombstone! The crowd told him not to do it, so he hold Panther in a tombstone position until Perro Aguayo pushed them and Art was instantly DQ'd for outside interference of his second! This enraged Arthur, who along with Panther's second and longtime Aguayo enemy Fishman started beating up Perro until Panther made the save. A double turn was made that night - the night that Love Machine became one of the biggest superstars in the business.

A month after that incident, another great angle marked the start of a new era. During a trios match in which Eddy Guerrero and El Hijo Del Santo had Love Machine in the opposite team, Machine ripped off Santo's mask, put it on, and attacked Guerrero while pointing to himself like trying to say "Look at me, I'm Santo!". Machine then returned the mask to its owner, only to see an enraged Eddy Guerrero turn on Santo. A week later, Guerrero formed an alliance with Machine, "La Pareja Del Terror" (The team of terror).

The influence of Guerrero and Machine changed lucha libre forever. Guerrero had been wrestling more and more in Japan and started using high impact suplexes and brain busters during his lucha matches. On the other hand, Machine was the American cocky, coward, old-style heel. Or like Konnan later said "Art was the Ric Flair of Mexico".

December 4, 1993 probably was one of the strangest days from Arthur's career. He showed up at the Portland Sports Arena without a previous announcement to fight John Rambo. He didn't even have a wrestling license to fight there. That show was held between a commission meeting regarding Sandy Barr's promotional license, and earlier in the night, a drunk former local wrestler showed up saying that Rambo was a stooge for the commissioner. And well, the Rambo/Barr match turned into a total shoot, as Barr threw a very stiff forearm to Rambo's nose totally destroying it, as later Rambo required surgery to repair it. After the match Barr said it had been an accident but that earlier Rambo had shoot kicked him hard in the throat to the point that he was coughing up blood. After the match, Rambo and Art got into a backstage fight again, but no criminal charges were pressed as no jury would believe that a real assault incident would happen at a wrestling show.

The 23rd of July, during a AAA card in Chicago, Machine and Guerrero captured the AAA World Tag Team titles by defeating the popular team of Santo Jr. and Octagon. A few weeks later, Konnan turned on Aguayo and joined the evil Americans team during a Konnan/Cien Caras vs. Satanico/Perro Aguayo "parejas increíbles" (incredible teams) match.

The Konnan, Guerrero & Machine alliance, better known as Los Gringos Locos (The Crazy Americans) was the perfect combination, as they mixed charisma with wrestling ability in a way never seen before. As Guerrero wasn't available all the time due to his dates working for New Japan, other wrestlers would eventually join the team. Black Cat, Madonna's Boyfriend (the late Louie Spicolli), El Misterioso, Chicano Power and King Lion (El Sanguinario/La Calaca) were a part of the team at different times, but even though Konnan was the natural leader of the team, Machine always was the heart and soul of LGL.

The Summer of 1994 Arthur Barr made his New Japan Pro Wrestling debut as "American Machine", wrestling with one of old American Love Machine masks. His debut match was a Black Cat, Black Tiger (Eddy) & American Machine vs. Shinjiro Otani, El Samurai and Jushin Liger bout that his team won. Liger had big plans for him including a Liger vs. Machine match for the IWGP Jr Heavyweight Title that was never done as Liger broke his ankle.

== When Worlds Collide: his final match ==

The latest, and greatest match from Love Machine was the one that took place the 6th of November of 1994 - the classic Love Machine/Eddy Guerrero vs. Santo/Octagon double hair vs. mask match. There were all kinds of problems before that match though. First, Art and Octagon were removed from the booking sheet and they'd just be seconds. Luckily, that decision was later changed. Then, the same day of the match, WCW production, pulling out one of their characteristic pointless business decisions, cut down 45 minutes from the show. All the undercard matches became 1 fall matches and the tag team semi-main event, a match that was supposed to last 30 minutes, was cut down to 20 minutes.

Still, Arthur was a man on a mission, and that mission was to steal the show and show the world (because he knew that promoters from all over the world would be watching this) that they should believe the hype and that he really was the best heel in the world.

The match was definitely a 5-star classic and one of the most important bouts in lucha history. Paul Heyman from ECW was amazed and he already wanted to get Art Barr and Eddie Guerrero to wrestle for him in a program against The Public Enemy. Arthur was already scheduled to wrestle on the 1/4/95 New Japan Tokyo Dome show. WCW also showed interest in them and things were only going to get better, but a twist of fate unfortunately ended a career that was just about to peak.

== Death ==


Only three weeks later Arthur Barr was found dead. The 28-year-old wrestler went home to celebrate Thanksgiving Day. At night, he went to sleep with his 5-year-old son Dexter, and the next day, Art's mother, who went to his house after nobody answered her phone calls found him lying in the bed without pulse and bleeding from the nose.

Preliminary reports said that Barr died of an aneurysm, but later reports said that he died under unknown circumstances. He had not had heart problems, there was no aneurysm or internal bleeding from ring injuries and it wasn't a drug overdose either, however he had taken sleeping pills the night before.

Arthur Barr's loss was a true disgrace to the professional wrestling world. After all the problems he had, he fought hard to get past them and he was just in the verge of his professional career. He was also enjoying personal life success, as he had plans of marrying his fiancé who was pregnant. He was no longer doing recreational drugs or having the wild lifestyle he used to. His dream was to return to WCW to become a top wrestler in that promotion and he was about to accomplish that dream. If given a chance, he and Guerrero could have turned out to be the team of the decade.

He may be gone but his legacy will remain forever as his memory still is, and always will be, alive among the lucha libre fans that loved to hate him.



 
== Luchas de apuestas record ==
{{astart}}
{{aline|92/04/03|mask|[[Blue Panther]]|Love Machine|Arena México - Mexico City}}
{{aline|93/07/18|hair|[[Blue Panther]]|Love Machine|Auditorio Rio Nilo - Tonala, Jalisco}}
{{aline|94/11/06|hairs|[[El Hijo del Santo]] & [[Octagon]]|Love Machine & [[Eddy Guerrero]]|Los Angeles Sports Arena - Los Angeles, CA, USA}}
{{aend|}}

== Gallery ==
{{Gallery|name=LoveMachineMask.jpg|caption=Masked}}
{{Gallery||name=5930.jpg|caption=}}
{{Gallery|name=lovemachine2.jpg|caption= }}
{{Gallery|name=5937.jpg |caption= }}
{{GalleryX|GRINGOS20LOCOS.jpg|With Konnan|250}}
 
{{Gallery|name=5931.jpg |caption= }}
{{Gallery|name=5932.jpg |caption= }}
{{Gallery|name=5929.jpg |caption= }}
{{Gallery||name=Gringos Locos.jpg|caption=With Eddy Guerrero}}
{{Gallery|name=Lovealedes.jpg |caption= }}
{{Gallery|name=Artbarrboxylucha.jpg |caption=On the cover of Box Y Lucha }}

[[Category:Foreign wrestlers]]
[[Category:United States wrestlers]]
[[Category:Deceased wrestlers]]