PRESS RELEASE:

MAJOR NEW ADDITIONS TO “XPW: Bleeding Was Only HALF the Job,” including TOMMY DREAMER

Devon “Crowbar” Storm and former-NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ron “The Truth” Killings (K-Kwik in the WWF), recently did interviews for the “XPW: Bleeding Was Only HALF the Job” historical retrospective.

Also involved with “XPW: Bleeding Was ONLY Half the Job” are world-famous athletes and entertainers such as ECW’s TOMMY DREAMER, “The Franchise” Shane Douglas, and the one and only king of adult films himself, Ron Jeremy.

In this update you will:
have your interest peaked (hopefully) about what Devon Storm had to say about XPW and other subjects in his interview
see exclusive video footage of Ron Killings antagonizing wrestling fans in a way that only he can
laugh when you read a story about Ron Killings
find out the two words least likely to come out of Tommy Dreamer’s mouth Dreamer ever again

DEVON STORM INTERVIEW
During his interview, Devon Storm (Crowbar in WCW) discussed very candidly his 2002-2003 XPW run, including - but not limited to - topics such as his thoughts on Rob Black and Lizzy Borden, his XPW gimmicks (“Judas” and later “Salem”), he and Altar Boy Luke’s storyline that was developing in XPW, the role of religion in his real-life, and his relationships with Shane Douglas, Altar Boy Luke, Vic Grimes, and Daffney (Lucy). Perhaps the most insightful part of the interview was Storm’s commentary about his late friend, Jerry Tuite (The Wall/Malice/SNUFF).

FULL SUMMARY OF RON KILLINGS INTERVIEW
Ron Killings wrestled two matches in XPW, both of which were tag team matches. He was paired with Shalid Jihad and Raphael Mohammed to form The New Panthers, which were based on the real-life Black Panthers group. Killings did not like the gimmick itself, but he had a fun time wrestling people such as Pogo the Clown, Damian 666, and Halloween. At the hotel and on the road, he hung out primarily with The Sandman, Chris Hamrick, Steve Rizzono, and Pogo, and although he only had two matches, Killings holds the claim to fame for cutting one of the funniest promos in the history of XPW. Mercilessly, he ripped into the XPW fans at Liberty or Death in ways that must be seen to be believed, and up until now has yet to be released publicly. As special thanks to you Xtreme supporters of “XPW: Bleeding Was Only HALF the Job,” here is the fancam version of “Ron Killings: How to Bond and Make Friends with XPW Fans.”

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=L1VJ4FVQ (special thanks to Slava Siderman for the footage)

Killings’ interview focused on Liberty or Death and Baptized in Blood 2: Night of Champions, the two XPW shows which he was a part of. Killings does not recall who contacted him about becoming a part of XPW, but he was very positive about everybody who he met while a part of it. He never had a problem with bosses Rob Black, Tom Byron or Kevin Kleinrock (“I love Kevin.”). He never had any of his checks bounce, unlike some wrestlers in XPW. Killings said that there were plans to continue bringing him back to XPW and move him away from The Black Panthers so that he became more of a singles wrestler, but for whatever reason he did not return after the two shows. Some people have claimed that Killings was booked for XPW’s first show on the East Coast, Hostile Takeover; Killings says he was never booked.

On a side note, an interesting tidbit about Killings is that he is such a bad driver that his name is on an actual list with over 20 rental car agencies throughout the United States which forbids him to use a rental car to get around while on the road, because he has either crashed, totaled, damaged, or lit on fire so many rental cars in the past. Steve Rizzono told a story of how he, Hamrick, and Killings were driving in California one time on the day of an XPW show. Killings was behind the wheel and Rizzono says that he feared for his life.

TOMMY DREAMER TALKS XPW FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER
WWE employee and “ECW on Sci Fi” superstar TOMMY DREAMER recently became arguably the most well-known wrestling superstar to get involved in the “XPW: Bleeding Was Only HALF the Job” historical retrospective. For the first time EVER, Dreamer talked about his adult film cameo (“Whack Attack 5” - also featuring “Brother” Buh Buh Ray Dudley and Alex “Big Dick Dudley” Rizzo).

In a funny note (because no XPW retrospective is complete without some humor, considering that that was what so many people loved about XPW TV), while we were speaking, Tommy was on the Internet simultaneously Googling “Whack Attack 5” with the intent of finding the DVD for himself. He was finding results for “Whack Attack 5: BUTTHOLE BUFFET” and kept asking if that was the correct DVD, to which I kept saying, “I’m not sure; I think it’s just called ‘Whack Attack 5’ without any subtitle.” At that point, he joked “You’re writing the thing, you should know.” Finally, upon my mentioning that the DVD cover has an image of Ashlyn Gere, Tommy and I came to the conclusion that he WAS indeed looking at the correct product. Nonetheless, “butthole buffet” will remain a probable candidate for two words that will never come out of Tommy Dreamer’s mouth one after the other, in succession, ever again.

While Tommy’s WWE contract does not allow him to OFFICIALLY endorse the “XPW: Bleeding Was ONLY Half the Job” (whereas porn legend Ron Jeremy WAS able to officially attach his name to it as an endorsement, seeing as how he is not under contract to any one company--see http://www.megaupload.com/?d=QKS44NTL for his endorsement video) because he is under contract to WWE/ECW, Tommy did say that he approves of any effort to promote indy wrestling. Tommy did not comment on the HeatWave 2000 incident. The insight that Tommy contributed to “XPW: Bleeding Was Only HALF the Job” is EXTREMEly appreciated. Tommy Dreamer can be seen each Tuesday evening on the Sci Fi Channel.

GENERAL INFORMATION
“XPW: Bleeding Was Only HALF the Job” is an independently-produced, ongoing historical retrospective which details in extraordinary depth the fascinating history of Rob Black’s XPW (Xtreme Pro Wrestling). Officially endorsed by adult film legend Ron Jeremy ( http://www.megaupload.com/?d=KF2BRGPB ) as well as by pro wrestler / promoter / trainer / musician / radio host / magician Verne Langdon (http://www.vernelangdon.com/), the retrospective will go behind-closed-doors and detail everything one could ever want to know about XPW.

The Objective
The phrase, “to leave no stone unturned,” is very common nowadays--so common, in fact, that it is often exaggerated. When “XPW: Bleeding Was Only HALF the Job” vows to leave no stone unturned, it is not exaggerating. On the contrary, “XPW: Bleeding Was Only HALF the Job” is intent on bringing readers dirt that has been concealed among “the boys” since XPW existed and - until now - has never seen the light of day. This fact is evidenced by the involvement of such world-famous entertainers as Ron Jeremy, Shane Douglas, and Tommy Dreamer in the project. “XPW: Bleeding Was Only HALF the Job” has all of the necessary resources at its disposal and plans to use those resources with the purpose of bringing to the reader the roller-coaster experience that was XPW.

The Content
With over 30 people contributing exclusive comments, it is impossible to do the retrospective’s content justice, but readers can expect a major focus on the more controversial aspects of XPW’s history, such as Rob Black’s friendships with Paul Heyman and Buh Buh Ray Dudley and where exactly the negotiations with ECW went wrong, what exactly happened at the HeatWave 2000 riot, drug use in the XPW locker room, and the inside scoop on whether or not the wrestlers got sexual favors from the porn stars.

Find out what The Messiah doesn’t want his fans to know about his personal life and his former-relationship with Rob Black and Lizzy Borden. Follow Josh Lazie as he tells stories of his experiences traveling all around the world with Sabu, including how they got jailed together in Mexico (as well as how El Hijo del Santo played into the story). Learn the stories that Jasmin St. Claire doesn’t want you to know about her history of harassing XPW wrestlers. Get the inside scoops on the roles that Hayabusa, Bruce Hart, and Atsushi Onita, played in XPW.

Plus, each person who did an interview (see the list below) was asked for their favorite/funniest John Kronus story. Kronus - a former-ECW Tag Team Champion as one half of “The Eliminators” with Perry Saturn - is known not only as being one of the most notorious ribbers in the wrestling business but also for doing crazy stunts with the purpose of entertaining “the boys.” Many of these humorous drugs, sex, and alcohol-related stories will be published in “XPW: Bleeding Was Only HALF the Job.”

The Wrestlers
The best part about “XPW: Bleeding Was Only HALF the Job” is that it will be told from the accounts of the people who were there to live the XPW experience, among them Tommy Dreamer, Shane Douglas, Jerry Lynn, Missy Hyatt, and tens of others.

Virtually every major wrestler who you could think of who wrestled for or were directly associated with XPW have done extensive shoot interviews about his or her XPW runs and their comments will be incorporated into the retrospective with the purpose of providing first-hand testimony. Everybody was asked about their opinion of how they got into XPW, their opinion of Rob Black and of Lizzy Borden, and then of course more specific questions about their particular involvement in XPW, as well as their favorite party/road stories from XPW.

The list of people who have done interviews so far include:
WWE/ECW superstar TOMMY DREAMER
“The Franchise” SHANE DOUGLAS

(made very candid comments on a number of different subjects---for a full summary of what Douglas discussed, go to http://www.declarationofindependents.net/doi/pages/xpwsd.html )

Jerry Lynn
Missy Hyatt
Chris Hamrick
Ron “The Truth” Killings
Devon Storm (a.k.a. Crowbar)
“The Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels
Shark Boy
Gary Yap
Kevin Kleinrock (former-XPW VP)
Josh Lazie (former-XPW Talent Relations Director, manager of Sabu, and ex-bassist for the world-famous band DANZIG---for a full summary of what Lazie discussed, go to http://www.declarationofindependents.net/doi/pages/xpwlazie.html )
Kris Kloss
Larry Rivera
CZW promoter/wrestler John Zandig
Verne Langdon (the trainer of Homeless Jimmy, Messiah, Dynamite D, Johnny Webb, Damien Steele, Angel, and others)
Plus over 20 different wrestlers including - but not limited to - Kaos, GQ Money, Altar Boy Luke, Pogo the Clown, “White Trash” Johnny Webb, Dynamite D, Steve Rizzono, and tons of others
Many more to be announced!

Those who were contacted for interviews about their XPW tenures but declined include:

Sabu (did not want to do any sort of interview regardless of pay---said he would not do the interview even if he were to be paid $5,000)
New Jack (no interest in talking about XPW)
Evan Karagias (wanted $100 for an interview)
The Messiah (wanted $200+ for an interview)
***Lizzy Borden (has moved on from wrestling and doesn’t wish to comment on it)
Jasmin St. Claire (acted like a prima donna [read: Pre-Madonna], saying she was higher than doing wrestling interviews)

***Although Lizzy Borden did not grant an interview, she was very helpful in supplying rare XPW footage and photographs which will be used to supplement the voluminous information that is presented in the “XPW: Bleeding Was Only HALF the Job” retrospective.

More and more people who were formerly associated with XPW continue to be contacted for interviews and updates will be given if anyone noteworthy agrees to get involved.

In addition, “XPW: Bleeding Was Only HALF the Job”’s narrative/written content will be *supplemented* by previously unreleased video footage, photographs, and other exclusive multimedia.

To read the editions of “XPW: Bleeding Was Only HALF the Job” that have been printed up to this point, please visit:

http://www.declarationofindependents.net/doi/pages/specialsubmits/xpwhistory.html

Be sure to start at the bottom of that page, as the article at the top is the most recent chronologically and the last article is the first article chronologically (assuming you want to read them in chronological order, that is…if not, then dive right in!).

For any questions about the retrospective, please e-mail Piratez4v3go2@aol.com. Also e-mail that address if you wish to be added to the “XPW: Bleeding Was Only HALF the Job” mailing list. Thanks for your interest.

Part 7: The History of Xtreme Pro Wrestling - Bleeding Was Only HALF the Job

By Jonathan Barber (published Friday, October 7, 2005)

Verne Langdon's Slammers Wrestling Gym broke into the business a number of people who would go on to wrestle or referee for XPW. There were two main facilities that Slammers students were trained at. Both facilities were located on the border between Pacoima and Sun Valley and were just blocks away from each other. The first facility was located at 12165 Branford Street, Unit N and the second one - nicknamed "The Pit" - was located at nearby 11658 Sheldon Street, Unit A. It was at the Branford facility that Darren McMillan - who is better known today as "Dynamite D" - got his start in wrestling.

In the late 1980's, McMillan created and hosted the "Wrestle Talk" show, which aired on a California cable station every Saturday night for a number of years. Ironically, some 10 years later, when he was a member of the XPW roster, McMillan - along with a host of other XPW wrestlers - appeared as guests on that very same radio show, with the purpose of promoting the then-growing XPW product. McMillan used the "Dynamite D" alias on the radio show, even before he got into wrestling. Langdon recalls his first contact with McMillan. "An article about him ran in the local (Tujunga) newspaper," he explains. "The guy that painted Slammers, John Milsap, lived in Tujunga and brought me the story. I called Darren at the [WrestleTalk radio] station, told him about Slammers. He came over, I got him in the ring, and he was hooked."

This was in 1989, the same year that the Slammers training school was established with The Fabulous Moolah. McMillan trained under Langdon for awhile and regularly worked out with Verne's first student, Jeff Lindberg. McMillan continued his training with Langdon and Lindberg into 1990, when Slammers was starting to get a great deal of national publicity on TV and in magazines. Langdon used Lindberg and McMillan to promote the school in TV stories about Slammers, and arranged for a number of guest instructors - such as collegiate amateur state champion Tom King and friends The Fabulous Moolah, Terry Funk, and Sam Houston - to see them work and offer pointers in impromptu workouts in the Slammers ring. As it turned out, Houston actually ended up using Lindberg and McMillan as assistants in training Deron "Malibu" McBee of the "American Gladiators" TV series. Langdon also recalls that a number of other guest instructors, such as "Karl Von Hess, John Tolos, and Jay 'The Alaskan' York and half of the Cauliflower Alley Club, were stunned at the work level of our 'SLAM U' students at Slammer's first anniversary celebration show."

The next person after McMillan to come to Slammers who would go on to wrestle for XPW was Carlos Torres, better known in XPW as Carlito Montana. Torres began training at Slammers in 1990, took a brief hiatus from wrestling in 1991, and returned to the school in 1992 and finished his training before debuting in the SWF around the latter part of that same year. McMillan was responsible for most of his technical instruction, but Carlos is emphatic about his wrestling training, when he says ".Verne's the one that taught me the philosophy. If you don't have the philosophy, you don't have sh*t." After completing his training, Torres made his wrestling debut for the SWF as the masked "Hombre de Oro." In regards to wearing the mask while wrestling, he says that it "could be a big pain in the ass," but that after awhile he got used to wearing it. Torres went on to become a member of the "SLAM U" faculty, alongside McMillan, Langdon, and "Movie Star Mike" Smith, another "SLAM U" graduate-turned-instructor.

Torres found out about Slammers from Oscar Cecena, who started training with him there in 1990 and eventually was given the "Samoan Kid" persona for his SWF matches (Langdon gave nearly all the Slammers wrestlers their ring names and created their image.). About a decade later, Cecena would become "Pancho Killa" upon entering XPW. Although he only lasted in Rob Black's promotion for a few months, Langdon praises highly Cecena's ring skills:

"He was a great guy, and a really good natural heavyweight wrestler. He was one of the best 'rope-runners' I've ever seen! I had him teach running the ropes to all our other students."

As trainers at Slammers, McMillan and Torres helped spawn an impressive number of future-XPW performers, including Homeless Jimmy, Johnny Webb, Damien Steele, The Messiah, and Angel. Homeless Jimmy [REAL NAME WITHHELD UPON REQUEST] was actually convinced by his cousin, Darren "Dynamite D" McMillan, to join Slammers. "My uncle called me and told me my cousin was back in town and was a big wrestling fan," McMillan says. "He came to the very next Slammers event and signed up on the spot." Jimmy's willingness to perform high-risk stunts was evident from the first day of his training, McMillan explains. "I knew he was dedicated and would do anything you asked him to do. I think he took a chair shot the first day of class."

After being trained by McMillan and Jeff Lindberg, mainly at the original SWF training facility on Branford Street, Jimmy debuted in the SWF as "Jimmie Jaimes" around '95 or '96. While the Homeless Jimmy character was notorious for his disheveled appearance, the Jimmy of old had short hair and virtually no facial hair during his early days in wrestling, making him look like an entirely different person from the guy who went on to portray Homeless Jimmy.

The "Homeless Jimmy" gimmick was in part invented by another XPW mainstay [REAL NAME WITHELD UPON REQUEST], better known as "White Trash" Johnny Webb, who also got his start at Slammers. Webb first thought about the possibility of training to be a pro wrestler because of his interest in the martial arts. His instruction began at the SWF interim unit at Canoga Park in 1995 under McMillan's guidance and he made his official debut a year later for the SWF as Pete "Spider" Malloy. Webb continued wrestling for the promotion on its Bakersfield, CA shows for all of 1996.

Webb became close friends with Jimmy, and Tim Fischer ("The Real Deal" Damien Steele in XPW) while training and wrestling at Slammers. He went so far as to categorize the three as being a "kliq" at one point in time because they hung out together so frequently. Webb, Fischer (who competed in Slammers as Buddy "The Body" West), and Jimmy all ended up leaving Slammers and eventually met up in the IWF, SCCW, UIWA, and of course XPW.

Tim Fischer broke in at Slammers around the same time as another future-XPW wrestler, Jesse "Tyrone 'Tiny' Little" Balin, who went on to portray the short-lived "Cybil" character in XPW. Fischer and Balin started at approximately the same time at Slammers' Branford facility before moving to the interim Sherman Oaks industrial park unit. McMillan handled most of Fischer and Balin's training, along with that of the two future-XPW referees who got their starts at Slammers, Patrick Hernandez and Danny Ramirez. Patrick Hernandez was actually a fan of Slammers and regularly attended their shows in 1990 at the Branford venue. He even helped introduce Carlos Torres to the school and promotion. Both referees eventually left the wrestling business temporarily during the mid-90's, before later resurfacing in XPW.

Shortly thereafter, around early 1996, future-XPW mainstay William Welch (known as "Billy" to his family and friends and "The Messiah" to wrestling fans) came to Slammers for his training. Many sources - including XPW's erstwhile web site - have claimed that Welch was - like Jimmy, Webb, Fischer, and others - trained by McMillan, but that is not the case. Welch was trained entirely by Carlos "Hombre de Oro/Carlito Montana" Torres, not by McMillan. Although he is good friends with McMillan to this day, Torres wants to set the record straight. He was the one who was training Welch. Torres says, "Darren had little - if none - interaction with Messiah [while he was at Slammers]." Torres saw "a lot of athletic ability" in Welch, so although he took him under his wing as a protégé, he also remained "very tough on him." Torres emphasizes that Welch's training was especially intense compared to that of other students.

Welch made his SWF debut in 1996 (not too long after the start of his training) as "Iron Mike" Ehrhardt on a show in Bakersfield. His opponent that night was Danny "El Espirito" Morales, who would end up serving as both a wrestler and a referee in XPW, under the alias of "Felony." Welch was identified as the younger brother of another, more experienced Slammers wrestler, Mark Ehrhardt. The nickname, "Iron Mike," was bestowed upon him by Verne Langdon, in honor of the veteran grappler "Iron Mike" Sharpe, who built the Slammers ring. Welch has claimed repeatedly in interviews that the nickname "Iron Mike" came from a drunken fan who attended Slammers shows, but Langdon emphatically disavows that claim. Despite Billy's Bakersfield debut at Strongbow Stadium in 1996, Carlos Torres continued working with him regularly until 1998 when Welch mutually parted ways with Slammers.

Around August or September 1997, John Chavez ("The Hardcore Homo" Angel in XPW/Johnny "Angel-Face" Chavez in the SWF) joined Slammers and began his training at the Sheldon Street facility. However, Langdon sold the business in 2000 to El Toro Bravo, before Chavez could complete his training, and Slammers was moved. So, the only future-XPW wrestlers to formally graduate from Slammers were McMillan, Torres, and Cecena.

History of XPW: Bleeding Was Only Half the Job (Part 6)

"Introducing Verne Langdon & the Slammers Wrestling Federation"

Published by Jonathan Barber on Thursday, July 28, 2005

XPW (Xtreme Pro Wrestling) might never have existed - at least in the form that it did - without the influence of a man named Verne Langdon. Despite his admission to having "never seen any of XPW's product," Langdon played a significant - albeit unintentional - role on kick-starting the careers of several wrestlers who would come to comprise the XPW league.

In fact, Langdon isn't exaggerating when he says, "Slammers didn't turn out a great quantity of students, but those who went on to other federations knew their stuff." It could not be truer, given that one-third of the fifteen wrestlers who competed on XPW's debut live event on July 31, 1999 in Reseda, CA credit their initial training to Langdon's "SLAM U" University of Professional Wrestling and its Slammers Wrestling Gym, both of which were launched in 1989 at 12165 Branford Street in Sun Valley, CA.

Six other people who started their careers at the Slammers facility would go on to wrestle for XPW sometime after the 1999 show, while three people who were taught the ins and outs of refereeing eventually donned the zebra stripes in XPW. Ed Ferrera, another student of "SLAM U," competed for the Slammers Wrestling Federation as "Beautiful Bruce" Beaudine. He later became one of the instructors at the school, along with Carlos Torres ("Carlito Montana") and El Toro Bravo (REAL NAME WITHHELD BY REQUEST), before hanging up his boots and entering the field of booking for both the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling.

Pro wrestling certainly wasn't Langdon's only love; he has made a living in over eight different occupation fields. As one of the pioneers in the entertainment industry designing monster masks that were featured in horror movies (most notably "Outer Limits," "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," and several AIP-Vincent Price films), Langdon is still regarded as one of the most celebrated "monster-makers" (as the occupation is termed) to this day. As it turned out, monster-making opened up some doors for Langdon into the field of makeup artistry and magic. He worked as a makeup artist on the "Planet of the Apes" films and the subsequent television series.

Langdon has also worked with many legendary actors and directors on assorted projects. In 1970, he wrote, created, and produced Hollywood Universal Studios Tour Productions of "Land of a Thousand Faces" and in 1980, "Castle Dracula." Also as a writer-producer, he worked with Stan Freberg, and - as a radio personality from 1959 to 1963 - he co-hosted the Coca Cola Hifi Club and his own nightly "Langdon After Dark" show, both of which were on KLOK-AM Radio. [EDITOR'S NOTE: For more information on Langdon's exploits outside of pro wrestling, please visit BoxOfMonsters.com or TraderVerne.com.]

Just as he did with any other occupation he has pursued, Langdon extended himself to the utmost degree during his involvement in pro wrestling. Over the course of his life, Langdon has had the pleasure of knowing wrestling icons including (but by no means limited to) Mae Young, Lou Thesz, Terry Funk, Vic and Ted Christy, "Iron" Mike Mazurki, Leo Nomellini, Karl Von Hess, and Dick "The Intelligent, Sensational Destroyer" Beyer. Some of these people Langdon came to meet through his long-time membership with the Cauliflower Alley Club, which The Fabulous Moolah introduced him to, while he knew others before joining the Cauliflower Alley Club. Langdon - who himself was "taught the ropes," as he says, first by wrestler-turned-actor, "The Super Swedish Angel" Tor Johnson (of Ed Wood's "Plan Nine from Outer Space" fame) and later by Moolah - maintains contact with several of these people to this day. You haven't lived until The Fabulous Moolah has put the hurt on you," Langdon says. "Years before, Tor Johnson spent considerable time with me working holds, and his headlock was impossible to escape. Tor gave new meaning to the word 'stiff.'"

During the years that he was a Cauliflower Alley Club member and followed the pro wrestling business, Langdon organized what he describes as his own "private collection of memorabilia and ephemera, a compilation of gifts and contributions." These items consist of photographs, programs, posters, videos, actual ring-worn attire, and other artifacts that were handed down to him from acquaintances and friends alike, such as Sam Houston & Baby Doll, George Drake, Charlie Moto, John Tolos, Billy Anderson, Bobby Heenan, Beverly Styles, Cheri Dupre, Lillian Ellison, Digby Sharpe, "Classy" Freddy Blassie, Vince McMahon Jr., wrestling photographer Shirlie Montgomery, and Art Abrams, along with countless others.

Even as a youngster, Langdon loved to wrestle competitively with his cousins. "I wrestled all my life. I always tell people I wrestled my way out of my mother's womb," Langdon explains. "It was my great love and respect for the SPORT of wrestling that brought me to open Slammers." The Slammers Wrestling Gym itself was opened in 1989 in Sun Valley, CA by Langdon with help from Moolah. "She was our first instructor, in addition to helping me open the gym." Moolah even mentions her involvement with Slammers in her autobiography, "First Goddess of the Squared Circle." One of Langdon's first steps upon opening the original Slammers was to use the memorabilia he possessed to establish at the facility what came to be known as the Slammers World Wrestling Museum & Hall of Fame Archives. "The museum and Rogues Gallery completed the complex," Langdon says, "and I think it was the first time ever that all those elements were assembled under one roof."

The most impressive part of the Slammers World Wrestling Museum & Hall of Fame Archives is undoubtedly the Gorgeous George Private Collection. Langdon says that the collection is his way of paying tribute to the unforgettable legacy in the pro wrestling sport of the original Gorgeous George. Langdon's father grappled with Lou Thesz and Gorgeous George at the Athens Athletic Club in Oakland, CA; Verne met both wrestlers later years. Langdon remained friends with "GG" until his untimely death in late 1963, and renewed his acquaintance with Lou Thesz when the Champion visited Slammers in 1991. The Gorgeous George memorabilia collection at Slammers consists of not only rare photographs of "GG" throughout his career, but also locks of his hair from a "Hair vs. Hair" match against "Whipper" Billy Watson in Canada (more information at http://www.garywill.com/toronto/ggshaved.htm), several of his trademar robes, his wrestling boots, and other personal items.

Unfortunately for Langdon, the museum did not receive a whole lot of visitors during its run. "Despite very favorable press (L.A. Times, etc.), barely a dozen people - in seven years - came to Slammers for the sole purpose of viewing the museum," Langdon says, before joking, "So much for history!" However, Langdon's goal was not so much to attract mass numbers of tourists as it was to pay tribute to "the golden days of truly professional wrestling, by truly professional men and women, when it was new and unique, and featured original athletes and true showmen."

The Slammers World Wrestling Museum & Hall of Fame Archives remained at the Branford location until late 1995, when it (along with the Gorgeous George Private Collection) was transferred a few blocks away to a smaller facility in Canoga Park, CA that was rented by Darren McMillan ("Dynamite D"). In 1997, all of the artifacts were moved to Slammers' new facility, called "The Pit", which was located on Sheldon Street in Pacoima, CA. The collection remained there until 2000, when Langdon sold the museum, ring, and other equipment to El Toro Bravo, a former-student of his and a wrestler and instructor for the SWF, as well. El Toro Bravo moved the business to Fullerton, CA, where it currently remains in storage.

Despite the several changes in location, the Slammers phone number remains the very same as when the facility first opened its doors in 1989 (818-897-6603), and one can visit the web site at www.slammers.com, where - among other features - there is information about the museum and the promotion's wrestlers, and also information for ordering some classic video tapes from the Slammers Wrestling Federation.

Back in 1991, the in-house Slammers Wrestling Federation was established with the purpose of providing a source of live shows on which to incorporate the wrestlers whom Langdon and his fellow trainers had taught. It should be noted that Langdon is hesitant to take full credit for the idea of the Slammers Wrestling Federation. "As the boys learned, they wanted to actually do," he explains, "so they decided they wanted an in-house 'federation.' They thought up the "SWF," not me."

Those students who were brought up under Langdon's "old school" mentality and later went on to wrestle for XPW had a very awkward adjustment to make, since Langdon is - both as a wrestling promoter and as a human being - so drastically different from Rob Black and the XPW attitude towards wrestling tradition. Kevin Kleinrock recalled in his SoCalUncensored.com interview with Steve Bryant that Langdon "liked protecting the business and wanted to kayfabe everyone from everything."

Future-XPW superstar and Slammers trainee "White Trash" Johnny Webb (REAL NAME WITHHELD UPON REQUEST) had similar things to say, reiterating Langdon's "old school" philosophy of wrestling by citing how he would run shows ever single Thursday, regardless of whether the date fell on a holiday or not. One long-time fan of the Slammers Wrestling Federation who hailed from Phoenix, AZ and called himself simply, "R.R.C." echoed identical sentiments in an article on the Slammers.com web site. R.R.C. remarked that the promotion was "the closest thing to showing the sport as it really is" and that - by the same token - it aimed to bring "the sport back to its professional roots."

Spending mere minutes with Langdon reveals a mindset just as Kleinrock, Webb, R.R.C., and so many others have described. Langdon is more than happy to admit, "I've never been big on "angles" or "storylines," "entrance music or glitz." He describes his booking philosophy in a nutshell:

"Two guys get in the ring. One's a good guy. The other is a bad guy. They wrestle. They carry the show. No managers. No frills. No pyrotechnics. No rock bands. No elephants. No tigers. No cotton candy. No peanuts. No bullsh*t. Just raw talent."

On occasion, the SWF's matches varied slightly from the traditional wrestling style, as the promotion did feature "Steel Chair," "I Quit," "Dog Collar Chain," "Falls Count Anywhere," and "Stretcher" matches from time to time during its run. Even in such gimmick matches, however, Langdon always aimed to keep the wrestling aspect (as opposed to such bloodletting and violence-oriented stipulations) as the focus of the matches. He explained that when Slammers wrestlers did "go hardcore," they were "choir boys" compared to what he has since been told the wrestlers of XPW, CZW, IWA Mid-South, IWA Japan, Big Japan, and other organizations have done in years since.

As an example of his booking policy as it relates to the "hardcore wrestling" style, Langdon told a story of how Tim Fisher ("The Real Deal" Damien Steele) asked him on a couple of occasions for permission to "juice" (bleed) in his matches. Langdon turned down the request each time. "It made no sense in the brief course of Tim's matches in question, and I felt that if blood became a common occurrence in SWF matches, then it would lose its meaning," he explains. "Tim gave up on the blood thing pretty quickly, because he got my drift."

Langdon always tried to ensure that when blood did happen to show itself in an SWF ring, "it meant something, and was very disturbing - or rewarding, depending on who got busted open - to the fans. [Slammers product] was mostly 'passion play' wrestling, with plenty of 'cruci-fiction!' Our good guys usually won over our bad guys," he explains. "I rarely honored injustice, but when I did, it was for great dramatic effect, with eventual retribution not far behind."

Langdon emphasizes that all of the students at "SLAM U" were required to "achieve a certain point in their training" (which was determined by Langdon along with his fellow trainers) before they were allowed to move on to what Langdon termed their "graduate work" - that is, to wrestle on SWF shows in front of live fans. On some of these events, even Langdon himself would get in the ring. He says that his favorite matches were with El Toro Bravo, Mike Smith ("Movie Star Mike"), and "Beautiful Bruce" Beaudine. He recalls one particular match with El Toro Bravo: "I knocked his front tooth out on one show; he rolled out of the ring, retrieved his tooth, got back in the ring, and proceeded to very nearly stomp me to death." This was Langdon's outlook - if one wants to enter pro wrestling, they need to be able to endure the pain, the injuries, and whatever else naturally comes with the sport.

In this way, Langdon was a traditionalist, in that he saw pro wrestling as an artform more than he saw it as a spectacle. Years before they became characters (and in many cases - depending on the degree of high-risk maneuvers that they relied on - daredevil stuntmen) showcased under Rob Black's label, a considerable amount of XPW's eventual roster spent much of their spare time at the Slammers Wrestling Gym, honing their scientific craft under the watchful eyes of Slammers' trainers (all of whom started as Slammers students), and in most cases also under the supervision of Langdon himself. These students would often leave the gym with the upper part of their chests bruised red and purple with fingerprints from the chops that they had acquired during their training that day.

Some of those students - such as Darren McMillan and Carlos Torres - endured the strenuous workouts demanded by Slammers' curriculum and graduated from "SLAM U" with a well-developed base of knowledge for being a professional wrestler. That education included one piece of advice that Langdon ensured had been firmly implanted in the students' heads before they graduated: that just because they had spent their money to attend "SLAM U" and graduated from its training curriculum, they were in no way guaranteed to "make it" in the business of pro wrestling.

"We never promised any student he would 'see the world' and 'earn millions of dollars in wrestling' as some schools and teachers do," Langdon says. Granted, some students of Slammers did find success in the business - such as Ashley Hudson (who competed for Memphis Power Pro Wrestling and WCW, among other notable independents) and Ed Ferrera ("Beautiful Bruce" Beaudine). Some other fortunate graduates did get to tour other countries, such as Homeless Jimmy (REAL NAME WITHHELD UPON REQUEST) - who wrestled for FMW in Japan and also had a short stay in Mexico - and Billy Welch ("The Messiah") - who has wrestled in Italy two times for CZW.

However, while "SLAM U" offered an avenue for young men to pursue their dreams of becoming professional wrestlers, Langdon did not want to set any false expectations for his students; he was aware that the reality of the matter was that very few aspiring wrestlers become major stars in the business, and that no matter how much training Slammers students received, success sometimes came down simply to being in the right place at the right time.

Langdon's training philosophy was based not only around learning maneuvers and holds, but also around instilling in his trainees certain life-long values. "It's in my blood to be professional and do things to the best of your ability, so that's what I tried to ingrain in them," he says. "A few actually got it," he says, specifically naming off El Toro Bravo, Carlos Torres, John Chavez ("The Hardcore Homo" Angel), El Mongol (REAL NAME WITHHELD UPON REQUEST), Jeff Lindberg, and Zu the Gargoyle (REAL NAME WITHHELD UPON REQUEST). On the other hand, "Unfortunately, some others just didn't."

Regardless of how they reflect on their days training at Slammers, all of those students who were a part of the elite class that graduated from "SLAM U" were given the choice to either continue wrestling for the SWF or to go onto other indy federations. Those trainees who did not graduate quit because they couldn't handle the arduous style of instruction, became disillusioned with the sport, or were asked to leave due to not progressing as was necessary.

Those students who did make it through the Slammers training program had a long road ahead of them. Their number one task at hand was to season themselves in front of crowds at live events promoted by the SWF, and for those who went on to XPW, that period lasted for anywhere from one to five years (depending on when they completed their training) until Rob Black's new enterprise came calling.

The Story of Xtreme Pro Wrestling (part 5): The ECW/Extreme Associates cross-promotion sours

posted by Barber on Wednesday, June 29, 2005

However much Rob Black hoped for them to succeed, the negotiations between himself and ECW were arguably doomed from the very start. Although the falling-out between the two parties happened quite suddenly , one day, Paul Heyman stopped taking Black,s calls , the situation was actually quite a long time in the making. The relationship between the two companies was still healthy in late March 1999. Then-Extreme Associates porn star Jasmine St. Claire made her ECW debut on Sunday, March 21, 1999 at the ,Living Dangerously, Pay-Per-View from Asbury Park, NJ, and was accompanied on the trip by Rob Black, Tom Byron, and Lizzy Borden accompanied her on the trip. The four left California on Thursday night to fly to Asbury Park, attended some pre-Pay-Per-View parties on Friday night, and then Black and Byron sat in on Jasmine,s Saturday morning training session with Francine, who she was going to be working with the following night. Black, Byron, and Lizzy sat in the crowd for the event itself on Sunday night, although they didn,t appear on camera.

Shortly after that Pay-Per-View, however, the relationship between Black and ECW gradually began to deteriorate. Paul Heyman worked extremely closely with Steve Karel, who was ECW,s business manager. Unbeknownst to many wrestling fans and journalists alike, Karel was thoroughly involved in the porn business for several years. Before joining ECW, Karel had helped fund porn films while working for CDI Home Video and had also been employed by Penthouse. At one point, Karel tried to sell the rights of a movie (which had featured St. Claire) that he had filmed to Extreme Associates, but when Black told him straight up that ,this movie is a hunk of sh*t,, Karel took offense and their relationship soured. In an interview with ScoopsWrestling.com, Black had strong words for Karel:

,He so desperately wanted to be in the porno business, but everything he did was just garbage. I was essentially everything Steve Karel wanted to be. I was the big pornographer, I was the one who owned the biggest company in the business, I was the one who was the player in the porno business and he wanted to be the player. And I shunned his stupid f*cking movie.,

According to the Pro Wrestling Torch, PWInsider.com, and several other sources, Karel is still highly involved in the porn business. He is presently helping to fund the Women,s Extreme Wrestling federation, which frequently incorporates softcore porn into its product. He was even quoted in a January 7, 2005 Washington Post article about the resurgence of ,peep shows, and the ,skin business., The article called Karel ,an energetic PR representative for several adult bars, in New York, including - but not limited to - the Hustler Club at 51st Street and 12th Avenue in New York City. Despite his background and his continued involvement in the porn industry, Karel remained a close personal confidant of Paul Heyman long after the negotiations between Extreme Associates and ECW ended. Heyman was in daily contact with Karel right up until the day that he signed with WWE.

The potential working relationship between Extreme Associates and ECW met its nail in the coffin when ECW began discussing the possibility of penning a television deal for ECW with The National Network (TNN). Realizing that the odds of an agreement being secured with TNN would reduce substantially if the network discovered that ECW was doing business with a porn company, Heyman cut all ties with Black and Extreme Associates. According to those people who were close to the situation, Black was furious upon learning of the sudden decision and realizing that ECW executives (including Heyman) would no longer take his calls.

However, Mark Lamonica (a.k.a. Buh Buh Ray Dudley) was perhaps the most affected by ECW,s change of marketing policy because he , as opposed to Heyman, Karel, or somebody else from ECW,s ,public relations, or legal department , was left to contact Black when he and his storyline brother, D-Von Dudley, began negotiating with the WWF in mid-1999 and he became concerned that if the WWF learned of his depiction in Extreme Associate,s ,Whack Attack 5, production, the contract that was in the works between the Dudley Boyz and the WWF may be reneged upon. In his ScoopsWrestling.com interview, Black described Lamonica as being ,a pawn in the game, at that point in time because one day, he had to be the one to telephone Black and plead with him to cancel the publication of the film, only to be told that the film had already been released.

Luckily for Lamonica, the cameo never turned into a problem, nor did it for Tommy Dreamer, who is also currently employed by the former-WWF, now WWE. Although it,s not known whether or not WWE management ever learned of the footage, its release certainly didn,t derail Lamonica,s success in WWF. However, unlike that of Lamonica (who Black maintains occasional contact with to this day), Rob Black,s future in pro wrestling wasn,t as clear-cut. His deal with ECW had gone down the drain and now he was left to decide whether he truly wanted to embark on a wrestling-related endeavor, and if so, how he would go about doing so.

EDITOR,S NOTE: I was unsuccessful in my attempts to contact Steve Karel to get his side of the story about the negotiations between ECW and Extreme Associates.

For those who have been asking, I would also like to offer a tentative schedule outlining the next few chapters in this ongoing retrospective. Number 1 indicates the next part to be released, number 2 the one after that, etc.

1. Introducing Verne Langdon and the Slammers Wrestling Federation (1989)

2. How Slammers broke many future-XPW stars into the business (1989-1996)

3. The dWo (Dynamite World Order) shoot incident/Breaking away from Slammers (1996)

4. XPW Precursors on the indy scene: Southern California Championship Wrestling, United Independent Wrestling Alliance, and the Impact Wrestling Federation (1997-1999)

5. The seeds of XPW come into place - Kleinrock meets Black, Big Dick Dudley and Tito Ortiz (yes, you read right) get involved, etc. (mid-1999)

6. The First XPW Show - planning, advertising, heat with the UIWA, etc. (July 31, 1999)

Following these topics, there will be articles about XPW,s problems with certain venues and athletic commissions, the XPW TV negotiations, the working relationship with Nicole Bass, Jasmine St. Claire,s departure from Extreme Associates, negotiations with Antonio Inoki,s UFO, etc.

For more information, e-mail Piratez4v3go2@aol.com.

DOI Note: The following is written by Jonathan Barber, as he writes his mini series here on the DOI, entitled "The History of XPW". Below is Part IV. To read Part I, II, & III scroll down. For what this entire series is about, keep scrolling down. We hope you enjoy this unique look at XPW.

The History of Xtreme Pro Wrestling (Part 5): Rob Black and Paul Heyman talk interpromotional business

published on Saturday, April 23, 2005

A few weeks before the skits involving Rob Black, Buh Buh Ray Dudley, and Adult Video News executive Paul Fishbein were filmed in December 1998, Black, Byron, and Black’s new girlfriend Janet Romano (a.k.a. Lizzy Borden) appeared on an episode of ECW Hardcore TV that was taped in Queens, NY. They accompanied Little Guido (current-WWE superstar Nunzio) to the ring, while the colossal 400-lb. Sal E. Graziano followed behind in a bodyguard role.

At the very next ECW show (this time in New Orleans), Black and his colleagues continued to engage in scripted confrontations with ECW superstars, which now included Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman. The ECW duo forcibly poured a Budweiser down Byron's throat shortly before Buh Buh Ray responded to Black’s calling him a "motherfucker" by attacking the crude Extreme Associates master with some shots to the crotch. Buh Buh Ray then proceeded to ridicule Byron, only to receive several whacks with a beer bottle and a steel chair by the porn legend.

The heat that Black, Byron, and Nikki's drew from ECW fans via their participation on the shows that weekend impressed ECW management to the point that the company's officials (most notably Heyman) kept in contact with Black. The E.A. owner continued to attend various ECW shows – mainly those in the New York area – for the rest of 1998 and regularly met with Heyman and other ECW representatives over the next few months to discuss possible forms of interpromotional dealings. There was even a point where several of the ECW wrestlers could be found in the lockerroom speculating amongst themselves that Black and Byron were in the process of buying ECW from Heyman.

Black could not have been more thrilled to be discussing such marketing strategies with Heyman. For one thing, he had been a fan of pro wrestling ever since he was a child, and was also an ECW enthusiast. He can, in fact, be seen wearing an ECW t-shirt and cap in some of his older productions (such as Jane Waters' The Pornographer), while he takes an opportunity to praise ECW in the sixth scene of E.A.’ “Free At Last” production.

However, even more important to Black's willingness to interact with ECW than this long-time passion for sports entertainment was that such discussions made one of his dreams that he had for several years come one step closer. He had been contemplating possible methods of blending his main priority, pornography, with his subsidiary hobby, pro wrestling, and the opportunity to work with Heyman and ECW offered a route to the possible realization of that fantasy.

Pro wrestling historian Sheldon Goldberg - who was one of the few people in the wrestling media to actually cover the development of the relationship between ECW and E.A. and even came up with the “XPW” name - wrote on 1Wrestling.com in July 1999 his opinion as to why Black wanted to enter the wrestling market:

“Black's view is that the prime young male audience for pro wrestling is the same demographic which are prime consumers of his adult film product. With Black's 'adult stars' lending celebrity luster to the wrestling product, perhaps a base of fans can be built that will benefit both the wrestling product and add marketing dimension to his current adult film business.”

Despite that article being written in July, which was after the deal with ECW had gone sour, but before XPW held its inaugural show on July 31, Goldberg’s take on the situation appears to be very close to the mindset that officials from ECW and Extreme Associates had in their prospective “cross promotion” with one another. Articles from the period - both from porn and wrestling-related publications - indicate that both companies intended to use the audience of the other’s organization (ECW’s hardcore wrestling fans and E.A.’s eager porno addicts, respectively) as a means of “cross-promotion," as Black later worded it.

After Black arrived back in the U.S. from a meeting in Brazil with representatives from that country’s premier porn company, Video Lips, he and Heyman really got down to business. February 1999 was the period during which most of the discussions between the two companies transpired. During that month, Black and Heyman negotiated together for what added up to between 15 and 20 hours, eventually reaching an agreement. The details of their accord surfaced to the porno media a month later in a March 3, 1999 posting on Adult Video News’ website.

According to the article (entitled Rob Black Finalizes Wrestling Deal), both parties (ECW and E.A.) agreed to advertise the other’s merchandise on their respective video tapes. A similar article (which appears to be based upon the original AVN article) from April 17, 1999 on RAME.net (the porn equivalent of pro wrestling’s RSPW) indicates that Heyman intended to air on his ECW home videos (which were distributed by RF Video at the time, as Pioneer Entertainment was still a year away from entering the picture) and its TV show 60-second advertisements for “Black’s new ‘Tits and Ass’ line of porno action figures as well as other Extreme Associates projects.”

Black’s right-hand man, Tom Byron, also figured into the picture, although his proposed role in the relationship between the two companies was one of the several facets of the plan that never panned out. The aforementioned RAME.net post indicates that the parties from ECW and E.A. discussed with one another the idea of airing skits on ECW TV that featured Byron in a role that resembled that of Val Venis’ WWF character around the same time. A different RSPW post than the April 17 one concurred with that claim, stating that “these ‘skits’ will be Tom Byron ‘casting calls,’ for porno movies,” and the same wording was used in AVN’s March 3 article.

ECW and E.A. were also planning to release action figures of Byron and Jasmin St. Claire. The April 17 RAME.net posting and the March 3 AVN article indicate that the Byron figure would be based on his porn character, while the Jasmin one would depict her as an ECW valet. Black also intended to air commercials for ECW on his porno videos, and he would try to use his relationship with the porno company, "Extreme Brazil," to help expand ECW's product into South America, a possibility that fascinated Heyman.

Black’s power in the porn industry and relationship with porn companies in the Brazil seemed to be the perfect route to achieving the distribution of ECW videos in Brazil and in establishing Internet promotion for ECW in that region. It is, however, unknown whether live events ran in Brazil by ECW were discussed, since the April 17 RAME.net post specifically says there were not, but a press release on RSPW did mention that possibility and, similarly, Black claimed in the March 3, 1999 AVN article that “We'll also be doing live wrestling shows in Brazil. I'll be the Brazilian ECW representative.”

Nonetheless, what is known for sure - as several AVN articles, along with various RAME.net and RSPW posts, confirmed it - is that Black was going to market ECW videos throughout Brazil. According to Black in his 2000 ScoopsWrestling.com interview, Heyman was going to let E.A. “buy his masters and distribute his product in Brazil.” Black elucidated about these plans in a March 12, 1999 article by AVN:

“I'm trying to work this Brazilian deal to distribute the tapes. Trying to hammer out the final things. The Brazilians like real stuff. They want it to be real. We're trying to put the matches together that look the most realistic - the barbed wire, the scaffolds - it's a f*cking nightmare. I'm looking at a bunch of tapes of a scaffold match where the guy falls like 20 feet to the ground. It's back and forth with ECW, trying to watch these tapes, trying to decide if we're going to make a compilation of the best five Extreme matches. We're going to release it, we just don't know what or when.”

Heyman had also been interested in holding some ECW cards on the West Coast of the U.S. for the first time ever. That wish eventually came to fruition (although through no help of Black’s) with the mid-2000 HeatWave Pay-Per-View, at which there was an altercation between ECW’s wrestlers and those of XPW. Since Extreme Associates was headquartered in California, Black believed that he had the necessary resources to assist ECW in funding shows in that area.

Sheldon Goldberg wrote on 1Wrestling.com in the above-mentioned article that if that were to happen, “Black would have assumed some sort of local promoter role, but ECW was reluctant to commit, since their TV in the market was felt to be inadequate. ECW tried to get Black into the fold, using some of Extreme's girls in valet-type roles and creating a cross-promotional relationship between the companies.” Goldberg claimed that the deal fell through the cracks because Black thought that “ECW was presenting a relationship that was too one-sided for his taste.”

The deal between ECW and E.A. also entailed Heyman giving Black permission to have his E.A. cameramen film his appearances on ECW shows and air them on his porn releases. In fact, cameramen for E.A. did just that for awhile, as they filmed Black, Borden, and Byron’s exploits at many of the ECW shows that they attended. Some of this footage was released on E.A.’s “Whack Attack 5” production, which also features Black and Borden goofing around with Tommy Dreamer, Buh Buh Ray Dudley, and Big Dick Dudley. Black also hoped to use this type of E.A.-filmed footage and footage that ECW provided him to “run trailers for the ECW product” on his Extreme Associates home videos (80,000 of which were selling per month, according to Black in his ScooopsWrestling.com interview).

E.A. was so serious about the impending relationship with ECW that it went so far as to hire John Blatt, a veteran of the porn industry, specifically to head up E.A.’s new sales division, which included the task of managing the launch of Byron’s “Tits and Ass” line. Blatt was hired by E.A. in March, several weeks after he had been let go by Plum Productions, for which he was a major executive.

Black’s plans for ECW also included supplying the services of another female valet to further ECW's claim to the hottest women sports entertainment had to offer. That woman was none other than Jasmin St. Claire, who – up until that point – had strictly been involved in pornography (dating back to 1994). Up until this point in time, Jasmin had never been involved in pro wrestling, other than being a fan of the sport from a young age. Although Jasmine tends to shy away from discussing her porn endeavors in recent wrestling-related interviews, she was - according to AVN archives - extremely intrigued by the prospect of being a driving force in the proposed Extreme Associates/ECW partnership.

Black explained in a mid-2000 interview with ScoopsWrestling.com how Jasmin would actually fit into the picture, saying that the previous year (1999), Heyman and him “were going to come up with an Internet company,” featuring Jasmin as one of the centerpieces. Heyman had proposed the idea of airing commercials on local TV or on ECW home videos that would advertise a web site:

“[The ads would] show Jasmin St. Claire in the commercial and say, ‘Do you want to see Jasmin St. Claire vacuuming the carpet,' and it would show her vacuuming.’ Dial up www. Whatever it was going to be’. You'd click into it and you'd see Jasmine vacuuming. But as you go a couple of more clicks it says, 'To see explicit action and you're 18, click here'.”

Black said that it would’ve cost him and Heyman a combined $20,000 per month to advertise through such means. However, he was apparently willing to take the chance, even saying that he had intended to promote this product “under the censors, under [Heyman’s] local people so they would never give a shit. They wouldn't know.” Even if there was a risk to these plans, Black was mesmerized by the thought of helping to manage the affairs of a pro wrestling company such as ECW.

Furthermore, from Heyman and ECW’s perspective, the deal probably seemed almost too good to pass up. E.A. owned special cameras, lighting equipment, and editing suites and was more financially stable than RF Video, which ECW was using as a dubbing house for its tapes, at the time. These luxuries allowed E.A. to put forth a pornography product which bragged unusually high quality production. In the same respect, this also offered ECW the opportunity to touch up it video merchandise and present it in a professional manner for the potential fans it sought to draw in from E.A.’s demographics.

Some things, however, aren’t meant to be, and as it would turn out, the cross-promotion between ECW and Extreme Associates was one of those things…

COMING SOON: The ECW/E.A. cross-promotion sours… The History of Xtreme Pro Wrestling (Part 4): Rob Black & The Dudleyz vs. Adult Video News
posted on Sunday, February 13, 2005

As the relations between Extreme Championship Wrestling and Extreme Associates grew more and more serious, Rob Black was disappointed to find a surprising number of his porn colleagues criticizing his decisions behind his back. Porn was and still is a close-knit industry that doesn’t take kindly to outsiders stepping onto its turf, and that’s exactly how many insiders interpreted the business relationship that was developing between Black’s company and ECW.

Although he was closely involved in negotiations with ECW head Paul E. Heyman, much of Black’s time was spent hanging out with wrestlers Buh Buh Ray Dudley (Mark Lamonica) and Big Dick Dudley (Alex Rizzo). In early January 1999, Rizzo and Lamonica even accompanied Black – along with his new girlfriend, Janet Romano (better known as Lizzy Borden) – to the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES). The two were such good friends with Black that, at the event, they willingly interjected themselves on his part into a confrontation that the Extreme Associates CEO found himself in with the wife of rival director John T. Bone (real name: John T. Bowen).

A few weeks later in a LukeFord.com article, Black told his side of events:

“One day at the show, out of the blue, Mrs. John Bowen starts calling me names. ‘You cocksucker. You asshole. You're a jerk. You motherfucker.’ And everyone wondered ‘who was that?’ And I said, ‘I think that was John Bowen's wife.’ And they said, ‘why did she come out of the blue and bust your balls like that?’ And I said, ‘I don't know.’”

Hours later, Mrs. Bowen supposedly came and spit on Black as he and his crew were waiting for a taxi. Then, at the special CES-sponsored dinner that same night, events almost spiraled out of control, as Mrs. Bowen confronted the Black, Borden, and the two wrestlers and began yelling at them (especially Black). Borden ended up losing her temper and called Mrs. Bowen a “fucking pig,” which – according to Black – sparked Mrs. Bowen to threaten them with “a fucking bottle. Big Dick Dudley twisted it out of her hand. Then Bubba Ray Dudley told Bowen, 'if your fucking wife hits anybody with a bottle, you're going down.’”

After the incident, Black went up to John Bowen and conceded to him that they “verbally go at each other” in AVN and similar publications, but that “this kind of assault is BS.” Bowen – according to Black – apologized for his wife’s actions, saying that “he was sorry, that his wife was out of control.”

Although AVN writer Paul Fishbein was at the AVN awards and – even if he didn’t see the incident unfold firsthand, he was almost certainly informed of its gist from his fellow AVN writers who did see what happened – he still had doubts that Black’s discussions with ECW were completely legitimate. It was of Black’s opinion that Fishbein and his associates “thought that because [then-AVN writer] Gene Ross and I [were] friends that it was just BS publicity.” Not willing to accept any skepticism about his relationship with ECW, Black thought of an idea:

“Well, I did them one better. I brought one of the five-time tag team champions of the world into the AVN offices.”

That’s right. Black (along with Tom Byron) responded by bringing Mark Lamonica a.k.a. Buh Buh Ray Dudley to the AVN offices on Tuesday, December 29, 1998, completely unannounced. Fishbein told LukeFord.com that he and other AVN officials “were in an editorial meeting” when the Byron, Black, Lamonica, and a cameraman who Black and Byron had bought along walked in. The cameraman taped a staged confrontation (wrestling-style, anotherwards) where – Black says – Lamonica “got into a big pissing match with Fishbein,” telling him that Extreme Associates should’ve won some of the recent awards given out by AVN.

Some photographers snapped pictures of Lamonica gripping Fishbein by the neck and pretending to choke him. Shortly after the incident, Fishbein told Lukeford.com that he “liked Buh Buh and the whole thing was fine,” but that – even so – it still felt a bit “weird and uncomfortable.” He went on to say that “the pissing match really was like wrestling actually because it didn't feel real at all.”

Around this same time, Extreme Associate was in the midst of filming and producing the fourth edition of its “Whack Attack” series. Lamonica, Rizzo, Tommy Dreamer, and Francine Fournier were already in town, staying at Black and Borden’s house to celebrate the New Year’s holiday. At one point during New Year’s Weekend, Black talked with ECW superstar Taz (current World Wrestling Entertainment commentator “Tazz”) on the phone for a few minutes.

Black ended up bringing Lamonica, Rizzo, and Dreamer to the Extreme Associates studios and filmed them at various times of the day. The final cut of the “Whack Attack 4” production features some of this footage, including Lamonica, Rizzo, and Dreamer watching as a sex scene is filmed and Lamonica and Rizzo hanging out with Black and Borden at the airport. Black also filmed Dreamer talking on the phone with Scott Levy (a.k.a. Raven), who was in World Championship Wrestling at the time. However, that footage didn’t make the final product, as Dreamer requested that Black not include it out of fear that ECW boss Paul Heyman would be upset about possible legalities with WCW.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: For those 18 years of age or older, the DVD – which also contains personal footage that Black filmed while with Lizzy Borden and Tom Byron at an ECW show in Queens, NY [covered in the next part of this retrospective] – can be purchased at ExtremeAssocaites.com.)

Despite all of this interaction between Extreme Associates personnel and ECW talent, AVN’s Paul Fishbein remained skeptical of Black’s claims of discussions between himself and ECW. However, even more notably, Fishbein stood by what he wrote weeks earlier – while he admitted that AVN “wrote a ton about the wrestling stuff before it happened and it has been slow developing,” he insisted, nonetheless, that he “never thought [Black] was full of shit.” He defended what he previously wrote:

“For marketing, talking about it will not get you a nomination for Best Campaign. But if it materializes (as it looks like it will) it will be a great coup for Extreme and [Black] can market to the mainstream. Our [AVN’s] cut-off date for awards is 10/31/98 and the wrestling thing wasn't happening yet.”

Shortly thereafter, in January 1999, Lukeford.com received an anonymous e-mail from a user called “imlikgod,” claiming to be a wrestler who was at one of the shows at which Black and his crew were assigned formal roles. This (supposed) wrestler even claimed to have competed on one of the two Monday night shows (anotherwards, WCW Nitro or WWF RAW). They wrote that “people recognized Tom [Byron] but had no idea who Rob or Lizzy were” and that while some of the ECW wrestlers welcomed Black with open arms, some looked at his involvement in ECW in an entirely different manner:

“I have friends in ECW who have told me they look forward to smashing a chair over Rob's head. Not everyone likes it when some ‘mark’ off the street comes in and gets TV time.” Black shrugged off those claims, telling Lukeford.com:

“He says he's with an A company. I don't know who he is...He must be unimportant…who cares what this guy says. He must be a jobber – someone who gets his ass kicked by the big guys."

By this point in time, Rob Black was determined to go through with serious negotiations between his own company, Extreme Associates, and Heyman’s ECW brand, regardless of what the critics were saying. Criticism, after all, seemed to be what Black lived for, judging by his past promotional tactics and those that would follow in the coming years. An Extreme Associates/ECW business accord was coming closer and closer to fruition…

COMING NEXT: Rob Black and Paul Heyman talk interpromotional business

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Part 3: The Story of Xtreme Pro Wrestling

In mid-1998, shortly before he moved in with Tom Byron, the first inkling of an involvement in the pro wrestling industry by Rob Black revealed itself. He was visiting some relatives in his hometown of Rochester, NY at the same time that then-Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) Tag Team Champions and current-WWE RAW superstars The Dudley Boys (Buh Buh Ray & D-Von) and their right-hand man, the colossal Big Dick Dudley, were in town to plug an upcoming ECW show in the area. The three Dudley clan members had granted a rare autograph signing for ECW fans at Rochester’s “Ontario Video and News Store,” which was owned and operated by Black’s brother, Dominick (not to be confused with their father, whose name is spelled with a "c"). Dominick telephoned his brother and urged him to drive to the store because Buh Buh Ray (real name: Mark Lamonica) and Big Dick (real name: Alex Rizzo) wanted to meet him after viewing and enjoying several of his porn productions.

Black found this news very appealing due to his fascination with pro wrestling ever since he was eight or nine years old. He ended up spending most of the day chatting with Rizzo and – even more so – Lamonca next to a waterhole near his brother’s store. The conversation resulted in Black being invited to attend two of ECW's future live events – one in Baton Rouge and the other in New Orleans. Black jumped at the opportunity, realizing that this could give him a chance to develop inter-promotional business between ECW and Extreme Associates if things turned out right. Being that this was before Black had met Janet Romano (a.k.a. Lizzy Borden), he was dating porn star Nikki Strassner, and actually, before going out with Nikki, Black had been engaged to yet another porn actress, by the name of Tricia Devereaux. Together, Nikki, Tom Byron, and Black took a flight to Louisiana to see ECW’s action firsthand, but even more importantly to talk business-related matters with ECW.

Aware that the trio intended to meet with ECW officials later in the evening, the promotion’s management assigned security guards to watch over Black and his crew during the show. The trio was provided with front-row tickets for the Friday, May 29, 1998 Baton Rouge show, but even so, mobs of fans confronted them for autographs throughout the night. Byron was by far the most popular subject of such requests, although Nikki also found herself quite an attraction among the fans (who were primarily middle-aged males). One fan actually tried to stick his hand up Nikki’s buttocks during the event, resulting in his being expelled from the venue by the security team.

Byron was quite a hit not only with fans, but with ECW officials. Several of them teased him from the ring, in between matches, about how he was the most popular man in the building that night. Their assessments were by no means a stretch, as ECW management – aware of the notoriety that their guests of the night possessed – incorporated Black and Byron's presence into the show itself. Both pornographers leaned over the guardrail and got into the faces of the Dudley Boys as the tag team champions made their entrance in preparation for the night’s main event. Black and Byron proceeded to heckle the duo with a barrage of insults that included “You suck," "Fuck you," and "You piece of shit!" Those antics, not surprisingly, were received very positively by the other fans in attendance, since the Dudleys were at the peak of their heel run around this period of time.

Black and his gang’s fraternization with ECW’s wrestlers and employees continued after the show ended and even into the following day, only on a more casual (and non-scripted) basis. Besides the Dudleys, Black, Byron, and Nikki mingled with an ECW all-star contingent that included New Jack, Justin Credible, Tommy Dreamer, Danny Doring, Francine Fournier, Shane Douglas, and even promoter Paul Heyman. Half a decade later, Douglas (who Lamonica introduced to Black) would end up playing an instrumental role in XPW's rise to national prominence and also – as some would argue – its ultimate downfall. At this point, however, no such idea crossed Black, Douglas, or anyone else’s mind, as the only thing they were concerned with was the possibility of working together to develop interest in the respective ECW and Extreme Associate brands of entertainment.

Even though Black and his friends were popular with several of ECW’s wrestlers and management, Black’s best friends in the pro wrestling business remained Lamonica and Rizzo. His camaraderie with the two performers actually survived the fallout between Extreme Associates and ECW management and continued through XPW’s run (of course, Rizzo’s unfortunate death in 2002 ended the relationship between himself and Black).

The porn world, on the other hand, wasn’t as fond as Black was about the possibility of a pro wrestling league such as ECW becoming involved in their industry. Many publications and writers didn’t want to believe that the rumors of interaction between the two parties were anything more than a fictional “wrestling” storyline to get people talking, hoping that there were no intentions to actually pursue any business-related endeavors. The only problem with this mindset was that the interaction between ECW and Extreme Associates was no storyline at all. In fact, their plans for more intense interaction with one another were growing more and more serious by the day…

COMING NEXT: Rob Black & The Dudleyz vs. Adult Video News

Part 2 - The History of XPW:

There is no place on Earth that Rob Black was meant to be more than California, and finally – in 1996 – that time arrived, as he staked a home in the Golden West. Yet there was one problem – only weeks into his residency on the West coast, Black was fired from the VCA company and found himself in the same predicament he was in before beginning the filming of his first porn movie, “Tender Loins 1”: absolutely broke. Initially, he turned to his contacts at Adult Video News and set up an interview with Mickey Blanks for a job at Sin City, but Black became too impatient to wait the four days until the interview and instead decided to give Patrick Collin’s Elegant Angel company a call. Rick Masters – who Black directed in his second production, “Cellar Dweller” – introduced the two to one another. Collins eventually gave Black a shot at Elegant Angel as a sales representative, but only after Black rejected Collins’ first offer for one movie per month at $5,000 each (they eventually settled for $10,000 a movie for the same number).

Although the first signs of his nonconformist lifestyle came in his Extreme Video movies a few years prior, Rob Black’s reputation as the vilest pornographer in the industry truly began to be shaped when he joined Elegant Angel. The organization presented him with a significantly more public platform to exhibit his work than he possessed while running the relatively small Extreme Video. Upon working his way up to director at Elegant Angel, Black started touching on subjects that many observers (and even other directors) considered too controversial for even the porn industry.

For instance, Roger T. Pipe of RogReviews.com wrote during the peak of Black’s career in the late ‘90’s, “Robert Black has picked up the ball in pushing the envelope and has proven that being on the edge is not always better.” Adult entertainment journalists Brad Williams – the moderator of RAME.net (the porn equivalent of wrestling’s RSPW newsgroup) – and Luke Ford both concur with that assessment. Williams stated several years ago on RAME that “Black is going for making sex as ‘dirty and disgusting’ as anyone can imagine,” while Luke Ford described Black several years on the British TV show, “Disinfo,” as directing “the most repellent, vile disgusting, morally troublesome work of which I’m aware.”

And rather than deny these claims, Rob Black embraced them, and in fact still does. During the late ’90’s, he wore a necklace that read in tiny letters, “Whoever dies wearing this scapular shall not suffer eternal fire.” Black seemed to live by that motto. On the Disinfo TV show, Black concurred with his critics, stating that his productions “are the filthiest of the filth…There's the drug dealer and we're a little above that.” He explained his philosophy for directing porn in the January 1998 issue of AVN:

"If I can shock someone, titillate them, arouse them, make them say, 'What is this?' I'm doing my job. Look at how many directors there are, and how many movies come out a year. And if I can be distinguished with my stuff, and have the Internet and the magazines full of my name, then I'm doing my job.”

Perhaps Black was doing it too well, though. Many people believe that he has crossed over the line of decency. At one point in 1997, Black – according to the May edition of that year’s AVN – was summoned to the office of Patrick Collins (his boss at Elegant Angel), who “‘politely suggested’ that he scale back on the choking and other violent acts in his productions." Similarly, the reason Black was sent packing from VCA just a few weeks after arriving in California is that he got into a heated argument with its founder, Russell (Russ) Hampshire, because he refused to tone down the violent aspects of his films.

And even so, this strategy seemed to work for Black. By late 1997, he was living the good life, smoking smoked three packs of Camel Wide Lights per day (he’s since quit, word has it) and driving a brand-new BMW. He and his then-fiancée, Tricia Devereaux, lived in a half-a-million-dollar home that – according to AVN – was “complete with diving pool, tennis courts and stables – in an 'exclusive, gated community' in nearby Bell Canyon.”

And those weren’t even Black’s greatest achievements. The most important thing of all was that he had succeeded in impressing Tom Byron, the same guy who had looked down upon him half a decade before. Byron was none too pleased upon first learning that Elegant Angel had hired Black, since he was already an employee there. However, working alongside one another on various projects on several occasions led to the two finding some common ground, and subsequently, by around late 1996, this unlikely duo had become the best of friends.

Byron's other company, Tom Byron Productions, entered into a business relationship with Elegant, which morphed into Extreme Associates in 1998. Elegant Angel employees such as Tiffany Mynx and Van Damage joined Black and Byron in their new Extreme Associates endeavor. According to Lukeford.com – one of the premier sources for up-to-date news on the pornography business – the rumor goes that Black launched Extreme Associates with a $90,000 loan from his father, Dominic. Black has yet to comment on that subject.

The years since Extreme Associates was formed is when the aura that porn enthusiasts associate with Rob Black’s name reached its peak. His fame was already on an upswing when he was working for Elegant, but by the time Extreme Associates was formed, the pinnacle of his career was in sight. Extreme – and Rob Black, specifically – gained the reputation of going far and above the content of most other companies, which sparked many critics of Black (such as Luke Ford, John T. Bone, and ex-employee Wanker Wang), but that didn’t seem to faze the Rochester native. Black remained determined to lead Extreme Associates in the right direction, according to his controversial 2001 interview for the PBS “Frontline” series (in which he mounted a challenge to the federal government that came back to haunt him a couple of years later):

“I like the challenge of doing something that people on the outside see as taboo. I enjoy the challenge of just making the thing as a whole work, and grow, and thrive, and go. My partner, Tom [Byron] – he always says I'm a drama junkie. I thrive on the drama. And at times, I do. Aside from the money, I enjoy – that ... and just that eternal quest to keep going and make it bigger than it is.”

When Extreme Associates was launched, Black was going out with Nikki Strassner, his second girlfriend in just as many years. He had previously broken up with Tricia Devereaux in mid-1997, but in late ’98, Nikki and himself followed that same course. At that point, Black began dating one of his Extreme Associates contract girls, Lizzy Borden (real name: Janet Romano). Black and Borden hit things off immediately with one another. In a March 2001 interview with Roger T. Pipe, Borden describes her first encounter with her future husband:

“[Porn actor Mike Long a.k.a. Luciano] called me up one night to tell me he was signing a deal with Extreme Associates. I was worried because when I first got into the business, everyone told me never to work for Extreme, never work for Rob Black. We went out celebrating that night and the following Monday he called me to ask me to do a [sexual act] with him for an Extreme movie. I said, ‘Fine, as long as I don't have to meet Rob Black.’ Of course, I get there and the first person I meet is Rob. It turns out that he is just the sweetest guy and I can't understand why everyone hates him.”

Whereas Black seemed destined to enter porn from an early age (due in large part to his familial connections to the vocation), Borden just happened to fall into it, more or less. Borden – born on December 20, 1977 in Huntington Beach, CA – looked back on her childhood in an interview with Pipe:

“I was very shy and very insecure. I came from a broken family. My stepfather was an alcoholic who was very abusive towards my mother. He didn't accept me. I went through a lot of sh*t.”

It took awhile for Borden to develop an identity. During her late teenage years, she held a job at Disneyland, but started feeling “like I had to be a different person just to make friends. People would ask if I was a virgin and I would say, ‘Yes,’ just to fit in. I was afraid of what they would think. I just got sick of being someone other than I was.”

With Rob Black, his first direct involvement in the porn industry came when he met Tom Byron. As for Borden, working at a local strip club for about four months led to her meeting a woman named Jill Kelly, who introduced Borden to what she later realized was her calling in life: “I loved it because I didn't have to hide who I was.” She started doing porn under the alias of “Mia Mikels” and didn’t start going by “Lizzy Borden” (a takeoff on 19th century accused murderer Lizzie Borden) until she met Black and was given the name by him. In fact, there’s actually a promo photo Borden did while with XPW, in which she’s posing with a bloody axe in her hands.

Borden began her tenure at Extreme Associates as an actress in their porn flicks, but within less than a year of working for the company, she had climbed her way up to the position of director. Contrary to what perennial XPW critic Bob Magee claimed in a 2002 article on PWBTS.com, mid-1999 was the last time she actually performed a sex scene in a movie. From then on, it was all directing Extreme Associates productions for Borden.

Everything was going sensational for the new couple and also for Extreme Associates. In 1998, Borden and Byron moved in with Black. By this point, Borden had figured out that she was best off directing films (as opposed to acting in them), and all the while her soon-to-be husband was breaking through the upper echelon of the porn industry. Extreme Associates was emerging as a legitimate alternative in adult entertainment, much like what happened with pro wrestling’s ECW organization during the mid-and-late-‘90’s. Less than a year into its infancy, Extreme Associates won four AVN awards at the January 1999 CES festival, including the much-coveted “Male Performer of the Year” (for Tom Byron). Black and Borden (along with Byron and their other Extreme Associates colleagues) were on their way to redefining pornography, and the rest – as the saying goes – is history...

PART ONE: The Story of XTREME PRO WRESTLING

Written by Jonathan and originally printed on Saturday, July 31, 2004 Feedback can be sent to Piratez4v3go2@aol.com.

How many entertainment industries that exist have are more controversial than professional wrestling and pornography? With storylines that have touched on every subject one could think of – from public crucifixion, necrophilia, and racism to female degradation, gay marriage, and mental retardation – pro wrestling has become no longer suitable for the entire family, as it was just a couple of decades ago. Likewise, pornography was a central concern during the Nixon administration and is recently returning to the public eye again, thanks to the revelations that some of its actors and actresses unknowingly possessed AIDS or other sexually transmitted diseases during their active careers. Consequently, each business have sparked more than its fair share of mainstream disapproval in recent years.

Each, that is…

As it presently stands, most people consider pro wrestling and pornography two completely different industries. Granted, both target similar fan bases (young to middle-aged males), but these two facets of “entertainment” aren’t about to officially “combine” anytime soon. However, what about if they were to be intermixed with one another? In what manner would America’s citizens react to an atmosphere where wrestlers were to make cameos in porn productions and porn stars were to appear on wrestling cards? Furthermore, who in God's name would ever dare to engage in such a risky venture, from the perspectives of both finances and reputation?

The man’s name is Robert Zicari. As the mastermind behind the Chatsworth, CA-based Extreme Associates pornography corporation and former-companies Extreme Video and Xtreme Pro Wrestling, Zicari – better known by his porn alias of “Rob Black” – is the most controversial man in perhaps the two most controversial industries on Earth: wrestling and porn.

And about a year ago, all of it – the lawsuits, the Internet and dirtsheet critics, the debts, the disgruntled ex-employees, the rival conglomerates – it may have all finally caught up with him. On August 27, 2003, Zicari and his wife, former-porn actress and now director Janet Romano (known professionally as Lizzy Borden), were indicted by the federal government for selling obscene videos across state lines (specifically into Pittsburgh, PA). The incident represented the first major pornography bust in the past decade and thus, Zicari and Romano are left to fight the charges while simultaneously trying to run Extreme Associates on a daily basis.

Controversy, however, is nothing new to Rob Zicari. In fact, many observers of both the wrestling and porn side of things believe that controversy is what motivates him, perhaps even what he lives for. And judging by his past, this assessment may not be too far from the truth.

Before he became the notorious figurehead in the California porn world who is currently facing up to 50 years in jail, Rob Zicari – who hails from Sicilian ancestry – was a native New Yorker, having grown up on the streets of Rochester. He participated in the Golden Gloves Boxing league as a teenager ("I was in decent shape, but it was either go to the Catskills and get beaten up for the rest of my life, or go to college," Zicari reminisced in a 1998 Adult Video News interview.) and he even aspired to be a DEA agent for a short while. However, none of this was meant to be; Rob Zicari dropped out of college in order to enter the industry in which he'd become an icon like few others – pornography.

And quite frankly, this decision didn’t come to a great deal of surprise from those who knew him well. After all, the profession had surrounded Zicari for most of his adolescence. Four years before Rob was even born, his father, Dominic, had become the first person in the Western New York area to own adult entertainment bookstores. Within only a few years, Dominic operated about 40 different “peep shops” – as they were called – in the region. According to Rob in his first interview with Roger T. Pipe of RogReviews.com in September 2000, the Zicari family "never had pornography around the house," but young Rob was fully aware of his father’s vocational endeavors. In fact, Dominic Zicari often bought along his son to his porn shops for the day:

"I would go in through the back to the office. There was no porn around, but I would sit and roll quarters from the peep machines. That was my job. When I was done, my dad would give me a couple of rolls and I would go to the batting cages. I was like fourteen with a hundred dollars in f*cking quarters."

Having been raised in an atmosphere like this one, Zicari’s exposure to the more sexually explicit forms of amusement at an earlier age than most people isn’t overly surprising: “As I hit puberty, [my dad] would go downstairs and I would grab all the stuff I could. I was jerking off to DP’s and sh*t when kids were just looking at Penthouse.”

Dominic wasn’t the only member of the Zicari family who made a living out of promoting adult entertainment. Dominic’s younger brother (by about 10 years), Charles “Chuck” Zicari (better known as pornographer “Chuck Zane”), had worked as a shoe vendor before the brothers’ grandfather (Rob Zicari’s great grandfather) convinced them to begin working together in the early 1980s. Initially, all Dominic was willing to give to his brother was the position of manager in one of his shops, but he eventually transferred to him ownership of that entire store and – soon thereafter – the brothers partnered up in 1983 to establish their own porn company, Zane Entertainment.

However, it wasn’t long before Dominic lost his prominence in the adult entertainment industry during the eighties when the government got a hold of Zane Entertainment’s contentious 1986 production, “Backside to the Future.” At that time, the government was already cracking down on the content of pornography (in large part because of the famous Tracy Lords scandal of that era) and Dominic was one of several pornographers to feel the repercussions. According to his son in the September 2000 interview by Pipe, Dominic ended up being arrested about 170 times tax evasion, selling obscene materials, and other crimes during the late ‘80s.

After he had been incarcerated a few times (although he’d have plenty more gigs in prison in the future in the future), Dominic Zicari was convinced that the expertise he once possessed in promoting porn was long gone, so he sold the stores that he owned to Chuck for about $150,000. Shortly thereafter, Chuck (whose son, Matt, is also a prominent name in the porn industry) hired a right-hand man, Frank DeLucia, to help him run the stores that he had bought from Dominic. Upon being released from his final prison sentence, Dominic went to Chuck and seeked the money shares of Zane Entertainment that Chuck had reimbursed him for, but Chuck gave him a “that was then, this is now” attitude and refused to pay him back. Ever since learned of how Chuck gave the cold shoulder to his older brother, Rob Zicari has hated his uncle. Zicari told Luke Ford in late 1998 that “if Chuck walked in that door, I’d punch him in the mouth. He’s the biggest piece of garbage in the world because he f*cks family. That's the worst.”

However, physically compelling his younger brother into returning the monetary stakes of Zane Entertainment that he was owed wasn’t an option to Dominic Zicari. “It is his little brother. What is he going to do?” Rob asks Luke Ford. “My dad is very Italian [devoted to family]. He’s very loyal. You don’t beat up family.” So, what Dominic did was leave Chuck to be, and initially, it appeared that that strategy was working fine because Chuck was digging his own hole. He led Zane Entertainment filed into bankruptcy only a few years after Dominic’s ownership of the peep stores was transferred to his name. However, with the assistance of porn veterans John T. Bone and Max Hardcore (real name: Paul Little), Chuck was able to struggle his financial slumps and eventually relaunch what was basically “version 2.0” – so to say – of Zane Entertainment. The company is still an active competitor in the adult film market to this day (it’s mainly ran by Chuck’s son, Matt).

Rob Zicari’s first direct involvement in the porn business came when he began attending the annual Consumer Electronic Shows in Las Vegas each January. Despite being only a teenager at that point, he gained plenty of acquaintances who worked in the business, one of whom was famous porn actor and director Tom Byron (real name: Thomas Taliaferro). When he and Byron first met slightly less than a decade ago on the set of a porn movie (this was the first time that Zicari had seen one shot live, although obviously far from the last), Zicari was only about 20 years old, while Byron was in his early thirties. Byron initially resented Zicari’s excessively inquisitive demeanor, believing him to be "kind of the opposite of [his own] personality" and especially "boisterous," according to Pipe’s May 2000 interview with him. That didn’t matter to Zicari, though. His curiosity got the best of him and he became infatuated with the industry Byron was a legend in, and he’d soon follow the same path and devote all of his time to adult entertainment.

Around the time that they first met one another, Zicari and Byron attended the AVN Awards Show together. Byron drove Zicari to the show, but refused accompany him in and instead handed him his business card. Zicari tried to contact Byron for advice in 1988 when he began to plan the filming of his first porn movie (entitled “Tender Loins 2”). However, Byron didn’t return the young Zicari’s calls and in fact didn’t really want anything to do with him. That left Zicari to make a choice that may’ve led to him changed the course of his life forever (from his mayoral candidacy to the current trial to possibly whether XPW was ever formed) had he acted differently in any sort of way. Desperately wanting to direct his own porn film, Black was determined to go through with the task whether he had Bryon’s help or not. Without any prior full-time job or even college background, Zicari was basically broke at the time, and as a result, he used the money that his father had designated as his college funds and flew in a crew to New York shoot the movie (entitled “Tender Loins 1”):

“I…used my college money. Basically, it was money I wasn’t authorized to use. I basically stole the money to shoot the first movie.”

For the most part, Black stopped using his college savings account after “Tender Loins 1” was completed. Over the next few years, he started building near Rochester a company that – around 1993/’94 – became officially known as Extreme Video. It was during the rise of Extreme Video that “Rob Black” was born. According to his 2001 interview with PBS, Zicari wanted the name to be more than just an alias. He intended for Rob Black character to be “this demonic-like figure, this boisterous, obnoxious person. And I'm going to direct movies that are just out there."

And the movies directed by the newly-dubbed Rob Black were “out there.” Pornography is obviously not considered politically correct by most communities, but pornographers at this time (during the early ‘90’s) were recovering from the Nixon administration’s concentrated effort on the industry. With the knowledge of how the government had taken action against Dominic Zicari and others unlike him, most directors aimed to comply as much as possible with society’s standards of acceptability.

Extreme Video wasn’t one of those companies. Extreme Video refused to conform. Extreme Video was constructed as an alternative to an industry that the Rob Black believed wasn’t living up to its purpose:

“I sat back and I said, ‘Well, you never see movies that are edgy. You never see movies that are just entertaining. It's either just an all-sex movie or it's a plot about the pizza guy who delivers a pizza, and the girl doesn't have money, so she has sex with him for the pizza.’ I sat there and I said, ‘Let's get a representation of life, the grittier edge.’” (2001 PBS interview)

Despite only lasting a few years, Extreme Video’s movies served as previews of the brash attitude and outrageous content that would become a signature of Rob Black’s work in the coming years. However, not everybody was happy with what Rob Zicari had become and what he was doing. Upon learning how his son’s college money had been misallocated, Dominic Zicari was certainly no happy camper. He first learned of his son’s financial dishonesty when the filming of “Cellar Dweller” (Rob’s second movie) was completed and gave him a call:

“My dad said ‘When you get home, we have to have a conversation.’ I knew I was in trouble. He confronted me, ‘you stole this, you stole that’ and I was like ‘yeah, but I’m going to make all this money.’ It became a shouting match – ‘F*ck you,’ ‘No – f*ck you,’ and I just left.” (September 2000 interview with Roger T. Pipe)

This was 1996. Rob Black – then in his early 20s – no longer had the desire to live around the rules and limits that his father demanded he abide by. He had a vision of what he wanted to accomplish in the porn industry and he wasn’t going to get there while living in New York. So, he’s and his girlfriend, Tricia Devereaux (whom he had first met while directing her in “Cellar Dweller”) moved to California, where he’s lived ever since. It was a year and a half before he and his father returned to speaking terms with another and in that time, Rob Black’s life was about to travel down a pathway that he never nor his family ever could’ve envisioned.

This story will continue in an episodic format on the DOI. Check back for the latest update.

FIVE YEARS LATER – THE STORY OF XTREME PRO WRESTLING

"Not only did it take my focus away, it sucked the life out of me, but you have to lose it all before you get it back again – instead of taking one of those 10-hour Tony Robbins seminars, it was a three-and-a-half-year course and it stripped us (Extreme Associates) of anger, hate, pride, everything, and it took everything from us to where we started over and that's what it did. I tried something and what echoes in my head all the time is my dad saying, 'Stick to what you know.' He preached it to me forever - I didn't listen to him, I didn't stick to what I knew, and I lost my @$$." - Rob Black, about XPW (2004 Adult Video News interview)

From mid-1999 until early 2003, Southern California's Xtreme Professional Wrestling produced some of the most enthusiastic debate the world of United States independent wrestling has witnessed in recent years. It all started with a pornography mogul named Rob Black and his business associate, Tom Byron. Along the way, superstar wrestlers such as Sabu, The Sandman, Shane Douglas, Chris Candido, and Jerry Lynn made their presences felt in XPW rings. At one point, XPW possessed a nationwide TV deal (via satellite) with America One and its home videos were distributed across the country even before those of ECW were. Although XPW eventually shut down, not even it's bankruptcy has curtailed the mutterings about it, and in many ways the promotion changed the So-Cal independent wrestling landscape forever.

In the next half a year, learn about the formation, the rise, and the ultimate fall of a promotion that at one point had everything going for it. You've heard the mutterings about Rob Black's association with ECW's Paul Heyman, but there’s so much more to that story than meets the eye. When it comes down to it, all the way back in 1989 was when the true roots of XPW began to take shape. Long before the XPW name was concepted by Sheldon Goldberg, what could be considered precursors of the promotion existed, including: Verne Langdon's Slammers Wrestling Federation (Slammers/SWF); Dynamite D, Kevin Kleinrock, and Patrick Hernandez' Southern California Championship Wrestling (SCCW); and Doc Marlee's United Independent Wrestling Alliance (UIWA). Before they were appearing across the United States on XPW home videos, XPW's homegrown superstars were crafting their ability on the So-Cal independent circuit.

Exactly one-third of the competitor's who performed on XPW's debut live event back in July 1999 credit their initial training to a man named Verne Langdon. Trained by The Fabulous Moolah and Tor Johnson many years ago, Langdon established the SLAMMERS WRESTLING GYM's UNIVERSITY OF PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING in Southern California in 1989 and, two years later, the Slammers Wrestling Federation. He’s responsible for overseeing the training of The Messiah, Angel, Johnny Webb, Homeless Jimmy, Dynamite D, Carlito Montana, and other XPW superstars.

Langdon is one of several names who've agreed to contribute both historical information and textual quotations to this retrospective. Other contributers will include:

- XPW homegrown superstars such as GQ Money, Carlito Montana, "White Trash" Johnny Webb, Leroy The Ring Crew Guy, Steve Rizzono, Pogo the Clown, and several others.

- Freelance veteran wrestlers Chris Hamrick and Mike Modest will talk about their time working for XPW.

- So-Cal manager JR Benson talks about what it was like to travel with the APW boys to XPW shows from 2001-2002 and his experience managing SNUFF in XPW.

- Joe LaChance – the current promoter of Connecticut Championship Wrestling – will discuss how he did promotional work for XPW during 1999.

- Plus, former-ECW superstar, current-ECW wrestler, and Philadelphia Athletic Commission executive Rockin’ Rebel speaks about dealing with XPW’s attempts to obtain a promoter’s license to run in Philly during 2002.

As of now, there are a number of other former-XPW wrestlers and employees in the process of being contacted and in the coming weeks and months, even though this retrospective is soon getting underway. More names will be announced as playing a role in this retrospective.

Very rare photos that will be featured in the retrospective include:

- NEVER-before-seen, pre-XPW photos (straight from the Slammers Wrestling Federation's archives) of the stars such as The Messiah, Johnny Webb, Kaos, Homeless Jimmy, and Angel. Thanks to Verne Langdon for supplying these photos.

- GQ Money posing with legends such as Stu Hart, Nick Bockwinkel, Greg Valentine, and others.

- Photos from the EWF and UIWA of TOOL, “Iceman” John Black (a.k.a. Chronic), Kaos, Supreme, and other future-XPW superstars.

- Very hard-to-find pictures of the XPW appearances by Tony Jones, The Tonga Kid, Mustafa Saed, and others.

- VERY rare photographs from the NEVER-before-released, invitation-only Sabu Invitational House Show in 2002!

Also included:

- the story of Rob Black’s rise in the porno industry as the vilest and most crude director ever

- never-before known facts about the details of the ECW/Extreme Associates negotiations

- backstage stories straight from the XPW wrestlers about various XPW matches

- the full scoop on Sabu’s international XPW title defenses in Japan, Mexico, and even a never-before discussed defense in England

- information on past mainstream TV appearances of XPW superstars such as Johnny Webb, Damien Steele, Veronica Caine, Ron Jeremy, and Rob Black, both while they were with XPW and before the promotion was around

- never-before-released details about storylines and angles that were planned for XPW, but ended up never seeing the light of day

- Where are they now? – a section devoted ENTIRELY to the question of what ever single performer who worked for XPW (even now) is currently doing

- the REAL story about the ECW HeatWave 2000 fiasco, from those who were there live (included: an ULTRA-rare interview with – of all people – Homeless Jimmy about what he experienced during the incident!)

- details about what big-name wrestlers who attended XPW shows and were backstage at them, but never made in-ring appearances

- the answer to the two most widely asked questions by XPW fans: “Who was under the monkey mask at Free Fall?” and “What’s the story with Altar Boy Matthew?”

- results to very rarely-publicized XPW house shows, including one that featured a legit Shoot Fight that was sponsored by Antonio Inoki’s UFO organization and also the Sabu Invitational House Show

- XPW-related quotes from very rare interviews with Rob Black, Doc Marlee, Donovan Morgan, and even the hardcore legend himself…SABU! (along with many other wrestlers not mentioned)

- word-for-word copies of official XPW press releases, including the extremely hard-to-find one from June 1999 that announced the formation of XPW

Some of the below people are contributing, while others supplied contact info for wrestlers. An extra special thanks go out to them for the reasons mentioned:

- GQ Money: GQ provided some uniquely candid and thought-provoking commentary about his experiences in XPW, and was also more patient than ever could’ve been expected. Thanks very much for being so cooperative!

- Verne Langdon: Verne supplied access to the Slammers photos archive, commentary about working with XPW superstars years before they made it to the big-time, and was responsible for getting in touch with some of the above contributees.

- Roland Alexander: Roland supplied some contact info for some those people who are contributing to this retrospective.

- Steve Bryant: Steve runs SoCalUncensored.com and helped contact one of the contributers that are listed above, and also provided some rare info about XPW that will be featured.

THE GOOD

“XPW was my WWF. I couldn’t have gotten any higher than I did.” – Steve Rizzono

"I think XPW gets a lot of bad rap and has a horribly unjust bad reputation. Fact is, XPW ran for four years or so, which was four years longer than most people thought they would run...I think XPW had its own identity, and XPW walked with its head up high. A lot of companies put on shows that are just like something else. XPW took risks, and I'm glad I was a part of it." – GQ Money

"I'll be happy to take millions and millions of [WCW’s] dollars and then come right back here to XPW, hoist this company on my back like I did ECW, and make this f*ckin' company a God d*mn player in the sport of professional wrestling!" - Shane Douglas, minutes after making his debut in XPW (XPW My Bloody Valentine: First Annual King of the Death Match Tournament; February 26, 2000)

"It was fun, it was fast-paced, it was wild, it was hard work, and it was exciting. You never knew what was going to happen, and anything could happen. It was like a sitcom, or a movie, or a drama show all rolled into one...It was incredibly hard work and it took an incredibly hard working person to survive and keep a job there, but it was awesome." – GQ Money, about the atmosphere at the offices of XPW's parent company, Extreme Associates

"XPW is not a stepping stone! Our guys that bust their @$$ [to] do what they do. It's not like UPW or Memphis. Nobody's striving to go to WCW or the WWF…They don't want to go to tryouts. They don't do it. And the couple of them that had the chance to go to (UPW owner) Rick Bassman and have that shot...they don't want to do it. Tracy Smothers is working with us and Tracy's like, 'Kid Kaos'...the one kid who was visible on the [ECW HeatWave 2000] tape...Tracy's like, 'You're real good. I want you to come to Memphis,' and the kid's like, 'I don't want to!' They want to make it in XPW and that's it." – Rob Black (July 18, 2000 ScoopsWrestling.com interview with Al Isaacs)

"I've worked for twenty people in about ten different countries and about thirty states in the U.S., and God d*mnit – this crowd is the best crowd I have ever performed in front of!" – The Sandman, at XPW Halloween In Hell 2 (later renamed "Blown To Hell")

"Who knows why they did it, who knows what they did it for?...If that promotion succeeds, that's great. There’s one more place for wrestlers to work." – current WWE superstar Rhyno (who competed in ECW as Rhino), about the XPW-ECW HeatWave 2000 altercation (SLAM! Wrestling)

"I really don't know what happened with XPW and ECW, but the product itself needs a lot of work. That is why they got me to help. So, they're a long way away from being mainstream. That's for sure." – Sabu (January 2001 WrestleLine.com interview)

“No matter what you read or hear, deep down, he is a decent guy. A lot of his bravado has to be taken with a grain of salt. He is a showman, but deep down he is a decent f*cking guy." – Tom Byron, about his best friend, Rob Black (Byron's first RogReviews.com interview, in May 2000)

THE BAD

"I feel bad for a lot of the guys that gambled their careers with XPW for those few months. I feel bad for some of the guys that were banking on XPW to give them full-time jobs." – CZW commentator Eric Gargiulo (2003 TheDDT.com interview with Doug Graham)

"[XPW] came in here and I guess they decided to run us out and be the big shots." – CZW promoter John Zandig, about XPW's East Coast run (March 1, 2004 SLAM! Wrestling article, by Corey David Lacroix; stated by Zandig on the night of CZW's Fifth Anniversary Show in early 2004)

"I quit XPW because I knew I could do better. They wanted me to do movies and I didn't want to. Period. If I have such a hard time getting along with people, why don't I have the same problem at ECW? That whole XPW company has no clue what they're doing." – Jasmin St. Claire (December 2000 Wrestling World Magazine interview)

"I do feel that XPW were up to no good, as they're main goal was to kill Philly indy wrestling. I thought it was immaturity on XPW's behalf, and a smart idea when CZW, 3PW, and ROH all banned together to show that they weren't as tough as they thought they were. The fact that XPW took three wrestlers from CZW didn't help them, so it was a waste of money for them, and they did ruin three wrestling careers. That right there showed that it was a war XPW was never going to win." – CZW wrestler Nick Berk (2003 DeclarationOfIndependents.net interview)

"No, they spell 'unprofessional.'" – future-XPW wrestler Simon Diamond, when asked if he agreed that the letters, "X-P-W" spelled "disaster" (September 1, 2000 WrestleLine.com interview with Matt Kahn)

"I am glad that I never got my fingers or penis chopped off." – Mike Modest, about his experience working for XPW

"I never felt accepted because I was never offered coke or sex. [frowns]" – Super Dragon, about his time in XPW (May 21, 2002 interview with Nate Hiatt)

"CZW gives the fans what they want. XPW does what ever Rob (Black) wants to do. Rob could give a flying f*ck what the fans want. Rob is all about getting himself over. The joke I tell the boys is, ‘If you work at the (Extreme Associates) office, you get to become world champ.’ Hell, if Rob could put the belt on himself, he would. Zandig cares about the fans, and he doesn’t try to put himself over in every match. The differences between the two is that one fed cares about its fans and the other doesn’t." – The Messiah (February 21, 2002 interview with Nate Hiatt)

The CANDID

"We could never compete with the WWF, we could never compete with WCW, but we can compete with ECW, and we will continue to be a thorn on their side." – Rob Black (July 2000 Chairshots.com interview )

"All I ask, from what I've offered you over the years as 'The Franchise' – give us that opportunity. If we suck at that opportunity, then you have every right on September 1st to tell the world that we blew it, but if we come in on August 31st, give you a show that was entertaining, and if we live up to our expectations that I promised you, then please go online September 1st and tell the world that XPW wasn't so bad. They have a sh*tty reputation, but last night they put on a damn good show. That's all I am asking." – Shane Douglas' "sales pitch to the fans," as he worded it, for Hostile Takeover (August 27, 2002 shoot interview with Wrestling-News.com's Anthony DeBlasi)

"Directing movies was no longer a challenge. The challenge for me was creating a company that could be an entertainment conglomerate…The challenge was to own a company, instead of making a hundred and fifty thousand to make a hundred and fifty million. The challenge is to have our own wrestling company, our own TV station, go out there and do that. That’s the challenge for me. That’s excitement.” – Rob Black, speaking about what motivates him to continue operating a pro wrestling company (Black's first RogReviews.com interview, in September 2000)

“Back when ECW existed, we were a brash newcomer trying to attack the beloved establishment of ECW. Every major Internet writer was employed by ECW. 1Wrestling.com was owned Joey Styles and Bob Ryder, all the 1Wrestling.com people worked for ECW. We started out with this negative image after that…What it became was ‘our beloved ECW is gone, and you rat bastards are still around. That's f*cked up. So you know what? Instead of supporting you, we're just going to sh*t on you.’” – Kevin Kleinrock, about the Internet’s role in XPW’s downfall (July 2003 interview with SoCalUncensored.com’s Steve Bryant)

"Everything I've done is a f*cking plan. I might not know how to structure a match or set up a good four-minute deal with hot tags and stuff. That's why I call Shane (Douglas) and have him work with us. That's why. But you know what? When it comes to promoting and marketing and hype and getting the hysteria, that's what I know how to do. I'm the #1 porno company in the land. Henceforth, it doesn't matter that our ring crew got beaten up (at ECW HeatWave 2000). It doesn't matter what anybody says. The only thing that matters is an hour after the Pay-Per-View, everybody had XPW on their website. Everybody had XPW on their lips." – Rob Black (July 18, 2000 ScoopsWrestling.com interview with Al Isaacs)

“If nothing more – love him or hate him – Rob Black is a character. He did a lot of things that no one else really had the balls to do.” – Kevin Kleinrock (July 2003 interview with SoCalUncensored.com’s Steve Bryant)

HEATWAVE 2000

"I know you guys are impressed.” – a sarcastic Rob Van Dam, to a ringside Kid Kaos, after executing a high-risk maneuver at ECW HeatWave 2000 (a few hours before the famous altercation.”

"Come on, you son of a b*tch! You c*cks*cker!" – a paraphrased transcript (according to Rob Black's 2000 ScoopsWrestling.com interview) of Paul Heyman's words to The Messiah, after whacking the XPW wrestler in the back of the head as he was being escorted out of the building at ECW HeatWave 2000

"You c*cks*ckers! You come here and we'll kick your ass! F*ck Rob Black!" – a paraphrased transcript (according to Rob Black’s July 18, 2000 ScoopsWrestling.com interview with Al Isaacs) of Paul Heyman's words towards the XPW ringcrew, while they were being attacked in the parking lot of the Grand Olympic Auditorium by ECW wrestlers at ECW HeatWave 2000

"Your career is done/over. You're never going to work in this business." – a paraphrased transcript (according to accounts of the incident in The Messiah's late 2002 Smart Mark Video shoot interview and an official XPW press release following the HeatWave incident) of what Tommy Dreamer said toward Supreme, as the XPW wrestler was being escorted out of the building at ECW HeatWave 2000

"They were trying to make a name for themselves off of us, but all that came out in the end was that they made fools of themselves, and they embarrassed themselves. There was no way they were going to get any good out of it." – former-ECW and eventual XPW superstar Jerry Lynn, about the XPW-ECW HeatWave 2000 altercation (SLAM! Wrestling)

"I am truly saddened by the lack of professional courtesy shown by the [XPW] workers. What I mean is – we all do the same thing and for someone to be in the biz and not once acknowledge the workers in the shows is a huge insult, not only to the worker in front of you, but to the biz as a whole and not once did the XPW group at the very least acknowledge the awesome job done by all the workers in ECW. It shows that the disrespect that I thought was just Rob Black's I now see in all of the XPW group." – Doc Marlee, one day after the XPW-ECW HeatWave 2000 altercation (official statement in response to Rob Black’s July 18, 2000 ScoopsWrestling.com interview with Al Isaacs)

"If they (ECW) ever come back (to California), it's going to be a whole other world of f*cking sh*t. They'd better think twice about coming back to our f*cking town to do a show because if they do come back expect not five guys. Expect 25 workers and 25 ring crew guys around ringside. They'd better be sure that Chris Chetti and all their little prelim guys who went out and beat up our ring guys can handle 50 guys storming that f*cking place. That's not a promise, that's not a threat...that's a guarantee. I hope they come out again next month. And I'll be there like General Patton, leading the charge." – Rob Black (July 18, 2000 ScoopsWrestling.com interview with Al Isaacs)

AND SO MUCH MORE

Learn the entire story about a promotion that’s surrounded by misconceptions. From the beginnings in the porno industry of Rob Black to his friendship with ECW's Paul Heyman…from the XPW’s debut show 4 years and 20 weeks ago to the signings of stars such as Sabu, Shane Douglas, and Chris Candido…from the interpromotional agreements with FMW, Revolution Pro, and IWA Mid-South to the TV deals with America One, KJLA, and WGTW…from the creations of current indy stars like The Messiah, Kaos, and Angel to the controversies of Supreme's fire bump, Vic Grimes' 40-foot “Free Fall,” and the New Year's Revolution 2 ads…from the 2002-03 invasion of Philadelphia to XPW’s eventual folding – all of this, and so much more, will be presented in Five Years Later - The Story of Xtreme Pro Wrestling.

The History of XPW...

From mid-1999 until early 2003, Southern California's Xtreme Professional Wrestling produced some of the most enthusiastic debate the world of United States indy wrestling has witnessed in recent years. It all started with a pornography mogul named Rob Black and his business associate, Tom Byron. Along the way, superstar wrestlers such as Sabu, The Sandman, Shane Douglas, Chris Candido, and Jerry Lynn made their presences felt in XPW rings. At one point, XPW possessed a nationwide TV deal (via satellite) with America One and its home videos were distributed across the country even before those of ECW were. Although XPW eventually shut down, not even it's bankruptcy has curtailed the mutterings about it, and in many ways the promotion changed the So-Cal independent wrestling landscape forever.

In the next half a year, learn about the formation, the rise, and the ultimate fall of a promotion that at one point had everything going for it. You've heard the mutterings about Rob Black's association with ECW's Paul Heyman, but there’s so much more to that story. And actually, when it comes down to it, it was all the way back in 1989 when the true roots of XPW began to take shape. Even before the XPW name was concepted by Sheldon Goldberg, what could be considered precursors of the promotion existed, including: Verne Langdon's Slammers Wrestling Federation (Slammers/SWF); Dynamite D, Kevin Kleinrock, and Patrick Hernandez' Southern California Championship Wrestling (SCCW); and Doc Marlee's United Independent Wrestling Alliance (UIWA). Long before they were appearing across the United States on XPW home videos, XPW's homegrown superstars were crafting their ability on the So-Cal independent circuit.

Exactly one-third of the competitor's who performed on XPW's debut live event back in July 1999 credit their initial training to a man named Verne Langdon. Trained by The Fabulous Moolah and Tor Johnson many years ago, Langdon he established the "SLAM U" Wrestling Gym in Southern California in 1989 and, two years later, the Slammers Wrestling Federation. He’s responsible for overseeing the training of The Messiah, Angel, Johnny Webb, Homeless Jimmy, Dynamite D, Carlito Montana, and other XPW superstars.

Langdon is one of several names who've agreed to contribute both historical information and textual quotations to this retrospective. Other contributees will include:

- XPW homegrown superstars such as GQ Money, Carlito Montana, "White Trash" Johnny Webb, Leroy The Ring Crew Guy, Steve Rizzono, Pogo the Clown, Altar Boy Luke, and several others.

- Mainstream wrestlers Chris Hamrick and Mike Modest will talk about their time working for XPW.

- Joe LaChance – the current promoter of Connecticut Championship Wrestling – will discuss how he did promotional work for XPW during 1999, before he moved to the East Coast.

- Plus, former-ECW superstar, current-ECW wrestler, and Philadelphia Athletic Commission executive Rockin’ Rebel speaks about dealing with XPW’s attempts to obtain a promoter’s license to run in Philly during 2002.

I attempted to contact former-Extreme Associates actress and XPW/ECW valet Jasmine St. Claire through her husband, Brian “The Blue Meanie” Heffron, but my request for her to contribute and also refute some stories I was told about her while she was in XPW was turned down.

As of now, there are a number of other former-XPW wrestlers and employees in the process of being contacted and in the coming weeks and months, more names will be announced as playing a role in this retrospective.

Very rare photos that will be featured in the retrospective include:

- NEVER-before-seen, pre-XPW photos (straight from the Slammers Wrestling Federation's archives) of the stars such as The Messiah, Johnny Webb, Kaos, Homeless Jimmy, and Angel. Thanks to Verne Langdon for supplying these photos.

- GQ Money posing with legends such as Stu Hart, Nick Bockwinkel, Greg Valentine, and others.

- Photos from the EWF and UIWA of TOOL, “Iceman” John Black (a.k.a. Chronic), Kaos, Supreme, and other future-XPW superstars.

- Very hard-to-find pictures of the XPW appearances by Tony Jones, The Tonga Kid, Mustafa Saed, and others.

- VERY rare photographs from the NEVER-before-released, invitation-only Sabu Invitational House Show in 2002!

From the beginnings in the porno industry of Rob Black to his friendship with ECW's Paul Heyman…from the XPW’s debut show to the signings of stars such as Sabu, Shane Douglas, and Chris Candido…from the interpromotional agreements with FMW, Revolution Pro, and IWA Mid-South to the TV deals with America One, KJLA, and WGTW…from the creations of current indy stars like The Messiah, Kaos, and Angel to the controversies of Supreme's fire bump, Vic Grimes' 40-foot “Free Fall,” and the New Year's Revolution 2 ads…from the 2002-03 invasion of Philadelphia to XPW’s eventual folding – all of this, and so much more, will be presented in Five Years Later - The Story of Xtreme Pro Wrestling.

Also included:

- the story of Rob Black’s rise in the porno industry as the vilest and most crude director ever

- never-before known facts about the details of the ECW/Extreme Associates negotiations

- backstage stories straight from the XPW wrestlers about various XPW matches

- the full scoop on Sabu’s international XPW title defenses in Japan, Mexico, and even a never-before discussed defense in England

- information on past mainstream TV appearances of XPW superstars such as Johnny Webb, Damien Steele, Veronica Caine, Ron Jeremy, and Rob Black, both while they were with XPW and before the promotion was around

- never-before-released details about storylines and angles that were planned for XPW, but ended up never seeing the light of day

- Where are they now? – a section devoted ENTIRELY to the question of what ever single performer who worked for XPW (even now) is currently doing

- the REAL story about the ECW HeatWave 2000 fiasco, from those who were there live (included: an ULTRA-rare interview with – of all people – Homeless Jimmy about what he experienced during the incident!)

- details about what big-name wrestlers who attended XPW shows and were backstage at them, but never made in-ring appearances

- results to never-before mentioned XPW house shows, including one that featured a legit Shoot Fight that was sponsored by Antonio Inoki’s UFO organization.

- XPW-related quotes from very rare interviews with Rob Black, Doc Marlee, Donovan Morgan, Jerry Lynn, Rhyno, Tony Mamaluke, and even the hardcore legend himself…SABU!

- word-for-word copies of official XPW press releases, including the extremely hard-to-find one that announced the formation of XPW

Learn the facts that so many wrestling web sites, magazines, and other publications don’t want you to know about a promotion with more misconceptions than you could ever imagine.

Some of the below people are contributing, while others supplied contact info for wrestlers. An extra special thanks go out to them for the reasons mentioned:

- GQ Money: GQ provided some uniquely candid and thought-provoking commentary about his experiences in XPW, and was also more patient than ever could’ve been expected. Thanks very much for being so cooperative!

- Verne Langdon: Verne supplied access to the Slammers photos archive, commentary about working with XPW superstars years before they made it to the big-time, and was responsible for getting in touch with some of the above contributees.

- Roland Alexander: Roland supplied the contact info of one of the contributes of this retrospective.

- Steve Bryant: Steve runs SoCalUncensored.com and helped contact one of the contributes that are listed above, and also provided some rare info about XPW that will be featured.

Jonathan