August 25 Update
When Pro Wrestling Guerrilla began a little over five years ago, one of the goals of the promotion was to treat the wrestlers as fairly as possible. After all, the six founders of the company were all actively wrestling at the time, and knew full well the ups and downs that came with their chosen profession. The founders knew that Pro Wrestling Guerrilla could never compete financially with some of its much larger counterparts, and that’s why certain allowances were made for wrestlers to take much more financially lucrative offers, such as WWE or Japan, even at the expense of one of Pro Wrestling Guerrilla’s showsAs time has gone on, these special allowances have been abused to the point where some fans feel that despite the high quality of our events, they can no longer trust Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. This is not only unfortunate, but also extremely frustrating for the management, because the trust of the fans is crucial for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla’s continued success. Earlier this year, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla began taking steps toward building a much more reliable and trustworthy locker room, and while each member of that locker room has given their word to make Pro Wrestling Guerrilla and its fans as much of a priority as possible, sometimes that just isn’t the case.
At Pro Wrestling Guerrilla’s fifth anniversary event, Life During Wartime, Jack Evans was scheduled to defend the Pro Wrestling Guerrilla World Tag Team Championship, but due to a last minute scheduling change by Mexican wrestling promotion AAA, Jack was unable to make to the event. Not only was this extremely disappointing to the management of Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, but to the fans as well. Jack was extremely apologetic about the matter, and assured that it was a one time only event, going so far as to say in an email:
“No I am confirming 100% right now that nothing except for my own personal death will keep me off the august shows and even then if we have figured out a way to make Zombies I will be hobbling my Rotting Corpse to Cali in august.”
Jack even made the offer to cover his own airfare for All Star Weekend 7, since the last minute nature of his cancellation at Life During Wartime prevented the flight from being refunded. Bolstered by this gesture, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla management started making plans for the lineup of All Star Weekend 7, featuring Jack Evans in two prominent matches. In order to be as certain as possible, prior to announcing the lineup Pro Wrestling Guerrilla contacted Jack’s father, who also serves as his business manager, to confirm the booking. He had said unequivocally that Jack Evans would be in attendance at All Star Weekend 7, and that they had already purchased his flight. Feeling confident in this news, we announced the scheduled matches for All Star Weekend 7 that were set to feature Jack Evans.
As the event drew nearer, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla management attempted to contact Jack’s father in order to get Jack’s flight info to arrange ground transportation. After weeks of multiple attempts to contact Jack’s father, we finally received an email message from him stating:
“Jack, and no AAA people will retyrn my email or calls. I have no idea what to say or do at this point. I give up on Jack and will no longer be handaling any wrestling related stuff for him I’m over and out perminetly I can’t handle this
Jack SR”
Not wanting to rush to judgment, we allowed Jack a few more days to contact either his father, or a member of our management. Pro Wrestling Guerrilla received no word directly from Jack, however when his father was asked again if Jack would be attending All Star Weekend 7, the response via email was:
“Jack is not comming.”
Therefore, despite receiving multiple confirmations from Jack’s father and manager and Jack himself, due to Jack Evans’ professional unreliability, he will not be in attendance at All Star Weekend 7. The situation is, again, unfortunate, but unavoidable, and for that the staff and management of Pro Wrestling Guerrilla offer our most sincere apologies.
As the saying goes, when it rains, it pours. Scorpio Sky, also scheduled for All Star Weekend 7, is unable to compete due to a back injury. Pro Wrestling Guerrilla wishes Sky a speedy and full recovery, and hope to see him back in the ring very soon.
Due to the cancellations and injuries, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla management has been forced to make changes to both nights of All Star Weekend 7. Night One, on Saturday, August 30 at 8:00PM will now feature:
International Six-Man Tag Team Match
El Generico, “Mr. Wrestling” Kevin Steen, & Susumu Yokosuka vs. “The Man That Gravity Forgot” PAC & The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson)
Singles Match
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla World Tag Team Champion Jimmy Jacobs vs. Vin Gerard
Singles Match
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla World Tag Team Champion Tyler Black vs. Roderick Strong
Night Two of All Star Weekend 7 on Saturday, August 30 at 5:00PM will now feature:
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla World Tag Team Championship Title Match
Age of the Fall (Tyler Black & Jimmy Jacobs – Champions) vs. The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson – Challengers)
Singles Match
El Generico vs. TJ Perkins
Singles Match
“Mr. Wrestling” Kevin Steen vs. Roderick Strong
Again, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla would like to extend our most sincere apologies to our fans and thank you for your support over the years. Due to the star-studded nature of All Star Weekend 7, the events will still be phenomenal, and we hope to see you there on Saturday and Sunday.
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla’s All Star Weekend 7 takes place Saturday, August 30, 2008 at 8:00PM and Sunday, August 31, 2008 at 5:00PM at American Legion Post #308 in Reseda, CA. American Legion Post #308 is located at 7338 Canby Ave., Reseda, CA 91335. General Admission tickets are $25 per night, or $40 for both nights, and will be available at the door. For more information, please visit http://www.prowrestlingguerrilla.com. Card subject to change.
