A collection of ring crew, students from the United Wrestling Network, and long time CWFH in ring talent put the ring up. All the while talent new and old meet and greet each other with a hand shake and a smile. Everyone seems to be in high spirits and with good reason…
“Did you get the theme ready for Alberto?” Presented with three different options, Marquez selects the last one. It’s set to be played later tonight when El Patron makes his debut at Championship Wrestling from Hollywood. His debut ushers in a new era for CWFH, which will present their program to over 110 markets nationwide thanks to their agreement with CW Plus. Many talents who haven’t been on camera in months, some even years were in attendance. There is a palpable buzz before the show starts. Since this is a big step for CWFH. The Hobo was a former United Tag Team Champion and a Hollywood Heritage Champion was in attendance, but not on camera this taping. When asked about Alberto Patron appearing on the show, he replied with… “This company is able to recognize great talent and produce great talent. He has been at the top of the industry and still continues to be at the top of the wrestling industry. The fact that he’s here, at the end of the day simply means that he is at one of the best wrestling companies in the world.” Alberto “El Patron” to his credit has held elite championships almost everywhere he’s wrestled; former CMLL World Champion, former WWE and WWE World Heavyweight Champion, former AAA World Champion, and was the Global Force World Champion before parting ways with Impact Wrestling. A member of the creative team and a producer on the show Angelo Trinidad added “I’m very excited to be able to have the opportunity to work with Alberto. When you look at non-WWE contracted stars, I would be able to argue that he’s the most sought-after talent out there. The fact that he’s going to be here working with us, helping us launch our debut in the CW Markets, as well as be a firm part of storylines going forward here in Championship Wrestling from Hollywood and beyond, we’re extremely excited to be partnering with him. This will create more ‘main stream’ potential eyes and audience to be on us. Eyes that might not have ever seen our product before. As well as help get us into big Hispanic markets with the likes of Lucha Underground being on hiatus currently filming, there is a void for that market share. If we can capture even a fraction of that market share, it will pay off dividends.”
I asked the founder of Championship Wrestling from Hollywood, David Marquez ,about bringing in the International Wrestling Superstar, “We are not trying to send a message to anyone, I’m not trying to say anything to anyone. We’re pretty calculated in how we react to situations and when these 111 CW stations became available to us, we felt that we needed someone or something that would allow us to have a little more attention. In pro wrestling, Patron is the biggest, so why not go after the biggest? We’ll have close to 200 television stations after October 7th and we want people to watch. Along with Jack Swagger, there’s others coming in too. We’re talking to Magnus, a couple of other higher profile people to filter in with our main Hollywood roster and create something special. Fulfilling until the end of the year programming that we have to do and the numbers we have to meet. And the advertising we have to sell. We need to have those eyeballs on us. Alberto will be the guy to do it. In the short term. This isn’t a long-term relationship. We have secured a handful of dates with him. He’s a big guy, he’s a big get. He can end up back in the WWE, he can be back in Global Force, he can end up in Japan. All I know is we have a handful of dates with him and we’re going to use him the best we can.
This isn’t the first time CWFH has flexed its muscle and brought in people with a greater spotlight. The pilot tapings for CWFH (2008) featured former WWE Tag Champions Lance Cade and Trevor Murdock, along with Bryan Danielson. Danielson, prior to signing with the WWE ,was one of the most celebrated Independent Wrestlers of that era. When the program was picked up for KDOC-TV, in 2010, the show featured future WWE Standout Claudio Castagnoli, who like Danielson was one of the most sought-after talents in the Independent Circuit. Austin Aries, a former ROH Champion, would become a regular member of the roster when his contract with Ring of Honor expired.
El Patron has had a lot of success in Southern California. Los Angeles has been good to El Patron over the years. At the Staples Center Patron defeated CM Punk to win his first WWE Championship at the Summerslam in 2011. It was also at the Staple Center that Patron defeated John Cena for the United States Championship at Hell in A Cell 2015. While a member of Lucha Underground, Patron successfully defended his AAA Championship in Boyle Heights. Port Hueneme will play host to his return to an American Wrestling ring since his departure from Impact Wrestling. Peter Avalon added Peter Avalon “It just fits. Hollywood is trying to create high caliber entertainment so we want to bring in high caliber stars. El Patron is as High Caliber as you can get. He’s world renown international star and to have him join us is something else. I know he’s excited to be here at the Oceanview Pavilion.”
At the end of the day, CWFH is expanding into over one hundred additional markets. They need to make an impression in these markets. El Patron gives them instant credibility with his presence alone. El Patron wrestled what many agreed was an outstanding match with Ryan Taylor. If Patron continues to have these kinds of matches with the CWFH Roster, everyone will benefit. His match with Taylor will be the Main Event the October 7th debut of Championship Wrestling from Hollywood on the CW Network. El Patron’s debut will also help to usher in 2 other high caliber talents, Jack Swagger and Magnus. They will make their debuts along with NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion, Tim Storm on Saturdays CWFH TV Taping at the Oceanview Pavilion in Port Hueneme. Tickets are free to this event! Then on September 28th, CWFH will present a live (non televised) event from the Ohm Night Club. 21 and older only.