Today we updates on a pioneer of Southern California lucha libre, Lucha Underground, Wrestlemania in Los Angeles, Bar Wrestling, Rival Pro, Baja Stars USA, Heros of Lucha Libre, The Boogeyman, and SoCal Pro. Click for today’s update.
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Vandal Drummond posted on his Facebook page that Gil Arellano has been placed in hospice. Arellano is one of the pioneers of the Southern California lucha libre scene, and his garage is where countless wrestlers from the 1970s to the early 2000s began their careers.
Gil’s Garage, which was an actual auto repair facility, was located at the corner of Whittier Blvd. and Clela St. in East Los Angeles. In 1972 he had a wrestling ring added to the garage, and began training students in lucha libre. For the next 36 years a who’s who of the local lucha scene trained at the gym, including Louis Spicolli who began his training there. Gil’s Garage closed its doors in 2006 when the lease came up for renewal and the landlord greatly raised the rates. A strip mall is there now.
The influence of Gil’s Garage is still felt throughout the region today. Both El Moro and Chivo Garcia were regulars there. Chivo Garcia is the father of Kayam, Enigma de Oro, and El Estudiante. El Moro’s three sons are Captain Oro, and Principe Indu and Superboy; all of whom spent time at Gil’s Garage. Kayam and Engima de Oro are still active on the Southern California lucha scene, and Superboy still promotes and trains wrestlers, notably his three sons: Superboy Jr., Principe Indu Jr., and Legacy.
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Both The Los Angeles Coliseum and Los Angeles Stadium at Hollywood Park (the new Rams and Chargers stadium) have or will be submitting proposals to host an upcoming Wrestlemania. The Coliseum confirmed they plan on submitting a proposal to host in either 2020 or 2021. LSAHP would not confirm any dates they were looking at or if the proposal has already been made.
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Jack Evans and Angelico have both confirmed they have quit Lucha Underground. Angelico did not appear during the fourth season tapings last month and Evans appeared for part of the season before being written out of the show.
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Bar Wrestling has announced several matches for its show on April 12 in Baldwin Park. Jeff Cobb versus Moose, Kris Wolf versus Allie, and Tessa Blanchard will be facing Scorpio Sky. Presale tickets for the event but the promotion will have between 30 to 50 tickets available at the door.
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Bar Wrestling will also be running on May 17 and June 28. For the May 17 show they will have the Bar Wrestling debuts of Hurricane Shane Helms and Deonna Purrazzo and the return of Penta el Zero M and Rey Fenix.
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Rival Pro Wrestling has started to announce matches for its April 21 show in Pomona. There will be a triple threat tag team match between the teams of Ju Dizz and Rocketboy Wilson, The Feelyons, and The Stoner Brothers and Dirty Ron McDonald will face Human Tornado. Also scheduled to appear are DoomFly (Eli Everfly and Delilah Doom), Aerial Instinct (Jake Atlas and Lucas Riley), A.K. Rambe (KC Douglas and Michael Hopkins), Adrian Quest, Andy Brown, Douglas James, Ruby Raze, Tito Escondido, and Willie Mack.
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Baja Stars USA will be replacing Penta El Zero M with Volador Jr. on their April 22 show in Cudahy. The change is because Penta El Zero M was added to Impact’s pay-per-view.
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Rayo de Jalisco Jr. is the first wrestler announced for Heroes of Lucha Libre’s June 2 event at the Galen Center in Los Angeles. Tickets were supposed to go on sale for the event today, but the date has been pushed back to April 16.
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The Boogeyman will be doing a signing at the Inland Empire Toy Store in Redlands on May 12 at 1:00 p.m.
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SoCal Pro has announced that The Dynamics (Ric and Vic Dynamis) will be inducted into the promotion’s hall of fame on April 14. Like the two other inductees to the promotion’s hall of fame this year (TNT and James MacFarlane), The Dynamics are probably best remembered for their time in CCW in the late 90s and early 2000s, where they held the tag-team titles on several occasions. After CCW folded they helped run WCWA, which ran primarily in the La Mesa area of San Diego. They are also part of SoCal Pro’s regular commentary team.
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This week’s shows:
4/12:
Bar Wrestling 11: April O’Neil in Baldwin Park, CA
4/13:
Combate Americas presents Combate Estrellas I in Los Angeles, CA
4/14:
SoCal Pro 11 Year Anniversary Show in Oceanside, CA
Millennium Pro Wrestling in Moorpark, CA
Maverick Pro presents Hollywood Dreams in Burbank, CA
Vendetta Pro presents MidgetMania in Ventura, CA (18 & Over)
4/15:
Championship Wrestling From Hollywood TV Taping in Pt. Hueneme, CA (Free Event)
