After 17 years, Alternative Wrestling Show has announced it will be ending regular AWS live events at the end of the year. The announcement was made earlier today via a Facebook post by AWS promoter Bart Kapitzke.
According to Kapitzke, the decision was made due to the amount of money the shows have been losing since March 2018. According to Kapitzke attendance is extremely down over the last year and he has gone into debt from running the promotion. Kapitzke stated that it “doesn’t make sense” to continue running the events past this year.
All of the remaining shows scheduled for 2019, including this weekend’s Ladies Night #3, will go on as scheduled as the promotion sold some annual passes to their events earlier in the year.
Currently, AWS has events scheduled for May 18, July 27, September 21, and November 30. The promotion will also be taking part in Chi-Town Hot Sauce Expo in Chicago in June and California Hot Sauce Expo in August.
Kapitzke did state that he still plans to take part in the Hot Sauce Expos in 2020 and would be open to special paid events as well.
AWS has announced it is shutting down in the past, only to return after a hiatus. In September 2015 the promotion held an event called The End? and went on hiatus for nearly a year, returning in August 2016. They also had a long hiatus in 2011 and 2012 as well. Kapitzke even left the door open for another return in his announcement, stating “I have gone away before, so you never know what the future will hold for AWS.”
AWS held its first event on March 23, 2002, which was a joint show with FMLL, at Frank & Sons Collectibles Show in City of Industry, CA. The first match in AWS history was The Hardkore Kidd (Aaron Aguilera) defeating King Jackal. The rest of the show saw B-Boy defeat Lil’ Cholo; Profeta and Dr. Muerte defeat Principe Unlimited and Acero Dorado; Essa Rios defeat Piloto Sucida; and the main event where La Parka and Shocker defeated Super Boy and Capitan Oro.
The promotion has been known throughout its history for unique matchups and showcasing the best Southern California based wrestlers, especially as PWG moved more towards using nationally known wrestlers. AWS was also the first Southern California based promotion to extensively spotlight women’s wrestling. In recent years, however the addition of promotions to the area such as Bar Wrestling and PCW Ultra among others have lessened AWS’s uniqueness.
AWS’s next event is Ladies Night #3 on Saturday at American Legion #335 in South Gate. The event will feature Mercedes Martinez defending the AWS Heavyweight Championship against Nicole Savoy and Cheerleader Melissa defending the AWS Women’s Championship in a triple-threat against Ruby Raze and Shotzi Blackheart.
