In this week’s Southern California pro-wrestling news update we take a look at Vendetta Pro drawing a large crowd in Riverside, the largest pro-wrestling events in the area this decade, Lucha VaVoom, PCW Ultra, SoCal Pro, Championship Wrestling from Hollywood, and Maverick Pro. Plus a listing of all of this week’s events. Click for today’s update.
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On March 17 Vendetta Pro had what will probably go down as the biggest attendance for a non-lucha libre themed independent wrestling event for the year. Their annual Midget Mania show at the Riverside Municipal Auditorium drew around 1,200 fans (the promotion claimed the attendance was 2,500 however the venue’s capacity is only 1,400). This is the third year in a row that they managed to top 1,000 for the show.
While this weekend’s New Japan Pro Wrestling Strong Style Evolved event in Long Beach will break the mark, the highest non-WWE attendance for a pro-wrestling event in Southern California this decade is about 4,000 for a FMLL show at the Los Angeles Sports Arena in January 2013 (they claimed over 7,000 for the event). That show featured Blue Demon Jr., Cien Caras Jr. and Dr. Wagner Jr. defeating El Hijo del Santo, L.A. Park and Rayo de Jalisco Jr. in its main event. El Hijo del Santo has traditionally been a huge draw in the area and even helped WPW draw over 1,000 to the Anaheim Marketplace in the late 1990s.
Heroes of Lucha Libre ran a couple of shows last year at Citizens Business Bank Arena that drew around 2,500. The New Japan Pro Wrestling G1 Special in the USA shows last year drew 2,370 and 2,305 respectively.
The promotion the draws the biggest crowds on a regular basis is Lucha VaVoom. The Mayan Theater in Los Angeles has a capacity of about 1,500 with their setup and they consistently sell out their events, despite normally running back-to-back nights. They draw a unique audience as well, with a percentage of their fanbase not going to other shows or even being wrestling fans.
The largest non-WWE crowd for a wrestling event in Southern California this century was at an AAA show at the Los Angeles Sports Arena on April 5, 2009. They drew 7,500 with 6,000 paid. Making this even more impressive is the show was taking place at the same time as Wrestlemania XXV. The night before AAA drew 6,000 to the San Diego Sports Arena as well. It is likely New Japan could have broke that mark with Strong Style Evolved had they selected a bigger venue, but it is likely to continue to stand for awhile longer.
The largest ever attendance for any pro-wrestling event in Southern California was 25,847 at the Los Angeles Coliseum on August 27, 1971. That show was headlined by Freddie Blassie defeating John Tolos. That record will likely be shattered when WWE decides to hold another Wrestlemania in the area.
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Lucha VaVoom will be running a rare Saturday show when they hold their annual Cinco de Mayo events on May 4 and 5 at The Mayan in Los Angeles. Caristico will be appearing on the shows.
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PCW Ultra announced the wrestlers appearing on their May 4 show in Wilmington, titled May the 4th Be With You. Appearing will be Penta El Zero M, Shane Strickland, Brody King, Hammerstone, Chelsea Green, Tessa Blanchard, ACH, Mecha Wolf, Douglas James, Chris Bey, Jeff Cobb, Eli Everfly, La Familia de Tijuana, Homicide, Josef, Fatu, and Darby Allin. Chelsea Green and Tessa Blanchard will be facing each other to determine the first PCW Ultra women’s champion.
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SoCal Pro announced that they will be inducting James MacFarlane into their Hall of Fame at their anniversary show on April 14 in Oceanside. MacFarlane, who was for a time known as Chip Adams, was trained by Corey Van Kleeck (who wrestled as TNT and is also being inducted into their Hall of Fame this year) and trained at CCW’s Palace of Pain. He was the second person to hold the CCW Heavyweight title, and the first person to be stripped of it. Other titles he held include UIWA Tag-Team title (with TNT) and the WCWA California title. He is also one of the original trainers for SoCal Crazy.
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Even though Championship Wrestling from Hollywood will be in China for a special television taping on April 14 I have been told that their April 15 television taping in Port Hueneme will be going on as planned.
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Jordynne Grace will be wrestling on the April 14 Maverick Pro show in Burbank.
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With the number of events this weekend there may be delays on updates to the site until late at night. Be sure to follow @socaluncensored on Twitter for any breaking news. We will have live coverage from PWG, both New Japan events, UEW, and AWS as well as coverage from other Southern California events as well.
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This weekend’s events:
3/22:
Wrestling Pro Wrestling in North Hollywood, CA (21 & Over)
3/23:
LFA 36 – Simon vs. Zani in Cabazon, CA
Millennium Pro Wrestling in Moorpark, CA
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla presents Time Is a Flat Circle in Los Angeles, CA
3/24:
NJPW Strong Style Saturday in Carson, CA
UEW presents March of the Damned in Santa Ana, CA
AWS 16th Anniversary Event in South Gate, CA
3/25:
