SoCal News & Notes 04/19/2018

In today’s Southern California pro-wrestling news update we take a look at the passing of a local wrestler and a local promoter, the United Wrestling Network, Maverick Pro, Bumps & Brewses, Heroes of Lucha Libre, AWS, and more. Click for today’s update.

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Eddie Piedra, who wrestled on several Vendetta Pro Midget Mania and Micro Wrestling Federation shows in Southern California as E-Money, died sometime in the early morning of April 16. Piedra, who was from the Palmdale area, wrestled on a Micro Wrestling Federation show in Herrin, IL on the night of April 15. He returned to his hotel room after the show and was found dead the next morning. The cause of death is not yet known.

Piedra began his wrestling career in 2012 after meeting another wrestler, Jordan (J-Mazing) Rafael, on the set of the film Oz the Great and Powerful. Outside of wrestling, he also played basketball and hockey. He was 32 years old.

The Coalition of Dwarf Advocacy has setup a GoFundMe to help pay for his funeral costs.

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Luis Roman, who was one of the founders of the Baja Stars promotion in Tijuana, that Baja Stars USA in San Diego is an offshoot of, died on April 18. In the early to mid-2000s Baja Stars would run some of the bigger lucha libre shows in Tijuana, bringing in stars like Hijo del Santo, Dr. Wagner Jr., Blue Demon, Damian 666, Halloween, and Rayo de Jalisco Jr. among others.

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United Wrestling Network, which Championship Wrestling from Hollywood is a part of, says they will be holding a tournament to determine their first world champion in the next two months. They plan to hold the tournament in Southern California, but have not finalized a location yet. They would like to run the tournament in Orange County.

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Both Maverick Pro and Bumps & Brewses have announced Simon Grimm for upcoming shows. Grimm, who wrestled in WWE as Simon Gotch, will be appearing at Maverick Pro’s May 5 show in Burbank and Bumps & Brewses’ June 24 show in Downtown Los Angeles. Grimm was a regular in Southern California in the early to mid 2000s under the name Ryan Drago, and even wrestled on the first Pro Wrestling Guerrilla show.

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Heroes of Lucha Libre has given up on trying to draw 10,000 fans to their June 2 show at the Galen Center in Los Angeles. The promotion released a seating chart and about one-third of the seats will be unavailable capping the attendance at about 6,500 to 7,000. A sell out with the reduced numbers for the promotion would almost triple their draws at their two shows in Ontario where they drew about 2,500 each time.

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Alternative Wrestling Show has announced Vanessa Kraven will be making her Southern California debut for their September 22 show in South Gate. Leva Bates will be making her return to the promotion on that night as well.

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PCW Ultra has changed the name of their May 4 show from May The Fourth Be With You to just May The 4th. Lucasfilm has a trademark on May The Fourth Be With You.

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Oddity Wrestling Alliance has moved the location of their April 21 show from the Imperial Beach Boys & Girls Club to The Imperial Beach Sports Complex.

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California Xtreme Fighting will be streaming their April 21 event, CXF 12: Burbank Beatdown, on the CBS Sportslive service. The event will cost $9.95 to stream.

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SoCalUncensored.com t-shirts are still available on Amazon.

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This week’s pro-wrestling and MMA events in Southern California:

4/20:

MPW in Moorpark, CA

FMLL in Santa Ynez, CA

Amped Up Wrestling in Los Angeles, CA (Benefit Event)

PWG All Star Weekend 14 Night 1 in Reseda, CA

4/21:

Brawley Market Nights Presents The Great Taco Showdown in Brawley, CA

Desert Pro Wrestling in Calipatria, CA