18 years ago, this site was born with the goal of providing a place where pro wrestling fans, wrestlers, promoters, and whoever else could voice their opinions without being silenced. Today, I keep that spirit alive with thoughts on various issues. Plus the return of Match of the Column!
Before we begin, I wanted to link two important articles from this site’s history. The first article in SCU written by Lonnie Hill, and Steve’s telling SoCal wrestling’s internet history. While Lonnie’s article will make you cringe, it is still the first thing posted on here and I felt it was only right that it’d be mentioned on this day. And Steve’s article is a great feature on how SCU came about.
Uncensored by Lonnie Hill – 3/13/2001
Steve’s View #114 – SoCal’s Internet history – 6/17/2003
Also, happy birthday to my buddy Matthew Harris. Matthew has been a big supporter of the scene and is a good friend. This one is for you!
With that out of the way…
Over the years, the site has evolved. From it being an opinion-oriented site, to the message board being the only thing anyone ever visited, to the Dark Ages, and up to the current renaissance of the site. I’m not going to lie to you, I feel as if I’m the biggest reason why this site has thrived in recent years. Yup. That’s right. All me. When I came back to the site, I brought back flavor to this site and rattled a bunch of people’s cages. To put it bluntly, I made this place fun again and am the greatest asset this site will ever have. That is why I have a Bobby Bonilla-like contract with Steve where I’ll be getting paid till I’m in my 50s.
But on a more serious note…
While there have been a lot of fun and shenanigans, trying to make this site better than it was 1, 2, 5, 10, and 18 years before has been tough. There have been a lot of hits, and there have been a lot of misses. We’ve gotten a lot of love, and a lot of hate. Nonetheless, a lot of hours have been put into making this site better just to bring attention to the Southern California professional wrestling scene (as well as the local MMA scene now) and help it grow. From updating the events page to getting stories up, and whatever else Steve, myself, or whoever else is with us can do.
While it might not seem like it, we really do give a fuck about this scene and all of you readers who enjoy our content. If we didn’t, we’ wouldn’t be dealing with all the trouble it takes to bring everyone this valuable resource that has been the backbone of the scene since 2001. Working on this site is the most thankless (and poorly paying) job one could ever have, but being able to make people happy, laugh, or stay informed on events is the most rewarding thing.
Thank you to everyone who has read our articles, shared our site with friends, and supported us throughout the years. Without all of you, we wouldn’t be doing any of this.
Now I have to give credit where credit is really due. Steve pays the bills and handles a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff you don’t see on here. Without him, there’d be no SCU, and this scene would be a lot different than it is now. From starting this up with Lonnie Hill to continuing on with me. Steve is the heart and soul of SCU and the SoCal scene. Everyone who has ever been involved in Southern California’s wrestling scene during the time this site has been around owes him a lot. Especially Christopher Daniels, Scorpio Sky, and Frankie Kazarian.
Thank you, Steve. Without you, this scene would be nothing.
Keeping the spirit of SCU alive
Okay, so now that I’ve talked about the past, let’s talk about now. Over the years, SCU has always been the place where people voiced their opinions on the scene. The site’s intent was always about being a place where the voices of the people can be heard. I for one have never been shy about voicing my opinions on the scene, no matter how much certain workers or people in the scene might not like it. To them, I say sit on it.
I have a lot of thoughts on the local scene, and wrestling in general. Right now I’m gonna give thoughts on various things I’ve been wanting to say for a bit. Are you ready? Don’t get angry now. You should know what you’re getting yourself into by now.
I don’t go to shows anymore. That’s not my fault.
I get a lot of flack from people over not going to wrestling shows. Most of it comes from people (mainly workers, promoters, or hangers-on) who try to discredit my opinions on the scene when I say something that pisses them off and are too stupid to respond with a valid point. It seems like to them the only way you’re allowed to have an opinion is if you spend every weekend of your life going to some trashy venue to watch people doing a terrible job at fake-fighting and kiss their asses in the process.
Do you know what nobody ever does though? Ask “why don’t you ever go to shows?”
It’s really mind-blowing that people in pro wrestling…actually, wait. It isn’t mind-blowing that people in wrestling don’t ask this question. Mostly because a lot of people in pro wrestling act like selfish, overgrown, self-entitled children. They think that just because someone has an interest in wrestling, they need to dedicate their lives to it in order to have an opinion. In their minds, if someone doesn’t have any desire to spend time or money going to shows, that there is something wrong with them. It’s pretty ridiculous and very counterproductive.
But if people in the wrestling scene did ask why I and others like me don’t go to shows, they’d learn a lot. There is a laundry list of reasons why people don’t go to shows. Someday I’ll talk about it, but for now, all I can say is people in this scene need to start realizing that not everyone can or wants to go to wrestling shows every weekend or month. There are too many factors that play into the decisions people make when it comes to deciding on what to do and where to go for entertainment. People in the local scene really need to stop acting like people who are fans of wrestling are obligated to go to shows and actually compel them to go.
The Debate Over Intergender Wrestling: Everyone’s arguments are terrible.
Over the last few months, I’ve been blown away by the arguments people have on intergender wrestling. From people stupidly claiming it encourages domestic violence, to others moronically trying to compare it to the movies people watch, I’m amazed at how stupid, ignorant, and ridiculous people on both sides of this issue are. Seriously. Every argument and point about intergender wrestling I’ve seen from both sides have been idiotic.
Personally, I don’t give a shit about this subject. I have no horse in this race. My stance on intergender wrestling is mostly based on the in-ring quality of individual matches. But I am tired at how irresponsible and annoying people on both sides of the argument come off. The people saying it promotes domestic violence are just as dumb as the people who try comparing intergender wrestling to violence involving men and women in other forms of entertainment. It just feels like every argument is being made in bad faith from both sides.
There are so many points that supporters and detractors of intergender wrestling could use to help their arguments, but nobody is making them. I feel like that is mostly because so many people don’t have any real perspective on this matter.
Supporters don’t seem to realize that depictions of violence against women in all forms of entertainment bother a large number of people and that using comic book movies to justify why intergender wrestling is acceptable is like comparing apples to hamburgers. I’m looking at you, Joey Ryan. Stop making those stupid arguments.
Detractors also don’t seem to realize that not all wrestling fans view intergender wrestling as approval of violence against women. Also, if men are going to be violent towards women or in domestic situations, it’s going to be because of issues much deeper than them watching fake fights involving women doing sloppy Lucha spots on men.
In the end, there’s nothing wrong about having certain feelings or opinions about intergender wrestling. If you’re a fan who supports it, more power to you. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying that form of entertainment. Watch all the intergender matches your heart desires.
If you’re not comfortable with intergender wrestling and don’t want to see women have fake fights with men for whatever reason, more power to you. Feel free not to watch. Nobody is forcing you. But don’t try to force others to think the way you think.
But no matter what side of the argument you’re on, just stop and listen to each other. Try to accept a difference in opinion. And stop being dumb.
Orange County deserves better
Los Angeles County has been loaded with events from tons of promotions so far this year. PWG, Bar Wrestling, NJPW, GCW, AWS, Suburban Fight, Lucha VaVoom, PCW, various Lucha promotions, and tons of low-level shows have all gone on this year in LA county. San Diego County has also seen several shows from Ground Zero, SoCal Pro, Baja Stars, and others. The inland and desert portions of the territory have also seen a decent amount of shows for their areas as well.
Orange County, though, is a different story. So far, only TWO events have taken place there. Yes. That’s right. TWO. This weekend, there will be three events taking place in Orange County. After the month, there will have been six or seven shows total in Orange County so far this year. To put things in perspective, there have been FOUR events in the Burbank/Sun Valley area so far this year, with one more set for the end of the month. There were also FOUR events in San Diego County last week, and a few more scheduled later this month.
In the last few years, the only promotion that has run regularly in Orange County has been OCCW. If I had to describe OCCW to fans who had never seen it before, I’d call it a mix of every negative independent wrestling stereotype you can think of rolled into one awful promotion. OCCW’s current champion is a comedy character who isn’t very funny or good, and most of OCCW’s roster can only get booked on shows their friends run. Needless to say, no es bueno for the fans in Orange County who want to see good wrestling.
I think it’s sad to see what Orange County’s wrestling scene has become. At one time, it was home to UPW. Revolution Pro, the promotion that helped shape the scene as we know it, was born in Orange County. While NJPW ran a pair of events in Anaheim last year at a convention and AWS runs at a hot sauce expo in August, the area has been lacking quality shows for way too long now.
Personally, I don’t have any real solutions for fans in Orange County who want to see good shows with prolific talent in their area. This thing really just boils down to hoping promoters try to bring better quality shows to the area. I hope by the end of 2019, more prolific promotions with higher-quality talent run some events there.
Match of the Column: Slice Boogie vs. RJ Santos
From January 27th, 2019 at the Inoki Dojo. This is a great five-minute match between two of the latest prospects the Santino Bros. Wrestling Academy. Slice Boogie is a really solid heavyweight who shows tons of potential to follow in the footsteps of someone like Brody King. RJ Santos, despite not being active for very long in wrestling, can bust out advanced techniques that more experienced workers could never pull off.
This match was a great showcase of the potential they have. I’m really excited to see how these two guys grow as performers when they get more experience. These two guys are the future of the scene and it’s gonna be awesome to watch them develop.
