After nearly a decade, Bart Kapitzke’s Alternative Wrestling Shop will be returning to Frank and Son Collectibles Show in City of Industry, CA. We have also learned that the AWS wrestling promotion is scheduled to return on March 28, 2020, for its 18th-anniversary show.
The new Alternative Wrestling Shop will open on January 4, 2020, when Frank and Son opens at its new location at 17835 Gale Ave. The shop will be in row 500, close to the main entrance to the showroom.
The new Frank and Son location and the Alternative Wrestling Shop will be open on Wednesday from 3:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Sunday 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
The Alternative Wrestling Shop at Frank and Son was an important location in the independent wrestling scene in Southern California in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The shop would sell videos that people could not get elsewhere and would promote local independent wrestling events in an area with high foot traffic at a time before everyone had access to the internet.
On March 23, 2002, the Alternative Wrestling Shop co-promoted a joint pro wrestling event with FMLL at Frank and Son, marking the beginning of AWS as a wrestling promotion. Through AWS, Frank and Son became an important wrestling venue in the region. Frank and Son would become the home of Revolution Pro in June 2002 and was the location of Pro Wrestling Guerrilla’s first event.
The Alternative Wrestling Shop left Frank and Son in June 2010.
At one point, this past November’s AWS event in South Gate, CA was being announced as the last AWS event before being promoted as the last event for an unknown length of time. That length of time is now known, as AWS will be holding its 18th-anniversary event on March 28, 2020, at the American Legion in South Gate.
No lineup has been announced.
