Philadelphia Wrestling

Twenty-One Years Ago Today — September 3, 2005

MBA/CZW Paid Vacation at the New Alhambra

Only 50 spectators were reported for this Maven Bentley Association event at the former ECW Arena.

Rick Feinberg defeated Zack Matthews.

Z-Barr defeated Shane Taylor.

DJ Hyde defeated Devious and Dizzie in a Three-Way Dance.

Jigsaw and Mike Quackenbush defeated Skayde and TJ Cain.

Danny Havoc and Slacker Martin fought to a no-contest in a ladder match.

Cory Kastle defeated Cordell.

Sean Bishop defeated Jon Dahmer to win the MBA Heavyweight Championship.

BLKOUT — Eddie Kingston and Ruckus defeated All Money Is Legal and Team AnDrew—Andy Sumner and a very young Drew Gulak—in the three-team main event.

Happy Birthday, Tracy Smothers — A Philadelphia ECW Original

Tracy Smothers was born September 2, 1962, and while his career took him all over the wrestling world, Philadelphia gave him one of his most unforgettable chapters.

When Smothers arrived in ECW in 1997, he already had years of credibility behind him. But at the ECW Arena, he reinvented himself. On March 15, 1997, at Hostile City Showdown in Philadelphia, Smothers turned on Chris Chetti and joined the Full Blooded Italians. From there, “The Main Man” became one of ECW’s most entertaining heels — billed from “Nashville, Italy,” dancing badly on purpose, drawing merciless chants from the Philly crowd, and somehow making the joke work because he was still a seriously accomplished wrestler underneath it all.

Philadelphia also gave Smothers one of the biggest championships of his career. On October 18, 1997 at the ECW Arena, Smothers and Little Guido defeated New Jack and John Kronus to capture the ECW World Tag Team Championship. They carried the belts for 48 days and successfully defended them at November to Remember.

That was the magic of Tracy Smothers in ECW. He could wrestle, brawl, make you laugh, make you boo him, and then turn around and have a completely credible fight. Philadelphia fans gave absolutely no mercy to performers they didn’t accept — yet Smothers became part of the fabric of the ECW Arena.

Long after ECW, fellow wrestlers remembered him not just for the FBI or the ridiculous dance, but as one of wrestling’s hardest-working and most generous veterans. His ECW Arena appearances remain part of the peculiar, loud, funny and violent history that made Philadelphia wrestling different from anywhere else.

Happy 64th birthday, Tracy Smothers.

From Nashville, Tennessee… to “Nashville, Italy”… to the ECW Arena.

Forever part of Philadelphia wrestling history.

September 2, 1994 — Extreme Championship Wrestling Becomes Official

On this day in Philadelphia wrestling history, Extreme Championship Wrestling officially became a legal entity.

The revolution had already begun six days earlier at the ECW Arena. On August 27, Shane Douglas won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, then stunned the wrestling world by rejecting the belt and declaring that ECW represented the future. The promotion ran again the following night, but Pennsylvania business records show that “Extreme Championship Wrestling” did not legally become an entity until September 2, 1994.

That date gave an official name to something Philadelphia fans had already felt building inside the former bingo hall on Swanson Street: wrestling that was louder, rougher, more unpredictable and far less interested in following the industry’s established rules.

Eastern Championship Wrestling was gone.

Extreme Championship Wrestling was now official.

Over the next several years, ECW would transform the 2300 Arena into one of professional wrestling’s most famous venues, launch and redefine careers, influence the larger WWF and WCW, and create a fiercely loyal fan culture whose chants and imagery remain inseparable from Philadelphia wrestling history.

The paperwork may have been filed on September 2, 1994, but what it represented was much bigger than a corporate name change.

A new identity had been born in Philadelphia.

September 2, 1994 — Eastern became Extreme.

60 Years Ago Today — 1966

WWWF — Television Taping
Philadelphia, PA
Date: September 2, 1966
Venue: Not identified in the surviving results
Attendance: Unknown

Louis Cerdan defeated Smasher Sloan

Arnold Skaaland defeated Frank Durso

Happy Birthday to Rocco Rock, Ted Petty, born September 1, 1953.

Rocco Rock was one of the performers who helped give early ECW its unmistakable personality. Alongside Johnny Grunge as The Public Enemy, he turned tag-team wrestling into barely controlled chaos: tables, brawls, dives into the crowd, and the kind of wild energy that made the ECW Arena feel like anything could happen.

Rocco wasn’t just a reckless brawler. He was an experienced wrestler, a charismatic performer, and someone who understood how to make a crowd become part of the match. The Public Enemy became four-time ECW Tag Team Champions and one of the teams most closely identified with Philadelphia’s extreme-wrestling era.

For fans who packed the ECW Arena in the 1990s, the opening notes of “Here Comes the Hotstepper” meant the building was about to erupt.

Ted Petty died far too young in 2002, but the image of Rocco Rock standing on a table, dancing through the crowd with Johnny Grunge, remains part of Philadelphia wrestling history.

Happy 73rd birthday, Rocco Rock.
Forever Public Enemy. Forever ECW.

Years Ago Today — 1984

WWF — Philadelphia Spectrum
Philadelphia Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA
Date: September 1, 1984
Attendance: 6,852

The show was televised on the PRISM Network, with Dick Graham and Lord Alfred Hayes on commentary.

Iron Mike Sharpe defeated Steve Lombardi — 11:39

David Schultz defeated AJ Petruzzi — 5:12
Petruzzi substituted for Pat Patterson.

WWF Women’s Tag Team Champions Velvet McIntyre & Princess Victoria defeated Leilani Kai & Despina Montagas — 13:47

Jesse Ventura defeated Ivan Putski — 14:07

Greg Valentine fought Rocky Johnson to a time-limit draw — 18:50

Andre the Giant defeated Roddy Piper by count-out — 4:44

Nikolai Volkoff defeated Rick McGraw — 7:19

The Wild Samoans — Afa & Sika — defeated WWF Tag Team Champions Adrian Adonis & Dick Murdoch by disqualification — approximately 11:00
Adonis & Murdoch retained the championship.

The major historical story

The women’s tag-title match became tragically important. Princess Victoria suffered a severe neck injury during the match that ended her wrestling career. The injury occurred during the finish involving Victoria’s reverse crossbody from the middle turnbuckle. She never wrestled another match.

The Andre–Piper match is another gem. Piper simply walked out after Andre knocked him to the floor with a boot, giving Andre the count-out victory. This was several months before Piper became one of the central villains of the first WrestleMania build.

And the tag-title main event got chaotic: Dick Murdoch threw referee Dick Worley out of the ring, causing the champions to be disqualified, after which the Wild Samoans cleared Adonis and Murdoch from the ring.

2 Years Ago Today — 2024

NWA — NWA 76
2300 Arena, Philadelphia, PA
Date: August 31, 2024
Attendance: SELL OUT — exact number not reliably published

Sodapop Hendrix defeated Papadon

Shawn Carlson defeated The Rockstar

Mario Pardua & Steve Boz defeated Foxx Vinyer & Tim Theory

Gaagz The Gymp defeated Alexander Lev

Jake Dumas & Zyon defeated Baron Von Storm & Jax Dane

Silas Mason defeated Colby Corino

The Country Gentlemen — AJ Cazana & KC Cazana — defeated NWA United States Tag Team Champions Daisy Kill & Talos, The Fixers and The Slimeballz to WIN the NWA United States Tag Team Championship

The IT Girls — Ella Envy & Miss Starr — defeated The King Bees — Charity King & Danni Bee — to WIN the NWA World Women’s Tag Team Championship

Jack Cartwheel defeated Alex Misery — NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship #1 Contender Match

Natalia Markova won the Mildred Burke Invitational Gauntlet, defeating a field that included Adrianna Mosley, Big Mama, Haley J, Kayla Rossi, Kelly Madan, Kylie Paige, La Rosa Negra, Lili Ruiz, Mystii Marks, Ruthie Jay, Santana Garrett and Tiffany Nieves

The Immortals — Kratos & Odinson — defeated Blunt Force Trauma — Liberty Bell Brawl

Mims defeated Bryan Idol, Burchill & Carson Drake to WIN the vacant NWA National Heavyweight Championship

NWA World Women’s Champion Kenzie Paige defeated Max The Impaler to retain the championship

NWA World Tag Team Champions Knox & Murdoch — Mike Knox & Trevor Murdoch — defeated The Southern Six — Kerry Morton & Alex Taylor — to retain

Thom Latimer defeated EC3 to WIN the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship

The NWA announced afterward that the show had sold out the 2300 Arena. It was also the NWA’s first flagship event in Philadelphia since the 1998 Eddie Gilbert Memorial Brawl.

24 Years Ago Today — 2002

XPW — Hostile Takeover
Viking Hall / ECW Arena, Philadelphia, PA
Date: August 31, 2002
Attendance: Unknown

Psicosis defeated Super Crazy — 8:40

Pogo The Clown fought The Sandman to a no contest — 3:20

XPW World Tag Team Champions Mexico’s Most Wanted — Damian 666 & Halloween — defeated The New Panthers to retain the championship — 9:05

XPW King of the Death Matches Champion Supreme defeated Angel to retain the championship

Juventud Guerrera defeated Chris Chetti — 8:45

Vic Grimes defeated Altar Boy Luke & Little Guido — Three-Way Dance

XPW Television Champion Kaos defeated Chris Hamrick — Ladder Match — 16:22

XPW World Heavyweight Champion Shane Douglas fought Terry Funk to a no contest — 8:00

This was XPW’s Philadelphia debut and essentially the beginning of the promotion’s attempt to relocate its base from Southern California to the old ECW Arena. The move put XPW directly into the crowded post-ECW Philadelphia independent scene.

63 Years Ago Today — 1963

WWWF — Television Taping
Philadelphia, PA
Date: August 31, 1963
Attendance: Unknown
Venue: Not identified in the surviving results

Bobo Brazil defeated Gene Kelly

Buddy Rosen fought Pete Sanchez to a draw

Johnny Barend & The Black Shadow defeated Dory Dixon & Wally Jackson

35 Years Ago Today — 1991

WCW — Philadelphia Civic Center
Philadelphia Civic Center, Philadelphia, PA
Date: August 30, 1991
Attendance: 650 paid

Terrance Taylor defeated Big Josh

Dustin Rhodes defeated Joey Maggs

Ron Simmons defeated Tommy Rich

Richard Morton defeated Robert Gibson

Arn Anderson & Larry Zbyszko fought Michael Hayes & Jimmy Garvin to a double count-out

Tom Zenk defeated The Diamond Studd

WCW Television Champion Steve Austin defeated Johnny B. Badd by disqualification

Rick Steiner & Bill Kazmaier defeated Dick Murdoch & Dick Slater

El Gigante & Yellow Dog defeated One Man Gang & Oz

WCW United States Champion Sting defeated Cactus Jack

WCW World Champion Lex Luger defeated Barry Windham