Windy City Pro Wrestling

Windy City Pro Wrestling is an American regional professional wrestling promotion originally based in Chicago, Illinois. Established by retired wrestler Sam DeCero in 1988, the promotion was one of several major regional territories in the Midwest during the late 1980s and among the oldest independent organizations in the United States until its last show in December 2010.

Windy City Pro Wrestling
AcronymWCPW
FoundedJanuary 30, 1988
StyleAmerican wrestling
HeadquartersChicago, Illinois (1988–2010) DeKalb, IL (2015 - Current)
Founder(s)Sam DeCero
Owner(s)James K. Duck "Bigtime" (2015 - Current)
Sam DeCero (1988–2010)
ParentWCPW
FormerlyWindy City Wrestling
Websiteofficialwcpw.com

In November 2015, WCPW was trademarked by former Windy City Pro Wrestling wrestler Bigtime (James K. Duck) and slowly re-opened, based out of DeKalb, Illinois.[1] A new logo and new merchandise were created and a soft opening show took place in January 2018. The first WCPW show in over 7 years. A full relaunch is scheduled for 2020 with the first show taking place March 14, 2020

History

1980s

After retiring from professional wrestling due to a back injury, Sam DeCero decided to establish Windy City Wrestling (WCW) and began training local wrestlers advertising as far as Hammond, Indiana. Within a year, he held the promotions first event at a South Side nightspot featuring Steve Regal against Paul Christy in the main event on January 30, 1988. The event, which was attended by 160 people, was successful.

DeCero soon began running televised wrestling events with then-22-year-old Paul Heyman,[2] who was also working for Southeastern promotions Southern Championship Wrestling and the Continental Wrestling Federation.[3] Their events were held at DaVinci Manor and the International Amphitheater,[4] which later aired on WMBD-TV. During the summer, the promotion drew a large crowd at a card featuring Terry "Bam Bam" Gordy and Bam Bam Bigelow in the main event.[5]

Within four years, the promotion operated two training facilities and had a weekly half-hour television show airing on SportsChannel. They also participated in several fundraisers for charity organizations including Toys for Tots, Muscular Dystrophy , Maryville City for Youth and the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless.[6][7]

During the late 1980s, the promotion featured many popular wrestlers of the era including Ken Patera, Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart, "Dirty" Dick Murdoch, Shigeri Akabane, Dennis Condrey,[8] Steve Regal,[9] and George Ringo, who acted as honorary commissioner. The promotion even made possible notable first time matches like The Battle Of The Bam Bams which saw Bam Bam Bigelow vs Terry "Bam Bam" Gordy, as well as the first time meeting between Bruiser Brody and Nord the Barbarian at the International Amphitheater in Chicago, Illinois on August 12, 1988.[10] Roster mainstays included "Mean" Mike Anthony,[11] Tony Montana,[12] "The Lifeguard" Sonny Rogers and The Power Twins (Larry & David Sontag).

1990s

The annual Battle of the Belts supercard was aired on SportsChannel on May 22, 1993,[13] and two years later, it presented Sailor Art Thomas a "Lifetime Service to Sport Award" on May 16, 1995.[14] The promotion also began holding events in venues outside the Chicago-area such the Hammond Civic Center in Hammond, Indiana and Hempstead High School in Dubuque, Iowa in February 1996.[15] In September, the promotion initiated in a nine-month legal dispute with Ted Turner's World Championship Wrestling regarding trademark infringement over the use of the WCW acronym. The matter was settled out of court and in late 1997, the promotion was renamed Windy City Pro Wrestling (WCPW).[16]

2000s

Due in part to its wrestling school and televised events in the Chicago-area, several wrestlers such as Ace Steel,[17] Sosay,[18] Kevin Quinn,[19] Christopher Daniels,[20] Bigtime,[21] "Tenacious" Terry Allen, "New Thing" Robby Dawber, Steve Boz, Brandon Bishop, and Vic Capri emerged from the promotion during the late 1990s and early 2000s. During this decade, independent wrestlers such as Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, Colt Cabana, Abyss, Nick Dinsmore, and Austin Aries among others made appearances in the promotion as had WWF veterans Road Warrior Hawk, Rob Van Dam, Typhoon, Brutus Beefcake, King Kong Bundy,[22] Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, and Jerry "The King" Lawler.

On May 20, 2000, WCPW promoted the Largest Battle Royal in History at that time. Battle of the Belts 2000, an event held in The Hammond Civic Center in front of 2500 fans, was an event main evented by a 3 ring, 120 person Battle Royal to crown the first-ever WCPW Battle Royal Champion.[23] Bigtime won the Championship that night in what is still the largest championship match in all of pro wrestling history.

The promotion remained popular with Chicago wrestling fans favoring its "old school" wrestling approach unlike "sports entertainment" based promotions such as the World Wrestling Federation.[24] In late 2000, WCPW created another promotion under the Windy City Promotions banner named UAPW (Urban American Pro Wrestling) which put on shows in Chicago's inner-city areas throughout the decade.[25][26] Featuring predominantly African American and Hispanic talents like Chitown T, Willie "Da Bomb" Richardson, Germel "GQ" Quinn, Cinnamon, Los Mexicanos, and 2000CC, this helped WCPW's South Side wrestling school to be featured on Insomniac with Dave Attell in 2002.[27]

In 2001, hoping to present an event as historic as the previous years', Sam DeCero tapped Bigtime to create the main event of Battle of the Belts 2001. Bigtime created The Stacked Ring Battle Royal a match dubbed "The Badder, Ladder, Royale". The match was held in front of 1900 fans and saw two rings side by side arranged like a staircase. The first ring was a standard wrestling ring. The second ring stood twice as tall as the first and had a ladder in it. The rules had 40 participants start in the lower ring and try to climb into the taller ring to attempt to set up the ladder to climb it and claim the Battle Royal Championship Belt suspended 50 feet in the air. Rob Van Dam was on this card (his only indy appearance before signing with the WWF) and threw his opponent into the top ring and hit his 5-star frog splash from the top turnbuckle of a ring 40 feet tall. He was interviewed after the show and complimented Bigtime's match concept.

In 2004, WCPW grossed over $15,000 with over 1,000 in attendance for their supercard Battle of the Belts 16. Unfortunately, WCPW's good fortunes would start to slip away after this. Plagued by a mass exodus of talent and diminishing attendance as a result, WCPW fell into a downward spiral in the latter half of the decade. Bad booking decisions in desperate attempts to retain fans had the opposite effect and drove more fans away. The loss of revenue led to the loss of WCPW's long time South Side Production Studio and a move to a smaller less professional looking facility didn't help WCPW's descent. WCPW attempted to turn things around one final time by landing The Immortal Hulk Hogan for an autograph signing near the end of the decade and promoting a supershow at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Illinois in conjunction with that signing.[28] While the event was a moderate success, it was not enough to turn the company around and in December 2010, WCPW ran its last event.

Or did they..........................

2010s

In 2011, Bigtime met in secret with Sam DeCero. Bigtime, who had left the company in October 2001, broached the subject of buying WCPW's property, both physical and intellectual. Sam DeCero told Bigtime what he was asking for the sale price and while an agreement could not be reached, the two agreed to revisit the topic again. In 2012, Bigtime once again met with Sam DeCero. Bigtime made a full scale pitch to DeCero about his vision of what WCPW could be and offered a price. DeCero accepted Bigtime's proposal and the two men left with a handshake deal pending the approval of their lawyers. However, once the lawyers got involved, the deal fell apart and the transaction never completed. While Bigtime and DeCero kept in touch with each other over the following years, no further discussion of buying WCPW was had.

In November 2015, after waiting 5 years since the last WCPW show and 9 years after the cancellation of DeCero's Federal Trademark on the name, Bigtime trademarked the name WCPW and began plans for the rebirth of a new WCPW. In May 2016, a wrestling company based in the United Kingdom began illegally using Bigtime's Federally Registered Trademark for their promotion. This delayed the launch of Bigtime's WCPW and led to Bigtime getting his lawyer involved and several cease and desist letters being sent. After 18 months, the UK Promotion finally changed their name.[29] This led to Bigtime finally being able to hold a soft opening of his new WCPW on January 20, 2018. The show was held on the Northside of Chicago and used talent from outside of the Midwest to present a unique roster of chiseled athletes in the best traditions of what WCPW used to be. While the show only drew 47 fans, it was a soft opening to test the waters and refine things prior to a full grand re-opening of the once iconic Fed.

Now that other legal matters pertaining to the illegal use by others of the WCPW name have been addressed and/or resolved, Bigtime's new WCPW is ready for the grand re-opening. On March 14, 2020, WCPW will present - "Windy City Pro Wrestling: Still Standing!" live from DeKalb Illinois. The first fully promoted and produced WCPW show since 2010. Kicking off a new era of WCPW history and creating a new generation of fans in the process.

Roster

Male wrestlers

"The Difference Maker" Elia Baratz, "The Immaculate" Mike Micas, Cody Vance,

Female wrestlers

To Be Announced

Championships

Retired, defunct, and inactive championships
ChampionshipNotes
WCPW League Championship The major single title of WCPW. It was established in 1993, when the promotion's weight class divisions were created, and continued to be defended until 2010.[30]
WCPW Heavyweight Championship The heavyweight title of WCPW. It was established in 1988 and continued to be defended within the promotion until 2010. The title was served as the promotion's top singles championship before the creation of the League Championship in 1993.[30]
WCPW Middleweight Championship The middleweight title of WCPW. The title was established in 1991 and continued to be defended until 2010.[30]
WCPW Lightweight Championship The cruiserweight title of WCPW. It was established in 1991 and continued to be defended until 2010.[30]
WCPW Ladies Championship The women's title of WCPW. It was established in 1988 and continued to be defended until 2010.[30]
WCPW Tag Team Championship The tag team title of WCPW. It was established in 1988 and continued to be defended until 2010.[30]
WCPW 6-Man Tag Team Championship The 6-Man tag team title of WCPW. It was established in 1997 and continued to be defended until 2010.[30]
WCPW Battle Royal Championship The battle royal title of WCPW. It was established in 2000 and continued to be defended within the promotion until 2010.
WCPW Bare Knuckles Championship The title was established in 1999 and defended until 2008.
WCPW Midget Championship The title was established in 1988 and continued to be defended until 2001.

Lee Sanders Memorial Tournament winners

Between 2001 and 2010, Windy City Pro Wrestling hosted an open-invitational tournament, the "Lee Sanders Memorial Cup", as part of an annual tribute to longtime WCPW mainstay Lee Sanders, who wrestled as Staff Sgt. Storm, in which any independent wrestler throughout the U.S. was eligible to enter.

Year Name Date Location Notes
2001 Terry Allen March 10, 2001 Chicago, Illinois
2002 Germel "GQ" Quinn March 16, 2002 Chicago, Illinois GQ also won the UAPW Heavyweight Championship.
2003 Baltazar March 15, 2003 Chicago, Illinois
2004 Mike Anthony March 13, 2004 Chicago, Illinois
2005 Cassius XL March 12, 2005 Chicago, Illinois Cassius also won the WCPW Middleweight Championship.
2006 Omega March 11, 2006 Chicago, Illinois This would be his last match with the company due to injuries
2007 Mitch Blake March 10, 2007 Chicago, Illinois
2008 Steve Boz March 8, 2008 Chicago, Illinois The tournament final was a four-way match also involving Acid Jaz, Derik Durton, and Sean Mulligan.
2009 Chris Collins March 14, 2009 Chicago, Illinois Collins was awarded the vacant WCPW Middleweight Championship.
2010 V-Factor March 27, 2010 Chicago, Illinois
gollark: I erased it.
gollark: @6_4 accidental spam while I tried to get your code.
gollark: I told you so.
gollark: Site Null is much more securer.
gollark: I actually claimed your base at some point, probably, as it was unclaimed, and lemmmy adminclaimed chorus city infrastructure ages ago to save me claim slots.

References
  1. "WCPW Trademark of James K. Duck - Registration Number 5581176 - Serial Number 86832277 :: Justia Trademarks". trademarks.justia.com. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  2. "Paul E. is managing to live Dangerously". Chicago Sun-Times. April 8, 1988
  3. Loverro, Thom. The Rise & Fall of ECW: Extreme Championship Wrestling. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2006. (pg. 17–18) ISBN 1-4165-1058-3
  4. "Live bouts return to Amphitheater". Chicago Sun-Times. Apr 29, 1988
  5. "Still Learning The Ropes: Wrestling Promoter Pins Hope on School, Local TV pact". Crains Chicago Business. Dec 11, 1989
  6. "Amphitheater bouts to aid homeless". Chicago Sun-Times. May 17, 1991
  7. Benaka, Lee (July 25, 2005). "The Lee Banaka Interviews: Sam DeCero". DeathValleyDriver.com. Archived from the original on December 4, 2007.
  8. "`Lover Boy' Condrey revs up for slugfest at Amphitheatre". Chicago Sun-Times. Aug 12, 1988
  9. "Windy City champion Regal is ready to `electrify' Cicero". Chicago Sun-Times. Feb 10, 1989
  10. "Brody vs Nord".
  11. Meltzer, Dave (October 19, 2006). "Wrestling Observer Headlines, 10/19/06". Wrestling Observer.
  12. Pearlman, Cindy (November 21, 2004). "Former pro wrestler prefers Hollywood ring". Chicago Sun-Times.
  13. "Raquel Copies Liz in Krantz's 'Torch' Affair". Chicago Sun-Times. May 22, 1993
  14. "'The Sailor' To Be Honored". Wisconsin State Journal. Apr 20, 1995
  15. "Razzle dazzle". Telegraph Herald. Feb 25, 1996
  16. Fifer, Samuel. "Media/Intellectual Property Case Summeries" (.doc). Sfifer.com.
  17. Young, Doc; Les Thatcher (January 30, 2007). "Ace Steel & Kevin Kleinrock Interviews: Steel on Trump, Kleinrock/WSX". WrestleView.com.
  18. "Sosay: Character Evolution". OfficialSosay.com. June 2007. Archived from the original on November 4, 2007.
  19. "Interview with Kevin Quinn". PuroresuFan.com. June 2004. Archived from the original on June 11, 2008.
  20. John M. Milner, Tim Baines and Corey David Lacroix (September 5, 2005). "SLAM! Wrestling Bios: Christopher Daniels". SLAM! Sports.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  21. "Sports Entertainment done Old School in Chicago". www.thezephyr.com.
  22. "Wrestling at the Knox County Fair". www.thezephyr.com. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
  23. WCPW. "Articles". WCPW. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
  24. Keilman, John (September 28, 2004). "Small local shows operate in the shadow of WWE but the low-rent version grips fans with a gritty, hold over style". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original (.doc) on October 26, 2009.
  25. Douglass, Ian C. (May 25, 2005). "Urban league lets wrestlers live dream, increase income". Medill School of Journalism. Archived from the original on June 19, 2007. Retrieved November 17, 2007.
  26. Lou, Melissa (March 23, 2006). "So You Want To Be A Pro Wrestler?". Extra News. Archived from the original on August 8, 2007. Retrieved November 17, 2007.
  27. "Dave Attell's 'Insomniac' won't keep anyone awake". Chicago Daily Herald. Dec 5, 2002
  28. Burbridgejohn.burbridge@nwi.com, (219) 933-3371, John. "Hulk Hogan scheduled to sign autographs before WCPW card". nwitimes.com. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
  29. October 4; News | 0, 2017 | (October 4, 2017). "Defiant – Reasons Behind The Rename?". BackBodyDrop.com. Retrieved January 2, 2020.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  30. Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2000). Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN 0969816154.
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