Tony Vargas celebrates retaining his EBPW championship belt after defeating Jody Kristofferson. photos by Jesus Cano
By Jesus Cano
You don’t have to travel far to witness pro wrestling, as East Bay Pro Wrestling (EBPW) operates in Pacheco and houses bi-monthly shows as part of the independent wrestling circuit. On February 11th they held their Saturday Night Showcase, where every single one of their championships were on the line.
The EBPW Championship was at stake in the main event. Tony Vargas came into the match with the championship around his waist and left with it under his possession, as he forced Jody Kristofferson to tap out by utilizing the Cloverleaf submission hold. Kristofferson is a former World Wrestling Entertainment superstar who competed in WWE’s developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling, which has now been rebranded to NXT.
Shotzi Blackheart uses the ropes to her advantage against Kimberly Diamond.
Women’s action came alive as Shotzi Blackheart defeated Kimberly Diamond via knockout, as Blackheart had Diamond in a gruesome submission that made her become unresponsive to the referee’s drop counts. Blackheart walked away, still the EBPW Ladies Champion.
After winning the gold in the previous show, the team of Sensationally Dangerous defended their tag team titles against Fight Club, where they successfully retained the championship in their first title defense.
During the show, it was announced that EBPW will have their first ever steel cage match, where Perry Von Vicious will clash with former best friend Levi Shapiro. This all coming after Shapiro attacked Von Vicious after his victory against Buddy Royal, where wrestlers in the locker-room had to storm out separate. The steel cage match will be held on February 25th, 2017 where owner Maynard Skynard expects a sellout crowd.
The rest of the card saw Mr. East Bay Pro, Leon Ikusa, defeat Shoop Shellhammer by delivering a heckuva kick after Shellhammer was distracted by disputing with the referee about his officiating.
Shapiro was in action as well, where he stole a victory against Steven Tresario as he pinned him with a fist full of tights. He had a little help from Royal, who was a nuisance to the official while he was at ringside and obnoxiously streamed the match via Facebook live.
EBPW was established on May 16th, 2016, and is family friendly according to Skynard. General Admission is $10.00 while kids 12 and under pay $8.00.
“My main intention is to put on quality wrestling match,” Skynard said. “Come on down Saturday night and have a good time screaming and yelling.”
While EBPW offers live action, it also has its own wrestling academy where Anton Voorhees is the head trainer but Skynard also helps out with training young talent. Of course they offer pro wrestling training, but also provide help with those seeking to become referees, valets and ring announcers. Products of the academy eventually wrestle on the main roster and other promotions in the country.
To learn more about East Bay Pro Wrestling, visit their page on Facebook. They are located on 110 2nd Avenue South #B9 in Pacheco. Their next show is February 25th.
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