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The History of EPW: Part 1 - The Awakening of Perth wrestling
Published November 10, 2011 at 7:21 am by Tez Himself
by Tez Himself
Part 1 – The Awakening of Perth wrestling
The roots of Explosive Pro Wrestling began in March 2001 when a group of friends with a common dream got together in hopes of becoming Professional Wrestlers. This dream became a reality on November 4, 2001 when the group then known as Explosive Coastal Wrestling (ECW) held their first show "Awakening" at the Wanneroo Civic Centre. The show drew approximately 120 wrestling starved fans and was a great beginning for the infant federation. "Awakening" introduced the yearly Invitational Tournament which was won by Jimmy Payne, defeating Davis Storm in the final. This was the start of a classic rivalry between to the two men which lasted for a number of years. Sixteen wrestlers debuted at this show of which four (Tyler Jacobs, then FN Carnage, Richter, Jimmy Payne and Mikey Nicholls) are still on the active roster, with Davis Storm only recently retiring at Hell or Highwater in July.
With the success of the show, the future looked promising and the second show "Retribution" was held in January at the John Forrest High School Gymnasium in Morley. Local TV station Access 31 got behind the company and were there to film the show for broadcast at a later date. The show was to feature a Fatal Four Way match to crown the first official ECW champion and featured Davis Storm, Jimmy Payne, FN Carnage and Mikey Whiplash. Davis Storm had been the unofficial champion prior to this and was stripped of the title in December by the Board of Directors. The show had been going well and the title match was a few minutes in when something went terribly wrong. The action had spilled out of the ring with the competitors brawling on the outside when Whiplash climbed to the top and performed a moonsault on to the three competitors brawling on the floor below. The move did not go as planned possibly due to the ring barrier being to close. Mikey readjusted in mid air and his head came crashing down on the ring. Chaos ensued with the show being shut down and the building cleared with fears for Mikey's wellbeing. Fortunately, Mikey recovered but the incident could have brought about the downfall of ECW.
The accident garnered articles in WA’s two newspapers The West Australian and Sunday Times in the days following, giving ECW publicity not necessarily of the best kind and earned scorn from Eastern States federations. February saw Davis Storm and FN Carnage wrestle a #1 contender’s Empty Arena match at the John Forrest High School Gymnasium to decide who would face Jimmy Payne for the ECW Championship at a future date. Pro Wrestling South Australia and Maximum Pro Wrestling saw how dedicated the ECW talent was to Professional Wrestling and invited them to come to SA to train with Col Devarny, Jag and Havok amongst others. ECW took a break from promoting shows and a group travelled to South Australia in March to train and perform on PWSA and MPW shows.
Davis Storm: "I remember that trip being the most testing time I’ve ever had in wrestling. We were training 10 hours a day every day of the week. We were doing brutal cardio with a boxing coach, weights training and then wrestling for about five to six hours a day. Our bodies were broken down after one day but we had six weeks of full time training. No rest days. I remember everyone in Adelaide going out of their way to be as helpful as they could be. There are too many stories to recount them all, I just remember it all being an incredible learning curve and it was a huge turning point for EPW in terms of where we stood in Australian wrestling."
The MPW "Interstate Warfare" show featured an ECW invasion angle in which Team ECW consisting of Justin Sane, Brock Freeman and FN Carnage defeated Tony Stone, Diablo and Jayson Cooper of Team MPW. Back in Perth, Andrew McManus’ World Wrestling All-Stars (WWA) promotion returned with the "Eruption" tour. ECW referee Simon Cage and Jimmy Payne’s valet Holly Ryder appeared during the show, with Cage having a run in with "Grandmaster" Brian Christopher. The remaining talent promoted the return of ECW with it's next show "Evolution".
Davis Storm: "Long story short. Simon saw an interference spot that he wasn't supposed to. Exactly who was to blame for that, I have no idea. Brian Christopher then took it upon himself, as the babyface in the match, to deck Simon with a legit cheap shot. When they got backstage, Simon actually took him to task and a few people had to separate them."
After the PWSA card on April 19, the group returned from South Australia in preparation for the "Evolution" show with new training techniques and improved skills. The main event was to feature Jimmy Payne vs. Davis Storm in a bout to crown the first ECW Champion.
Special thanks to Davis Storm.
