I am giving the East Coast some love, but I'm going with one fed you did NOT mention. JAPW, better known as Jersey Pro Wrestling. Simply put, its one of the most underrated indy feds out there. (Sorry, I couldn't find a bigger pic of the logo)
History: (All credit goes to Ray Sager at the JAPW site)
Jersey All Pro Wrestling was born on April 19, 1997 in Lake Hiawatha, NJ. Fat Frank Iadeavia had a dream, he had a dream about a wrestling promotion and the direction he wanted to take, and on that night a group of misfit wrestlers, a group of wrestlers that other promoters would not use for various reasons got together and presented a small show under the name of NSWA.
The Northern States Wrestling Alliance ran two shows in 1997, the precursor to Jersey All Pro Wrestling, the wrestlers were all friends that trained together, they were misfits that couldn’t get onto other wrestling shows due to the politics of New Jersey wrestling at that time. The NSWA also featured wrestlers like A-Train and Alexander The Great, who later became D Von Dudley and Big Dick Dudley. Wrestlers like Rockin Rebel and Little Guido who moved on to ECW as well as other stars that became the foundation for the future of Jersey All Pro Wrestling.
In July of 1997, Fat Frank Iadevaia while searching for a building in Bayonne, NJ met a local business man by the name of Jeff Shapiro. Jeff Shapiro was the owner of a local building called the Charity Hall and was also a big wrestling fan. Fat Frank Iadevaia and Jeff Shapiro agreed on a 1 year lease for the Charity Hall and on July 25, 1997, Jersey All Pro Wrestling was officially born. The early stages of JAPW featured established local wrestlers on the New Jersey Independent scene with wrestlers that needed that first big break, the opportunity to become a star was given to everyone of them and one of the first core JAPW wrestlers to shine was Homicide who made his debut on September 12, 1997. Early JAPW shows were saturated with blood and violence, Hard-Core Wrestling was the craze due to ECW and JAPW was an early alternative for wrestling fans. Soon after, several ECW wrestlers would start to debut due to the friendship of Fat Frank Iadevaia and Jason from ECW fame. Jason, The Pitbulls, 911, and The Samoan Gangsta Party all made their JAPW debut in 1997. JAPW became more popular, it was the hottest ticket in Bayonne at the time and the fans craved the blood and they craved the violence. On December 5, 1997 Jersey All Pro Wrestling closed out their first year with Night Of The Barb Wire #1. The Blood Angels defeated Homicide and Don Montoya for the vacant JAPW Tag Team Championship in one of the most brutal matches in JAPW history.
Jersey All Pro Wrestling continued to grow and attract a larger fan following and in the beginning of 1998, Jeff Shapiro saw the potential and became an investor in JAPW. On Saturday March 22, 1998, Jersey All Pro Wrestling did something that all the critics, all the other NJ wrestling promoters said they would never do! Jersey All Pro Wrestling presented their First Year Anniversary Show and Convention at the Sheraton Hotel in Newark, NJ. Over 2500 fans attended the convention, over 1000 fans attended the live event, and this was the biggest event to ever hit New Jersey Independent Wrestling. Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Dudley Boys, Rob Van Dam, Tommy Dreamer, Paul Heyman, The Wild Samoans, Al Snow, Shane Douglas, and Abdullah The Butcher were just some of the few major stars brought in for this event. Homicide, Don Montoya, Reckless Youth, The Haas Brothers, The Big Unit, Nova, and The Sickness were the homegrown JAPW Superstars that stole the show. After the JAPW First Year Anniversary Show the wrestling community was put on notice that Jersey All Pro Wrestling was here to stay and was going to be a major player in the Indy wrestling world.
1998 began a huge growth period for Jersey All Pro Wrestling, “We Guarantee Excitement” and “Blood Is Better” became the two trademark slogans for the company. The Charity Hall continued to host sell out wrestling crowds, big name talent was brought in and many local home grown talents were developed and groomed and were becoming stars of their own. The shows at that time were also becoming more violent and more over the top with the blood and weapons. Death matches were the norm, every show featured barbed wire, thumbtacks, weapons, fire, mousetraps, light tubes and over the top violence and blood letting. Glenn The Maniac Strange, Lightning Lou Diamond, Homicide, Jay Lover, and Low Life Louie Ramos led the way with their brutal style Jersey All Pro Wrestling peaked in 2000, the company and the popularity of pro wrestling was all over the news. Jersey All Pro Wrestling was featured in every major newspaper in New Jersey. Every major television station did a story on JAPW. On the national level we were featured in the New York Times and ABC’s Nightline and MSNBC. While the publicity was great for the company and produced record crowds, it also brought unnecessary scrutiny from The Mayor of Bayonne and NJ State Senator Joseph Doria and New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman. While there was only a handful of complaints, the politicians used “Extreme Wrestling” as an election year ploy to gain attention and to keep their names in the press. During the spring of 2000, the City of Bayonne revoked Jersey All Pro Wrestling entertainment license and prevented them from running shows in the Charity Hall. Jersey All Pro Wrestling was forced to find a new home and alter their current style to appease local politicians who were now well aware of the Jersey All Pro Wrestling’s reputation. On September 18, 2000 in the shadow of the Charity Hall in Bayonne, NJ Governor Whitman signed into law bill number A2304 banning “Extreme Wrestling” and thus forever altering the face of Jersey All Pro Wrestling. The outlook was very bleak for JAPW but then in November of 2000, with ECW facing bankruptcy, Jersey All Pro Wrestling presented “The South Philly Invasion” at the ECW Arena. Jersey All Pro Wrestling had planned to go back to their roots, but once again politics from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission put the handcuffs on JAPW on would not let the show move forward as planned.
Jersey All Pro Wrestling was permitted to return to Bayonne, NJ at the Charity Hall but not without major concessions. Jersey All Pro Wrestling had to abide by a set of strict rules and was under scrutiny from the City of Bayonne and the State of New Jersey who sent officials to monitor Jersey All Pro Wrestling. The era of “Blood Is Better” officially died on February 2, 2001 as Frank Iadevaia, Jeff Shapiro, Pierre Pilger, and Ray Sager met with several wrestlers to talk about the future of Jersey All Pro Wrestling. Change was necessary if the company was going to continue to exist, however a new direction would need to be taken. “We Are Hard Hitting” became the rallying cry for JAPW. The Hit Squad, Homicide, and Low Ki led the charge. Jersey All Pro Wrestling was once again innovating as JAPW was the first to introduce Strong Style on a consistent basis to the United States Indy wrestling scene.
Jersey All Pro Wrestling put on some of the most talked about and innovative shows during 2001. Philadelphia, PA joined Bayonne, NJ as monthly stops for JAPW and towards the end of 2001 JAPW invaded Hackettstown, NJ. The year 2001 was a breakout year for many young JAPW Superstars, but 2001 will forever be known as the Year of the Hit Squad. Monsta Mack and Mafia were already into their second reign as JAPW Tag Team Champions, however 2001 is the year they took over JAPW. Two words, THE WALL, Bayonne fans would chant “WALL WALL WALL” over and over again until The Hit Squad would press slam their opponents out of the ring and into the wall at the Charity Hall. The Wall was one of the most talked about and devastating moves in wrestling. The Hit Squad also helped develop many future stars with their unselfish ability to get their opponents over and were responsible for much of the growth for 2001 and beyond. The Briscoe Brothers, Dixie, Insane Dragon, Deranged, JT Jobber, and many others benefited from working the Hit Squad. Dixie and Insane Dragon, two brothers from Bayonne, NJ who got their start at the JAPW Wrestling School also had a breakout year. The two brothers became instant underdog fan favorites in their quest to win the tag team gold, and on May 18, 2001 in the biggest upset in JAPW history Youth Gone Wild defeated the Hit Squad in Bayonne, NJ for the JAPW Tag Team Championship. Fans also watched the drama unfold as the two brothers developed a rift with each other and later started a family feud. The feud between Dixie and Insane Dragon was one of the hottest feuds of 2001 and 2002 and also saw other family members get involved such as their father and younger sister.
Jersey All Pro Wrestling started and ended 2002 on sad notes. On December 15, 2001 we all learned that Russ Haas had passed away. The passing of Russ Haas affected everyone is Jersey All Pro Wrestling and caught all of us off guard. On February 2, 2002 JAPW presented The Russ Haas Memorial Show. Over 600 fans attended, over 50 wrestlers from all over the United States showed up and donated their salary for that evening, several wrestlers flew themselves in from Florida out of respect for Russ to work the show. Charlie Haas and members of the Haas family were in attendance. The show was one of the most memorable and touching shows in JAPW history and all money raised went to the widow of Russ Haas. That night for the first time in JAPW history, a Triple Crown Champion would be crowned, in a 3 Way Dance, JAPW Heavyweight Champion Homicide was challenged by JAPW Light Heavyweight Champion The Insane Dragon and JAPW New Jersey State Champion Dixie. Dixie went on to win the match and became the first ever Triple Crown Champion. JAPW made their debut in Seaside Heights, NJ on the boardwalk with several summer time shows and ended the year back in Bayonne, NJ. December 2002 we learned that Jeff Shapiro had sold the Charity Hall to a developer and we were forced to search for a new home as we only had a short term lease to continue operations till a new home was found.
Jersey All Pro Wrestling started 2003 in limbo, with the impending loss of The Charity Hall, the place we called home for the last 6 years was no more. JAPW scrambled to find a home in and around Bayonne, NJ but the past came back to haunt us as any potential facility was worried about our past history with “Extreme Wrestling”. JAPW booker Ray Sager discovered the Hungarian American Club in Woodbridge, NJ and on January 18, 2003 a new era was born. JAPW sold out their new building and with a mix of young up and coming wrestlers from the JAPW Wrestling School, as well as the established JAPW Superstars, and WWE Superstars Jerry Lawler and Kamala. Jersey All Pro Wrestling also went back to their old style bringing back an old school weapons match that saw Barbwire and Blood once again in a JAPW ring. February 2003 saw the final event at The Charity Hall in Bayonne, NJ and with that an era of Pro Wrestling in Bayonne, NJ was over. JAPW returned to Woodbridge, NJ and for the second show in a row sold out the Hungarian American Center as Terry Funk made his JAPW debut. JAPW was in limbo once again as the Hungarian American Center informed JAPW that for insurance reasons, pro wrestling would no longer be permitted and once again Jersey All Pro Wrestling was without a home. In a matter of months, JAPW lost two established facilities and two unique territories, with that JAPW took the summer off to reorganize and essentially start from scratch once again. In August of 2003 JAPW made their debut in Rahway, NJ at the Center Circle. JAPW decided to bring in some established talent hoping to jumpstart the crowds, Al Snow became JAPW Heavyweight Champion, Jerry Lawler, Mick Foley, Terry Funk, AJ Styles, Raven, Steve Corino, Shane Douglas, and others were brought in. The fans came to see the established name wrestlers, they fell in love with and returned to see the JAPW Superstars. JAPW was on a roll and slowly building up their new facility. One of the hottest and most talked about angles in wrestling, one that garnered main stream national press developed in 2003. Mafia was injured in a match and was expected to retire and on September 27, 2003 Mafia was in the house to make a major announcement. During the event Mafia announced his retirement due to injuries, he had wrestlers in the locker room and fans as well crying from his words, he brought his family with him and during intermission was in the crowd thanking the JAPW faithful. After the Homicide and Terry Funk match, Mafia appeared to calm down Homicide, Homicide unknowingly hit Mafia and sent him to the mat, the crowd responded in shock, knowing the condition of Mafia, Homicide stopped what he was doing and tried to help Maff, Terry Funk stopped to help Maff as well, once Terry Funk turned his back Maff jumped up and nailed Terry Funk with a chair and along with Homicide beat down the legend. The fans and many wrestlers in the locker room were completely fooled and with that, La Familia was born. Dan Maff defeated Jerry Lawler and Shane Douglas to regain the JAPW Heavyweight Championship to close out 2003.
Jersey All Pro Wrestling started 2004 with a joint inter-promotional show with Ring Of Honor. Although never revealed before, this event was done to combat the invasion of Major League Wrestling, who had come into the area and was plucking wrestlers from both rosters. The event was to take place head to head with the MLW show in Philadelphia, PA. MLW eventually cancelled their event and JAPW and ROH decided to still go on with the show. JAPW laid the foundation for their future that night as fliers were given to the fans in the building touting the debut of Teddy Hart. Teddy Hart was fired from ROH at the end of 2003 and being one of the most talented and popular wrestlers on the Indy scene, JAPW took a chance at increasing their fan base with a Teddy Hart and Homicide match. February 2004 saw over 700 fans pack The Rahway Rec Center to see one of the most brutal and talked about matches in JAPW history and in an instant a star was born in Teddy Hart. JAPW continued to roll in 2004, with many new top stars coming in to JAPW and the hottest feud in wrestling, JAPW began to garner the respect of wrestling fans and the internet fans across the country and the world. With the new found popularity and growing fan base JAPW increased their merchandise line with new t shirts and other products as well as their first DVD’s. Along with the debut of Teddy Hart many other wrestlers made their JAPW debut such as Jack Evans, Kaos, Jerry Lynn, Mike Awesome, Vader, Samoa Joe, B Boy, M Dogg 20, Super Dragon, Kevin Steen, Beef Wellington, El Generico, and The Carnage Crew. JAPW was quickly becoming the top destination for the top stars in wrestling.
2005 and 2006 coming soon....
