I’m on a hardcore wrestling kick at the moment and the late 90s-early 00s was chockful of deathmatch stuff. One promotion that was on the rise was Xtreme Pro Wrestling out of Los Angeles. We’re getting into XPW My Bloody Valentine 2000 with the second night making it to tape. This show includes the company’s first King of the Death Matches tournament where their deathmatch champion was crowned.
Before we get into the show and what Xtreme Pro Wrestling was, let me say the show is at the bottom. Also, the egregious use of fonts and editing at the beginning is truly criminal. Jesus.
What Was XPW?
Formed in 1999, it made use of SoCal indy brawlers mostly but there were some high flyers in the mix. Not many but a few were on the roster. XPW was owned by the husband and wife, director, and actress couple of Rob Black and Lizzy Borden. The couple also owns the porn company Extreme Associates which has been in trouble for its extreme content.
As for Xtreme Pro Wrestling, Black tried to position the company as competition to ECW at first. Few actually considered it such but it managed to stay open following ECW’s demise. A feud with CZW started sometime after that as a result of XPW getting its big star, Justice Pain.
Also, XPW’s big star The Messiah jumped ship to CZW after no longer being on board with the company and its pornographic parent company. Also, there was the attack on his life which resulted in his thumb being cut off.
Let’s get into this show!
Low-Tier
Man…OK. John Kronus was actually still pretty solid by this time but his first-round match against Carlito Montana just didn’t hit at all. It’s a shame because having watched a few of his matches, Montana wasn’t bad at all. This should’ve been mid-tier at least but these two just did click in their Bed of Lightbulbs Wrapped in Barbed Wire match.
Another match that should’ve been better was the last first-round bout. Axl Rotten managed to destroy Homeless Jimmy in a Bed of Nails match featuring a barbed wire bat. This was pretty much a squash but Rotten’s best work was in deathmatches. Also, Homeless Jimmy is actually really good in hardcore stuff.
Chronic seemed like a solid-at-best wrestler but Jay N? Oof. The highlight from this match was big Jay N throwing up not once, not twice, but three times in this match. That chair shot to the back of the head from Chronic just messed dude up the whole match.
In the semi-finals, Kronus defeated Rotten in another bed of nails and barbed wire bat showdown. Actually, I wouldn’t call this a showdown. It was just a bad match. Add Kronus taking on Supreme in the finals to this. The finals was a no-rope barbed wire match featuring beds of “everything.”
Supreme did most of the work here and would go on to beat Kronus after his Mecca Toad Splash from a ladder through a board of glass or barbed wire.
His bump through the bottom and middle barbed wire rope was sickening. Even I yelled like Kris Kloss. Also, Kloss botched it in the introductions. Kerry King, guitarist of Slayer—a role he’s had since Show No Mercy dropped in 1983—was the special ring announcer. Kloss called him the lead singer.
Mid-Tier
The opening first-round match between Supreme and Kaos was solid. If this, Supreme vs. The Messiah or Kaos vs. Messiah would’ve been the finals it would’ve been good. Exotic-tier, actually. It was a barbed wire board and bed of nails match and it worked for me. Kaos was good and Supreme—rest in peace—rocked the hardcore style but could also take to the top rope for his corpulent size.
The other first-round match was a thumbtack and barbed wire ladder match that saw The Messiah defeat Johnny Webb. Solid match, both men took their bumps. It was pretty bloody as well and pretty much what you’d expect from a deathmatch.
A bit of back story on the XPW World Title match. Chris Candido showed up with Tammy and went in about how he hadn’t received his title match. He points out that he defeated this guy and that guy but Damien Steele—of the Hierarchy which became the Black Army, led by Rob Black—was dodging him.
Steele tells him there’s no shot for him but the match is made for later in the show. Candido said it would be falls count anywhere in the spirit of the deathmatch tournament. Also, Shane Douglas arrived in XPW, got on the phone, “called up” WCW, and told them where to stick it. Or what to suck. I forget, some Douglas stuff just become vapor if you hear it enough.
The title match was solid. Chris Candido was always a really good wrestler while Damien Steele was rock solid and had a superstar look. These two put a fine match together that wasn’t mired in boards of dangerous stuff.
Exotic-Tier
In the semi-finals, Supreme defeated The Messiah in a beds of nails, barbed wire, and thumbtacks deathmatch. This should’ve been the finals because both men just ate this match. The Messiah bled like a stuck pig as well.
Fun match for the short time it lasted. While this probably would’ve been mid-tier at best on any other card, compared to everything else on the show this got the gold star.
XPW My Bloody Valentine 2000 Verdict: 4/10
It was just shy of being a mid-tier show from Xtreme Pro Wrestling. Some matches needed more time, people should’ve been moved around, it was an organized mess because the show did have a flow to it. Also, tournament shows tend to lack running storylines for the most part. There might be a few but they tend to be presented as highly important events. Storylines can come back after the promotion is done with serious business.
Heroes of the show go to Supreme, The Messiah, and color commentator Larry Rivera—Pat Hoed/Fantasma, bassist, and alternating vocalist for the death metal band, Brujeria. That guy was consistent as hell all night. I’ll give a fighting spirit award to Kris Kloss, outside of that flub with Kerry King, he was consistent as well.
https://youtu.be/yjBamb0jv-o
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