Steel City Wrestling

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Steel City Wrestling (SCW)
IndustryProfessional wrestling
Founded1994
FounderNorm Connors
Defunct2000
HeadquartersLatrobe, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Key people
Norm Connors – President
Andrew Lazarchik - Vice president

Steel City Wrestling (SCW) was a

Pittsburgh metropolitan area during the 1990s,[1] along with the National Wrestling Alliance-affiliated Pro Wrestling eXpress, and was regarded by many in the industry as one of the best independent promotions on the East Coast of the United States.[2]

For many years, SCW was the home promotion of Pittsburgh "legends" such as

family friendly" atmosphere.[3] In addition, SCW co-hosted the original Deaf Wrestlefest benefit shows with Lord Zoltan for the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf
from 1994 to 2000.

History

Early years

Steel City Wrestling was started by Norm Connors in the fall of 1994. On October 8, 1994, the promotion crowned its first

World Wrestling Federation alumni, as well as top indy stars, and became the school's most important fundraiser during its original 6-year run. Connors, who had performed as "heel" manager Notorious Norm on the local independent circuit, was able to use his connections to bring in legendary WWF wrestlers such as King Kong Bundy, Koko B. Ware, Virgil, and "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka and pitted them against local stars.[2] Bundy, and future WWE Superstar Mick Foley in particular, would agree to wrestle on SCW shows at a reduced cost due to their personal friendship with Connors. This was critical to SCW's early success as "big name" wrestlers could often bring in thousands of dollars for an independent show.[3]

Cooperation with Extreme Championship Wrestling

SCW often cooperated with

St. Mary's, Pennsylvania, a month later. They would go on to become one of SCW's most successful tag teams.[8] Mikey Whipwreck and Pablo Marquez also battled each other during the show to earn a title shot at light heavyweight champion Lord Zoltan.[9]

That same year, The Blue Meanie attracted the attention of Raven and Stevie Richards while working at a 2-day SCW event in Pittsburgh. Raven had the idea that the unusual-looking wrestler would be perfect as a "lackey" of Stevie Richards, who was his own comic sidekick in ECW, and brought him to Philadelphia as a member of Raven's Nest.[10][11] The Blue Meanie and Richards continued appearing in SCW and regained the SCW Tag Team Championship at Deaf Wrestlefest 1996.[12] They held the belts for nearly two years before the title was vacated due to an injury suffered by Richards.[4]

Connors-Lazarchik partnership

These early SCW shows ran sporadically due to Connors activity as a

creative differences with PWX management. They decided to run SCW full-time and began promoting shows in January 1998. Connors, still retaining ownership of the promotion, was the head booker and wrote the majority of the storylines. As vice president, Lazarchik handled the promotional side of the company by overseeing advertising and designing promotional material. Both men were also active SCW performers. Connors, continuing his "gimmick" as manager Notorious Norm, had an on-air role as SCW President while Lazarchik became "heel" manager "Hot Shot" Drew Lazario.[2]

Their "home arena" was the SCW Arena in

Mount Washington, became one of the promotion's annual supercards.[15]

On February 8, 1998, Cactus Jack and The Blue Meanie captured the vacant tag team titles from Lou Marconi and Frank Stalletto in Irwin, Pennsylvania. That same show also saw

special guest referee in a match between Tom Brandi and Corporal Punishment.[18] The promotion also began airing a weekly Friday night television show, Steel City Wrestling TV, on WNPA. On October 18, 1998, Don Montoya was crowned the first SCW Television Champion following his victory over Joey Matthews in the finals of a one-night 8-man championship tournament.[4] At the end of the year, The Bad Street Boys (Joey Matthews and Christian York) captured the SCW Tag Team Championship from Blue Meanie and Super Nova in Irwin, Pennsylvania.[4][19]

On February 21, 1999,

Mr. Socko
allowing T. Rantula to win the bout.

Feud with High Society

In his role as SCW President, Notorious Norm was often challenged by various heel factions attempting to "take over" the company. The most serious "threat" to the promotion was High Society (Tom Brandi, Cueball Carmichael, and Jimmy Cicero)[25] who managed to gain control of 40% of SCW by the summer of 1999. On June 5, SCW made its debut in Jeannette, Pennsylvania, where Cody Michaels lost the SCW Heavyweight title to Cueball Carmichael. Carmichael won the bout due to outside interference from Dennis Gregory who had lost the belt to Michaels four months earlier. In the main event, WWF Light Heavyweight Champion Gillberg defeated Rich Myers.[26]

High Society would temporarily win control of SCW when Carmichael defeated Notorious Norm in a singles match on September 19, 1999. Little Jeannie also defeated Lexi Fife during the show to become the first SCW Women's Champion;[4] she had defeated manager Drew Lazario in the semi-finals earlier that night.[27] SCW was profiled by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that same month.[3]

Demise

In the spring of 2000, Connors decided to close SCW. Although the promotion was still highly popular, Connors chose to focus on his regular career as a funeral director. He had been able to promote wrestling events on the weekend while at mortuary school, however, he felt his work schedule significantly limited his time to book shows. Connors had been struggling with both since his graduation the previous summer. The promotion's final show was held that summer. Connors addressed the crowd at the conclusion of the show to thank the fans, wrestlers, and Lazarchik. SCW was regarded by many in the industry as one of the top promotions on the East Coast at the time of its close.[2]

Reunions

On October 25, 2000, Lazarchik booked an "unofficial" reunion show in T. Rantula's Far North Wrestling. It was held at Blazer's Family Fun Center in Irwin with Don Montoya, Mike Quackenbush, and Reckless Youth in a Three Way Dance for the main event. Lazarchik planned another similar show in Irwin on December 13, 2000.[2]

International Wrestling Cartel

In the spring of 2001, Norm Connors resumed promoting wrestling events. He partnered with B94 morning radio host Bubba The Bulldog to form the International Wrestling Cartel in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania. The promotion used many former Steel City Wrestling stars, as well as younger indy wrestlers, and was considered the successor of SCW. Connors ran the IWC for eight years before selling the promotion to Chuck Roberts and retiring once again.[1]

Steel City Wrestlefest

On May 24, 2008, the International Wrestling Cartel and Pro Wrestling eXpress hosted an interpromotional supercard entitled "Steel City Wrestlefest" at the

special guest referee, and a first-ever singles match between Sterling James Keenan and Chris Masters. The rest of the card involved a mix of SCW alumni as well as top indy stars from throughout the country. Both Kurt Angle and Bruno Sammartino were also scheduled to appear at the show, with Angle to meet local radio host Bubba the Bulldog in a wrestling match.[28]

Championships and programming

Championships

Championship Notes
SCW Heavyweight Championship The heavyweight title of SCW. It was established in 1994 and continued to be defended within the promotion until 2000.[4][29]
SCW Tag Team Championship The tag team title of SCW. It was established in 1994 and continued to be defended until 2000.[4][30]
SCW Junior Heavyweight Championship The title was established in 1994 and continued to be defended until 2000.[4][31]
SCW Television Championship The title was established in 1998 and continued to be defended until 2000.[4][32]
SCW Lord of the Dance Championship The title was established in 1999, to be specifically contested in Three Way Dance matches, and was defended through the year.[4]
SCW Women's Championship The title was established in 1999 and was defended through the year.[4]

Programming

Programming Notes
Steel City Wrestling TV (1998–2000) Syndicated, also broadcast on UPN.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Wilson, Craig (July 24, 2013). "Jeff Gorman exclusively discusses his campaign to be part of TNA Gut Check". RingTheDamnBell.com.
  2. ^ a b c d e Knavish, Brian (December 3, 2000). "In the Spotlight: Steel City Wrestling lives on in Far North circuit". Beaver County Times.
  3. ^ a b c d Kobell, Rona (September 24, 1999). "Two local Joes cashing in on wrestling's popularity". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
  4. ^
    ISBN 0-9698161-5-4
    .
  5. ^ Woodward, Buck (March 19, 2010). "THIS DAY IN HISTORY: WCW'S LAST NITRO BEFORE THE BUYOUT, THE FIRST AND LAST WCW UNCENSORED EVENTS AND MORE". PWInsider.com.
  6. ^ "Mick Foley's Biography Part 1". The Unofficial Mick Foley Page. 1999.
  7. ^ Gorman, Jeff. "Arena Reports: Pennsylvania - Steel City Wrestling at the High School." Pro Wrestling Illustrated. March 1996: 70+.
  8. ^ "The PWI 500." Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Fort Washington, Pennsylvania: London Publishing Company. (Holiday 1998): pg. 60.
  9. ^ Gorman, Jeff. "Arena Reports: Pennsylvania - Steel City Wrestling at the High School." Pro Wrestling Illustrated. April 1996: 46+.
  10. ISBN 1416561560
  11. ^ Payne, Aeron (June 2013). "A Tribute To The Blue Meanie". TheRagRocks.com. Archived from the original on 2013-12-09.
  12. ^ Gorman, Jeff. "Arena Reports: Pennsylvania - Steel City's "Deaf Wrestlefest '96" at the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf." Pro Wrestling Illustrated. October 1996: 50+.
  13. ^ Gorman, Jeff. "Arena Reports: Pennsylvania - Steel City Wrestling at Sullivan Hall." Pro Wrestling Illustrated. February 1998: 50+.
  14. ^ "Brushes With Greatness". DDT Digest. November 8, 1998.
  15. ^ Gorman, Jeff. "Arena Reports: Pennsylvania - Steel City Wrestling's annual "Brawl at Sullivan Hall" church benefit show." Pro Wrestling Illustrated. March 2000: 80+.
  16. ^ "The PWI 500." Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Fort Washington, Pennsylvania: London Publishing Company. (Holiday 1998): pg. 61.
  17. ^ "The PWI 500." Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Fort Washington, Pennsylvania: London Publishing Company. (Holiday 1998): pg. 67.
  18. ^ Gorman, Jeff. "Arena Reports: Pennsylvania - Steel City Wrestling at Ainsworth Field." Pro Wrestling Illustrated. November 1998: 50+.
  19. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link
    )
  20. ^ "The PWI 500." Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Fort Washington, Pennsylvania: London Publishing Company. (Holiday 1999): pg. 64.
  21. ^ Kirell, Jay (May 13, 2014). "The Untold Story of "Break The Barrier" – The Greatest Wrestling Show You've Never Heard Of". TheSterlingRoad.com. Archived from the original on July 19, 2014.
  22. ^ International Pro Wrestling (Producer) (1999). ISPW Wrestling (VHS). Pennsylvania: Corey's Wrestling Video Archives.
  23. ^ Kirell, Jay (May 13, 2014). "Break The Barrier: The Untold Story of The Night The IWC Put On A Wrestling Show". Cagesideseats.com.
  24. ^ "The PWI 500." Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Fort Washington, Pennsylvania: London Publishing Company. (Holiday 1999): pg. 52.
  25. ^ "The PWI 500." Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Fort Washington, Pennsylvania: London Publishing Company. (Holiday 1999): pg. 54, 57.
  26. ^ Gorman, Jeff. "Arena Reports: Pennsylvania - Steel City Wrestling at Pitzer's Town House." Pro Wrestling Illustrated. December 1999: 52+.
  27. ^ Gorman, Jeff. "Arena Reports: Pennsylvania - Steel City Wrestling at the Athletic Association." Pro Wrestling Illustrated. February 2000: 52+.
  28. ^ Dykens, Brad (April 14, 2008). "Steel City Wrestlefest on May 24th". OnlineWorldofWrestling.com.
  29. ^ Westcott, Brian; Eric Roelfsema (1999). "SCW Heavyweight Title History". Solie.org. Solie's Title Histories.
  30. Solie's Title Histories
    .
  31. Solie's Title Histories
    .
  32. ^ Westcott, Brian; Eric Roelfsema (1998). "SCW Television Title History". Solie.org. Solie's Title Histories.

Further reading

External links
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