Incredibly Strange Wrestling
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Incredibly Strange Wrestling (a.k.a. "ISW") was a
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
-based
professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...
promotion, heavily influenced by masked Mexican Wrestling or Lucha Libre. The event combined wrestling matches with performances by
punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
,
rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and blu ...
,
garage A garage is a covered structure built for the purpose of parking, storing, protecting, maintaining, and/or repairing vehicles. Specific applications include: *Garage (residential), a building or part of a building for storing one or more vehicle ...
, psychobilly, and
thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...
bands. Intended as an affectionate satire of Lucha Libre, ''Incredibly Strange Wrestling'' was created as a nightclub event by Johnny Legend and August Ragone juxtaposing satirical matches with live musical performances. ISW also featured many semi- and pro-wrestlers from the California circuits, and eventually showcased several professional
Luchador Lucha libre (, meaning "freestyle wrestling" or literally translated as "free fight") is the term used in Latin America for professional wrestling. Since its introduction to Mexico in the early 20th century, it has developed into a unique form ...
es from Mexico. The promotion ran continuously from 1995 until the early 2000s.


History

ISW came to fruition at the Transmission Theater, a now-defunct venue (a former Transmission Shop), located at 314 11th St., in San Francisco’s South of Market District in 1995. It originated at an event at the
DNA Lounge DNA Lounge is an all-ages nightclub and restaurant/cafe in the SoMa district of San Francisco owned by Jamie Zawinski, a former Netscape programmer and open-source software hacker. The club features DJ dancing, live music, burlesque performanc ...
in 1990, "The Sleazefest", put together by future Hayride to Hell drummer Joey Myers, Wrestling/Music/Movie entrepreneur Johnny Legend, and local music/events promoter August Ragone. This show featured live music performances by
The Mummies The Mummies are an American garage punk band formed in San Bruno, California, in 1988. Exhibiting a defiantly raw and lo-fi sound, dubbed "budget rock", the Mummies' rebellious attitude and distinctive performance costumes exerted a major influe ...
,
The Phantom Surfers The Phantom Surfers are a surf rock band formed in 1988. Members Current (latest album) *"Swell" Mel Bergman: guitar *Mike "Mouth" Lucas: bass *Maz "Spazz" Kattuah: guitar *Russell "Junky Johnny" Quan: drums *Johnny "Big Hand" Bartlett: guitar ...
, and Johnny Legend and His Rockabilly Bastards, video presentations, and a Lucha Libre match between Ragone and future Hellbillys frontman, Barrie Evans. The Lucha Libre aspects were built upon with each subsequent Johnny Legend show at various venues around the Bay Area, until the early part of 1995, when they were tapped to do their first all-wrestling event. Bret Kibele, a friend of Ragone's, who was working at the Paradise Lounge, informed him that club owner Robin Reichert was preparing to launch a new venue next door, and was looking for some good ideas to launch the new nightclub space. Ragone and Kibele pitched for a rotating monthly series of after-hours shows, which would include "Masked Mexican Wrestling" (Lucha Libre). Reichert told them to put together a show. Initially promoted as "Rockabilly Wrestling". Legend thus coined the moniker, "Incredibly Strange Wrestling", and sought permission from his friend,
Ray Dennis Steckler Ray Dennis Steckler (January 25, 1938 – January 7, 2009), also known by the pseudonym Cash Flagg, was an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor best known as the low-budget auteur of such cult films as ''The Incredibly St ...
, who directed ''
The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies ''The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies'' (sometimes "!!?" is appended to the title) is a 1964 American monster movie written and directed by Ray Dennis Steckler. Steckler also starred in the film, bille ...
'', who gave Legend his permission. During the first summer, ISW went on the road for the West Coast leg of Lollapalooza '95 (arranged by Legend via Perry Farrell). Ragone and Kibele subsequently asked band manager, Audra Angeli-Morse (then employed at the Paradise Lounge), to come aboard and handle the business end of the show, while they and Legend, worked on the creative aspects. For reasons that are still unclear, Angeli-Morse forced out Legend, despite the protests of Ragone and Kibele. Eventually, Angeli-Morse started a takeover of the event, with Ragone and Kibele eventually parting ways with ISW (even though Angeli-Morse never bought them out, and they are still listed on the original Business License filed with the City and County of San Francisco in 1995). Ragone continued on with producing live events, including several Classic Horror Film Festivals at the
Castro Theatre The Castro Theatre is a historic movie palace in San Francisco that became San Francisco Historic Landmark #100 in September 1976. Located at 429 Castro Street in the Castro District, it was built in 1922 with a California Churrigueresque fa ...
, and authored ''Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters'' (Chronicle Books, 2007), which received positive reviews, including from
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
magazine. Kibele is married and currently resides in Colorado. After the split, Legend ran his own
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
-based version of ''Incredibly Strange Wrestling'' and booked matches at Horror Conventions, such as Fangoria's Weekend of Horrors, in Southern California (covered in a Flipside magazine interview). During its heyday, Incredibly Strange Wrestling was a featured attraction during many Summer festival tours, including a low-budget U.S. club tour in 1997 headlined by
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes Me First and the Gimme Gimmes (often shortened to just Me First or the Gimmes) are a punk rock supergroup and cover band that formed in San Francisco in 1995. The band's lineup consists of Spike Slawson, Fat Mike, Joey Cape, and Dave Raun. C ...
, Vans'
Warped Tour The Warped Tour was a traveling rock tour that toured the United States plus three or four stops in Canada annually each summer from 1995 until 2019. It was the largest traveling music festival in the United States and the longest-running touri ...
in 2001, and the
Deconstruction Tour Deconstruction Tour was a one-day punk music and skate festival that was staged in various countries across Europe. It first took place in 1999 and occurred annually until 2006. The tour was arranged by Destiny Tourbooking. In general, the tour o ...
(Europe) in 2003 with NOFX. After a long hiatus, the promotion announced some Summer Festival dates for 2007, but these events never materialized.


Luchadores

Participants in ISW included El Homo Loco, who wore a pink tutu, and the Poontangler, a female wrestler who claimed to have many illegitimate children (and fought several “paternity suit” matches). The ISW also featured a
Scientologist Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by American author L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. It has been variously defined as a cult, a business, or a new religious movement. The most recent published census data in ...
boy band who would provoke the largely counterculture crowd with pop songs about Dianetics named 69 Degrees. Other ISW creations included The Amazing Caltiki, The Ku Klux Klown, El Borracho Gigante, Cletus "The Fetus" Kincaid, The Abortionist, El Asesino Postal, El Fisico Nuclear, R.U.R. 2000, Anarchie, El Hijo de Executivo, Killer Kimera, Harley Racist, Vandal Drummond, La Chingona, The Inbred Abomination, Chango Loco, El Pollo Diablo, Americon Man, Libido Gigante, Macho Sasquatcho, The Mexican Viking, the lounge lizzard, L’Empereur, The Cruiser, U.S. Steele, Risa de Muerte, and Count Dante. Most, but not all, of these names were coined by Legend. The promotion also presented outlandish gimmicks, such as the ''Christians to the Lions'' match where a cross-toting, ancient Christian named Jesus Cross fought a man in a lion suit, while the ''Uncle N.A.M.B.L.A. vs. Lil’ Timmy'' match pitted a gigantic pedophile against a teenage boy.
Dead Kennedys Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the defining punk bands during its initial eight-year run. Dead Kennedys' lyrics were usually political in nature, satirizing p ...
frontman
Jello Biafra Eric Reed Boucher (born June 17, 1958), known professionally as Jello Biafra, is an American singer, spoken word artist and politician. He is the former lead singer and songwriter for the San Francisco punk rock band Dead Kennedys. Initially ac ...
, local Shock Jock Dennis Erectus, 7 Seconds vocalist Kevin Seconds and Deadbolt and Swamp Angel bassist R.A. MacLean often played heel managers at ISW shows.


Bands

Notable bands who performed at ISW shows during its height in the 1990s, include Mike Watt, NOFX,
The Supersuckers The Supersuckers are an American rock band, formed in 1988, whose music ranges from alternative rock to country rock to cowpunk. AllMusic describes the band as "the bastard sons of Foghat, AC/DC, and ZZ Top after being weaned on punk rock, una ...
, The Bomboras,
The Dickies The Dickies are an American punk rock band formed in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, in 1977. One of the longest tenured punk rock bands, they have been in continuous existence for over 40 years. They have consistently balanced catchy mel ...
,
Fear Fear is an intensely unpleasant emotion in response to perceiving or recognizing a danger or threat. Fear causes physiological changes that may produce behavioral reactions such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the threat. Fear ...
, The Ghastly Ones, Legendary Invisible Men,
The Queers The Queers are an American punk rock band, formed in 1981 by the Portsmouth, New Hampshire native Joseph “Joe” P. King (a.k.a. Joe Queer) along with Scott Gildersleeve (a.k.a. Tulu), and John “Jack” Hayes (a.k.a. Wimpy Rutherford). With ...
,
Demented Are Go Demented Are Go (DAG aka Demented Are Go!) are a Welsh psychobilly band that was formed around 1982 in Cardiff, Wales. They were one of the earliest in the initial wave of bands to mix punk rock with rockabilly, and as a result, are conside ...
,
The Donnas The Donnas were an American rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1993. The band consisted of Brett Anderson (lead vocals), Allison Robertson (guitar, backing vocals), Maya Ford (bass guitar, backing vocals) and Torry Castellano (drum ...
,
Deadbolt A dead bolt, deadbolt or dead lock is a locking mechanism distinct from a spring bolt lock because a deadbolt can only be opened by a key or handle. The more common spring bolt lock uses a spring to hold the bolt in place, allowing retraction ...
,
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes Me First and the Gimme Gimmes (often shortened to just Me First or the Gimmes) are a punk rock supergroup and cover band that formed in San Francisco in 1995. The band's lineup consists of Spike Slawson, Fat Mike, Joey Cape, and Dave Raun. C ...
, and
The Mad Capsule Markets The Mad Capsule Markets (originally known as The Mad Capsule Market's and Berrie) were a Japanese band that formed in 1985 and were active until 2006. The band became known for their experimental style, which melded various kinds of electronic m ...
.


References

* * * * * * ''Beer, Blood and Cornmeal: Seven Years of Strange Wrestling'' by Bob Calhoun, {{Professional wrestling in the United States Independent professional wrestling promotions based in California