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The SSW of today is
currently known as Stars & Stripes Wrestling.
But, it was not always that way. Here is a
brief overview of how the SSW of today came to be
what it is.
SSW held its first event
on May 20th of 2003. At that time, SSW stood
for "South Shore Wrestling". The purpose of
SSW was to give the Milwaukee Wrestling scene a new
direction for indy wrestling, and to put some fresh
faces into the talent pool. Even though SSW
had the best of intentions from the start, it was
strongly resisted by the local establishment.
Even so, SSW persevered. SSW held true to its
mission to give the wrestling fans "Something
Different", and weathered the storm, as well as numerous
attempts by our rivals to have SSW shut down.
SSW survived!
In May of 2004, SSW held
its first anniversary event, and its first event
that began a long standing relationship with the
American Legion in Oak Creek. This event was
one of three held that year as a benefit for the
Hunger Task Force, where food donations were taken
in lieu of money for admission. Over that
summer, SSW raised nearly a ton of food for the
Hunger Task Force, and received a lot of local media
attention in the process!
The summer of 2004 also
began SSW's involvement with "Legionfest", the
annual festival held at the American Legion in Oak
Creek over the Independence Day holiday! SSW
donated its resources to the festival during the years of 2004, 2005,
and 2006! Due to 2007's 4th of July being on a
Wednesday, the event was not held.
South Shore Wrestling
shut down after 39 regular events, at the end
of summer in 2005. "Zero Hour" was held to
crown the "undisputed" South Shore Champion,
the winner of which was Devin Diamond! Although "Zero Hour" was the
end of the road for regular South Shore Wrestling
events, there was still some unfinished business for
SSW to attend to.
On May 19th, 2006, South
Shore Wrestling held "The Reunion", the last time
anyone who ever worked for SSW in the past would be
seen at a South Shore Wrestling event. That
show came to be due to a few happenings at Zero
Hour, and the fact that one of our own, Shortstack,
earned a WWE contract. SSW wanted to give
Shortstack a farewell show in Milwaukee, and that
was what "The Reunion" accomplished!
Shortstack would go on to see much success in the
WWE, starting his career in spring 2006 as
Hornswaggle, Finlay's leprechaun that lived under
the Smackdown! ring. He would go on to capture
the WWE Crusierweight Championship in summer of
2007, and later be revealed as the "bastard son" of
WWE Chairman, Vincent K. McMahon, on September 10th
2007, in his hometown of Green Bay, WI.
Shortstack would become the first member of SSW to
go on to become a national star with the WWE.
South Shore Wrestling would
hold one last event on June 17th of 2006, at Marcus Theatres' "South Shore Cinemas", in
conjunction with the theatrical release of "Nacho Libre", the Jack Black wrestling comedy. The
main event of the show pitted the Undisputed South
Shore Champion, Devin Diamond, in one on one competition with
"Ramses", the rival of Nacho in the movie.
This was also the first and only time that Marcus
Theatres has ever hosted a pro wrestling event that
we are aware of....and goes to show the respect that
SSW has gained over the years!
After those 2 major events,
SSW grabbed the attention of the management of USA
Championship Wrestling, the organization that had
hosted Kenosha's biggest annual wrestling event:
"Headlock on Hunger", for 3 years prior.
USACW was looking to expand its shows in the region
on a more than once a year basis, but, was lacking
much of what SSW had (namely local history and
resources). In July of 2006, the ownership of
South Shore Wrestling was offered a merger with
USACW, due to the high quality of SSW's production
values and well established name and local
recognition, and its impressive showings at the
Reunion and Nacho Libre events.
SSW accepted the
offer. The terms of that offer would merge
both entities into one new organization. They
would keep the SSW initials, website, and
event lineage. But, most of the roster would
be carried over from USACW. A new SSW
Heavyweight Champion would be crowned to represent
the new unified organization,
signifying the cooperation between the two groups, and
ushering in the new era of SSW. The new SSW
Lightweight Champion would be carried over from the
USACW Junior Heavyweight Championship,
then held by LT
Falk. The new SSW SyberSlam Championship would be
carried over from South Shore Wrestling's "Undisputed
South Shore Championship", then held by Devin Diamond.
August 26, 2006, gave new
life to pro wrestling in the Kenosha/Racine area, as
SSW staked its claim to the region. SSW chose
to leave the Milwaukee market, due to its
over-saturated wrestling scene. That
choice would stand to be a wise decision, because
SSW 41 would be held in front of a crowd of 200+
fans who came to support their new hometown
wrestling group! "The War by the Shore", as it
was called, was also held to benefit Kindan Jackson,
a relative of Kenosha's most well know wrestler,
Joey B. Kindan was badly injured
in an automobile accident, and, the event helped
raise money to help her family cover the costs of
her medical care.
SSW would continue on
strong in 2006. In November, SSW started its
online wrestling series, SYBERSLAM, hosting the
shows through YouTube.com. SyberSlam is the
only ongoing online wrestling video series of its
kind in the area, and another milestone reached by
SSW. In December 2006, SSW would hold the first
wrestling event at a YMCA in the region for as long
as anyone can remember! "Christmas Chaos" was a resounding success, and led to the events that
would take place at 2007's Headlock on Hunger 5 in
February, with Joey B. capturing the SSW Heavyweight
Championship from Ricky Stryc-9, in arguably the
biggest match in SSW history! Headlock on
Hunger 5 drew a sell out crowd once again, with
over 400 fans, friends, and families in attendance
for the historic event!
On June 10th, 2007, SSW
kicked off the summer with "Afterburn" in Kenosha.
The event was held in conjunction with the memorial
festival for fallen police officer, Frank Fabiano.
SSW also donated many pieces of merchandise to the
raffle, of which proceeds would be donated to the
family of the slain officer!
The Legacy of SSW is
undeniable. SSW may have had a rocky past, but,
we have overcome all obstacles that have been placed
in front of us. We have grown leaps and bounds
since our start in 2003,
into one of the most highly regarded organizations in
the area. Our roster has grown into one of the
most elite in the entire region, and our fan base
has become just as essential over the years!
SSW is here to stay, always and forever being
"Something Different!" |
