Dark Side of the Ring is here once more with yet another grizzly tale from the world of professional wrestling. The season is rapidly drawing to a close, with next week’s episode on the WWF steroid trials being the season grand finale. Last week’s episode was a look into the heartbreaking and tragic life (and career) of pioneering women’s wrestler Luna Vachon, who was best known for her work in the WWF throughout the 1990s. This week, we return to looking at an entire promotion – much like we did with Onita‘s FMW a few weeks back – and some of the more outlandish and tragic features within. Without further ado, let’s take a look at what we learned from the latest episode of Dark Side, which was centered around Rob Black and his XPW promotion.
East Coast, are you ready? Extreme & Obscene: Rob Black’s XPW starts now on @DarkSideOfRing. #dsotr pic.twitter.com/x43grGab8G
— VICE TV (@VICETV) October 22, 2021
Extreme & Obscene: Rob Black’s XPW – What We Learned
Background Information
Xtreme Pro Wrestling (XPW) was/is a professional wrestling company founded in California by Rob Black (real name Rob Zicari) in 1999. Heavily inspired by Paul Heyman‘s Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), it borrowed some of the hardcore elements from ECW – whilst going even further into the extreme with death matches and, quite uniquely, the inclusion of porn stars. Black saw potential in a wrestling promotion which merged extreme pro wrestling with hardcore porn and proceeded with XPW in this format. In many ways, XPW embodied the late 1990s’ perception of what was then modern professional wrestling; edgy and catering to a young, adult male demographic. Mounting legal bills and a sea of controversy eventually brought XPW to a close in 2003 – with an occasional return taking place every few years since then.
Get to Know Rob Black
The name of Rob Black is one many will be unfamiliar with – his name is one which has not lasted the test of time within the world of pro wrestling. At the start of the episode, it is revealed that Black wanted nothing to do with this episode as being interrogated in a chair is “not his thing”. Wrestling valet and adult film star, Jessica Darlin, makes it clear that Rob was someone you either love or hate – a true polarizing figure both in and out of the business, someone Darlin describes as “the ultimate heel”. She acknowledges that Rob’s idea of porn was “wild” and “ahead of its time”; with some of the features of his hardcore films being the norm today.
Relationship with ECW
It is then revealed that Rob Black had a working relationship with Paul Heyman’s ECW. The late New Jack appears here, as he was interviewed prior to his passing on May 14th, and states that ECW was a “party” – they’d work together but also “get high” together. The deal was struck because Heyman wanted to expand ECW to the West Coast. Per David Marquez, who was the producer and director of the XPW TV show, once ECW secured a network deal, Heyman decided that he no longer needed Rob for his ambition and went back on the deal. This is apparently what led to XPW; its core aim was to force ECW to remain in its corner on the East Coast. Joey Muñoz, who worked for XPW as Kaos, was offered a job at XPW and upon hearing of its nature, he asked “so what is it, porn or wrestling?”
Bizarre Setting
Jessica Darlin says here that she was – as a porn star who worked with Rob – told she had to go to XPW to work as a valet. She then explains that, during the XPW shows, whilst the cameras were shooting the show in the ring, backstage there would be workers and porn stars engaging in sexual activities throughout the shows. Sylvia Muñoz, another worker at XPW, states that “it was more of a turn on to see someone fully clothed”, such was the regularity of naked performers backstage. Joey Muñoz chimes in by claiming that he once walked in on a room backstage to find a porn star eating chicken whilst urinating on another – with another person filming. Mike Hartsfield, a producer for XPW, says that in order to get paid, he had to shoot porn, too. David Marquez supports this claim – acknowledging the disgust of being an Emmy Award winning director shooting porn at a wrestling show.
Hardcore Wrestling
A few clips are shown which display some of the more hardcore wrestling bumps some of the workers were taking. Workers were throwing each other off increasingly high scaffolds and through waiting tables, twenty-to-thirty feet below. Luke Hawx references some of his more wild stunts; including a 450 splash off of a balcony, through a table covered in thumbtacks. Much like in the FMW episode, it was a case of “what crazy stunt can we do next” – with each bump more dangerous than the last.
ECW Invasion (not that one)
Because of the rise of XPW, ECW eventually did a show in California – to “shut them up”. Joey Muñoz references the “mafioso” style personality of Rob Black; he could make you “want to die for him” and therefore, with ECW coming to their territory, they were going to respond by having XPW wrestlers attend an ECW show in the live audience. Muñoz, sat in the front row with his XPW comrades, turns to the hard camera and does the “X” symbol for XPW, which then leads to security swarming them. ECW responded by attacking some of the XPW ring crew in attendance; with New Jack admitting to relishing from “whacking” one of them with a crutch.
XPW Attracts Bigger Names
“ECW on steroids” is what XPW is referred to here. Sabu, Terry Funk and more all end up making appearances in XPW – New Jack too. New Jack admits to once driving a forklift around the XPW porn warehouse, collecting “thousands” of DVDs. The growing XPW success, combined with its pornographic elements, played a part in the company being able to acquire some of the bigger ECW names.
Luke Hawx and the Chair Shots
Luke Hawx then talks about a situation which arose from an incident where he put his hand up to protect himself against a chair shot. Rob Black hated this; believing that it diminished XPW’s hardcore reputation. Hawx was then punished by being tied up in the ring – in a manner described as being like a “crucifixion” – and was then forced to repeatedly take a number of hard chair shots to the head, which he shows has left a permanent indenture in his head – as well as leading to him feeling “miserable”, “sick” and “heavily concussed” on that day. This, so far, is one of the more despicable actions of Black as the lasting damage on Hawx could be potentially very serious. It will only get worse. Additionally, William Welch – who worked in XPW as “The Messiah” and was referred to as “Mr. XPW” – states that this led to him attempting to quit the company, but in a meeting with Black, Black claimed that if William quits then he, too, would quit – meaning all of the workers, staff and crew would be out of a job because of Welch. He was essentially blackmailed into remaining.
The “Relationship”
Rob’s wife, Lizzie Borden, had become increasingly frustrated by his childish treatment of her and the constant rumors she had to endure regarding his sexual escapades and because of this, she began growing close to “The Messiah” William Welch and eventually, rumors began to circulate through the XPW locker room. Welch then admits to “hooking up” with Lizzie and because of this, Black “wanted to kill him”. Narrator Chris Jericho then acknowledges that “The Messiah was exiled from the company” after Black and Borden made amends and continued their relationship. Bizarrely, Welch was written off of TV with a poor animation of his character ascending to heaven.
The New Jack Incident
New Jack faces Vic Grimes in a scaffolding match. Unbeknownst to everyone in the company, New Jack was planning revenge for a fractured skull suffered in a previous match at the hands of Grimes. Shockingly, and most disgustingly, there wasn’t insurance for this event and the disaster to come. Grimes was stun-gunned by Jack and thrown off the scaffolding – which looks every bit of 30 feet – and hit two tables and the ring ropes. Had he been slightly more over the ropes upon landing, he would have crashed to his death on the concrete floor. This scene really demonstrates the maniacal nature of the company. Jack states that, once he had done this big show with Grimes and secured his revenge, he felt “mission accomplished” and left.
The Messiah Incident
Lots of incidents in this episode. Because of Welch’s later acknowledgement of his affair with Lizzie – which he admitted to doing in a promo, as he knew Black would see it – he would later be “visited” by two men, who came to attack him in his own home. In a struggle between Welch and the two men, they pinned him down; wrapped a set of clippers around his thumb and cut the entire thumb off of his hand. They then proceeded to attempt the same move on his other hand, which he had wrapped tight into a fist so that they couldn’t. They then smashed his fish tank over his head. After he tried to escape, they then grounded and pounded him in the face. He got one in an arm bar and then tried to escape, but the two men escaped instead and Welch passed out, whilst trying to find his severed thumb. Many of the XPW team, who had maintained friendships with Welch, acknowledge here that they believe Black was behind this despicable crime but that they had no proof. Rob Black was approached by Dark Side to comment on this particular incident, but never returned their call.
Pushing Boundaries
Whereas Black could never be charged for the “Messiah Incident” because of insufficient evidence, he began drawing negative attention to himself for his increasingly boundary-pushing porn. He and Lizzie had bragged about shooting a porn video where a barely legal woman is kidnapped; forced to sexually perform against her will and is then “butchered” at the conclusion of the video. Rob ended up defending himself on Nightline after his videos began drawing the interest of John Ashcroft – then Attorney General of the United States – and the US government, who were seeking to crackdown on these kind of extreme videos. He was eventually raided. Black and Lizzie then faced up to 50 years in prison after being charged with conspiracy to distribute obscene materials – bringing XPW to a premature end. They only got jail for a year and a day, but the damage was enough to serve lasting damage. After serving time, Black would leave professional wrestling behind and his relationship with Lizzie fell apart.
Conclusion
All interviewed in the episode admit to regretting nothing about their time in XPW. Many developed relationships; some got married and New Jack got to throw a wrestler off a scaffold, which he sounded very happy about. Even Messiah regrets nothing, as it ultimately led to him meeting his wife and having his two daughters. Not much is said of Lizzie, but Black ended up selling burgers out of a van – in his former line of work, this would be deemed a “happy ending” for most involved. Next week, we will run down the final episode of the season – the WWF steroid trials. It’s going to be good.
More From LWOS Pro Wrestling
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. Catch Dark Side of the Ring on VICE, with new episodes airing each Thursday at 9 PM EST.
