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Two decades in the backyard
From a kid taking fights at his bedroom window to a title defense in Times Square: how the EWA came to be.
You see a lot of these kids on YouTube, they throw a mattress on the grass and they screw around, they get hurt. For us, for me, it was always about so much more.Joey Pinto, founder of the EWA
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What is backyard wrestling?
The craft, without the school
Professional wrestling is a tradition born in the American circus, where strongmen challenged the crowds who came to see feats of strength and Greco-Roman bouts.
Backyard wrestlers practice the same craft: part athletic competition, part performance, usually in front of a live audience. The technique comes from amateur wrestling, and the stories are scripted with elements of theater, improv and production. What they usually don’t have is formal training at a wrestling school. Instead, they bring a do-it-yourself spirit to a ring that can be anywhere: a backyard, a field, a park, a skate park, under a bridge, a high school locker room, even a trampoline.
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The 1990s · Pinto’s Wrestling Federation
Backyard battles begin
Joey “Hollywood” Pinto was a huge wrestling fan who was always looking for a fight. As his reputation grew, so did the challengers, and schoolyard jockeying turned into knock-down, drag-out brawls that ended only with an “I quit.”
People started showing up at Joey’s bedroom window to challenge him, and spectators started betting. Hollywood was the safe bet. At 16 he met BlockBuster Dave and Big Daddy Kutz, and together they built the first ring: Pinto’s Wrestling Federation, the PWF.
In the beginning the matches were real, and the more dominant you were, the more say you had. The group formed its own version of the NWO, and Joey won his first PWF title in a ladder match by jumping off a two-story fire escape into the ring. As the leader, he was officially dubbed Hollywood Pinto, after the NWO and his childhood hero, Hulk Hogan.
Freshman year, a handful of wrestling-crazed seniors showed up to challenge the group. It was real, and by the end Hollywood and his crew had earned their respect.
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The late 1990s · West Harrison
From PWF to EWA
The original ring came down and a new one went up in the woods of West Harrison, out of the way and unseen. An entrance was built, weapons were collected, and the roster tripled. The PWF launched Tuesday Night Terror.
This was the era of the Monday Night Wars, when wrestling was at the peak of its mainstream popularity. Within weeks of breaking in the new ring, Hollywood and his crew renamed their empire the Extreme Wrestling Alliance, in honor of ECW and its violent brand of wrestling, which shaped the original years of the EWA.
The EWA Originals
- Orange Marmalade
- Big Daddy Dangerous
- The Real Deal Keith, Jr.
- Hardcore Tom
- Will the Thrill Kingston
- The Golden Nugget
- The Red Rider
- The Red Bull
- Road Tour
- BlockBuster Dave
- Big Daddy Kutz
- Commissioner Bro
- The Real Miss Elizabeth
- Ivy
- Rosalind
- King Bizz
- Dave the Shave Chandra
- The Hardcore Addict Snatch
- Johnny Heartbreaker
- Slasher
- Stone Cold Steve Pinto
- Hollywood Pinto
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2008 · Tuesday Night Takedown
Reborn
The first four seasons of the YouTube series Tuesday Night Takedown carried the old EWA into the new one. The Season 1 opener said goodbye to BlockBuster Dave, and before long Big Daddy Kutz finally got his rematch and won the title.
As the roster grew, the EWA moved to a private location in upstate New York with a bigger, better ring. New talent like Jim Lyon, The ProPHET, Gregdust, The Dark Outsider, The Punisher, Chaos, The French Wonder, Pier, El Gordito and The Cobra ushered in a new era. The Originals evolved too: Road Tour became Claudio Cacciatore, Stone Cold Steve became The Punisher, Big Daddy Kutz became Christopher Anthony, and Hollywood Pinto reinvented himself.
Big Daddy Kutz 
Stone Cold Steven Pinto 
TrippShade 
WadeShade -
2012 to now · Pintoville, USA
Upstate uprising
The next chapter brought the EWA to a new ring in Pintoville, USA, and it started with a new arrival: The Zeitgeist. The era also gave rise to the Stunad Squad: The French Wonder, Claudio Cacciatore and the Golden Nugget.
Home ring, backyard edition Hollywood took a bigger founder role on screen, and behind it he produced, wrote and edited almost every episode. Commentary became a huge part of the show, storylines grew, and every year brought more talent, from Gangster Crayons to Frank Freedom, the Black Crayon, Loco Neon, El Maestro, Hateful Intentions and many more.
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Old vs. new
A power struggle
The Originals and the next generation turned on each other, all there for the same reason: they loved doing it. Elvis Pinto (Joe Pinto, Sr.) took over as owner, Thotus Cash became commissioner, and Hollywood tried to hold it together behind the scenes.
Originals and the new era, one crew Around the end of Season 7, Hollywood set a goal: 100 episodes and an epic final show he called PintoPalooza. The rivalry between The Zeitgeist and Hollywood took off and changed the face of the EWA.
EWA Champions
- Hollywood Pinto
- The Punisher
- Jim Lyon
- Claudio Cacciatore
- Chaos
- Golden Nugget
- The French Wonder
- The Zeitgeist
- Big Daddy Kutz
- Snatch
- BlockBuster Dave
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Season 9 · The final season
Out with a bang
The ninth and final season began with Hollywood Pinto winning Battlemania 3. He set out to defend the title one last time against every mainstream opponent, building to a defense at the Condiment Wars in Times Square, New York.
It’s Hollywood’s vision taken to a height he never imagined: finishing his life’s work in public, at an event bigger than the EWA itself.