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News Champ wants to make San Diego a wrestling mecca By David Moye February 13, 2006 San Diego--Everybody should have a dream and for an Oceanside man, it’s turning this county into a world-class mecca for pro wrestling. Mike Rapada is the man and muscle behind the Southwestern Alliance of Wrestling (SAW), a new pro wrestling troupe that is focused on San Diego County and family friendly fighting. “I’ve been watching pro wrestling since I was 12,” says the 41-year-old grappler. “It was an art back then. They weren’t just throwing each other into tables. There was only occasionally a chair or a chain or some blood. You felt safe.” These days, Rapada feels the World Wrestling Entertainment side of the sport “is a total trash act.” As he puts it, “Just when you think they’ve gotten as vulgar as they can, they do something worse the next week.”Rapada is hoping to change things with SAW, which he says is PG-rated entertainment the whole family can watch, “from Grandma to four-year-old story because there’s a moral story. A bad guy and a good guy.”
Now he sees SAW as a regional act but doesn’t mind because he’ll have the chance to sleep at home every night rather than traveling from city to city. He also sees it as a personal mission to save pro wrestling from Vince McMahon. “The amount of wrestling has decreased as the extreme behavior has risen but I’m here to prove we don’t have to it that way.” Rapada currently has 20 wrestlers in the fold, with different backgrounds and weight classes. He admits the crew isn’t “in great shape but they know how to work and to entertain. It’s a comic act and I’m one of the biggest goofs around.” Besides managing the enterprise, Rapada is planting himself as the biggest villain around. “I stir things up in order to aggravate my wrestlers so that one day they’ll take me to the limit. I want to be the biggest and the baddest so my guys will know how to do it.” Still, there is a limit to the villainy since Rapada sees SAW as a PG act and is planning to get schools to use it as a fundraiser. Plus, he adds, “When kids start mimicking my wrestlers at school, I don’t want them to get in trouble.” SAW will be holding the first ever “Belmont Park Heavyweight Championship” on Feb. 18 at Belmont Park. In addition, the group will be holding weekly matches at 2420 Industry Street in Oceanside starting Feb. 19 and every Saturday after that. For more information, check out www.sawprowrestling.com. -------------------- David Moye is a fifth generation resident of San Diego county and has the same birthday as Reggie Bush--but none of the athletic ability. Suggested Vyuz reading... What it's like to be straight in Hillcrest | By Leopard J. Ferry San Diego Mayor talks corruption and the Strong Mayor form of government | By Larry Knowles Steve York, UCSD pornographer, chooses law over porn | By Larry Knowles The bare facts about Brazilian waxing | By Romina Cleary A look inside Imperial Beach border patrol | By Larry Knowles A serial networker walks among us | By April Labine-Katko |
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