Guest Sassquatch Report post Posted September 22, 2002 From Bob Barnett. Sept. 17, 2002-- Student Dies of Injuries Suffered in Wrestling "Boot Camp" When Pitted Against Massive Sparring Partner The San Francisco law firm of Hersh & Hersh (www.hershlaw.com) filed a complaint at the Superior Court of California in Alameda County against Roland Alexander, founder of All Pro Wrestling (www.allprowrestling.com) and Pacific Coast Sports Promotion companies. The complaint was made on behalf of the parents of Brian Ong of Berkeley, California who died as a result of injuries suffered during All Pro Wrestling's "Boot Camp" training. Headquartered in Hayward, California, Alexander's company bills itself as the number one wrestling school in America and markets wrestling "Boot Camps" to amateurs as a chance to "Live Your Dream" as a professional wrestler by providing wrestling training camps, career counseling and talent agency services to wrestling amateurs at fees of $6,000 or more. Mr. Ong, age 24, enrolled in All Pro Wrestling's Hayward, CA Boot Camp and was fatally injured as a result of being thrown to the ground in a practice wrestling maneuver. According to the complaint, Mr. Ong suffered a concussion during a practice session and instead of being advised to seek medical attention and take time off from his training to fully recover, he was given a lower evaluation for not avoiding injuries and was told to continue practicing and performing. The complaint goes on to state that Mr. Ong, at 5 feet, 7 inches and 185 pounds, was subsequently pitted against a sparring partner more than twice his size and that the enormous disparity in size between Mr. Ong and his opponent, a massive 7 feet, 3 inches and weighing 400 pounds, increased the risk of harm to Mr. Ong. He was thrown twice off his sparring partner's shoulders, lost consciousness when his head hit the floor and died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. All Pro Wrestling did not provide Mr. Ong with any protective gear or any supervision by APW staff, and the floor mats provided were not adequate to cushion the impact of such maneuvers. "All Pro Wrestling lures wrestling `wanna be's' with the promise of fame and fortune on the exhibition wrestling circuit," stated Nancy Hersh, partner of Hersh & Hersh. "Legitimate wrestling organizations would never pair-up sparring partners from weight classes at such opposite ends of the spectrum. Tragically for Mr. Ong's family, they lost their son as a result of All Pro Wrestling's negligence and deceit." The complaint, seeking damages and requesting a jury trial for injuries causing death and for fraudulent contract charges, will proceed to trial within the near future. About Hersh & Hersh: Hersh & Hersh is a San Francisco-based law firm dedicated to protecting the safety and rights of consumers. The law firm represents clients both on an individual level and in class and multi-district litigation, and has pursued and won a wide range of civil suits, from product liability, medical malpractice and insurance bad faith to sexual harassment and employee discrimination. For the past 32 years, Hersh & Hersh has been committed to using the law to protect individuals by making sure companies exercise due diligence in manufacturing their products and operate in good faith in delivering their services. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LaParkaYourCar 0 Report post Posted September 22, 2002 Damn...remind me to not go to APW if I ever train to be a wrestler. Why the hell were they having a 7'3" man throw a 5'7" guy to the floor head first anyway? My only complaint is that the lawyers keep talking like APW is a scam even though many of their graduates have gone on to the WWE or other feds. But that doesn't excuse the fact that our good old buddy from Beyond the Mat Roland Alexander decided that the kid didn't need to go to a doctor. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest The Czech Republic Report post Posted September 23, 2002 I thought their biggest success was Michael Modest, and that everyone comes from *U*PW, not APW Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest ShooterJay Report post Posted September 23, 2002 Spike Dudley also came from APW. BTW, the guy who gave Ong his fatal injury was Giant Singh. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Retro Rob Report post Posted September 23, 2002 I don't remember Spike mentioning APW in his Before They Were SuperStar's segment. As far as I know, he wrestled on the east coast and in ECW. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Phoenix Fury Legdrop Report post Posted September 24, 2002 Spike was trained in APW, and I think his first match that they showed on BTWS was from NoCal. As for Rolo The Carnie, NONE of his students have had anything positive to say about him since leaving the school, that includes Spike, Modest, Morgan, etc. Isn't American Dragon head trainer at the APW school now? It's a little shady that he'd let this happen. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Sassquatch Report post Posted September 24, 2002 A couple points: - The trainer last summer when Ong died was either Mike Modest or Donovan Morgan. - American Dragon announced that he would be leaving APW earlier this month that he would be working with Zero-One and New Japan. American Dragon became the trainer of APW in the beginning of 2002 while the Ong death occurred in June of 2001. AM has nothing to worry about because he was not in APW when the death happened and can go on with his career. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest NoCalMike Report post Posted September 25, 2002 Crash Holly is from APW I think. Wasn't he Erin O' Grady? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest DragonflyKid Report post Posted September 25, 2002 Spike Dudley, Crash Holly, Blitzkrieg, Michael Modest, Chris Daniels, Donovan Morgan and Vic Grimes are all listed as being trained at the APW boot camp. Holly graduated in '96. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Sassquatch Report post Posted September 25, 2002 Spike Dudley did wrestle for APW from 1994 to the fall of 1996. He sent in a video of himself to ECW's Paul E. Heyman and Paul hired Spike who made his debut on October 7, 1996 for ECW. O'Grady is famous for his match in the summer of 1997 APW with Vic Grimes. The two brawled up and down the street, using everything in sight. The highlight of the match though was the "Car Shot Heard 'Round The World" when O'Grady hit Grimes with a car. After a short stay in ECW, O'Grady returned to APW and immediately received a WWF tryout. That match between O'Grady and Grimes in a dark match was the show stealer of the WWF the night they were in California and the WWF officials considered it one of the best tryout matches since Chris Benoit's in the WWF back in 1995. Shortly thereafter, O'Grady and Grimes were offered developmental contracts to train with the WWF. It would be two years before either man was brought up to wrestle on a televised WWF show. O'Grady was given the gimmick of being Bob "Hardcore" Holly's cousin/brother and Vic Grimes was given the gimmick of a Cuban drug dealer who was supposed to have a feud with the Godfather for control of the WWF's "shady dealing's." Grimes was being reported as a troublemaker and a slob in the ring and out of it as well. His attitude did not make him any friends in the WWF and he was released from his developmental deal and soon after he joined Paul E. Heyman in ECW until it folded in January of 2001. Grimes currently wrestles for the Los Angeles based XPW on a regular basis and is one of their top stars. O'Grady continues to wrestle as Crash Holly in the WWE and languishes in Jobber Hell. Other APW luminaries include: Mike Modest Donovan Morgan Bison Smith Vic Grimes Erin O'Grady (Crash Holly) Spike Dudley Blitzkrieg Christopher Daniels Maxx Justice Tony Jones Tommy Drake Vinny Massaro Ric Thompson Doc Shultz Robert Thompson Boom Boom Comini Jay Smooth Steve Rizzono Jason Clay Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
