Summer wrestling party takes over Muscle Beach
VENICE BEACH Windward Plaza is about to be injected with a major shot of testosterone.
There will be plenty of body slams and trash talk to go around today as World Wrestling Entertainment throws a summer party in Venice Beach, upstaging the area’s trademark bohemian and quirky street performances for at least one day.
“The Biggest Party of the Summer” events are being held nationwide to promote the SummerSlam wrestling match on Aug. 26 between Randy Orton and John Cena, the defending heavy weight champion. The match will be held at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
The centerpieces of today’s six-hour event are three professional wrestling match-ups. With his signature “money shot” move, Venis made his wrestling debut in 1998 and is set to face 23-year-old Shawn Daivari, who began training to be a professional wrestler at the age of 15.
Also featured is a match-up between Los Angeles resident Chris Masters, who spent more than two years undefeated in the Master Lock Challenges, and Chuck Palumbo, a curly-haired World Tag Team champion. Masters’ signature move is the master lock.
The matches conclude with a fight between Chavo Guerrero, a Cruiserweight champion, and Jimmy Wang Yang, a wrestler known for wearing cowboy outfits.
The event will be hosted by WWE Hall of Famer Jimmy Hart, the legendary professional wrestling manager responsible for the careers of Greg “The Hammer” Valentine and the Honky Tonk Man.
Hart broke into the wrestling world in 1985, labeled throughout his managing career as the master of champions and the “Mouth of the South,” always carried a megaphone in one hand.
A similar WWE summer party held at the Wildwood Convention Center in New Jersey on Aug. 10 drew record crowds to the arena.
The three matches in Venice will be accompanied with smaller wrestling theme activities, including a strength machine for fans to test whether they’re strong enough to drop a hammer on a ring bell; a dunk tank featuring Hart; photo ops with WWE models; and air brushed WWE logo tattoos. “(Fans) can expect good old fashion (WWE) that they can usually expect at a WWE event,” said Jason Tufeld with BWR Public Relations, which is promoting the summer party.
“The Biggest Party of the Summer” will be held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 18, 2007. Read the original PDF.