Extreme Rising cancels all upcoming events

Philadelphia based wrestling outfit Extreme Rising has canceled all upcoming events, the promotion announced via a statement Tuesday.

Extreme Rising had shows scheduled for April 25 and April 26 in Philadelphia and May 3 in Pittsburgh, but now none of those shows will happen.

Along with canceling its upcoming shows, Extreme Rising has deleted all of its social media accounts, including the personal Facebook of its promoter Steve O'Neill.

O'Neill released a statement to PWInsider.com regarding the matter, which reads as follows:

All Extreme Rising live events for Philadelphia and Pittsburgh Friday, April 25, Saturday, April 26 and May 3 are all canceled.

For full refunds please contact your credit card company or bank directly, or story purchased at.

As of today, there has been no official announcement on the status of the promotion moving forward.

The promotion began in 2012 amid much fan fare, but ran into a myriad of problems in the spring of 2013, which caused it to take a lengthy hiatus. O'Neill took it upon himself to resurrect the company and had it come back with a big show Dec. 28 at the 2300 Arena, formerly known as the ECW, Arena in South Philadelphia.

But things soon began to unravel for the promotion from there. O'Neill had lined up a television deal with WACP Channel 4 Philadelphia, but the show never came into fruition. Despite that set back, Extreme Rising still had a show lined up for Feb. 8 in Pittsburgh, but the show was pushed back to May 3 due to poor weather conditions.

The next scheduled show for the promotion was March 1 in Philadelphia, but that show was pushed back to April 25 because the 2300 Arena could not schedule a proper inspection with the city in time for the show.

The reason for the upcoming shows being canceled has not been announced. Attempts to reach O'Neill have been unsuccessful thus far.

However, Justin LaBar of Bleacher Report and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has an idea of the future of the promotion.

Philly.com can confirm that the Masked Mania show scheduled for Sunday, April 27 at the 2300 Arena will go on as planned.

Philadelphia wrestler and Extreme Rising talent The Blue Meanie expressed his thoughts on the Extreme Rising situation via his Facebook page:

The Extreme Rising situation sucks for the fans who want to have a promotion to follow and believe in. It sucks for the wrestlers who wanted to have another place to learn and apply their trade. It sucks for me because I was Extreme Rising's biggest proponent. I promoted them a lot locally. A lot of fans asked me online and on the street if these shows were happening to which I gave my assurances too. I put my name on the line for these events. For that I apologize.

I'm not saying what Steve O'Neill did was right nor wrong because I'm only hearing things now. Everything he promised me pay wise worked out and he kept his business word to me pay wise. I can also relate to the promoting end of what he went through because I went through similar things with 3PW. Promoting sucks and I don't miss the headache, the behind the scenes in ANY aspect of it. I loved the actual product of 3PW, but what it takes to put on a show is a pain in the balls.

So to that I can sympathize, BUT most importantly the fans are STILL owed an answer and more. The wrestlers are STILL owed an answer and more. Hopefully, they ALL get one soon. If anything, PLEASE support Kevin Kleinrock and his Lucha show 'Masked Mania LIVE' this Sunday.

Philly.com will provide an update as soon as more information about Extreme Rising becomes available.