Home Field Advantage



The weather was beautiful in Tampa Bay, though, when is it not? Hell it is 80 degrees, or damn near, all year long. Who wouldn’t love that? Ybor City is an old Mexican/Aztec section of East Tampa. A place known for it’s top notch Spanish cuisine, its night clubs and strip clubs, and it’s over 100 bars. Just a 2.5 mile, 5 minute drive with no traffic from Downtown Tampa, Ybor has become a centerpiece for Tampa nightlife and cultural experience. Chris, having grown up in East Tampa, not too far from Ybor, has come to know this ‘city’ like the back of his hand. Ybor may seem small but it is actually quite large. Many of the ‘downtown’ parts of Ybor are nice, but, like most cities, it has it’s seedy areas. But, Ybor’s seedy areas are very, very seedy.

To really know a place you have to know it’s history. What is Ybor City?

It was founded in the 1880s by Vicente Martinez-Ybor and other cigar manufacturers and was populated by thousands of immigrants, mainly from Cuba, Spain, and Italy. For the next 50 years, workers in Ybor City's cigar factories rolled hundreds of millions of cigars annually.

Ybor City was unique in the American South as a successful town almost entirely populated and owned by immigrants. The neighborhood had features unusual among contemporary communities in the south, most notably its multi-ethnic and multi-racial population and their many mutual aid societies. The cigar industry employed thousands of well-paid workers, helping Tampa grow from an economically depressed village to a bustling city in about 20 years and giving it the nickname "Cigar City".

Ybor City grew and flourished from the 1890s until the Great Depression of the 1930s, when a drop in demand for fine cigars reduced the number of cigar factories and mechanization in the cigar industry greatly reduced employment opportunities in the neighborhood. This process accelerated after World War II, and a steady exodus of residents and businesses continued until large areas of the formerly vibrant neighborhood were virtually abandoned by the late 1970s. Attempts at redevelopment failed until the 1980s, when an influx of artists began a slow process of gentrification. In the 1990s and early 2000s, a portion of the original neighborhood around 7th Avenue developed into a night club and entertainment district, and many old buildings were renovated for new uses. Since then, the area's economy has diversified with more offices and residences, and the population has shown notable growth for the first time in over half a century.

Ybor City has been designated as a National Historic Landmark District, and several structures in the area are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. In 2008, 7th Avenue, the main commercial thoroughfare in Ybor City, was recognized as one of the “10 Great Streets in America” by the American Planning Association. In 2010 Columbia Restaurant was named a "Top 50 All-American icon" by Nation's Restaurant News magazine.

In the early 1980s, an influx of artists seeking interesting and inexpensive studio quarters started a slow recovery, followed by a period of commercial gentrification. By the early 1990s, many of the old long-empty brick buildings on 7th Avenue had been converted into bars, restaurants, nightclubs, and other nightlife attractions. Traffic grew so much that the city built parking garages and closed 7th Ave. to traffic to deal with the visitors.

Since around 2000, the city of Tampa and the Ybor City Chamber of Commerce have encouraged a broader emphasis in development. With financial help from the city, Centro Ybor, a family-oriented shopping complex and movie theater, opened in the former home of the Centro Español social club. New apartments, condominiums and a hotel have been built on long-vacant lots, and old buildings have been restored and converted into residences and hotels. New residents began moving into Ybor City for the first time in many years.

…...Chris walked down the streets of Ybor City, all the sights and sounds so familiar to him. The Mariachi Bands on the street, the Cuban music blaring from windows, the smell of cigar smoke. The area was alive. It was rich. The culture was so thick it could be cut with a knife. Chris walked past the Ybor City Jazz House, where his friend Tony was the General Manager.

“Toooooneeeee” he said, slapping hands with the man and embracing in a hug. “Have you heard the news my dude?”

Tony shook his head. “Nah man, whats the good word?”

“I am going to be fighting here in Tampa this week.”

“Ohh sick….at the Amalie Arena?”

“Nah man. Our boss is cheap. We are at the Sun Dome on the campus of USF.”

“That is your Alma-matre though. That will be cool for you.”

Chris nodded, taking a drink of his Evian water.


“Yeah, but I will not be fighting on the campus. You see, I came to see you today because I will be fighting here in Ybor. A street fight through the streets of Tampa’s entertainment district.”

Tony’s eyes lit up. He knew what Chris was capable of, but he also knew that Chris had a tendency to destroy everything in his path when he has his mind set to it.

“Just don’t bring that shit around here” Tony said, “I just spend an ass load to renovate this place. Last thing I need is your ass destroying it.”

Chris grinned. Taking another sip of water.

“I will go where the match takes me. Tone, I will pay for any potential damages. Even if I end up burning the place down with McBride inside it, I will reimburse you. You know I am good for it.”

Tony nodded. The two shook hands again, and Chris moved on, walking down 7th avenue in Ybor City.




He could see the edge of the bay from here, though it was off in the distance. The Channel District was lit up already with all of their shops.

Ybor City is one of the oldest sections of Tampa and is almost entirely an urban, built-up area. Commercial property comprises almost 50% of the land, institutional use (including the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Operations Center and a satellite campus of Hillsborough Community College) 16%, residential use about 23%, and industrial use about 7%.

According to a 2003 survey, the top five business types in the area were professional services (22.8%), retail (18.4%), manufacturing (14.0%), wholesale/distribution (13.2%), and restaurants & bars (11.4%).

To Chris this was more than just a match in his home city. This was a match to show that nobody on this roster could take him out and nobody on this roster could come into his home town and take him down. Chris Chaos was the Universal Champion and the best professional wrestler in the world today……..and Ybor City would never be the same again because of it.

The chaos……..was coming.



McBride......in any sport you will find, they always make a big deal about having home field advantage. Why do you think that is? It is because playing at home you are more familiar with your surroundings. The locker rooms, the hall ways, hell even the bathrooms. It all feels familiar to you. It gives you a sense of comfort. Not to mention the home town fans. In this business it is similar. Every superstar who has ever laced a pair of boots loves going home. Loves competing in front of their home crowd. Loves to go out there and show the people they grew up with that they actually have made something of themselves.

But the reason I love XWF the way I do is because the booking of the matches is like nothing I have ever seen. How many superstars have a chance to not only compete in their hometown, but compete IN their home town, ya feel me? I know these streets like I know the skin on my hands. I have fought many a time on these streets. I have injured many people on these streets. Last time I saw you, you were laying on your back looking at the lights with dog bites and a blood covered face. Who did that? I did that. You didn't do anything to me, I just decided to cause chaos. Why? Well, for the same reason I broke Jervis Cottonbelly in half......because I can. This is going to be a home coming for me at your expense. You see, I have been lobbying to get Savage in Tampa for some time and now that it is there is zero chance I am going to let my people down. There is zero chance that you of all people are going to come in to the city where I grew up and be the first one to take me out. I am taking names, McBride, and I have a list beginning. You see, since I became champion I have been untouchable. And, unless you count Robbie Bourbon cheating, for some time before that as well. You may scare a normal Savage roster member, but you do not scare me. You never have, and you never will. You can get crazy, you can get extreme, but you have no idea what you are stepping into. I have a chance not just to beat you but to actually BEAT you, in a literal sense, with the same building blocks that built me. Think of how beautiful that is.

So when we fight through the bars, through the clubs, through the back alleys, I have the advantage. I know the nooks and the crannys. I know the hidden spots. Many people think that now I live on Clearwater Beach that perhaps I lost my touch. I have lived in Clearwater a short time. I grew up in Tampa. Ybor City is the essence of Tampa. So therefore, it is the essence of chaos. It would be the same if you were fighting in your home. I would be the underdog. But we are not. I am the prodigal son of the Bay Area, I am the top athlete to come out of there in a very long time. The Bucs and Rays suck, the Lightening are okay, and the city doesn't have a basketball team. I am their golden hope. The gold I wear around my waist is the pride and joy of the bay area. Since the Bucs won the Super Bowl in 2003, and the Lightening won the Stanley Cup in 2004, Tampa hasn't had a championship. Not until me. I will not let this city down. The more you beat me, the better I will feel. I want you to hit me, McBride. I want you to hurt me. I want to taste my own blood. It fuels me. It drives me. I want to feel pain. Because I love pain. I love to dish it and to feel it. The more I feel, the more I dish. So be prepared for pain, McBride. Be prepared for an ass kicking that only Tampa can deliver. Be ready for an ass kicking that only Tampa's prodigy can deliver. I am doing this not for me, not for you, not for "Vincent", but I am doing this for the city. I am doing this for the people of Tampa. I am doing this for the pride of the Bay City.

So be prepared for a beating like never before......be prepared..........

oh yesssssssssssssss..........beeeee prepared.......


to be Equalized."


Chris blows a kiss to the camera as the sun fades over Tampa Bay.



XWF RECORD: 19-3-2
XWF UNIVERSAL CHAMPION 1x (Current)