SAN ANTONIO – Days after it was featured in a KSAT Explains on professional wrestling in San Antonio, the city shut down a backyard wrestling venue on the South Side.
“It was like a kick in the gut,” said David Campos, Jr. “It really caused my PTSD to act up.”
Campos, whose story was featured on KSAT on April 18, is an Army veteran who served as a combat medic in Iraq.
He runs the local wrestling promotion United 210 and The Yard, which is a wrestling venue in the backyard of a home on the 1000 block of McCauley Boulevard.
One Friday a month, for nine months out of the year, The Yard hosts wrestling matches with a crowd of 250 to 300, on average.
Professional wrestlers from as far away as Japan have come to The Yard to step inside the squared circle.
Crowds pack the backyard with their own coolers, accompanied by a rotation of food trucks that park in an empty lot next to The Yard.
Campos’ team helps park cars, many of which he says are stationed in a lot at a nearby church.
In the initial story, Campos told KSAT that he returned home from his deployment to “total darkness” and that professional wrestling gave him his life back.
Campos is also a wrestler himself who goes by the name StudStache.
“I really think professional wrestling saved my life and the community of the South Side saved my life,” he said.
Exactly one week after the KSAT story aired, a notice of violation from the city was taped to the front gate at The Yard.
The city says Campos cannot operate a commercial venue on a property with a residential zoning designation. The Yard had been operating for three years prior without any complaints the city was aware of.
Campos said he’s previously gone door to door asking several of his neighbors if they were OK with the shows at The Yard.
“The complaint is ‘oh, they ran out of the pizza’ or ‘they ran out of burgers,” Campos said. “That’s the complaint.”
He did say someone parked in front of a neighbor’s driveway during the last match before The Yard was shuttered.
District 3 Councilwoman Phyllis Viagran, whose district includes McCauley Boulevard, said her office received complaints four days before the initial KSAT story aired.
“We got calls from citizens in that area, concerns about the wrestling,” said Viagran. “Your piece hadn’t come up. So this was April 14.”
Viagran says the anonymous complaints were about port-a-potties, traffic and street parking during wrestling matches at The Yard. The Bexar County Precinct 1 Constable’s Office received the initial complaint about The Yard, according to Viagran, which she says was forwarded to the District 3 City Council office.
The constable’s office told KSAT multiple times that they did not know about the complaint.
“It’s great if the neighbors were supportive, and I’m glad that they were, but I can’t have a technically urban entertainment area within a residential area,” said Viagran.
The city says Campos can apply to rezone the backyard of the home on McCauley to a commercial zone. The fee to apply for the rezoning is $1,621.80.
Before it was shut down, Campos used the empty lot next to the backyard for port-a-potties, food trucks, and parking for attendees who were unable to walk far distances.
“Ever since I was little, it’s always been open like this,” Campos said about the lot.
According to the city, the property was once a street called Nock Avenue.
For Campos to continue using it at all, the city says he would need to lease or buy the property. The application to purchase it from the city requires a $1300 non-refundable fee.
But that’s not the sale price.
Campos would then have to pay the “fair market value” of the lot, which has to be determined.
“Neighbors can voice support or concern, but eventually city council will decide if it’s appropriate or not,” said Michael Shannon, director of the city’s development services, which includes Code Compliance.
Shannon says the rezoning process could take two to three months to reach a decision. Campos, also known as StudStache, and his team, who run The Yard say they will find a way forward.
On May 16, Hybrid School of Wrestling is holding a benefit match in which all proceeds will go to help The Yard pay the fees needed to file the city applications.
“I’m actually glad that this happened because it opened up our eyes to get smarter to where we can’t be shut down next time,” said Campos. “We’re not gonna go anywhere.”
Read also
Copyright 2025 by KSAT – All rights reserved.
