Benjamin Ortiz, in his article "Slamnation or Damnnation" for Britannica.com, writes about the early months of PuroSlam. PuroSlam found a new stage and without missing a beat, it was up and running the following week at The Wild Club, a night club on the outskirts of downtown San Antonio. While the crowd at the Re:Verb was enthusiastic and at times rowdy, the mob at the new venue was nothing but rowdy. San Antonio earned its reputation as a tough slam city during the several months it was here as the heckling reached near violent proportions. Audience members routinely approached the stage as poets read, shouting obscenities in their face. While it never reached the boiling point where words turned to fists, the slam organizers had to shake their heads in awe (and fear) at the monster they had created. Despite the antagonistic atmosphere, San Antonians still poured through the doors every Tuesday night. Up to 20 poets a week signed up to compete for the attention of a drunk, loud audience numbering near 100. The competition would last until the wee hours of the morning, sometimes closing down the bar before the last poet read and the final prizes were awarded. Unfortunately, this venue was also not meant to be, as the ownership of the Wild Club found the weekly poetry crowd to be too rowdy for their taste. Once again, PuroSlam had to find a new home. Thanks to the hard work of The Wild Club soundman- San Antonio's infamous Hollis- PuroSlam landed on its feet once again and found a new home on the St. Mary Strip, the same strip where MTV filmed its Halloween Special in the early nineties. Their new home was El Toro, an all ages music venue that saw PuroSlam drawing its biggest crowds yet. The out-of-control berating of the Wild Club disappeared, replaced by a finely tuned heckling that raised the act of verbal dissent to an art form. For months straight, over 100 people came out weekly to watch as many as 22 poets a night compete until as late as 1:30 in the morning. The attendance peak was reached in March 2001 when DJ Jester, The Filipino Fist, held his first CD release party during the slam, cramming 167 people into the smoke filled venue. Again, the owner was not happy with this bristling business and weeks later, she threatened to kick PuroSlam out onto the streets, demanding that they give her a cut of the two dollar entrance fee.