Pro wrestling returning to Butler
BUTLER TWP — Unchained Brandon Day, Gorgeous Gregory, Super Oprah, Beastman, Masked Medicos ... All will be invading Butler next month.
Pro wrestling is coming back to town after more than a 10-year absence.
Dan Polinsky, promoter of a new company, Pros of Wrestling (formerly FNW) is putting a seven-bout show together for 7:30 p.m. Feb. 24 at the Tesla Center Crystal Ballroom, formerly the Days Inn.
“We’ve done some shows in the Pittsburgh area and I’d run into people from Butler asking when we’d be bringing a show there,” Polinsky said.
“This is something I really wanted to get done.”
Polinsky has family members in the wrestling business. One son is a former pro wrestler, since retired because of injuries, who now goes by the name Corey Graves and is the color commentator on WWE’s Smackdown show each Friday.
He is married to WWE female wrestler Carmella.
Another son has done a lot of wrestling in Mexico and has worked with W.O.W. (Women of Wrestling) in California.
“Even though I have a son in WWE, we can’t reach out and grab a couple of their wrestlers for our shows,” Polinsky emphasized. “Contractual ties prevent that. We depend on securing independent wrestlers and there’s a lot of them out there.
“We work very hard to bring in the best.”
Demarcus Kane, the Maryland Championship Wrestling heavyweight champion, will be on this card. The Masked Medicos are a tag team from Toronto, Ontario. Unchained Brandon Day has wrestled for the NWA.
A women’s triple-threat match features Laura Loveless, Gina DeLucia and Zoey Skye. DeLucia is a Mars resident recently released by WWE after a year.
“They merged with another company and some of the wrestlers had to go. Unfortunately, I got caught up in that,” DeLucia said.
She lived in Florida over the past year to learn the pro wrestling craft at the WWE Training Center. She still goes back to Florida from time to time for more professional training.
Besides working out on her own, DeLucia gets in-ring practice done in Pittsburgh and has already wrestled a couple of matches on the independent circuit.
“I was looking through a data base of independent wrestlers, found Gina and reached out to her,” Polinsky said. “She was more than willing to come on board.
“I’m very excited about this,” DeLucia said. “This is the first time I’ll be wrestling this close to home. A lot of my family and friends will be there.
“This is my first triple-threat match, so that will be a little different. But I love this business. I still want to do it fulltime and haven’t given up hope of returning to WWE.”
Polinsky said he’s planning on three other pro wrestling shows at the Tesla Center this year. The next one is tentatively scheduled for May.
DeLucia plans to be a part of those shows as well.
“It’s been a long time since we were here,” Polinsky said. “I moved to Florida for seven years or so and came back. I’m anxious to reconnect with wrestling fans around Butler.”
Polinsky graduated from West Mifflin High School. His sons graduated from Gateway.
“I’m a Pittsburgh guy. Our shows are family friendly. Kids are welcome,” Polinsky said. “I’m anxious to see what this (Feb. 24) show could turn into in this area.”
