How Pullman Park and Pros of Wrestling came together for upcoming Ballpark Battle Ground
It’ll be something familiar, just in a new locale.
Pullman Park will host Pros of Wrestling’s Ballpark Battle Ground on Aug. 24, marking the first time the historic stadium holds such an event.
“It’s wrestling in a venue you’ve probably never seen before,” said John Morgan, a member of Pullman Park’s board of directors. “It doesn’t happen in baseball stadiums.”
Pros of Wrestling holds professional wrestling shows in the region and recently made its return to Butler with a pair of shows in the Tesla Wellness Hotel and Medbed Center ballroom. That venue sits 250 people, a fraction of Pullman Park’s capacity of 1,200.
Pros of Wrestling owner and licensed promoter Dan Polinsky feels the ambiance of the ballpark will add to the excitement.
“The atmosphere in a pro wrestling show outside, it kind of takes (on) the best of both worlds,” Polinsky said. “It takes the aura and the feeling of the baseball park experience and combines it with the wrestling experience.
“When you take both of the sports — you take baseball and you take wrestling — and you put them together like that in one location, it’s a win-win situation.”
The capacity could make for one of Pros of Wrestling’s largest shows, Morgan said.
“(If) baseball doesn’t pay the bills at the stadium, you’ve got to find new and interesting events,” Morgan said. “I grew up watching wrestling. ... It was kind of happenstance. We were looking for something, they were looking for something (and) we ended up in the same place.”
One corner of the ring will sit atop home plate, and the wrestlers will enter through the dugouts. The family friendly event will have around 50 ringside seats, as well.
“We’re working out the logistics,” Polinsky said. “That’s going to be kind of a neat thing, the way we do this. ... It’s going to be really what you see on television every week.”
The card will feature eight matches and will include Mexican luchadores, who will provide a change of pace that’s sure to entertain the audience.
“They do a totally different style of professional wrestling,” Polinsky said. “They’re high flyers. You’d almost think they’re like acrobats.”
The gates open at 5:30 p.m., a meet and greet will be held with the wrestlers at 6:30 and the matches begin at 7:30. General admission seats are $20, lower-level seats are $25 and ringside seats are $35.
