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LAS VEGAS – Las Vegas will transform into a paradise for pro wrestling fans for a few days, with WrestleMania 42 being the main course for most of the people who will be flying into town from all over the world.
WWE will share the spotlight.
Dozens of pro wrestling businesses will be featured throughout the week at various venues across the city. Imagine if every college football conference hosted its championship game every day from Wednesday through Sunday with the NFL’s Super Bowl at the end. It’s that same feeling that will envelop pro wrestling fans throughout the week.
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A West Coast Pro wrestling show takes place outside the Chase Center in San Francisco. (West Coast Pro)
West Coast Pro will be one of the promotions hosting a show with multiple wrestlers on its roster also participating in multiple matches for other companies.
In a sea of independent shows, West Coast Pro owner Scott Bregante told Pakinomist Digital that his promotion gives fans a chance to see the sport in its purest form.
“I think what sets West Coast Pro apart is that we have an identity of like, we’re very proud to be from the Bay Area. We’re very proud to still show pro wrestling for what pro wrestling is and not what it could be,” he explained. “I think a lot of people want to come in and reinvent the wheel. I think wrestling is beautiful in its rawest form, and that’s telling stories, spotlighting up-and-coming people, getting people emotionally involved, just at the basics.
“I think we’re starting so far away from that as an industry where you have to have an influencer now or somebody who’s famous associated with it. For us, we’ve never really folded into that. It’s always been, like, we have really, really good wrestling. We have really good stories. Our audience is incredible. The vibe is there. All the things that would make any company great, we’ve never lost it, and we’ve just never lost it to us.”
Bregante said some of the industry’s top stars have come through West Coast Pro, including WWE’s Royce Keyes and Jacob Fatu, while others have also been with All Elite Wrestling, Total Nonstop Action and in Japan.
“We have people all over the place that come out of the West Coast, Pro, or have a footprint here,” he continued. “And I think that stands the test of time … And I really think that’s what makes us. And I think that’s what makes us a step away from everybody else. We’re just pro wrestling, you know? We’re not sports entertainment, we’re not an influencer, nothing like that. We’re pro wrestling at its core.”
One of West Coast Pro’s rising stars is the company’s world women’s champion, Johnnie Robbie.
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Danny Orion enters the ring for West Coast Pro. (West Coast Pro)
Robbie is a Los Angeles native who has leaned on his Latin American background and brought his own flavor to the ring – and it’s made a big impression on pro wrestling fans.
Bregante told Pakinomist Digital that Robbie’s ability to relate to fans has made her incredibly popular. Combine that with her skills in the ring and the industry has a rising star to contend with.
“Incredibly relatable, but not to the point where people see her as an equal, they see her as someone to look up to,” he said of Robbie. “I think there are a lot of things that are lost in pro wrestling, where a lot of wrestlers resonate with fans by being fans, where Johnny Robbie is a step above.”
Bregante said Robbie’s career was almost over due to a serious neck injury, but her ability to recover, maintain her momentum with fans and be able to play banger match after banger match. That’s the part of Robbie’s journey, Bregante said, that makes her even more special.
Johnnie Robbie hits Persephone with a crossbody from the top rope. (Courtesy Marc Blair/Instagram @punchesandpins)
“I think that’s a very, very important part that people forget why, you know, if you just hear who Johnnie Robbie is, but you hear everybody who’s been around for a while say, ‘Yeah man Johnnie Robbie,’ these are very important details of a journey with somebody, and her work in the ring speaks for itself,” he said. “She’s one of the most sought-after wrestlers, male or female or otherwise. A lot of people say, ‘Oh, top unsigned talent,’ I don’t look at it that way. I think Johnnie Robbie, if you put her up pound for pound, she’s top 20 in the world period.”
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“You can’t really go and say, ‘Hey, man, I saw the Johnnie Robbie match. It was just okay,’ 99.9% of the time when you watch the Johnnie Robbie match, you walk away thinking, ‘OK, well, I think this woman is redefining what women’s wrestling could be.’ And when I look at her and say this has to be it. There’s a reason I have her main event over everyone else. And it’s not because it’s her gender or anything like that. It’s because she has the passion, she has the looks. She has the effort and ability and overall entertainment value to main event any show coming out of West Coast Pro. And the West Coast pro has a standard and for her to be at the top of that standard should speak volumes.”
West Coast Pro is set to play a show in Las Vegas on Thursday, April 16th. (West Coast Pro)
West Coast Pro’s “West Coast vs. The World” map looks like this:
- Johnny Robbie (c) vs. Mio Momono for the West Coast Pro Women’s Championship
- Vinnie Massaro (c) vs. Thomas Shire for the West Coast Pro Championship
- Senka Akatsuki vs. Dani Luna in a singles match.
- Alan Angels and Aaron Solo (c) vs. Cajun Catch Revival for the West Coast Pro Tag Team Championships.
- Miko Alana vs. Aja Kong in a singles match.
- Andrew Cass (c) vs. Adam Brooks for the West Coast Pro Golden Gate Championship.
- Alpa Zo vs. LaBron Kozone in a single game
- Starboy Charlie vs. Adam Priest in a singles match.
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The event takes place on Thursday evening at 7pm PT at Bizarre Bar in Las Vegas.
