NEWYou can now listen to Pakinomist articles!
Awesome Championship Wrestling (ACW) returns to the MJN Center in Poughkeepsie, New York for their Reckoning event on Saturday night in what is expected to be a star-studded affair.
Recognizable names in professional wrestling such as IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion Andrade, NWA World Historic Middleweight Champion Flip Gordon, ACW Women’s Champion Steph De Lander, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) star Indi Hartwell, Major League Wrestling (MLW) Lady Frost as well as top names such as Ben as Bishop on the Holliday card will all join the Richard Bishop stage on the independent card.
The ACW Tag Team Champions will also be among those competing at the event. Vik Dalishus and Hale Collins, the duo known as The Now, will defend the titles in a steel cage match against Sent 2 Slaughter – the team of Danny Maff and Shawn Donovan.
Vik Dalishus and Hale Collins walk down the ramp for an Awesome Championship Wrestling match. (Jay Adam Photography)
Dalishus and Collins hope to end their feud with Sent 2 Slaughter.
MEET RICHARD HOLLIDAY – THE ‘MOST MARKETABLE’ MAN IN PRO WRESTLING TAKING INDIA BY STORM
“Guys we’ve been dealing with for the last year and a half and our feud has actually extended outside of ACW,” Dalishus said. “We’ve argued in several different campaigns all over the North East.”
Dalishus added that Maff and Donovan crashed his wedding and turned up the temperature of the feud.
“And they’re all bitter because we stole, well, we won their tag titles at WrestlePro,” Collins said, adding that their tag team opponents even crashed his Hall of Fame ceremony at Johnny Rodz’s wrestling school.
HOW PRO WRESTLING STAR BEN BISHOP WENT FROM BASKETBALL PLAYER TO ‘BIG FAILURES IN LITTLE CHINA’ INSPIRED GIANT
“It’s a very personal rivalry. They actually crashed my wedding,” Dalishus continued. “They showed up unannounced. They’ve made it very personal and we’ve responded accordingly. The very first time we were caged with them, they had our manager (Josh Shernoff) in their back pocket.
“He actually turned on us… What this steel cage is really about is redemption to right the wrongs that happened to us the last time we were in a cage. We’ve said this would be the final chapter – whoever wins wins, and whoever loses, that’s it.”
Hale Collins, left, and Vik Dalishus walk away with the Awesome Championship Wrestling Tag Team Championship. (Smoothlenz photography)
Dalishus and Collins are the initiators behind ACW, which has garnered high praise from wrestlers who have participated in their events. They emphasized why having a space like the MJN Center is a critical component of the campaign’s success.
PRO WRESTLING STAR STEPH DE LANDER REVEALS HOW COLLEAGUES’ ADVICE HELPS LEAD HER TO ACW TITLE TRIUMPH
Dalishus recalled going to tapings of WWE’s “Monday Night Raw” in the 1990s and seeing a sensational Sherry and Luna Vachon go at each other, as well as Tommy Dreamer’s House of Hardcore getting started in the building.
“That building and our careers and our lives have really intertwined in the craziest way and we’re very fortunate that Awesome Championship Wrestling has been this thing that’s kind of caught on in this area and really been the next wave of professional wrestling. WWF and WWE came here in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, and then there was some local twist running, and then there was some ECW running. doing a great job of delivering big stars in the area, but there was a really big gap in the last few years with pro wrestling and bringing TV stars into this area.
Hale Collins, left, and Vik Dalishus pose for a photo. (Lifelumens – Edward-Daniel Simons Jr.)
“NXT had run the building, TNA had run the building a few times, and the crowd was a little underwhelming, and we knew when we were going to start Awesome Championship Wrestling that we wanted to do something a little bit different, but also cater to all wrestling fans – give something for everyone.”
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON Pakinomist
With ACW being credited as being just above a regular independent promotion with its lighting, camera work and professionalism backstage, Collins and Dalishus highlighted the impressive growth they’ve had since their first show in January 2025.
“The first show we almost lost our butts and then we had a great ride up,” Collins told Pakinomist Digital. “It was almost like the movie ‘Field of Dreams’ – ‘if you build it, it will come’. Suddenly 2, 3, 400 people turned up and it was amazing. Ever since then we’ve been going day by day, but we have goals in mind.”
Dalishus said they’ve been “really smart” with how they’ve taken the necessary steps to get more eyes on their shows, including with a YouTube show showing its past matches and highlighting upcoming events.
CMLL CHAMPION FLIP GORDON TALKS GOING FROM US ARMY NATIONAL GUARD RESERVIST TO PRO WRESTLING RING
Now brings the pain in Awesome Championship Wrestling. (Smoothlenz photography)
“Who knows where it could really go? The idea for us is to ride this roller coaster as long as we can and see what happens,” Dalishus said. “Is it going to be a brand that starts touring the country? We hope so. We hope that’s something that we’re able to do and we’re able to take ACW to different markets. Right now, what we’ve been able to leverage is that the building here, the MJN Center, is partnered with us, and that we’ve been able to really grow with a partner that just wants to see success, which they want us to do. It’s going to be a big risk to start to travel outside of this home area because of the things that we’ve been able to leverage with our friends and our business connections and our partnerships that we have.
“We spent a lot of time in the last year surrounding ourselves with some of the people that we’ve known through our time in wrestling, that we trust, that are really good minds in pro wrestling, and that they’re guys that bring something to the table that will help us grow at a great rate. To be able to take this thing on the road would be something that I’d really like to see us do.”
Collins added that going on the road was “definitely a goal.”
“Anything we do, even if it’s something simple like getting the apron branded, that’s the goal. The branding is pretty good right now, so let’s go to the next goal. Now we can take the show, put it in a different building, but it’ll still look like ACW. We’re thinking about every aspect and being careful while we’re doing it. Right now, I think we’re bringing it really cool into the company and what ever we have.”
The showdown will take place on Saturday night and will include “Macho Man” Randy Savage and Mike Bell’s inductions into the MJN Center’s Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE Pakinomist APP
The final map looks like this:
Brian Cage vs. Hammerstone vs. Flip Gordon vs. Mance Warner vs. a mystery opponent former world champion in a five-way survival match to become #1 contender to the ACW National Championship.
Zack Clayton (c) vs. Dante “El Jaguar” Casanova for the AEW National Championship.
“Big Trouble” Ben Bishop vs. “Firework” Foxx Vinyl.
Leo Sparrow (c) vs. Phoenix GKM vs. Liamo in a triple threat match for the AEW Cruiserweight Championship.
Steph De Lander and Indi Hartwell vs. Vicious Vicki and Lady Frost.
Vincent and Dutch (The Righteous) vs. Yoscifer (w/Shir’rak) and Wrecking Ball Legursky.
Andrade vs. Richard Holliday.
