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LAS VEGAS – Las Vegas will be transformed for a few days into a professional wrestling fan’s paradise, with WrestleMania 42 being the main course for many of the people arriving in the city from around the world.
WWE will share the spotlight.
Dozens of professional wrestling companies will be featured throughout the week at various venues around the city. Imagine as if every college football conference hosted its championship game every day from Wednesday through Sunday, with the NFL Super Bowl at the end. It’s the same feeling that will excite professional 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 putting on a show with several wrestlers on its roster also competing in several matches for other companies.
In a sea of independent broadcasts, West Coast Pro owner Scott Bregante told PK Press Club Digital that his promotion offers fans a chance to see the sport in its purest form.
“I think what sets West Coast Pro apart is we have an identity, we’re very proud to be from the Bay Area. We’re very proud to continue to present professional wrestling for what it 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 it’s telling stories, highlighting up-and-coming people, getting people involved emotionally, just in the basics.
“I think we’re very far from that as an industry where you now have to have an influencer or someone famous connected to it. For us, we’ve never really folded on that. It’s always been, like we have a really, really good struggle. We have really good stories. Our audience is amazing. The vibe is there. All the things that would make a company great, we’ve leaned into that and we’ve just never lost what made us, us.”
Bregante said some of the industry’s biggest stars have come through West Coast Pro, including WWE’s Royce Keyes and Jacob Fatu, while others have been introduced to All Elite Wrestling, Total Nonstop Action and also in Japan.
“We have people everywhere who are from the West Coast, from Pro, or who have a footprint here,” he continued. “And I think that stands the test of time. … And I really think that’s what sets us apart. And I think that’s really what separates us from everyone else. We’re just pro wrestling, you know? We’re not sports entertainment, we’re not an influencer, none of that. We’re pro wrestling at the core.”
One of West Coast Pro’s rising stars is the company’s women’s world 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 leaned into her Latin American origins and brought her own flavor to the ring – and it made a resounding impact with professional wrestling fans.
Bregante told PK Press Club Digital that Robbie’s ability to interact with fans has made her incredibly popular. Add in his in-ring skills and the industry has a rising star to contend with.
“It’s 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 a lot of things are lost in professional wrestling, where a lot of wrestlers resonate with fans by being fans, where Johnny Robbie is a cut above.”
Bregante said Robbie’s career was almost over due to a serious neck injury, but his ability to recover, maintain momentum with the fans and be able to put on banger match after banger match. It’s this part of Robbie’s journey, Bregante said, that makes it even more special.
Johnnie Robbie hits Persephone with a crossbody from the top rope. (Courtesy of Marc Blair/Instagram @punchesandpins)
“I think that’s a very, very important part that people forget, you know, if you hear now who Johnnie Robbie is but you hear everyone who’s been around a while saying, ‘Yeah man, Johnnie Robbie,’ those are very important details of a journey with someone, and his work in the ring speaks for itself,” he said. “She’s one of the most sought after wrestlers, male or female or whatever. 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 pound for pound, she’s top 20 in the world.
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“You can’t really say, ‘Hey, man, I watched the Johnnie Robbie match. It was just OK,’ 99.9% of the time, every time you watch the Johnnie Robbie match, you come away thinking, ‘OK, well, I think this woman is redefining what women’s wrestling could be.’ And when I look at it and say this is what it should be. There’s a reason I put his main event before everyone else. And it’s not because it’s his gender or anything like that. It’s because she has the passion, she has the look. She has the effort, skill and overall entertainment value for the main event of any show coming out of West Coast Pro. And West Coast professionals have a standard and the fact that she is at the top of that standard should say enough.”
West Coast Pro is scheduled to perform a show in Las Vegas on Thursday, April 16. (West Coast Pro)
The “West Coast vs. The World” from West Coast Pro looks like this:
- Johnnie 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 singles match
- Starboy Charlie vs. Adam Priest in a singles match.
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The event will take place Thursday evening at 7 p.m. PT at Bizarre Bar in Las Vegas.
