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Pro wrestling legend Tommy Dreamer has fired a preemptive warning shot to fans for what they might see when he returns to an Awesome Championship Wrestling (ACW) ring against Josh Shernoff in a lumberjack match featuring teams The Now and Sent 2 Slaughter.
The six men involved in the match have a long history with each other. Shernoff pinned Dreamer in a six-man tag team match at the Poughkeepsie Rumble in January. Before The Now and Sent 2 Slaughter had their chaotic steel cage match at Reckoning in May, Shernoff challenged Dreamer to a match at ACW Indypendence Day, which takes place on Saturday.
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Tommy Dreamer poses with Hale Collins, left, and Vik Dalishus, right. (Provided to PK Press Club Digital)
As the rivalry between the two groups intensifies, Dreamer said some fans who board the MJN Center in Poughkeepsie, New York, may witness a level of violence they are not accustomed to.
“People are trying to do things to make a name for themselves in this industry,” he told PK Press Club Digital in a recent interview. “I didn’t know this guy was also a wrestler. He’s a great spokesperson and yeah, I didn’t take him too seriously and it’s embarrassing, you’re in a match and you’re in control and all of a sudden you don’t know what happened and then, yeah, you lost. He spoke. I haven’t been to the last two ACW shows and I’m kind of using my absence to his advantage.
“So now there’s no more racing and I’m going to have him and I’m going to do what made me famous, especially in this building, to him and I apologize to the people who are a little squeamish or who aren’t used to that type of old-school professional wrestling that the innovator of violence sometimes used to bring out.”
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Shawn Donovan and Danny Maff brutalized Vik Dalishus inside Reckoning’s steel cage while Hale Collins was handcuffed to the structure outside the ring. Dalishus’ wife rushed over the barrier and into the ring to try to stop the madness.
Dalishus was hospitalized after the incident.
“I wasn’t at that last show and I know they did a lot of shit to my friends Vic Dalishus and Hale Collins,” Dreamer said. “I mean, they came to this guy’s wedding. These guys do things that go beyond professional wrestling. I think as a wrestler, we all go there without fear. But you don’t realize, and I realize this as I get older, that there are ramifications for other people and a responsibility to other people.
“When I was crazy in ECW, I didn’t have kids, Vic got hurt in front of his wife and kids. You talk to second generation wrestlers, they say, ‘Man, I remember my dad got beat up and I was crying,’ or, you know, I even remember having conversations with my daughters, they always said, ‘Dad falls down a lot,’ but I said, ‘Yeah, but Dad always has to get up.’ Well, that night, Dad didn’t get up for Vic Dalishus. He had to go to the hospital. It’s hard. And then to kind of talk about it, like I said, it’s a different time in a different industry than the Wild West back then. There’s going to be hell to pay on Saturday.”
Hale Collins, left, and Vik Dalishus walk with the Awesome Championship Wrestling Tag Team Championship. (Smoothlenz Photography)
Now it culminates with Saturday’s game which will be just another chapter in the rivalry.
Dreamer told PK Press Club Digital that he relishes the opportunity to perform at the MJN Center again.
“Listen, man, I’ve been wrestling for 37 years. I never thought I’d have this great career. Some people are surprised that I’m still walking. I feel great,” he said. “I had two matches last weekend. I have three matches next week… It’s an honor. It’s an honor to get in the ring. It’s an honor to share a locker room with… I faced Cowboy Bob Orton and Randy Orton in that building alone. I saw wrestling there when I was a kid. I watched Miss Elizabeth come in and handle Randy Savage and I was like, who is this person? You saw Andre the Giant get dressed by King Kong Bundy and they cut his hair. And then for me, I performed there for ECW, I broke my neck there, I broke my back in one night at a pay-per-view to work there for ECW, WWE, TNA and my own House of Hardcore, I had a wrestling school there, I’m so into that culture there.
“Coming out of COVID was a scary time for everyone and then seeing the wrestling there and the way the fans rallied around ACW because just like they’re also two community guys and never forgot where they grew up and wanted to bring exactly what they promised – an Awesome Championship Wrestling to the Mid-Hudson area. That area said that all the time, we don’t appreciate something until it’s gone. And it There was ‘Monday Night Raw’ on there every other day.”
Tommy Dreamer comes down to the ring (Provided to PK Press Club Digital)
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ACW’s Independence Day takes place Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. ET.
