On Thursday, April 17, Rowan University welcomed Dangerous Adrenaline Wrestling Gladiators (DAWG) for the Rowan After Hours event called wRAHstlemania, just days before one of the biggest premium live events in the world of professional wrestling, WrestleMania.

For one night, the Chamberlain Student Center Pit was turned into a makeshift professional wrestling arena, with Rowan students filling not just the pit but also lining up around the upper levels of the Student Center to watch the action unfold. The audience saw a combination of long-time wrestling fans and first-time wrestling event attendees.

“I thought the show was absolutely amazing. As a pro wrestling fan, when I heard that a pro wrestling event would be held in the Student Center, I was definitely intrigued. I had been looking forward to this, and it exceeded my expectations. I will definitely be following DAWG Pro Wrestling more in the future,” said Chris Calo, a freshman sports media and communications major at Rowan.

The 8th-ever wRAHstlemania was live-streamed by Rowan Television Network (RTN), the full stream available for free access on RTN’s YouTube channel.

Several wrestlers who competed on the show also had some kind of connection to Rowan. For example, 21-year-old Athan Promise, who won a tag team match at wRAHstlemania alongside Sebastian Valentino against Kaden Hernandez and Angel Reyez, is also a sophomore nursing student who takes online courses at Rowan while pursuing his passion for professional wrestling.

“I’m definitely way more excited to wrestle in front of all of my friends and then also just, in this environment, I’m sure there’s a lot of wrestling fans at Rowan but I’m also sure that most of it’s gonna be non-wrestling fans maybe seeing live wrestling for the first time, so it’s gonna be fun to give them a little treat,” said Promise.

There was also a match consisting of current and former Rowan students, as Ty Thomas outlasted Flash Carter, Devlin Ridley, Isaac Taylor, and Vinny Talotta in a 5-Pack Challenge.

13 different wrestling matches took place at wRAHstlemania, with four of them having a championship on the line. The World Wrestling Grand Prix (WWGP) Women’s Champion, Valerie Verman, retained her title against Notorious Mimi, while the DAWG Tag Team Champions “Daredevil” Dave Doll and Dylan Mesh, accompanied by their “flagboy” Connor Schafer, successfully defended their titles against Silver Lobo and “Unkillable” Marc Raspa.

One of the biggest moments of the show came in the form of the DAWG Heavyweight Championship match. The champion, Breaker Morant, defended his title against three opponents: “The Focus” Nick Battee, “The Spartan Pitbull” Nikos Rikos, and one-half of DAWG’s most infamous tag teams, Vinny the Fixxer. In a twist that no one in the crowd saw coming, Fixxer would emerge victorious, defeating Morant last after knocking him out with a punch to the head with a foreign object of some kind wrapped around his right hand, becoming the new DAWG Heavyweight Champion in the process.

Morant had previously announced on Sept. 4, 2024, that he would be retiring from professional wrestling this spring, having been an active wrestler since 1999. He had held the DAWG Heavyweight Championship since Feb. 3, 2024, defeating former champion Justin Adams at a Mid-Atlantic Wrestling Alliance (MAWA) show in Somerdale, N.J.

“I didn’t expect to come here tonight and for this to be my final match here at Dangerous Adrenaline Wrestling Gladiators. I apologize to you guys for not getting the job done tonight, right here, but this is my swan song. I appreciate you all. I love you. Goodnight,” said Morant.

Morant exited the ring to a chorus of “Thank You Breaker” chants, going around the ringside and exchanging high-fives and handshakes with the fans before walking away from DAWG Pro Wrestling for what could be the last time.

The main event of wRAHstlemania saw yet another championship match, with the WWGP Champion David Goldy, hailing from Glassboro, defending his title against a former World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) superstar in Donovan Dijak. Despite having already witnessed three hours’ worth of professional wrestling matches, the remaining audience members in the Student Center Pit remained electric, giving all their respect, admiration, and energy to these two athletes at the top of their game.

With all of the odds stacked against him, Goldy managed to pull off the victory, pinning Dijak for the referee’s three count after performing a wrestling move known as the Ushigoroshi, where Goldy lifted Dijak onto his shoulders in a fireman’s carry position before dropping Dijak neck-first onto Goldy’s knee. 

DAWG Pro Wrestling’s next event will be held on June 28 at the Sacred Heart Church in Riverton, N.J.

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