On a rainy Friday night in the heart of campus, Rowan students were treated to Dangerous Adrenaline Wrestling Gladiator’s (DAWG) latest event: wRAHstlemania IX.

On March 6, the Chamberlain Student Center was once again turned into a makeshift professional wrestling venue, with a ring surrounded by a metal barricade taking up the majority of the space of the Student Center pit. The lights were bright, and the music was loud, but the roar of the crowd proved louder with every larger-than-life athlete who put their blood, sweat, and tears into giving Rowan a night to remember.

Hosted by Rowan After Hours (RAH), wRAHstlemania IX ran from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., with a food bar available during the event’s brief intermission at 11 p.m.

This year’s wRAHstlemania also happened to fall under Lil’ Sibs Weekend, a weekend organized by the Student University Programmers (SUP), making the action presented by DAWG Pro Wrestling a true family affair. 

The 9th-annual wRAHstlemania event was live-streamed by Rowan Television Network (RTN), and the full replay of the stream is available for free on RTN’s YouTube channel.

One of the biggest highlights of the event came in the form of a match for the World Wrestling Grand Prix (WWGP) Women’s Championship, where defending champion Valerie Verman lost her title to Gabby Ortiz, who pinned Verman after hitting her with a sitout facebuster. Before the match got underway, both competitors would be interrupted by Notorious Mimi, who lost to Verman at last year’s wRAHstlemania due to interference from Verman’s boyfriend and valet, Samwell Thompson, who just so happened to also be at ringside.

“I didn’t just come to scout the competition. I wanted to say whoever’s winning tonight, I am challenging for that Women’s Championship,” Mimi said. “Now I remember how you got involved when we fought last year, and I just want to let you know that if you try to pull anything like that again on Gabby, I’ll be right here watching you.”

Other notable matches on the card saw former Ring of Honor (ROH) wrestler “Brutal” Bob Evans teaming up with DAWG regular “Devil Child” Connor Schafer to steal a victory over Tank Toland and “Big” Billy Gold, the highly energetic “Unkillable” Marc Raspa knocking off Chris Desmond, former ROH wrestler “World Famous” Cheeseburger bringing good vibes while silencing the temper tantrums of “Guaranteed” Mike Zee, current National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) wrestler “The Bullhead Brute” AJ Cazana overpowering the conniving Vinny Talotta, and the exciting DAWG Tag Team Champions Gabriel Hodder and Matthew Omen, two-thirds of the faction known as Primal Fear, successfully defending their titles against The Haven, comprised of Jay Onyx and Shawn Knyte.  

Several wrestlers of the independent promotion have some kind of connection to the university, whether they graduated from Rowan or are currently attending as students.

Devlin Ridley, a professional wrestler from Mantua, N.J., graduated from Rowan University in 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in computer science. For Ridley, attending DAWG Pro Wrestling’s wRAHstlemania event in 2023 with his friends was the driving force behind his training to become a professional wrestler.

“You know, sitting in these seats over there as a fan for one of these events is actually what inspired me to do professional wrestling,” said Ridley. “My whole career is tied with this campus and this community and these people in such an intricate way. You can’t really separate the two. If there was ever a homefield advantage in wrestling, this would be it for me.”

Ridley was victorious in his match against The Henrik, defeating him with a forward somersault cutter.

Though the event featured a lot of younger, promising talent, DAWG Pro Wrestling also balances out its cards with veterans of the wrestling industry, a concept that extends beyond just the wrestlers themselves.

Nick Papagiorgio, one of the two referees who worked the event, has acted as a referee with DAWG for eight years now; his overall career in the wrestling industry spans over 20 years. Papagiorgio has officiated hundreds of matches across Pennsylvania and New Jersey, even appearing as a referee in the 2008 movie “The Wrestler.”

Having worked in numerous environments and crowds from across the tri-state area, Papagiorgio thinks fondly of his time refereeing for the DAWG Pro Wrestling events at Rowan.

“Rowan’s a very, very fun atmosphere,” said Papagiorgio. “It’s actually a blast here.”

The main event of the evening saw DAWG Heavyweight Champion Vinny the Fixxer, who won the championship at last year’s wRAHstlemania, retain his title against the third member of Primal Fear, Adrien Soriano, after slamming him from the top rope with an inverted crucifix powerbomb. Though the crowd had shrunk significantly by the time the main event rolled around, the faithful wrestling fans remaining gave every ounce of energy they had left towards Soriano, hoping to see him dethrone Fixxer.

DAWG Pro Wrestling’s next event will take place at South Jersey Geek Fest on Saturday, April 4, 2026, at the Gloucester County 4-H Fairgrounds.