The gymnasium echoed with the thunderous vibrations of heavy metal and rap music Sept. 27 when 150 wrestling enthusiasts gathered for an evening of family fun and heightened awareness against bullying inside the Governor Mifflin Intermediate School.
The World Class Independent Championship Wrestling (WCICW) event was organized by Terrance R. Barr, Sr. in an effort to promote bullying awareness, presented by Barr’s D.J. Concert Productions.
Barr said he has a personal connection to bullying, and he was even a victim of cyber bullying while promoting the event. ‘We had thought the Anti-Bullying Project in a school was a great idea, and yet, [we] found it to be one of our hardest events to promote,’ Barr said.
Barr had hoped to fill the venue, which holds 3,500 people. However, he said he was unable to get community outlets to help him promote the event.
Despite the low turnout, the die-hard wrestling fans who attended the event cheered for, took pictures with, and got autographs from their favorite wrestlers.
One wrestling fan, eight-year-old Nevaeh Dougan, traveled with her family all the way from Maryland to see her favorite World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) wrestler, The Boogeyman. Dougan grew up watching wrestling on television with her parents who are also wrestling fans. Dougan’s face lit up as she yelled out The Boogeyman’s name at the top of her lungs when she saw him enter the ring.
After The Boogeyman’s match, Dougan lived the wrestling fan’s dream-come-true when she met with The Boogeyman to get his autograph and take a photo with him. He was very engaging when talking to her and the two had a nice conversation despite Dougan’s shyness.
Other attendees also had the chance to meet their favorite wrestlers who each had tables set up to sell memorabilia and sign autographs for excited fans.
Before the bell rang for the first match at 6:30 p.m., attendees were treated to some pre-show fun from the Reading Derby Girls and the York City Derby Dames who participated in an outdoor 5k race. Fans also enjoyed a meet-and-greet with Reading Royals mascot Slapshot, as well as 76ers personality Big Daddy, and former WWE superstar Nikolai Volkoff.
In addition to his meet-and-greet duties, Volkoff sang a pitch-perfect performance of ‘God Bless America’ during an intermission, and he also wrestled against German Blitzkreig.
Volkoff came into the ring carrying an American flag while Blitzkreig carried a German flag. Fans were clearly on Volkoff’s side as they chanted ‘U.S.A.’ in Volkoff’s honor. The cheering worked, and Volkoff came out on top.
The final match of the night was a special divas match with female WCICW wrestlers. Before the divas match began, Philadelphia’s own Cyndi Lauper impersonator, Michele Marzano, brought the crowd to their feet with her rendition of ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun.’ After entertaining the crowd, Marzano acted as guest announcer for the divas match, and she handed the championship belt to winner Vanessa Fox.
Barr, who is the CEO of the WCICW, has organized events like this in the past and would like to continue to do so in the future. Barr said he has been a wrestling fan since 1966, and he once dreamed of being a professional wrestler. When his duties as a family man kept him from pursuing his wrestling dream, Barr started his production company, D.J. Concert Productions.
‘My production company ran its first wrestling event at Fairgrounds Square Mall as part of the Jerry Lewis Telethon in 1993. Ten years later, I started [my] own organization, WCICW, to run a cancer benefit and just continued,’ Barr said.
Barr encourages anyone looking to book events like this in the future to contact him.
‘We are currently looking to bring much more great events into the Berks/Montco area in the very near future. Anyone seeking to run a fundraising event of any kind, we would be very interested in speaking more with you about some great opportunities,’ Barr said.
To contact Barr about booking fundraising events, call 610-326-5865 or visit www.djconcertproductions.com.
