Did you know that on March 24^th, at 8PM, there will be a major wrestling event in Hoboken? That’s right: Located at the Rue Building at 301 Garden Street right here in town, Capitol Wrestling will be celebrating it’s 1-year anniversary with a live event. Tickets are $15-$20 (online or available at Tunes on Washington Street), but you can get a 50% discount if you bring 2 items to donate to the Hoboken Shelter. What’s Capitol Wrestling? Think the WWE, but with a unique, grassroots vibe—and headquartered right here in Hoboken.

Twitch TV

Capitol Wrestling describes itself as a TV show first and foremost. Available to watch live on Twitch, events and episodes can also be viewed on YouTube and other streaming services, and the management of the company has been pretty clear that ultimately they want to cross over to mainstream television in some way. Which makes perfect sense, of course; wrestling, while a demanding, athletic performance requiring talent, skill, and ability, has long been as much about the drama and the story as it’s been about the moves. As a result, Capitol Wrestling will be familiar in its general outlines to anyone who has watched a wrestling match on TV in the last sixty years, from the personas and characters of the wrestlers to their unspoken designations as heels or faces. The show is produced on a low budget, clearly, but with a clear attention to detail and to entertainment value. Watch one episode and it’s clear that if you enjoy wrestling with all its heightened drama, costumes, and crazy energy, you’re going to have a heck of a good time here. Which makes the fact that you can go see a real, live, produced wrestling show right here in town kind of amazing. But the people running Capitol Wrestling see opportunity.

Emphasis on Community

“In the past decade, the professional wrestling industry has devolved from being the Sport of Kings to being the home of drug abusers, suicidal maniacs, rapists, pimps, prostitutes, and social deviants,” Capitol Wrestling’s CEO Marcus K. Dowling wrote in a recent Medium Post. “Pro wrestling’s future is indeed odd. But because Capitol Wrestling is embracing being odder, we’re ready to weather the unique and intriguing vibe that’s appeared on the horizon for the industry at-large.” Capitol Wrestling’s promotional material and copy emphasizes the community they’ve built—obviously a community that enjoys wrestling from both sides of the ring, but also a community of people trying to build something from scratch. How often do whole wrestling shows just spring up in the modern age? The technology that we all have at out disposal is incredible. Hollywood directors are making entire films on their smartphones, and YouTube has evolved a huge ecosystem of vloggers and scripted shows that rival traditional television and other streaming services. The idea of Capitol Wrestling is an exciting one even if you’re not much of a wrestling fan. So, what have you got to lose? Saturday, March 24^th, 8pm. For anywhere from $7.50 to $20 you can see a great wrestling card, donate to a good cause, and find out something that’s been brewing in your own backyard this past year. Check it out!

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