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Professional wrestler Vinny Pacifico has made a name for himself on the independent scene and success has taken him down paths he never thought possible.
The Staten Island, New York, native began training in a professional wrestling ring when he was just 14 years old after telling his father that he no longer wanted to play high school football. He told Pak Gazette Digital in a recent interview that it was talks with John Cena and Bryan Danielson (formerly known as Daniel Bryan) that convinced him he was on the right path.
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Professional wrestler Vinny Pacifico enters the ring. (Vinny Pacifico)
“At one point, I was playing football in high school and I told my dad, listen, I love football, I love this, I was following in his footsteps and all that stuff, but I told him I want to try professional wrestling. I want to go for this. I have to do it,” Pacifico said. “I just felt this need, this fire burning inside of me that I needed to pursue this dream. And after that, I went to a John Cena talk show and he spoke after that and I asked him for advice. It was very, very motivating, very, very inspiring. A little bit after that, I went to a meet with Daniel Bryan in the city, another of my favorite wrestlers. I asked him for his advice and he was the same way: motivating, inspiring, it was a great conversation we had.
“Once those two things happened, I knew this was what I was meant to do. So, yeah, I started at 13 and 12 years later, traveling to over 15 countries, fighting all over the world, doing things I couldn’t even imagine I’d be doing. Now, over the last year, spanning a lot of movies and television, it’s just been an incredible experience. I’m grateful for everything because, at the end of the day, I’m just a kid who started this dream and turned it into something I never could have imagined.”
Pacifico said his father did nothing but support his decision and still attends his games to this day.
Professional wrestling has an overwhelming effect on everyone: you either really love it or you really hate it. Pacifico knew from watching it on television that he really wanted to try and be as malleable as possible.
“I loved watching it on television, just the way it captivates you, just the way it makes you believe for a moment and takes you out of reality,” he told Pak Gazette Digital. “That’s television, film, movies, everyone does that, but wrestling is a live art form. So, that’s what it did for me.
Vinny Pacifico flexes to the crowd. (Vinny Pacifico)
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“When I started, it was very difficult to transition because when you’re wrestling you have to think, ‘What do the fans want to see?’ How do we get these fans to emotionally invest in us? And that’s the thing, I said, ‘Okay, as a fan, I liked this stuff.’ Nowadays, I watch the first match of the show and try to imagine, okay, the fans liked this, the fans liked this, and I try to figure out what the audience likes. All over the world there are different types of fans. In Japan they like what they like. In Europe they like what they like. There are different types of styles and ways of doing things in the ring. So I always try to establish, okay, tonight I’m going to do what I’m going to do. I can adapt to any style. “I trained in Ring of Honor and they taught me to be able to do any style and I am tremendously grateful for that.”
Pacifico has performed in multiple promotions since then, including All Elite Wrestling (AEW), Ring of Honor, WWE, Coastal Championship Wrestling, Awesome Championship Wrestling, and many others.
But there is one fight that stands out above the rest: his fight against Paul London.
London, a notable veteran wrestler in his own right, faced Pacifico at Pro Wrestling Magic in 2024 for the PWM Junior Heavyweight Championship. Pacific won the match.
“I would say it’s me against Paul London,” he said. “That was one of the most electric matches I’ve ever had in my career, character work, technical wrestling, like a big finish with the fireworks. You look at it and it all happened in that match.”
Now, Pacífico is preparing for a new challenge: the big screen.
He told Pak Gazette Digital that he just finished “Mr. Reset and the Society of Turnbuckle and Bone,” which premieres June 2. He was also in the films “Family Ties” and “Crimson Harvest.”
“I got to play myself, my wrestling character,” he said of “Mr. Reset and the Turnbuckle and Bone Society.” “So, it was really easy for me to do both. That was the first one I did. I loved being on set, filming and having my character tested in different ways. You know, how would Vinny Pacifico react to this or other emotional things that you don’t always get at a wrestling event? So, it was really cool to delve into the character of who I am and really just play with it.”
Vinny Pacifico appears in “Mr. Reset and the Tensor and Bone Society”. (Vinny Pacifico)
Pacifico added that he enjoys being able to pursue a professional wrestling career and a career in acting.
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“I really enjoy being able to do both all the time and even get to wrestle the same week that I act and film,” he told Pak Gazette Digital. “It’s been very easy to work out both schedules. I haven’t had any conflicts yet. So I’m very grateful for that as well.”
