Tommy Dreamer warns fans about violence at ACW Independence Day match

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Pro wrestling legend Tommy Dreamer fired a preemptive warning shot at fans for what they might see when he returns to an Awesome Championship Wrestling (ACW) ring against Josh Shernoff in a lumberjack match with the teams The Now and Sent 2 Slaughter.

The six men involved in the match have a long history with each other. Shernoff pinned Dreamer in a six-man tag team match at the Poughkeepsie Rumble in January. Before The Now and Sent 2 Slaughter had their chaotic steel cage match at Reckoning in May, Shernoff challenged Dreamer to a match at ACW Indypendence Day, which takes place on Saturday.

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Tommy Dreamer poses with Hale Collins, left, and Vik Dalishus, right. (Provided to Pak Gazette Digital)

As the rivalry between the two groups increases, Dreamer said some fans heading into the MJN Center in Poughkeepsie, New York, may witness a level of violence they are not accustomed to.

“People try to do things to make a name for themselves in this industry,” he told Pak Gazette Digital in a recent interview. “I didn’t know the guy used to be a wrestler too. He’s a great spokesperson and yeah, I didn’t take him too seriously and it’s embarrassing, you’re in a match and you’re in control and suddenly you don’t know what happened and then, yeah, you lost. He’s been talking a lot. I haven’t been to the last few ACW shows and he’s used my absence to his advantage.

“So now there are no more races and I’m going to go find him and do what I’m famous for, especially in that building, and I apologize to people who are a little squeamish or who aren’t used to that kind of old-school professional wrestling that the innovator of violence sometimes used to put on.”

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Shawn Donovan and Danny Maff brutalized Vik Dalishus inside the steel cage at Reckoning while Hale Collins was handcuffed to the frame on the outside of the ring. Dalishus’ wife jumped over the barrier and entered the ring to try to stop the madness.

Dalishus was hospitalized after the incident.

“I wasn’t at that last show and I know they’ve done a lot of bad things to my friends Vic Dalishus and Hale Collins,” Dreamer said. “I mean, they showed up at that guy’s wedding. These guys are doing some things that go beyond professional wrestling. I think as a wrestler, we all go in there without fear, but you don’t realize, and I’m realizing this as I get older, that there are ramifications for others and a responsibility for others.

“When I was crazy in ECW, I didn’t have kids, Vic got hurt in front of his wife and kids. You talk to second-generation wrestlers and they say, ‘Man, I remember my dad getting beat up and I was crying,’ or, you know, I remember even having conversations with my daughters, they were always like, ‘Dad falls a lot,’ but I was like, ‘Yeah, but Dad always has to get up.’ Well, that night Dad didn’t get up because Vic Dalishus had to go to the hospital. That’s it. “It’s difficult. And then, like I said, badmouthing it, it’s a different era in a different industry than the Wild West was back in the day.”

Hale Collins, left, and Vik Dalishus walk with the Awesome Championship Wrestling Tag Team Championship. (Smoothlenz Photography)

Now it culminates with Saturday’s game, which will be just one more chapter in the rivalry.

Dreamer told Pak Gazette Digital that he is enjoying the opportunity to perform at the MJN Center once again.

“Listen, man, I’ve been wrestling for 37 years. I never thought I’d have this beautiful career that I have. Some people are surprised that I’m still walking. I feel good,” he said. “I had two matches last weekend. I have three matches next week… It’s an honor. It’s an honor to get in the ring. It’s an honor to share a locker room with… I’ve wrestled Cowboy Bob Orton and Randy Orton just in that building. I’ve watched wrestling there as a kid. I saw Miss Elizabeth come in and handle Randy Savage and I thought, who is this person? You saw Andre the Giant get beat by King Kong Bundy and they cut his hair. And then, for me, I performed there for ECW, I broke my neck there, I broke my back there all in one night on a PPV to work there for ECW, WWE, TNA and my own House of Hardcore, I had a wrestling school there, I’m very into that culture there.

“Coming out of COVID was a scary time for everyone and then seeing wrestling there and the way the fans have rallied around ACW because like them they’re also two community guys and they never forgot where they grew up and they wanted to bring exactly what they promised: Awesome Championship Wrestling to the Mid-Hudson area. That area used to say this all the time, we don’t appreciate something until it’s gone. And they used to have ‘Monday Night Raw’ there every other week, something like that. And then look how much it costs to get in. to ‘Monday Night Raw’ now and you had it in your backyard all the time. And these two guys, The Now and ACW, are bringing wrestling to a hot spot in pro wrestling and you’ve been to the shows, they’re all really entertaining shows and it’s a great night, it’s affordable and it’s an amazing day for pro wrestling.