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Awesome Championship Wrestling (ACW) will return to the MJN Center in Poughkeepsie, New York, for its Reckoning event on Saturday night in what is expected to be a star-studded affair.
Famous names in wrestling such as IWGP global heavyweight champion Andrade, NWA world middleweight champion Flip Gordon, ACW women’s champion Steph De Lander, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) star Indi Hartwell, Major League Wrestling (MLW) Lady Frost and top names in the independent scene such as Richard Holliday and Ben Bishop will all appear.
The ACW tag team champions will also be among those competing in the event. Vik Dalishus and Hale Collins, the duo known as The Now, will defend their titles in a steel cage match against Sent 2 Slaughter – a team made up of Danny Maff and Shawn Donovan.
Vik Dalishus and Hale Collins make their way down the aisle for the Awesome Championship Wrestling match. (Photo by Jay Adam)
Dalishus and Collins hope to end their feud with Sent 2 Slaughter.
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“Guys, we had to deal with them in the last year and a half and our conflict has gone beyond ACW,” Dalishus said. “We’ve competed in several different promotions throughout the Northeast.”
Dalishus added that Maff and Donovan crashed his wedding, which turned up the heat on the feud.
“And they’re all bitter because we stole and won their tag titles from WrestlePro,” Collins said, adding that their tag team rivals even crashed his Hall of Fame event at Johnny Rodz’s wrestling school.
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“It’s a personal dispute. They actually crashed my marriage,” continued Dalishus. “They came in anonymously. They made it very personal and we responded the right way. The first time we were in the steel cage with them, they had our manager (Josh Shernoff) in their back pocket.
“He actually turned us around… What this steel cage means is to redeem the bad things that happened to us last time we were in the cage. We said this will be the last chapter – whoever wins, wins, and whoever loses, that’s it.”
Hale Collins, left, and Vik Dalishus walk away with the Awesome Championship Wrestling Tag Team Championship. (Smoothlenz Photos)
Dalishus and Collins are the promoters of ACW, which has received praise from the wrestlers who have competed in their events. They emphasized why having a venue like the MJN Center is an important part of the promotion’s success.
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Dalishus recalled a taping of WWE’s “Monday Night Raw” in the 1990s and watched Amazing Sherry and Luna Vachon face each other and Tommy Dreamer’s House of Hardcore debut in the building.
“That building and our careers and our lives are inextricably intertwined and we’re very fortunate that Awesome Championship Wrestling has been the thing that’s been involved in this area and has been the next wave of professional wrestling. The WWF and WWE came here in the 70s, 80s and 90s and ECW was doing a great job of being independent when they were trying to build a good local career. stars in the area but there was a real big gap a few years ago. with pro wrestling and bringing TV stars to the area.
Hale Collins, left, and Vik Dalishus pose for a photo. (Lifelumens – Edward-Daniel Simons Jr.)
“NXT had run the building, TNA had run the building a few times and the crowds were a little lower and we knew when we were going to start Awesome Championship Wrestling that we wanted to do something a little different but also cater to all wrestling fans – to offer something for everyone.”
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As ACW has been recognized for being more than a regular independent promotion for its lighting, camera work and backstage expertise, Collins and Dalishus highlighted the impressive growth they have made since their first show in January 2025.
“The first show, we almost lost our butts, and then we went great,” Collins told Fox News Digital. “It was almost like the movie ‘Field of Dreams’ – ‘if you build it, it will come.’ Suddenly, 2, 3, 400 people showed up and it was amazing. Since then, we’ve been going day by day, but with goals in mind.”
Dalishus said they were “really smart” in the way they took the necessary steps to get more eyes on their shows, including a YouTube show that shows past matches and highlights upcoming events.
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Now brings the pain to Awesome Championship Wrestling. (Smoothlenz Photos)
“Who knows where it could really go? The idea is for us to ride this roller coaster for a long time and see what happens,” Dalishus said. “Is it starting to go around the country? We hope so. We hope that it is something that we can do and we can take ACW to different markets. Currently, the thing that we have been able to develop is that the building here, the MJN Center, has partnered with us and that we have been able to really grow with our partners as they want to be successful. It is a big risk to start traveling outside of this home area because of the things that we have been able to develop with our friends and our business connections and our collaboration that we have.
“We’ve spent a lot of time over the last year surrounding ourselves with some guys that we’ve known all along that we trust, that have really good fighting minds and are guys that bring something to the table that will help us grow in a big way. To be able to take this thing on the road would be something I’d really like to see us do.”
Collins added that going on the road was “definitely a goal.”
“Everything we do, even if it’s something as simple as getting an apron branded, that’s the goal. The marketing is great right now so let’s move on to the next goal. Now, we can take the show, put it in another building, but it’s still going to look like ACW. We’re thinking about every aspect and being careful as we do it. From now on, to give the company something really cool and bring something cool back.”
The countdown will take place on Saturday night and will feature “Macho Man” Randy Savage and Mike Bell’s induction into the MJN Center’s Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame.
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The final card looks like this:
Brian Cage vs. Hammerstone vs. Flip Gordon vs. Mance Warner takes on a mysterious former world champion in a five-way survival match to become the number 1 contender to the ACW National Championship.
Zack Clayton (c) vs. Dante “El Jaguar” Casanova for the AEW National Championship.
“Big Trouble” Ben Bishop vs. “Fireworks” Foxx Vinyer.
Leo Sparrow (c) vs. Phoenix GKM vs. Liamo in a triple threat match for the AEW Cruiserweight Championship.
Steph De Lander and Indi Hartwell vs. Vicious Vicki and Lady Frost.
Vincent and the Dutch (The Righteous) vs. Yoscifer (w/Shir’rak) and Wrecking Ball Legursky.
Andrade vs. Richard Holliday.
