STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — In many ways, Staten Islander Vinny Pacifico gets to live out many boys’ childhood dream of making a living being a professional wrestler.
From small crowds in church halls to televised audiences to stadiums in Finland, the Tottenville resident is a true globetrotter.
He estimates he has wrestled more than 500 matches in his career, including at the biggest stages wrestling the likes of Gangrel, EC3 and Wardlow in Ring of Honor, NXT and AEW.
He’s been noticed by some of the top podcasts, including appearing on Freddie Prinze Jr.’s “Wrestling With Freddie” and the Kurt Angle Show, universally receiving acclaim for his approach.
Independent wrestler Vinny Pacifico recently embarked on a month-long European wrestling tour. (Staten Island Advance/Jason Paderon)Staten Island Advance
At 25, Pacifico is still very much young in wrestling years, but he has been honing his craft for more than a decade, wrestling in all corners of the globe.
And that might be an understatement.
“I’m very rarely off,” he said. “As an independent wrestler, you get paid by the job.”
In the past calendar year, Pacifico said he can only count four weekends where he wasn’t performing and one was for his wedding, which happened to have so many pro wrestlers present they might as well have made it a show.
He’s certainly paid his dues as one of the busiest independent wrestlers on the planet.
This past August, Pacifico’s career took a major step forward, embarking on a monthlong European tour across England, Finland and France.
Vinny Pacifico’s persona landed him a sponsorship from energy drink company G Fuel. (Staten Island Advance/Jason Paderon)
After marrying his wife, Carly, in November of 2023, he also used the tour as an extended honeymoon they never had, albeit with breaks to fight eight Goliaths in spandex for the entertainment of raucous fanatics.
“I had wrestled before in England and they had been asking for me to come back, but I just had to make the logistics work,” Pacifico said. “I booked a few shows and then a company in France said they heard I was going to be in Europe and wanted to fly me from England for two of their shows. So right there, that whole month was booked pretty easily.”
Independent wrestler Vinny Pacifico recently embarked on a month-long European wrestling tour. (Staten Island Advance/Jason Paderon)Staten Island Advance
When you’re built like Dave Bautista or the Rock, opportunities in the business tend to find you, but at 5-foot-7, 180 pounds, Pacifico often finds himself on the opposing side of the squared circle, facing off against those behemoths in front of crowds ranging from the low hundreds to a couple thousand.
“In Helsinki, I wrestled in the middle of a metal festival. I didn’t know what to expect,” he said. “I was definitely nervous going in, but I felt their energy before my match started. They saw my picture on the poster, they saw my videos and they cheered for me before I even went out there. It was really special.”
Staten Islander Vinny Pacifico appears in a promotional photo for a French wrestling show. (Courtesy of Vinny Pacifico)Courtesy of Vinny Pacifico
“The fans were absolutely phenomenal,” added Pacifico, who likened the crowds to that at a professional soccer match. “They were singing in the audience. They were dancing. They were so into it.”
“I feel like the culture of wrestling in Europe is so beautiful,” he added. “The fans in Europe are so appreciative of what we’re doing in the ring and just want to have the best time possible.”
The tour was so successful, he’s already been booked for another tour of the continent, securing dates in the Netherlands, Romania and Germany in November.
What people don’t see behind the scenes is the six-day training regimen, diet to stay lean throughout the entire year, interviews and skits to get his name out there, and hopping on planes for paydays that sometimes only barely justify the costs of being there.
All that while balancing life as a newlywed and a side job to make ends meet living in New York City.
“It helps when you have a partner in life that is supportive of my career. Carly is exactly that,” he added. “There are times when it’s a tough balance, but she also gets to come along on trips like the one in Europe. It’s like a paid vacation.”
Last year, the Advance/SILive.com highlighted Pacifico’s viral gimmick in which he consumes an energy drink for a mid-match powerup a la Popeye the Sailor Man. Through his backstage skits with known talent in the wrestling world, Pacifico was able to bolster that into several sponsorships with energy drinks.
He said he can make a comfortable living wrestling independently, but ultimately his goal is to be signed to a large company and perform on television every week.
“At this point, I have so much of a body of work and such a resume that I’ve built over the years that when they reach out to me, they know what they’re going to get.”
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Publish date : 2024-09-22 04:00:00
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