Author: DJ Jarka

‘TID The Season 2021. Hello, everybody! Earlier this month, I received the opportunity to once again referee on the wrestling portion of metalcore band Every Time I Die’s Christmas Show at Buffalo RiverWorks. Here is the lowdown on what occurred at one of the coolest events I get to participate in. ETID’s ‘TID The Season’ event is held regularly at Buffalo RiverWorks around the middle of December and draws thousands of fans from all across the country. The first time I attended one was at a bowling alley in North Tonawanda, N.Y. in 2008, eventually moving to downtown Buffalo music…

Wrestlebash 2021. Hello, everybody! Welcome to another entry into my journey as a referee on the independent wrestling scene. This blog is about my time at Empire State Wrestling’s last show of 2021: Wrestlebash. This was an all-around great day so let’s jump right into it. Over the years, Wrestlebash evolved into one of ESW’s “super shows” and typically is held at larger venues than its old “home” venue, St. Johnsburg Fire Hall. This year’s Wrestlebash was hosted at the Frontier Fire Hall in Niagara Falls, N.Y. The last time ESW was at Frontier was for Wrestlebash in 2018. After…

ESWs Wrestlebash Ilio DiPaolo Memorial Cup. Along with the heavily anticipated main event between Daniel Garcia and Kevin Blackwood for the Empire State Wrestling Heavyweight Championship, “Wrestlebash” will also feature the return of one of Empire State Wrestling’s marquee matches: the Ilio DiPaolo Memorial Cup. ESWs Wrestlebash Ilio DiPaolo Memorial Cup The 2021 rendition of the DiPaolo Cup match will be the most star-studded version since its inception in 2013. The 6-person elimination bout will feature two current Impact Wrestling stars. Former IMPACT World Champion Josh Alexander makes his Empire State Wrestling (ESW) return, and Matthew Rehwoldt (formerly known as…

Empire State Wrestling’s Wrestlebash Garcia vs Blackwood. This is the first of a two-part preview of Empire State Wrestling’s next event, “Wrestlebash”. Part one will examine the main event match between Daniel Garcia and Kevin Blackwood. After successfully defending the Empire State Wrestling Heavyweight Championship against Davey Richards in October, “Red Death” Daniel Garcia briefly relished the victory in front of his hometown fans – his first match back in Western New York in nearly 18 months -before finding out his next challenger. Empire State Wrestling’s Wrestlebash Garcia vs Blackwood One of his best friends, Kevin Blackwood, appeared on the…

Xcite Wrestling presents One Will Fall. Hello, everyone! I am super “xcited” to blog about my latest stop in my referee journey at Xcite Wrestling this past weekend. This Binghamton, N.Y.-based promotion held its “One Will Fall” event at the Oakdale Mall in Johnson City, N.J., in what was a fun and memorable event. Let’s jump into the details! This is my first time working for Xcite in over five years. It was the only promotion I refereed for a few months after two others I worked for shut down and before I started back with Empire State Wrestling. The…

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the 4th and Gold 2021 review. I am glad to return to blogging about my experiences as a referee, even with a 3-month layoff in between posts. During normal times, I would consider that a long drought. However, with the prior gap in show blogs being 18 months, I do not feel quite so bad about the space between them. The latest event I refereed on was Empire State Wrestling’s 4th & Gold at Buffalo RiverWorks on Sunday, October 10. Here were the things that went down for me at this event: A few years…

Following up on its highly anticipated return to action in July, Empire State Wrestling will return to Buffalo RiverWorks on Sunday afternoon in dramatic fashion with “4th & Gold 2021”. The event will feature a bout between two of the hottest names currently on the independent wrestling circuit. “There is a big ticket feel on the matches announced for Sunday and I’m looking forward to ring announcing this event,” said Empire State Wrestling ring announcer Chris Gullo. Freshly off being heavily featured on All-Elite Wrestling’s programming, Empire State Wrestling Heavyweight Champion “Red Death” Daniel Garcia will return to ESW for…

ESW presents Brawlfest 2021 Hello, everybody! It is great to finally write about being a referee again. My roughly year-and-a-half hiatus concluded last weekend when I donned the stripes once again at Empire State Wrestling’s Brawlfest at Buffalo RiverWorks. After months of wondering about when I would enter the ring again and my daughter asking me if I was still a referee, it felt fantastic to be in front of wrestling fans, around my wrestling friends, and doing what I love to do again within the squared circle. Here are my thoughts and experiences about my time at Brawlfest: First…

Western New York’s top independent wrestling promotion, Empire State Wrestling, returns with Brawlfest this Saturday. When the opening bell rings on Saturday to kickstart Brawlfest, it will mark the end of a 525-day event hiatus for ESW. But Brawlfest represents more than just a return for Empire State Wrestling. The comeback event on July 31 will be the first ESW event held at Buffalo RiverWorks. It is the first ESW show within the City of Buffalo in 16 years. “It’s been a long 18-months since there was wrestling in the Buffalo-Niagara region,” said ESW promoter Brett Stymus. “I haven’t been…

Hello, everybody. I did not intend to take this long in between blog posts, but here we are. Life moves fast. Days turn to weeks. Weeks turn to months and so forth. But I am glad to finally write about one of my favorite pet projects: a genuine (mock) wrestling world cup. Over the years, there were several instances of international pro wrestling competitions in which the participants represented their native countries. Among the more modern conceptions, Impact Wrestling’s World X Cup tournaments comes to my mind. But the idea I came up with is more extensive than that. My…