People fear him; he doesn’t fear them, and he does it with a calm, in-control demeanour. He gives off the vibe of someone who’s been through hell and back.
He circles the ring like an Old West gunslinger, calm yet deadly. Gary Wolf has earned respect among his peers as a legit tough guy, especially from the Steiner brothers, hardcore Hall of Famer New Jack, and former UFC champion Ken Shamrock, and now he is making a comeback at 59.
Gary recently made national headlines when a clip of him, at 59 and with a broken neck, gave a Canadian destroyer against Game Changer Wrestling’s (GCW) Jimmy Lloyd (see here)
He made his debut with Game Changer Wrestling on October 10, 2026. Gary Wolf is from Hammonton, New Jersey and has been wrestling for almost 40 years.
“I grew up on the boardwalk in New Jersey and started working at an early age; eventually I went to military academy.
I always enjoyed professional wrestling, particularly the tag team division, and I always considered myself a tag team specialist.
Some of my favourite tag teams of all time that I was lucky to go against include the British Bulldogs, the Hart Foundation, the Steiner Brothers, the Malenko brothers, the Fantastic’s Bobby Fulton and Tommy Rogers, Strike Force with Rick Martel and Tito Santana, and the Funks with Dory and Terry Funk.
On my first tour, I wrestled for New Japan, and I had the honour of facing Mr. Fuji and Mr. Saito, and Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki.
I learned the most in Japan and have nothing but respect for the Japanese and the culture. As wrestlers, we had to earn the audience’s approval because, when you are there, the audience is quiet; they don’t cheer unless you have earned it.
This encouraged both Anthony and me to work hard. We trained in the dojo every day with 2 cold Scorpio.
If you cannot do 500 free squats in one set, you are not ready for Japan, trust me. I would have one-hour matches with legends Jushin Liger and Hayabusa.
The Japanese are also very truthful; we had a fan run after our bus for six blocks to return a wallet to one of the wrestlers.”
The story of ECW original Pitbull #1 Gary Wolf making a Comeback
Throughout his career, he experienced both triumph and tragedy, both in and out of the ring. Gary graduated from Larry Sharp’s Monster Factory & wrestled for all major promotions including WWE, ECW, TNA, WCW, & NWA.
He formed The Pitbulls with tag team partner Pitbull # 2 Anthony Durante in 1987. They were originally called the American Pitbulls until they faced the British Bulldogs in Australia.
After taking a beating from both Davey Boy and Dynamite Kid, Anthony and Gary earned the British ‘Bulldogs’ respect, and from then on, the British Bulldogs supported the Pitbulls.
The Pitbulls were one of the most dominant tag teams in the 90s. However, during the height of his career, Gary broke his neck live on ECW television against former champion Shane Douglas. After extensive therapy, he fully recovered and went on to have a successful career.
In 2003, tragedy struck when his tag team partner Pitbull #2 Anthony Durante passed away. This was weeks before WWE contacted them to return. Sept. 25, 2026, marks the 23rd anniversary of Anthony’s passing.
Since then, he has worked on various major promotions and the independent circuit. ECW honoured both him and Anthony by inducting them into the Hardcore Hall of Fame in 2014.
“I do not know how much longer I have left on this planet, and I never thought I would live to be 59 years old, especially living in that ECW locker room.
I am going to give the fans the best I can and legit kill it. I have mad respect for David Arquette because no matter what he got in the ring, he proved himself to people who shit on him, and yet he went against Nick Gage, who stabbed him with a light tube!
He stuck with it, though. I found myself at an age where I knew my career was ending soon.
I realized he could get in shape again and stay in better shape, so I decided to do one more hardcore match.
Some of the people who have inspired me to keep going at my age are The Rock and Roll Express, Tommy Wildfire Rich, Doug Gilbert, Shane Douglas, Bill Goldberg, Dustin Rhodes, Jimmy Valiant, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, all of whom are in world-class shape.
Quick story about Dwayne is when he was starting, he was in Philly and wanted to go to a party with Anthony and me, and we told him no because we did not want to upset the Samoans,”
-Gary Wolf Pitbull #1.
“For 40 years, Pitbull Gary Wolf has given his all in the ring, creating cherished memories for generations of fans.
Always in tremendous shape and with remarkable intensity and charisma, he has earned his peers’ respect and remains a pleasure to watch. Whenever he wrestles, fans know they will get their money’s worth”
— Evan Ginzburg, associate producer of The Wrestler and 350 Days, and host of The Evan Ginzburg Show.
For almost ten years, I have gotten to know Gary well enough that he is a member of my family. To me, he has qualities not everyone sees: he is a great communicator, a peacemaker, a generous person, a genius strategist, a phenomenal motivator, a very creative mind, a great teacher, and someone who tries to unite people.
Gary Wolf and ECW original Angel Orsini both discovered me when I was legitimately down on my luck, and nobody wanted me.
I was not winning awards; I was homeless, and I was in and out of hospitals due to crippling PTSD and a crippling injury I sustained when I was a first responder.
Prior to meeting Gary Wolf, NWA legend Susan Tex Green and New England Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame inductee Chris Blackheart trained me in professional wrestling.
I stopped in 2016 due to a crippling injury, which led me to be housebound. For years, I prayed for a miracle until I met ECW originals Gary Wolf and Angel Orsini at the world premiere of the 350 Days documentary.
Both helped me get into physical and mental shape by utilizing professional wrestling as a therapeutic tool to build.
During that time, all three of us established a mini empire, and our goal was to help professional wrestling, especially when it came to preserving women’s wrestling history.
All of us are friends with NWA legend Susan Tex Green, daughter of African American pioneer Marva Scott Kim Goodwin Martin; Angel’s mentor was Liz Chase; and they helped us establish the Women’s Wrestling Hall of Fame.
This year Gary Wolf inducted his student, former WWE superstar Mercedes Martinez, into the Women’s Wrestling Hall of Fame. He told Yahoo News.
“I have a lot of respect for the women in this business, and I had the honour to train Mercedes when she first started. I have great respect for her.
Recently, I had the privilege of awarding the Women’s Wrestling Hall of Fame Female Wrestler of the Year award to Teal Piper, a second-generation wrestler and the daughter of WWE Hall of Famer Rowdy Piper.
We did this at the Veteran Pro Wrestling Show on October 3, 2026, at Anderson Snow Park in Florida for Vetfest.
I cannot speak higher of any woman wrestling today; she deserves this award, and we are immensely proud of her.
I met her father, Rowdy Piper, when I was 18 years old, and I know that her father would be proud of her.
I also knew Hulk Hogan well, and when I was starting, he was kind enough to invite Anthony and me on his bus.
All those guys were good guys, and Anthony and I had nothing but respect for them. Back then, if you showed respect for the business, the veterans in professional wrestling would take you aside and teach you the ropes. Piper, Hogan, Bret Hart, and the British Bulldogs would always teach us.”
Three years ago, Gary retrained me in Florida and put me through an old-school training session where he pushed me to be the best I could be.
Little did I know he had an agenda, and he was preparing me for something I didn’t see in myself. He had me go to WWE Hall of Fame legend Jimmy Valiant’s school in Virginia for six months to fine-tune everything.
In 2025, he officially announced that I was Pitbull #3, as seen here and his promo here. This whole journey has been surreal for me because I never would have thought I would be given this honour.
I remember when I was in my teens, hanging out with a group of my friends from Fitch Senior High School, and we watched bootleg VHS tapes of the Pitbulls destroying people.
Even when I competed in the NCAA for Mitchell College, we would watch old ECW clips for motivation before a Rugby or Lacrosse game.
At times during training, Gary was my worst enemy and, in fact, once kicked me straight in the face when I wasn’t giving 100 percent.
“I wanted to see if he had what it took and if I could push him to the point where he wanted to give up. He never gave up, and he has one of the hardest heads I have ever kicked.”
Reflecting on it, Gary was my best teacher, and the most important lesson he taught me was to work hard and overtrain so that, on game day, you are over-ready.
In the past year, unfortunately, I sustained a knee injury during a confrontation with Broadway Joe Malcolm and Russian Manimal Volkoff, as seen here.
It had healed; however, I reinjured it while competing in the Highland Games (aka Scottish Games), so I haven’t wrestled for about seven months.
However, I did officially debut as Pitbull # 3 by wrestling in a six-man twice as Pitbull # 3 late 2025 with TNA legend/ US Navy Veteran Jesse Neal, as seen here and I did get to do the first-ever superbomb with Gary in over 20 years and captured the inaugural AIWF six-man United States Championship.
In the process, Gary applied his strategic vision to establish the Mad Dogs of War as a professional wrestling faction. Gary strongly advocates the Freebird Rule, created by WWE Hall of Famer Michael P. S. Hayes.
Under the Freebird Rule, a group of three or more wrestlers holds a tag team championship, but any two members can be the official titleholders on a given night.
According to the Glossary of Professional Wrestling the Freebird rule is a “rule” that allows a three-wrestler stable to challenge for and defend a tag-team championship with any two of its members—named for The Fabulous Freebirds, who popularized this concept.
The Mad Dogs of War include U.S. Navy veteran and TNA legend Jesse Neal, TNA Hall of Famer Austin Aries, ECW original Angel Orsini, Women’s Wrestling Hall of Fame inductee Missy Hyatt, ALW’s Jason Dugan, and team captain ECW original Gary Wolf.
Gary, a star high school football player, treats this faction like a football team and has structured it around a winning strategy. While I was recovering from my injury, he made me a manager and Alternate Captain.
“Since Anthony passed away, I have been trying to figure out how to keep our legacy alive, which is not an easy thing to do.
I think about him every day, knowing that, at the time, the Pitbulls were at the top of our game.
It is safe to say that at that time we were in the top five tag teams in the world. Anthony was very soft-spoken and would give the shirt off his back for anyone he was friends with.
Many wrestlers in the business liked him, especially the Samoans, Big Van Vader, Scott Norton, and Bam Bam Bigelow.
They saw our potential and took the time to help us, instead of today, when people want to hurt you.
I feel sorry for new wrestlers today, especially those without a veteran pro wrestler by their side to help them.
We had people like a support group when we weren’t doing well; we had fellow wrestlers who genuinely cared.
For example, Cowboy Bob Orton gave me advice to get a house. He told me, “This way you’ll never be on the street; one day you’ll be in a castle, the next day you’ll be in a tent.”
This is not an easy business to be in. New Jack had to have been one of the craziest, most dangerous people I have ever met in my entire life, but he would call me at least once a week just to check in.
Right before Sabu passed away, I had told him about Pitbull’s coming back, and he was so happy for me because he knew that was closure…
…Anthony is missed, and he is still missed to this day by everyone. I also think if Anthony were still with us, we would still be on television today destroying people.
We always had that mindset to stay in shape and go to the gym. I don’t understand these new kids, and I don’t understand why the landscape has changed.
We had a good fanbase, and we love our fans because they have always been good to us.
What I am doing with Christopher Annino isn’t replacing Anthony, and I know Christopher has said the same because nothing can replace him. Still, I will be keeping the Pitbull legacy alive with the Mad Dogs of War faction.”
In 2025, Gary teamed up with a group of Veterans and first responders to relaunch Veteran Pro Wrestling (VPW). VPW aims to help the community, military veterans, and first responders.
Veteran Pro Wrestling recently became an official territory of the ASWA All-Star Wrestling Association. Throughout 2026, he has had a successful run on the independent scene, becoming the inaugural AIWF United States six-man tag team champion with the Mad Dogs of War faction.
As seen here, Gary won the AIWF New England Brass Knuckles Championship in a hardcore match against reigning champion Russian Manimal Volkoff, forcing him to tap out.
Before the match, Volkoff had just beaten New England Hardcore legend Kyle Johnson, aka Vertebreaker, in an I Quit match for an outlaw promotion.
Gary Wolf defended the Veteran Pro Wrestling tag team championship with ALW’s Jason Dugan, won the United States Wrestling Federation tag team Championship with former WWE Richie Rich, managed by NWA’s Broadway Joe Malcolm, and defeated Puerto Rican Hound Dogg Rafael Gonzalez by submission. He and Anthony signed an action-figure deal with KWK Heroes (www.shopkwk.com) for Pitbull action figures.
He will debut for Game Changer Wrestling on October 10, 2026, and Gary discusses how divine intervention may have played a bigger role.
“About a month ago I was in New Jersey and was booked two times that weekend. I do not know how to explain it, but something felt different that weekend.
I had a match that Friday, and Saturday I had a TV taping for a pay-per-view show in my hometown of Hammonton, New Jersey, for AKW Wrestling against Russian Manimal Volkoff for the AIWF New England brass knuckles title.
Both Anthony and I grew up and went to school in Hammonton, New Jersey. It was a hard, strange, surreal weekend because I wrestled on that Friday night, and before the Saturday show, I was able to see my mother’s grave.
Seeing him again gave me time to talk to him, get a little closure, and let him know I am keeping his legacy alive with the Mad Dogs of War professional wrestling faction and the action figure deal I just signed
His children will be getting money from that,..That Friday I had the opportunity to go against a newcomer named Jimmy Lloyd from GCW.
Later that day I realized that I had known Jimmy Lloyd since he was seven years old. His father owned a deli that I frequented.
Jimmy had approached me prior and was incredibly respectful of the old-school way. However, he asked if we could do the Canadian Destroyer, and I was nervous because, after I broke my neck, I tried to avoid certain moves.
Originally, I didn’t want to do the Canadian Destroyer, but while warming up I figured I needed to not only get closure this weekend, but also to overcome my fears.
So, we did it, and after we did it, the crowd’s response lit a fire under my ass. The fans inspire me to work harder and do better.
In 59 years on this planet, I want to do this one last hardcore run. I am in the best shape of my life, and I work out in the gym six days a week.
October 10 brings me hope and excitement. For the first time in years, I’m starting to feel the butterflies in my stomach again.
My mindset changed, and it motivates me to work harder, and I am very blessed to work for GCW.
Current fans might not be old enough to be ECW fans, but their parents were. The origin of anything you watch now that is considered hardcore stems from ECW and FMW in Japan…
…Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) was formerly Eastern Championship Wrestling with Todd Gordon.
We had to bring something to the table back then because we did not have WWE or WCW’s money.
So we used our passion and talent, and people started coming to see us. We were having death matches before that was an actual term.
Thumb tacks, chairs, ladders, tables- you name it, we did it, and we had WWE Hall of Fame inductees Abdullah the Butcher, Don Muraco, Terry Funk, Mick Foley, Superfly Jimmy Snuka, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and others.
There would never have been an Attitude Era if it weren’t for us. We did an unheard-of 30-man battle royal with weapons.
Another example: New Jack would get to the arena before the matches started and get a trash can to fill with weapons he would find,”
Eventually Paul Heyman took over.
“Heyman, I want to make it clear he is a genius, and I witnessed it firsthand. He would do six months’ worth of Shakespearean-level storylines within 25 minutes, five minutes before the show starts.
He took a no-name company and got them a pay-per-view in a bingo hall… back then, remember, he had basic to no resources.
When people mock Paul Heyman, I tell them what he has done for WWE by making them the best in the world….
Paul Heyman, I have a lot of respect for, was a business acquaintance; however, to me, Todd Gordon helped me and acted as a father figure to me.”
Gary had many close friends in ECW, especially Balls Mahoney, Sabu, Rob Van Dam, Chris Candido, Bam Bam Bigelow, and one of his closest friends, New Jack and shared the following;
“Another thing I am thankful for is being alive because back then the ECW locker room was like the film Animal House starring John Belluschi.
Each of them had an entertaining story to tell, and we took care of each other, but the substance use was out of control.
We used to have a saying: “We are here for a good time, not a long time.” I regret this saying now after losing so many friends.
It got so bad we witnessed Sandman legit die in front of us from drinking so much alcohol.
I am not even kidding you when I tell you this; he came back to life in the hospital, and he was angry because he wanted more alcohol.
That was a time in my life that I realized that I personally needed to take better care of myself.”
When asked what thoughts he had in comparison to now and when he began wrestling, Gary Wolf said,
“The recent struggles, the new wrestling era is back in the day we had a code professional wrestling where now today wrestlers they do not respect that code or wrestlers.
We’re supposed to trust our bodies with each other, and that doesn’t happen anymore. I also notice young wrestlers move away from storytelling and toward high spots.
My biggest pet peeve is how social media has created wimps. Bro, back in the day, if you had a legit feud with someone, you handled it physically or verbally, but never inside the ring.
We have too many keyboard warriors that cannot back up what they say with their fists, so they hide behind a computer.
It sickens me that people weaponize social media, and I have zero respect for any wrestler who does this because it tells me that you cannot fight your own battles face to face.
I also feel untrained people shouldn’t wrestle. I also feel that if you do step into the ring, you need to get examined by a doctor and at least pass a physical for your safety..
…anoher thing people forget is referees, valets, announcers, commentators, and managers are all valuable, especially when utilized correctly. So many promotions misuse these positions, and often underuse them.
I had the honour of having such great managers like Bill Alfonso aka Fonzie, Missy Hyatt, and Jasmin St. Claire.
I want to make one thing clear about Missy Hyatt: she is another person like Heyman whom I have witnessed, with superhuman intelligence.
She can analyze any situation better than anyone I know and can solve most challenges quicker than anyone I know.
Fonzie can do anything and is practically fearless. One manager I need to mention that I never had but did witness was Bobby the Brain Heenan, who had the rare ability to make anyone he worked with better than they were”.
Gary sat back during this interview and reflected when asked how he can sum up his life and what he has learned:
“I am a student of professional wrestling first and foremost. I keep learning something every time I step into that ring.
As I move forward in this last run as a wrestler, I want to maybe get on television again.
I really enjoy what National Wrestling Alliance is doing, especially what Billy Corgan is doing.
I really enjoy watching Juggalo Championship Wrestling, Game Changer Wrestling, Major League Wrestling, and All Elite Wrestling.
I really enjoy WWE’s NXT and what they are doing, and I hope they’ll consider me as a coach sometime.
When I finally retire from this business, I would really like to help new talents and coach people. I always enjoyed training and motivating people.
I trained people at the monster factory, CCW’s school, and then I ran my own school, the Animal House.
Some notable wrestlers I taught were TNA’s Velvet Sky, Mercedes Martinez, Annie Social of Shimmer, Aimee Lee Palmer, NWA’s Billy Reil, Johnny Kashmire, and Trent Acid of Ring of Honour.
In my opinion, if Trent had taken better care of himself, he would have been the next Shawn Michaels. On any given day, I would have 49 guys at my school. The SAT’s and the Briscoes would stop in sometimes.”
Gary added,
“But more on a serious note, right now I realized there is more to life than just wrestling.
I see what is going on in our country, and I joined forces with the All-Star Wrestling Association, and I want to give back to my community more.
I especially want to help first responders, food lockers, Special Olympics, and the military.
I look up to people like B. Brian Blair, who goes out of his way to help professional wrestlers in need on behalf of the Cauliflower Alley Club. I applaud what he did for Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorff, Brickhouse Brown, Jerry Grey, and Kamala the Ugandan Giant.
I love what Natalia Neidhart, Bryan Idol, and Natalia Markova do for teaching new talent.
All three are not only great trainers but phenomenal in the ring, and they focus on the fundamentals. It is about camaraderie and helping each other become better. And Chris Chavis, aka Tatanka, sons to me, are going to be the next wonderful thing.”
A documentary on the Pitbulls will be in development. Originally, it was slated to be directed by Angel Orsini;
however, due to time commitments, former American Gladiator Deron McBee will now direct it . Deron is a former law enforcement officer and the official commissioner of Veteran Pro Wrestling.
He and Gary Wolf have both been mentoring people on the Veteran Pro Wrestling roster. November 21, 2026, he will be wrestling for All Star Wrestling Association.
This show also involves Veteran Pro Wrestling, a territory of Florida All Star Wrestling, and will be held at the Veterans of Foreign Wars at 14736 Edward R. Noll Dr, Spring Hill, FL 34609. Part of the mission is to help VFWs that are struggling financially.
Military veterans and first responders founded Veteran Pro Wrestling. The roster includes veterans, first responders, and essential workers, including United States Army Veteran and lifetime VFW member Johnny Faith.
Johnny is beloved amongst the fans. Professional wrestling legend Tom Prichard trained Johnny, and it shows in how Johnny always conducts himself positively in and out of the ring.
On December 6, 2026, Gary will appear in Hicksville, New York, for ECW DDay alongside fellow ECW legends Sandman, Francine, Shane Douglas, and Al Snow. Gary Wolf has a supporting role in the experimental comedy Russian Manimal Volkoff, starring Olga Kurkulina (Kick-Ass 2), Andrew Bryniarski (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), Tiffany Million (Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling), Johnny Necro, Erika Andersch (American Gladiators), and AVN Nominee Foxxxy Darlin.
