Oh, you didn’t know?
Well, Pioneer Valley Pro Wrestling is wrapping up its 2026 season with a pair of events, at the Northampton Elks Lodge No. 997 on Nov. 14 and at Franklin County’s YMCA in Greenfield on Dec. 12. The first of the two shows is the promotion’s final regular event of the year, while the one in Greenfield will be a fundraiser for the YMCA.
“I think we can turn you into a fan,” PVP Wrestling owner and founder Justin “The Hammer” Tunis said.
The Nov. 14 show is being billed as “Go Big Or Go Home 5: Homecoming,” with eight matches scheduled. The main event will feature Sammy “Top 5 Dead or Alive” Diaz defending his PVP championship belt against challenger Dustin “Flash” Waller. Diaz has had three title runs in the past two years, and his most recent reign is approaching the one-year mark. Waller has gone from tag team champion to winning the inaugural Fuji Cup Tournament and then becoming the first PVP lineage champion. He earned his spot as the No. 1 contender with his Rumble victory in September, when he entered in the 11th slot, survived more than 20 minutes, and last eliminated Brett Ryan Gosselin.
“They’re as talented as anyone you’d ever see on TV, honestly,” Tunis said about the main event wrestlers.
Earlier in the night, there will be a four-way tag team match for the PVP tag team gold. The contest will feature reigning champions Brick City versus Starting Lineup versus Sons Of South Brooklyn versus Tony Booze and a mystery partner. The event is slated for 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
PVP Wrestling started holding shows at the Northampton Elks Lodge after The Pulaski Club in Easthampton closed at the end of last year. “Go Big Or Go Home 5: Homecoming” will be the fifth show at the lodge.
“They’ve been good,” Tunis said of the previous four shows. “It’s a slightly smaller building, but we’ve had capacity events each of the events we’ve had this year.”
Brenda Ryan, who handles hall rentals as the lodge’s secretary, said Tunis reached out to her while looking for a new venue and she decided to give it a shot.
“I have to say that they are the most amazing group. These people who come in are so polite, so professional,” she said. “It’s great to see the families coming out. [The wrestlers] really put on a beautiful show. They work so hard to do it, and they’re amazing.”
Ryan said she marveled at how well the promotion sets up the entire room, ring and all, and at the wrestlers’ camaraderie and work ethic.
“A lot of times you can smell the Bengay,” she said with a laugh.
There will also be a couple-versus-couple tag team match pitting Big Juicy and her fiancé Dylan Thomas against PVP Women’s Champion Liviyah and her boyfriend DJ Powers.
Tickets are available at tinyurl.com/WrestlingTix, and prices vary. Floor and standing room tickets are $3 off when ordered in advance. There will also be a bar, food, vendors and raffles.
The Nov. 14 event will also feature the rollout of PVP Wrestling trading cards.
William Bullock, the new director of development and community engagement at Franklin County’s YMCA, became acquainted with Tunis and PVP Wrestling when Bullock was on the board of directors for the South End Community Center in Springfield, where two or three shows would be held every year.
“I think there’s a need for entertainment in Greenfield, so we wanted to be able to provide some family entertainment here,” Bullock said. “It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Doors for “The Battle for Franklin County” will open at 6 p.m. on Dec. 12. The bell rings at 7 p.m. The main event will be a fatal four-way match to crown the inaugural Franklin County’s YMCA champion. He said the Y is ordering a custom-made belt that will be defended exclusively on site in Greenfield.
The main event will feature Ichiban, the breakout star of New England over the past five years, “Big Bacon” Brad Hollister, who holds the record for most PVP championship reigns, former WWE and NXT star Anthony Greene (formerly known as August Grey), and Steven Stetson, Tunis’s former tag team partner and a product of New Japan Pro-Wrestling Dojo. Each competitor was nominated by one of PVP Wrestling’s board members.
Bullock said children will present the strap to the winner in the ring.
“We’ve gotten great responses from … small businesses, supporting and sponsoring the event,” he said. “We’re still looking for some additional sponsors.”
There will be six matches at the fundraiser event, including a tag team contest featuring Matthew James, an evening DJ for Rock 102 (WAQY).
“[It’s] hopefully the first of several to come,” Tunis said of the Dec. 12 event. “I’m really excited. I really love going to new venues and seeing new fans.”
Tickets, which vary in price, are available at tinyurl.com/YMCAwrestling. For more information, contact Bullock at bbullock@your-y.org.
Bullock, 50, said he was an avid wrestling fan during the golden era of the WWF (now WWE), which spanned much of the 1980s and into the early 90s.
Founded by Tunis in 2015, PVP Wrestling is the longest-running independent professional wrestling promotion in western Massachusetts, hosting family-friendly live events across Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin counties.
Tunis was a pro wrestler for 16 years until retiring in 2025.
“I had a good run,” he recalled.
Tunis said he started PVP Wrestling to fill a void after a previous local wrestling promotion, Eastern Wrestling Alliance, fell apart. He now holds 10 to 12 events per year, nearing 120 since 2015.
Wrestling with independent promotions can be a stepping stone for some. National stars Sasha Banks (now known as Mercedes Moné) and MJF started their careers in this region, and former NXT Champion and WWE United States Champion Carmelo Hayes was once on PVP Wrestling’s roster. But most of the promotion’s wrestlers enter the squared circle as a side hustle.
“There’s some fans where it’s like, they watch it and they just want to stick to watching it. I knew I had to get in the ring. I had to do it … I had to!” wrestler Brianna Bandz said in July 2025. “I don’t know what to say. I just had to wrestle.”
Nineteen-year-old Liviyah has been in the wrestling world most of her life, thanks to her pro-wrestling father, “Edward G. Ecstasy.” She started training when she was 12 and hopes to someday make it her full-time profession.
RJ Rude balances wrestling with being a musician (he has been known to wrestle and play a show on the same day), and Pedro “The Shot-Caller” Dones teaches math in New York City. In fact, he has a master’s degree in school building leadership and was named a 2020 NYC Big Apple Award recipient by the New York City Department of Education.
More information about PVP Wrestling is available on the promotion’s Facebook page.
