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When it comes to professional wrestling, the energy comes from the audience. No matter how dramatic and athletic the in-ring action can be, even with over-the-top storylines and rivalries, the crowd reaction means everything.\u00a0<\/p>\n
To Milhouse Malott, founder of Las Vegas\u2019 PrideStyle Inclusive Pro Wrestling, it\u2019s the ringside mania that makes the match.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the feral-ness of being allowed\u2014regardless of your identity, gender, or anything\u2014to scream and yell at people, to cheer and boo and flip people off. The action is flying right past your head,\u201d says Malott. \u201cThere\u2019s just something about getting to let go and giving into that primal human desire, to be a little crazy for a while and not have to worry about the repercussions of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The adrenaline that comes from watching a masked luchador clothesline a man three times his size never gets old, nor does the shock of seeing a barrel-chested tag team duo like PrideStyle\u2019s Mariachi Montana steamroll through a fatal fourway match to victory. Since 2021, that\u2019s the kind of action this local offshoot has used to turn lukewarm fans into lifelong fanatics\u2014all while powerbombing the bigotry that has been associated in the past with this form of entertainment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt catches you off guard until you take a moment to think about just the nature of wrestling and men rolling around in their underwear and putting on soap opera stories for each other,\u201d Malott says. \u201cThe core essence of it is quite dramatic and quite queer. Wrestling is a niche that \u2026 a lot of people think is a very traditional, cis white male, masculine type of show.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we show, and so many other places show, that it\u2019s such a varied space. The wrestling kids are like the cousins of the theater kids. It\u2019s very much drag, it\u2019s very much theater. Once people peel back that layer of thinking it\u2019s this machismo thing, they\u2019re like, \u2018Oh, my God, I love wrestling.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
PrideStyle will host its first Shooting Star Fest this week, a three-day extravaganza bringing 10 companies and eight shows to Swan Dive in the Downtown Arts District. The festival coincides with WWE\u2019s biggest event of the year, WrestleMania, which returns to Las Vegas for the first time since 1993.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve grown to this place where not only have we gained the respect of our queer peers and allies, but of the wrestling industry as a whole, to the point that we are able to host our own collective, our own festival with people that support not just wrestlers, but inclusive pro wrestling.It feels very triumphant in a lot of ways,\u201d Malott says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Regional and international promotions participating in the fest also include Vegas\u2019 GrapHouse; Houston\u2019s New Texas Pro Wrestling; Vancouver\u2019s WrestleCore and Dusk Pro Wrestling; France\u2019s Banger Zone Wrestling; Palmdale, California\u2019s New Tradition Lucha Libre; Northern California\u2019s Oasis Pro; Austin\u2019s Uncanny Attractions; and LA\u2019s Pandemonium Pro.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Shooting Star Fest is just one of many Las Vegas wrestling happenings accompanying the two-night Wrestlemania at Allegiant Stadium. But Malott says he\u2019s confident \u201cour community is going to show out and show up.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the span of a few years, PrideStyle has gone from hosting shows for 40 people at the Boulevard Mall to selling out 200 tickets at Swan Dive. It\u2019s become something that unites a diverse local community.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a group of trans and queer people that come, and it\u2019s their support group\u2019s monthly outing that\u2019s non-therapy related,\u201d he says. \u201cWe have couples, queer and non-queer, that their date night every month is to come to PrideStyle. Someone got married in a PrideStyle ring. It\u2019s crazy to see the growth and the love that it\u2019s fostered.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
PRIDESTYLE WRESTLING:\u00a0<\/strong>SHOOTING STAR FEST\u00a0<\/strong>April 16-18, times vary, $15-$31. Swan Dive, tickets.pridestylepro.com<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n