Like many men his age, Carlos Aristy grew up watching professional wrestling on TV while growing up in the Bronx.
“I was a typical kid watching wrestling late at night, with my friend, when no adults were watching”, he said. “I’m still a fan of the product. I watch it whenever I can.”
On Saturday, October 1, Aristy will turn that love of the sport into a local spectacle as he presents ‘Battle by the 6,’ the first live event for his Battle Club Pro independent wrestling company.
He said he has worked to video and edit local matches for years, and after taking courses at Bronx Community College and BronxNet he was ready to branch out on his own.
Independent wrestling, according to Aristy’s website, is “an environment teeming with competitors who carry big dreams, and employ various methods of achieving them; some noble, and others questionable at best.”
That description certainly fits the bill – among those on the card include Chris Dickenson, who became a controversial viral sensation after pummeling a female opponent in an inter-gender match last year.
He will take on Anthony Bowens, the champion of New Jersey’s popular Wrestlepro organization.
Also appearing is a popular Canadian grappler known as Space Monkey, who wears a chimp mask and a space suit.
He will take on the Bronx’s own Cave Man, who would be right at home in a GEICO insurance ad.
Cave Man wrestles for Bronx Wrestling Federation, which broadcasts matches in both English and Spanish and features Mexican and other Latino athletes.
Add to that seven other matches including a seven-man gauntlet match and a women’s match for Breast Cancer Awareness Month and you have a full slate of entertainment that is truly independent and anything but fake.
“Wrestling is scripted, but everything they do in the ring is real,” he said. “They end up with broken noses and fingers.”
Most of the men and women who enter the ring do so in their spare time, Aristy said, as a second job or simply for their own entertainment.
Two weeks before the event, the 28 year-old is busy with organizing the event, which will be held at The Point community center at 940 Garrison Avenue at 8 p.m.
A husband, father and employee at a luxury Jewelry retailer in Manhattan by day, he enters the less glamorous world of masks and spandex by night as he plans the debut event from his Third Avenue home.
Independent wrestling is a big deal. Promotional leagues can be found across the country, and several already exist in the city, mostly in Queens and Brooklyn Another independent league, Wrestler’s Laboratory, is hosting their first event in the Bronx in the same ring right before Arsity’s event as part of a double-header.
“You don’t even need a TV deal anymore, as far as exposure, you can just post it on YouTube and put your paid ad on the page,” he explained.
Tickets are $20 online for adults, and children 12 and under get in free.
More information on ‘Battle by the 6’ can be found at Battl
