Fairgrounds hosting professional wrestling event today
Photo by Tom Rivers: Gavin Glass, 20, of Middleport will be among the 20 wrestlers in action today at the Orleans County 4-H Fairgrounds from 6 to 9 p.m. He is pictured on the ring after it was set up Friday evening in the Lartz Building. Today’s event is a fundraiser for the East Shelby Volunteer Fire Company.
Medina native grateful for chance to wrestle in hometown
Gavin Glass has been wrestling as an independent professional for nearly three years.
KNOWLESVILLE – Gavin Glass, a 2015 Medina graduate, has been a professional wrestler for nearly three years, traveling to several states for matches. Tonight, he will wrestle for the first time before a home crowd.
Glass, 20, is in one of the featured matches at the “Fairground Fallout” – an Empire State Wrestling event with about 10 matches from 6 to 9 p.m. (Doors open at 5 p.m.)
“The adrenaline will be flowing,” Glass said Friday night, when the group was setting up bleachers and the ring.
This will be the first time the Orleans County 4-H Fairgrounds is hosting a wrestling event. Ryan McPherson, a member of the East Shelby Volunteer Fire Company, contacted the promoter after attending some of the events in North Tonawanda at the St. Johnsburg Fire Hall.
“They are super-entertaining,” McPherson said. “The things they do are amazing.”
The Lartz Building will be transformed with lighting and sound effects for the matches today. The promoter also will have large video screens up with images and clips of the wrestlers. There will be entrance videos to build excitement for the matches.
Glass who lives in Middleport, became a wrestling fan in fourth grade and watched it on TV and played wrestling video games. As a kid he went to a gym in Hamlin weekly, and learned how to wrestle without hurting himself or an opponent.
The wrestlers get bleachers in place for today’s event at the Fairgrounds.
Glass played youth soccer but didn’t have a passion for sports as a Medina student. Glass has always enjoyed acting and likes the camaraderie among the wrestlers, who work together to entertain the crowd.
Gavin “A Cut Above the Rest” Glass is a promotional photo.
He is an independent professional wrestler and is booked most weekends, often in Rochester and Buffalo. He wears light blue when he is a good guy and black when he is the villain. Because he is wrestling for the home crowd today, he will be in bright blue. When he is the villain, Glass said he enjoys drawing the boos out of the crowd.
Glass isn’t a muscle-bound freak. He is 6’1’’ and weighs 160 pounds. As he gets older, he said he will pack on more muscle. Right now he is fast-paced in the ring, known as a high flyer who uses speed and quick striking ability.
His signature move is “The Glass Cutter,” where he springs from the corner of the ring, grab’s the opponent’s head and slams his face into the floor. It’s similar to Steve Austin’s “Stunner.”
Glass said the wrestlers work together to put on a good event, with a focus on keeping each other safe.
Glass works as a graphic designer and many of his customers are other wrestlers. He designs there shorts, T-shirts and promotional posters. Glass uses his real name with an addition: “Gavin Glass – A Cut Above the Rest.”
The lineup today includes a former WWE star Gangrel and current Impact Wrestling star Braxton Sutter. Albion native Kevin (Lockwood) Blackwood also will be wrestling.
For more on the event, click here.
The Orleans County 4-H Fairgrounds is located at 12690 Route 31
