BasketBrawl Raises More Than $9K For Nonprofit
Brandon Kirk was named MVP.
Despite a few flagrant fouls, BasketBrawl was a mostly civil affair on Sunday, as independent wrestlers from the Northeast took to the court for a good cause.
Over 50 wrestlers suited up for a game of Heels vs. Faces with about 70 attendees cheering along the sidelines at the Sawmill YMCA in Hamilton Township, New Jersey. The IWTV-streamed event blended the best of basketball and pro wrestling, as each competitor made grand entrances, including Dan Maff wielding a steel chair. At tip-off, Brandon Kirk (who’d go on to win MVP) ball tapped El Oso Blanco Bruno to ensure The Heels would have an advantage, and sure enough, they never lost the lead.
I’m not suggesting that any of these athletes leave wrestling behind, but there were a few SportsCenter highlights. Territory Champion Matt Vertigo swatted Maff, only to get a receipt from Kirk that sent the “New York Drip” crashing to the floor. Corey Dillinger plowed through half The Faces, busting out a spin along the way. Although Dan Champion was one of the few to make his free throws, Ref Ryan popped one in his mitt.
The Heels picked up the victory with a final score of 48-47, but those weren’t the numbers that truly mattered. After all, BasketBrawl was created to raise money for the Miracle League of Mercer County, a nonprofit that allows children with special needs the opportunity to play baseball in a fully inclusive setting. The event was organized by Shane Fair, ring announcer for UWA Elite, Pro Wrestling Magic, Warriors of Wrestling and other promotions in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Fair was motivated to do something to unite the wrestling community in the wake of Colin West, owner of now-defunct Synergy Pro Wrestling, being exposed as a registered sex offender. “Everyone involved with Synergy was heartbroken,” Fair says. “I wanted to channel that energy into something positive. We needed to do right by the children.”
Launching a GoFundMe in May, Fair reached his original goal of $5,000 by mid-July. At halftime, he presented Dan Sczweck, executive director of the Miracle League of Mercer County, with a check for $9,080. Darius Carter, naturally dressed to the nines with a jersey overtop, threatened to rip up the giant check presented to the Miracle League.
Sczweck has since posted on Facebook that proceeds from the event totaled $10,062.
A grassroots effort, Fair refused to use any of the donations toward funding the actual event. Taking out a personal loan to get the participants’ jerseys made, Fair says he’s invested more than $4,000 of his own money into making BasketBrawl a reality. To help defray expenses, wrestling promotions, podcasts and even local companies outside the industry were invited to sponsor participants. Chuckie Ireland and his daughter Chloe of Daddy Daughter Entertainment were recognized for sponsoring Maff, Kirk, Rey Calitri and Kasey Catal.
Speaking of Calitri, he alone raised $700, part of which came from donations for a contest to “Win a Day With Rey.” For a $20 entry, you had the chance to be picked up in his Maserati to be taken to lunch and the game, along with an event poster, T-shirt and two tickets to the next show Calitri wrestles on. In a similar contest that went up to $500 in bidding, you could go to lunch with Kirk and Catal – the “first couple of death match wrestling.”
“For everybody on this court that donated their time, effort and money, I can’t thank you enough,” Fair said.
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