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FOLLANSBEE -- National Championship Wrestling is making its return to the Ohio Valley.
After a successful first show March 27, NCW will be holding "No Guts No Glory" Saturday at the Blue Wave Center. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m., with a bell time of 7 p.m. All tickets cost $15.
"Well, the first show went great," NCW owner and promoter Joe Rogers said. "It by far exceeded expectations. You know, with the pandemic going on, folks are scared to leave their house with good reason. I told myself to focus on what I could control and whatever happens from there happens.
"You have got to understand my locker room, most of them did not wrestle in front of a live crowd or even wrestle in over a year. Then you got fans that were stuck in their house over a year so this show was a big deal for our locker room, myself and our fans. The very next day the fans were all over social media talking about the show, saying it was the best show they had seen in this area in years."
This area holds a special play in Rogers's heart.
"As I told the crowd at the last show, the Follansbee/Weirton area will always be special to me, I ran shows here years ago," he said. "I made some lifelong friends that became family here. I always planned to do more shows here and build something special here.
"This area deserves to have something good like NCW here. As long as the community will be here and support us – I plan to be here. We are looking at other areas to run extra shows but, this area will always be on our schedule."
Pro wrestling shows always are changing, and Saturday's promises to be different than the first one.
"Every show is different with stories, drama and talent," Rogers said. "As a fan, you will never know what to expect. We will always have at least eight matches on the card, sometimes more."
The show will follow the rules regarding COVID-19 set by West Virginia Governor Jim Justice.
"As far as restrictions, Justice lifted restrictions for indoor events and just came out and said the mask restrictions will be lifted in June," Rogers said. "We will be following orders from the governor – as he relaxes them, we will too. But, we want to make sure we respect all of our fans. So, if any of them still want social distance from others, we will make accommodations for them. We value opinions from our fans and we want to do what best for everyone."
Even before Saturday's show, Rogers has announced NCW will return to the Follansbee in June, July and August. The June show may be a pay-per-view event.
"We are targeting possibly June 26 to do our first live PPV with FITE TV, so we are working on some big things for this area," Rogers said.
Rogers has also scheduled NCW to return to the Blue Wave Center July 31 and Aug. 28.
Rogers' message to fans is, "To get ready for an exciting journey this summer with us," Rogers said. "We are planning some big things. So make sure you come out and check us out for a fun filled night of pro wrestling entertainment that only NCW delivers."
Tickets can be purchased at nationalchampionshipwrestling.com.
For information, fans can call Rogers at (724) 256-1774.
Here is the card for the show:
Sless Taylor vs Santana Diamondz (NCW heavyweight title match)
Rayo vs. Zakar Shah
Alpha Inc vs. The Sambo Show
Desean Pratt vs. Chris Slade
Vinny Pacifico vs. Abraham Khan
"Yo Cuz" Big Rock vs. Boom Harden
Prince Noah vs. Gabriel Kai
John Washington vs. Kenny Urban