Phil Strum

Poughkeepsie

In a bit of a surprise, The Now -- Vik Dalishus and Hale Collins -- make their return to Northeast Wrestling on Friday night at NEW WrestleFest XX at 7:30 p.m. at Newburgh Free Academy.

"They're coming home," NEW president Michael Lombardi said. "We have a great history. They trained and started in other places, but they certainly made their name in Northeast Wrestling. Sometimes, people go their separate ways for business, to make a living and to do what's best for themselves. We're very excited and I'm sure the fans of the Hudson Valley will be excited."

Dalishus (Rob Begley) and Collins (Dale Chapman) are both Dutchess County natives and haven't wrestled for NEW in four years. They, along with Tommy Dreamer, are the trainers at the House of Hardcore Wrestling Academy in Poughkeepsie. They split up and feuded toward the end of their NEW run, including a main event match at Mid-Hudson Civic Center with Bret Hart at ringside. They recently reformed their tag team.

Dalishus says being back home means the most to him.

"We haven't had a chance to wrestle in the area in two years and for Northeast Wrestling in four years," Dalishus said. "I'm most excited to come back and be in front of those fans. No matter what we did in wrestling, people would always ask us, 'What about NEW?' Regardless of anything that happened, we made a name for ourselves locally in Northeast Wrestling.

The NEW card in Newburgh will feature special appearances by Jim Cornette and WWE Hall of Famers Jim Ross, Terry Funk and Mick Foley. The card is: Rey Mysterio vs. Caleb Konley, Jerry "The King" Lawler vs. "Man Scout" Jake Manning, NEW champion War King Hanson vs. Dijak, Matt Hardy vs. Dalton Castle, Brian Anthony vs. Dan De Man, Mandy Leon vs. Deonna Purrazzo, TK O'Ryan vs. Vinny Marseglia.

Collins said the ultimate goal for The Now is to win the NEW tag team championship. The current NEW tag team champions are Team Friendship -- Scotty Slade and Mark Shurman.

"If you look at how many teams have come together, it's exciting," Collins said. "It's exciting. There's great competition. There's a lot of teams out there grabbing the fans' attention and I want to be a part of that."

"It just feels like this is what we're supposed to be doing," Dalishus said. "Any time we've done things separately, it just didn't feel right. I have a certain amount of unfinished business. I'm not ready for a big old period yet on my career. This is probably going to be our best run. We're a little bit older, a little bit wiser and in a little bit better shape."

Collins added that he wanted to dedicate the team's match Friday to his aunt, Harriet Chapman, who passed away last week. He said she was a regular at all the Now matches in Northeast Wrestling.