This is the world that can best be described by the unfortunate description of amateur professional wrestling. Amateur because they’re not full time professionals, but “pro” in the sense that this is Hulk Hogan wrestling, not Olympics wrestling. On a recent Saturday night on a Staten Island football field, around 1,000 fans — mostly families — have paid $20 each to watch a show featuring local wrestlers, with former WWE star Matt Hardy as the main event of the evening. First there are several matches between local wrestlers, including a 10-man “royal rumble” match, where each wrestler is eliminated when he gets pushed or thrown out of the ring. (The wrestlers from WoW are paid $20 each, standard payment for every match. Bellini: "If they want more than that, they can go somewhere else.")

After a few more matches, there's a women’s tag team match featuring a former WWE wrestler, Shelley Martinez, an extremely buxom fan favorite, who wins. One of the big name wrestlers on the bill, Shane Douglas, doesn't show up, and none of the wrestlers or Bellini can quite give a reason why other than rolled eyes and grumbles that Douglas is known for flaking last minute.

After a mid-show break for the evening's second rendition of the national anthem, Matt Hardy is announced and his signature theme song blares on the P.A. system. He makes the long walk from the makeshift backstage area near the front ticket table across the football field to the ring. With no barriers on the long walkway, a crowd of kids gather around him, chanting his name and walking him to the ring. Hardy wears a black t-shirt with his personal motto, “Stronger than death," and bedazzled blue parachute pants. He removes his shirt at the ring, revealing a slightly softer stomach than he used to have. Tonight he's taking on Jay Lethal, a wrestler from Total Nonstop Action (TNA) wrestling league, which was formed in 2005. Although it has a weekly show on the Spike channel, it’s not as prestigious or popular as the WWE.

Hardy is a “face” – a good guy character – and the face role in a match is always the same: get tossed around the ring until turning it around at the last minute for a win. Hardy, who has back and knee injuries, doesn't perform any of his famous high-flying moves from back in the day. This match is certainly a huge step down from the packed stadiums he used to perform in, but he takes hits and rolls around theatrically on the mat, and when he pins Jay Lethal for the win, the crowd goes wild. Hardy rips off his T-shirt and tosses it to them as they cheer.