Alex Biese

@ABieseAPP

For countless fans, performers and promoters across New Jersey, professional wrestling isn't just real — it's serious business.

It's no exaggeration to say that on nearly every weekend, there's an independent wrestling event happening somewhere in the Garden State. Companies like World Wrestling Entertainment may be booming on an international level, but business is good here at home as well.

"The tri-state area has always been the mecca for pro wrestling," said D2W Pro Wrestling owner Jamie Pittaro of Rockaway, citing the proximity to media epicenter that is New York City.

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Pittaro has wrestled as The Jersey Devil for around 20 years, and D2W will be celebrating its sixth year in October. The company — which holds house shows the first Friday of every month at the William J. Hocking American Legion Post 91 on Main Street in Wharton, Morris County — draws a consistent fan base, Pittaro said.

“My crowd is basically the same, it’s repeat customers," he said. "I have a lot of young kids in the crowd. Parents bring their kids, they tell their friends. I do birthday parties. I feel that in this day and age, it really all depends on the area and what kind of people, wrestling fans or not, are in that area."

With an average ticket price of $10 to $15, D2W works to give fans a lot bang for their buck, Pittaro said.

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“Our house shows are off the hook. I make sure all the wrestlers go out and mingle with the crowd during intermission. They stay after the show is over for pictures, autographs, T-shirts, whatever," he said.

“My thought on that is you’re going to spend a minimum of about $50 to $60 on a WWE ticket or a supershow ticket — with absolutely no chance of getting within 10 feet of a pro wrestling superstar, let alone get the chance to shake their hand, take a picture, have a brief conversation with them. For me, I found that the more you let the wrestlers interact with the crowd, the more response and the more return business you’re going to get.”

D2W Pro Wrestling will present Upgrade: The Back to School Spectacular on Friday, Sept. 2, doors at 7:30 p.m. and bell at 8, tickets $10 at the William J. Hocking American Legion Post 91​, 99 North Main St., Wharton, 973-627-1180, www.d2wprowrestling.com.

School of hard knocks

For the last 15 years, the Nutley-based Independent Wrestling Federation has been preparing future superstars for careers in the sports entertainment business. In that time, 11 of the IWF Wrestling School graduates have gone on to full-time careers in the business as wrestlers and referees, as well as behind-the-scenes roles in television, video and writing departments.

The school, according to owner Kevin Knight, trains its students in all aspects of the wrestling business.

“At this level, it is called independent wrestling for a reason," Knight explained. "You are more independent, so it is up to you to continue to come up with that creativity, which is good because if you have a student here who’s a really good wrestler but maybe they don’t have the height or the size the WWE is looking at, (they can) learn how to referee, learn how to ring announce, learn how to commentate. Maybe (they) will be valuable to them in other areas outside of just what goes on in the ring.”

In addition to the school, IWF has presented live events since early 1998. The company still puts on shows nearly every week at its center on Franklin Avenue in Nutley, with the next bout scheduled for Sept. 10.

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Over the years, IWF instructors have included wrestling legends such as the Honky Tonk Man, Tito Santana, John Bradshaw Layfield, Ricky Steamboat and Ken Shamrock.

Among the program's graduates is current WWE star Darren Young. Young began attending IWF's original location in then-West Paterson (now Woodland Park) in 2002 after graduating from Union High School, where he had played football and was an amateur wrestler. After training with IWF for more than six years, Young signed with the WWE in 2009.

“He was a big guy, had a great look," Knight said of Young. "You don’t want to look back and say, ‘Wow, this guy is going to make it,’ but there are some guys that walk in and you just kind of know when they come in, ‘Wow, this guy might have a chance.’ Just how they look, how they talk, how they carry themselves."

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Young, Knight explained, had all of the key requirements to take him a long way in the wrestling business.

“In addition to the physical skills, you have to have a good attitude, you have to want to learn, you have to be a good person," Knight said. "Wrestling is more about cooperation than your actual physical skills because it’s very similar to acting where if you say a line and I don’t react to it, I make you look bad because I don’t react to your line. So there’s cooperation among actors to make the movie or the TV show or the play look good, and it’s the same in wrestling. There’s a lot of cooperation involved, and that comes from having a good attitude, and he had it from day one."

Young, Knight said, still stops by the IWF facility when he's in the area visiting family.

"It sounds cliche but he was the first one there, he was the last one to leave. After he was there for a year, I just had a key made for him because he’d be at the building before I would. He’d watch videos and DVDs of the older superstars and legends to learn and pick up things from them."

For more information on the Independent Wrestling Federation, including its training school and upcoming shows, visit www.campiwf.com.

The hits keep coming

​September will see plenty of in-ring action in New Jersey. Here are some of the highlights: