Fresh off a European tour, Staten Island pro wrestler Vinny Pacifico is hungry for more excitement

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — In many ways, Staten Islander Vinny Pacifico is fulfilling the childhood dream of many boys of making a living as a professional wrestler.

From small church crowds to TV audiences to stadiums in Finland, the Tottenville native is a true globetrotter.

He estimates he has had over 500 fights in his career, including in the biggest arenas, facing the likes of Gangrel, EC3 and Wardlow in Ring of Honor, NXT and AEW.

He has been spotted on some of the top podcasts, including appearances on Freddie Prinze Jr.’s “Wrestling With Freddie” and the Kurt Angle Show, where his approach has been widely praised.

Pacifico is 25 years old and still very young when it comes to wrestling, but he has been honing his skills for over a decade, fighting all over the world.

And that may be an understatement.

“I’m very rarely away from the game,” he said. “As an independent wrestler, you get paid to work.”

Pacifico said he only had four weekends without a show in the past calendar year, and one of them was his wedding, which was attended by so many pro wrestlers that they might as well have made a spectacle of it.

He certainly paid off for being one of the busiest independent wrestlers in the world.

In August of this year, Pacifico’s career took a big step forward when they embarked on a month-long European tour, taking in England, Finland and France.

After marrying Carly in November 2023, he used the tour as an extension of the honeymoon they never had, albeit with breaks for fights with eight giants in skintight costumes to the delight of rowdy fanatics.

“I had previously fought in England and they asked me to come back, but I just had to sort out the logistics,” Pacifico said. “I booked a few shows and then a company in France said they heard I was going to be in Europe and wanted to fly me in from England for two of their shows. So that whole month got booked pretty easily.”

If you have the build of a Dave Bautista or The Rock, opportunities in this business will come your way sooner or later, but at 5’7″ and 170 pounds, Pacifico often finds himself on the other side of the ring, facing these giants in front of crowds ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand people.

“In Helsinki, I fought in the middle of a metal festival. I didn’t know what to expect,” he said. “I was definitely nervous, but I felt their energy before my match even started. They saw my picture on the poster, watched my videos and were cheering me on before I even came out. It was really special.”

“The fans were absolutely phenomenal,” added Pacifico, who compared the crowd to those at a professional soccer match. “They were singing along. They were dancing. They were so into it.”

“I think the wrestling culture in Europe is so beautiful,” he added. “The fans in Europe are so appreciative of what we do in the ring and they just want to have the best time possible.”

The tour was such a huge success that the artist has already been booked for another European tour, securing shows in the Netherlands, Romania and Germany in November.

What people don’t see is that behind the scenes there is a six-day training program, a diet to stay slim all year round, interviews and sketches to get his name out there, and flights to earn money that sometimes barely justifies the cost of his stay.

All this while trying to balance life as a newlywed with working part-time jobs to make ends meet and live in New York City.

“It helps when you have a life partner who supports my career. Carly is like that,” he added. “It’s hard to balance sometimes, but she also comes with me on trips like the one I took to Europe. It’s like a paid vacation.”

Last year, Advance/SILive.com highlighted Pacifico’s viral stunt where he would consume an energy drink to power up in the middle of a match, Popeye the Sailor Man style. Through his backstage appearances with well-known talent in the wrestling world, Pacifico was able to back this up with a few energy drink sponsorship deals.

He says he could make a comfortable living fighting on his own, but his ultimate goal is to sign with a major company and appear on television every week.

“At this point, I have so much work and such a rich CV that I have accumulated over the years that when people approach me, they know what to expect.”