It's not your typical Humane Society fundraiser, but organizers of Saturday's "Throwdown for the Pound" hope to make the wrestling show an annual event.
"Basically, We Lov Pets was trying to find a fundraiser that wasn't something normal to the Mid-Ohio Valley," said Steve Herron, shelter manager for the Humane Society of the Ohio Valley. "The more we thought about it, the more excited about it we became."
The show is the brainchild of Adam Johnson, manager at We Lov Pets in the Lafayette Shopping Center and an avid wrestling fan. In addition to helping out a worthy cause, Johnson said, the eight-match event is "also going to be a great wrestling show."
Front row and ringside tickets have already sold out for the Throwdown, which starts at 7 p.m. Saturday at Marietta Middle School, with doors opening at 6. However, Johnson said there are still plenty of general admission tickets available, for $10, at We Lov Pets and they likely will be sold at the door Saturday.
Johnson said organizers were thrown a curveball when one of the headliners, TNA (Total Nonstop Action) wrestler Pope D'Angelo Deniro, was injured in TNA's Lockdown Pay-Per-View event. However, fans can still expect a familiar face from the popular wrestling league.
"We will have a surprise TNA superstar as his replacement who is even bigger than the Pope," Johnson said.
Fact Box
If you go
What: Throwdown for the Pound wrestling event.
When: 7 p.m. Saturday, doors open at 6.
Where: Marietta Middle School, Seventh Street and Glendale Road, Marietta.
Tickets: $10.
For more information: www.remixprowrestling.com
Also featured will be a women's match pitting former TNA Knockout Sojo Bolt against Nevaeh. There will also be a four-way tag team match, and Parkersburg's Bryan Cross will take on a wrestler from Pittsburgh.
"It will be a family-oriented show," Johnson said. "There'll be something there for everyone."
The Humane Society will have dogs and cats up for adoption at the event. Sponsors will be giving out prizes, and concessions will be sold.
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Johnson said he hopes to see the Throwdown for the Pound become an annual fundraiser for the society.
"I think it's something the community will enjoy," he said.
Herron said fundraisers and support from the community are what keeps the shelter going. In October, he told Washington County commissioners the shelter was in danger of closing its doors this year, and the public responded generously, Herron said.
"We're going strong, we're still saving animals' lives, and our future is definitely looking better than it was," he said.
The shelter is on solid ground financially into 2011, he said, and fundraisers like Saturday should help build on that.
