Oshkosh, WI: My husband has been a fan of professional wrestling for his entire life. Yes, like Hulk Hogan or “Stone Cold” Steve Austin – that kind of wrestling. We’ve been together for 18 years this spring, and we have watched wrestling in some form since the start – dare I say, it was a way we spent time together on Monday nights for a handful of years. I never expected it would be a way for my husband and our daughters to bond.
When we moved to the area, my husband and our friend started attending wrestling events put on by ACW. ACW is a professional wrestling league based in Oshkosh which is run by a retired WWE wrestler who wrestles under the name “Swoggle.” Dylan Postl grew up in Oshkosh, so when he left WWE, he returned to his roots and started ACW.
Almost 2 years ago, my husband and our friend (who we will now call “the dads”) thought it would be fun to take our older kiddos to a wrestling event to see how it went. My daughter (age 8 at the time) and our friends’ daughter (age 10 at the time) went, and they absolutely LOVED it! They loved the storylines, the crowd, the wrestlers, being able to yell and heckle and cheer with grown men, and just had so much fun that’s it’s all we heard about for days. So, the dads took all of the kids for the next show. It was a smashing success – the 4 kids and 2 dads had the best time, and my friend and I were able to have a “girls day.” (This is a win-win-win, friends.)
(A selfie of my then-8 year old and hubby at that first match in 2019.)
Since then, the dads have taken the kids to about every other show. The storylines are relatively family-friendly (many of the wrestlers actually bring their families and younger kids), and we’ve never really had a concern about content. This year for Christmas the dads decided to get all of the kids season tickets and it was a great success! Our kids look forward to getting together with their friends, they love having time with the dads, and they genuinely love going to these matches. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that it’s the highlight of their whole week when they go to these shows. (All of the photos I am sharing in this collage are from my 10-year-old.)
The events are held locally in the Oshkosh/Appleton area; they also run a training academy and recently sponsored a toy drive for the holidays. If you are interested in learning more about upcoming shows, please check out their website or Facebook page.
Do your husband and daughters bond in a unique way? Share with us in the comments!
