The world of professional wrestling has always found a home in Philadelphia. For a brief time period, it seemed that the only way Philadelphians could experience live pro wrestling was to either travel to the suburbs, across the river to New Jersey, or to hit the Lehigh Valley. However, the accessibility to live professional wrestling in the city has changed in recent years with the rise of local independent promotion, Labor of Love. Blending wrestling styles from comedy to high flying to traditional grappling, Labor of Love events offer a variety of entertainment for long-time wrestling fans as well as first-time attendees. The excitement isn’t limited to the action inside the ring; many shows in the past have featured live performances from independent musicians.
I’ve seen competitors wrestle their first match, bands play their first show, and a man enter a time machine only to emerge moments later as his younger self (aka, magic). I’ve attended Labor of Love events in parking lots, batting cages, gymnasiums and breweries, many times with my camera in-hand documenting the action (as you can see in the photos I've included in this article). On April 25, the company will be adding a new unique venue to their history: The Icebox Project Space in North Philly. Half wrestling, half art show, The Exhibition will be Labor of Love’s largest event to date, showcasing wrestlers & artists from not just Philadelphia but around the world. The Exhibition looks to continue the company’s path of introducing more people to the world of pro wrestling while celebrating and highlighting a wide array of talented wrestlers that long-time fans have come to love and invest in. I sat down with the founder/booker of Labor of Love, Anthony Perillo, and co-owner/booker, Terence Waldron to discuss their upcoming event, The Exhibition.
What is Labor of Love and how long has it been active?
[AP] Labor of Love is an all-inclusive, independent, professional wrestling promotion which started in 2019. The mission behind it at the time was taking my background in attending and playing punk shows in Philly and trying to merge that with what I knew about professional wrestling. Our first show was a no-ring show at Everybody Hits, we ran the following year around Halloween, and progressively started doing more shows per year to the point that now it seems we are running a show every month–with a ring!
[TW] I think the shows we bring are more of a night out rather than a wrestling event. We like to bring a show that’s for everybody. Whether you like high-flying wrestling, comedy wrestling, technical wrestling–we try to make sure we have a little bit of everything on our shows. And we also want to throw in some music, like with The Exhibition show coming up, we want to have different avenues to be able to attract a different crowd. We believe that our shows are for everyone–not just wrestling fans. With doing these kinds of mixed events we believe we can introduce more people to what our vision of pro wrestling is, which is for everyone.
What can you tell us about the venue where The Exhibition will be taking place, The Icebox Project Space?
[AP] The Icebox Project Space is a part of Crane Arts which was founded by Temple University art students. It’s a very large art space that usually has different installations every few months. When we went to check it out, Terrance and I were immediately thrilled with the idea of running a show there. Naturally with throwing a show in an art space our first thought was to reach out to some of our friends and local artists about getting their work featured around the ring. We’re hoping to bring in an art crowd as well as a wrestling crowd.
[TW] It’s also just something really cool to do. It’s fun for us to do something different. We’re not just bringing in a new crowd, we’re also giving our current crowd something else to be looking forward to other than wrestling.
What can people unfamiliar with the world of pro wrestling expect to see at The Exhibition?
[AP] It’s very different from what you would see on TV. It’s very intimate and you will be within close proximity of the action where you can really appreciate the athleticism and the performance of pro wrestling. We bring in wrestlers from all over the world and I truly believe some of the best wrestling you can experience is at a Labor of Love show. I feel like if you are someone who has never experienced a live independent pro wrestling event, that your mind will be blown. Turning someone from a non-wrestling fan to a wrestling fan is one of the most rewarding experiences there is.
[TW] When we are making the matches, it's more akin to casting someone for roles in a movie than just booking someone for an event. You’ll see people of differing experience levels up & down the card because they fit that role. There’s a lot that goes into it to ensure the audience stays entertained throughout the show. We like to mix it up so that there’s constantly something new happening.
One of the featured matches that has been advertised is the Citywide Championship title match. What should first time attendees know about the Champion Matt Mako and his challenger for The Exhibition, Timothy Thatcher?
[AP] Matt Mako has been on Labor of Love shows since 2020 and has consistently put on tremendous performances and has been on a hot streak as of late, running through everyone. He’s a former Elite XC and Bellator MMA fighter with a very legitimate pedigree and one of the best technicians in the ring. Timothy Thatcher is also one of the best technical wrestlers in the world. A former WXW champion in Germany, the longest reigning EVOLVE champion, and has been given the responsibility of being the head coach of the WWE ID program. In terms of what to expect in the match, it's going to be hard hitting, loud, and physical.
What are the long term goals that you have with Labor of Love?
[TW] Our goal is to build something; having the company grow into something bigger and to get more people watching pro wrestling. We want to continue to be a place that wrestlers want to come to wrestle for and get looked at.
[AP] To introduce more non-wrestling fans to how special pro wrestling can be. I want to be able to give the best experience possible to someone who has never really given pro wrestling a chance before. It’s very dear to me. Wrestling has saved my life in so many ways. I believe it to be an art form and it’s so commonly misunderstood. But it's really a beautiful thing and once you start to learn what it takes to put on a match or a show I think you realize that there’s nothing like it. I want to introduce people to that and I want people to understand & recognize how special wrestling can be.
You can find more info about Labor of Love at @laboroflovephl on Instagram and @laboroflovephl on Youtube.
You can purchase tickets for The Exhibition and future Labor of Love events at: tickettailor.com/events/laboroflove
