Wrestling show coming to Texarkana rec center
TEXARKANA, Ark. — Let’s get ready to rumble.
The Twin Cities are known to have been the backdrop for a movie or two, but now they’re the magnet for a wrestling show. On Aug. 18, Hypecon Events will present “The Pilot,” a local wrestling show to be filmed at the Texarkana Arkansas Recreation Center.
Darby Tillis II, founder of Hypecon Events — which stands for Helping Youth Progress Every Day — is also the director and producer of the upcoming show. He said he is excited about the upcoming event, and his bigger goal is to highlight local wrestlers while also giving back to the community. Ten percent of ticket proceeds will go to local youth group The Scholars.
“The plan is to always find ways to give back to youth organizations and to nonprofits in the area,” Tillis said.
Texarkana’s only local television station, KFLI-TV 35, will film the event. Tillis said he hopes the station can have a more consistent live show with taping and edits to make it into a full-blown TV show.
“This is something that the TV station has done before here and there with events and shows,” Tillis said. “We had one last year called ‘Rumble on the Line.’”
Tillis explained that Texarkana used to be fond of wrestling and she wanted to bring back the pastime. The event will feature local wrestlers along with wrestlers from the four-state region
“The purpose behind this was to bring wrestling as a form of entertainment back into the area,” Tillis said. “You have Friday night football, you got all the country music events, and I was like, wrestling used to be a mainstay media that everybody watched, so this is my way of trying to bring it back from what it used to be in the ’80s and ’90s.”
Tillis said he wants people to know that the small town of Texarkana can provide just as much as the bigger cities have. He said that a lot of people who love wrestling will only be able to see it on TV, and if shows pass through town, they’ll stop in cities like Dallas, Little Rock or Shreveport.
“I hope the event broadens the horizon on what Texarkana can be and what can be brought here,” Tillis said.
Tillis said he and the broadcast team want to focus on quality so fans in Texarkana and surrounding areas will want to come back. After the event, the show will go straight to editing.
“Hopefully, if this is a success it will also create jobs,” Tillis said.
(The show is scheduled for 6 p.m. Aug. 18 at the Texarkana Arkansas Recreation Center, 1 Legion Drive. To purchase tickets, search on the Eventbrite website or app, visit hypeconevents.com, or visit Hypecon’s Facebook page.)