John Pantozzi must be considered the new “chef” for the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum (PWHF) since he cooked up his second sold out dinner extravaganza for the PWHF during the past two years. Pantozzi was able to assemble a program that would appeal to past and current wrestling fans. Wrestlers from the current WWE era were in attendance as were wrestlers from the 1930’s.  

The dinner, which was held in Staten Island, was an event to raise money for the PWHF’s new building in Amsterdam, New York. The guest of honor was legend Ted “The Million Dollar Man” DiBiase, who attended with his wife. Special guest appearances were colleagues and fellow legends Bret “The Hitman” Hart and Mick “Mankind” Foley.  These three superstars were supportive of the PWHF’s mission to remember the great wrestling champions from the past. Their comments to the overflowing crowd brought howls of laughter at many points. 

The attendees also were able to mingle and receive autographs from past greats such as Ida May Martinez, Dr. Billy Darnell, Kathleen Wembley, Tony Cosenza, Mario and Jumpin’ Joe Savoldi, Davey O’Hannon, Pete Sanchez, Hillbilly Cousin Luke, Jim Powers, Al Vass, Crusher Townsend, Tito Torres, “Mr. Nostalgia” Joe Franklin, Demolition Blast, Billy Caputo and Johnny Ova with Bobby Riedel. Angelo Savoldi, the only PWHF inductee in attendance, had a chance to show his beautiful induction ring to the other wrestlers.  

At the end of his speech, Ted DiBiase made a $1,000.00 pledge to the PWHF. President Tony Vellano gave Ted his heartfelt thanks for such a generous contribution. 

A full account of the event will be found in the upcoming issue of Wrestling Revue online at wrestlingrevue.com.  

Please visit the PWHF website at www.pwhf.org.