Wrestlers and promotions alike are trying to find new ways to stay busy during the COVID-19 pandemic and two wrestling brothers are looking to add some comedy to the mix. Real-life brothers Nick Nemeth – best known as WWE Superstar Dolph Ziggler – and his brother Ryan Nemeth – indie wrestler Hot Young Briley – have launched a new “promotion” via Twitter called Big Time Wrestling, revealing the first two wrestlers on the promotion (themselves). By first impression alone, it appears to be more akin to WWE’s Southpaw Regional Wrestling than Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.
Meet BLADES BARKER, the newest member of the BTW roster!
“Life’s a grind- and then you rewind!”#rollerblading #xtreme #prowrestling #bladesbarker #btw pic.twitter.com/sm8QpCxbvk
— Big Time Wrasslin (@BTWrasslin) May 10, 2020
Dolph Ziggler was the first wrestler revealed, under the moniker of Blades Barker, a roller-blading themed character. Ryan Nemeth was revealed as the second character, a magician named “Trickster” Denny Domino.
https://twitter.com/BTWrasslin/status/1259276834144845824
Dolph Ziggler has been doing stand-up comedy since 2013, while Ryan has been working as an actor since around the same time. Ryan has appeared on TV shows like Swerved and in movies like Pee Wee’s Big Holiday and John Morrison‘s Boone The Bounty Hunter. Since 2018, he’s appeared in various skits for Jimmy Kimmel Live!, as characters like Cowboy Andy and Karate Kidney Bean. Ryan began his wrestling career in 2010, and in 2011 joined WWE’s developmental in Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) and then NXT as Briley Pierce. He was released by WWE in 2013. He’s since worked the US indies as Hot Young Briley. He’s currently in post-production on a short film called Heel, which he wrote and stars in, which also features Ziggler and Ring of Honor‘s Brody King in roles.
Big Time Wrestling is a name that carries a lot of historical weight, as it’s been used by various promotions going back to wrestling’s earliest days. In 1936, Mid-Pacific Promotions began to operate 50th State Big Time Wrestling in Hawaii (sometimes called NWA Hawaii after joining the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) in 1948). It closed down in 1979. In 1951, Stu Hart would rebrand his Calgary promotion from Klondike Wrestling to Big Time Wrestling, before changing to Wildcat Wrestling in 1965 and the more well-known name of Stampede Wrestling in 1967. San Francisco’s Big Time Wrestling was founded in 1960 by Roy Shire and was an outlaw promotion that worked outside of the NWA until it closed in 1981. In 1961, Tony Santos started Big Time Wrestling in Massachusetts, which still operates to this day. In 1964, The Sheik took over NWA Detroit and renamed it Big Time Wrestling, before folding in 1980. In 1966, Fritz Von Erich would take over Southwest Sports in Dallas, Texas, and rebrand as Big Time Wrestling, before renaming it to World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) in 1982. In 1996, Kirk White started a Big Time Wrestling in Fremont, California, that also still operates to this day, while another Big Time Wrestling opened a year later in West Virginia, that still operates as well.
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