The wrestlers with the New Hope Extreme Wrestling circuit are revving up for a new round of shows in 2022. Their first show of the new year will be Saturday, January 15, with a special memorial show for one of their late members who went by the wrestling persona “Wild Bill.”
New Hope Extreme Wrestling is owned by David and Teresa Wilson and Robert and Marisa Bullock. Marisa is also the group’s music director. Jeremy Crider and Justin Phillips are NHEW’s presidents of talent and AJ Mills and Tommy Turner serve as creative directors.
Mills, who goes by “Tray Trouble” in the ring, said that he’s been a wrestling enthusiast since he was old enough to walk. “It’s a long-time dream of mine,” Mills said, “I was in one match and just fell in love with it. NHEW are good people to work for and their arms are always open for new-comers.”
Crider agreed with Mills. “NHEW is one big family. Everybody who’s been wrestling or performing with us for any length of time is ready to step in and help out those who are new on the scene.”
Recently, the men and women of NHEW wrestled in front of the cameras of KLFI out of Texarkana. They put on an exhibition to raise funds for the Boy Scouts. “We want to help out where we can,” Crider said. “We’re part of the community and we want to build that up.”
They’ve already developed ties with several local businesses and sponsors. “We’ve got a special going with El Agaves where, if you show your ticket from the show, you get a special price on their ranchero,” Crider said. “We’ve also got Car Mart in Hope and Beards and Shears Barber Shop supporting what we’re doing. Forest Strickland over at Pafford has been a huge help with our shows.”
NHEW is quickly building up their brand and their roster. “We’ve got about a dozen regulars in our show right now,” Phillips, who goes by “Jaws of Life” in the ring, said. “We’ve got about 30 wresting all together, and we’re adding more all the time.”
Crider said they’re even pursuing a trademark for NHEW, which may be going through in a couple of weeks, barring any complications.
Crider and Phillips, who work for the DeAnn fire department, are excited for some of the upcoming charities that NHEW are going to work with. “We’ve got the Jan. 15 show which is going to contribute $5 out of every ticket to the “Hope for Paws” charity to help with the shelter,” Crider said. “We’ve also got a show that’s going to give to Hope in Action for their food and hygiene drive.” “And we’ve got one after that for K-9 officers, helping them get equipment for training and things like that,” Phillips said.
“We’re also going to be doing shows throughout the year to benefit all the volunteer fire departments in the area,” Crider said. “We’re definitely doing a show for Wounded Warrior, which all the proceeds will go to them. We’re trying to do 24 shows in 2022, with half of those being in Hope, since that’s really our home town.”
“Our shows are mostly family friendly,” Phillips said. “It gets a little PG-13 now and then, but overall, anyone can come and watch.”
“Absolutely,” Mills agreed. “Sometimes, when your persona in the ring is the bad guy, you’ve got to sell it, but we try to keep the profanity to a minimum.”
Crider said that sometime in July, NHEW is planning to have an exhibition at the convention center in Hot Springs. “That’s hopefully going to be a big show,” he said, “With a lot of people not just from our organization, but from other wrestling groups in the area as well.”
Mills, Crider, and Phillips shared some of the match cards for their upcoming exhibition for January. “We’re going to have a casket match with Jaws of Life, Demon, and Jeff Knight. World Champion Gideon Vane is going to take on Spider. King Razor Ray, who’s a big draw for us, will be taking on a mystery opponent. Mississippi Queen, Claudia Solis, and The Outcast will be in a triple threat match for the Women’s Championship. Native Warrior is going up again Problem. Black Savage and Tray Trouble are competing for the United States Championship. Our main event is going to be a handicap match between The Prophet and Asa Morte versus The Hustler, who was Wild Bill’s protégé. That’s going to lead into the Wild Bill Memorial Battle Royale, which will have everybody but First Responder in it, since he’s recovering from an injury.”
“We’ve really grown as an organization this past year,” Mills said, “And we’re hoping for more in 2022.”
“Absolutely,” Crider agreed. “We’ve also got a developer working on a video game that some of our people are going to be in. It’s a wrestling management game where you get to develop your roster and build you brand, so that’s really cool.”
“We’re really hoping people from the community will come out and support us and the charities we’re hoping to help,” Crider said.
