Out pro wrestler MV Young is still riding high off of stellar performances during WrestleMania week earlier this month, but, as the pro wrestling adage goes, pro wrestling has no off-season. Two weeks removed from the pro wrestling’s annual marquee week, Young donned his producer hat once again in Saturday’s Polyam Cult Party 3 event.
The role isn’t new to the Polyam King. The popular grappler has produced and promoted events as part of the team behind Uncanny Attractions, a pro wrestling company focused on showcasing LGBTQ, female and BIPOC performers.
Alongside fellow wrestlers and close friends Billy Dixon and EFFY, Young has become one of the most prominent forces when it comes to giving wrestlers from marginalized communities a platform to display their talents. Like Dixon and EFFY, he has also pushed pro wrestling into cultural spaces not commonly associated with pro wrestling, primarily through his NY Fashion Week No Ring Deathmatch Extravaganza in Feb. 2020.
But the Polyam Cult Party series has a different twang to it, mixing the DIY punk mindset that oozes from its creator, an unabashed attitude toward queer expression and all the communal trappings of a backyard barbecue that the whole North side of Pittsburgh wants to crash. There is also plenty of awesome pro wrestling.
“I think that trying to lean into the indie and punk vibes of indie wrestling is what helps us grow because we’re never going to compete with the money of the billionaires,” young told Outsports. “Why is there an economy of music underneath the mainstream music? Why can people become independent artists for the rest of their life? It’s because there’s a huge following of punk and indie music and alternative music and unsigned artists.”
“A lot of people don’t love mainstream music. They don’t want the radio. They want to find things that are cool and underground, and they want to throw their money at that to support it. I think that the more people find out about professional wrestling, that’s how we grow our economy underneath billionaires. That’s how we make it sustainable for all of us.”
The success of the previous two Polyam Cult Party events has built the series’ sustainability, bringing fans into backyards in Brooklyn, N.Y. and Pittsburgh, Penn. for a unique pro wrestling experience. So much so that Young admits he probably overbooked the card for Polyam Cult Party 3. That’s a happy problem though for an event whose roots germinated from a cancelled album release party.
“The original [Polyam Cult Party] was supposed to be an album release party but the band cancelled,” Young said. “They hired me as an event producer and asked if I could make wrestling happen. So, I had the spot and just made wrestling happen.”
But it wasn’t just wrestling that happened. People who didn’t normally pay attention to pro wrestling caught a glimpse of the inclusive atmosphere and grassroots spectacle as clips circulated on social media. Putting those eyes on pro wrestling is a motivating factor for Young beyond just his own events.
“A lot of people see this and they can’t fucking believe what they’re seeing because they’re so fucked by [WWE CEO] Vince McMahon. They’re not wrestling fans, so, in their minds, pro wrestling is WWE,” Young said. “They’re like, ‘wait, there is professional wrestling in backyards and this handsome blonde kid is openly pansexual and he’s polyamorous. And this hunk is wearing fishnets and pink trunks.’ they can’t believe what they’re seeing because they didn’t know it fucking exists. It fucks their brain and they can’t get enough of it.”
However, at the end of the day, the heart of the Polyam Cult Party events lies in Young’s desire to provide a stage for some of the best names in independent pro wrestling. A number of names featured on Saturday’s card, many of which are LGBTQ, featured prominently on previous Polyam Cult Party shows and have built their profiles substantially in the time between events, just as Young has.
“This is something I want to do to be creatively fulfilled. I am obviously growing a lot, but what am I doing if my vision isn’t to grow everyone,” Young said. “It’s not like any of them need me. They don’t. But if I have the ability to make these really big events that feel really big… we can get all these performers to have huge growth. We’re trying to be a real force and build a real economy here.”
Young is personally carrying that attitude into his Wrestlers Lab championship defense against Jody on the show. “[This match] means a lot to me because, to me, it reminds me of when I wrestled EFFY two years ago,” Young said. “I had this match with EFFY and everyone really fucking cared about a lot of shit I was doing all of a sudden… I want to give as much of that to Jody as possible.”
“Jody deserves it because, I know he jokes about it a lot but I know it bothers him because it bothers me too, when people call you a social media wrestler. It sucks. Now that I’m kicking that door down, I want to help Jody with that too,” Young added.
Young has set lofty goals for Polyam Cult Party 3, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. The last thing he wants is for his and all the collective voices set for the event to not be counted among the continued push to evolve perceptions of pro wrestling.
“I know it’s going to be great, but I want it to become undeniable,” Young said. “Billy [Dixon] does such a great job of building his brand. EFFY and everyone doing these progressive brands too, but I think I would feel very left out if I wasn’t contributing my hand to that as a director.”
