Independent pro wrestling has always been about the local community first and foremost. Both the wrestlers and the fans are usually from nearby towns, and the fans sit close enough to the action to hear the ring boards creak with every slam. This weekend, a group of wrestlers and wrestling fans in Louisville, Kentucky, will get together to support their local community and a good cause by doing what they do best: putting on one hell of a wrestling show.

The event, the sixth annual Pawcade show, combines the world of pro wrestling with a fundraiser for Mispits and Friends Rescue, a Louisville-based nonprofit that rescues and rehomes animals in need. The event, being held by local wrestling promoter Chad French, is part entertainment, part charitable effort, and a massive reunion for those in the area who love pro wrestling.

“Pawcade is more than just a wrestling show,” French told VICE. “Since its inception, it has been both a wrestling family reunion and a great cause that we can all get behind. I started doing these in 2020 because I wanted to try my hand at putting on a show that has a purpose, and I feel we have accomplished that.”

That sense of purpose is a major part of the event’s identity and represents the ethos of independent wrestling, where things are never as glamorous as what you might see on television when tuning in for an episode of WWE’s Monday Night Raw. The show is built on local passion, word-of-mouth advertising, and a group of people who love watching other people get thrown through tables.

Pawcade 6 has drawn extra attention online this year, even earning sponsorship from Garage Beer, owned by Jason and Travis Kelce. The pairing fits beautifully, and hopefully, the “rub” from the Kelce brothers can help draw more eyes to the event’s fundraiser.

At Pawcade 6, Body Slams Help Fund Animal Rescue

One of the names on the card this year is STEVE! (real name Steve Williams), a beloved figure in wrestling social media circles and a full-time psychiatric nurse. Williams, a former pro wrestler who originally trained in 2006, stepped out of the ring to pursue a career in medicine. While he’s hung up his boots for the most part, Pawcade is the only show that can pull him back into the ring.

“I get a decent amount of booking offers every year,” Williams told VICE. “I’m not stepping in the ring unless it’s for a good cause. I support the cause, and I know Chad is a good man. I don’t want to lend my name to a show and find out later the promoter is The Unabomber.”

He also added that returning to wrestling is not exactly easy on him physically, especially since he only performs once a year at most.

“I’m likely the oldest person on the show, and my body is beat to hell every time I wrestle,” Williams said. “But you support the people who believe in you. And Chad believes in STEVE!”

For Chad French, Pawcade has become a way to use wrestling as both a social gathering and a way to help out his community. For wrestlers like STEVE!, it is a reason to throw on the spandex one more time. And for fans, it is a chance to support something good while watching a very particular kind of live entertainment that can only happen when a bunch of committed people decide, collectively, to knock the hell out of each other because they love to do so.

MWT Presents: Pawcade Six takes place this Saturday, June 27, at The World Famous Jeffersonville Arena as a benefit show for Mispits and Friends Rescue in Louisville, KY.

Tickets are available now, and anyone who cannot attend can still support the cause by making a donation through the show’s event page.