La Salle’s Dreamwave Wrestling delivers drama and athleticism to fans

Tears were shed in the audience during Dreamwave Wrestling’s “Famous Last Words” show in February.

A line of youths stood against a railing that circled the pro wrestling ring, engrossed in the fight between Joe Alonzo and Vic “Ice Pick” Capri. During the scripted match, the referee was hit and temporarily stunned, causing him to turn his back to the wrestlers. The children watched as Alonzo took advantage of the referee’s distraction and brought a folding chair into the ring to attack his opponent.

Just as Vic Capri snatched the chair from Alonzo, the referee recovered and faced the wrestlers again. Alonzo flopped to the mat, pretending Vic Capri hit him with the chair he himself brought into the ring. The deception led to Vic Capri’s disqualification, Alonzo’s victory and outraged shouts from the audience.

One young girl abandoned her post at the railing and weaved through the crowd to her parents. Through tears, she said, “Mom, it’s not fair! [Vic] didn’t hit him!” She asked her parents to report Alonzo’s misdeed and seek justice for Vic Capri, repeating, “That wasn’t fair.”

An emotional response to the show is exactly what Jay Repsel, owner of Dreamwave Wrestling, likes to see.

“We want to pull emotions out of people,” he said. “Excitement, laughter, crying.”

Dreamwave Wrestling is a professional wrestling company based in La Salle. The shows are a form of entertainment Repsel describes as “theater with muscles,” combining the drama of a theater production with the athleticism of sport.

The ongoing stories and conflicts between Dreamwave wrestlers take center stage during the productions, such as the feud between Dreamwave champion Connor Hopkins and former champion Christian Rose. The story started with Rose mentoring and training Hopkins – the pair wrestled together on the team Those Damn Coyotes, until Hopkins turned on Rose and fought him to steal the title.

At its core, each match is a story of good versus evil, Repsel said.

“There are all these tropes that are intertwined into it. There are all these stories woven into it that make it so much more enjoyable and authentic and passionate,” he said. “It’s an emotional thing. We’ve got people in the crowd crying if their person doesn’t win. It’s quite the cinema.”

The predetermined outcome of wrestling matches is an open secret these days, but Dreamwave wrestler and defending champion Connor Hopkins said that doesn’t reduce the value of the show.

“A lot of times people ask, ‘Oh it’s fake. Why should I be interested in that if it’s not real?’ I feel like people sometimes lose sight of the point of wrestling,” Hopkins said. “The art of it isn’t necessarily in making people believe it’s real all the time, but it’s in suspending their disbelief. While we know that you know that what we’re doing is predetermined, that doesn’t make what’s happening any less real. That doesn’t make the emotion any less real. If it makes you feel something, then that’s real.”

He also said the physical nature of pro wrestling is authentic.

“The physicality is incredibly real. I can’t count on two hands the number of injuries that I’ve received just in seven years of being a wrestler. I’ve had sprained ankles, broken fingers. I’ve broken teeth, hyperextended elbows, all on top of bumps and bruises and cuts.”

Dreamwave hosts eight shows a year at the Knights of Columbus Hall in downtown La Salle. The company also is home to an all-women branch of wrestling, Uprising: Women Athletes, which features three to four shows a year.

The two-story brick hall at the corner of Second and Gooding streets is the longtime home of Dreamwave events. Hopkins said he doesn’t consider many places to be holy spaces in wrestling, but the La Salle K of C hall is nearing sacred ground status. Several up-and-coming athletes as well as major names have wrestled in the building. Current WWE champion Cody Rhodes wrestled a match for Dreamwave Wrestling in 2016.

It’s a five-sense experience on the packed second floor of the Knights of Columbus hall. There’s the spectacle of costumes and athleticism performed by the wrestlers. The emphatic bang of bodies slamming against the mat followed by the cheers and jeers of the crowd. The vibration through the floor as fans stomp in support of their favorite wrestler. The smell and taste of a giant slice of Lou’s LaGrotto pizza – the local Peru-based pizzeria is a 2025 sponsor.

“You walk into the Knights of Columbus and there’s a certain aura to that building,” Repsel said. “You walk up the stairs and you see the lights and the banners hanging from the ceiling of the wrestlers and [hear] the music playing. … People really feel like they’re a part of something, and they are.”

Repsel is proud of the variety of fans who attend Dreamwave shows, which draw dozens of children and families in addition to die-hard wrestling fans. A growing demographic in the fanbase is elementary and junior high school-aged girls.

“Our crowd is full of young girls. We’re breaking ceilings with who’s paying attention to the product,” Repsel said. He noted the wrestlers with Uprising: Women Athletes are a leading draw for young female fans. “It’s not like it was in the ’90s where it’s girls with lingerie in the ring doing pillow fights. These are world-class athletes that these young girls in our crowd can admire. It’s awesome.”

Dreamwave Wrestling hosted its first women’s championship between Zayda Steel and Brittnie Brooks in October 2023. At the time, it was the company’s most-watched show three times over, Repsel said. It gave him a clear message about women’s wrestling: “We saw the audience was there.”

Each Dreamwave event strives to balance family-friendliness with quality wrestling. Even though the show is appropriate for children, that doesn’t mean the action is tame.

“I think Dreamwave has found the right middle ground in not having to compromise the things that make it specifically a good pro wrestling show while also making it accessible to everyone who shows up,” Hopkins said.

Repsel compares Dreamwave’s wrestling standards to broadcast television standards – wrestlers in the ring won’t invoke any language or situations that wouldn’t pass FCC regulations for public TV. The crowd, however, may unleash a few profanities during the show.

“Dreamwave is fun and friendly for everybody. There’s enough scary things going on in the world that we like people for three hours to just be able to leave their problems at the door,” Repsel said. “It’s like watching a good movie or watching a good play or reading a good book. It’s another entertainment media that I hope people will check out and not judge it just because it’s wrestling. We try to blow those stereotypes out of the water and hope everybody will give us a chance.”

See a show

Dreamwave Wrestling performs bi-monthly shows in front of a packed house. Ticket sales are competitive – usually selling out in four to five hours, with a record-setting sellout of 95 minutes for the 10th anniversary Dreamwave X show on April 12 – so it’s important to buy them early when they go on sale.

Tickets for the Uprising: Women Athletes 5 show on Friday, April 11, are available at www.dwtix.net. Online sales for the Saturday, June 14, Dreamwave show will begin at 10 a.m. Monday, April 14.

For more information, visit www.dreamwavewrestling.com. Follow Dreamwave Wrestling on Instagram and Facebook for updates and to follow ongoing stories between wrestlers.