Limitless Wrestling owner Randy Carver said Saturday’s show at The Colisee is “the biggest step we’ve taken as an organization.”

The Vacationland Cup, which starts at 7 p.m., has been an annual event since 2018 and is the Maine professional wrestling promotion’s version Wrestlemania.

“It’s our biggest event of the year where we pit eight of the top competitors from our promotion and from around the world,” Carver said. “They go head-to-head, and the winner walks out with not only the trophy but a No. 1 contender shot at the championship. So a lot culminates, a lot of stories, a lot of big-match opportunities for our roster — and it all culminates at this show.

“So to be able to bring it to Lewiston for the first time, such a big stage at The Colisee, with a rich sports history is incredible.”

The Vacationland Cup begins early in the show with four first-round matches: Alec Price vs. Donovan Dijak, Aiden Aggro (of Waterville) vs. Dezmond Cole, Aaron Rourke vs. Ricky Smokes, and Gabby Forza vs. Davienne.

The winners will face each other later in the night in a four-way elimination match to determine the No. 1 contender for the Limitless World Championship.

The card will feature several other matches, including current Limitless World Champion Channing Thomas defending the title against Anthony Greene, a two-time Limitless champion who has competed for the United States’ biggest promotions, World Wrestling Entertainment and All Elite Wrestling, and has spent the past couple years wrestling in Japan.

Also scheduled for Saturday’s show is a street fight between a pair of Mainers who each spent several years wrestling for WWE, Scotty 2 Hotty of Westbrook, and Dirty Dango of Standish, who went by Fandango in WWE.

Auburn native and Edward Little High School graduate Luke Robinson will battle Matt Cross. Both were contestants on Season 5 of WWE Tough Enough, a reality TV competition show, in 2010-11.

Ace Romero of Saco, who has wrestled for Impact Wrestling and AEW, is scheduled to compete, while WWE Hall of Famer Tony Atlas, who now lives in Auburn, is set to appear.

PROVING GROUND

Limitless Wrestling, currently Maine’s most prominent independent wrestling promotion, mixes the past, present and future of professional wrestling into its shows.

Some of the wrestlers at Limitless shows have already made a name for themselves and have worked for the world’s largest promotions.

Others are hoping to get noticed and earn full-time contracts with prominent promotions, such as AEW or WWE.

“It’s a group of hard workers,” Carver said. “It’s a group of, you know, the wrestlers who are on the roster — their goal is to make a career out of this. It’s not just a hobby to do every weekend. Wrestlers like Aiden Aggro on this card, he’s from the state of Maine, he has been wrestling for about 10 years now. His goal is to get a contract out of this, and the same with the guy that he’s wrestling that night, Dezmond Cole, out of New York. I mean, the roster comes from everywhere, all over the Northeast, all over the country.

“Then they’re pitted, you know, in the same locker room, sometimes the same matches as guys like you said, Scotty Too Hotty, Dirty Dango, WWE Hall of Famer Mr. USA Tony Atlas is in the house as well Donovan Dijak who is fresh off about a seven-year run with the WWE.”

Limitless alums include AEW’s Maxwell Jacob Friedman (MJF), who won the first Limitless World Championship in 2019; Christian Casanova, another former Limitless champion, wrestles in WWE as Carmelo Hayes; and AEW stars Darby Allin, Kris Statlander, and Danny Garcia.

Curtis Hussey — who wrestles as Dirty Dango and spent more than a decade in WWE — said Carver has traits similar to recent WWE Hall of Fame inductee Paul Heyman, who ran Extreme Championship Wrestling, one of the top wrestling promotions in the 1990s and early 2000s. ECW featured wrestlers like Mick Foley, the Dudley Boys, Raven and Steve Austin, who went on to become bigger stars in WWE or World Championship Wrestling.

Limitless Wrestling has also been a proving ground for future stars.

“If you look at his shows seven or eight years ago,” Hussey said of Carver, “some of the talent that were on his shows are world champions now in large promotions. He definitely has an eye on the curve, and he has an eye for talent. It’s kind of a homage to Paul Heyman, if you think about it, at ECW.”

The biggest name to come through a Limitless locker room is Cody Rhodes, son of the legendary Dusty Rhodes and the current Undisputed WWE Champion.

Rhodes was released from the WWE in May 2016 and began wrestling for independent promotions, including an appearance at Limitless Wrestling in January 2017, as a way to prove himself and redefine his stalled career. He developed a big following through his indie appearances and became more popular than ever. He helped start AEW in 2019 before returning to the WWE in 2022.

Carver said Donovan Dijak, after being released by the WWE earlier this year, is in a similar position to Rhodes. Dijak wrestled for Limitless several times in 2016 and ’17  before signing with WWE.

“I mean, for a guy like Dijak … that’s one who’s looking to come prove it again,” Carver said. “(His contract) wasn’t renewed by WWE, cut into free agency, and now like he’s proving it to himself, he’s proving it to everybody who doubted him, and he is looking to get back to the top as well.”

SECOND ARENA SHOW

Carver, who is from LaGrange, started Limitless Wrestling when he was 18, a few months after he graduated high school in 2015.

It has been a long journey to book a show at The Colisee.

Independent wrestling had a bad rap in the state when Carver became a promoter.

“When we first started, there was kind of a bad reputation on Maine wrestling for a number of things,” Carver said. “Venues didn’t want to host it because they have been burned in the past. Wrestlers were, you know, worried about either not getting paid or, you know, bad payouts or bad ring conditions. There was a laundry list of things, but there was a group of us that kind of took it upon ourselves to kind of change the narrative of Maine independent wrestling and rejuvenate the scene a little bit.”

Limitless, which normally runs in small venues like ballrooms and armories, has only had one other event in an arena, at the Portland Expo in 2019.

Carver said the company is even more prepared five years later to host an event in such a big venue.

“I think also this time, I mean, we’re in a much better position as a promotion to be able to execute on our promotion side of things, on just getting the word out,” Carver said. “We have a much more solidified crew, as well, that’s helping throughout the Lewiston and Portland area, just helping to get the word out. So to have more resources, more connections going into this one, and also we’ve just had such a supportive year in terms of fans coming out to shows again.”

Hussey said Carver has done a good job with Limitless Wrestling.

“Randy is a student of the game, and he’s a young promoter, which is even more impressive,” Hussey said. “It’s refreshing; you work with some independents all over the world, some are a little more professional than others. But whenever I’m working for Randy — it’s going to be a very professional show.”

Tickets for the the 2024 Vacationland Cup are still available through The Colisee, either online, over the phone or in person at the box office.