Strings in the ring Faces and heels meet basses and glockenspiels in orchestra-meets-wrestling matchup By: Eva Wasney Posted: 4:55 PM CST Monday, Feb. 2, 2026

Two very different groups of athletes are set to tag-team at the Centennial Concert Hall Wednesday night.

“The wrestlers are athletes of the large muscle groups and the musicians are athletes of the small muscle groups, but we’re both athletes,” says Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser, who will be conducting during Brawl at the Hall, a first-of-its-kind collaboration between Winnipeg Professional Wrestling and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.

The symphonic smackdown pairs live wrestling with live orchestral accompaniment — uncharted territory for both organizations.

“It’s the weirdest thing I’ve ever had to do,” says WPW co-founder Devin Bray, who has programmed wrestling matches at the Manitoba Museum, Winnipeg Art Gallery-Qaumajuq and even during Winnipeg Seabears halftime shows at Canada Life Centre.

Bray was initially hesitant when approached by the WSO last year about hosting a live sporting event at the concert hall. While entrance and hype music is a key component of professional wrestling, he was worried a full classical concert might detract from the storylines playing out inside the ring.

“They don’t play music during a hockey game, they don’t play music during a football game. I think the focus should be on the action happening in the sport,” Bray says. “But we like to take on challenges here and thought that maybe we can make this work differently.”

The WPW has been working closely with venue staff to make sure the high-flying takedowns can be conducted safely, and both camps have traded glossaries of wrestling and classical music terminology to ensure everyone involved is on the same page.

“Trying to wrap our heads around this has been such a great learning experience for us, too,” says Simeon Rusnak, director of artistic planning for the WSO. “It’s been something we’ve built collaboratively while trying to really do right by the wrestling community.”

During Brawl at the Hall, the ring will be positioned in the middle of the stage and surrounded by orchestra members, who may or may not become immersed in the fray.

“These two things look impossible to put together and that’s really what energizes me.”

Conductor Bartholomew-Poyser, who grew up as a rabid wrestling fan, jumped at the chance to be involved in the offbeat crossover event.

“It’s a creative exercise because these two things look impossible to put together and that’s really what energizes me,” says the Toronto-based conductor, who has several prior performances with the WSO, including during the orchestra’s 2024 concert with celebrity drag queen Thorgy Thor.

Bartholomew-Poyser — who hosts Centre Stage Saturdays on CBC Radio — took his latest assignment seriously, travelling to Winnipeg twice to attend WPW shows in preparation for Brawl at the Hall and working closely with Bray on the setlist.

“Daniel and I got really in-depth with the history of classical music in wrestling,” Bray says. “What would fit for them to walk out to, what would fit the structure of the match based on the players involved.”

The pair didn’t have to look far for inspiration. The genre has supported the storylines of some of professional wrestling’s biggest personalities, such as Macho Man Randy Savage, who strolled into the arena to Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance, and Ric Flair, who relied on Strauss’s Also Sprach Zarathustra to make an epic entrance.

Bartholomew-Poyser has hand-picked the entrance music for each wrestler on Wednesday’s bill, the main event of which will see Jody Threat and Ava Lawless battling it out for WPW Women’s Championship title. Sweet Bobby Schink and Chad Daniels will be vying for the WPW Championship, while Nu Money will face James Roth and Merv for the Tag Team Championship.

“Tensions are very high right now,” Bray says.

During the matches, attendees can also expect to hear violent and exciting arrangements from classical and modern composers, such as Mozart, Tchaikovsky and Howard Shore of Lord of the Rings fame.

“Tensions are very high right now.”

“If you took away the orchestral music, the wrestling fans are getting a full wrestling experience. If you took away the wrestling, the classical music fans are getting a full, meaty concert,” Bartholomew-Poyser says.

winnipegfreepress.com/evawasney

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