Ex-WWE star helps bring top pro wrestling companies to Las Vegas

Las Vegas It will turn into the professional wrestling capital of the world for a few days in April.

WrestleMania 42 will be the main course for most fans traveling to Sin City. But in the days leading up to the star-studded show at Allegiant Stadium, there will be plenty of events happening up and down the Strip that can keep them satisfied and smiling.

Paragon talent group and palms casino resort Announced last week Slam Fest will be hosted at the venue, starting April 15 and running through April 18. It will bring together several professional wrestling companies, including Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling (TJPW), Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), House of Glory (HOG), World Wonder Ring Stardom, and Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling, for days of matches.

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Additionally, WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley will host his comedy show, Professional wrestling star Saraya will have a live episode of her podcast called “Rulebreakers with Saraya” and tag team legends Matt and Jeff Hardy will host “Hardy Party” with Matt Hardy to share stories of his career.

Mojo Rawley arrives at Sports Illustrated’s SI The Party at Cow Palace Arena & Event Center on February 8, 2026 in Daly City, California. (Mika Scafari/Getty Images)

Dean Mohtadi, co-founder of Paragon Talent Group who performs in WWE as Mojo Rawley, told Fox News Digital that the event received good marks among fans last year, and they wanted to do it again.

“How can we do bigger and better this year? One way we decided to do that is to have wrestling shows at the Palms this year,” Mohtadi explained. “This was going to be a big event. We also brought some really cool events. The Hardys are doing their own ‘Hardy Party’, Mick Foley will be doing his comedy show, and Saraya will be doing a live podcast. Of course, as you already know, we’re bringing the pool party back because that was our biggest event last year by a mile.”

“There’s a lot of fun for the fans. A lot of fun for us too – lots of games, activities and things to do. We never want to have parties where everyone gets bored and stands around. We want to create very intimate experiences for the fans where they can actually spend time with the wrestlers, play games with them, eat, have a drink, have a conversation. With Paragon, that’s what we always try to do at our events is make the talent accessible to everyone and allow everyone to have a good time together.”

One of the key elements to making an event like Slam Fest was to be affordable.

Saraya watches AEW Dynamite at Footprint Center on February 22, 2023. (Joe Camporeale/USA TODAY Sports)

Major wrestling events can see prices go anywhere between $200 and $2,000.

With any event Paragon offers, affordability “has always been paramount,” Mohtadi said.

“One of Paragon’s biggest core competencies is sponsorships and third-party brand deals. However, we are sometimes able to convince our partners to come on board and bring those costs down so we can either get in for free or get in at half price, or something like that.” “If we can bring in any of our partners, we want it to be a win-win for everyone. I think a lot of wrestling fans can agree that sometimes, when you see events with very big branding, and sponsor logos all over the place, that can be a detractor unless the fans feel like they’re winning from that as well.”

“We did an event that brought together wrestlers that was previously sponsored by DraftKings. We got the ticket prices down to next to nothing for that. We did free admission to other events thanks to the sponsors. DreamMania was a show that was put on that was completely free for the fans to attend and it had pro wrestling shows, a FloRida performance, music performances, all of that. But I think, especially in this climate, things are getting more expensive by the day and I think it’s essential to have a successful event. Get everyone in the door and let them have fun as soon as they get there.” There.”

Either way, fans will be in for a treat all week long. Mohtadi had great respect for every company that entered the building.

Saya Kamitani in the ring during Women’s Wrestling Stardom – 15th Anniversary at Ideon Arena Osaka on February 7, 2026 in Osaka, Japan. (Etsu Hara/Getty Images)

TJPW, Stardom and CMLL are well-established professional wrestling companies outside of the United States, creating top stars and fostering partnerships with the best of the best in the industry to bring their wrestlers to places like WWE and All Elite Wrestling.

Having companies like this come to Palms Casino for Slam Fest “shows you the power of the professional wrestling world,” Mohtadi said.

CMLL will make history as it showcases its first independent event Outside Mexico At the Palms Casino Resort.

Scott D’Amore, former Total non-stop action (TNA), founded Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling (MLP) and relaunched the brand in August 2024. The company has hosted several events since its return to the professional wrestling scene.

“Maple Leaf Pro, their first show ever in the United States. When you go back and look at Scott D’Amore’s background, man, does that kind of say something right? This is an incredibly accomplished guy,” he said. “He was one of our partners with Paragon who put this whole thing first, and he helped us lead the wrestling portion of Slam Fest and he was great.

“Also, kind of funny, considering we used to negotiate contracts against this guy. And everyone always said Scott D’Amore was a nice guy and I was, you know, I’d never seen that part before. I think he’s kind of an asshole in a way. But that’s what happens when you negotiate this stuff, right? But now we’re on the same team, man, I understand every part. I’ve told him that before, we disagreed on that, but a wealth of knowledge brings a lot to the table for us here to put it all on our shoulders.”

HOG was founded by former TNA star Amazing Red in 2012 and is the only American company that will appear at Slam Fest. The Hardys are the HOG Tag Team Champions and are expected to compete during Slam Fest.

Jeff and Matt Hardy won during a confrontation at the WWE Performance Center on October 7, 2025 in Orlando, Florida. (Bradley Rutledge/via Getty Images)

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“As you can tell, we’re very excited about the team that we’ve assembled, and the shows that we’re going to be able to put on for the fans. I mean, a lot of our events are going to be free admission, a pool party. You have some of the biggest names in the history of the business and fans can come meet them and hang out for literally $0, and the venue is big enough to be able to accommodate everyone, and free entertainment supplemented by all the events. … It’s going to be a lot.”

“We’ve got a lot of things to cook.”

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