Paris Is Bumping, the groundbreaking event that blends pro wrestling and ballroom culture, is back.
The event’s creator, Billy Dixon, revealed the news Tuesday, announcing “Paris Is Bumping: 4Ever” will take place on Aug. 17 in Charlotte, N.C., as part of the city’s Pride weekend festivities.
“Paris Is Bumping: 4Ever” will be held in partnership with local pro wrestling promotion ASÉ Wrestling, a promotion founded by pro wrestler Darius Lockhart that focuses on Black culture and heavily features Black pro wrestlers. Dixon has made multiple appearances for ASÉ over the last year and is currently scheduled to wrestle his forever rival Darius Carter on the company’s June 22 event “ASÉ 4.”
Pairing the event with a promotion dedicated to highlighting Black and other POC figures within pro wrestling fits perfectly with Paris Is Bumping’s celebration of ballroom culture given the historic presence and power that queer and trans Black, Latinx and POC populations hold in ballroom culture.
Get off the sidelines and into the game
Our weekly newsletter is packed with everything from locker room chatter to pressing LGBTQ sports issues.
The last Paris Is Bumping event, “Paris Is Bumping: The Legends Ball,” paid tribute to that history with pro wrestling’s first all-trans femme main event pitting Dark Sheik, Candy Lee and Edith Surreal against one another for the PIB Grand Prize championship. The referee in that match, Ref Crystal, was also transfemme.
The news marks the first Paris Is Bumping event since 2022 and Dixon’s return to events that previously existed under the Pro Wrestling VIBE brand since he and co-founder Lo McGrath closed VIBE’s doors in February 2023. But, of course, vibes never die.
Along with the grapples, looks and walks, Paris Is Bumping has also played host to the Paris Honors ceremony, a defacto LGBTQ pro wrestling Hall of Fame celebration honoring major figures within the community. Previous honorees include Eddy McQueen, Dark Sheik, Mariah Moreno, Casey Michael and Faye Jackson.
It’s unclear if Paris Honors will return, though few details about the show have been publicly disclosed.
Tickets for “Paris Is Bumping: 4Ever” go on sale Friday, June 14.
