Bellmore, New York -- believed to have been home to Lenny Bruce, as referenced within Amazon series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel -- may appear to be just another quiet suburban town on Long Island, but its connections to the world of professional wrestling run deeper than many might expect.
Nestled within the hamlet of North Bellmore is a significant link to the foundations of televised sports entertainment: Roone Arledge. Arledge, who grew up in North Bellmore and graduated from Mepham High School, would go on to transform American sports broadcasting. He created ABC’s Wide World of Sports and Monday Night Football, two of the most iconic and longest-running programs in sports television history. In 2020, Arledge was posthumously inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame & Museum under the "Outstanding American" category -- an honor that reflects how his innovations indirectly helped shape wrestling's mainstream popularity -- beyond receiving other sports and television-related hall of fame inductions.
Arledge’s Monday Night Football played an unexpected yet pivotal role in professional wrestling history. As cable wrestling boomed in the 1990s, both the WWF (now WWE) and WCW scheduled their flagship shows -- Raw and Nitro -- on Monday nights, directly competing with Arledge’s creation. This scheduling figured into became known as the “Monday Night Wars,” a golden era of wrestling that pushed creative and competitive boundaries, elevating the industry to new heights of popularity. That Arledge came from Bellmore adds a fascinating layer to the story, as his innovations created the very battleground that would define a generation of wrestling.
Another brush with wrestling history occurred when Bellmore JFK High School was visited by Olympic gold medalist and future WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle in the late 1990s. Early in his pro wrestling career, Angle hosted an amateur wrestling clinic at the school, a fitting appearance given his deep roots in both amateur and professional wrestling. His visit left an impression on local athletes and helped bridge the worlds of amateur and professional wrestling in a tangible way for Bellmore’s youth.
Speaking of Bellmore JFK, last year the school hosted a live event for Create A Pro Wrestling, a popular independent promotion and training school co-founded by TNA Wrestling star Brian Myers (former WWE Superstar Curt Hawkins). The show featured well-known names like Myers himself, Dirty Dango (former WWE Superstar Fandango), and ECW legend Tommy Dreamer, drawing a crowd of passionate fans and giving local wrestling talent a chance to shine. On the other side of Bellmore, at least two live events were held at Sportsplex.
Bellmore’s ties to wrestling do not end with television innovation, independent live events, or John F. Kennedy High School. The town was also home to independent wrestling standout Dan Barry. Known for his work across the American indie scene, Barry built a reputation as a charismatic and technically sound performer. He has wrestled for AEW, GCW, EVOLVE, Beyond Wrestling and PWG -- among other promotions of note -- and has captured titles including the NYWC Tag Team Championship and the FWE Tag Team Championship alongside partner Bill Carr as both "Team Tremendous" and “Tremendous Investigations Inc.” Barry has shared the ring with Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn and Johnny Gargano at different points of his career.
Hollywood and wrestling also collided in Bellmore as well through George Kennedy, a native of the area. Kennedy, a veteran actor known for his roles in Cool Hand Luke and the Naked Gun series, once made a cameo appearance alongside Leslie Nielsen on a WWF pay-per-view in the mid-1990s. Their appearance was part of a comedic storyline during SummerSlam 1994, where they “investigated” the mystery of two identical Undertakers -- a quirky, memorable moment in wrestling history with surprising ties to Bellmore. Video of that pay-per-view appearance can be viewed here.
Researched by Darren Paltrowitz on June 4, 2025. Updated on June 14, 2025.