New Bulgarian pro wrestling academy holds Bulgaria’s first ever pro wrestling training seminar

One of our favorite things to cover here on WrestleMap is the spread of pro wrestling into a new area of the world. Today, we’re lucky enough to share that the first ever pro wrestling training seminar in Bulgaria has taken place!

Damyan Tangra, a Bulgarian pro wrestler who has been competing on the independent scene in the United States, kicked off the Bulgarian Wrestling Academy from “Orlovets” Sports Hall in Gabrovo, Bulgaria on Saturday, September 24, 2022. Serving as the founder and lead trainer of the academy, Tangra ran some beginner wrestlers through some drills that were able to be seen on the story of the Bulgaria Wrestling Academy Instagram page on the day of the event. “Future Shock” Tom Fulton was also on hand to help with the training process.

Seminar attendees shared photos from the seminar with “Future Shock” Tom Fulton (top) and Damyan Tangra. Top two images courtesy of rado_32 on Instagram; bottom two photos courtesy of Iliyan Koychev on Facebook.

Prior to the event, the seminar was featured in a write up in one of Bulgaria’s most popular newspapers. The event also gave spectators the opportunity to attend the seminar along with trainees with ticket options available for each. As for the ring used during the training seminar, we’ve been told that was loaned to the Bulgarian Wrestling Academy for the event by the Romanian Wrestling Alliance. Damyan Tangra is set to compete for the RWA on Sunday, the night after the BWA’s debut training session.

A flyer advertising the training seminar featuring Damyan Tangra. Flyer courtesy of the Bulgarian Wrestling Academy Facebook page.

We reached out to the Bulgarian Wrestling Academy but haven’t heard back. It’s unclear when the next training seminar is planned or if there will be one since Damyan Tangra now resides in the United States. In an interview with Gong.BG, Tangra shared that one of his goals when deciding to launch the Bulgarian Wrestling Academy was to establish an indie wrestling scene in the country similar to what is in the USA so that Bulgarian hopefuls would have opportunities to become pro wrestlers.

Prior to the seminar held by the Academy, there hasn’t been regular pro wrestling in Bulgaria since the early 1940’s. A one-off show was held in the Bulgarian city of Sofia in the summer of 2009 by defunct Irish promotion American Wrestling Rampage that was headlined by Rob Van Dam.

The last wrestling event to be held in Bulgaria, an American Wrestling Rampage event in Sofia in 2009

The development of this new pro wrestling academy in Bulgaria is a very exciting development and we’ll definitely be keeping a close eye on what the future could look like if additional seminars are held or if a new Bulgarian pro wrestling community springs up around Saturday’s event.

Seminar attendees pose in the ring. Images courtesy of the Bulgarian Wrestling Academy Facebook page.