Vinny Pacifico has spent much of his life navigating the demanding realities of professional wrestling, and he believes those experiences have been essential as he broadens his career into acting, film, and television.
The independent wrestling veteran has secured several acting roles in recent years while remaining connected to the wrestling world. Speaking about the transition, Pacifico emphasized that entertainment is an intensely competitive field and that wrestlers may not always appreciate just how difficult it can be to establish a foothold in any part of the business.
For Pacifico, the learning process has been as important as the opportunities themselves. Having started in wrestling at 14 years old, he described the industry as the environment in which he grew up. Now that he is taking on work beyond the ring, he is approaching acting with an eagerness to absorb experience and develop new skills.
“This is what a lot of wrestlers don’t realize. Entertainment is such a hard industry. I’ve been doing this since I’m 14. So for me, it’s just like what I grew up doing. Now I’m getting into acting and film and all these different things and TV, and it’s a whole… I’m learning so much. I’m seeing so much. I’m a sponge.”
For more background on this topic, read Bret Hart Says WCW ‘Should Be Sued’ for Putting Him in the Ring With Goldberg.
Pacifico’s comments underline the overlap between wrestling and the larger entertainment world, while also recognizing the challenges unique to each profession. Wrestlers routinely perform live in front of crowds, develop characters, deliver promos, travel extensively, and put their bodies through a demanding physical schedule. Yet crossing into screen acting requires performers to adapt to a different set of expectations, production environments, and forms of competition.
That adjustment has not changed Pacifico’s appreciation for wrestling. Instead, he sees the ring as the foundation that has helped make his acting pursuits possible. He credited wrestling for preparing him to pursue and receive opportunities in film, making clear that he does not view the two paths as separate chapters of his career.
“Yes, I’m very lucky to have gotten some really awesome roles. But I’m just being a sponge right now, just learning so much. And it’s a very… competitive industry, very competitive. Everyone wants to work. Everybody wants it, you know, and wrestling too, and I’ll tell you what, I wouldn’t be the actor I am if I wasn’t a wrestler first. I wouldn’t be getting the opportunities I’m getting in film if I wasn’t wrestling. You know, that’s hands down. I fully believe that.”
Wrestling Experience Can Build a Unique Entertainment Skill Set
Professional wrestling has long served as a proving ground for performers who go on to work in other forms of entertainment. The skills are not identical, but there are obvious areas of crossover. Wrestlers learn how to project emotion to an audience, understand timing, establish a character quickly, react under pressure, and work within the structure of a live production. They also become accustomed to repetition, criticism, auditions, self-promotion, and the uncertainty that comes with trying to secure the next booking.
Pacifico’s perspective is especially grounded in the independent scene, where performers must often take responsibility for many parts of their own careers. Beyond the match itself, independent wrestlers can be required to travel long distances, communicate with promoters, market appearances, maintain conditioning, create merchandise, develop an on-screen identity, and continually find ways to stand out in crowded talent pools.
Those responsibilities can be useful when pursuing acting work, where performers must also be proactive and resilient. Pacifico did not present the transition as easy, nor did he suggest that wrestling alone guarantees success in other entertainment fields. Instead, he stressed the need to keep learning and acknowledged the sheer number of people competing for work.
That realism is central to his outlook. Pacifico’s excitement about landing roles is balanced by an understanding that entertainment careers demand patience and constant growth. He is approaching his expanding résumé as a student of the process, rather than treating prior wrestling experience as a reason to stop developing.
Pacifico Gives Wrestling Credit for the Opportunities He Has Received
While discussing acting and the wider entertainment business, Pacifico repeatedly returned to his respect for professional wrestling and the people who dedicate themselves to it. He said the work wrestlers put in deserves greater recognition, particularly given the physical toll of training and performing.
“So that’s why I think wrestling deserves a lot of credit and wrestling is, it’s tough. People who wrestle and go out there and beat their bodies up and do these matches and train so hard. It is not easy.”
That statement reflects a reality familiar throughout the independent circuit. Even outside major televised promotions, wrestlers are expected to improve continually while preserving their health, adapting to different opponents and ring styles, and earning the trust of audiences that may be seeing them for the first time. The physical demands are matched by the mental pressure of building momentum in a business where consistent work is never assured.
Pacifico’s belief that wrestling helped shape him as an actor also speaks to the value of the craft beyond wins, losses, championships, or visibility. The ring can teach performers to listen, respond, tell stories through movement, and make an audience invest emotionally within a limited amount of time. Those tools can carry into acting, even as the medium changes from a live venue to a film or television set.
His comments offer a positive view of wrestlers pursuing opportunities outside the ring. Rather than framing success elsewhere as turning away from wrestling, Pacifico sees the experience gained in wrestling as something that can create additional possibilities. In his case, he believes it has directly contributed to the work he is now receiving in film.
Competitive Industries, Shared Struggles
Pacifico also drew a direct comparison between wrestling and acting in one crucial respect: both are highly competitive. In each field, talented people are seeking limited opportunities, and a performer’s ability to work consistently can depend on preparation, relationships, timing, visibility, and circumstances beyond their control.
That competitiveness can make it easy to view other performers as rivals. Pacifico, however, said he finds genuine satisfaction in watching others thrive. He expressed support for wrestlers who are making money, finding success, and improving their situations in an industry that can be unforgiving.
“So I, just like you said, I love seeing people do well and making money and just thriving. I love seeing that. It makes me really happy to see.”
It is a notable sentiment from someone working in areas where competition is unavoidable. Pacifico’s outlook suggests that the success of one wrestler or actor does not have to diminish another person’s ambitions. Especially within independent wrestling, where performers often share locker rooms, long drives, training facilities, and career-building struggles, there can be a strong sense of appreciation when colleagues begin to break through.
The same holds true for performers exploring multiple lanes within entertainment. Wrestling, acting, television, and film each present different challenges, but they all require persistence. Pacifico’s message is that effort and success are worth celebrating, particularly when people understand firsthand how much unseen work is involved.
Looking Ahead to More Wrestling and Continued Growth
Pacifico remains active as an independent wrestler while continuing to explore his acting ambitions. Elsewhere in the same conversation, he also spoke about wanting to wrestle in Europe again, indicating that his goals inside the ring remain firmly in place alongside his developing work on screen.
That combination of goals fits the approach he described: keep learning, stay open to opportunities, and give proper credit to the experiences that created the foundation for future work. Pacifico is not presenting acting as a replacement for wrestling. He is treating both as parts of a broader career in entertainment, one that began when he was a teenager and continues to evolve.
For aspiring wrestlers considering similar paths, Pacifico’s experience highlights both the opportunity and the difficulty. Wrestling can provide valuable tools, confidence, discipline, and experience in front of an audience. But moving into any new entertainment field still means entering a competitive environment where there is always more to learn.
Pacifico appears ready for that challenge. With wrestling as his base and acting as an expanding area of focus, he is embracing the work of being a student again while maintaining a clear appreciation for the industry that first gave him a platform.
Darryl Polo
Darryl Polo is a passionate wrestling fan covering WWE, AEW, TNA and beyond. He loves great rivalries, breakout stars and the moments that keep fans talking long after the bell. How we work.