From Korea to the Quad Cities: How Danny Maldonado Launched a Professional Wrestling Company

By Caitlin Ward

DannyMaldonado is from Puerto Rico and grew up around wrestling, watching it with his grandparents who always had it on TV. He said that in Puerto Rico, wrestling has deep roots, “every show is like going to see the Beatles.” The first time there was a local wrestling match, he was hooked.

In 2022, Maldonado founded Honor Among Wrestling, a professional wrestling company in the Quad Cities. In an interview with United on the RoK, he talks about the business and his journey from being a fan to now a business owner.

1. What is Honor Among Wrestling?

Honor Among Wrestling (HAW) is a Veteran-owned professional wrestling company in the Quad Cities.

HAW is a combination of my passion for owning my own business and my passion for pro wrestling.

I have been passionate about pro wrestling since I was 6 years old. In addition to professional wrestling shows, we offer opportunities to be a crew member or even train to be a professional wrestler. This opportunity is open for everybody who wants to be involved in wrestling.

I created HAW in September 2022 with the intention of expanding opportunities and entertainment for wrestling fans in the Quad Cities (Rock Island and Moline in Illinois and Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa). After spending a year at Rock Island Arsenal, researching and building an understanding of the area, and with much support from friends and family, I realized it is now or never to start a new chapter.

2. What is your wrestling experience?

Like every person who loves wrestling, we started when we were little kids, watching larger-than-life people performing in the ring. Being in the military since I was 18 put a hold on those dreams, since I was constantly moving, deploying and going through rotations—I wasn’t able to find the proper school and time. In 2018 when I was stationed at Camp Humphreys, I connected with Pro Wrestling Society, a wrestling school that had just been started by Hong Dong Hee (Shiho) in South Korea. At the late age of 35, I made a dream come true. It took me six months of training before I could perform in front of a crowd. All the way until the moment I PCS’d in 2021, I performed all over Korea.

3. Which wrestlers inspire you?

The wrestler who has inspired me the most is Shawn Michaels in WWE, for his charisma and ability to perform at a high level all the time. He is everything I aspire to be.

4. How has wrestling impacted you?

Wrestling has had a great impact on my personal life. It was my go-to place after school and work. As we call it, it is our men’s soap opera. A way to get away from reality and destress. For most of the people I grew up around, wrestling defined the way we were.

5. What is your wrestling style? How does it differ from wrestling styles in other countries?

We got all wrestling styles from fast-paced to hard hitting. All countries have different styles of how they train and how they perform, and that’s what I wanna bring to the show.

6. How do you develop your story lines?

We develop storylines months in advance, going through every detail as much as possible. We want to make sure whatever storyline we have, from happy endings to the villain winning the day, that every fan experiences every emotion.

7. What is the most challenging part of your business?

The greatest challenge is getting talent and venues all together. Luckily, I’ve been in the military for twenty years doing logistics, that has helped me manage it pretty well.

8. What is your five-year goal? What is your ten-year goal?

My five-year goal is to be the main brand in the area, to be one of those shows people would not want to miss. Ten-year goal would be, to be able to travel to different cities and take the brand around areas that do not have wrestling close by.

9. How can people get connected with Honor Among Wrestling? You can connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Spotify and TikTok with the handle Honor Among Wrestling.