The Best of Weird Florida

"When you hear “dinner theater” you might think of early bird specials and murder mysteries. Not so at Manor Professional Wrestling Dinner Theater, where body slams and spandex are served up along with your ringside supper. The Manor is the creation of Bryan Smith, who founded his pro wrestling dinner theater in the Silver Spurs rodeo arena on a dream and a Kickstarter campaign in 2012. He never met his funding goal, and the project was met with incredulous and sometimes derisive media coverage, but somehow the Manor Pro Wrestling Dinner Theater is still open and thriving. The wrestlers, who are local professionals, compete once a month for the Manor Medallion. This prestigious prize has a folkloric backstory written by Smith himself, involving characters with names like “Lord Darkness” and “Lady Golden Eyes” competing in an endless battle of good versus evil. Whether that comes through the purple lights and smoky haze lingering around the performance is unclear, but all the glitz and drama of WWE-style wrestling is everywhere at the Manor. Even the menu offerings sound straight out of the mouth of Macho Man Randy Savage: Try the Head Lock Green Salad or the Drop Kicking Veggie Medley. Couple all that with a Staind-inspired house band and free admission for kids under the age of 3, and you’ve got yourself an evening on the town." - ATLAS_OBSCURA