ORLANDO, Fla. – The dream of becoming a professional wrestler came true for 25-year-old Vincent Mejía of Orlando. Mejía, who has Down syndrome, was on the main stage of Doctor Phillips Performing Arts Center, Steinmetz Hall. DPAC partnered with the Dream Machine Foundation to fulfill Mejía’s dream.
“Tonight, is a night about dreams. Tonight, is a night about possibilities. He has a disability in most people’s eyes, but we just wanna show the world how much ability he has,” said Charlie Rocket, the founder of Dream Machine Foundation. “This is the beginning. This is to show the world he can be a pro wrestler.”
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Mejía, along with three other people with Down syndrome, entertained a crowd of 1,500 people. The event will benefit the Mejía family and the Down Syndrome Foundation of Florida.
“When my son was born, it was bad news at first and then I came to grips with God’s plan and this is God’s plan playing out for us, and I promised my son that we would change the world and won’t change him. So this is part of those steps in the journey of changing the world,” John Choriando, a board member with the Down Syndrome Foundation said.
Choriando told News 6 he shared Vincent’s story with Rocket and that eventually led to the Dream Machine to start the ball rolling and put together the Dream Mania event in less than 2 weeks.
“We’ve got the first-ever professional wrestler with Down syndrome who’s gonna wrestle a match -- this has never happened before,” Dean “Mojo” Muhtadi, a professional wrestler said. “We think this is gonna do wonders for the world for inclusion for the Down Syndrome Foundation. It’s just gonna motivate and inspire so many kids out there.”
Muhtadi also has a talent management agency. He said when he met Vincent, he was inspired by his energy and knew he had to offer him to work together.
“We’re gonna help manage his career. We’ve been getting calls from various promotions really all over the world to try and bring him in just to compete for the day; share his energy with the world,” Muhtadi said.