“George The Greek” Pantas and Nikita Koloff hit Hampton High School on March 15, 2025, for an unforgettable night of Virginia Championship Wrestling
“George The Greek” Pantas may not be a household name in professional wrestling, but somehow, our lives have mirrored each other.
‘George the Greek’ Pantas and ‘The Nature Boy’ Ric Flair.
Both of us are members of the Greek Orthodox faith—he under Patriarch Bartholomew IV of Constantinople, and I under Patriarch John X of Antioch. We share a Mediterranean heritage, with Pantas hailing from Greece and me being a first-generation Assyrian-Lebanese American. And like Pantas, my love for professional wrestling was sparked by my mother, who understood the theatrics.
Pantas and I also share a common professional path. Not only were we both high schools teachers, he began his wrestling journey with legendary NWA Mid-Atlantic Wrestling in the early 1970s, a promotion owned by the Crockett Family. I, on the other hand, found my way into the industry years later, starting with All Pro Wrestling in Hayward, California, in the late ’90s.
Our connection? Pure fate. Pantas reached out to me on Facebook, and as I scrolled through his profile, I couldn’t help but notice photos with some of the biggest names in wrestling. Intrigued, I dropped him a message—and that’s when the conversation shifted. We realized that our paths, from wrestling to our Mediterranean roots, had run parallel all along.
VCW Hampton High School live event on March 15, 2025, with special guest, Nikita Koloff.
Today, Pantas is semi-retired from wrestling, no longer serving as the commissioner for Virginia Championship Wrestling (VCW) but still helping behind the scenes. His stories—about his friendships with legends like Ric Flair, Chief Wahoo McDaniel, The Road Warriors, and even The Undertaker—sound like something out of a wrestling fan’s wildest dreams. But with Pantas? They’re all real.
This weekend, VCW is hosting a special charity event at Pantas’ alma mater, featuring none other than “The Russian Nightmare” Nikita Koloff. And trust me, all heck is breaking loose (hey, it’s Lent, keep it clean)!
Wait until you hear the story about ‘George the Greek’ and The Undertaker above.
In our chat with Pantas, he opens up about how he first got involved in professional wrestling, how the love for the industry keeps him feeling young 50 years later, and how this Greek immigrant kid ended up being the only person to capture footage of the legendary “Battle of the Nature Boys” between Buddy Rogers and Ric Flair. Spoiler alert: Pantas sold that rare footage to WWE, and now you can find it on the Network.
There are still tickets available for VCW Pro Wrestling at Hampton High that can be purchased at https://www.simpletix.com/.
For more information about VCW and future events, visit their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/vcwrestling.
