Pain, patience, and kelly green: AEW’s Wheeler Yuta isn’t afraid to let his Philly roots shine through in the ring

A professional wrestler’s character can be inspired by many different things — including fictional characters such as the Cuban gangster Tony Montana, like Razor Ramon, or the main character in the film The Crow, like Sting. But for other wrestlers, it’s influenced by their real-life persona, incorporating elements of their own heritage and hometown. That’s the case for Paul Gruber, better known as Wheeler Yuta.

The Villanova graduate’s professional wrestling character not only pays tribute to his Japanese American heritage, it also represents the city of Philadelphia. Gruber’s Philadelphia roots shaped the athlete into the wrestler he is today. When asked what he learned growing up as a Philly sports fan, he responded immediately.

“Pain and patience,” Gruber, 28, said jokingly. “No, I’m kidding. I think I’ve learned a lot in terms of work ethic. That’s really the No. 1 thing that Philly sports fans want. They want you to go out and prove that you’re trying your hardest, you’re trying to win, you’re trying to win for them, and trying to win for yourself.

“That has really resonated with me and helped me continue to grow. I think about the athletes that I cheered or booed as a kid, just trying to get them to bring one home for the city. What I command from the Phillies, the Sixers, and the Eagles, if I’m not putting that out myself, then who am I to throw stones?”

Now, in front of the Philly faithful, Gruber and All Elite Wrestling make their return to the Liacouras Center for AEW Collision this Saturday.

Wrestling fans often first fall in love with the sport after watching iconic moments, whether it’s the Montreal Screwjob, Hulk Hogan body slamming Andre the Giant, Undertaker throwing Mankind off the top of the Hell in a Cell or, for newer wrestling fans, Cody Rhodes finishing the story. But this wasn’t the case for Gruber.

Gruber’s fascination for the sport started with a video game: WrestleMania XIX. The Philadelphia native remembered his cousins first showing him the game; initially he didn’t understand that real people performed the actions he was playing out on his GameCube.

“I just thought that it was a video game they were showing me,” Gruber said. “Then they turned on the TV later and I was like, ‘Holy cow, this is crazy.’ So that’s really where the infatuation started. And then I always told myself when I was younger that I would be a wrestler.”

He started watching every week and going to different independent shows. Eventually, Gruber began training. But before he could make his debut, he knew he needed a name for his wrestling persona. In order to honor his Japanese American roots, he wanted to have one Japanese name and one American name.

For the Japanese half, he eventually chose the name Yuta, which has its own backstory.

“I originally picked Yuta because it was my friend who I haven’t spoken to since first grade, when he moved back to Japan,” Gruber said. “So — if you’re out there — sorry, man, I took your name.”

Although Gruber’s wrestling journey may have not started in Philadelphia, it was always a goal of his to train in the city, with its rich wrestling history.

Gruber started training in South Carolina at C4W Explosive Wrestling, a wrestling company that was based out of Myrtle Beach. He made his way to the Philadelphia area, where he was born and where his father is from, when he decided to attend Villanova University.

“I majored in psychology, but it was really just a cover for pro wrestling,” Gruber said. “I really just wanted to move to Philly for pro wrestling. But I do have a psych degree.”

Eventually, Gruber was training with Combat Zone Wrestling and Chikara as a student at Villanova. The transition from South Carolina to Philadelphia was rather seamless for Gruber, besides the change in weather and wrestling fans — both harsher in Philadelphia.

“It was definitely a little bit different, but I was already very familiar with Philly,” Gruber said. “I spent a lot of time as a kid here just visiting family for the holidays. The main difference was just the wrestling in general, the crowds here were a lot harsher in their criticism I would say, but a lot more passionate, a lot more excited for the wrestling. So, it was a bit of a double-edged sword. But I think it hardened me up and it made me into the performer that I am now.”

When he wrestled in front of Philly fans for the first time at Flyers Skate Zone for a tryout show, Gruber remembers being nervous ahead of his match — hearing the crowd be very critical of the wrestlers before him.

“I’ve always been a Philly sports fan, so I knew what the culture was and I knew that they want you to come here, work, and they want you to come here and win,” Gruber said. “It’s intimidating being on the other side of that as an athlete.”

“I knew going into it that it was going to be hard to earn their respect. So, once I actually got that respect, it really meant a lot.”

But when it was his time to perform, he nailed it.

“I did pretty well,” Gruber said. “There were three guys sitting in the front row that were really the toughest critics of everyone, and they gave me a standing ovation and got the rest of the crowd to give me a standing ovation. They started chanting, ‘Please come back!’ which is like a real big sign of respect, especially on the independent scene. So, I was like, ‘Man, I might have pulled this one off.’”

That marked a turning point for Gruber.

“I knew going into it that it was going to be hard to earn their respect,” he said of Philly fans. “So, once I actually got that respect, it really meant a lot.”

Of course, it wouldn’t be a true Philly wrestling story without mentioning the iconic 2300 Arena, former home of Extreme Championship Wrestling. Gruber first wrestled at the arena during his time with Major League Wrestling.

“I just remember being so excited to be in a building like that,” Gruber said. “I remember one time when it was closed, we were visiting my family for Christmas and I made my dad just drive me to it so I could take a picture outside of it. There was no wrestling happening. I just really wanted to be a part of it, so it was really awesome to actually go in there.”

Since 2021, Yuta has wrestled for AEW, where he’s not afraid to show off his Philly roots with different Philly-inspired wrestling gear.

“So, I’ve worn kelly green Eagles tights before,” Yuta said. “I actually had a powder blue set that I was going to wear last year to the Philly show, which was on my birthday. But the Phillies gave me a birthday present the day before, which was losing Game 7 in the NLCS — so I decided to trash that one just for now.

“They will come out eventually, I do have them. The Phillies are my favorite team; I will always love them. But I felt like it wasn’t the time for that.”

As AEW Collision prepares to make its return to Philadelphia at the Liacouras Center on Saturday, it’s still not official whether we’ll see Gruber make an appearance. The updated card features Mariah May vs. Anna Jay, Thunder Rosa vs. Harley Cameron, and Kyle Fletcher vs. Komander.

The Eagles will be donning their kelly greens on Sunday. Could Yuta break out his a day earlier? We’ll have to see.