ELLSWORTH — Many know Michael Huffman from running the Subway in Ellsworth and making their sandwiches over the years, but his double life is not as public. Huffman is a world champion magician that is now making a name as a professional wrestling entertainer.

Huffman is a lifelong wrestling fan who is now starting to get his chance to shine at 41 years old. He grew up going to events and collecting merchandise.

“Watching live wrestling is like watching a live action movie happen right in front of you,” Huffman said. “If you’ve never seen it, you’re going to go once and you’re going to want to see it more.”

Everything changed two years ago when Huffman’s friend notified him that a local wrestling event was looking for people to help out. He imagined that call to action would include putting the ring together or helping with security, but that misconception shaped his future.

“My friend had mentioned that I’m a former world champion magician,” Huffman said. “So, they thought they were getting a professional wrestling magician.”

After helping get the ring set up, the promoter of the show came up to Huffman and said, “Oh yeah, so you’re going to be working with our big guy there.”

“Big guy was an understatement, he was a seven-foot giant,” Huffman said. “At this point I still haven’t told them exactly, ‘Hey, I’m not a wrestler.’ I was just so excited to get into a wrestling ring. So, I jumped up there, and I ran off the ropes just once, and literally every wrestler in that room stopped what they were doing and looked up at me and they were like, ‘You have no idea what you’re doing, do you?’”

After explaining how he wound up in the ring, the wrestlers spent the next hour preparing Huffman for what to do when he steps in the ring during the real match. Then, match time came. Huffman entered the ropes with one goal in mind: stay alive. That he did after losing by chokeslam knockout. When he got to the backstage of the show, vomit rained down, but he was thrilled to have gotten his turn on the stage he always dreamed of.

“It was an insane experience,” Huffman said. “Afterwards, I was like oh man, that was crazy. I’m 39 years old. I have a full hip replacement from an injury from when I was younger. Maybe I just take that as that was a cool experience [and be done].”

About a week later, Huffman saw a post for a wrestling school that was just starting out, The River City Championship Wrestling Academy in La Crosse. Because it was a newer program, the prices were far more affordable than others Huffman had seen, and he decided to give it a go.

“If I had that much fun without knowing what I was doing, maybe if I knew what I was doing it would be even better,” Huffman said.
Flash forward, and Huffman is in contention for the Rookie of the Year and Superstar of the Year awards. He has wrestled all over Wisconsin, Minnesota and may even appear in Tennessee shortly. As all wrestlers do, Huffman has found his wrestling personality as Michael Arc “The Devil’s Favorite Magician.” He is a “heel,” meaning he is frequently jeered in favor of his opponent.

“I have a 5-year-old son, he’s at all of my events, and he boos me the loudest,” Huffman said.

Running the Subway has led Huffman to meeting a lot of great people, especially students at the high school who work there.

“With all the high school kids that I have coming through there that God sent to me, just some of the greatest employees ever, I decided I want to start helping out with the [Ellsworth High School Senior Lock-In],” Huffman said.

He started by doing magic at the Lock-In, and now he is ready to do something more, bringing high flying wrestling action to Ellsworth High School to raise money for the Lock-In. Huffman had seen many successful fundraisers in his time on the wrestling circuit, so he helped create the Jan. 17 Alliance Pro Curd City Classic. All are welcome with tickets available at https://tickets.aroundrivercity.com/events/alliance-pro-10-1-17-2026. Sponsors as well as a portion of the proceeds will go toward supporting the 2026 Senior Lock-In.

“It’s such a fun event to be a part of,” Huffman said of the Lock-In. “Hopefully we can use this as maybe a yearly fundraising event.”

Wrestling in Ellsworth is going to be special for Huffman, as he knows so many faces in the community.

“Normally, my job is to make the locals angry. It is to make them not like me enough where they really like the guy that’s beating me up,” Huffman said. “I don’t think I’m going to be a bad guy here in Ellsworth… I’m going to give being a good guy a chance.”

“I’ve got countless employees that are just super excited. Some might be a little too excited to see the boss get punched in the mouth,” Huffman said. “I love this community so much.”

Huffman said everyone knows students in the school system, and supporting this event supports them either this year or down the line if the event continues.