"Wrestling Under the Stars" returns to Wahconah Park on Friday, marking the third summer in a row that Northeast Wrestling will make a stop at the ballpark in Pittsfield.

Part of an ongoing stadium series, NEW's event will start at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, and will feature a host of big-name wrestlers, along with a celebrity boxing match featuring Pittsfield's own Todd "The Punisher" Poulton.

The highlight wrestling match of the night will be the NEW Title match, featuring defending champion Jack Swagger against Brad Hollister. Also scheduled to make appearances on the night are Ryback, Mark Henry, "Wrecking Ball" Legursky, "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan and Rey Fenix.

Friday's card will also feature a women's match between Emma and Kasey Catal.

The original card was also set to feature wrestling legend Rey Mysterio, but a contractual situation with World Wrestling Entertainment means that Mysterio will be unable to appear at the event. Anyone who pre-ordered meet-and-greet tickets with Rey Mysterio will receive a refund.

Tickets for the event start at $20, with seats in rows 2 through 4 going for $60. Ringside seats are already sold out.

While much of the night will focus on high-flying wrestling action, Poulton's fight brings boxing into the mix, with a dash of local flavor.

Poulton will square off against the same opponent he faced in the ring at Wahconah Park two years ago, NEW wrestler "Dangerous" Danny Evans.

"I feel good," Poulton said when reached on Monday night. "This is all about my last fight. I did this right."

Poulton, who said two years ago that he was stepping away from the ring for good, is returning and donating the purse of the fight to Pittsfield police officer James Losaw and his family. Losaw's son, Landen, passed away from GBM (Glioblastoma multiforme), a rare form of brain cancer, in August 2017 at age nine.

"When I heard about [Landen Losaw], I said how can I help?" Poulton said. "And the only way I know how to help is fight."

While Evans has over 20 years on Poulton, with Poulton nearly 55 and Evans 31, Poulton told The Eagle that he is in the best shape of his life and is down to 228 pounds. In 2016, Poulton weighed in at 241 pounds for the fight.

"This guy is tough," Poulton said of Evans. "This is a tough task. He headbutted me at the end of round 2 [in 2016]. I wanted to beat the living [crap] out of this guy."

Poulton scored a third-round, knockout win in the 2016 fight. Coming into Friday, Poulton said the gameplan was simple: "Somebody is going to get knocked out, that's how I fight."

Evans took to Instagram on Tuesday afternoon to hype up the fight. In a post that included the promotional image for the match, Evans wrote in part: "I respect you Todd, but you should have stayed retired. On Friday night your career comes to an end. Only it's not going to be on your terms. It'll be on mine."

Poulton will look to utilize his home ring advantage on Friday.

"It's great, because my whole team will be behind me," Poulton said, "and that means if I feel fatigued or if I was ready to fall down or knocked out, I feel those people."

Geoff Smith can be reached at gsmith@berkshireeagle.com, at @GSmith_Eagle on Twitter and 413-496-6254.