Delmont's Dani Mo to set pro wrestling record in Himalayas

Dani Mo is moving up in the world.

Literally.

The local professional wrestler, also known to friends and family as Danielle Morrison, a Bethel Park graduate and Delmont resident, plans to set a world record Thursday by wrestling in a match at the highest elevation in history.

The match is at a base camp at Kala Patthar in the Nepali Himalayas in view of and in close proximity to Mt. Everest.

It is situated at an elevation of 18,519 feet above sea level.

“I am mindblown, and I still can’t believe I am doing this,” she said. “But it’s happening.”

Dani Mo will be in Nepal for a week.

She began a journey Sunday morning that will take her to Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. She said jet lag from the flights and the time difference will play a factor in how she feels early in her trip.

The match, Dani Mo said, is a big event in Nepal, and her opponent, Bhagawati Khadka (Unika) is a beloved national celebrity in her country.

She is Nepal’s first female professional wrestler. She has appeared on Nepal’s version of “Dancing With the Stars.”

English broadcasting company BBC will be on hand to document the match and some of the events surrounding it.

“I am going to be with (Unika) every day,” Dani Mo said.

“I am not sure what all we will be doing. Unika is taking care of everything. We might be making several appearances to promote or celebrate the match. I am not sure if we’re doing media stuff before the match or after. She told me to bring five nice outfits. I don’t know if I have five nice outfits.

“Unika is on TV. She does music videos. She runs her own wrestling federation in Nepal. They have wrestling shows in Kathmandu and other places around the country, and they draw really good crowds. She is a really good wrestler. She wrestles with a lot of power. I am excited to be in the ring with her.”

Dani Mo said it was wild how Unika found her to be a part of the match.

“There were three other wrestlers that I know went over there for her and competed in events,” she said. “I talked to all of them, and they all said it is legit. Unika reached out to me over a year ago. This was supposed to happen twice already. One was too short of time to get it all together. The other was supposed to happen in November but earthquakes struck, and they needed the helicopters to help with the recovery.

“I asked her how she found me, and she said she was impressed with my wrestling. That made me feel really good.”

On Thursday, Dani Mo will get up early and prepare for an additional flight to where she expects to board a helicopter that will take her and others to the site of the match.

“I am not 100 percent sure of all of the logistics of how we’re getting there,” she said. “They are also flying the ring up.”

It will be very warm at lower elevations, but at the site of the match, the temperature is expected to be in the 30s.

“It’s supposed to be snowing,” Dani Mo said. “I was told we have to be in layers, which is fair. Then I said, ‘Ok, then I take all my layers off and wrestle in my new gear that I got made?’ They said, ‘We’ll talk when we get there.’ ”

Dani Mo said she has employed several training methods to help with her conditioning and breathing at the altitude three times that of many events held in the elevations of Colorado. She also has trained to be able to compete in the expected chilly temperatures.

She said she is confident her fitness level will allow her to compete well, although she won’t fully know what to expect until she is standing at that elevation and mixes it up in the ring.

Officials with World Book of Records in London and the Guinness Book of World Records will be on hand to witness, document and certify the match as a world record.

Dani Mo will receive two certificates officially declaring the match and its elevation as a record.

Her connection with professional wrestling began more than a decade ago when she met fellow wrestler Michael Cichowicz, better known to fans locally and beyond Western Pennsylvania as Facade “The Neon Ninja.”

Dani Mo became his valet and manager and soon began incorporating her athleticism into many of those matches.

She made the decision to become a full-fledged wrestler and called upon her experience in and around the ring coupled with instruction from Facade and fellow local wrestler and promoter Chris Lerusso.

Dani Mo made her in-ring debut in May 2017 and ramped it up Oct. 25, 2019, in Reading, Pa., for the Rogue Women Warriors championship in a three-person match against Layna Lennox and Lady Frost.

She didn’t win the title that night, but she was on her way to winning many matches over the next five years for local wrestling companies such as International Wrestling Cartel, which runs monthly shows in Elizabeth and other locations in Western Pa., and Ryse Wrestling, which promotes shows in Uniontown and elsewhere.

She also has traveled to compete throughout the U.S. and internationally on her own and with Facade and others.

Fans of WWE’s flagship program “Monday Night Raw” might remember seeing Dani Mo in a six-women tag-team match Aug. 29, 2022. On the card at PPG Paints Arena, she teamed with fellow local independent wrestlers Katie Arquette and Kayla Sparks in a losing effort against WWE superstars Alexa Bliss, Asuka and Bianca Belair.

The match had an additional local flair as commentating on RAW that night was Monroeville native and Gateway graduate Corey Graves.

Dani Mo transitioned to the art form that is professional wrestling with an athletic background rooted in agility and being able to fly through the air.

Talent was discovered in the pole vault on the Bethel Park track and field team. By the time she graduated, she had represented the Blackhawks at the WPIAL championships.

Dani Mo continued to train and compete at Cal (Pa.). She still holds the school’s women’s indoor pole vault record at 10 feet, 2 inches.

She said this latest match of her career is a celebration of why she loves professional wrestling and how it can bring people together, even those from different cultures and backgrounds.

“This is going to be so much fun,” she said.