EXCLUSIVE - Soft Ground, Soft Targets: How Daniel Bumbash Duped the Wrestling World (2024)

Soft Ground, Soft Targets: How Daniel Bumbash Duped the Wrestling World

The Rising Tide of SGW Uganda

Amid a vast open field surrounded by stunning bamboo groves, two young men, covered from head to toe in mud, batter themselves over the head with various weapons and objects before an uproarious crowd anticipating their every smash, slam, and taunt. This is Soft Ground Wrestling Uganda, who became unlikely internet darlings in early 2024 for their unique take on the American art of professional wrestling.

Among a fandom that is often tribal, argumentative, and disagreeable, a group of young aspiring wrestlers from Kampala, Uganda captured the imaginations of professional wrestling aficionados around the globe. Their founder, an enigmatic character named Daniel Bumba (AKA Daniel Bumbash, Bumbash Daniel, Daniel Bumba Sedrick, and who knows how many additional aliases), claims to be a long-time wrestling fan with a professional background translating American wrestling matches for a Ugandan audience¹ and working as a television presenter. Bumba also serves as the principal wrestling trainer, despite having no apparent formal experience himself.

The group became known for their zany and often controversial storylines, wild brawls in the mud of East Africa, and their noteworthy and bombastic characters. The entire roster united to fight against the dastardly heel Lord White, a smarmy British man who made it his goal to recolonize Uganda (at least the wrestling part). He even recruited well-known UK wrestling star Tate Mayfairs² to battle on his behalf against the homegrown talent of SGW in the service of King Charles III. They experimented with more edgy content reminiscent of WWE in the late 1990s with a child abuse angle³, where one wrestler threatened a young woman by dangling a real baby all over the ring. There was a match over custody of the infant, and the original video was deleted after backlash from fans and some well-known media personalities and wrestlers.

Over time, more of the videos, each crudely produced by Bumbash himself, gained traction with fans online. In addition to the antics of Lord White, a special Easter Sunday angle was booked for the online fans. It depicted a wrestler, playing the role of Jesus Christ, being beaten to death. Lord White met the same fate. Both were eventually resurrected. Even in Ugandan wrestling, nothing is forever and there are no guarantees, just like its American counterpart.

The group’s provocative storylines, impressively athletic matches, and increasingly popular wrestlers and personalities such as Coolman, Hamis Diamond, Jordan Loverine, and Lord White brought major interest on the international front, even garnering coverage from the Associated Press.

Explosive Growth, International Renown

As western media outlets picked up on the viral trend, Bumbash increased the group’s social media presence. The SGW YouTube channel ran several recruiting videos, inviting youngsters to come train at a facility that, he claims, would prepare them for wrestling glory abroad in larger organizations such as WWE and All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He spoke of potential students receiving the proper training to go on to become international stars, escaping the poverty-ridden and often dangerous streets of Kampala.

At first, the goals of Bumbash seemed to self-manifest. The parade of international stars who arrived to take part in storylines and matches in SGW was impressive. In addition to Mayfairs, grapplers from as far as Japan and the United States came to see what all the fuss was about and help in any way they could. Bumbash began to focus his marketing and promotional efforts on the idea that SGW was a haven for young orphans with nowhere to go, no education, nothing to eat, and no prospects for a better future. One could not help but feel their entire body overflow with empathy when reading about these unfortunate kids. Bumbash is an expert at emotional appeals. This, of course, made global fame and fortune extra enticing to prospective trainees, and the roster quickly grew to nearly 100 young men and women.

A contingent from the Japanese GLEAT promotion including Check Shimatani⁴ and the legendary CIMA⁵ wrestled in the infamous mud ring. Shortly after their late 2023 release from WWE, Mason Madden and Mansoor⁶ (known in WWE as Maximum Male Models) made the excursion. Others followed from around the world.

Money Changes Everything

Inspired by their visit, Mason and Mansoor (now signed to AEW as MxM Collection) decided they needed to do more. They organized a who’s who list of wrestlers, social media stars, and even wrestling media members to raise money for the group.

This wasn’t the first time that someone tried to help SGW financially, however. The initial effort portended what should have been seen as a sign to tap the brakes and devise a plan. Instead, everyone involved, including international wrestling superstars and world champions, doubled down.

After seeing some SGW clips on social media, an American teen (not named due to being a minor) reached out to help. Bumbash quickly declared him the US Ambassador for SGW, and a GoFundMe campaign was launched. The stated purpose was to raise funds for the purchase of a proper wrestling ring. The goal was to raise $10,000. That goal was exceeded thanks to the help of some of the biggest names in wrestling.⁷

AEW standouts Daniel Garcia and Will Ospreay donated, as well as TNA Wrestling’s Jordynne Grace. Ospreay gave $2,000. Garcia chipped in $100, and Grace contributed a donation of $200.⁸ Much of the remainder came from everyday people.

Eventually, the former SGW associate who organized the GoFundMe campaign was suspended from Twitter, never to return after a campaign of online harassment incited by both Bumbash followers and skeptics accused him of withholding the funds from SGW and causing delays in getting the much-needed money to Uganda. An innocent kid had been implicated both as a thief and part of an international conspiracy to scam people out of their hard-earned money.

The truth is that a teenager is not in the best position to handle international monetary transfers. No matter how successful the campaign would have been, the unprepared minor was in over his head. Any legitimate businessperson would laugh at the very idea of allowing a teen to handle large sums of money with the eyes of the world on them. Bumbash embraced it, knowing having a scapegoat on the back burner may prove useful.

Getting money to Uganda is enough of a conundrum. GoFundMe and many other services are unable to directly send funds to the country, resulting in the use of the third-party wire service, WorldRemit. There were also fees tagged on by GoFundMe, PayPal, and various other services used to convert the currency from US dollars, then to British pounds, and finally to Ugandan Shillings.

Due to the complexity of this process, the transfers were facilitated through a person in the UK with dual Ugandan citizenship and known by Bumbash named Sophia Vee. Despite a large chunk of the donations being lost to the fees, what was left of the money did make it to its destination. Bumbash was furious over the delays, however, and began blaming the very people who were working hard on his behalf.

Several sources directly involved with the situation, including individuals no longer associated with Soft Ground Wrestling painted a picture of a young person who was trying to help a cause he believed in being strong-armed by Bumbash. Text messages obtained during interviews for this story show that Bumbash openly bragged about being pushy and abusive to the teen who was trying to help his peers from across the globe achieve their lofty ambitions as oblivious outsiders looked for somebody to point the finger at. He did not sugarcoat his treatment of the volunteer.

“I abused [the fundraising volunteer] badly,” Bumbash wrote in a text message to one of his associates. “… Once provoked, I become a snake.”

Bumbash, in that same conversation, went on to brag about outsmarting the youth.

“I think I am not dumb,” he boasted. He went on to describe how his degree in surveying uniquely equipped him to outsmart a teenager. That volunteer has since disappeared from all involvement in SGW, citing harassment and stalking stemming from the controversy.

Bumbash also had a backup plan in case the money didn’t arrive as planned. Multiple insiders confirmed that a video had been shot wherein SGW trainees were told to speak about how they were ripped off, shifting blame to the frightened volunteer, who at the time was desperately trying to find a way to get the money to Uganda. This was then held over his head by Bumbash himself. An array of threatening, aggressive communications warned the former SGW associate that if Bumbash didn’t get his money, they would blame him and take pains to ruin his reputation publicly, before there was even a chance to establish it.

As observers of the increasingly popular online sensation awaited the arrival of the money, the tone turned against those involved with the fundraiser, leading to an online bullying campaign that ultimately inspired amateur internet detectives to harass, stalk, and threaten the youngster who put the whole campaign together. That included private threats from Bumbash himself, which understandably left the volunteer terrified. Despite all of this, the funds made it to the personal bank account of the SGW founder.

With a hefty portion of the money being paid out to the various financial service providers and banks, there was not enough left to purchase a ring. In a video posted by Bumbash to the Soft Ground Wrestling account on X as well as one shared on the GoFundMe page⁹, the group claimed that taxes, transportation, and other factors made it impossible to purchase a ring.¹⁰ Instead, the money would be used to build an office and food storage area. It is unknown how much of this initial money went toward those goals, but an SGW source did note that those buildings had already been in place since at least October, months before the fundraiser took place.

This was the first in a long line of questionable events relating to Bumbash’s alleged abuses and Mafia boss-like tactics in the way he handles the business of SGW. There had long been jokes and perhaps dubious suspicions that SGW could be a scam. Bumbash simply promotes it as a place where orphans can come, train, get their bodies and minds in shape, eat well, and learn the ropes of pro wrestling. There were certainly red flags right from the start, but they either went undetected or ignored. Bumbash and his troupe of young grapplers marched forward, riding the wave of their international viral success.

As the Lord White storyline got hot with the social media audience, Mase and Mansoor made their visit, creating even more buzz. They allowed SGW to sell t-shirts with their likeness to raise money.¹¹ Soon, they announced an online stream that would feature a cavalcade of stars to help SGW wrestlers “Achieve the Dream.”

The goal was to raise money for beds, mattresses, six months of food and water, a van so the group could travel, and cash to buy or continue to lease the land they were renting for $200 a month. The event was set for May 6, 2024.¹²

Famed pro wrestling scoops reporter Sean Ross Sapp joined Mase and Mansoor along with former WWE star Mojo Rawley, AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland, Maffew (of Botchamania fame), YouTube star Justin Whang, and other wrestlers from TNA, WWE, AEW, and the independent circuit including Mojo Rawley, Evil Uno, Mustafa Ali, Donovan Dijak, Joe Hendry, and Nikki Cross for the festivities. The stream had an endlessly positive vibe, and the public was more than happy to send their money to help what they believed were starving kids in a poor country.

Things went better than anyone could have possibly anticipated. The pro wrestling community showed its resolve and love for what Bumbash and company were building. The stream raised nearly $30,000. Mansoor’s mother kicked in the entire amount of cash needed to buy the van. The future of SGW appeared to be secure, and the good news didn’t stop rolling in.

After raising $40,000 with the initial intent of buying a wrestling ring, SGW was still, quite literally, in the mud. The following month, the top star in WWE and one of the most recognizable wrestlers on the planet voiced his support. Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes announced via a video¹³ that he was going to buy a fully funded ring for Soft Ground Wrestling to be constructed locally so that the logistics pitfalls of the first attempt could be more readily avoided. They now had the money, a legitimate squared circle on the way, and a solid core of international fans who wanted to see what might come next for the unlikely crew.

“I’ve Never Lied”: The Myriad Lies of Bumbash Daniel

It was at this point that some wrestling fans started to notice that Bumbash was getting a little bit bombastic for a man ostensibly running a charity. The SGW founder started floating delusional ideas of events in a 50,000-seat stadium.¹⁴ Major wrestling outlets picked up on the unverified claim by Bumbash that SGW had signed a television deal, as well.¹⁵ On July 1, 2024, Bumbash used the official SGW account on X to make this major announcement. He pulled no punches, stating that a contract had been signed.

“Today SGW signed an agreement with a local famous media company [NBS Sport] to start airing Soft Ground Wrestling on media waves. This is a huge milestone. Thank you, lord,” he wrote.

Searching for more details, I contacted NBS Sport for more information and to verify the news, which is one step farther than any other media outlet covering the story. I was met with silence. I reached out to a source within SGW, who told me that they weren’t sure if there really was a television deal.

Bumbash himself did respond to my request for more information.

When asked to prove the deal was legitimate, Bumbash sent me part of an undated, unsigned contract, allegedly between NBS Television Limited d/b/a NBS Sport and Soft Ground Wrestling Uganda, of Elita Plaza Nankulabye, Kampala, Uganda.

I informed him that this single page proved nothing. It provided no terms, no timeframe, and no signatures.

Bumbash then sent me another page, presumably the final page of the “contract.” It listed miscellaneous terms regarding a memorandum of understanding. There were signature places for Kin Kariisa, CEO of NBS Television Limited and Obadia Ismail, Chief Legal Officer. The second party signatures had spaces for Daniel Bumba (Bumbash), listed as the Managing Director of Soft Ground Wrestling Uganda, along with Deputy Manager Shafik Kamoga and Operations Manager Samuel Sewamala. None of them were signed.

I bluntly asked Bumbash if he was lying about a contract being signed, as he was unable to provide one.

Bumbash replied, “They gave me [this] to read and after [I] shall send [you] everything once we agree on the exact time… Everything is well and being worked upon. That was the draft they gave me by email.”

I once again directly asked Bumbash if there was a signed contract for an SGW TV show as he had claimed. He once again dodged the question, saying, “I will send [you] all the details this week… The contract is secured already. Can’t send you those specifics, but that’s the authentic contract from NBS TV.”

In other words, there was no signed contract. After I once again asked directly, Bumbash told me to contact NBS. There may well someday be a Soft Ground Wrestling television show on NBS Sport, but Bumbash is confirmed to have lied when it came to telling the world that an agreement had been signed.

It is worth noting that there is no Board of Directors for Soft Ground Wrestling Uganda, because it does not legally exist. A search for any legal entity known as “Soft Ground Wrestling” yields no results from the Uganda Registration Services Bureau database. My source pointed me in the direction of a “Bumbash Wrestling Academy.”

In the past, Bumbash has presented paperwork denoting that he had become a legitimate wrestling school. However, the application for “Bumbash Wrestling Academy,” filed on March 12, 2024, has yet to be approved. The TV contract did not mention this entity, instead naming Soft Ground Wrestling specifically. Soft Ground Wrestling, as of July 30, 2024, is neither a legal business, charity, orphanage, school, or any other type of entity as far as the laws of Uganda are concerned.

A close Bumbash colleague provided several documents that he claimed proved the legitimacy of Soft Ground Wrestling as a legal entity. These documents, in fact, proved nothing, other than that paperwork to form a company called Bumbash Wrestling Academy Limited was filed, but not completed.

The documents establish Bumbash Wrestling Academy Limited as a company limited by guarantee. This is common for non-profit groups in Uganda. There are a handful of requirements to gain full legal recognition, which would allow the group to receive donations tax free. The process for forming this type of company is simple.

The first step is to draft and file a Memorandum and Articles of Association to establish the entity. This document was obtained and is dated January 1, 2024. Next, the company must elect two adult directors and name two adult members. These are outlined in the Articles as Bumba Daniel Sedrick and Asiimwe Arthur Simon. Third, a name reservation must be filed. This document was indeed submitted and accepted by the URSB on March 12, 2024. Next, an application for registration needs to be completed, and the two directors must submit additional personal information as well as passports. This document was also filed, and a copy was obtained that showed proof of receipt by the Uganda Registration Services Bureau. Once that is finished, the URSB will approve the incorporation and send out a Certificate of Incorporation. This document is what proves that a company is legally incorporated to operate in Uganda; without it, they do not exist. There does not appear to be a valid certificate.

Bumbash did not respond to repeated requests to see the document. An associate insisted that it exists but refused to provide it. It was odd that Bumba and Asiimwe would go through the trouble to complete all this paperwork, but not to finalize it. They insisted that this was an error on the URSB website and that they had a valid certificate but were not willing to share it in order to clear up the confusion. This type of deflection became common as Bumbash continued to pile on the lies.

A search of the URSB database of registered names shows a reservation¹⁶ for the company name “Bumbash Wrestling Academy Limited.” The listing shows a reservation number rather than a registration number, indicating that the process was not complete. Other businesses shown in the company name search are listed as “Registered.”

The URSB business entity search¹⁷ returns no results for Bumbash Wrestling Academy Limited. Therefore, there is no evidence that it legally exists. Nobody at SGW was willing to explain what steps were missed or why there is no certificate.

These details are important, as it means that all assets (including cash donations), contracts, and agreements are in the personal name of Bumba Daniel Sedrick, rather than Bumbash Wrestling Academy, as they should be if this were a valid tax-exempt non-profit. That is, after all, the whole point of forming the company. As it stands, nobody could stop Bumbash from walking away with everything, short of the authorities charging him with some type of crime.

A Culture of Deception and Abuse

In the post-mortem of the hugely successful Achieve the Dream fundraiser led by Mase and Mansoor, it was reported to me by an SGW insider that after the first fundraising fiasco, the latest batch of funds were sent directly to somebody in SGW other than Bumbash to try and keep things from getting out of hand. Bumbash has allegedly made repeated threats to that person, becoming infuriated and making veiled threats when he was accused of mishandling money. People who cared about the students didn’t want to see any more cash disappear, and there was a faction that was growing to distrust Bumbash more by the day. Even the van that Mansoor’s mother footed the bill for was registered to Bumbash personally. There is nothing to stop him from using it for anything he wants outside of the scope of SGW. Things needed to be reined in.

The same source stated that there are people in SGW who appear to be in a cult-like trance and are vehemently pro-Bumbash and believe everything he says, even when you point out that they are obvious lies. Others who have not fallen under Bumbash’s spell have pulled no punches and talked candidly with fans and some in the wrestling media about their personal experiences with SGW’s leader as the threats and strong-arming over access to the donated money continued to boil over.

During my chat with Daniel Bumbash, he continually denied any wrongdoing while also getting caught in lies and inconsistencies about the legitimacy of his venture. Initially, I was not interested in doing any reporting on this subject. I simply had a curiosity to find out exactly what was going on in Kampala. I wanted to believe in the apparent goodness that had enveloped the wrestling community. That all changed on July 30, 2024, when he personally reached out to me. His lies were so bombastic that I had to say something.

At first, I told him I was not interested in chatting.

Bumbash responded, “Please listen to my side.”

“I’ve Never Lied”

I was curious, so I told him I would. He said that he made a terrible mistake by allowing people who are fighting against SGW to get too close. He insisted that the accusations hurt him and maintains that they are false. Bumbash even blamed his biggest star, Lord White, declaring, “Lord White is fighting Soft Ground.”

I asked about a since-deleted social media post made on June 4, 2024, that declared that SGW students and talent had gone out to “donate to the poor and disabled people using wrestling as an umbrella.”¹⁸ They allegedly made these pilgrimages in the new van that was purchased by Mansoor’s mother.

Over a month later, Nova Talent Elevation Africa, a charitable organization, responded to news reports on SGW using the van to feed the poor. They stated, “The information and content shared in the above post belongs only to Nova Talent Elevation Africa and we have no business relationship with SGW Wrestling Uganda.”¹⁹

The photos used were from a TikTok from an event in 2023, and the van was not the same van purchased with the funds from Mansoor’s mother. It was a Nova Talent event that Bumbash was taking full credit for, despite having nothing to do with it.

I asked him why he had lied so brazenly about such a thing.

Bumbash pushed back, “I’ve never lied.”

He was informed that he was caught red-handed and shown the post replies from Nova. I pointed out the inconsistency. Bumbash calmly responded, admitting his lie while also blowing it off.

“We are stronger no matter what. We are rectifying that.”

A source within SGW also noted that the idea that the organization was a haven for orphans and homeless kids was largely a myth. Bumbash was running a business but presenting it to potential financial backers as a charity designed to help the poor and orphaned youth of Uganda.

A more-than-significant number of SGW wrestlers are actually adults.²⁰ Many of them are not homeless or even orphans. In his own YouTube videos, Bumbash advertised that there is a 150,000 UGX (Ugandan Shillings) fee to train at SGW. That’s about $40 US dollars, a steep price for so-called starving orphans. According to Unesco²¹, the average monthly wage for Ugandan workers with no education in 2019 was UGX 143,045 (approximately $25 US). These are ostensibly unemployed, homeless orphans; at least that is how Daniel Bumbash has been presenting SGW to the world and what he views as potential money marks.

Bumbash admitted that he is making the students pay for food and to stay at the training facility, where donated money was used to purchase around 100 beds and to pay the rent. Bumbash has provided some receipts to validate this, but the source, who is familiar with prices and currency in Uganda, said the cost was inflated by something approaching 50%. Another Bumbash affiliate alleged that at least some of the receipts were faked. Several involved believe there is a strong chance that Bumbash pocketed the rest.

I asked Bumbash how much students pay to eat, train, and stay at the SGW facility. Once again, the response was misleading at best, and a flat out lie at worst.

“That’s not true,” he said of the students paying to attend the school.

I referred him back to his own promotional video.

“Some of them who are not orphans pay $1.50 for purchase of toilet paper, electricity bills, rent for their dormitories, water bills, soap for cleaning. The $1.50 is for those who are not orphans, and it is paid weekly hence they pay for small household bills. They did this since last year.”

Bumbash did not mention the initial $40 fee for training at any point during our conversation, despite openly advertising it in his promotional videos. Presuming that is a one-time fee, SGW is “helping” orphans to the tune of charging them 439,236.47 UGX ($118) for the first year and 290,342.75 UGX ($78) for each additional year. All of this to pay for things that other people have already paid for.

I asked Bumbash what his moral justification was for charging any of the students when all the beds, the food, the land, and other amenities were donated by fans and wrestlers. His reply implied that any previously raised money has already been burned through.

“There are 120 kids who [are] difficult to maintain once you don’t have funds. They fall sick, they eat, we travel, and also buy clothing for them. Remember, we need good cameras [and] software for editing.”

I then asked about any revenues that were generated from merchandise sales or through social media and how it was distributed. Specifically, I asked him, “If I buy a Coolman (one of the more popular SGW wrestlers) t-shirt, how much money does Coolman receive for the use of his likeness?”

“Coolman gets $10 [per shirt]. That’s why he is even getting a passport soon for $200 from his procedes.”

I asked if this meant that Bumbash had not distributed any of the $200 to Coolman.

“We are getting him a passport travel document with the money.”

Bumbash claims that Coolman needs the passport as he will soon go to Japan for further training and experience. He was not forthcoming regarding details on who is paying for the trip, when it is happening, or any further information. At this point, the trip is as real as the SGW TV contract. If SGW is paying, it will be out of donated funds that Bumbash earlier said had run out. It could also be by more wrestlers dropping even more cash on this questionable yet somehow completely unvetted enterprise.

As far as the money goes, it costs roughly 250,000 UGX ($65 US) to get a passport in Uganda. It takes ten working days to process at that fee tier. There are no immediate international bookings coming up for Coolman, so there would be no reason to have to spend the extra 150,000 UGX ($40.30 US) to expedite that process to two days. Ironically, this was in line with just about the share of the donation money that my source accused Bumbash of pocketing, give or take some potential bribery at the Directorate of Citizen and Immigration Control.

I asked Bumbash where the other $85 went. He did not respond. I followed up by asking if he could provide any corporate documents proving that SGW was a legitimate, registered business. He has still not answered. I do not anticipate that he will.

Enriching Lives or Endangering Them?

The well-documented abusive practices of Bumbash Daniel are not just limited to verbal diatribes and passive-aggressive rants to his friends. SGW insiders have shared multiple stories with plenty of evidence that Bumbash has actively put trainees in dangerous positions.

The generous donation of a van by Mansoor’s mother was lauded by Bumbash as a boon for the future of SGW. The van could be used to evangelize their movement all over Africa. Bumbash spoke of international travel to places like Kenya²² and made claims of ongoing charity work, which have already been established as completely fabricated. In fact, the van became a story in and of itself.

As it turns out, the situation involving the purchase of the van wasn’t any more transparent than any of Bumbash’s other dealings. In fact, there were two vans. The first, a white Toyota Hiace, was purchased for UGX 38,000,000 (approximately $10,100 US) on May 30, 2024, from TSK Motors, according to a bill of sale obtained for this report. It listed the license plate number as UBL 169N.

Upon delivery of the vehicle, Bumbash posted a video²³ to the SGW account on X thanking those who helped with the Achieve the Dream fundraiser stream. A white Toyota van was shown in the video, but the license plate number did not match the one on the purchase order. A plate number containing “167H” was clearly visible in the clip.

When confronted with these discrepancies via text message by a person involved with the fundraiser, Bumbash attempted to explain. He claims that they asked the dealer about the difference in plate numbers and only explained that he was told there were “convergent numbers.”

Bumbash explained that he wanted to exchange the vehicle for a minibus with a bed, roof rack, a ladder at the back and in a different color (green). Other sources pointed out that he claimed there were unspecified engine problems with the first van.

“We are handling it,” he said, minimizing his concern over any suspicions.

On June 15, 2024, a bill of sale from Yisa & Sons Investment shows that Bumbash purchased a second vehicle. Had this been a simple swap, the paperwork would have been from TSK Motors. Instead, a totally different dealer made the sale. The new vehicle was neither green, nor did it have a roof rack. The minibus was purchased in the name of Daniel Bumba, rather than Soft Ground Wrestling or Bumbash Wrestling Academy. Had their corporate paperwork been in order as claimed, there would have been no reason for Bumbash to spend donated funds to register a car to himself personally.

Bumbash paid a total purchase price of UGX 40,000,000 (roughly $10,716 US) for the second van. A down payment of UGX 33,000,000 (likely the value of the trade-in of the previous vehicle) in cash, with an outstanding balance of UGX 7,000,000 (about $1,875 US). (Editor’s note: It should be recorded for posterity that the phone number Bumbash listed on this bill of sale was also used to verify that the phone number in text messages between Bumbash and others is authentic.)

The second van, ostensibly for the use of transporting SGW wrestlers from place to place, does not even have a back seat, according to those affiliated with the group. In a video²⁴ posted on July 14, 2024, to the SGW X account, Bumbash gave the public a good look at his new vehicle. This time, the license plate number did match the purchase order.

Trainees can be seen sitting in the back of the minibus, leaning against the walls, with no available seatbelts and groceries and supplies strewn all over the floor.

Further accounts from people who have traveled with Bumbash indicated that they noticed him drinking vodka while driving the vehicle to pick up or drop off some international guests. Whether Bumbash ever drank alcohol while transporting SGW students could not be confirmed.

An unsafe mode of transportation is not the only thing that has endangered the Soft Ground trainees. In fact, Bumbash put his students in a situation that could have destroyed their lives instantly, and he appears to have blown through $2,400 in donated funds in the process.

In late May of 2024, there was an incident that Bumbash and his associates have not been able to explain in a satisfactory manner.

Documents seen while gathering facts for this report, and presented by Bumbash himself to an associate, indicate that there was a mass arrest involving over twenty SGW wrestlers and administrators. A pile of bond release documents dated May 25, 2024, show that multiple people were arrested on charges of malicious damage of property and even arson.

Under the Penal Code Act of Uganda, Section 335 (1), malicious property damage is punishable by up to five years in prison. Arson charges face stiffer penalties. Under section 327 of the same act, those found guilty of the crime could be subject to a life sentence, depending on the severity.

An SGW source and text messages from Bumbash regarding the incident confirmed that both male and female SGW trainees were arrested. Ironically, Bumbash claims that the whole thing was a misunderstanding and that he himself had been scammed.

A German television crew was on site to film a story about SGW, when a contingent from SGW were out working on some land that a Bumbash associate claimed was purchased for UGX 9,000,000 (approx. $2,411 US). The SGW students were working at the direction of Bumbash on constructing some buildings on the land. At some point shortly after leaving the TV shoot, a contingent from the Uganda Police Force showed up. Everybody on scene was arrested and taken to the station.

In the ultimate bit of irony, Bumbash claimed that he had thought he purchased the land legitimately but was duped by a fake broker. The real owners found out that there were people vandalizing their land and called the police.

The arrests included several names that SGW fans would recognize as well as Bumbash himself.

An unknown number of those arrested spent at least one night behind bars. A Bumbash associate revealed that the SGW boss promised to pay to have everybody’s records wiped clean. It is unclear whether this meant he was paying a bribe or that bond was paid and charges were dropped. It was never explained how arson charges fit into the story. Public records of the incident are not available for review. It is unknown whether donated funds were used for any legal fees associated with the incident.

Bond release paperwork, as well as voice messages between Bumbash associates confirm specific names of SGW talents (not included in this story, as they were unaware that they were even breaking the law) as well as Bumbash himself as having been among those processed by the police.

A request for comment from Bumbash regarding the arrests was ignored.

A Wonderful Dream, a Troubling Reality

Soft Ground Wrestling is a concept that anyone, even non-wrestling fans, can easily get behind. The idea of supporting young people in their wish to escape poverty and achieving things beyond their wildest imagination is attractive to anyone with a human heart. Unfortunately, our best intentions and instincts can easily be exploited by those acting in their own self-interest.

An international coalition of wrestling stars and everyday fans came together to provide what they thought was a golden opportunity for young people living in a politically and economically turbulent part of the world where the very idea of rising above is often not even considered. Their aspirations are very real.

The man behind it all has exploited those aspirations repeatedly. Bumbash Daniel has bragged privately about abusing teenagers while publicly lying about leading them in charitable acts. Questionable accounting practices and a refusal to be transparent have led to what could be the loss of thousands of dollars that people gave in good faith that they were doing something good for the world. Public figures whose reputations matter flew around the globe (and some continue to plan to do so) to be a part of it. There are no “bad guys” among those who gave their time, money, and talents to Soft Ground Wrestling.

Bumbash has displayed a clear pattern of deception and exploitation ever since SGW first came into the public eye. He offers potential financial backers a picture of a man who is sacrificing to help young orphans escape poverty and seek opportunities that they could not have fathomed without professional wrestling. Instead, they are used as unpaid labor, asked to do physical work on the behalf of their leader. They are transported in unsafe conditions. They have been arrested based on their actions at the whim of Bumbash. Despite being promised a great future, they are being placed in tremendous peril, even spending time in jail.

Instead of finding somebody with international (or any) fundraising experience, Bumbash recruited and exploited a 16-year-old boy from a faraway land to help promote and fundraise for his venture. When that didn’t work out, he became abusive. Now, a young man spends his days fearing retaliation from internet fans who were conditioned to blame him for a situation where he was in way over his head to begin with. Bumbash should have and could have known better. Instead, he chose a soft target to take the fall for his own lack of business knowledge.

Kind-hearted athletes from around the world gave more than anyone could have reasonably expected. Nobody should expect professional grapplers to be lawyers. Of course there could have been more of a vetting process. More questions could have been asked. Unregulated orphanages are a common scam in Uganda²⁵. Would the average pro wrestler from the United States or the UK have any knowledge of that? It is highly unlikely. Bumbash is very aware that the western world is largely ignorant about how things work in East Africa. He used the same tactics as these orphanage schemes but added a twist to target a specific market for international donations. It worked. These wrestlers were not the first and will not be the last to unwittingly offer their kindness to a con man. They, too, are victims of Bumbash’s deceit.

Can the Dream Be Saved?

There are many wonderful people who have been involved in Soft Ground Wrestling. Nobody who donated, organized, traveled, wrestled, streamed, or even offered words of encouragement has intentionally acted in a malicious manner. The trainees possess an extraordinary amount of talent, drive, and dedication. They were told that this is an opportunity to change their lives, and some lives have already been changed because of it.

Unfortunately, with Bumbash Daniel in charge of things, SGW is likely to continue down a path towards implosion. There has been very little transparency in terms of how donated money is spent. Much of it has disappeared, either due to ignorance and incompetence or simply winding up in a pocket it wasn’t intended for.

Bumbash has sold the fans and his group lie after lie in the name of drumming up good PR for his venture. He lied to me about the registration status of his company and has partners running cover for him. He lied to the fans and the wrestlers about having a signed television contract. He raised false hopes of events in massive NFL-sized stadiums in a country where almost nobody knows who they are. People who have tried to help him have been abused, threatened, and publicly chastised and harassed when things didn’t go Bumbash’s way. Nothing he touches in relation to Soft Ground Wrestling is completely clean.

For SGW to meet its perceived goals, Bumbash Daniel needs to be taken out of the equation completely. The company’s official registration needs to be properly completed. New accounting practices need to be implemented. Property purchased by SGW should be in the name of the organization, not made the legal property of Bumbash without question. No money should be funneled through his personal bank account. Legitimacy must be established.

The only way to do that is to completely banish Bumbash from SGW, to reorganize, and to start over with new leadership who has the best interests of the kids arrive with big dreams in mind. They don’t deserve to have their hopes killed by a self-aggrandizing abuser. When international television stations visit, the attention should be on the talented group of students, not the man who led them to their completely avoidable arrests.

We should continue to support the vision of SGW that we believe in as fans and as fellow humans. That support, however, should be for an organization that practices better planning, better leadership, and more transparency for the people who support the venture.

The first step should be an apology from Bumbash, followed by his immediate recusal from anything to do with running a professional wrestling school. The concept of Soft Ground Wrestling is worth supporting. Its current leader is not a reflection of all the hard work that has made such a global impression. Nor should it remain so in the future.

Citation/Footnotes:

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EXCLUSIVE - Soft Ground, Soft Targets: How Daniel Bumbash Duped the Wrestling World (2024)

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