Training at Explosive Professional Wrestling
I am a Dancer turned Wrestler.
I never wanted to be a wrestler as a kid. My only exposure to wrestling was watching WWE on a big square TV at home. I didn’t have the desire to get into a ring myself. Living in one of the most isolated cities in the world, I didn’t even know wrestling existed in the state.
Fast forward to 2013, and I started watching wrestling again all the time. Wrestling quickly became a constant in my life. I remember having a moment when I said to myself aloud, “I want to be a professional wrestler”, but I didn’t even know where to start. It was a pipe dream I didn’t think would ever come to fruition.
In mid-2016, I was scrolling through my Twitter timeline and that’s when I first saw EPW courtesy of a retweet from Shane Thorne. I bought tickets to the next show, ‘Evolution’, and I was immediately in awe. I sat on the edge of my seat as I watched the women of EPW compete in a four-way match. Not only was there this amazing local wrestling promotion, but there were women wrestling in Perth!
In September 2016, I saw an advertisement on Facebook for the first School of Pro Wrestling Open Day at the new Malaga premises– a chance to simply have a look what pro wrestling is all about.
I knew I would regret not taking the chance to see if it was for me.
I’ve always been a socially awkward person. I was always so anxious about hanging out with people in social settings that I would make an excuse to stay at home and watch wrestling instead.
As I was driving to the Open Day, I remember a feeling of excitement to hang out at an unknown place with unfamiliar people. I’d never felt that before.
The Open Day on 30th October 2016 was 3 hours long run by several of EPW’s Trainers. On that hot spring day, we started with some outdoor cardio in the parking lot. Once inside, we completed a modified version of the Gotch Bible, consisting of several push-ups and squats. I couldn’t do a proper push-up to save my life. Through all the rolls and the attempted bumps, I am most proud that on that day I didn’t give up. I kept trying.
At the end of the session, sitting cross-legged on the mats, we were told that each of us is normally the one person in a room who loves wrestling and typically wouldn’t have anyone to share it with. Here everyone has that same love of wrestling. It’s a common interest that brings us all together.
I left the building that day smiling, knowing I wanted to give it a shot and start training straight away.
But there was one slight problem.
Nobody knew that I was attending the open day or that I even wanted to be a professional wrestler.
That afternoon I sent a quick text message to my sister and Mum saying that I was starting professional wrestler training on Tuesday and if one of them could tell my Dad that would be great. Despite being the only other member of my family to understand wrestling, I knew he wouldn’t want to see his little girl get hurt. However, I’ve been fortunate enough to have their support every single day since.
I love that we are pushed to our limits at training. There is no better feeling than finally achieving a goal and having your fellow trainees there to support and cheer you on. I’ve flipped monster tyres in the parking lot, completed long distance runs down the back streets of Malaga, and most importantly, I did 1000 consecutive squats, because a) It seemed like a solid lifetime achievement, and b) I wanted to set such a high goal that the boys will be chasing after it for a while.
Amongst all the training inside the squared circle, as trainees we also learn how to set up the ring and venue for the live shows. As well as being in a couple of promos throughout last year, I was able to film both of The Game Bar shows. And it was through offering to film the matches at the Supanova Pop Culture Expo last year I was given the opportunity to have my first match in front of a live crowd with a few hours notice. It was a chance to live out my dreams as a professional wrestler.
Throughout last year with EPW, I have become more confident, stronger and happier than I ever could have imagined.
When I used to introduce myself to people it was always “Hi, I’m a dancer.”
Now I get to introduce myself as a professional wrestler.
And to me, life doesn’t get much cooler than that.
EPW will be hosting an open day at our training facility on February 11th 2018, for more information check the event page or contact EPW on Facebook
