Aug. 10, 2009

Local group trying to revive 'old school' wrestling

Staff Reports

CENTRE — This is the second go-around for professional wrestling in Cherokee County. After a failed attempt to stir up interest over a decade ago, a locally-based group now feels the time is right to give the community another chance to embrace their brand of entertainment.

“This is a re-development of something we began several years ago,” said New Wave Wrestling Alliance promoter and wrestler Bad Brad, who declined to give his last name. “It's New Wave wrestling, but it's also old-school, because that's what we grew up watching.”

So how does a big name like Tommy “Wildfire” Rich end up in Centre, as he did July 30?

“We were able to get Tommy by reaching out to contacts in the business,” said Déjà vu, another local wrestler who also helps out with promotions and logistics, such as erecting the ring before matches.

“And we hope Tommy is just the start,” partner John Lawrence added. “We're hoping to bring in other guys, like Nikita Koloff, Ricky Morton and Thunderbolt Patterson.”

Déjà vu admitted the New Wave Wrestling Alliance has its work cut out for it these days. He said it has become harder to keep the attention of young wrestling audiences who have grown accustomed to “lights, pyrotechnics and people falling off stages.”

“But a lot of these old-school guys are out there and they're still wrestling,” he said. “They're not going anywhere, they're still a draw, and that's great for us and the fans who want to see them.”

“What we like most about our brand of wrestling is that you don't have to cover your kids' eyes and ears,” said Lawrence. “You can bring the kids to our events and have a good family night out.”

Déjà vu said the New Wave Wrestling Alliance hopes to continue growing its fan base, possibly to the point that he and his fellow wrestlers can refer to themselves as “full-timers”.

“Anyone who gets into this business wants to make a living at it,” he said. “But it's not going to happen for everybody. We've got our sights set on providing clean wrestling entertainment, as opposed to trying to make a lot of money.”

Of course, Déjà vu admitted, he won't shun any success.

“If it builds to where we're doing TV or we're drawing 1,000 people a show, that's great,” he said. “But I'm happy with this, too.”

Whatever else happens, Bad Brad said he and his fellow wrestlers are entertainers, first and foremost.
“It's nice to have kids walk up to you at Wal-Mart and say, 'Hey, when are you guys going to have wrestling again?'” he said. “It let's you know you're doing your job.”
Bad Brad said he and his partners – and enemies – will be back in action at the skating rink Aug. 20.