Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 1, 1992 TAG: 9202280048
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KEVIN KITTREDGE
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Long
"Psycho," "Ghost," "Slash," "Cujo," "Avalanche" and more - collectively, a couple of tons of human beef. One bare-chested giant kicks up his feet and drops on his back like a 250-pound sack of flour:
Thwack!
And another one:
Boom!
Professional wrestling starts here, at the Hensel Eckman YMCA.
They give lessons here. For a price, anyone can become a small cog in that great machine that is big-time wrestling - the very sport that launched Hulk Hogan and Gorgeous George.
He can learn all the esoterica that makes wrestling - well, what it is. The headlocks, the body slams, the torture grips.
He can fulfill a fantasy or two.
"I've been wanting to do it since I was in the eighth grade," explained wrestling student Tom Meredith of Radford - "Samurai" to his fellow wrestlers.
"Why did I choose wrestling? I chose it because I had a dream," said student Steve Dalton, a longtime wrestling fan. Dalton declined to say where he was from.
The North America Wrestling Alliance is selling dreams here, at $850 a pop. That's the price of about six months of pro wrestling lessons, said trainer Dorty Reid.
Money-strapped wrestlers can pay back some of the bill by fighting in alliance bouts without pay later, said "Iceman" James McClanahan, fitness trainer for the alliance. The North America Wrestling Alliance is one of several associations that sponsor wrestling exhibitions in Western Virginia.
McClanahan, who also is program director for the YMCA, said it was decided to offer wrestling lessons after an exhibition match here drew a lot of interest. McClanahan said wrestling is expected to help raise money for the YMCA's youth programs.
Run by wrestling promoter and cabinet maker James Wells of Evington (near Lynchburg), the alliance has been teaching pro wrestling at Pulaski's YMCA for eight or nine months.
In that time some 20 wrestlers have entered the program, said alliance business manager Sharon Rhodes of Pulaski. People such as Meredith and Dalton and "Avalanche" Doug Dobbins of Pulaski and Kirk "Psycho" Rumburg of Floyd and Rhodes, herself, who wrestles under the name "Lady Destiny."
"I think it's the excitement of the showmanship that moves me to do it," she said of wrestling.
What about money?
"I hope."
Once trained, the wrestlers can go on to grapple for alliance exhibitions in Virginia and elsewhere. At this level, wrestlers make anywhere from $50 to $200 a fight, said alliance trainer Reid.
It is, said Doug Beavers of the Virginia Athletic Board in Richmond, all legal. Though when speaking of pro wrestling they try to keep their terms straight.
The Board, which regulates pro wrestling in Virginia, uses the word "exhibition" when talking about wrestling - as opposed to "sport," a word they use for boxing.
Could that be because pro wrestling isn't really and truly competitive?
"I think the fact we look upon it as an exhibition speaks for itself," Beavers said.
He also noted that in the 10 years he has been associated with wrestling - despite the kicks, slaps, punches, knees to the face and body slams popular in bouts - "We've never had an injury in wrestling that I know of."
There are no standards or rules for wrestling schools such as the alliance's, Beavers said.
It is not even required that a wrestler attend a wrestling school. To be licensed by the state, wrestlers need only pass a physical examination, he said.
But Beavers also said the schools are probably necessary to teach wrestlers to execute their moves safely. "Think about what you see at these matches," he said.
At the YMCA, a reporter saw kicks toward the face, punches, bodies slammed to the mat.
He also saw wrestlers stamping their feet on the mat or slapping their own thighs to imitate contact.
"Sell it, man" a trainer encouraged a wrestler at one point.
And he learned how wrestlers can be hurled on their backs and get up again. Beneath the ring is a huge spring, which absorbs much of the impact of a fall.
That's show biz.
Though it isn't exactly child's play.
Which is where the alliance comes in.
"What we do is, we teach them how to fall," said Reid, an alliance instructor from Lynchburg who wrestles under the name of "Wildfire" Dorty Reid. "If you hit the mat the wrong way, you can hurt yourself. It tends to knock the wind out of you, anyway."
After a wrestler learns to take falls - or "bumps" - and a few more wrestling basics, they go on to learning "moves" - the techniques by which wrestlers come to grips with one another.
"Some of those holds are lethal. Some of the things that we do - we make sure the wrestler knows what he's doing. You can get hurt real bad," Reid said.
For the record, Reid and the other wrestlers interviewed insisted pro wrestling is truly competitive.
"The better man wins," Reid said.
"The object is to win at all costs, as far as I'm concerned," said "Psycho" Rumburg.
Reid said when people express doubts about the authenticity of wrestling matches, "I invite them into the ring. Then I'll show them what's real and what's not real."
Reid said they teach trainees a little about the theatrical side of wrestling as well - about playing a role. "Each person has his own image. We show them a little bit about how to do it."
Some don't need much help.
On this Sunday at the Pulaski YMCA the aspiring wrestlers sounded like pros - grunting, groaning, bragging, threatening, hitting the mat with a sound like dinosaurs colliding.
Outside the ring, veteran Lynchburg wrestler William Satanstein - "Mr X" - was asked how audiences react to him when he wrestles.
"I have my share of fans," said Mr. X, who wrestles in a red devil's mask and tights.
"Yeah. Cockroaches," said "Lady Destiny" - obviously an up-and-comer.
by CNB