My Pro Wrestling Debut

As I walked into the Elks Lodge in Dover, NH, like I had many times before, I realized that this time was different. This time I had moved up from being a cameraman to actually being in the show for the WFA: Wrestling Federation of America. It is the biggest pro wrestling federation in New England. I greeted everyone as I strolled into the building. Although I had been training at Top Rope Pro Wrestling Academy, a wrestling school in Manchester, NH, for about seven months, it still did not seem real that I was actually going to be in the show. All of wrestlers knew what it was like to have their first match. Everybody greeted me and asked me the same question: “Are you nervous?” They all knew what the answer was but asked anyway just for fun. I found that I would not come out until after the intermission, which meant I had more time to get nervous. As the night drew on and the time of the show grew closer, I got more and more excited. I had about twenty people coming to see me debut, consisting of family and friends. None of them had ever been to a pro wrestling show so they didn’t know what to expect. I was sitting in the locker room preparing myself for the show. It was almost show time and the crowd had filled in, with about 200 people in attendance. I peeked out to look at the crowd and saw where my family and friends had set up camp. It made me feel better and worse to know people in the audience. I got suited up in my ring attire. I had a great gimmick: pirate. I was partnered with “Captain C. Webb” and I was his first mate “Smitty.” Growing up I always the wrestlers with weird personalities they always interested me the most. Now I got to do a weird personality for myself and it was a dream come true. The show got started and the first few matches were a blur all I was thinking about was what I had to do later in the show. I was going over all the moves I knew how to do, things I should say, and getting into a pirates state of mind. As intermission ensued I knew I was next. The adrenaline was flowing through my body. It was time for my match. The other wrestlers went to the ring first. Then my music hit. The Captain and I marched to the ring, and the crowd was stunned with amazement that we were pirates; no one had seen it coming. We talked through the microphone to the audience telling them who we were and what we were doing there. We would say stereotypical pirate things to get people upset. Such as calling some women in attendance “Wenches”, “send them to the gallows” and that we were going to make our opponents “Walk the plank.” As the match stared we proceeded to pummel our opponents, mouthing off to them and the crowd the whole time. The match went on for several minutes before Captain C. Webb hit one of them with the “Diamond Cutter,” which is a high impact move, and pinned him for the win. We mocked our opponents after the match by hitting them with an ore I had brought to the ring, and then we robbed them. We had won our match and pissed the crowd off; both of which we were hired to do. Since my debut match in Dover I have appeared on four other shows all over New England, all for the WFA. My record stands at 5-0. It is an amazing rush performing in front of a couple hundred people. When I am wrestling I’m like a puppeteer with the fans emotions, trying to make them feel a certain way.