Professional wrestling saw a brutal decline in popularity when televised fights were abruptly cancelled in 1988. Nineties children sadly missed out on the tender memories that previous generations had shared. Watching bloodied contenders reduced to rag dolls as they were stamped on repeatedly, whilst the salivating crowd chanted “Kill Kill Kill”, had provided a wholesome, Saturday night’s entertainment for thirty years.
American wrestling, well known for being a feast of brutal excess, is now a common reference point for the sport. However, companies like John Freemantle’s Premier Promotions (established in 1987), are championing a return to the more ironic and traditionalist form of British wrestling.
Once hearing that the Pavilion in Bournemouth would be hosting a summer season of savagery; I couldn’t resist the chance to interview Jonny Storm, “The Wonder Kid”, who will soon be happily brutalizing opponents in front of starry-eyed audiences.
Wrestler Jonny Storm With Up To Speed's Becki Chester
Originally from Essex, 31 year-old Jonny, has wrestled all over the world and is a British beacon for the sport. We met before one of Jonny’s fights in the ring room at the Bournemouth Pavilion. Jonny couldn’t have been friendlier and was all smiles – far removed from his remorseless stage character.
The Wonder Kid states that he never intended to be a wrestler. He calls it “a bit of a mistake”. As a kid, Jonny used to watch premier league wrestlers like Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks on TV, but Rick Mayall was his hero: “Watching him lay out Eddie in Bottom was hilarious.”
Jonny’s career began when he went to watch a match and a guy there “probably a con-man”, suggested that he should train at a ring he knew of. Jonny thought, “ok – I’ll give it a go”, and that was that.
However, in Jonny’s opinion, learning how to belly bang a guy is only a small part of the sport. The best wrestlers are the ones with charisma and presence like the impressive Hulk Hogan. “You can’t teach these qualities, they come through experience,” he says.
Despite wrestling having the reputation of being fake, injuries can be pretty severe. Jonny tells me that, “Injuries are common in wrestling and a lot of guys mess themselves up permanently – I usually fight at 80% not 100%, as you can risk really hurting someone.” Jonny still carries the memory of one fight where he was hurled across the ring and landed on the back of his head. He doesn’t remember what happened next, but later discovered he had been carried out of the ring and was suffering from concussion.
It’s the injuries that make wrestling careers so short. Jonny has been fighting for 12 years and is ensuring that he has other options to fall back on. He recently joined a modeling agency and attended a casting for the new Harry Potter movie. Alternative career paths like stuntmen or modeling are an easier transition for wrestlers than the typical nine to five, because of the irregular nature of the job.
Despite this Jonny confesses that the traveling is a killer. So is arriving, after many, exhausting hours on the road, to fight at a “chicken farm”, or “a rabbit show-and-tell establishment”. Jonny labels these: “experiences”.
Wrestling venues are not the only thing about the sport that varies from place to place. Jonny tells me that in Thailand and Japan there is a real culture of wrestling. The audience watches the fight in funeral-like stillness, until someone is bombed. The roof literally explodes and then, just as suddenly, the noise is severed.
The differences between American wrestling and English wrestling are also huge. Surprisingly, because of America’s well-known love of wrestling, Jonny tells me that; “generally on the amateur level the standards of fighting and venues are better in England”. However, Jonny admits that the more professional levels of wrestling are better in America as it’s much bigger as a sport.
“In England you need to make the crowd respond; normally at a fight, manipulators will create a ride. In America that’s not necessary. You can tell the audience are really enjoying the experience, regardless.”
Jonny concludes our chat by saying that wrestling in England needs a lot more money invested in it to make it truly great. He reflects that, “the only way that England could compete is if ITV or another big company invested a lot of money into the wrestling.”
Unfortunately, Jonny also thinks that seems unlikely.
Our interview finished with Jonny leaving to change into his pink spandex and me moving to a ringside seat in the audience to await some very macho entertainment.
