Local Wrestling in the USA

Local Wrestling in the USA

This coming Friday I will be taking a break from my regular sports fixes and indulging in something slightly off the road…wrestling.

Now I know a lot of people are not into that, and some say it is not a sport, but I have been a fan of wrestling ever since I was a kid. I watched a lot of the old school wrestling greats like Dusty Rhodes, Black Jack Mulligan, Masked Superstar, Ricky Steamboat and Ric Flair…and many, many others.

I’ll admit, I am not a big WWE fan and I rarely watch that, seeking my entertainment from NWA-TNA and ROH Wrestling. But every once and a while we get some local wrestling here in my town, and I try my best to go see it.

You’re not gonna know the names of most of these cats because let’s face it, they are not the ones you see on the television wrestling shows, but I will say this, they put on a great show. You see, most folks only associate wrestling with WWE, or NWA-TNA because that’s all they see. But in numerous states all across our country, there are smaller federations of wrestling that provide local entertainment for people like me, who just want a night to enjoy myself and watch some entertainment.

For us around here, we get it through the UWC, or Universal Wrestling Council. These are guys (and women) who provide a small town like ours a night of fun and the chance for us to get up close and personal with wrestling. Heck, we can’t fork out a gold brick to watch WWE in person, only to get half a program of jaw jacking and some decent matches.

For $6.00 we get to watch about 2 hours of some pretty good wrestling by guys that apparently love the sport. These guys are good and they put on a great show. I think I have gone to 6 of their last 7 events here in town, which is usually once every 2 or 3 months.

So what’s so fun about going to see these guys?

Well, I get to yell at the “bad guys”, and I say that with respect. Sometimes people forget that these guys are actors, and have to play the part while they are in the ring, so my friends and I NEVER use profanity at them. This is common sense because sometimes those wrestlers might have their family…and kids in that audience. You have a right to boo, but do it in respect to that person who is working.

These guys give you good action too, and you might get about 10 fights in an evening. It’s worth every penny of that $6, believe me. One other thing they do is about half way through the evening, they will have intermission and the wrestlers will come out and you can talk with them, take pictures and stuff like that. It’s where you can really see that these guys are just like us…maybe much more athletic, but still like us. I have seen before the show starts some of the wrestlers with their kids, and it is a reminder that if one of those guys is playing the part of a “villain” or “heel”, you have to keep that in mind while you are booing them that their 5 year old son is out there, so have a heart.

Every time I have gone to a UWC event, I have always come out satisfied. They give the audience everything they have, and even wrestling in a building on the county fairgrounds, with about 100 people, they treat it like they’re in Madison Square Garden. I really appreciate that, and I always leave with my throat sore for yelling for two straight hours…but enjoying every minute of it.

So Friday about 6:30pm, if nothing comes up to change the plan, we are going to watch some wrestling. I expect it to be as much fun as the previous 6 times I have went, and I want to be able to get a good seat near the ring so I can yell my head off again.

And come Saturday, sore throat and all, I’ll be watching college football!