Arch-Nemesis? I'm an arse, I have two of them.
Stifle your laughter, I make no secret that one of my hobbies is that I am involved professional wrestling.

It doesn't come up in polite convosation much, but one question that is asked a lot is "is it fake". My answer to this is no, although the results are scripted and punches are (occassionally) pulled. It hurts, it hurts a lot.

I kinda fell into it with somebody I thought was a friend (John - not his real name) at the time. I am a tubby bastard, and as a result needed to shift some weight. We had an agreement that this guy was to help give me some circuit training (he'd train people for 3 hours, hour 1 would be a circuit training & generally getting fit), and in return I'd help out with the website, running the shows. I had no intention of actually fighting, or even being in front of an audience, but I persued it as I was beginning to get fit.

However, in doing so, John was slowly beginning to eat away at me, systematic bullying of me & a few other people I know. Nothing scary, but making me feel about 2 feet tall. This culiminated in a day whereby John announced that, despite having no actual wrestling training, he was short of a wrestler to fight this guy (Chris - not his real name) coming in to help out his shows. And he was going to set him on me to teach me a lesson. The match to John's sick delight became a handicap match, with Chris bringing Eddy (again, not his real name), both of whom would be facing me.

I'd never met John & Eddy, but from a third source he was trained in a very "old school" way of thinking. It's rarely easy, and often people were legitimately beaten up to toughen them up. I was completely out of my depth and didn't want all this, all I wanted was to get fit. I didn't want to be beaten up for free in front of about 30 people. John stated over and over again that he was glad that I was going to be "fucked up" by this wrestler. Lovely piece of work.

One of my main problems is that I am too loyal probably for my own good, and I arrived at the show crying my eyes out, where things changed immediately.

I wasn't on the show. Neither was Chris & Eddy, who showed up in the crowd, and left after 2 or 3 matches.

I found out exactly what happened - Eddy had heard about what was going on (news travels fast) and walked out refusing to be put on the shows that John put on. Instead him and Chris was going to put on his own shows - and wanted me to be a part of it. I was invited out on the piss with them (always a bonus) and that's where they spelled out what they wanted me for - a web designer first, in exchange for getting fit, and then when confident they'd put me at some capacity on shows, paid for.

It was like a breath of fresh air, I'm still a tubby bastard, but I feel a lot fitter - thanks to these guys, confidence in my abilities have improved. So much so that I went from being a web designer, to an announcer, to a referee, and finally a manager. A manager who's two arch nemesis were Chris & Eddy. Eddy retired in January of this year, leaving just me & whoever I'm managing to feud with Chris.

This coming Sunday, I have agreed to step in the ring with this Chris, to settle a year long feud that we have been running together in shows for the past year. Tickets are selling like hot cakes to the delight of us all. I do know the outcome yes, and I know that I'm probably going to be very sore & have a few bruises, but I am happy that in 2 years of knowing both Chris & Eddy, that they would never ever make me do something that I don't agree to.

So yes, to you all, me, Chris & Eddy are arch nemesis, but really, Chris and Eddy are two of my closest friends.
(rhyswynne - on every social network mullarkey known to man, Thu 29 Apr 2010, 12:39, Reply)