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Hello, I’ve just set up this blog page to basically just ramble on about wrestling in general but more specifically about South west wrestling. I’ll be writing about how great I think the south west wrestling scene is at the moment, favourite wrestlers, the friends I’ve made and also the positive effect it has on my mental health.

I’m just testing this blog site out as friends of mine will testify, me and technology don’t always go hand in hand but I’ll get there in the end.

So, a little bit about me, I’m Dave, I’m 52, and yes I do get asked all the time by my non wrestling friends “haven’t you grown out of liking wrestling by now?”. I’ve been gong to the occasional wrestling show for about 6 or 7 years but it’s only in the last 2 years or so I’ve started going to more shows. It all started off meeting a group of people on Facebook, on the Big League Wrestling fans page to be exact and we decided to go to a upw show in Weymouth. We really enjoyed that and found that we all got on quite well and started going to more and more shows together.

In the past couple of years our little group has expanded, I’ve made some of the best friends it’s been my privilege to have met, yes, one or two have left our friends circle but that is life, nothing stays the same but the people I hold closest to me are the people I trust with my life.

To me wrestling is fantastic in a number of ways, the most obvious one is the entertainment, watching wrestlers entertain us with their feats of athletic prowess, sheer strength or acrobatic ability is breathtaking. The ability to tell a story in the ring is an art in itself, not everybody can do it I guess but you just know who’s good at it and who’s not. It’s also great to boo the bad guys and cheer the good guys, they say people go to football and let any frustrations out on the opposition and cheer for their team and its the same in wrestling but in a friendlier, nicer and less aggressive way. The heels really do appreciate being booed, it means they’re doing their job well.

Another side of going to shows for me and for quite a few other fans I speak to is that it really does help the state of my mental health, like I said, it’s great letting off steam in an acceptable way, you boo, cheer, scream, laugh and occasionally cry at shows, it really can get quite emotional sometimes. Wrestling is my ‘happy place’, once you get to the venue you can leave any trouble you have at the door and watch a show, meet the wrestlers and forget about those problems. Also you can have a laugh with fellow wrestling fans who understand your live of wrestling unlike most people outside the wrestling community( one workmate actually thought I was gay because I liked watching “oiled up muscly men in tights”. To be honest I did laugh at that but it just goes to show you the misconceptions that non wrestling fans hold towards the sport that we love.

Another thing I enjoy about wrestling is the social side of things. I live in Exeter so travelling to shows up in Bristol, Cardiff, Bournemouth, Gloucester etc would be pretty dull and long so I probably wouldn’t go alone, but when you pick up friends in Exeter then have a bloody good laugh, chat, catch up on gossip etc makes the journey go so fast. That’s where friendships are sealed and bonds are formed that will, hopefully, last a lifetime. Sometimes if we go to shows at Reach wrestling we’ll travel down early, have a meal, watch a show and then go and have a now traditional Post show maccies. We’ve become semi regulars at the Plymouth maccies and weekly visitors at least to the Sedgemoor services one as a lot of the shows we go to are further east than that. We started off going to maccies after shows not just because we felt hungry but just so we could extend the day, spend more time having fun and chatting wrestling together over boxes of chicken nuggs and copious amounts of coffee for me as being a postie I’m usually up for work by 5, I think nothing now of getting up at 5, doing a shift then setting off for a show in Gloucester say and getting home at 2am. Usually I’m still buzzing and can’t go starlight to sleep.

It’s funny, just a few years ago I would say that my preferences were 1) football, Exeter City were the love of my life, followed them home and away since I was a lad. 2) Cricket, I used to find watching Somerset relaxing, still do when I go. 3) wrestling. How things have changed, in the past 2 years I’ve missed so much football and cricket because there’s been a wrestling show on somewhere and I just don’t want to miss it. Yes, I could go to football, jump straight in the car and go to upw and make first bell but leaving Exeter early with ppl you love to bits just so you can spend more time talking about wrestling in particular and life in general is the bigger draw for me.

Wrestling takes up a big chunk of my life right now, whether it’s show days, meeting up with friends in Exeter and talking about wrestling, social media (sometimes I think I spend too much time on social media for my own good. Especially seeing the drama some ppl seem to like to create there). I have also started doing a podcast with one of my very best and dearest friends, Kirsty, she used to do the fancast with Defiant before they closed down so it was a natural step for her to start up a podcast down this way and I was chuffed to bits when she asked me to co host it with her. I did jump at the chance to have even more time to talk wrestling although I did think “nobody is gonna want to hear me talk bollocks” and tbh they probably don’t but its fun recording it and we have been able to to interview some wrestlers and promoters, we can’t believe how well its going and that wrestlers would actually want to be and let us interview them. It’s quite humbling really and I’m not going to lie, I’m usually in awe when we interview them. We’ve interviewed some big names on the south west wrestling scene too, Eddie Ryan, Lewis Rossiter, Jason & Grayson & Lance Cole are just few of the biggest that spring to mind, we have more lined up but don’t like to say much until the interview is in the bag…. Or on Kirstys phone to be exact. If you want to check us out Google Kween’s Court podcast and we’re on a lot of platforms.

So, think I’d better sign off now as I’ve gone on longer than I’d planned for a test run but the things I’ve gained from going to wrestling shows are being entertained, an improvement in my mental health, a fantastic social life and a whole heap of friends. Too many to mention but I’ll mention the Exeter gang that go to shows with me on a regular or semi regular basis as they’ve helped Steer me through a few really bad times. Kirsty, Greg, Lisa, Westie, Terry, Philip and even though he lives in Cornwall he’s still an honorary Exonian to us, Martin, top fella and rumour has it that he actually smiles in a picture once, lol

Stay safe,

DAVE.