A Russian Summer (Part 3)

Summer over and 31 shows done. Less than some of the wrestlers on the tour, but still a good number for a guy who has only been back wrestling for 8 months. One of my last acts of the summer was to fall over into an upside-down turtle position, legs and arms in the air, a large spanner in my right hand (I assure you this is still wrestling). As I squirmed around like a die-ing wrong way round woodlouse I got a moment to think how much I had really enjoyed the last 6 weeks. Let’s see how I got there and what happened next – A Russian Summer (Part 3)…….

Scottish High

My first assignment after arriving back from Weymouth was another trip to bonnie Scotland. This time I was travelling with American wrestler John Skyler and the Welsh Warrior Kayden Lay (ironically I seem to have a lot more international friends now I’m Russian!).

I worked with Skyler, who is an up and coming independent worker in the US, as well as having brief appearances on both WWE and TNA. We had 3 simple matches, but I was really starting to have fun with the character. We gelled well and by the third match we had a great bout at a camp that is usually renowned for not being so hot in terms of atmosphere. My confidence was at a high and I was pleased with how it was going.

Filey Comedown

That weekend I was in Filey again and glad to be working with the talented ‘Showstealer’ Nathan Cruz, whom I had heard a lot about but never actually wrestled. However, we had a bit of a stinker for our first match. I was all over the place, it was sloppy and the match was rushed.

When I returned backstage I was confronted by All Star veteran and former WCW star Avalanche (previously P.N.News) who proceeded to tell me how terrible I was. I did not feel like a wrestler, just embarrassed and a bit stupid. However, I had 2 more shots to get it right!

That evening I was sharing a chalet (ok - a medium sized caravan) with Avalanche, Sam Adonis (another All Star regular over from the US) and a Finnish lad who everyone called, er, Finland. I was initially apprehensive and for-saw a night of awkwardness. However, that couldn’t have been further from the truth. Avalanche did continue to grill me about my views on wrestling, but it ended up being a night of learning from both him and Sam Adonis, along with an immensely fun night at the bar too.

The next day I was determined to improve my performance and implement some of the guidance I had been given. I am pleased to say my next two matches with Nathan were far better. Sometimes you just need a little reality check to improve some more.

Little Legs in Cornwall

Following on from Filey and another match with El Ligero in Rhyll (that was easily our best so far this Summer) it was time for the final leg of the tour all the way down in sunny Cornwall, leaving Leeds at the completely reasonably hour of 2 am! Oh well only 400 miles and 2 wrestling shows to go before I can sleep…..

During this week I had matches against Daniel Bryant (Yes! Yes! Yes!) and dwarf wrestler Little Legs (of Harry Potter, Life’s Too Short and Celebrity Juice fame). This match involved me announcing to Daniel that these lousy English wrestlers were no match for a real Russian man like myself and I demanded that I wrestle two men (cocky for a guy who has lost the majority of his matches over the Summer).

The music hits and the tag team partner turns out to be Little Legs (who always gets the biggest cheer of the whole show). The match then involved me getting bitten on the arse, having a dwarf stuck to my leg that I can’t shake off and eventually getting double teamed (again still all wrestling this I promise) and beaten by the pair much to the delight of the crowd. I enjoyed every minute of these matches – an unusual but incredibly fun match to be a part of.

The End of the Summer

During Cornwall I also continued the epic Mexican/Russian feud with El Ligero (everyone knows how much those countries hate each other right? Tequila vs. Vodka, Sombrero vs. Furry Hat - it’s a cultural battle that may never be resolved!).

As I lay there squirming around with spanner in hand - I was content (despite just falling over when I shouldn’t have, which had led to my slightly awkward position in the first place). There had been ups and downs, and moments of doubt but ultimately I was feeling like the ring was becoming home again.

Just as I was having my poignant moment, Ligero rips the spanner from my hand, he lifts it above his head in retaliation to my failed weapon attack. However, the referee is on the ball and demands he drops the weapon. As the commotion grows and the referee is dealing with the foreign object (the spanner, not Ligero or I) I sneakily reach across for my flag and jam the pole (Ikea curtain rail) into my opponents neck thus rendering him helpless and giving Radik the 1, 2, 3. Not today Mexico, not today…

Final Thoughts

I have had an amazingly fun and unique summer and spent time with some fantastic people. I am thankful to All Star management and everyone I worked with. It really helped me develop and learn. I would recommend to any aspiring wrestler to do the camps should you be lucky enough to have that opportunity.

Thanks for reading.

JCT