Let’s talk about last Saturday.
Last Saturday I was the only white person to step into the Wrestling Resurgence ring for an entire show. We searched high and low for a referee of colour to join the incredible lineup of wrestlers of colour who made up our Black History Month spectacular, Roy Johnson’s Everything Patterned, but to no avail. So I did what I set out to do when I got back into refereeing 6 odd years ago: I facilitated. I don’t want praise or a cookie, because I got everything I needed from being part of a magical showcase of some of the best talent on these shores or any other. The night is best summed up by two quotes from the incomparable Sugar Dunkerton:
“It’s all love tonight, man.”
and
[when asked why he’s so excited] “Because! This motherfucker’s sold out, and we ain’t even have to book MVP!”
View this post on Instagram
Excellence. #EverythingPatterned #britwres #britishwrestling #prowrestling #blackhistorymonth
The VOD will be out soon. Keep an eye on Resurgence’s Facebook page and make sure to check out Omari vs Warren Banks which was a bloody belter.
Now, let’s talk about the next couple of months!
We’ve got another Resurgence show coming up in December and I get to be part of facilitating more of the best wrestling in the country. Sandwiched around that neatly are two shows for FTGU where I get to do my bit raising the next generation to inherit the incredible scene we’re all building. And I get to do it all in Leicester, fulfilling my lifelong belief that you can build culture where you live and make places outside London mean something big and lasting. Lovely, innit?
Wrestling is giving me life at the moment, folks. Can you tell?
Charles x
EDIT: I have shamed myself by neglecting to mention my sister-in-stripes Deviki, who has worked incredibly hard to learn and forge ahead as both a referee and wrestler, and is now getting deserved bookings the length of the country. It’s rad. Wrestling rules. Friends rule. Thanks