Bodies hit the mat at a pro wrestling practice space in Yuba City.
Wrestlers flip in the air, hoist each other over their heads, and come crashing down on the mat with terrifying force.
Today is the last practice for these students before their upcoming show called “Last Man Standing.”
They’re all part of Pro Championship Wrestling (PCW). Founded in 1999, the company is the northernmost wrestling promotion in the state. It has wrestlers on its roster from Red Bluff, Oroville, Marysville, and even a transplant from London.
Every other week the company holds matches at its Yuba City location, and films them to be put on YouTube. It also puts on premier shows for larger crowds across the North State.
"We're telling one of the most primal stories ever,” said Doc Heywood, executive director at PCW. “Here's two guys that don't like each other and they get into an altercation, and something's going to happen. It's Cain and Abel every night for us."
If you've never watched pro wrestling before, it's acrobatic, heavy hitting, and theatrical
The "babyface" good guys square off against the "heels" – villains and punks everyone loves to hate. Sometimes the babyface comes out on top to thunderous applause, or maybe the heel wins the match by some dirty trick, feeding into their nefarious status. The winner is whoever can pin down their opponent until the referee counts to three.
At tonight's practice are the recipients of a scholarship that gives two people a year of free training with PCW. One of them is Annabel Montes, who said she’d been looking for a physical sport. She’d considered martial arts like jiujitsu, until she started watching pro wrestling again.
"Especially seeing stars like Bianca Belair and Rhea Ripley, just strong independent women," Montes said. "I was like 'I want to be like them,' and if I do what they're doing, maybe I won't break my face."
After training for over a year in her hometown of Reno, Nev., she was hooked.
"It challenges me everyday. I've never been more healthy, physically and mentally in my life," she said. "It pushes me to push past emotional borders that I've put up."
She wasn't getting much time in the ring in Reno, and heard about the PCW scholarship from her coach. Because of her previous training, Montes was quickly able to start making appearances in shows. In the ring her name is Luna Sea, and she's on a team of heels called “Unwanted.”
At “Last Man Standing” she'll be a valet – someone who comes out with wrestlers during their entrance and works the crowd before a match. Montes says interacting with the live audience during matches is key to keeping the energy high.
"[If] the crowd is pretty quiet right now, but there's this one kid who keeps yelling at me, I'm gonna go at him. And hopefully everybody else gets mad at me for going at this little kid," Montes said.
Showtime
At “Last Man Standing” the center of the Oroville Convention Center is taken up by a giant, green and black wrestling ring. It’s surrounded by the iconic three ropes used to catapult wrestlers during matches. The room has rows of folding chairs and bleachers.
The gym fills with a few hundred fans, many holding handwritten signs praising or insulting a wrestler with the company. There's a group of a dozen or so people wearing red merch for the Red Bull Dicky Dakin, a beloved babyface from Marysville.
There are a series of matches leading up to the main event. One of the most exciting is for the PCW Championship title and the giant, flashy belt that comes along with it. Whoever wins will have to defend the title from the winner of the Battle Royal, a 30-man free for all at the end of the event.
The Championship title match is between Rik Luxury, and the giant and intimidating Bad News Blakeslee. Luxury puts up a good fight but is bested by Blakeslee, much to the dismay of the crowd. As Bad News Blakeslee is declared the winner, and his theme song of an air raid siren blares over the speakers, he's met with boos and jeers from the crowd.
The main event
The Battle Royale is chaotic.
Every 90 seconds, another wrestler is added to the fight. What starts as a one-on-one quickly builds as six, seven, eight wrestlers cram into the ring to duke it out.
The rules are different. Rather than losing by being pinned down, wrestlers are eliminated if they get thrown out of the ring. Often they'll dangle precariously over the edge before scrabbling back in. It's pure chaos – and the crowd can't get enough of it.
PCW founder Zack “Prime Time" Reeb competes in the match and is clearly a fan favorite. Some of his younger fans can't help but jump and cheer as he wrestles, and excitedly boo anyone who gets in Reeb's way.
Dickey Dakin, the beloved babyface from Marysville ends up winning, seemingly against all odds. He was the first one in the ring, and he outlasted all 29 other competitors. At the next major show, he'll face off against Bad News Blakeslee for a chance to win the PCW Championship title.
After the matches are over, the wrestlers emerge to greet their fans, or antagonize their haters. Bad News Blakeslee says the latter is what gives him strength.
"Their boos are my happy place. When I get out here and I see the children crying and running, that's what I thrive on," said Blakeslee "I want them to hate me just as much as I hate them."
He says his next goal is to shut up all the Dickey Dakin fans who cheered for him tonight. He says he'll be bringing the violence to defend his title at the next major show in April.
"I want to shut everybody up that laughed at me tonight. I want to shut everybody up that cheered him,” Blakeslee said. “And the only way I can do that is to rip their heart out."
