INDIANAPOLIS — There’s the serious kind of wrestling you see in high school and the Olympics; then there's the wrestling you see on TV, the over-the-top kind that mixes athleticism and soap opera.
That’s the kind of wrestling that brings dozens of fans to the Outlaw Arena on Friday nights.
“Audience participation, that's why everybody comes," said wrestler Jordan James. "They want to feel part of whatever's going on in the ring."
This old building just south of Downtown Indianapolis is the home of Wild Championship Wrestling Outlaws, the oldest independent wrestling company in the city.
"Really, to be honest with you, a lot of people don't know we're here," said T.J. Powers, a WCWO wrestler who has been in the business for 40 years.
Powers said the WCWO has trained generations of wrestlers who travel throughout the state performing in various independent shows.
"Most shows you see around the state, even though they're not WCWO shows, it's all of our workers," Powers said.
The WCWO trains wrestlers, ring announcers and referees. The Outlaw Areana, 1151 S. Kentucky Ave., is a school on Tuesdays and Sundays and hosts wrestling matches on Friday nights.
WRTV was there with several dozen fans to watch the matches on a recent Friday. Tickets are $12.
Rachel Armstrong is one of the few women in WCWO learning the secrets of pro wrestling. She’s been training with thew company for three years.
"I saw it on TV and, and really, really got into it as a child," Armstrong said. "It's just always been something that's been at the forefront of my imagination.'
Wrestling lets you escape regular life and tap into something deep inside, she said.
"It's being able to go through the curtain and be someone that you never thought you could be," Armstrong said, "and being able to just show this whole different side to you that not many people saw before."
For many of the wrestlers, this is a hobby.
But some say they make a pretty good living with what they earn in the ring and from selling T-shirts.
Dex Royal said he's wrestled at events in Wisconsin, Massachusetts and Colorado.
"It's about marketing and being able to market yourself," said Royal, the WCWO head trainer who has been with the company for five years.
You have to be willing to travel, work hard and wrestle in different and bigger platforms to build a following, he said.
Royal is a good guy in the ring because he said the baby face wrestlers sell more merch.
"It's hard work to be able to live off of it," he said, "But you definitely can."
Most wrestlers in the WCWO do it because they love pro wrestling.
Some just like hitting people.
"Oh, It's fun. It's fun slamming people," said Hank "Hammer" Parker, who is half of the tag team Ruthless Domination.
"You get to work hard all week long and then you get to slam somebody."
"On a Friday night," Jeremy “Scorpion” Jones said, finishing his tag team partner's sentence. "WCWO."
Contact WRTV reporter Vic Ryckaert at victor.ryckaert@wrtv.com or on X/Twitter: @vicryc.
