Have you ever considered watching professional wrestling? Trust me, it’s an experience everyone should have at least once in their lifetime.

At first glance, wrestling might seem like a violent and aggressive sport, but it is actually a highly entertaining form of performance art that combines athleticism, drama, and storytelling. Whether you’re a fan of sports, theater, or just looking for something new to watch, wrestling has something for everyone.

Watching professional wrestling as a kid was exciting. The cheers and boos from the crowd, the colorful costumes, the impressive acrobatics, and the intense drama of the matches make for a thrilling and unforgettable spectacle. It was literally my world.

I never attended a wrestling show before because I grew out of it a bit as I grew older I couldn’t afford it. Second, apart from the usual WWE shows that come to my home country every year, there weren’t other quality professional wrestling shows around. And lastly, I couldn’t afford the time and money for it.

Now that I have moved to another country and have some money saved up, I decided to look for wrestling shows here in Vancouver, thanks to my friends at school they found one and we went for it.

Let me tell you the story of what happened.

It was a great late Friday afternoon, the sun was bright and out, and my friends and I just ate at this really good Korean pizza restaurant in Robson St for lunch, and walked our way to The Commodore Ballroom in Grandville. When we got to the venue, obviously there was a long line outside the venue but we didn’t know it stretched almost an entire block.

As we went to the back of the line, I saw almost every kind of wrestling fan out there: Casual fans, hardcore fans with the promotion’s merch and all, fans who brought signs, fans who were trying to hide that they were drinking, fans who were smoking a lot of weed, and so on. The line was an experience in itself.

Once we got in front of the entrance of The Commodore, my friends and I was getting the jitters. I’m getting excited as finally after an eternity of waiting, I’m finally going to watch a wrestling show live. We got to the front of the line and we got checked for illegal things as per the building’s security policy. One of the guards mistakenly thought my power bank was a different device but I had to show them that it was only a power bank, and let me through.

Oh man, heading inside and going up the stairs onto the Ballroom itself was a thrill. I wanted to run upstairs like a kid but the place was jam-packed and had to just walk up. Once I got up to the floor itself, I knew I was going to be in for a great night!

Oh right. Before we go further, let me tell you about the wrestling promotion I went to.

Nation Extreme Wrestling (NEW) is Vancouver-based professional wrestling promotion founded in 2021 by Rob Fai, best known for his time as the play-by-play voice of the Vancouver Canadians, and Chris Parry, founder of the business news and stock analysis website, Equity Guru.

Parry is a former digital products editor for The Vancouver Sun and The Province. For a time, he also wrote a blog on the C’s and that’s where he connected with Fai. Before starting up the wrestling, Parry had brought in Fai to host SportsBar Radio, a podcast running under the Equity Guru banner.

NEW started its first show in September 2021 with a crowd of 200. And now 12 shows in, NEW 12 has sold out crowds of over 900 to rock the night.

NEW 12 had a stacked card that featured prominent Japanese wrestlers: “Fighting Kubidol” Maki Itoh, The “Pink Striker” Miyu Yamashita, and the legendary “King of Pro Wrestling”, Minoru Suzuki along with the great NEW talents: Cat Power, Re:Loaded, The Wisemen, Nicole Matthews, Bambi Hall, Liiza Hall, Daniel Makabe, Cody Chhun, Artemis Spencer, Evan Rivers, Mr. Ferguson, and Judas Icarus.

Entering the ballroom was a thrilling feeling. I could see the ring, the squared circle, the lights, the seated crowd all over, and the bar, full of people looking to get their drinks before the start of the show. The drinks were a bit expensive so I didn’t really drink much. My friends and I settled in the far corner near the entrance ramp which was good because we needed footage for a school project commercial and also I wanted to document the event as much as I can.

The show kicked off with one of the founders, Rob Fai, welcoming the audience, relaying the number one rule of the show: respect everyone.

Overall, the matches and segments were awesome! The flow of the moves of each wrestler was beautiful. I know the wrestlers have practiced their moves way before the show but seeing them doing it live, their bodies hitting the mat, and the distinct noise it makes was a sight to behold for me.

Professional Wrestling thrives on crowd reaction and participation. The wrestlers and the crowd feed off the energy from one another, and the biggest provider of energy and momentum in any wrestling show is crowd chants and reactions, and I didn’t even know I could start one, let alone have everyone chant with me.

It was during the Bambi Hall vs Liiza Hall match. It was a hardcore match so tables and chairs were out so anything can happen but there was a little red box with a shape of a heart on the side, Bambi Hall took that little red box and strutted around with it. I admit that I am addicted to Tim Horton’s, and looking at the red box, I thought that it was a box of Timbits. I shouted at the top of my lungs, “We Want Timbits!”

And there was a short silence from the crowd, I was embarrassed for trying to start a chart that’s not funny, but afterward, I heard a small crowd off the corner start to chant the same thing. Then it grew louder and louder. It became memorable so much so that every time the little red box was up for display, people would chant it. Little did we know that box did not contain Timbits, but bits of thumbtacks. Shocker right?

Great stuff between Icarus and Suzuki here #new12 pic.twitter.com/5eM6u2tOD2

— Ben Lypka (@BenLypka) March 25, 2023

The best match of the night goes to the Main Event, which blurred the lines between a professional wrestling match, and just a straight-off street fight.

The stiff punches and chops they did to each other made everyone including myself flinch so much because of how powerful and painful it sounded. I can tell by experience that even in a rehearsed setting that was painful. I know, I was raised by Filipino parents!

Enough about my childhood traumas.

Anyway, the match went off without any problems, and of course, the legendary Minoru Suzuki hit the Gotch-Style Piledriver for the pinfall victory, and that concluded the awesome night of wrestling.

Beyond the physical feats, wrestling is also known for its storytelling. Wrestlers have their own unique characters, complete with their own backstories and motivations. These characters interact with each other in the ring, building drama and suspense as the match progresses. Fans can’t help but become emotionally invested in the characters and their stories, cheering for their favorites and booing the villains.

So, if you’re looking for an entertaining and unique experience, wrestling is definitely worth checking out. It’s a performance art that combines athleticism, drama, and storytelling, and it’s guaranteed to engage all your senses.

Give it a try, and you just might become a fan for life.