hephaestion2014's blog

Wrestling spaces are great.

I'm kind of over the Travelodge match and find them more a necessary evil than a pleasure. Tell me that there is a matroom or wrestling ring, and I want to go there. Especially when there's a feeling in the air (Nottingham being a case in point) that they feel an endangered species.

So when I get invited to a wrestle by a favourite opponent in Walthamstow, I immediately say yes ... then realise I have no idea where that is.

I know Walthamstow is East 17, so am expecting it to be a land of woollen beanie over sized trousers wearing ecstasy popping pop stars screaming how "it's alright" in "the house of love" ...

Now confession time, my navigational skills are bad. My inner compass is very confused. It took me two trips to Manchester to realise that if I just walked in a straights line from Picadilly (like everyone else) that id be soon in the Gardens .. but no, I see that nice bridge to the left, wander over that then through car parks and court buildings till by accident I come upon the Gardens ... so I'm a teensy bit concerned that the journey to the distant land of Walthamstow will involve jumping many tube lines, eating a bagel at London Bridge whilst I wander around trying to find the tube entrance.

No such problem. I can get on the tube at my beloved Euston and in 15mins be at my station. In fact, my well worn tube map tells me that Walthamstow Central is well connected. So that's a plus. Like High Barnet, I do like an end of the line stop.

Meet my opponent at the entrance to the station after a quick coffee and muffin as a reward to myself for getting on the right line and in the right direction, and after a brief walk, down an alley, door opened and I see the space.

My opponent points out the high ceilings (almost of Edinburgh standard ) and the balcony/viewing space in which you can look down on the action in what my eye has automatically been drawn to, the wrestling ring.

There's a matted area to one side of the space, and the mats feel great and good amount of room to roll around on, but my eye is immediately drawn to the ring. Which is strange because not being a pro guy, the wrestling ring shouldn't have that much appeal to me, but it does ...

Anyone who has ever been with me at Pippas might be surprised at this admission as I'm always ducking the chance to use the ring there, but here and in this space, it kinda seduces you to enter.

So first chance, off into the ring I get. I tentatively put my weight against the ropes, yep, sturdy to take my weight and look at the ring floor itself. Feels comfortable. I'm aware that sometimes boxing rings are used as wrestling rings, and the floor of those can be scratchy and about as pleasant as carpet burns. No such problem here. It's comfortable in that one or two odd times I find myself on my back in the ring, yeah, just the odd one or two or three. Okay, a few times.

Wrestling aside, the space had good facilities. Lovely toilet, better than mine at home - plus a necessity after a hard sweaty bout, a shower too.

But I still go back to the ring in my head. It's my favourite part of the building and something I look forward to using again and again.

And that's kind of the point. We are very lucky in the UK - and especially England that we have spaces like Walthamstow, High Barnet, Manchester, Grove Park and Stockwell to use and are lucky that the owners of them are able to make that profit and keep them going. After all, its a business not a charity.

But if we don't use them, we will all be doomed to use those hotel rooms to try our best to wrestle amongst the cramped space and crap furniture.

So don't forget to support them whichever one you use or prefer, if you don't use it, you lose it and the UK wrestling scene slowly dies ... and if you do, maybe they'll stay another day.