My earliest memories of wrestling are actually kind of silly. I remember my parents dropping me off
at my grandma's (who was completely deaf) when I was little and she would be watching guys like
the Junkyard Dog and Hulk Hogan and would get exited and shout at the TV. I remember asking one
of my older cousins to do my makeup "like the mean wrester ladies" I had seen on television. I
also remember seeing Captain Lou Albano in Cyndi Lauper's "girls just wanna have fun" video.
Eventually I got older and floated on to other things. I was always kind of a tomboy and most of my friends were boys so I usually played sports and played outside rather than do girly stuff. In high school I watched wrestling on and off, but never ever EVER thought in my wildest dreams I'd be doing it someday.
I moved out to California in 2000 soon after graduating high school, because I felt like bigger things were waiting for me compared to the rural town I'm from. I had always been a bit of an outside thinker and I wasn't exactly content with the idea of settling with the things I saw my friends around me settling for. I wanted to do something bold. I miss my friends and family, but still feel like I made the right decision.
Eventually I landed a job managing a good friend's comic shop. I had always loved comics so this job
suited me quite well. Eventually I started meeting people and through coincidence met some people
who happened to be wrestlers. The rest is history.
I remember going to my first so-cal indy show to watch a friend wrestle. I was impressed with the athletic aspect of it and I also loved the fact that it was so colorful. The wrestlers reminded me of something straight from a comic....a bunch of guys in colorful spandex, fighting it out and occasionally putting aside differences for the greater good, I guess you could say. I wanted to try it..but I was discouraged and felt kind of silly for asking mainly because I am small in size and a woman..and I didn't see any other girls there at the time.
After venturing out to different shows I started to notice that there were indeed some female wrestlers...and most of them were about the same size as I was! Maybe it was something I could do after all.
My friends Johnny and Chris (Joey Dynamite) had a ring set up in their backyard. One night Chris mentioned that he and a few other people trained a little there on the weekends if I ever wanted to come down and give it
a try. So I did.
Wrestling turned out to be a lot harder than it looked! And it damn sure wasn't fake! I got discouraged at first because I was having a hard time with the most basic things and remembering stuff. We lost the ring for a bit and couldn't train for a while...but eventually it got set up again.
One day I showed up to the house and there were a bunch of new faces there, along with some pros I had seen regularly on different shows. I was a little intimidated...but it turned out they were opening a school and looking for people to join. Should I try it again? Could I handle it? I decided to give it another go.
After the first day I was incredibly sore. I don't think I had ever been that sore in my entire life. Push-ups, squats, running, jumping, learning to bump, taking slams, etc. This was hard! And it hurt! I got frustrated easy and it took me longer to learn things...but something was telling me not to give up. I hung in there and did the best I could.
Eventually I became the only female at Santino's for a while. The class was getting more advanced. We were training in the hot summer sun. On top of that, on certain days I also had to deal with my "lady issues".I was finding it hard to be confident because I felt like the odds were against me. Later on I found out some of the guys didn't think I was going to last at first. I went home beat up, sore, and bruised every week. SometimesI went home crying from the physical and mental stress. But something kept pulling me back to the class every week. I was determined to continue what I had started...plus all stress and pain aside, I was having fun!
Over a year later and here I am, still continuing my training and even starting to do shows!...and I feel like I've come such a long way considering I could barely do a lock-up when I first started. I've learned so much. I've found my confidence and I'm starting to feel good about what I do. I'm doing things that I never thought I was capable of. I still have a a lot to learn and I have my limitations, but I'm getting better all the time. Wrestling oddly enough,is also very theraputic for me. It has taught me confidence, self-dicipline, and how to work with others. It has also helped me to deal withmy anxiety problems, which I've had my entire life. I may not be the the biggest, or the strongest, or the fastest, but I just want to be the best that I can be. That's my goal...also, someday maybe I can teach what I've learned to other girls.
-May..the Fabulous Thunderkitten and one half of "The Nobodies" <---LOL! Check out Santino Bros. Wrestling Academy
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