Top young wrestling talent from in and around Hastings will get its chance to shine when Extreme World Wrestling (EWW) stages a unique event in Battle Memorial Hall later this month.

Stu Allen, the man behind EWW, calls the event his ‘academy show’ because it’s the night when the young wrestlers who train week-in week-out at his Hastings based wrestling school can put what they have learned on show in front of an audience of almost 400 people.

“It’s a smaller audience than we get at most of our shows but that doesn’t mean it’s easier or less nerve wracking, sometimes working in front of a smaller crowd can actually be more daunting,” says Stu.

The bill for the night contains a lot of local talent, many of whom will be competing in front of an audience for the first time, as well as more established names who are on the bill to push the youngsters to do their best and give their all to entertain the crowd.

Among those taking part from the EWW academy will be:

• Lupo Lee fresh from a successful appearance in a bout in Rugby
• Graysun Dawn
• Maddi Almighty
• Deano Locke
• Deadly Nightshade
• Jeff Leopard
• Lou Steel
• Ron Jovi

The show is being headlined by Stu’s wife Tarnya better know by her in-ring persona Skarlett and Stu will be adopting his character ‘Dominator’ to take part too, other big names include Voodoo and Joey Axl. Layton Cole who is head trainer at the world famous Al Snow wrestling academy will also be there on the night.

The Battle show is about helping develop less experienced wrestlers and giving them a taste of what it’s like to be in the spotlight. Stu will be watching closely to see who deserves to be given a shot when his main event of the year, EWW’s 20th anniversary show, takes place in October. One of the contest lined up for the Battle event is a 20-man ‘battle royal’ and the winner will get a spot on the line-up for the October show but Stu and Tarnya will be watching all the others closely to see who is ready to take the next step in their wrestling career.

After a period in the doldrums wrestling in the UK is booming again with shows like those staged by Hastings based EWW getting crowds in excess of 1,000 people coming to watch and a lot of the reason for that, according to Stu and Tarnya, is down to the quality of the training and the standards demanded by the wrestling schools like the one they run out of Fighting Tigers gym in Hastings.

Stu says there has been a return to traditional values of good skilful wrestling and he insists that those coming to train with him learn the basics of grappling before they start to develop the tricks of the trade. He uses the syllabus of the Russian martial art Sombo to give his students a grounding in the basics of the grappling arts.

Stu says that the UK has produced some of the best technical wrestlers in the world and he singles out Billy Robinson as the man who gave UK wrestling the international reputation that it has today.

Robinson, who died in 2014, was well known around the world including Japan where he trained mixed martial arts fighters in catch wrestling, he was one of the few wrestlers who was successful in several continents including Europe, North America and Asia winning titles in promotions nearly everywhere he wrestled. Robinson began his wrestling training at the ‘Snake Pit’ in Wigan a wrestling school regarded as the holy grail by the wrestling industry. It was established by legendary trainer Billy Riley and became one of the most respected catch wrestling training schools in all of the world.

It’s that kind of heritage that Stu and Tarnya believe fans of the sport appreciate and it’s the sound basic training their wrestlers get that ensure the paying public coming to an EWW event get to see a great show and enjoy a good night of entertainment.

Tickets for the Battle show are on sale now from the EWW website, eww-wrestling.com or from Skarlett’s Cafe in Old Ladies Court in Battle it’s £10 for adults, £8 for children or £25 for a family ticket (two adults and two children). Tickets will also be on sale directly from the wrestlers themselves when they take to the streets in the next couple of weeks to promote the event and encourage local people to came and watch.

Watch Hastings In Focus this week for a great chance to win a family ticket to this great show.