[dropcap size=big]M[/dropcap]y lungs are begging for every sip of air after only two laps down the alley when I begin climbing into a pro wrestling ring for the first time since in my childhood dreams.
Yet instead of The Rock, I'm The Block. Just 330 lbs of pure desk jockey about to attempt the front-flip type somersaults known in wrestling as "rolls" at Santino Bros. Wrestling Academy. I throw all my weight forward with every attempt at the front rolls, repeatedly slamming my head against the ring until I'm forced to take a short break from dizziness.
I jump back into the ring, still dazed to attempt the back roll, only to crash-land right on my back in an unsafe bump-like fashion. I instantly feel sharp pain as though someone is twisting my spine.
Only twenty minutes into my would-be wrestling career, I'd kicked my own ass into a tap-out at the Bell Gardens wrestling institution. “I know everybody wants to be a part of this, at some point has a passion for it, but it’s not for everybody,” head trainer Robby Phoenix told L.A. Taco.
[dropcap size=big]S[/dropcap]antino Bros. has developed a reputation for being a tough training ground that’s been pumping out popular indie-league wrestlers like Heather Monroe and Jake Atlas for the past ten years. Recently, it jumped into the WWE limelight, when Ronda Rousey began training with WWE superstar Brian Kendrick, who teaches a class at the school. After dominating UFC for the better part of four years, the Venice native has to learn how to wrestle just like everyone else.
“You really got to be some kind of stupid crazy to do this,” Phoenix explained. “Our bodies are getting into a 35 mph crash every single night as we bump and then we gotta get up and bump again. We knowingly do it, then we get up and do it three days a week. That’s for the students. I’m here six days a week.”