We all have some sort of idea about professional wrestling. “It’s fake” is usually the first thing that comes out of people’s mouths when it comes up in conversation, or at least that was what my childhood entailed. In some ways it brought the family together, as Smackdown would air on a Friday, and that would usually be the only day I saw my father.

Since secondary school I can’t say I really thought of wrestling much, and since it was always intended for young men I can’t say many friends brought it up either.

That was of course until University, as the North East is becoming a major hub for amateur wrestlers to perform in front of hungry audiences.

Since the 1940s the world of professional wrestling started to gain mainstream popularity in parts of America with names like Gorgeous George. Ask anyone about famous wrestlers, and they’d usually bring up the likes of Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, maybe Ric Flair who all gained celebrity status throughout the 1980s.

Since the millennium Pro wrestling has waned somewhat in popularity when looking at the fall in viewership of the American based WWE television programmes. In the United Kingdom however smaller wrestling companies started to expand with larger focus on traditional and technically oriented skills in opposition to the power moves displayed in the USA.

In the last few years, Europe has started to experience more interest and investment in professional wrestling. The N.E.W project follows wrestlers in the North East who are being positively received by event organisers.