The first ever episode of Takedowns & Tiaras is here!
This vlog features Nikki Van Blair talking about a range of topics in wrestling and pop culture.
The first episode talks about wrestler shaming, Sable’s feud with Jacqueline, and how great Nikki’s eyebrows are.
Watch it here:
– by Nikki Van Blair
Joining the main class was overwhelming to say the least. I was training with people who had been doing this for one year, two years, three years, even more, and here I was with about three or four months training underneath my belt. I didn’t want to slow them down by being behind on the wrestling skills and techniques, but most importantly, I didn’t want to hurt anyone with my inexperience. The people I train with are good people. I also worry a lot.
Enter my first free wrestling drill. I wasn’t expecting to do this so soon, but here it was. There were about ten of us, so two people were on the mats free wrestling with each other, and the rest of us were sitting around the mats, waiting to tag in and get our few licks in. I was hesitant to tag in, but Diego was sure that I would be fine… and also gave me no choice.
I tagged in. And pushed the other guy. And then felt my body and blew him a kiss. Total wrestling moves performed = 0. Then I picked him up and dropped him with a body slam, and followed that vicious wrestling move by standing over him and dancing. Total wrestling moves performed = 1.
My ineptitude to come up with wrestling on the fly can only be cured with time and more training, so I shouldn’t be too hard on myself.
That’s the beautiful thing about wrestling. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been doing it – two months, five years, 15 years – there is always something new to learn, so you have all the time in the world to learn new things about this amazing craft.
THE BITCH GROUP
What would a man be without his Army of Skanks friends.
These girls have been my ride-or-die day ones, and I have been friends with majority of them ever since I was 12. 13 years later, and we are as close as ever. Sure, we may drive each other nuts, and have small issues with each other, but at the end of the day, we love each other, but most importantly, support each other.
When I decided I was going to start my training to become a professional wrestler, I wanted to get the opinion of my girl friends. For some reason, I was feeling insecure and thought that the reaction would be negative from some, if not, all of them. But I was overwhelmed with positive feedback and opinions; a couple especially were along the lines of “Well it’s about time you started wrestling. I’ve always thought you were going to do that.”
I don’t know where I’d be without such a great support network, and these girls have pushed me from day one to become the best version of myself I can be.
To Amanda, Cara, Emilie, Leearna, Nikki-jayne, Rachel and Sian. Thank you for everything you have ever done for me, because every little small action or gesture you have given me has to led to this moment.
The big news…
At this point, I had been training consistently for about four or five months. It was drilled into us from day one that we wouldn’t get in the ring to perform until we were crisp and ready to go, and I was in total agreement with it. I didn’t want to wrestle a match until I was completely sure in myself, along with the approval of my trainers, that I was ready to go.
It was early June 2017 when Leigh and Diego pulled Dylan and I aside to chat. I went into this conversation thinking they would say something along the lines of “We’re proud of how much effort you are putting into training and we just wanted to let you know it’s gone unnoticed.” That part of the conversation did happen; however, there was more to come.
They wanted to put Dylan and I in the first ever APWG Rumble match.
I was shook. I never thought I’d get in the ring and participate in any match so early on in my training, and at first, I was hesitant and a bit worried that they were chucking me in too early. Granted, they did say we’d have small spots and would be performing as glorified rookies, but it was still a big task.
I was excited. I was nervous. I was EXCITED. I was damn nervous.
Nikki would be making his official in-ring debut on 1 July 2017. It was happening. All my years of watching wrestling and hoping that one day I would be able to do that was coming.
– by Nikki
After going through the basics of chain wrestling, we had more exciting things coming up, like takedowns and the exciting high impact moves. I remember the first time I properly executed a single leg takedown, I gasped and dramatically threw my hands up to my mouth because I genuinely thought I hurt my fellow trainee. Leigh’s exact words were “You were doing well until that.” Other takedowns learned included an arm drag, a side headlock takedown, and a snapmare. I am quite the fan of a snapmare.
After going through some takedown revision, we were ready to learn some awesome high impact moves. This was the week I was most excited for. Some of the moves taught to us include a snap suplex, a scoop slam, a DDT, a standing suplex, and a hip toss. Of all of them, I was most looking forward to the DDT. As I performed my first ever DDT, my leg unwillingly kicked out and I delivered the move safely. Coming up from it, someone made a comment about how “my DDT looked like Maryse’s”, to which I followed up with “I’ll do a proper Maryse DDT next time”.
And I did. Complete with dramatic hair flip and hand gesture. I’m mildly disappointed that I wasn’t told that it was a keeper, but should I need a quick move to hit in the middle of a match, I am going to pull out my hair-flipping DDT like it’s going out of fashion.
SABLE AT THE GREAT AMERICAN BASH 2004
Surprise, surprise. More references to Sable.
At the mere idea that I could be a professional wrestler, my mind ran rampant with ideas for wrestling gear. I imagine that a character like mine wouldn’t wear the standard trunks, kickpads and boots, so I had to think out of the box to get my character through simply through an outfit.
Enter the Queen of everything, Sable. At the Great American Bash in 2004, Sable wrestled Torrie Wilson in what I think to be an instant classic, but that’s because I’m extremely bias. Here, Sable wore what I think to be the most iconic wrestling gear by any female wrestler in the history of any company. What could only be described as “a catsuit with a fur hood”, Sable donned a red and black long sleeve bodysuit with shorts that went up her butt, that had a large hood attached to it.
To make it better, the Queen walked out with the hood up, strutting with a confidence only she had, and then took the hood down whilst sexy dancing. Like come on. How can you top that? Soz not soz Torrie.
I had to have something like this iconic piece of gear. Enter Paradise Gone, a clothing label that I was going to commission into making me something equally as iconic.
Prior to starting at APWG, I had never been to an indy wrestling show before, so I had no idea what to expect. During my training, I was unable to make the first show I would’ve helped out at due to pole dancing commitments, but I was going to make sure I could attend the second one.
Since this business is all about paying dues and earning respect among those who have been there longer than you, us rookies helped load the ring into the truck, take the ring down at the venue, set the ring up, and also help out in any way we could during the day. The rookies also got to train running the ropes and taking the corners, meanwhile all I could think of was how this was my first time in a wrestling ring.
I know Kelly Kelly despised running the ropes so I was pretty scared to take it, knowing that ring ropes are basically wire covered in tape. And I understand why she hates it. Because they hurt. A lot.
As the show was beginning to start, I was in charge of social media (Instagram, more specifically) and security. Experiencing my first indy wrestling show as actually amazing. I enjoyed every second of it, made all the more better by the fact that I knew the people on the show. And, more than anything, it made me hungrier to get in the ring and perform in front of friends, family and fans.
My time in the introductory course was up, and it was time for the rookies to merge into the main class to learn some more and train with the guys who have been around longer. I was disappointed to see that of the 12 people that started with me, only me and one other guy Dylan hung around consistently. But the show must go on, and that meant more time with the more experienced guys, and more attention from Leigh and Diego.
One day at training, Diego made me do something I had feared doing: a top rope move. I can hang upside down on a pole with one leg five metres in the air and feel completely safe and secure, but leaping off the top turnbuckle which would barely be 1.5m off the canvas terrified me. We built a stack, did a crossbody onto a training partner, and then the stack would get higher and higher. I was in over my head, but the support of the wrestlers I trained with got me through it, and I was able to deliver convincing crossbodies, each from different heights.
– by Nikki
We were told on week one that week two (bumps week) would be the hardest training session of our wrestling careers. And to buy knee pads and also elbow pads if you felt the need. Like how else am I meant to take that besides “I AM GOING TO DIE”. After Bree and I went on a trip around the world (or what felt like it anyway), we finally found knee pads the day before. Which meant I was ready to take on bumps week.
Now that I look back at it, I shouldn’t have been so scared of taking bumps. In fact, I quite enjoy taking bumps if I’m going to be honest. But as I braced myself for bumps week, I was terrified. I was in on my own head, anxious, scared, and didn’t want to do it. But I did it. Back bumps, front bumps, flip bumps, handstand bumps, jumping back bumps, the lot. It hurt like hell. But the day after felt like I had been hit by a truck.
In the first half of my introductory course, we learned rolls – front roll, dive roll, back roll, left shoulder roll, right shoulder roll – and revised them a lot. We also learned basic transition holds from a lock up, including wrist lock, side headlock, hammer lock, rear waist lock, including how to reverse them.
One thing that I notice, and that will forever be a thing, is angles. As a wrestling fan, I thought you could just slap on a headlock and Bobsuruncle. But when you’re actually wrestling, you need to be wary of angles in the ring, and also the placement of feet, or footwork. Which makes sense, really. Why would you put someone in a wrist lock near the ropes and face the corner when you could do it in the middle of the ring and face the audience?
MY PARENTS
Growing up, I was raised in believing I could do and be anything I wanted. This is because my parents raised me well. They have never pushed me to something I didn’t want to do – well, besides play spot when I was clearly a dancer, but I have forgiven them for that – and they have been proud of everything I do and excel at.
When I first made the decision to start wrestling, I withheld that piece of information from them, fearing that they would say I was “wasting my time” or “you could be doing something better with your time, like pursuing journalism”. I think it was a week or two after my first day at APWG that I told them, and their reaction could honestly be summed up in two words: “Oh okay”.
Needless to say, I shouldn’t have doubted their unwavering support of me in everything I do. I can pursue this dream of mine because of them, and I thank them every day for allowing me to do what I love.
After some bumps, rolls and chain wrestling revision, we began to learn new exciting things, like splashes and strikes. Some of the splashes we learned included a standard jumping splash, a senton (or for Dylan, the Senton of Death), elbow drops, leg drops, and elbow drops to the leg.
It’s now that I will mention what a keeper is. When Leigh or Diego or any experienced wrestler tells me that a certain move is a keeper, that means I did it well to the point that I need to keep it and add it to my move list. My first keeper was a leg drop, which was initially not something I had in mind of adding to my moveset, but if Leigh thinks it’s a keeper, then I will keep it.
Strikes week is easily described as the second worst day of training in a wrestler’s career. Basically, you pair off, and hit each other with different strikes until it’s time for the next one. Also we had Diego and Drew Fulton walk around and give everyone a strike so we could get used to it. The strikes learned were punches to face, chops, forearm smashes to the head, clubs to the back, kicks to the leg and the shoulder, boots to the face/shoulder, clotheslines, back elbows, and dropkicks. While none of them were keepers, I had good feedback stating that I had big body language, which would help with my wrestling down the track.
Also, I can’t punch. Diego’s exact words were “Throw a punch, Nikki!” to which my response was “I can’t!” Forearms? I’m good with. Clotheslines? Relatively decent. Punches to the face? Would rather die.
– by Nikki
Keepers added to moveset: Leg drop
