Appalachia’s Wrestling Revival
Independent wrestling is thriving across rural America
Ding, ding, ding!
It’s Friday night in the brightly lit gymnasium of a middle school in McKee, Kentucky (population: 800), and fans are restlessly awaiting a night of piledrivers, dropkicks, and spandex — so much spandex.
As the announcer’s tinny voice echoes through the gym, a flock of third-grade boys with matching buzz cuts flail their spaghetti arms wildly. A high schooler with a greasy pageboy haircut rips open his button-down shirt and pounds on his chest, King Kong–style, as his date blushes, burying her face in her hands. Middle-aged men — seasoned vets of this scene — post up in the cheap seats (read: the bleachers), scooping nachos from a cafeteria concession stand into their mouths and spitting tobacco into dip bottles.
Welcome to Appalachian Mountain Wrestling.
Growing up in Eastern Kentucky, what first fascinated me about the art of wrestling weren’t the outlandish costumes or the larger-than-life personas — though I firmly believe watching the commercial where Macho Man Randy Savage bursts into a high school production of Romeo and Juliet and yells, “Art thou bored?” is what piqued my curiosity about Shakespeare. No, it was the language of wrestling — specifically, of wrestling moves —…
