By Luke Norman
A Leicester wrestling promoter has found it a surreal but thrilling experience to train the actors and actresses starring in the new film Fighting With My Family that is now on cinema screens.
Wrestling promoter Gareth Harris has built his own Leicester-based company From the Ground Up Wrestling.
He has also helped to train the actors and actresses in the new wrestling feature film Fighting With My Family that focuses on the story of WWE superstar Paige and her family and is based on a documentary by the family that was shown on Channel 4.
Harris runs his own wrestling company From the Ground Up Wrestling
Harris trains the majority of the wrestlers that appear on his show and most of them appear on every show that he runs.
He said: “I have loads of fantastic up and coming stars, most will be unknown to the wrestling scene, that’s my gain and their loss.”
Many fans of professional wrestling believe that in recent years the British scene has been revitalised thanks to companies like Progress wrestling and ICW and the recent interest by WWE in UK wrestling with the setup of their new UK brand NXTUK, plus ITV is now taking a re-interest in wrestling with the return of World of Sport wrestling.
Harris sees this a bit differently and while he is very happy for the fact that many opportunities are now open for wrestlers in the UK to get exposure and experience to improve their work, the British wrestling scene has always been good in the 17 years he has worked in it, for many promotions.
He said: “Promotions would sell out every time I worked for them, they would have houses of up to 2,000 and ran hundreds of dates a year, way more than any promotion does nowadays.”
Harris has now also ventured into the film industry as he helped to train the actors and actresses of the new film produced by Dwyane “The Rock” Johnson and put together the matches that were used in Fighting With My Family.
He said “It was a great experience, surreal to be a part of the film world, they all picked it up well. Nick Frost had it down in minutes, I think it helped that he was a wrestling fan.
“I think the film did a fantastic job of portraying the Knights [Paige’s family]. I was very happy with how the film turned out, it’s a funny film which has a great story and somehow manages to add in a lot of heart, and what you have is a truly unique film – there’s nothing else with this mix.”
Harris with Fighting With My Family director Stephen Merchant
Harris and his company From the Ground Up Wrestling run events around Leicestershire that are intended to be enjoyed by the whole family, including on March 24 in Wigston, Elms on April 28 and Birstall on May 10.
For more information on upcoming FTGU wrestling events visit https://en-gb.facebook.com/FTGUWRESTLING/ and for the school of professional wrestling visit https://en-gb.facebook.com/GroundUpWrestling/
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