A (Re)Introduction To My Diary Of A 30-Something Trainee Wrestler by Wayne Tomkins

Hello there faithful TJR readers! Long time no hear from myself huh? In case you don’t know who I am or what I’m doing on this hallowed TJR site, let me (re)introduce myself….

My name is Wayne Tomkins, I live in the UK (England to be precise), I am a father to four amazing children, husband to an amazing wife…..and I used to write for Mr Canton on this very site.

I was a news writer for John, basically gathering as much news as possible for that day and condensing it down into bite size portions for you readers. Nothing worse than trawling through article after article to get to the part you want to read…..which is where I and my fellow news writers stepped in.

After a few months of helping out on the site with the news, I wanted to branch out a bit and write about more than just the daily news, but I didn’t know what or how. There’s so many great columnists here on TJR that I didn’t know where I could fit in, what my gimmick was so to speak. Then as luck would have it, a wrestling school was founded a few miles from where I live. It had always been a dream of mine to step foot in the squared circle so I soon signed up and began to train. At the same time as I was training, I was making notes of my training sessions with the intention of maybe writing them up into a blog type of feature, I found my gimmick!

I ran the idea past John, that maybe I could chronicle my exploits at the training academy and post them alongside my news reports here on the site. John thought it was a good idea and to go for it. So I posted a quick introduction as to why I wanted to train as a wrestler so late in my life – I’m 40 this year 🙁 . You can see that original postright here.

I soon followed that up a week later and posted about myfirst day at wrestling school, which went down a storm with you readers by all accounts. But as luck would have it, my good fortune soon changed. A family crisis, my laptop literally exploding on my lap, and work life got in the way of my TJR career. After talking to John, we came to the conclusion that it would be best if I took time off and try to sort out my problems (which were mounting by the day at this point) with a view to maybe coming back to TJR if all parties agreed.

During my time away from writing for John and TJR, I continued making notes with a view to writing my diary/blog about my wrestling training. I even created a site for my musings (and you can have a sneaky look at it right here, feel free to compliment me on my webite prowess). I made a Facebook page about the blog to help shill it and posted my training diary. Nothing regular, maybe a post every other week or so, but I was happy and content with my tiny corner of the Internet. The people that were subscribed to my blog were happy enough too, complimenting me on what I and the others were doing at the Academy.

Fast forward a fair few months. John and I were messaging each other, just touching base to see how we all were (my son Logan is a big TJR fan and he’s only 5). He mentioned that he had been reading my blog and was enjoying it. So much so in fact, that he thought you TJR readers would enjoy it too. You see I had expanded on my original brief, and now not only wrote about my exploits, but the other trainee’s at the school. I’ve trained at the school consistently ever since my first posting here, coming up to twelve months now. I’ve documented every single session I’ve attended, the trials and tribulations, the injuries, the actual SEPW (South East Professional Wrestling) shows I’ve attended as a fan and in a professional capacity, world famous stars of the squared circle I’ve met and trained with. All posted on my little blog site.

I’m not going to lie, it’s hard work. And I’m not just talking about the training (which is damn hard by the way), it’s the actual documenting of the sessions along with work and family life. I’m a middle aged man (even if I tell myself otherwise) trying to train for something that someone 20 years younger than me would struggle with. Day after day, week after week, I and my fellow students make progress. So much so that a few weeks ago, us students held our very first Academy show to a sold out audience! Being a part of that event is a highlight of my life!

With all that in mind, John asked me if I would be willing to share my experience once again with you all. He asked me back into the TJR fold. Through chatting I explained that things had finally calmed down here at my end. I’m writing more regularly and seem to have found my style of writing (witty and self-depreciating), and if that style was OK with him, then I would love to come back to TJR Wrestling.

And now we’re here, right here, all caught up. I hope this re-introduction has worked and you’re all now waiting with baited breath for my posts. It’s ok, you won’t have to wait too long for them.

I’d like to finish up by thanking John Canton for this opportunity again. You’re a class act sir and I’m ecstatic to be back working alongside with the TJR team, which in my humble opinion are some of the most informed and concise wrestling fans I’ve ever read.

So with you all (hopefully) re-aquainted with myself and my journey, I’ll be taking my leave. But never fear, I shall be back with a new post in the coming days.

TTFN!

Wayne