Twenty-year-old local Elliot Gyaw is a man of many hats, being an out of school hours educator, an education support worker, and an RMIT University student, but perhaps his most interesting vocation is that of a professional wrestler.
Better known in the ring as “The Fantastic” Jimmy Castle, Mr Gyaw and his tag partner and childhood best friend William Hall, also better known as Johnny “Thunderbolt” Jetts, form the professional wrestling tag team “The Physicals”, an 80s themed duo that enter the ring to none other than Olivia Newton-John’s 1981 hit Physical.
A fan of professional wrestling since childhood, Mr Gyaw, who once collected World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) action figures and played wrestling games on his Xbox, said the idea to become a professional wrestler began taking hold at the age of 12.
“I have been a fan of professional wrestling for as long as I can remember,” he said.
“In 2016, Will [Hall] came to me and said, ‘I’m thinking of getting into watching wrestling.’ After that we wrestled almost every weekend on his trampoline and made a commitment to one day be a pro wrestling tag-team.”
That commitment eventually saw both Mr Gyaw and Mr Hall sign up to train weekly at the Relentless School of Pro Wrestling in Melton, under the guidance of local wrestling legends JXT, Jake Navara, Funtime Fil, Sid Parker, and Erika Reid.
Mr Gyaw stated that the training heavily revolved around injury prevention.
“We normally begin with stretching,” he said.
“Stretching is super important as a wrestler as it helps with preventing injury and enhances our flexibility. We may then move onto some cardio and our ‘Get up drill.’
“A wrestling ‘Get up,’ is a special way wrestlers get up in the ring to prevent injuring our wrists over time—we spend a lot of our time getting up as wrestlers!
“We then jump in and do our rolls and bumps … [which] can help us improve our ring awareness. Having good ring awareness means you can use the ropes to your advantage when you need it.
“‘Bumping,’ essentially means landing safely. If us wrestlers don’t know how to land on our backs and faces safely, we may not be wrestling for very long.
“The trick to bumping is to spread the impact of the bump across your body by landing flat and spreading your arms. If you don’t do this, bumping on the wrestling canvas feels like landing on the pine wood floor of a basketball court.
“After rolls and bumps, we then get into the fun, but painful, stuff. The actual wrestling itself. This is learning how to body slam, suplex, elbow drop, wrist lock, and headlock.”
Speaking to the match itself, Mr Gyaw noted the preparation and aftermath of the show were equally as important.
“Before every match, Jetts and I make sure we’ve tanned up the night before so we don’t look washed out by the venue lighting,” he said.
“On show day we arrive early to help set up the ring. Right before our match starts, we get our gear on and do some final stretching before our music hits and we walk out to the ring.
“After a match, … [we] can be quite sore. To look after ourselves after a match, we may need the occasional ice pack or two, but the real self-care happens before show day—we are always preparing ourselves for injury.
“Training at the gym can toughen your body up for impacts and training at the wrestling schools means we can prepare for the worst. I even go as far as to wear supportive knee braces in my matches in case my knees blow out.
“[Injury prevention is] why we must train and refine our in-ring style so that we are not doing anything too crazy just to get a reaction from fans. We are very fortunate to have such great trainers like JXT who ensure that the likelihood of injury is kept to an absolute minimum.”
Despite the rigorous training involved, Mr Gyaw said the enjoyment of it all came down to the fans.
“What I love most about professional wrestling is the fans,” he said.
“Connecting with fans through story lines are what keep this business alive. Being the ‘good guy’ and taking out a promotion’s top ‘bad guy’ team is what I love the most.
“There’s something within the nature of a person where they love to see people get justice on someone who has done them wrong. That’s what wrestling is all about. The Physicals are constantly fighting back against bullies and showing the fans that anything is possible if you’re passionate.
“The fans that come to the shows are what keep The Physicals alive. Without them, there is no purpose to getting in the ring and beating the life out of each other.”
The Physicals will next appear at Bacchus Marsh Public Hall on October 12 for Relentless Rumble 3, one of Mayhem Pro’s biggest wrestling events of the year. To stay up to date with the duo, follow @johnny_jetts_pw and @the_fantastic_jimmy_castle on Instagram.
