Plainfield
Demers, of Lebanon, has teamed with Claremont pro Mica Roberts to open Twin State Wrestling Academy, a weekly training outlet staged in a lofty Plainfield barn owned by Demers’ stepfather. Attracting around 12 student grapplers and visiting wrestlers from across Northern New England, TSWA wrapped up its first season last week because of the simple fact the barn is unheated.
Demers and Roberts plan to begin offering the classes again in March in the 16-by-16-foot ring Roberts and partner Robert Philibert purchased 2½ years ago from a defunct organization in Maine.
Demers, 38, spent most of his career with Louisville, Ky.-based Ohio Valley Wrestling, and was featured on regional television broadcasts. Getting by on about $50 per match, the 1996 Lebanon High graduate was first part of a bad-boy hard-rock foursome called Gothic Mayhem before developing Johnny Punch, a sexy do-gooder with pink knee pads and hair gel.
Demers was at one time an Ohio Valley Wrestling tag-team champion with a partner named Randy Switchblade, though his favorite career moment may have come during a run with Eastern Pro Wrestling in 2008. Then 29, Demers helped stage an EPW event at the American Legion Hall in White River Junction, partnering with Owen Graichen to win the league’s tag team title in front of dozens of friends and family chanting “John-ny Punch!”
“That was just a really fantastic night,” Demers said during a recent Twin State Wrestling Academy training session. “It was something to be proud of.”
The high wouldn’t last for Demers, who returned to Ohio Valley Wrestling and was invited to a number of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) tryouts staged prior to the pro wrestling giant’s weekly TV productions of Raw and Smackdown.
Like so many ambitious pursuers of squared circle glory, Demers wasn’t called for follow-up WWE tryouts. Facing back problems with no health insurance in his early 30s, Demers decided to hang up the tights.
“I had to give up the dream,” said Demers, now a private investigator alongside his father, Tom Demers Sr. “It took a while to get over that, to have something you’ve loved since you were a child and realize that you’re not going to be able to do it anymore. I didn’t watch it on TV for probably at least a year.”
After regaining his peace with the sport, Demers sought a way to get involved again. A friend told him about the ring owned by Roberts and Philibert, which they had set up in Philibert’s Croydon backyard. Coincidentally, the pair had been searching for an indoor venue for the ring at the same time Demers reached out to offer the barn location.
“We wrestled on Tuesday nights, and it rained every Tuesday night for, like, six weeks in a row one summer,” Philibert said. “We definitely wanted to get it inside, which is why it was awesome that we met Tom.”
Roberts, a 2002 Windsor High graduate who fights as confident everyman Owen Brody in the ring, was originally trained by southern New Hampshire talent Steve Bradley in the Manchester (Bradley died in 2008). Roberts, 33, continues to wrestle regularly in leagues such as the Maine-based North Atlantic Wrestling Association, but would like to see more opportunities for himself and other aspiring wrestlers closer to home.
With ample space inside their venue — a former horse barn and arena called River’s Edge Stables — Twin State Wrestling Academy’s long-term vision is to stage authentic pro events on site.
“The (idea) is basically, ‘Why not here?’ ” Roberts said. “We have a space to use and train students, so why not make it a place where we can run shows?”
One of Twin State Wrestling Academy’s most devoted pupils has been Rob Greene, a 41-year-old longtime skateboarder who’d been in search of a new pastime.
Built solidly with a shaved head and facial hair, Greene looks the part and has shown Demers and Roberts he can “take his bumps” — lingo for falling to the mat safely with subtle movements to brace oneself. During the final sessions of the year, Greene was advancing in his rope work and submission maneuvers and had even executed a flying elbow drop.
Now Greene may want to reconsider his character name, which is sexually explicit and typical of crude humor in amateur circles.
“I’ve told him that he might want to change it when we have shows, because they are in fact family events with a lot of kids in the audience,” Demers said. “For now, he’s having fun with it.”
Greene appears to possess thespian flair, naturally vital in keeping pro wrestling audiences enthralled. On par with the craft’s athleticism are not only theatrics, but the ability of wrestlers to improvise and become absorbed in the traits of their characters during matches.
“The theatrics are what captivates an audience, so a big part of what we’re teaching these guys is that the psychology of the performance aspect is huge,” Demers said.
“Your character development isn’t only for when you have the microphone in the ring, what we call promos. It also should dictate your behavior (while wrestling). Doing a body slam and being able to take a fake punch is only going to take you so far. That’s where we’re trying to get these guys to test their limits.”
Some, like Canaan resident Matt Battis, are still focused mainly on the physical demands of wrestling. He started attending Twin State Wrestling Academy’s sessions as a spectator and recently jumped into the ring for training.
“It’s a great way to get out of the house, that’s for sure,” said Brittis, who has no character developed yet. “Taking the bumps hasn’t been too bad because I’ve done martial arts in the past, karate and jujitsu. There are actually some similar movements with this.”
A late-October session at Twin State Wrestling Academy drew a pair of skilled visitors from Maine, Spencer Eldredge, a.k.a Blade Bandit, and Adam Murdoch. The pair had fought with Roberts at a recent North Atlantic Wrestling Association show.
“It was a six-hour round trip for us to come here, but it’s worth it,” Murdoch said. “(Roberts) is one of the best and they have a great setup here.”
Murdoch was referee during a match between Blade Bandit and Own Brody, granting pupils witness to a match between two experienced fighters and delighting others who had come as spectators. After about 15 minutes of clotheslines, choke holds and kickouts, Blade Bandit won via pinfall.
Anthony Cox and his young son, Dominic, came from their home in White River Junction to take in the action.
“This is awesome. It’s great for kids to see this kind of entertainment right down the street,” Anthony Cox said. “I can’t wait to see what they do with this place.”