For more than 20 years, the Independent Wrestling Federation has been operating in Russia. But so far this sport has not reached the popularity that exists in the United States. At the same time, interesting tournaments and events for fans are constantly taking place. And it is the NFR that becomes the flagship, invites foreign athletes and tries to put on a world-class show. The organization is doing everything possible so that eventually wrestling in Russia reaches the level of the best promotions in the world. We speak with Petrukha, one of the organizers of the events, a trainer and a fighter. She did not want to reveal her real name. But she spoke honestly about the ins and outs of the industry, she shared her opinion on the cooperation between the UFC and WWE, and also named the main problem of wrestling in Russia.
How did your love for wrestling begin? How did you first come across this?– Watch in the T.V. It was the Titans of Lucha Libre in 1997. Hooked on the rarity. At that time, I did not see this. I went to school, I was a teenager. It was interesting to me.
– “Titans of wrestling” was directed by Nikolai Fomenko. Some consider him a cult figure. And others say that it was he who killed interest in wrestling in Russia. Who has the reason?– As a person who received his first love thanks to Fomenko, I treat him with warmth. Thanks to his charisma and ability to attract a stranger to such an incomprehensible for Russian viewers fun as wrestling, with warmth and kindness. Although if you look now, then the people who watched the show then and listened to Fomenko saw that since the 2000s her humor and presentation were beyond. He was funny at first. But the older you get, the more you realize that these jokes don’t help anything. Now, if someone wants to see, it is not recommended.
When I was young, of course. He was great. Fomenko was a good commentator for a certain generation. For the current generation, this is bullshit. But you can’t say that she killed wrestling. She pushed back.
Independent Wrestling Federation Tournament
Photo: Independent Wrestling Federation
– Decisive moment for wrestling in the world: the signing of a contract with the Endeavor Group, owner of both the UFC and WWE. How will this affect the sport?– I can say with confidence – no way. Official representatives of the company said that they are not going to do collaborations, to meddle in a successful business. Wrestling didn’t sell because it was losing money. The company was sold due to internal disagreements. This is WWE’s in-house kitchen. This was done in order to continue with a certain control vector.
WWE boss Vince McMahon had a scandal, standard “cancel” policy, he was taken off screens, no one wanted to work with him. Management has passed to other people. However, he still starts working from the inside again, just not overtly. And for this it was necessary to sell the company. It is not unprofitable, it is not the case of the big television companies. And WWE is always a profitable business. They haven’t lost money in years.
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How are wrestling tournaments organized? Strange regulations and many champions, all for the good of the audience.
– You don’t think at all that it is possible to involve people from the UFC? Like Conor McGregor?“Conor can do it, but only when he wants to. He is a wrestling fan. And he went to matches in the style of walking Vince McMahon. However, wrestling fans know this. McGregor did a lot of things, like in wrestling: talk about thrash, other things.
WWE has been collaborating with MMA representatives for many years and decades. Ken Shamrock has been involved since 1998. WWE signs a lot of guys, like Ronda Rousey. There are also examples of the opposite approach, when Brock Lesnar left wrestling for MMA and came back. This has been going on for a long time. When necessary, people sign. But now many wrestling stars are more popular than MMA fighters.
WWE’s most recent collaborators are Logan Paul and rapper Bad Bunny. They weren’t just fools in the ring, they agreed to learn and play full matches. This type of interaction is considered by large companies. Small collaborations are no longer interesting. If Ronda Rousey chose wrestling over MMA, that means more money can be made here.
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– In America, many MMA stars go to wrestling after the end of their careers. How to form such a model of behavior in Russia?– For Russia to have such an opportunity, big sponsors must come, just like in MMA and pop-MMA. This will be enough for people from different sports to want to participate in wrestling. They also need some kind of reward, they need money, apart from fame of course. We need a big sponsor. And then much more will be known about wrestling in Russia, more famous personalities will come.
We know a lot of MMA guys, cameras. They know about us. It is simply not profitable for them to move to us financially. They will have to readjust and learn. And for what? To earn less than what they now earn at home? In Russia, wrestling does not yet attract a lot of money. They know about us, they see us. But no one understands how to work with it yet.
– Are there any options now for any of the professionals to participate in an event in the near future?Everything will depend on whether we appear on television. If so, there will be a more direct interest. So far, there are no specific conversations. But it is understood that the guys will appear not from pop MMA, but from more professional leagues.
duel of women
Photo: Independent Wrestling Federation
– Many people think that everything is easy in wrestling, the failure. What can you tell these people?– This is bad. The road to wrestling is much more difficult than many people think. Many professional athletes can’t stand the level and number of training sessions and performances. Both athletes and specialists came to us. Those who love wrestling or loved it are late.
How many matches do the professionals make per month? Maximum one. And the fighters can go out three days in a row. You come at night, your whole body aches, bruises. But you know you have to leave tomorrow because you have a contract. We hold our events twice a month. And there are guys from all over the roster. We don’t have people who perform every three months. Everyone fights as much as possible. And there are commercial actions that can cause injuries. And yet we continue.
There is a logic that I am an athlete, I will come and succeed. But you need to learn, understand where you are. And understand that nothing depends only on you. You must work as a team. If you’re a great athlete, it doesn’t mean you’re a good fighter.
organization champion
Photo: Independent Wrestling Federation
– Why do the fighters use chairs, ladders, other third-party elements?– In wrestling, unlike other sports, there are many more rules and conditions. You can get into a classic match where you can win with a clean grab or make your opponent submit. It’s more like a sport. But we have games without disqualifications, anything works for you. There are rules according to which the hold can take place anywhere: the match can start in the ring and end on the street. There are first blood duels, ladder battles. There is a party in America that we will never have, flags are being torn down there. We respect the symbols of the states of our representatives. And your flag can be vandalized or set on fire. But these are Americans. They respect no one but themselves. We will definitely never do that.
– Aren’t you offended that many representatives of other martial arts do not take your sport seriously?– They are only words. As soon as a person from another sport learns more about wrestling, she becomes interested. Why can our guys power through a 20-30 minute speech and seem smarter? We have a great variety. How good is Conor? He has charisma. And we develop it every time. Representatives of other sports change their minds when they see it live.
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Classification
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– What about the fact that some guys are gesticulating? We even saw fighters enter the ring with a weapon.– It was me. Of course, you can’t use it. But it’s all part of me in the ring. I am a normal guy from the regions, not from Moscow. I’m going to my goal and I can use everything to win. I aimed the barrel at the opponent, forced him to lie down in the ring and surrender. But then a new fight was scheduled. The manager came out and said that everything was starting over and the gun had to be removed.
This can be reflected in the party itself. No one stopped me from taking this pistol and hitting my opponent with the butt without the judge noticing. We may be breaking the rules. And the viewer sees it, reacts. We have the greatest relationship with the viewer. More than any sport. We even have a rule on games where spectators bring weapons. The fighter can take it and hit the opponent. And the public loves it. And I can say thank you, respect. This is contact with a specific viewer. This does not happen in other sports. I can go down and drink water from the spectator, sit with them while the ref counts out. I can ask a beautiful girl for a phone number. If she refuses, of course, I’ll get mad and get in the ring.
wrestling tricks
Photo: Independent Wrestling Federation
– Did you have conflicts with the audience?– There were, of course. A guy got drunk and wanted to get in the ring. They took him out of the room. We in Russia try not to lead to direct fights. A person can just write a statement to the police and there will be trouble. In Russia, everything is stricter. We have riot police with machine guns at the big shows. And people see it, so no one really wants to fix this.
– There is no envy that thousands of arenas are being set up in the USA, Madison Square Garden itself. Or does it give you motivation?“Of course it is encouraging. In 2022, we held a show for the 20th anniversary of the federation at Wings of the Soviets GSK. There were more than 600 spectators. And they made us feel like we were in Madison Square Garden. He made us feel that they need us. It’s very important. They reacted to each person, they wanted to see it.
end of the duel
Photo: Independent Wrestling Federation
– Hardcore invited Floyd Mayweather to their tournament. Is it possible to expect stars of such a status in Russian wrestling?– If there is money. And sponsors who want to see big stars. But with personalities like John Cena, Hulk Hogan, The Rock, it’s almost impossible. First of all, they almost quit wrestling and they won’t be back for a lot of money. Secondly, they have a contract with WWE, which prevents the appearance of their top stars in other companies. But the people who left there can be attracted. Even those who competed in WWE came to us. For example, Raven, who acted in all the largest companies in the world. When he didn’t have a contract, he would come and perform. There were those who later got into WWE. For example, Callisto, Sami Zane. The latter came to Russia twice, stayed to live, stayed in Moscow for about a week. He is from Canada, we went to hockey with him.
– Some say that Russian fighters copy American ones. This is true?– This stereotype. For example, Rey Mysterio was not the first to invent the mask. He is simply the most popular masked wrestler. For example, in Mexico, the cult of masks. And in Russia, some people, perhaps deep down in their hearts, want to be like someone else. But to put on a mask is to become a mystical character. Or maybe you have a scar, you don’t want to show it initially. Each person chooses this path only for himself. We are not forcing anyone. The desire to put on a mask comes only from one person and there are many reasons. All of our guys have unique skins, not similar in design to Mysterio. Our fighters want to be individual.
Fight according to the rules of wrestling
Photo: Independent Wrestling Federation
– Rey Mysterio is known as a fighter in a fight with which a man died. Were there dangerous cases, serious injuries in Russia?– There were fractures, severe cuts. You could lose a lot of blood, you had to sew quickly. But that was it. Once in training there was a brain hemorrhage. Not of blows. It turned out that she had a pathology that triggered at the time of training. It happened because of the charge.
– Bombing. MMA or boxing?– um.
– Fight or look to the side?– Struggle.
How do fighters prepare for fights?– Everything is different. Someone listens to music, someone watches a movie, and someone can just sit in the corner.
– And you?I get angry and I can punch myself in the face.
– Three of the best wrestlers in WWE.-Sting, AJ Styles and John Cena.
What about your three most hated?-Triple H, Roman Reigns and Ric Flair.
– What can you say to those who are interested in wrestling? What can be expected in the near future?– I would advise you to come to the show and see it to give your impression. The WrestlingFest will take place on August 5. November 11 is the 21st anniversary of the Independent Wrestling Federation. The best athletes will converge on this show.
