ALUMNI & FRIENDS | They take the bumps, absorb the boos and carve out time from family and work.
They bask in the adulation of heroes like “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and feed off of the kind of hatred once garnered by legendary villains like “Rowdy” Roddy Piper.
They are a passionate group of a half-dozen University of Delaware alumni and employees involved in the Right Coast Pro Wrestling league, located right here in Newark, Del.
Joey Silver, AS14, played the hero more than once during one of the monthly events this September at the league’s meeting place in a Newark church. He rescued wrestler Courageous Cruz after a gang of bad guys roughed him up, then was rewarded for bailing out the Right Coast mascot with an unscheduled and slightly unfair match he ended up winning.
Mike Guns, manager of electrical services at UD and one-half of bad guy tag team The Baldwins, had a lot of trouble keeping his powdered wig on all night.
Steve Ottinger, AS07, 13M, made his debut as a performer after working behind the scenes, foiling a plot by The Baldwins and stealing evil CEO Clarke Kelly’s new Camaro.
In real life, the hated Kelly is Steve Kramarck, associate director of University Student Centers, an extremely likeable 44-year-old husband and father of two. But as a Right Coast Pro show approaches, Kramarck trims his goatee into a wicked Fu Manchu-style facial accessory, dons a creepy black beret, and the transformation is complete.
“It is thrilling to really tick off our crowd,” he said, “especially since I can interact with them in a civil manner after the show so that they don’t go home mad or sad.”
Right Coast Pro was launched in 2012 by long-time Newark residents J.J. and Lisa Johnston. J.J. wrestled on the local amateur circuit from 1997 until 2011, when he went into semi-retirement. The couple purchased a ring and launched their own league shortly after.
A recent fall event drew about 200 people, despite torrential rains and competition from other local events, including a UD football game. The wrestling crowd included kids who cheered their heroes and screamed at villains, as well as the always-present contingent from the Special Olympics.
“They’re some of our most die-hard fans,” said Kramarck. “They sit in the same spot every time and they’re on me from the minute I walk out there. It’s great.”
Silver, 23, graduated in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in communications and is now back in his native Long Island, N.Y. after landing a new job at a public relations firm in Manhattan.
“I come down to Delaware once a month or so, whenever they have their shows,” he said. “I’ll get to see my friends, walk The Green, visit the school, go to Newark [Deli and] Bagel.”
During the September event, it was obvious what the Johnstons saw in the 5-10, 175-pound Silver, who wrestles under his real name. During his match against the larger Pedro Duro, several moves drew wows, including an off-the-top-rope drop kick and his finishing move, Sliced Bread, where he grabs his opponent’s head, runs up the turn buckle, does a back flip and slams him down on his back.
While Silver learned about Right Coast Pro from fellow wrestlers, Kramarck is part of a chain of UD folks who continue to enter the league via word of mouth. He heard about the league through Brandon Tull, a now-former RCP wrestler who was working at campus radio station WVUD as an on-air personality and producer.
Kramarck later brought in another WVUD connection, Suwan Phommachanh, AS11, to take his job as announcer when he moved on to a role as referee. Phommachanh also just so happens to be Kramarck’s neighbor.
“We had grown close through the radio, and he saw that I had a passion for wrestling and I had a talent for broadcasting. He introduced me to Right Coast Pro and it went from there,” said Phommachanh, 26, who works as UD’s facilities service coordinator.
Phommachanh, whose stage name is Max Mikado, kept the chain going by being in the right place at the right time. Life-long wrestling fan Eric Reese, AS12, saw Phommachanh doing promos for Right Coast Pro one day while on his lunch break and now referees matches. During the September show he handled Silver’s match as well as a tag team tilt that involved a scale, Joe Esposito’s “You’re The Best” and a pineapple that was used as a weapon.
J.J. Johnston said proximity and flexible schedules have made the UD connection a natural fit.
Kramarck agrees.
“I’m busy, and my kids have a million things going on,” he said. “I do this because I like the people who are here, I like wrestling and it’s fun. If they tried to give me money I wouldn’t take it.”
Article by Peter Bothum, AS97
