Issacs got into wrestling after watching World Championship Wrestling, with stars like Sting and Goldberg.
He trained for around a year in Auckland before getting injured and moving to Whanganui, putting wrestling on hold until he met Thorpe while both were working at Whanganui Prison.
“We had a little chat and found out there were still some things moving and went from there,” he said.
They soon realised there was more interest in wrestling in Whanganui than they had first thought.
“In 2019 we had our first open tryout and from there, we’ve just gone from strength to strength with regular guys coming in,” Thorpe said.
Whanganui has an impressive history with professional wrestling, with such legends as Ric Flair and Andre the Giant performing at the Whanganui Memorial Hall.
The city was also the home of wrestler Pat O’Connor, who was born in Raetihi and won the National Wrestling Alliance Worlds Heavyweight Championship, the oldest surviving wrestling championship in the world, in 1959.
O’Connor held the title for two years before losing it to Buddy Rodgers in June 1961 in front of 38,622 people, an attendance record for a professional wrestling event that wouldn’t be beaten until 1986.
In more recent years the city has had Impact Pro Wrestling (IPW), Warrior Wrestling and Capital Pro Wrestling (CPW) shows.
Thorpe said he was proud for River City Pro Wrestling (RCP) to now be contributing to the city’s wrestling history.
“For us to continue on the pro wrestling resurgence here in Whanganui and to be able to honour the history of the likes of Pat O’Connor is able to bestow upon this town is actually quite an honour.”
While RCP had started as a training school, he said it had always been a dream to hold their own show and provide a showcase for the talent they had been training.
Two such talents - Isaacs and Tim Warren - will feature in the show’s co-main event.
Warren got involved with RCP when he saw Ben at a show in the city, and then later in the gym he was managing.
“We were talking and he said he was starting up a wrestling school and told me to go, and that was it,” Warren said.
The two will also have managers in their corners, with Isaacs having Thorpe and Warren having New Zealand wrestling legend Bruno Bekkar.
They were hoping to sell the Eulogy Lounge out, which has a capacity of 500-600 people.
“With us doing what we can and telling everybody, not only here in town but also those around the country who support wrestling, to come and watch us, we’re aiming for a full house,” Thorpe said.
He hoped the people in attendance would enjoy the physicality of the action and that some would be inspired to take up wrestling with RCP.
Warren said seeing live wrestling was nothing like watching it on TV.
“You come to a live show and you hear the chops and the whacks and the bumps ... you feel those hits when you’re in the crowd.
“That’s what they’re gonna get out of it, how legit it is, how we’re gonna beat each other up.”
The event runs from 6.30pm to 8.30pm on Friday, September 8.
Tickets are available on Eventfinda.
Finn Williams is a multimedia journalist for the Whanganui Chronicle. He joined the Chronicle in early 2022 and regularly covers stories about business, events and emergencies. He also enjoys writing opinion columns on whatever interests him.
