When Luke Robinson saw The Rock step into a WWE ring in eighth grade, he was sold.
Now 23, the senior business major is living out his childhood dream.
He’s a professional wrestler.
Last week, he sat in the Luther Bonney computer lab studying videos, explaining to me the nuances of great wrestling.
“This was when less was more,” he says, pointing to a YouTube video of the Ultimate Warrior battling the venerable Hulk Hogan in Wrestlemania. “That is just great showmanship.”
But what could possibly draw a former three-sport all-state athlete to a sport as maligned as professional wrestling?
“Wrestling is the greatest entertainment,” he says. “Nothing else can sell out arenas 52 weeks a year. Nothing else can reach that broad of an audience.”
If you’re still skeptical about wrestling, Robinson can tell you all of the industry’s strong suits: what cities are doing to get wrestling to come to their venues, the diversity of the industry’s revenue streams, and the wide net that his profession casts.
But how does a guy from Auburn get introduced to the world of pile-drivers and body-slams?
After wrestling against his buddies in his parents’ basement, which he adorned with makeshift props and lighting, Robinson made the best of his one shot at cracking into the business he met with Lewiston’s wrestling hall-of-famer, Tony Atlas.
At first skeptical of Robinson’s dedication, because so many people try wrestling and give it up in no time, Atlas has since taken Robinson under his wing, opening many new doors for him.
“I’ve traveled all over the country wrestling. I’ve been to Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Las Vegas,” he explains. “I’ve wrestled against the Honky Tonk Man (former WWE Intercontinental Champion).”
Pursuing his dream doesn’t afford him much free time. Working with Atlas, he’s developed a regimen that includes weight lifting, calisthenics, and in-the-ring-training, plus an assortment of unexpected habits like shaving his body hair and spending ample time in the tanning bed. But for the six-foot-one, 210 pounds man, it’s just part of the business.
And it’s the part he loves the most.
“That’s the best part about wrestling. It’s all about marketing, branding and self-promotion,” he says, pointing to a digital image of his t-shirt logo. Itís modeled after a Jack Daniels label and has his moniker, The Future Legend, written in a classic script.
But it’s not all glitz and glamour. Wrestling is hard work and Robinson has the wounds to show for it.
He tells stories of getting the wrong end of a forearm shiver and having his ear sliced open by an opponentís boot, an injury that landed him 14 stitches and a shower of his own blood.
“People don’t realize that the ring is a steel frame with two-by-fours and just a little bit of padding with canvas on it, and the ropes are made of steel wire covered with plastic and taped,” he explains.
I ask about the shiner perched under his right eye, which he hasn’t yet mentioned.
“I’m never at 100 percent. There is always something wrong with me, whether itís a black-eye or a bruise. But I’ve gotten used to it.”
“People always ask me what’s going on and I tell them not much, even though I’m always traveling and training. But that’s what the lifestyle of a wrestler is,” he says. “It’s great.”
Despite the traveling he’s been able to do, most of the time you can find him wrestling in smaller venues like at the VFW Hall in Old Town or at the Farmington Fair.
Whether the crowd is 100 or 1,000, Robinson says he loves the entire experience of wrestling.
This spring will mark a new chapter for Robinson. Getting his business degree this May, he will meet his parents’ only prerequisite to chasing his dream of fame in the squared-circle.
He won’t be the only wrestler with a degree, he points out. “What people don’t realize is that a lot of big name wrestlers like the Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin have college degrees and are very involved in the whole creative process.”
As soon as he walks across that stage, Robinson plans to head to Florida and wrestle at the WWE’s development facility, moving him one step closer to his ultimate goals.
“I want to get to the top and make millions so that I can come back to my house on the [Androscoggin] river,” he says.
When or whether Robinson will make an appearance on RAW remains to be seen, but if enthusiasm and passion are criteria, it appears that he’s well on his way to laying the smack down somewhere.
Yay