TY Jackson grew up watching wrestling, and now others are coming to watch him wrestle.
Jackson trains at Top Talent Wrestling in Edmonton. One of the only schools of its kind in western Canada, said owner Justin Lawrick-although his fans know him as Heavy Metal.
Lawrick has wrestled professionally for 19 years and opened Top Talent in 2020. With his performances and training schedule, wrestling is a seven-days-a-week job. But Lawrick loves it and he’s grateful for the opportunity to help train the next generation of pro-wrestlers.
And training is important. Lawrick said people who love wrestling are drawn to the drama, but it’s a serious sport and takes a lot more than acting chops alone.
“We are entertainers. We want to thrill an audience and we want to be able to pull them in. But the bumps and the bruises that we get, and the broken bones and all those things, they’re very real. When we hit the mat, we feel that,” Lawrick said.
Jackson trains under Lawrick, and he said schools like Top Talent are so important because they train a full range of wrestling skills. There’s theater and performance of course, but they also teach how to fall safely, what to do when something goes wrong and how to recover afterwards.
“You can’t fake gravity,” Jackson said. “As much as you try to take precautions, sometimes things happen.”
Even when things go right, you’re still going to leave sore. Lawrick said some people come in and quickly question their decision. Those who don’t leave get addicted to the adrenaline and intense physicality.
“It’s definitely a sport that’s not built for everyone, but you learn to love it,” said Danica Schram, who’s been at Top Talent since going pro in 2020. “I’ve had my fair share of bumps and bruises, but I can tell you that every single one of them was worth it.”
Top Talent offers three-month courses of high-intensity training at a professional level, as well as monthly weekend wrestling camps where people can get a crash course in running and rolling in a full-body wrestling workout.
For those who would rather stay in the stands, Top Talent is having its first major event June 23. The event will have a bit of everything for the wrestling fan, featuring a Lucha libre match, a mixed martial arts crossover and appearances from national and local professionals – including the gym’s very own TY Jackson, who guarantees that even non-fans of the sport will have a great time.
“When you see TY Jackson in the ring, you’re going to see something crazy,” Jackson said. “It’s going to be that entertainment spectacle that you don’t want to miss.”