I first saw Marty Reed eight months ago, at the WAW training school in Hingham. This was my first experience at one of WAW's training sessions, and while walking around and looking at the trainees being put through their paces, I began to take mental notes, trying to guess which of the trainees had "it", had what it takes to make it in the wrestling business. With his long jet black hair, and black outfit, he reminded me of the early days of Scott Levy's Raven gimmick. I made my mental note - this guy had the look.
A few hours later, Marty was working the door at WAW's show in Watton. We began to talk. Turned out that he was kind of a fan of mine. He'd read my column for a while, and told me that a lot of what I said made a lot of sense.
Later that night, Marty, adopting the name of Detroit, stepped into the ring to take part in a battle royal, part of the training that all those on a WAW course have to undertake. Marty did okay, even though he didn't win.
As the weeks and months progressed, Marty and I would meet up at various WAW shows and just talk about, well, stuff. His love for the wrestling business was infectious to say the least. He had been hooked on the industry for years, ever since he had seen Hulk Hogan wrestle the Iron Sheik on television. Ever since, he had tried to watch any form of wrestling, no matter what promotion it was, and now, as one of WAW's brightest prospects, he was starting to become part of an industry he admired.
In April, Marty took two big steps in his wrestling career. When WAW returned to their hometown of Norwich, for their first show there in five months, Marty took part in the battle royal at the end of the show. He won that night. Sadly, although the show was filmed, Marty's victory didn't make it to the video for as yet unknown reasons.
That weekend, Marty had been training at the WAW school, in preparation for his first singles match that Sunday. Watching him and talking to him I could tell he was as nervous as hell.
That night in Hingham, WAW gave several of their trainees their debut matches, outside of a battle royal environment. Marty, or Detroit, I should say, was second up, going up against the masked man El Skeletor. With his wife Christy and daughter Emmy in the audience, Marty came out like a house afire, not showing any signs of nerves as he stepped into the ring for his big match.
You know what? He pulled it off. The casual observer wouldn't have been able to tell that Marty was a rookie, and that this was his first proper match. He put in one hell of a performance that night, finishing El Skeletor off with a jumping DDT. He later told me that those three seconds after the DDT were probably the longest three seconds in his life.
During the next match, word got to me that the dressing room was buzzing with his performance. WAW head honcho Ricky Knight, and head trainer Julia (aka Sweet Saraya) were proud at what their pupil had done that night.
When the interval came, I went backstage, with the intention to shake Marty's hand, congratulating him on his performance. The big lug wound up giving me a big hug!
In the weeks after that successful debut, Marty again put in top notch performances against the likes of Ricky Knight, Paul Tyrell, Phil Powers and Bash, getting better with each performance, earning rave reviews and new fans wherever he wrestled.
During that time, my admiration for Detroit the wrestler grew enormously, as did my friendship with Marty the man. During what was a very difficult time for me, Marty would take time out of his life to give me a call, just to ask me if I was okay. This meant a lot to me. It showed just what true friends Marty and his family had become.
One setback in Marty's flourishing career came this past August. Having suffered a knee injury at one of WAW's holiday camp shows, Marty was unable to team with his friend Bret "The Kraft" Meadows against the U.K. Pitbulls at WAW's big summer show in Clacton. He told me how disappointed he was at being unable to compete that night.
However, two months later, Marty and Bret got to team on one of the big shows.. Fast (Marty/Detroit) & Furious (Bret/Kraft) got together to enter the Crusher Mason Trophy match at WAW's October Outrage IV show in Norwich. Although they were the second of the four teams eliminated that night, many were impressed by their performance. One fan said that they should have won the match and the big-ass trophy, instead of the Battlekats.
On Sunday, October 27th, Marty will return to the Watton Sports Centre, to wrestle his last match for WAW. In his brief career, he has wrestled not just for WAW, but also for the Ultimate Wrestling Alliance and Brian Dixon's All-Star Wrestling.
The reason that the Watton show will be his last match in a WAW ring is simple; his wife, Christy, is being posted back to the States in her career in the military in November. Marty hopes to continue his wrestling career back home.
Just a few days before this match, I am left to ponder just what Marty Reed, Detroit, means to me personally. He started off as a fan of my work, but now, I'm a fan of his. The best way I could describe Marty, Christy and Emmy is that they are genuine people. What you see is what you get, and I really couldn't ask for any better friends.
While it's been an honour to chronicle Marty's career in the past eight months, it's been a pleasure to be his friend, and in conclusion, I would just like to say, to Marty, Christy and Emmy, you will always have a place in my heart. I wish you all the best with whatever you do with your lives, because I know, it will all be good!
Take care my friend.
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