RE-POST: How Sweet is Saraya? (2001)

It was in the summer of 2000 when I first became aware of Julia Knight. This Norwich native was appearing on the UK edition of Jerry Springer, and it wasn't because her spouse had been caught playing away.

Her spouse, veteran pro wrestler "Rowdy" Ricky Knight, had come onto the show to bemoan the fact that, as an attractive woman, in a wrestling world that, as far as women were now concerned, relied heavily on doses of T&A, Julia earned more than him. This, despite the fact that Ricky had only trained her as a joke.

Whether this whole thing was a work or shoot I have yet to determine. But given what I would hear about them, my opinion leans heavily towards work.

Julia met Ricky while working as a chef at a holiday camp in Hemsby. Ricky had asked her for some more chicken. Six weeks later he was asking her to marry him.

Almost immediately, Julia, adopting the persona of Sweet Saraya, went onto the British wrestling circuit as the manager of The Superflys, the tag-team consisting of Ricky and his partner, "Gentleman" Jimmy Ocean.

As a team, The Superflys were described as being very Americanised. While Ricky supplied the brawn, and Jimmy was the high-flyer, Julia supplied the glamour element, and it wasn't long before Ricky trained Julia in the noble art of professional wrestling. By 1991, she was already taking bumps. But unknown to her, she was six months pregnant with her first child, Zack. A year after Zack was born, her daughter, Saraya, arrived.

By 1993 The Superflys and Saraya had become disenchanted with the UK wrestling scene. Ever since 1989, when Sky began to broadcast the exploits of the World Wrestling Federation, and other channels had limited success with World Championship Wrestling, pro wrestling, after ITV had dumped the product in 1988, was big again in the UK. The likes of Vince McMahon had showed the Brits what could be done. But it seemed that, at the time, not many Brits were willing to think along the lines of Vinny Mac.

Seeing this void in the market, the Knights formed the World Association of Wrestling. Based in Norwich, they began to promote shows in town halls, holiday camps and at fetes. The Norwich Corn Exchange, the home of professional wrestling in Norwich for many years, became their regular home. They also began to run regular wrestling schools. The likes of Bash, Big Dave, Zebra Kid, The Bulk and Hot Stuff became well known names on the UK wrestling scene.

But not, it seems, as well known as Sweet Saraya. As her skills inside the wrestling ring grew, so did the ability to market her image outside the ring.

The WWF showed the world that not all women wrestlers needed to look like the back end of a bus. While we had the likes of the muscle-bound Chyna, we also had Sable, Lita, Ivory, and Molly Holly.

And in the UK, Saraya was leading the way, with the likes of Victoria Demontfort, Sheena Summers and Nikki Best not far behind.

It was about eight months ago when I saw that Saraya had added another string to her bow - as a wrestling announcer. On the video for October Outrage 99, Saraya, along with long-time WAW ring announcer Michael Mann, called the shots. To be perfectly honest, she didn't exactly light up the airwaves. Michael and Saraya could hardly be described as the UK's answer to JR and The King. Neither announcer was actually seen on screen in this capacity, and it did seem odd to hear Michael calling the shots, and see him perform his ring announcing duties in the middle of the squared circle.

I saw Saraya's next announcing effort about a month later, on volumes one and two of Hardcore Wrestling. This time she was paired with a man by the name of Gorgeous George. This outing seemed a lot better. As an announcer, Saraya seemed more confident, more sure of herself and her ability, and this time, she appeared on camera. A sure sign of her growing marketability.

Signs on this began to appear in the media as well. Described as one of the best wrestling documentaries ever, "A Week In The Life Of Saraya" was broadcast on ITV2, ITV's digital channel. Appearances on Anglia TV's Trisha and Channel 4's The Big Breakfast followed.

The Big Breakfast appearance was to promote the WAW Fightmare event at the Norwich Sport Village last April. Along with extensive coverage in the local newspapers and on television, the event was guaranteed to be a success, with the hope that WAW could gain a national television contract.

Attending this event gave me my first chance to see Saraya the wrestler. With her partner Nikki Best, she was due to compete against Julie Starr and Sheena Summers.

She had other duties that night though. Firstly, she would once again be providing commentary for the video. Coming down to the ring with her co-announcer Robbie Brookside, Saraya adopted her heel persona. Insulting Brookside and the gathered crowd, we could see we were in for a bitch of a night.

Secondly, Saraya acted as manager for Ricky, as he fought WAW British Champion Hit Stuff, himself accompanied by the lovely Crystal Clear.

In the best traditions of the heel female manager, Saraya constantly interfered, even body slamming the 170 pound Hot Stuff on the arena floor. But not even her attempts at interference could stop Hot Stuff from winning. Further interference by a man called The Terminator caused Ricky and Saraya's downfall.

Thirdly, we saw Saraya the wrestler. Out of the four women in the match, it was obvious that Saraya was the best. Ricky had trained her well, and if put in a match with a Lita of a Molly, she could hold her own.

WAW never got the television contract, so Saraya never got the chance to showcase her skills on a national stage.

When WAW announced their next event at the Sport Village, October Outrage III, the main event was to be a match between Sweet Saraya and Klondike Kate, for the vacant WAW World Women's championship.

Klondike Kate, a monster of a woman weighing in at over 300 pounds, in certain aspects cannot be compared to Saraya. Legend would have it that Kate wrestled while she was nine months pregnant, and she didn't even know she was!

I had found out in the days leading up to the show that the Kate-Saraya feud had been doing the rounds of the British wrestling circuit for a few weeks now. Saraya was no longer a heel. Against a behemoth like Kate, she could be nothing more than a face. During this series of bouts, they had fought under normal rules, and under hardcore rules. There was even a rumour of a bra and panties match between the two. Thankfully, this never occurred. The sight of a 300 pound woman in her undies would probably have caused much outrage!

And so as I took my ringside seat that night, I knew that I would be seeing a different Saraya than the one I had seen in April. While Kate entered the arena to a resounding chorus of boos, Saraya, accompanied by Nikki Best, was clearly the favourite that night. Taking the microphone, she asked for the help of her hometown fans. She knew that she couldn't beat Kate on her own, and she urged the crowd to get behind her. I began to think that perhaps she shouldn't have insulted me in April!

The match was a typical David v Goliath type battle. There where times when Saraya had the upper hand, but for most of the contest, Kate dominated, using her extra girth to good advantage. Saraya was simply overpowered.

While the contest itself was highly enjoyable, there was a certain aspect of the bout which not only disturbed me, but also, many of those seated around me. Saraya did a blade job, and as blood poured down her face and her front, I could see the looks on the faces of those around me, especially the children. As Kate pawed, clawed and gnarled at Saraya's wound, a sense of shock and disgust seemed to emanate from the crowd. As Kate smothered Saraya in the corner, forcing the ref to halt the match and award the belt to the behemoth, the crowd seemed thankful that this contest was over and done with. As Saraya was carried to the back, everyone seemed concerned for her well-being.

As we awaited the next match, I took the opportunity to look around at the faces of those near me. The children were visibly shocked at what they had seen. The men seemed disgusted, and the woman seated next to me was almost in tears. They had gone there that night to be entertained. They had been promised family entertainment, not a bloodbath.

Saraya had put on one hell of a show that night, probably her best performance in a long time, but that night, many people said she had gone too far.

Julia Knight's claim to be the first lady of British wrestling is rightfully a justifiable one. She has the looks, the talent, and the brains to go far. It would be interesting to see her parade her talents on a larger stage. She certainly compares well with many of her American counterparts. She is by far the best she is at what she does in the UK. She would certainly fit in well in a promotion such as Hammerlock or the FWA. But sadly, because of her commitments not only to her family, but to WAW as well, she may not get the chance there.

If Julia Knight, or Sweet Saraya as she prefers to be called these days, is the future of women's wrestling in the UK, then that future is certainly bright. Perhaps I'd better go and find those sunglasses of mine.