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Kids Pro Wrestling Was A Dream That Came True
By Shawn Crossen
In 1984 when I was 14 years old, I had a dream to run my very own professional wrestling league. Starting out with nothing but four bed mattresses, by 1986 we were promoting live venues all across the Twin Cities metro area and were also producing a weekly cable wrestling show all across the nation, I was 16 years old.
For five years during my teenage life, I was involved in a pro wrestling league for kids between the ages of 10 – 16. The league was known as the NWF (National Wrestling Federation). It was a dream come true for me, as I was doing what I loved as a kid, running my very own wrestling league. And in doing so, I learned a lot of valuable lessons in life, both personally and business wise. It was quite an experience to say the least, and it was a time I will never forget.
Sometime in 1989 when I was 19 years old, I hooked up with local promoter Eddie Sharkey and thought I was ready to go big time in the world of professional wrestling. I still had the dream in me, and the love for the sport. I thought that perhaps I really could make it to the big time. But in 1990, after a falling out with Eddie over the politics behind the scenes of professional wrestling, my career in wrestling came to a sudden halt.
For several years, I wanted nothing to do with professional wrestling. The incident I had with Eddie took the dreams I had for my future in wrestling and destroyed them. Seeing how the real world of professional wrestling operated made me realize that it was not what my dreams were all about as a kid. And watching wrestling on TV reminded me of this, so I just distanced myself from the whole thing.
But over time, I would think back to the days of the league that I used to run as a kid and watch some of the shows we produced back in the 1980’s, and the memories of what I did as a kid started to come back to me. Looking back, I realized that we had something special in those days that has never been duplicated since, and perhaps never will be.
In the mid 1990s, a new type of wrestling started to surface as well, and they called it “backyard wrestling”. But unlike the shows we did, this stuff was completely different. These kids weren’t trying to work together like we did to put on a good show, they were trying to hurt one another. It was about pain and how much one kid could inflict onto the other. It was nothing close to what professional wrestling was really all about.
Watching that stuff made me think back to what we did in the 1980’s, and made me once again realize that we did something that was very unique at the time. And so the idea of writing a book about our story soon hit me. But where do I begin? I had no clue as to how to do this. So several years went by with me just me having this story in my head.
Then in recent years, self-publishing had become very popular and reasonable to do. And last year I did some Internet searching and found that writing a book and publishing it is something that can be done quite easily. So after figuring that out, I went to work on writing my story. I spent about six months writing my story that explained how I ran my very own professional wrestling league as a kid, and had great success in doing so. My main objective with the story was that I wanted kids to learn that they really can accomplish anything if they want it bad enough.
And finally in January of 2005, “Pro Wrestling Kids’ Style – The Most Amazing Untold Story In Professional Wrestling History” was a published book. It was a life long accomplishment that took me years to get to, but it was finally a finished product. In addition to the book, I also released four special DVD titles that showcase some of our big events we held in 1986 and 1987 that drew hundreds and hundreds of fans. The purpose of this was to show the wrestling world how a group of kids performed professional wrestling in a safe and fun environment, unlike the “backyard wrestling” as it exists today.
Today, I run my own business in a architectural design service. But in my spare time, I manage my website at www.nwfwrestling.net, which showcases our “NWF Kids Pro Wrestling” league that we had back in the 1980’s. It’s basically a historical site that explains our past. With the release of my book and DVDS, I have done several radio interviews all across the country, including ESPN Radio and Fox Sports Net.
Since I put the NWF website up about a year ago, I have received hundreds of emails from kids of all ages all around the country wanting to know more about the NWF. They ask questions like: “How can I start my own league?”, “How did you produce your own cable show?” , “How did you make your title belts?” But the most popular question I get is “Can you start the NWF back up again for kids?” And that is always a tough one to answer.
Will I ever start the NWF up again for kids? Who knows for sure? Who would have ever thought I would have done what I did back in 1984? But we have talked about doing a “NWF Kids Pro Wrestling” reunion show back at the Anoka Armory this fall in Minnesota. And if that happens, besides some of us old timers getting back in the ring, it would only be fitting to have a few “kid” matches again as well. As for the kids that would take part, the most important thing is to keep it safe and fun, because once you cross that line, it just isn’t worth it.
About the Author
For nearly 20 years, Shawn Crossen has waited to share his kids’ wrestling league experiences with the rest of the world. In 1984 at the age of 14, Shawn created his very own “Kids Pro Wrestling” league. And for the next five years, he would continue to grow this league into a huge national success getting bigger then any of them could have possibly imagined. At a very early age, Shawn showed true leadership skills with a remarkable business savvy that has since never been duplicated. Now, for the first time, he has come forth with a true story about his youthful dreams and accomplishments so incredible, you may find it hard to believe that it really actually happened. http://www.nwfwrestling.net
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