Wrestlers get real

February 17, 2009|By Robert K. Elder, TRIBUNE REPORTER

Inspired by Mickey Rourke's Oscar-nominated role in "The Wrestler" as an aging athlete struggling to survive, we check out the real-life, homegrown talent on Chicago's indie wrestling circuits.

We have a long, rich history of pro wrestling that has spawned stars such as Downers Grove's Randy "Macho Man" Savage and Chicago's CM Punk, a former world heavyweight champ for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Here, we offer profiles of these babyfaces (heroes) and heels (villains), up-and-comers on Chicago's indie wrestling stage.


Trademark: This cheerleading heel is loosely based on the vain, bratty Jackie character from "That '70s Show," with the voice of female Batman villain Harley Quinn thrown in.

Real name: Rita Trentadue, 22, of Skokie

Day job: College student, English major

Circuit: Pro Championship Wrestling, Chicagoland Pro Wrestling

Bio: Current women's title-holder for Pro Championship Wrestling. "I saw wrestling when I was a kid and wondered why guys got to have all the fun," says Trentadue, an aspiring writer of young adult novels.

Trentadue took her ring name from a Linkin Park song, "My December." "It just sounded so dark and cold and fierce," she says.

Just don't call her Rita when she's working in the ring. "I'm a nerd in real life. I like comic books."

'Sweet 'n' Sour' Larry Sweeney

Trademark: Sweeney is a volatile manager character, in the tradition of Bobby "the Brain" Heenan, a heel who often ends up in the middle of the action.

Real name: Alex Whybrow, 27, of Wicker Park

Day job: Formerly a house painter, blacksmith's apprentice and Kaplan tutor, Whybrow now works full time behind the scenes with the Ring of Honor circuit.

Circuits: Ring of Honor, CHIKARA

Bio: Whybrow, a Wilmette native and New Trier grad, stumbled into the sport. While a junior at Oberlin College, Whybrow traveled to India for a study-abroad program, where he picked up wrestling.

"Real primitive, circle-in-the-dirt type stuff," he says. "Amateur style, wearing loincloths-- that's what it is."

Then he moved to Pennsylvania, the heart of pro wrestling, where he developed his barracuda-like character, whom he describes as "Jeremy Piven in 'Entourage.' "

El Gringo Loco

Trademark: A patriotic, anti-immigration wrestler who sings an offensive song and throws tortillas at his mostly Spanish-speaking audience on the Mexican wrestling circuit.

Real name: Charlie Santo, 23, of Rogers Park

Day job: Restaurant delivery service

Circuit: Gladiators Aztecs Lucha Libre International (GALLI) of Villa Park

Bio: Santo has been wrestling for 8M-= years, mostly as a heel. He describes his character as "offensive and funny."

"I want to make 'em mad, but then I want them to know--hey, I'm just kidding," Santo says. Born in Chicago and of Italian descent, Santo became fluent in Spanish while on the wrestling circuit. "I tried the good-guy part once, and I didn't like it at all," he says. "I don't like fans screaming for me at all. People pay me to make people mad. I love it."

Marshe Rockett

Trademark: Tough-as-nails babyface. "When I go into the ring, I'm all business," says Rockett. "He goes in and gets the job done. Whatever it takes to be successful. He's not so different than me."

Real name: Marshe Rockett, 24, of Richton Park

Day job: A teacher's assistant at Eisenhower High School, working in special education

Circuits: Elite Pro Wrestling, WAR, CHIKARA and IWA Mid-South Wrestling

Bio: "A lot of the wrestlers don't believe that's my real name," says Rockett, who has been wrestling for five years. But "when people started to find out that it was my real name, they said I shouldn't change it," he says. "They said, 'That's a God-given wrestling name.' And that's a good point."

'The Superstar' The B-O-Z


'All That' Steve Boz

Trademark: The babyface character ("All That") enters the ring bouncing his pecs to a Rob Zombie song. As a heel ("Superstar"), he's the guy whom "all the guys want to be like and love to hate" and "the guy all the ladies want to date."

Real name: Steve Bosnyak, 30-ish, Norwood Park

Day job: Coca-Cola accounts manager

Circuit: WWE, DreamWave, WAR, Windy City Pro Wrestling (WCPW)

Bio: A 17-year veteran of the wrestling world, Bosnyak began training with Windy City as a teenager and went on the road with Jerry "The King" Lawler in 1997. He continues to act as a fill-in when WWE comes to town. Of his heel persona, he says, "Hate me if you want to, love me if you like. Respect me, you will."

'The Hooker' Austin Roberts

Trademark: A "hooker," in wrestling terms, isn't just a showman--but a wrestler with real training who can inflict real damage, real quick.

Real name: Rob Brennan, 35, of Lockport

Day job: Boiler salesman

Circuits: Windy City Pro Wrestling, Chicagoland Pro Wrestling (CLPW),WAR Pro Wrestling, DreamWave Wrestling

Bio: Two-time heavyweight champ, for both WCPW and CLPW, whose finishing move is "the pedigree," also known as "a double-chicken-wing pile driver." Brennan's heel persona is named for his 8-year-old son, Austin Robert, with an "s" on the end. "[Wrestling] has been my love, since I was a kid," says Brennan. "This was just the next extension."