Woodstock's Premier Pro Wrestling brings live matches to McHenry County

“Irish” Andy Anderson came storming through the black curtain in a rage, chomping on a chain hung around his neck, a wild red beard flowing down to his chest.

He spit the chain out of his mouth, swung it through the air, slammed it on the floor and yelled wildly at bystanders.

Just a typical Saturday night at Premier Pro Wrestling in Woodstock.

That’s right. Legitimate professional wrestling every Saturday night brought to McHenry County by Randy Ricci, a former professional wrestler and owner of the business at 1230 Davis Road.

Ricci’s studio is not easy to find. For the past two years, his space has been at one end of a strip mall that includes a restaurant, convenience store and guitar shop. There’s no sign out front. Black curtains cover the windows and door. The only thing that lets you know you’re in the right place is the collection of black-and-white posters depicting some of the wrestlers on the windows.

Once you get your bearings and really look around, you know you’re in the right place.

The massive black ring with blue ropes is a giveaway.

The ring was made in the early ’80s and used in the World Wide Wrestling Federation, the forerunner to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), Ricci said as he greased some parts of it to keep it in fighting shape.

Getting started and paying it forward

Ricci is a man with a past. He’s not just a fan who opened a wrestling studio for the fun of it.

He throws around names such as Sgt. Slaughter, Chief Jay Strongbow, George “The Animal” Steele, Pat Tanaka of the Orient Express, Jerry Jarrett, Nick Bockwinkel and Vern Gagne – all professional wrestling stars Ricci worked with.

His grandfather, once a professional boxer, inadvertently inspired Ricci to pick up wrestling. “He wanted me to do cross country. He kept telling me use this, use this,” he said as he pointed to his head. “I wasn’t going to have any of that, especially after I found out that he boxed.”

Drinking at a young age, he said, “I got kicked out of the house at 14. My plan was football, wrestling, then acting.”

At age 16, he got sober. By the time he was 22, he got his first match with Chicago Championship Wrestling.

Within his first year, he was wrestling against the likes of WWE Hall of Famer Larry Zbyszko.

He started to get work with Vern Gagne’s American Wrestling Association and the World Wrestling Federation.

“I was a shrimp,” he said of his size compared with others in wrestling. “So to get a job and keep a job I had to do some amazingly hard, crazy [expletive] to get a ‘Woo!’ and have people say, ‘He’s worth something.’ ”

Pat Tanaka used to come up to me and make a point of saying something positive. You couldn’t ask for it [positive reinforcement] because you would be a marker or an idiot, so you just had to kind of wait and hope.”

Ricci said other well-known wrestlers personally would praise him for his abilities.

“I heard some stuff from some really cool sources like Sgt. Slaughter, Nick Bockwinkel, Vern Gagne that are like, ‘You’ve got something,’ ” he said.

That’s one of the reasons he started his studio – to give others encouragement and a start in the industry, but with advice and a training regimen from someone who’s been there, done that and still is connected to it.

Getting ready to rumble

Ricci’s connections, experience and teaching have helped six wrestlers gain official World Wrestling Entertainment tryouts, one of them being Kalisto, (Emanuel Alejandro Rodriguez), a current WWE superstar and former Tag Team Champion for NXT, a branch of WWE.

“Randy cares about the guys he’s training,” said Matt Vine, a wrestler who has been training with Ricci since 2013. “He knows what he’s doing.”

Vine said he’s learning both the physical and psychological aspects of wrestling, how to connect with and entertain the crowd, with the ultimate goal of making it to the WWE.

“When I started, I didn’t know what I was getting into,” he said. “I know that I don’t want a normal job.”

Vine and several others train with Ricci several times a week.

As part of the training, Ricci stages five to six matches every Saturday night at the studio, he said.

In the ring

The lights go down. The music comes up. A guy who calls himself “The Aura in the Fedora” jumps into the ring. With a big booming voice, he lets the crowd know what they’re in for.

This night, it’s Scotty “The Human Video Game” Colton against Zero One, a masked, karate-uniformed wrestler from Japan. Next up, it’s Anderson against Zero Three, another masked brawler from Japan.

Vine also wrestles and wins after being slung against the ropes by his opponent, thrown out of the ring and onto the floor, reprimanded by the referee and heckled by the crowd.

“This is awesome,” said Doug Hammerl, 41, of Crystal Lake, sitting in ringside seats with his son, Logan, 8.

“The most exciting part is when they’re pinning someone,” Logan said.

The crowds usually are a mix of people of all ages, Ricci said.

Salena Rivera, 23, of Woodstock, attended with her husband and son, Arturo, after learning about the studio through a Facebook promotion.

Arturo loves watching wrestling on TV, she said.

“I like when they do flashy moves like flying through the air,” Arturo said.

Those who come get their money’s worth, Vine said.

“It’s every bit as entertaining as WWE,” Vine said.

PREMIER PRO WRESTLING

WHEN: Doors open at 7 p.m. every Saturday

WHERE: 1230 Davis Road, Woodstock (there is no sign on the studio)

COST & INFO: Featuring professional wrestling matches. Tickets available online or at the door at a cost of $12 for ringside seats, $10 for general admission seats, $5 for children age 12 and younger. Concessions with pizza, hot dogs, pop, water and chips available. Tickets and information: http://premierprowrestling.com/.