Wrestling-adjacent comic creator Josh Hicks speaks to WWE alum Mark Andrews about professional wrestling, Welsh pride and… hot tubs?
Cardiff-born professional wrestler Mark Andrews chose his vocation at an early age because he felt it was the closest thing to being a Power Ranger. It’s worked out: he’s wrestled all over the world since his 2006 debut at 14 years old, and his explosive, high-flying style, until very recently, regularly elevated WWE’s weekly NXT UK programme to a level of spectacle that any lycra-and-helmet action hero would be proud of.
“My introduction to wrestling was Jeff Hardy jumping off ladders through tables, and that’s still what I want to see right now, to be honest,” he says. “I like the spectacle and I like the big stunts – the stuff where you’re not worrying about whether wrestling is real or fake and you’re fully suspending disbelief. That weird mixture of Jackass and pro wrestling.”
It’s true: you can’t really fake soaring through the air after jumping from a 12-foot ladder. The first independent wrestling show I attended was in 2016, an event that saw Mark backflipping off Cardiff Walkabout’s first-storey balcony into a cluster of opponents. As a young cartoonist making silly independent comic books about wrestling – this crazy, beautiful thing that felt like it came from another planet – it was earth-shattering to see that it could also live on my doorstep.
At that point, Cardiff was well established as the vibrant heart of Welsh wrestling, thanks primarily to Mark and a group of like-minded young wrestlers. Frustrated by the lack of opportunities to train and perform, they created their own. “The week before I turned 13, me and my mates went to watch a show in Cathays Community Centre, then went training the next day,” he says. “I bought a ring on eBay a few years later. I got it for cheap because it was listed as a ‘wresting’ ring.” Soon Mark and his friends were running their own independent shows out of Cathays, and before long were given a chance to expand their operation. “We found out that next door to the main hall there was this huge bingo hall that hadn’t been used since the 70s,” says Mark. “It was all kitted out with tables and stuff, and one day they let the wrestlers go in there with a sledgehammer and just clear it out.”
The bingo hall that they carved up with their bare hands has since played host to scores of independent wrestling events. With their DIY ethos, early shows at the bingo hall had all the action and storytelling of the televised wrestling audiences were familiar with but felt cooler – much more like a bunch of garage bands playing an indie club than a polished consumer product. They also gave Welsh wrestling fans the chance to catch legitimate superstars in the making.
Alongside Mark, Welsh indie mainstays Flash Morgan Webster, Wild Boar and Eddie Dennis have been regular fixtures on WWE’s NXT UK roster, while English wrestlers (and fellow bingo hall sledgehammer wielders) Pete Dunne and Chris Brookes are both making their mark globally. All of them owe at least some of their success to their Cathays Community Centre origins.
The growth of the scene in Cardiff dovetailed with a boom across the UK, and when Mark and friends made the move from small indie rooms to bigger venues, they regularly teamed up together. Mark has partnered with Blaenau Gwent’s Webster and Boar on NXT television, and also had a long run with Swansea’s Eddie Dennis on the independents. How does it feel to be representing Wales together every time they step into the ring?
“It feels awesome because when I was younger I wasn’t very patriotic at all. I was the kid in school who wanted to be American,” says Mark. “I was like, I want to be like Zack Morris. And then as I’ve gotten older, the more I’ve travelled for wrestling and the more I’ve realised that there are no Welsh representatives in the WWE, I’ve become really proud, like: oh, we can represent Wales. Me and my many tag partners, who are all Welsh.” It’s clear that this Welsh wrestling contingent is founded on real-life friendships outside of the ring, extending all the way to Mark’s recent stag do. “Wild Boar was floating round in the hot tub fully clothed!” he says. “It was great.”
After coming to terms with that graceful image, I ask if there was a baton-passing moment with the two Welsh wrestling legends of yesterday: Conwy county’s Orig Williams, of S4C’s Reslo, and Brynmawr’s The Exotic Adrian Street. “Unfortunately I never got to meet Orig, which is a shame. But I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Adrian Street multiple times,” he says. Street was backstage at the NXT UK show where Mark and Webster won the Tag titles, becoming the first Welsh champions in WWE history. “He gave us a big hug. He seemed very proud that that moment had happened, and I think maybe he was proud that Welsh wrestling was being represented and that there was a Welsh wrestling success story.”
Despite breakout success and weekly appearances on WWE television, Mark has stayed committed to the Welsh independent scene – as a wrestler, promoter and trainer – partly due to it being inextricably tied to his day-to-day life. “Anywhere I go in Cardiff, there’s a link to wrestling. Whether it’s the schoolyard where we used to break in to wrestle as kids, or my dad’s house where we used to wrestle in the back garden, or Cathays where we did shows, all the way up now to the Principality Stadium – the whole of Cardiff and the Valleys has a link to wrestling for me,” he says.
Part of the drive is also to ensure that the scene remains a safer place for performers than it previously was. “On top of that,” he says, “I also want to be around the scene so I can help people learn from my mistakes. I remember when I was younger, working with injuries or missing important life moments because of wrestling… I try and help people not make those mistakes.”
He mentions the Principality Stadium because it’s the venue of WWE’s Clash At The Castle – the first major WWE pay-per-view show in the UK in 30 years, and a brief walk from the pub where he backflipped off that balcony many years ago. “It’s wild on so many levels,” he says. “I like to think this little scene that we have in Wales has somewhat helped them towards wanting to come here because they can see there’s a big fan base here. If shows in the Cathays Community Centre bingo hall have helped that in any way, that’s awesome.”
Outside of wrestling, Mark stays active. His band, Junior, have just released a new single, and his BBC Sounds podcast, My Love Letter To Wrestling, just completed its second season. At the end of each podcast, Mark asks his guest why they love wrestling. I steal this question. “I still don’t have a good answer! I’ve always tried to compare wrestling to other things.” Finding that his medium of choice didn’t quite fit with ‘real’ sports, TV or theatre, he realised that its uniqueness was the allure all along.
“Every aspect of it ticks a box. It helps me stay creative, stay active, stay happy. I get to do the podcast, I get to design my own gear, I get to wrestle, I get to be a coach,” he says. “I feel very creatively well fed by wrestling.”
Editor’s note: This article was written and published in Buzz’s August print issue prior to the news of WWE’s NXT UK departures being announced.
Junior’s latest single Never Let You Down is out now. Mark Andrews: My Love Letter To Wrestling is available now from BBC Radio Wales via BBC Sounds.
Josh Hicks’ latest graphic novel, Glorious Wrestling Alliance: Ultimate Championship Edition is available now. His debut picture book Orig (written by Ioan Morris) is out in September via Broga Books. Info: here
