WHEN the 500 tickets for Brawl At City Hall were snapped up more than three weeks before the opening bell, you knew it was going to be a special night.
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Many of Newcastle Pro Wrestling's small, but passionately loyal, fan base had even missed out on seats.
It had been a year since the promotion's homegrown heroes and villains had grappled inside the squared circle in a proper all-ages event due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
And what's more, the likes of Dazza, Jack Bonza and Newcastle heavyweight champion "World's Finest" Carter Deams were returning for Newy Pro's biggest ever event in its 10-year history.
The 1920s-designed Newcastle City Hall generally plays host to more highbrow entertainment such as recitals from the Australian Chamber Orchestra, but on this Friday evening the only Chopin heard reverberating was of the stinging knife-edge variety across an opponent's chest followed by a Ric Flair "woooo!"
The polite applause of a classical audience was replaced by the pounding of the ring mat and boos and cheers of the highly-invested audience.
The intimate City Hall with its upstairs gallery seating proved perfect for wrestling. It made for a cauldron-like atmosphere.
Newy Pro's former home at Club Charlestown may have boasted a similar ambience, but the low ceiling restricted viewing when performers would launch and flip themselves from the top ropes. That was no issue at City Hall.
"We'd outgrown Charlestown, so we spent the time [during COVID] when we couldn't put on shows looking for a bigger venue," says Newcastle Pro Wrestling co-owner Adam Harragon, who wrestles as Adam Hoffman.
Brawl At City Hall is no one-off, either.
On September 3 the promotion will return to City Hall for Newy Pro Rumble. Due to renovations to City Hall, Newy Pro is searching for an alternate venue in the interim for their monthly events.
Like most forms of entertainment COVID-19 has been problematic for wrestling.
Even global industry heavyweights like the US-based WWE have leaked viewers from their various programs without the energy and audible passion that a live audience provides the athletic pantomime.
When the pandemic forced Australia into lockdown last March Newy Pro resorted to Zoom-led fitness sessions to keep the roster engaged.
"Every day we'd get on there and have a chat and do exercises," Harragon says. "We'd do a deck of cards; each suit represents an exercise and the number is the reps.
"We'd all Zoom together and do exercise and then watch matches and talk about psychology and gimmicks and break down every little detail and try and keep everyone interested during the shit time."
Certainly the wrestlers haven't missed a beat during COVID. Brawl At City Hall delivered a six-match card that surpassed any of the previous shows this reviewer had seen from Newy Pro.
In the past some Newy Pro events have been weakened by reverting to overly comedic matches, but Brawl delivered fast-paced action, complete with a dastardly heel turn (good guys turning bad), an ole-fashioned chair shot and a powerbomb through a table as an exclamation point.
Dunedoo farm boy Dazza, nicknamed the "Bogan Hogan", drew the biggest cheers of the night during his middleweight title match against the cocky champion Mat Diamond.
Just when Dazza appeared set to win the strap, burly bad guy "Full Force" Mat Rogers provided the distraction for Diamond to low blow the challenger and deliver a "diamond cutter" for the victory, which was met with a chorus of boos.
The other crowd-stealer was the main event, pitting "the rapscallion of the ring" Mick Moretti, with his white face paint and green Chinese ponytail, against the babyface champion Carter Deams.
After fighting off interference from Jack Bonza and Adam Hoffman, Deams scored the victory to send the City Hall crowd home in raptures.
The hero had won, the baddies were defeated. The audience wanted more.
