"What was going through my head, was a lot of emotions since my family and friends were coming. So, that’s a lot of pressure then on top of that, the pressure from my coaches and fellow wrestlers. I was the last to debut in my class and I had something to prove. What I mean by that is, I was told my whole life I couldn’t do this, but I knew this was the only thing I could do."
Just over a year ago, Lexus Synn, a muy thai practicier for the previous several years, sat in one of the locker rooms of the Washington Wild Things Stadium, a minor league baseball park located southwest of Pittsburgh. As she taped up her hands and secured her kick pads over her brand new wrestling boots, she prepared herself for her official debut in professional wrestling, a sport that she had always saw herself as a part of from earlier in her youth.
"When I was standing in gorilla, I do this little pace of mine before every match, which in my mind gets me in the zone and into my character. So, when I bust through the curtain, Lexus Synn arrives," she explained.
On that September night for the IWC's Base Brawl event, quite literally under the bright lights of the park ball, one of the most unique female talents of the Pittsburgh scene began her journey as a professional wrestler. With her distinct ginger hair parted to one side and her mouth guard peeking through a sneer, it took just five minutes for Lexus Synn discard her opponent, realizing her dream to be a professional wrestler.
Still, those five minutes inside the ring ropes on the field had much more time behind them. Lexus had spent the several months prior under much less glamour circumstances to learn the ropes of the genre. A direct contrast of the lights of a baseball stadium, Lexus learned her craft at the ICWA training academy, a converted storage unit that takes a no frills approach to prepare the next generation to be as safe as possible in the ring, a squared circle that had unpainted drywall on each side as a reminder of the serious curriculum of the grappling arts.
When she stepped into the ring on that first day of training, two longtime, well-respected, and accomplished veterans were there to pass their knowledge to the next generation of aspiring hopefuls.
Glenn Spectre, who was the first "gaijin," or foreigner to win the DDT Tag Team titles in Japan in the early-2000s, spent the early years of his career traveling the east coast before a pair of tours in Japan in 2004 and 2005 respectively. A few years later, after wrestling on nearly a full-time basis for his entire career to that point, Glenn decided to step away from the sport. It wasn't until the pandemic shut the world down in 2020 that Glenn began to dip his toe in the water of sports entertainment again, deciding to make a full-fledged comeback three years ago. One of the motivating factors for him was that he wanted to be able to give back to the industry as a trainer for future performers. Bobby Piskor, affectionately known as "Potter" for his resemblance to the JK Rowling character, has been involved with the professional wrestling business for the majority of his life, breaking in as a website designer at the age of just 15. Within the nearly 25 years since that time, Bobby has been a wrestler, referee, trainer, and organizer for various organizations. While Glenn has recently pursued more in-ring appearances on his own, Bobby remains the head trainer of the ICWA school and is one of the head organizers of the International Wrestling Cartel, one of the longest-running groups in the area.
The two veterans also share a common bond, as they were both students of the late, great James Fawcett, who competed as masked grappler, Devil Bhudakahn for nearly a decade before his sudden passing in 2007. Fawcett was 32 years old.
"The experience I had training to be a professional wrestler was a great experience because I had the brains of Glenn Spectre and Bobby Williams that worked with both sides of the business. Both of these coaches that I consider family, these two wanted our class to be our very best since we were their first class. I was one of the ones who would work with Spectre when we were drilling and with that, I knew he wanted to push me from that day on. Every time he would push me to be my very best. With Bobby, he would encourage me to test stuff outside of my comfort zone, which I believe helped me grow as a person," Lexus commented.
"Lexus has been such a great student, she has always been open to learning new things. She would always be one of the first to show up to practice and one of the last to leave," said Piskor
Along with her gym regiment, Lexus brought years of Muy Thai lessons into the training academy, practicing combat sports under the direction of Devin Mazik at Superfly MMA in Weirton, West Virginia since 2018.
"He taught me the ropes of boxing, ground wrestling, and Muay Thai, which I fell in love with. From then on, I did my own research on the sport itself with how it started. There was the pure violence behind it, but within that violence was this beautiful art form in Thailand," Lexus said.
With a combat sports background already solidified in her skill set and the lessons she learned on the canvas of the pro ring, Lexus Synn took the tri-state area by storm in many ways. Her unique look and powerful persona makes her standout almost immediately, even within the over-the-top world of sports entertainment. She showed a natural poise in the ring, as she spent the past year zigzagging around the tri-state area. Sometimes, she finds herself aligned with trainer Spectre and her fellow classmates to form the villainous faction, The Troublemakers in the West Virginia-based Victory Championship Wrestling organization.
"I wouldn’t change anything, I’ve gotten to wrestle some of the best from Ray Lyn, Zoey Skye, and Katie Arquette. These are all people I’ve sat watching behind the barricade. Seeing all these opportunities I’ve been getting through hard work and just showing up and assisting when needed, I wouldn’t have met so many amazing people that I consider great friends. I’m grateful for every opportunity," Synn said.
"Lexus Synn’s biggest asset is her credibility as a fighter. She seems like she can hold her own in most any combat style, from Muay Thai to mat wrestling to probably even bare knuckle boxing. She is a fierce competitor , who seems like she likes getting hit as much as she likes hitting people. But, I guarantee she will hit you harder. I’m glad I haven’t made her mad yet, added Declan Finnegan, color analyst for the VCW broadcast team.
Aside from tedious process of landing on the stiff canvas repeatedly to learn how to do so as safely as possible as a trainee, and now the in-ring mayhem as a pro competitor, Lexus was able to not only find role models through professional wrestling, she also found a sense of belonging within the spectacle of the sport.
"As someone who is built bigger than most women growing up, I only had a few idols, Chyna and Beth Pheonix are two great examples. I grew up watching them and wanting to be big and strong like them because I wasn’t drawn to the divas. I never wanted to be a diva, I always wanted to be a professional wrestler. So then the first Mae Young Classic starts, and I was in awe of all of the talent women in the tournament, but two stuck out to me, Shayna Baszler and Rhea Ripley," Lexus commented.
In an example of something that is unique to professional wrestling, last month when Summer Slam was hosted in Cleveland, a two and a half hour trip from Western Pennsylvania, Lexus' family surprised her with meet and greet tickets for one of her idols as a birthday gift. DC Comics fans can't meet the fictional Wonder Woman character from the printed pages, but Lexus was going to get a chance to meet one of her heroes, Rhea Ripley in person.
"I look to my right and this door swings open, and Rhea is getting ready to come out for the meet and greet. Now it’s starting to set in the woman who encouraged me to be who I am, the women who inspires me, not only in the ring, but in real life as well is about five feet from me. I get closer to the curtain, in my brain I’m like I’m not going to cry… but man if I tell you as soon as I saw her that went out the window. She wasn’t on just my tv screen anymore but in living color. So then it’s my turn, I immediately ask for a hug because as I said before she’s done so much for me and I know she’s done the same for others and it’s very inspiring and in that moment that was the only thing that felt right as a “thank you”. So I get my hug and I had a birthday sash on and she noticed she told me happy birthday we took our picture, I was getting pushed out fast by the workers but I told her thank you for everything and as soon as I walked away I started crying. I was crying not because I was upset, but because I just got meet someone who doesn’t know how much they inspire me," Lexus explained.
Lexus cited everything from getting the chance to practice at open ring nights to eventually getting signed to a WWE contract as goals she has for the future. Regardless of the platform, Lexus pursues each goal with the same level of dedication and determination. Prehaps, that's the biggest take away from her brand new career in the pro wrestling business, she dared to dream, to chase her goals, and through enough hard work, she was already able to check a few boxes off of the list. It remains to be seen if Lexus Synn makes it to the national stage, but given her goals as a youngster and the pursuit of those goals, in many respects, she's already a success story.
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