By Parker McKenzie
Inside the South Eastern Entertainment Centre in Ferntree Gully, the energy and chaos brewing within is immediately palpable.
Rookie wrestlers drill their technique and practice moves to get the crowd on their feet, hoping it’ll launch them into super-stardom within the world of professional wrestling.
Local wrestler Robbie Thorpe, clearly more experienced than those around him, runs them through a mock-match complete with a referee, tags to teammates standing on the ring apron and three-count pin for the finale.
“We need to work on our strikes,” he says afterwards.
“Just because you throw lots of them, doesn’t mean they look good.”
The ring is more solid than you’d expect and with every big move it shakes and lets out a huge thud as bodies slam into the surface.
In the change room behind the curtain and ramp leading to the ring, the tall, handsome and surprisingly well-spoken Tommy Hellfire is waiting to be interviewed by the Star Mail ahead of his championship main event.
On Saturday 25 June, PCW National Champion Ryan Rapid will defend his title against Hellfire in front of what is likely to be a sold-out crowd for the 20th anniversary of Carnage, one of PCW’s biggest shows of the year.
Many in Australia will know Hellfire by his real name of Anthony Cincotta from the 2022 season of Married at First Sight — “more overproduced than wrestling,” he says — but when he steps through the curtain he embodies his chosen moniker.
“I started wrestling in 2006. I remember I was in a band that was going nowhere, we were partying like the Guns n’ Roses, but without the talent or success,” he says with a wry smile.
“You’ve got to step into a character, it’s that intensity, the drive, there’s a competitive streak inside me. When I’m in the ring it’s just sort of it’s an extension of myself.”
It’s sometimes hard to tell where Cincotta ends and Hellfire begins, but when asked what it’d mean to him personally to walk out as champion at the end of Carnage, the switch is flicked and Tommy Hellfire is on full display.
“I’ve earned this moment and this passage more than the other people who have gotten it before me,” he says.
“I’m extremely excited and there’s no chance in hell I’m leaving here without that belt.”
Hellfire is honest about being a wrestling journeyman — “I’m a tall dude. I thought it wasn’t going to take much work for me to become the biggest thing ever. Didn’t happen that way,” — but points to countless highlights throughout his career as the success he’s created along the way.
“I was born and raised in Wantirna South and we did a show called Grandslam at the basketball centre there in front of 2500 people. Walking out to that crowd was an amazing feeling,” he says.
“Going on tour in China, touring Japan and Singapore; all these things were amazing, but being able to come home and do it in your backyard, in front of the biggest crowd you’ve ever performed for was a truly amazing experience.”
Live entertainment struggled through Covid-19 lockdowns, but since returning PCW has experienced sold-out shows and huge reactions from the crowds.
For Tommy Hellfire, the interaction between the wrestler and the fans is what he lives for.
“I have the crowd work for me. When I’m walking out there, I’m not begging for attention. I’m not trying to get them to hate me or anything like that,” he says.
“When you figure out it’s an art form, it just becomes alive. At the end of the match when people aren’t just waiting for it to end, when they are on the edge of their seat wanting to see the bad guy get to beat up and see the good guy overcome the odds.”
Beyond the men’s title bout, the card features five other matches including the women’s Tri-Champion Cass Stone facing down JJ Furno.
Outside the locker room, Hellfire shows off a few headlocks on junior members of the roster and puts on his game face for the camera.
“I give them tough love. I know they respect what I tell them, even though they don’t like that,” he says.
“I’m at the top at the moment, and I’m more than happy for somebody to come and knock me off that off that perch, but they’ve got to knock me off because I’m not giving it up.”
A consummate performer who’ll give the fans their money’s worth, Hellfire says he is ready to put on a huge show for the packed out crowd on June 25.
“It’s a live-action show, wrestling in honestly the greatest entertainment show on earth,” he says.
“It’s interactive; the crowd dictates and takes you on a journey. It’s never always the same, it’s always individualised and it’s always customised to the crowd. There are no second takes, you’ve got to get it right the first time.”
PCW was first established in 1999 and Carnage will be broadcast worldwide.
Tickets to the all-ages event can be found at www.PCW.com.au.
