John Strange didn’t choose wrestling. Wrestling chose him. At age 15 he found himself at an independent wrestling show that looked nothing like the wrestling he knew from TV. It was bad. Really bad. It was so bad, he turned to the person next to him and said, “I could do better than that.” A gentleman seated behind him leaned forward and said, “Prove it.”
John’s challenger turned out to be a wrestling promoter who had his own training school. So at age 15, John Strange began his journey into the world of professional wrestling.
One of the promoters John worked for in the early days was a Earl Kelly, who started running shows in Kentucky during the late 90s. Strange met Earl’s daughter Alicia, and the two got married.
Kelly packed up and left Kentucky in the early 2000s for Florida. He returned a few years later and tried to pick things back up where he left off, but things didn’t go as well as he’d hoped. Kelly closed shop, and when he did, the Stranges bought his ring.
“We just thought it would be fun to have a ring in the backyard,” John Strange recalls. “But then fans started showing up at our door. They begged us to run shows. They wanted us to start a promotion. One fan even tried to hand us $1000 cash to go toward applying for a license.”
Once again, wrestling was calling. John and Alicia decided that they would give it a go, and New Origins Wrestling was born.
John and Alicia opened the promotion in Alicia’s name, and the second generation promoter proved to be a natural for the business side of wrestling. “She does all the promoting and handles all the business side. She learned well from her father.”
New Origins prides itself on being one of the most fan-friendly promotions running today. “When you see us on television, you’ll notice we don’t play to the camera. Our focus is always on the fans. We want to give them the best show possible because they’re the ones paying money to see us.”
New Origins is also very in tune with what the fans are saying, and Alicia Strange is always ready to listen. “I think being a female promoter is an advantage for her,” says John. “Fans aren’t as intimidated by her as they might be a male promoter. They have no trouble going up to her, saying hello, or making suggestions.”
New Origins also prides itself on giving back to the community, using their shows as fundraisers for Toys 4 Tots, local fire departments, and other worthy causes.
New Origins has a regular cast of local stars on its roster, including the Soviet Stud, Stevie P, Chris Noble, and the 4 Real Rejects Izzy 4 Real and Devon Blake, but they love to feature the best talent possible, not only in the region but the nation. John Morrison, Davey Richards, and Mad Man Pondo are just a few names who have made their way to NOW to be part of the action.
New Origins runs monthly shows in Irvine, Kentucky and is currently taping new episodes for broadcast on the TEN Network for Roku. You can also follow them on their Facebook page.
