First, there's the flames shooting into the sky outside the venue. Then there's the revved-up crowd inside - toddlers to teenage girls; young blokes to mums and dads. And then the wrestlers come out, one by one, with hilarious names like The Kambah Klepto, Sir Matthew Hayter III and Hugh Beauty (who takes cricket to the wrestling mat. Finally!).
The crowd roars as the much-hated Bronson United team emerge, a bunch of tartan-clad, soccer hooligan-like competitors, including one who looks suspiciously like former radio host Josh Torney from Ned and Josh fame ... Hang on, it is Josh Torney! More on him in a bit.
Welcome to the Slam Pro Wrestling League, Canberra's homegrown wrestling competition that is becoming bigger than Andre the Giant.
"Slam is one of the biggest if not the biggest promotion in the southern hemisphere," co-owner Mark Collins said.
"We've set two records for attendance for all-Australian events, at the AIS and the National Convention Centre. We're consistently getting 700 people along to the UC Refectory events and we'll be doing another big one at the National Convention Centre on December 12.
"So, it just seems to be growing and growing."
Collins and two co-owners started the Slam Pro Wrestling League in 2021 in Canberra. They have a roster of up-and-coming as well as experienced wrestlers in their shows and also attract competitors from around the nation.
"Locally, we have an academy that we train people at in Mitchell. We currently have 40 members through the school. But we use dozens of wrestlers from all around the country who travel to Canberra for the major events," he said.
"At the academy, we have people of all different backgrounds and experience levels. Some people are doing it as a fitness hobby. For other people, it's their biggest passion in life. We've got people from 18 to people in their 40s and 50s. We've got salespeople, public servants, gym workers, it's a wide range."
At a Slam event at the UC Refectory in June, the hits were definitely hard, the dives onto the mat were absolutely athletic and the scratches and bruises were there at the end for all to see. So, is it real?
"It's like a Marvel movie," Collins said. "You know it's not real, but you can suspend your disbelief and have a really good time for a couple of hours and follow all the characters and just lose yourself in the action.
"There's a difference between fake and scripted. It still really hurts. There's still some real injuries. You do have to be trained professionally to minimise risk. But it does come with a lot of pain and injury risks and long-term impacts, but that's just part of the passion. Something people put up with to do it."
Now, back to Josh Torney. He's been a part of wrestling for five years, a member of the Bronson United team who strut into the arena giving the crowd their signature two-finger salute, lairing it up for all the world to see.
"It's just so much fun," Torney said.
"You go there not sure what to expect and it's hard not to get swept up in it, you know?
"People are so invested and you're trying not to laugh at some of the things the fans are yelling at you and you've got to stay in character and pretend you didn't hear it or think of something witty to say back to them."
Ned Breward and Josh Torney were the popular hosts of the breakfast show on Hit 104.7 in Canberra when they were unceremoniously axed in 2023.
The pair now have a podcast, The Ned and Josh Podcast, and can be heard weekdays 7pm to 9pm on i98FM.
At the time of the sacking, Josh found an escape in the wrestling world. Fans who would engage in some top-shelf sledging like yelling "Nige is better" at him and took it up a notch after he was fired. In some strange way, that helped Torney.
"A month after we got let go from the radio station, 'You got fired' was the chant at the National Convention Centre, it was like 1500 people, but I was loving it," Josh said.
"It was like a weird way to help deal with it, because I was obviously pretty upset but hearing that made me laugh . It felt like support. Booing and cheering and everything, in the wrestling world, that is support."
A sense of humour seems essential in wrestling.
"Everybody is super passionate about it and in wrestling, that's just part of it, having your character. That's probably more important than anything else, and being able to create a memory for people, so it's your character they want to see next time," Josh said.
"I am Josh but it's 'Josh from Bronson United', so we have fun with that. Like, it's a different person."
Josh said it had been "honestly amazing" watching the Canberra team grow Slam wrestling.
"They've gone from being this little hopes and dreams kind of thing to being really full-on now. They have a really solid fan base. They're going to the National Convention Centre at the end of the year and they will sell that out, it's great."
Making a return to the ring at the next show at the UC Refectory on August 8 will be Crofty the Kambah Klepto up against the reigning champion, Dan Archer. It's being billed as a no-disqualifications "Kambah street fight".
"There's going to be a lot of chaos, possibly some tables, ladders and chairs involved," Collins said.
"Those no-disqualifications matches always really go off. Crofty has been doing it for 20-plus years. He did retire, but he's back for one night only."
Tickets: slamprotix.com.au
