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Mr Grey, a modern day Adonis, entered the auditorium at the Floral Pavilion for All Star Wresting wearing only a skin-tight pair of lycra trunks. He was tall, lean, muscular with intense eyes and perfectly coiffed and slicked dark-brown hair. The layers of fake tan and body oil accentuated every undulation of his toned torso.

The audience, made up of mostly 9 year olds, erupted into chants of “En-ger-land, En-ger-land”.

For those of you wondering what relevance Fifty Shades of Grey might have on a website dedicated to family days out, this wasn’t Mr Christian Grey of Seattle USA, it was Mr Oliver Grey of Exeter, Devon.

Oliver Grey is, as it turned out, is a Devon-born professional wrestler. His might (and there was quite a lot of it!) was pitted against the equally mighty “Rampage Brown” in this star-studded sell-out event. “I can’t wait to get my hands on him”, shouted Grey, encouraging the audience’s participation by flexing his huge muscles! “Atomic-slam Him!” screamed my 9 year old godson whilst stamping his feet repeatedly in time with the rest of the audience.

The last time I was sat in this venue, I was watching a pantomime, with my two little girls. This was a pantomime, just of a completely different sort. The total suspension of disbelief is vital and audience participation is positively embraced.

Over the course of 6 bouts, culminating in the “all in the ring” finale, the crowd was worked brilliantly by the compère and the numerous wrestlers. There were good guys and baddies in each bout and I was assured by the expert 9 year olds sat all around me that the spectacle of wrestling moves, such as the “neck-breaker”, “Irish whip” and “the headlock” were of excellent quality. After all, as a novice wrestling spectator, what would I know? I did however have a great evening!

NB: This was a guest post by Kate who attended the Wrestling with Olly as guests of the Floral Pavilion on behalf of Mini Travellers