{"id":37318,"date":"2015-06-29T09:34:15","date_gmt":"2015-06-29T13:34:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=37318"},"modified":"2022-09-28T12:28:28","modified_gmt":"2022-09-28T16:28:28","slug":"wrestling-whiz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2015\/06\/29\/wrestling-whiz\/","title":{"rendered":"Wrestling whiz"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Anitra<\/a>

Senior mass communication major Anitra Jordan referees professional wrestling matches and is training to become a pro wrestler. (Photos by Will Jones)<\/p><\/div>\n

Introverted and soft-spoken, Anitra Jordan found a way to break out of her shell in a big way \u2014 with a dropkick, armlock and body slam.<\/p>\n

The senior Wright State mass communication major has dipped her toe into professional wrestling \u2014 refereeing matches and training to become a pro wrestler.<\/p>\n

Rockstar Pro Wrestling holds Wednesday night matches at the Rockstar Pro Arena in downtown Dayton. The weekly TV tapings draw an audience over a 100 while the Internet pay-per-views draw standing room only crowds the first Friday of each month.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m naturally a shy person, so having to go out there and have a lot of energy and talk to people was the hardest for me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Tracey Hill, an administrative specialist with Wright State\u2019s Department of Communication<\/a>, said Jordan has evolved into one of the best students she has ever mentored.<\/p>\n

Jordan’s work in communication classes, serving as the department\u2019s photographer for the sixth annual Living Legends Lecture Series and writing feature articles covering the Rotary District 6670 Speech Competition uncovered her hidden talents and inspired others, said Hill.<\/p>\n

\u201cActively exhibiting determination, class and sophistication, Anitra is the perfect example of someone who goes for the brass ring,\u201d Hill said.<\/p>\n

Jordan grew up in the Dayton suburb of Jefferson Township. She participated in Wright State’s\u00a0Summer Bridge and Upward Bound precollege programs<\/a> and received scholarships to attend Wright State.<\/p>\n

Jordan initially wanted to be a sports commentator but is now interested in being a media critic, with her own column or blog. As a young girl, she got hooked on superhero cartoons, initially the DC Comics characters and later Marvel. Captain America was her favorite.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really want to work for the Marvel offices, whether it\u2019s doing digital content for their website or writing up stories,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Despite her love for superheroes, Jordan initially wasn\u2019t interested in wrestling.<\/p>\n

But when she was 16, a good friend talked her into watching \u201cWWE Monday Night Raw,\u201d a professional wrestling television program that airs live on Monday nights on the USA Network.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was so infatuated with one wrestler. He had really nice abs. I\u2019m a girl, so that was the first thing I noticed.\u201d she jokingly said.<\/p>\n

\"Anitra<\/a>

After college, Anitra Jordan wants to be a media critic, with her own column or blog, or write for Marvel comics.<\/p><\/div>\n

Then it was on to \u201cFriday Night Smackdown.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s when it really took off because there was a wrestler named Edge,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was the way he carried himself. He was really funny and personable. I was just really hooked from then on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jordan got physically involved with wrestling when she was 20.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was really shy but still wanted to try,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Hill suggested she contact pro wrestler Dave Crist, who competes at Rockstar Pro.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can tell he cares,\u201d Jordan said.<\/p>\n

Hill, Jordan\u2019s supervisor, also provides marketing assistance to Rockstar.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I love about Rockstar is that they are bringing some of the best action in pro wrestling to Dayton, Ohio,\u201d Hill said. \u201cThe athleticism, the energy, the excitement blows away the past.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jordan began training at Rockstar in May 2013 as a referee. Last August, she wrestled in her first match, teaming up with Benjamin Kimera against Crazy Mary Dobson and Mad Man Pondo.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe lost, but it was really fun,\u201d Jordan said. \u201cI got a lot of experience and realized that this is what I want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Introverted and soft-spoken, senior mass communication major Anitra Jordan found a way to break out of her shell in a big way\u00a0\u2013 by refereeing matches and training to become a pro wrestler. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":37320,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,747,715,2120,4855,4298,2061],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-liberal-arts","category-news","category-pre-college-camps","category-social-sciences-and-international-studies","category-student-profile","category-undergraduate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37318"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37318\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73030,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37318\/revisions\/73030"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}