| abstract
| - Ian Leslie Brander was born 8 minutes after his non-identical twin brother Greg Kelso. The two were their parent’s only children. Growing up in the Welsh Valley’s was a hard and tough experience, with the coalmine villages proving tougher than the city life many children of the same generation had. A relief of this life for the brothers was to watch Saturday Afternoon Wrestling (SAW) on the TV and they became hooked. Ian excelled in school, be it physical or intellectual studies, and during secondary school, the two brothers met another young man who shared their passion for the business. The mysterious student earned the nickname Renegade from his peers, due to his lack of respect for authorities but liked the discipline wrestling gave him. The three of them enrolled into a local wrestling school in Newbridge, The Rosemary Davies School of Wrestling, in 1989 and began training for their hopeful future. Despite being athletic, Ian quickly realised that his style would be different to the flamboyant – highflying style of Renegade and the daredevil - lucha libre style of Greg. Ian though was a gifted wrestler. He had one of the best brains his trainers had ever seen, his love for the sport only amplifying this. He was also a fast learner, taking anything he learned quickly on board. It was during this time that Ian had his first true love, Josie Cooke (later Dawson when she married). Although she never said until it was too late, she always felt that she was a simple affair to Ian’s first love wrestling. When Josie was 16, her father died in a car crash and Ian halted his wrestling progress even more, but increased body building on a more regular scale. Being by her side, for a constant 6 months, cost him some early experience, but he came back a much stronger individual to whom he left. Dividing his time between sixth form education and any spare time in the Wrestling School, Ian got his first opportunity to wrestle a professional wrestling match. The faithful night oh 24 March 1993, saw Ian take on Max Martyr, in a dodgy ring in a Cardiff Leisure Centre. He was scouted by a Manchester based federation and was asked to continue training and wrestle in the UK Independent federation BWA. Ian wasn’t the only one, Renegade and Greg also got called to other areas around the country. Ian told his family, friends and Josie. Although all of them were happy, they knew it was a risk. Telling Josie was the hardest of them all. The couple split, her philosophy coming true, she was second in Ian’s life to wrestling. She had hoped the pair would be married soon, but she decided to break off the relationship because he would be over two hundred miles away. Despite everything following her father’s death, Ian believed it would work, although she never felt the same. Ian, Renegade and Greg all parted ways in Cardiff train station that same year, only two months after their first professional matches. Ian was off to Manchester to finally live out his dream.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)