Bucking The Trend, One Local Business Finds A Way To Survive And Thrive

This group of youngsters enjoy the show Saturday night at CEW's 5th Anniversary show

Oskaloosa, Iowa – In a time when business failure is the norm, one example has bucked the trend and survived during some of the roughest financial times since the Great Depression.

CEW or Central Empire Wrestling, as it is known officially, recently celebrated it’s 5th anniversary at Bradbury Hall, on the grounds of Nelson Pioneer Farm. “It was a good show”, owner Austin Bayliss said of the groups effort at entertaining the nearly 150 gathered to watch the local and traveling wrestlers perform.

“We’ve been putting on shows since January 2007, and I love doing it. Love entertaining the crowd. If you saw tonight, the crowd was on the edge of their seats, from the beginning of the show to the end of the show, and when you see the fans having a lot of fun with the show that you put together,[that is satisfying].” was the response Bayliss had on the show.

Wrestlers came from all around the Midwest, as well as from right here in Oskaloosa to participate in Saturday night’s event.

Having performed nearly 80 shows, approximately 50 of them in the Oskaloosa area, success hasn’t always been easy. An example would be nearly a year ago, when a winter storm hurt attendance at Bradbury Hall. With 2 celebrities on hand, it was devastating to the young business.

CEW owner Austin Bayliss pumps up the crowd at Saturday's show

“We’ve been really lucky to have a lot of the wrestlers that live in this town, from Oskaloosa, they tell their friends about it, and their friends tell their friends, and it’s just a networking thing”, Bayliss says about the success his company has found in Oskaloosa.

With Saturday’s event having no celebrities, it was up to the local talent to draw the crowd, and they did, according to Bayliss.

The show drew people from Grinnell, Des Moines, Washington and many other locations around. Those people come to Oskaloosa and also spend money in town, helping to boost other businesses as well.

I asked Bayliss about the impression that the wrestlers are not athletes. “If you come to our show, you will not say that these guys are not athletes.” Going on he said, “You know that the people have to be very talented to do what they do; that ring hurts.”

“For the stuff that we do, injury is pretty rare. These guys are very talented and work very hard at being safe.”

Brian Gott is an Oskaloosa native and wrestler. “I’ve been a wrestling fan since I was 2 years old. I’ve followed wrestling ever since.”

But now, Gott is one of the stars of CEW. He also travels out of state to wrestle, having gone as far away as Texas. “Pretty much wrestling has been my only passion in life, this is the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do. I love this so much.”

If he could make a living at just wrestling right now, Gott says, “I wouldn’t be doing anything else.”

Oskaloosa resident Brian Gott recently returned to wrestling after suffering a near career ending injury

Being a wrestler, even a trained wrestler like Gott, is not without it’s risks.

Gott sustained an injury earlier this year that nearly ended his wrestling career and dream. “When I went to the doctor Tuesday after I broke my arm, he pretty much told me that I probably would never wrestle again. The break that I had was a traumatic break.”

The break happened while Gott was wrestling, “I fell wrong. I thought my head was going faster than my body, so I went to protect my head and neck, and that wasn’t so much the case. All my body weight landed right on my elbow and it pretty much shattered it right off the bone.”

The expense for the doctor and subsequent surgery came out of his own pocket, but that doesn’t deter Gott, “I want to be doing this as long as I can, I want to make this my career.”

Gott works 2 other jobs along with his wrestling career. A career that has him working out every day as well. Gott told me, “I really want to make this my career, I want to make my living off of wrestling.”

Gott has some advice for the youngsters that might want to duplicate what they see happening in the ring. “Make sure that you go to a school. Don’t think that wrestling in your back yard is going to get you anywhere, because it doesn’t.”

But most of all, just don’t do it unless your trained in how to wrestle for your own safety, as Gott can tell you and show you the scars, even the experts get hurt.

For more information and information on showtimes, visit Central Empire Wrestling at their website HERE. Brian Gott has a fan page HERE if you would like to interact more with him and follow his career.

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