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Sandite Wrestler Returns To Help Senior Celebration

Posted: Mar 15th 2011 By: CMBurnham

(Editor's note: Ryan Collins is the real name of pro wrestler Brian Breaker)

Ryan Collins was bitten by the professional wrestling bug as a child watching the sport on television, but it was his grandmother who inadvertently struck the spark.

Now, Collins will be returning to his home town of Sand Springs in April to be part of a wrestling exhibition fundraising event ? after a side trip to Japan.

?I remember watching wrestling matches on TV and thinking I?d like to do that,? Collins said. ?I guess that?s when I was bitten by the bug.?

Collins also remembers his grandmother ?coming home from a garage sale with a sack full of wrestling action figures for me and my cousins.?

?She told me we had to share, but I think I wound up with them all,? he said.

Collins played some team sports and wrestled a little bit in grade school, but didn?t wrestled at the high school level.

?After high school, I took some technical school classes,? he said. ?My dad had an appliance store, but that wasn?t what I was interested in. Wrestling is really what I wanted to do.?

In 2006, Collins decided to move to Missouri so he could begin training at Harley Race?s wrestling school and with World League Wrestling (WLW). He began wrestling professionally in 2007.

?I wanted to get the best wrestling training that was available to me,? Collins said. ?I have been a wrestling fan my entire life, and getting to live my dream wrestling for a true-to-life living legend Harley Race has been a dream come true.?

In November 2008, Collins won the WLW Tag Team Title. In October 2009, he won the WLW World Title during the league?s 10th anniversary show.

During the last half of March, Collins will be in Japan, taking part in ?Pro-Wrestling NOAH,? a series of matches pitting Japanese professional wrestlers against wrestlers from around the world.

?Professional wrestling is a little different in Japan,? Collins said. ?It?s more physical, less showmanship. They?re (the Japanese) very serious about their wrestling.?

Collins? match in Sand Springs will be his first U.S. appearance after returning from Japan. It is a fundraising event for Senior Celebration, the all-night graduation party for CPHS seniors.

The show is set for April 8 at CBMS Auditorium, 305 W. 35th St. The doors open at 6 p.m. and the bell sounds at 7 p.m.