A few weeks into January, those fitness resolutions made in the post-Christmas haze might already be losing momentum. My ‘new year, new me’ goals are still on track, focusing on simple but achievable targets like burning more calories than I eat, staying hydrated, and squeezing in a daily app yoga session between work and school runs.
However, these modest aims were completely upended this week when I was invited to a posh London private members club for a workout with WWE Women’s United States Champion Chelsea Green. Despite being visibly older and squidgier than the rest of the class of fitness influencers and journalists, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to don my most supportive sports bra and give it a shot.
Like most ten-year-olds who grew up watching wrestling I had, despite all those requests ‘not to try this at home,’ been tempted to body slam a sibling every once in a while. However, even at ten I knew my limits and was pretty sure a career in professional wrestling wasn’t an option. Thirty something years on it was confirmed I wouldn’t be passing the audition.
The 33-year-old star led us through a gruelling HIIT workout that incorporated several of the moves used in WWE tryouts. We persevered through an eight-station circuit featuring a variety of exercises including squats, weighted military presses, sprints and rowing.
While none of these were unfamiliar having done plenty of fitness classes over the years, there was one ground-breaking new addition to the circuit that I’m planning to incorporate in my workouts at home – no I’m not building a ring in my living room. Squats are my nemesis, thanks in part to my hips not opening as widely as I’d like paired with occasional balance issues. I got to try a squat wedge, a simple squidgy block which raised my heels, slightly adjusting my stance during the movement.
It was literally only a couple of inches high but the block transformed the positioning of my body while doing the often-hated move, keeping me better aligned rather than hunching over and allowing me to get deeper into the squat in a way that felt so beneficial it’s still radiating in my legs two days later. While I have no doubt the Eight Club’s versions were suitably bouji, I’ve already snagged a more budget friendly £15.99 set I can use at home. Thank you Chelsea.
I wasn’t keen to incorporate everything I tried into my fitness regime however. A surprisingly understated looking repeated bunny hop movement over a workout bench was, it turns out, the third ring of hell. It looked simple, but doing these bench hops for two minutes at speed without stopping ended up making me feel so queasy I was taken pity on and was given a lower impact option instead. I’d have said thank you if, you know, I’d been able to speak.
Any feelings of guilt on not hacking the pace ended abruptly watching Love is Blind star Bobby Johnson, who joined the class alongside his wife and co-star Jasmine, tackle the same station. Even as a former personal trainer he found the deceptively simple movement heavy going by the time he ninety seconds in – although he was already on his second workout of the day.
It turned out neither of us should have felt bad, as Green explained the deceptively simple move was one that most wrestlers struggled with when trying out to join WWE: “So many people end up vomiting doing this one. Loads of them,” she said cheerily.
WWE’s Chelsea Green encourages Narin Flanders to feel the burn… whether she wants to or not
(Image: Netflix/WWE)
Working out with a WWE Champion was pretty intimidating, but I ended up stopping the wrestler in her tracks with a death stare usually reserved for my kids at their most mardy after she began screaming in my face while I threw a weighted medicine ball on the ground over and over again. I may not be able to frog splash someone from a turnbuckle – or indeed climb one – but clearly my glare has the impact of a superkick, leading her to whisper apologetically: “I would never normally shout like this, just so you know. It’s only for the pictures. Just keep going, you can do it, imagine you’re at Disney World!” Oh fine, if you’re going to be nice about it.
Forty-five minutes and countless squats later, I managed to burn off 500 calories without throwing up – a double victory in my book. What’s more, the experience instilled in me a profound respect for the unwavering work ethic displayed by the athletes spearheading the new era of wrestling.
This so-called Netflix era was kickstarted by the recent high-profile launch of WWE programming on the streaming service, after inking a monumental ten-year, $5 billion (£4.09 billion) deal with the brand that signals the sport’s potential return to the mainstream. UK fans are in for a treat, as they can now binge-watch all the weekly episodes of Raw, SmackDown, and NXT live or on demand, along with a treasure trove of over 30 years of WWE archives and every new premium live event, including WrestleMania—without having to pay extra on top of their existing subscription.
Sky customers can get free access to Netflix included in various packages while fans can now show off their loyalty by setting their favourite wrestler as their Netflix profile picture.
Get Netflix free with Sky
Sky is giving away a free Netflix subscription with its new TV bundles, including the £15 Essential TV plan. Members can watch live and on-demand TV content without a satellite dish or aerial and includes hit shows like the second season of Squid Game as well as all WWE programming.
Taking a brief respite from torturing me through the workout, Green excitedly shared the significance of this partnership: “We have such a great fan base already but now to be able to open that up to 283 million subscribers in 190 countries is like nothing we could have dreamt of,” she explained.
“The WWE universe is so devoted and they care so much about us and hopefully we’re now inviting the rest of the world to join us in the fandom. It’s a really exciting time.”
With the debut Netflix episode of Raw amassing over six million views, and WWE programmes consistently hitting the UK’s top ten most-watched charts daily since the shows debuted, it seems we’re on the cusp of a wrestling revival. Wrestling is gearing up to be hip once more and British fans will get a ringside seat at all the action – without even having to get up off the sofa.
* WWE arrived on Netflix earlier this month, with all programming available on the streaming service in the UK, including RAW, SmackDown, NXT, Premium Live Events and WWE Archives. Viewers can buy a standalone membership direct or currently get it free as part of Sky TV deals in their January sale here.
* The Road to WrestleMania tour runs throughout March and tickets are available now via Ticketmaster. There will be huge SmackDown and Raw shows broadcast live from London’s O2 Arena as well as events in Glasgow, Nottingham and Belfast.