Bryan – When you first walk into a room of wrestlers preparing for a match, it’s amazing to watch the routines, the preparations, and the comradery. Then the bell rings and it’s no holds barred. This is usually a monthly occurrence for the folks at Lion’s Pride Sports in Bryan/College Station, and it’s Houston Carson’s baby. “We’re here to entertain our community,” said Houston.
Originally from Caldwell, Houston grew up in the Brazos Valley pursuing his wrestling career. “After high school I tried Blinn college and tried to do my thing there, but all I was thinking about was wrestling school,” said Houston. “Unfortunately, after 10 years of wrestling, I had a medical condition that made me stop cold turkey, and I loved it so much, since I was a kid even, that I wanted to teach it. And so we started Lions Pride Sports in 2017.”
Houston now focuses his time on helping others achieve goals they never imagined. “I used to wrestle and I don’t even care that I used to wrestle,” said Houston. “The way I feel now, giving my knowledge to people and them going and doing it and chasing that neon light, that Broadway sign of WrestleMania, I love it. Yeah, I’m so glad I had to stop wrestling so that I can do what I’m doing now.”
Standing at nearly 7 feet tall, one of the stars of Lion’s Pride is Drake Durden. “He still takes the big bumps and stuff, and I’m 36 and I don’t feel like taking them anymore,” said Houston.
This menacing mammoth of a man well into his 40’s didn’t get into the ring until a few years ago, and that’s because he’s busy being a lawyer. “I’m probably known more as the wrestling lawyer than I am Jay Rudinger by some folks here in town, and that’s fine with me,” said Drake. “It’s a fun gimmick until then you get the intimidation factor of it, so I always have to be careful with the jury. Can’t get too close so they stop listening to what you’re saying.”
Then there’s Mia Friday, another extremely popular wrestler who just graduated high school with an associates degree. “Outside of the ring, I’m a normal 18-year-old girl,” said Mia. “I’m shy. I don’t really tell anybody in high school that I do what I do. I just see wrestling as a… Mia Friday is a different part of me I guess.”
When not in the ring, Tamia Bertram is your normal 18-year-old pursuing her dream. Well, she’s not that normal when you consider she’s already wrested in Japan, worked with famous Texas wrestler Booker T, performs in a band, and is a graphic designer. “My heart is lit on fire,” said Mia. “That first time that I stepped in the ring, I don’t want to say… I don’t want to make it sound like I’m in a
This journey started at a young age for Mia. “I grew up watching it with my dad, but I just took it like a whole step further than how much he loved wrestling and it just became my obsession,” said Mia. “And when I was 10 I was like, I know I want to be a professional wrestler. That’s what I want to do for the rest of my life.”
So at the age of 13, she signed up at Lion’s Pride. “I walked in here, not only was I pretty much the only teenager, I was also the only girl, so I’m just a 13-year-old girl walking in a room with a bunch of big jacked men and I’m like, ‘I want to be a wrestler,’ but I wasn’t intimidated by it,” said Mia. “I was just focused on me and wrestling. It’s my love, it’s my passion.”
“For her to come in when she was 13 and just shy and awkward, just like every 13-year-old girl is, for her to be who she is now,” said Houston. “All I’ve done is just given advice, but she’s done all the work. I’ve done my best to treat her like a daughter and a student, and I think she is going to take over the world.”
Being the most experienced in life luchador in the arena gives Jay Rudinger a different outlook on this experience. “Most of the guys wrestling and gals wrestling with us are 22, 23 or younger, so to me they’re my older kids,” said Jay. “So I come through, I’m checking on every one of them, every show, ‘How are you doing? I knew this was coming up. Everything okay? How’s the job?’ So to me, it’s like a proud dad to see any of them get to go do any of that stuff.”
Brushing strokes on a canvas seems a lot easier than getting slammed into one, but there’s some similarities between the two professions. “A lot of these guys have dreams and aspirations of being on the TV, but it is a… I equate it to being a starving artist,” said Jay.
As tough as these guys are, the refrain from the use of the F word at Lion’s Pride. “Yeah. Fake, we bristle at that word,” said Jay. “Choreographed is a much more apt term. We go in there and everybody, we’re entertainers. We know it. If the crowd doesn’t like it, we’re not doing our job. We’re there to give everybody a chance to have fun one way or the other. So we’re entertainers. But you take a clothesline, you’re going to feel it the next morning across the chest. So when people walk in and they see us smacking each other and actually lifting each other and slamming each other, they go, ‘Hold on. I thought this was the F word. I thought this was fake. This is amazing.’”
Despite the beat downs, Jay, Mia, and all the other wrestlers keep coming back to hopefully one day be the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be. “Whenever you start chasing that dream, you can’t let anybody or anything get in your way,” said Mia. “You can’t let your own doubts get to you. You can’t let other people tell you, ‘you can’t do this because you’re this. You can’t do this because you’re that.’ You just have to tune all of that out and go follow your passion and chase your dreams.”