By Liam Byrne @tvtimelimit
Editor’s note: The last two Riptide reviews will be up before the Pride weekend shows. However, as I am going on holiday (missing the shows, unfortunately), I have posted this first. This was due to be an interview with Spike Trivet, but as you can imagine, he is a very busy man. That, coupled with my holiday, made the timings unworkable. Still, I hope you enjoy.
One of the most difficult things for an independent wrestling promotion is to book storylines. The transient nature of talent, the potentially sporadic number of events, the lack of a platform to develop angles – all of these contribute to why some independent promotions tend to feel like a parade of matches without motive. Here is wrestler A, they are fighting wrestler B, have at it.
With just over a year in the books for Riptide Wrestling, it is safe to suggest that a lot of their success has been borne off the back of heated feuds and ongoing storylines. Jimmy Havoc and Jinny had played off their well-known history to great success in headlining consecutive shows with increasingly violent altercations. As for ongoing storylines, you’ve had the weird obsession of Cara Noir with Candy Floss, even going so far as to stick a pink wig on a fallen Millie McKenzie at ‘International Waters’ as a working substitute for his … fetish? Anger? Interest? There are still many questions yet to be answered.
However, no storyline or angle in the promotion’s admittedly short history has been as successful as that between Spike Trivet and Jack Sexsmith.
There are five main components to any type of story: plot, character, conflict, theme and setting. Whilst some abstract storytellers could do away with one or more of these core tenets of what arguably makes a story a story, they are present in every piece of creative media we consume. Without a narrative interesting us on those five levels, it just doesn’t work, and in a world where we are bombarded with other options to spend our time (and money), that isn’t good enough. In booking Trivet and Sexsmith opposite each other in this storyline, Riptide have created a narrative that has helped solidify the promotion and build upon strong foundations, whilst also making people want to pay to see more: the most important part of running a wrestling company.
The ‘plot’ of the Trivet and Sexsmith feud has played out across pretty much every Riptide show to date. Spawning from Trivet’s personal sense of injustice about a Mr. Cocko-inspired victory at ‘Beers. Bands. Wrestling’, things have escalated significantly. By the end of ‘International Waters’, Trivet’s ongoing desire to inflict torment had left Sexsmith a broken man. Friends had turned against him, lured by the money that Trivet had to spare; he had forgotten how to trust those who sought to help him, such as Chuck Mambo; the Brighton Championship was no longer within his grasp as Trivet ensured the gate had slammed shut on any title aspirations for the time being. Sexsmith was left a broken man.
It is the other four elements that make this such an interesting story, a story that has blossomed into one that the company has used as the cornerstone of its rise.
Jack Sexsmith is the perennial underdog character, updated for a modern audience with greater awareness of social issues. In a world where gender, race and sexuality are all still potential barriers to success, Sexsmith’s open celebration of his lifestyle choices is one that makes him easy to like and support. On the other hand, Trivet’s ‘Money Versus Everybody’ mantra embodies a lot of the bigger issues in the world around us today. With a genuine belief that a moneyed background and lifestyle entitles you to success, Trivet plays on the sensibilities of an increasingly ‘woke’ audience, one that is exposed to myriad numbers of real life stories that see the ‘Trivet’ in the situation succeed purely through privilege.
As a wrestling heel, Trivet’s character is like all of the best bad guys in media insomuch as he has complete belief in everything he stands for, and some legitimacy to what he argues. His first issues were about Sexsmith’s use of a foreign object to win; an illegal tactic, a justifiable complaint. As Trivet has spent more time with a microphone in his hand, his vitriol has turned to attacking a crowd that has passed judgement on him purely for the way of life he represents, a lifestyle that seemingly warrants venomous hatred. In an environment that often tries to champion inclusion and openness, this dislike of Trivet by the common wrestling fan could be seen as hypocritical, if he wasn’t also using his lifestyle as a means to maim, hurt and injure anyone his stable comes into contact with. Within the wider delusions, a kernel of truth sits.
Brighton as a city for the backdrop of this feud adds its own flavour. Whilst Trivet has toned down the overt references, it is difficult for a piece of creative media not to come sprinkled with politics, whether through the story and characters being created, or the sphere of reference the audience live within. Whilst primarily liberal and open minded in terms of view, Brighton also has a varied mixture of political allegiance that covers Green, Labour and Conservative. Though Riptide finds itself with a broader mix than the stereotypical white, straight male that tends to make up wrestling audiences, Trivet arguably represents a swathe of both the city and the audience itself in ways that Sexsmith doesn’t.
We hate him all the more because we can see something of us in him.
Alongside the strictly political elements, the storyline touches on ideas surrounding class and privilege. It taps into a resentment of social groups and their desire to always punch upwards. Even though an audience living within in and around the Brighton area must be relatively well off compared to some economically deprived areas of the UK, it becomes easy to dislike someone who you perceive has been born into privilege. A person who was given everything, never having earned a thing. Broad brushstrokes notwithstanding, Sexsmith’s plight can also be seen to be representative of many examples where privilege has usurped genuine hard work or ability, and a minority has been marginalised. With a crowd that is increasingly fluid in terms of gender, sexuality, race, and disability, it is sadly a concept that probably rings true a significant number of Riptide fans.
At the core of every good wrestling storyline is the conflict itself. By keeping Trivet and Sexsmith away from each other since ‘Deep Six’ in terms of actual matches, it has only continued to build a sense of expectation about when they will next meet. It would have been too easy to have Trivet and Sexsmith meet in the Brighton Championship Tournament, and it is still feasible – Trivet is waiting to hear about who the wildcard is, to be fair. It is incredibly unlikely though. With Trivet consistently being one step ahead of Sexsmith this year, it would be poetic justice for Sexsmith to cost Trivet the Brighton Championship Tournament. As Sexsmith is involved in at least some of the US PROGRESS events that have also cost Riptide Chris Brookes, this may not be possible.
However, if Trivet’s dreams do come to pass and he is able to buy his way to the title, a challenge from Sexsmith will be just around the corner. A second chapter that involves Sexsmith taking away the one thing Trivet has ever truly desired? Sign me up.
