619_fan
04-22-2006, 02:20 AM
Waukesha - A Milwaukee mother wants a group of professional wrestlers charged with battery, saying her 17-year-old son, who went to a wrestling camp, met a nationally known competitor and came away so battered and bruised she took him to a hospital emergency room.
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"You could still see the handprints on his chest the next day," said Deborah Reuteler-Smith.
Reuteler-Smith said her son, Versailles Smith, was a huge wrestling fan. When he learned about an area training session, he asked his mom if he could go. She drove him to the event Friday at AMF Lanes in Waukesha. After paying his $75 fee, she left to take her other children to a nearby Chuck E. Cheese.
In an interview Wednesday, Reuteler-Smith said that in the first few hours, Smith was shown some wrestling moves and met wrestler Austin Aries. But toward the end of the five-hour session, Smith later told his mother, he sensed something bad was going to happen.
Smith tried to leave by making an excuse that he had to use the restroom, but a wrestler followed him and forced him back into the ring, she said. Some of the dozen professional wrestlers present took off the boy's shirt and held his hands behind his back while they took turns beating him on his chest as part of an "initiation," she said.
Smith told his mother he was screaming for them to stop. After it was over, they told him not to tell his parents what happened, he told his mother.
When he came out to his mother's car he told her he was sore, but she didn't think much of it. Smith is 6 feet tall, thin and wasn't used to that type of workout.
Later that night he had a fever, and the next day he showed his mother his bruised chest. She rushed him to Community Memorial Hospital in Menomonee Falls, where physicians suggested she call police.
He was treated and released and doesn't have serious injuries, she said. "But as a mother it killed me to know that this was happening to him while I was outside waiting in the car," Reuteler-Smith said.
Waukesha police Capt. Mike Babe said his department is investigating the incident.
The event was sponsored by Brew City Wrestling, the local chapter of the American Wrestling Association. Promoter Frankie DeFalco said Wednesday that Smith never appeared to be distressed during the five-hour session. "In the first few sessions we let them know how tough it is," DeFalco said. "We let them know that it's not fake and not soft."
The first three hours of the camp are intense, DeFalco said. The trainees learn about conditioning their bodies, and they learn some moves, such as falling into the ropes and how to use a forearm to smash into another person's chest, he said. Then at the end, the trainees may participate in the initiation, the promoter said. No one is pressured to participate, and DeFalco said he asked Smith three times if he wanted to do it, and every time Smith agreed.
DeFalco said Smith took his shirt off by himself, and he asked others to hold his hands behind his back because he wanted to show he could take it. During the initiation, trainees are "chopped" or hit with an open-handed slap across the chest.
Smith was slapped five or six times before DeFalco stopped it, DeFalco said. He stopped it because they were running short on time, he said.
DeFalco also denied that they were forcing Smith into the ring. He said he asked one of the wrestlers to follow Smith to the restroom because he looked pale, and DeFalco wanted to make sure he was OK. In the past, trainees have vomited after the session, he said.
DeFalco described Smith as a "skinny kid who probably never worked out a day in his life," but he did invite Smith back for another session.
Reuteler-Smith said her son is no longer interested in wrestling.
Credit: Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
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"You could still see the handprints on his chest the next day," said Deborah Reuteler-Smith.
Reuteler-Smith said her son, Versailles Smith, was a huge wrestling fan. When he learned about an area training session, he asked his mom if he could go. She drove him to the event Friday at AMF Lanes in Waukesha. After paying his $75 fee, she left to take her other children to a nearby Chuck E. Cheese.
In an interview Wednesday, Reuteler-Smith said that in the first few hours, Smith was shown some wrestling moves and met wrestler Austin Aries. But toward the end of the five-hour session, Smith later told his mother, he sensed something bad was going to happen.
Smith tried to leave by making an excuse that he had to use the restroom, but a wrestler followed him and forced him back into the ring, she said. Some of the dozen professional wrestlers present took off the boy's shirt and held his hands behind his back while they took turns beating him on his chest as part of an "initiation," she said.
Smith told his mother he was screaming for them to stop. After it was over, they told him not to tell his parents what happened, he told his mother.
When he came out to his mother's car he told her he was sore, but she didn't think much of it. Smith is 6 feet tall, thin and wasn't used to that type of workout.
Later that night he had a fever, and the next day he showed his mother his bruised chest. She rushed him to Community Memorial Hospital in Menomonee Falls, where physicians suggested she call police.
He was treated and released and doesn't have serious injuries, she said. "But as a mother it killed me to know that this was happening to him while I was outside waiting in the car," Reuteler-Smith said.
Waukesha police Capt. Mike Babe said his department is investigating the incident.
The event was sponsored by Brew City Wrestling, the local chapter of the American Wrestling Association. Promoter Frankie DeFalco said Wednesday that Smith never appeared to be distressed during the five-hour session. "In the first few sessions we let them know how tough it is," DeFalco said. "We let them know that it's not fake and not soft."
The first three hours of the camp are intense, DeFalco said. The trainees learn about conditioning their bodies, and they learn some moves, such as falling into the ropes and how to use a forearm to smash into another person's chest, he said. Then at the end, the trainees may participate in the initiation, the promoter said. No one is pressured to participate, and DeFalco said he asked Smith three times if he wanted to do it, and every time Smith agreed.
DeFalco said Smith took his shirt off by himself, and he asked others to hold his hands behind his back because he wanted to show he could take it. During the initiation, trainees are "chopped" or hit with an open-handed slap across the chest.
Smith was slapped five or six times before DeFalco stopped it, DeFalco said. He stopped it because they were running short on time, he said.
DeFalco also denied that they were forcing Smith into the ring. He said he asked one of the wrestlers to follow Smith to the restroom because he looked pale, and DeFalco wanted to make sure he was OK. In the past, trainees have vomited after the session, he said.
DeFalco described Smith as a "skinny kid who probably never worked out a day in his life," but he did invite Smith back for another session.
Reuteler-Smith said her son is no longer interested in wrestling.
Credit: Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel