HARRISBURG -- A local man is building a small business while wearing tights.
Travis Shirk of Lebanon is living his dream by tapping into his childhood -- one body slam at a time. He wants to move professional wrestling forward, by dialing it back.
Shirk knows minor league wrestling isn't glamorous -- or very profitable -- but it's what he's always wanted to do.
"Wrestling has been with me since I was three-years-old,"said Shirk. "I was a Hulkamaniac, yeah know?
"That's where it started."
It continues in small arenas and school gymnasiums. That's where Travis transforms into "The Thrill Seeker," Sage Strong. He not only wrestles in the Ultimate Wrestling Experience (UWE) he owns it, along with his cousin, Kevin Murphy.
Both men can be seen in home videos as children -- and then teenagers -- wrestling in the garage; the basement or outdoors.
They're trying now to bring the kind of wrestling they watched as a kid."We call it old school thrill, new school skill." said Travis. The characters of yesterday, the moves of today."
"We want to have it so that its for all ages and something that everyone can enjoy," added Murphy.
The UWE's
"Knight of Glory 2" is Saturday, November 17 at the Advanced Hoops Gymnasium in Harrisburg. Former wrestling stars Jake "The Snake" Roberts and "The Honky Tonk Man" are each scheduled to attend.
Shirk says less than 50 tickets remain.
Shirk and Murphy started the UWE with nothing -- except a lot of passion. They bought a wrestling ring for $8000; which they are still making payments on. They also found and trained other guys who love wrestling, too.
"As a wrestler, if you're a heel, you want to be booed, you want to get heat from the crowd," said Richie "Nightmare" Via. "That's what you want.
"That's what feeds you."
Bad guys. Good guys. They're all here.
Sage Strong is the undisputed star, however. "He's that larger than life guy; that comes out of a comic book," said Murphy, who wrestles as 'Untouchable' Kevin Matthews.
Shirk once spent $4000 to attend a professional wrestling training school and it shows.
"Its a challenge for me to be nice," he said.
"It's a challenge for you?" asked CBS 21 Sports Director Jason Bristol.
"I'm a big guy," answered Shirk. "Big guys are bad."
But Shirk is so good, he almost went big time. He claims he nearly signed with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE); but had a change of heart at the last second.
His mother was fine with that.
"I feel they probably chew you up and spit you out," said Diane Miller, Travis' mom. "That was a concern of mine; because he has such a good heart.
"Now that he has his own business, he can create it to be whatever he wants."
Shirk believes he has created family-friendly entertainment.
Hosting shows in a small gym and barely making ends meet; the situation isn't quite Travis' ultimate wrestling experience.
He's getting there, though.
"I'd like to retire soon, before I'm too old and I'm in a wheel chair," he joked. "(WWE CEO) Vince McMahon, if you want to buy my company, you know (I'm ready)."
Until then, it's time to go to work.
