The Dogwood Dell was packed last month for RVA Pro Wrestling’s “Summer Block Party.” The show was a victory lap for Richmond’s independent wrestling scene, drawing some 4,000 fans to the hill in Byrd Park.
Erica Leigh has emerged as a pillar of that independent scene. Known as the “Big Gal,” Leigh took center stage in the main event of “Summer Block Party,” facing Jordan Blade in a last woman standing match.
While Leigh was bested, the opportunity was a testament to the groundwork she’s laid in Richmond, and well beyond the Commonwealth.
“It’s been a good 20 years since we’ve seen something like RVA Pro in Richmond,” Leigh said. “It’s really exciting, and I feel like we’re building something really cool and really different, and hopefully sustainable. It’s been really fun seeing something grow from the ground up.”
Origin story
Leigh entered the professional ranks in 2018, shortly after training in the greater Richmond area.
“I started training just north of Richmond, in a barn, in the middle of nowhere[…] A pin was dropped on the map for me with no address. I showed up.”
Leigh’s commitment to the “sport of kings” led her to Philadelphia in 2019, where she intended to advance her wrestling education at the famed Wrestle Factory – owned and operated by the proprietors of the now-defunct CHIKARA Pro.
“I actually moved to Philadelphia to train at CHIKARA at the very end of 2019. I got there, and then six months later, the whole city was shut down. You couldn’t train, there were no shows, it was a mess. The timing was kind of incredible.”
While Leigh’s time in Philadelphia was cut short, her migration did afford her a unique opportunity.
“Before COVID shut everything down, I did appear on a couple of episodes of ‘Action Arcade,’ which was the last stretch of episodes that CHIKARA put out.”
Known for its outlandish storylines, colorful characters, and lucha-inspired conventions, CHIKARA forced Leigh to adapt to its unique sensibilities.
“I was Donna Rama in CHIKARA[…] She kinda had this Superman, Clark Kent thing going where… in promos she was really conservative and buttoned up. Almost timid – kind of a geek. In the ring she was this feral animal, face paint, howling and screaming, and kicking ass. It was an interesting and challenging undertaking to get what was being given to me across, because it was a character that was assigned to me. I didn’t come up with it on my own, but it was a lot of fun. I was booked like a monster.”
While CHIKARA closed its doors in 2020, a spiritual successor has emerged in Power Pro Lucha; a Philadelphia-based promotion from the brainchild of former CHIKARA mainstays, Danjerhawk and Razerhawk.
Leigh was one-third of the promotion’s inaugural Triple Tech Champions, alongside Cheeseburger and The Boar.
“Power Pro Lucha is definitely the spiritual successor, and there’s a lot of familiar faces there, and because it’s so storyline-driven, it does feel similar. Especially running it in the same city, in Philadelphia, we get so many fans back from CHIKARA that miss what they had, and they’re invested in the characters. It has a great feeling to it, but it’s definitely dissimilar as well. When you have lightning in the bottle, you can’t necessarily recreate it to a T. CHIKARA was just something special.”
Versatility
In the intervening years, the connective tissue of Leigh’s career has been her versatility.
In the age of professional wrestling’s regional territories, it was commonplace for wrestlers to adopt a different persona from region to region. Dick Beyer famously wrestled as both masked The Destroyer abroad and Dr. X in the AWA.
Leigh’s approach harkens back to that bygone era.
“I think it’s extremely fair to say that I have the widest range of anyone on the independents, for sure. I have given so many different feelings and different characters and different matches to audiences. I don’t think it’s even a competition; I think I have shown the most range of any performer. A lot of people pigeonhole me as a comedy wrestler, but even though that is something I enjoy doing, it’s not the only thing I can do. I’ve proven that to the people that are paying attention. Once you get pigeonholed as a comedy wrestler, it’s hard for people to see anything else.”
In Juggalo Championship Wrestling, Leigh performs as Hokane, a parody of WWE Hall of Famer Kane.
The Michigan-based promotion is owned by the American hip-hop duo Insane Clown Posse. Last October, Vince Russo became an investor and on-screen authority figure for JCW.
Russo is one of professional wrestling’s most divisive figures, having worked as a writer and creative director for WWE, WCW and TNA. His contributions to professional wrestling include viagra-on-a-pole matches and making David Arquette the WCW world heavyweight champion.
For Leigh, it’s just another part to play.
“[Vince Russo] is probably one of the more polarizing people in the creative end[…] I wasn’t a Juggalo before I got into wrestling with [Juggalo Championship Wrestling]. I hadn’t really listened to [Insane Clown Posse] that much. Of course, I knew who they were; they’re sort of a cultural phenomenon that you can’t escape. You can’t grow up in the United States and not hear about ICP, but Vince is Vince. And, I think every story you hear about him, whether it’s good or bad, probably has a kernel of truth. You know what I mean? He’s such an interesting character, with a big personality. The mind works in ways which I do not understand, but he’s a lot of fun to work with. He keeps things interesting.”
Leigh’s flexibility is more than just a critical skill. As a performer, it’s a creative outlet.
“I did a police officer gimmick. Her name was Officer Erica Leigh Miller, and she’s a bad guy, and you couldn’t get more simple in the storytelling.”
The occasion presented Leigh with an opportunity to speak truth to power.
“For me, it was absolutely social commentary, a political statement; it was very much my creative outlet to show my frustration. Over the past, I mean you could go on and on and on, but specifically since 2020, I think there’s been a national conversation about police brutality. This was my tiny tiny way of being able to add to that conversation, or put something creative out into the world about how I feel about that situation.”
Glimpses of the next level
Leigh’s work has even garnered the attention of All Elite Wrestling and Ring of Honor, earning a televised match against Nyla Rose.
“The extra work is always regional, like wherever they go the active wrestlers in that area, you either contact them or they contact you. In Virginia, it’s a little different, because you have to have a license, so there’s a smaller pool of talent that they can use, especially last minute if they think they need more people. There’s not an endless list.”
Leigh’s first exposure to AEW was in Norfolk, back in 2021; where she teamed with the current AEW women’s world champion, Willow Nightingale, against Tay Melo and Anna Jay.
“At that time, it was obviously before Willow was signed, and she was doing extra work in a lot of places. Since I was in Virginia, I got the call. Tagging with her against Tay Jay was a pretty funny experience now, all things considered, looking back. Having a picture with Willow Nightingale, as a tag team, is so funny. Obviously, that’s the champ now. If nothing else, I’ll always have that photo.”
At home
Still, Leigh’s proudest accomplishments have been earned on the independent circuit.
Her aforementioned match with Jordan Blade at “Summer Block Party” is a highlight of her career, as was her performance in the 2022 iteration of ECWA’s famed “Super 8” tournament.
Leigh reached the finals of the tournament, falling to Darius Carter. For the better part of three decades, ECWA’s “Super 8” tournament has attracted some of wrestling’s greatest independent wrestlers. Other previous finalists include Bryan Danielson, AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Adam Cole, and Tommaso Ciampa.
“I think we did something really special that night, and it’s one of my proudest moments. That and the 2021 ‘Super 8’ finals match that I had against Darius Carter in ECWA[…] Not everybody enjoys intergenger wrestling, and it becomes a circular debate where you have to hear the same argument over and over, which can become really tiring. But, after that much, someone who was pretty vocal about not enjoying intergender wrestling contacted me and said, ‘I loved that match.’ So I felt like I converted one person[…] If one person can watch that and suspend their disbelief, and put aside any previous anxious feelings because of their previous experience and enjoy it, that’s such high praise for me.”
Up next
This Friday, Juggalo Championship Wrestling will be broadcasting its flagship show, “BloodyMania 19,” free on YouTube.
Under the guise of Hokane, Leigh will face Dani Mo, with Gail Kim serving as the match’s special guest referee.
Then, Leigh will be returning to Philadelphia on Sep. 4, 5, and 6 for Power Pro Lucha’s “Triple Tech Tournament,” in hopes of recapturing the Triple Tech Championships from Spectral Envoy.
Then, she’ll be appearing at NetPro Masquerade on Oct. 24 in Kingsport, Tenn., and Fest Wrestling in Gainesville, Fla., on Oct. 25.
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