ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – Wrestling – Some call it a sport filled with emotion one can feel combined with an escape from reality. Rampage Wrestling is gearing up for ‘Rude Awakening’ here in the Key City.

“Storytelling is very important in wrestling,” said Jeremy Gentry, graphic designer and event coordinator for Rampage Wrestling.

Wrestling can mean so much more than what meets the eye with room for creativity according to promoter, owner, and CEO Eric Grason.

“Pro wrestling is like a comic book in the aspect that you can be anything you want if you believe it,” Grason explained.

Since July 2015, Rampage Wrestling has been one body slam after another throughout West Texas. For Grason, there’s a formula for each show.

“There’s the show date and then there’s the three or four months before the show date and that’s where really all of the work is. That’s where I do most of my work where I promote the show and put the matches together. I also train a lot of the wrestlers that work for Rampage wrestling at the Rampage dojo located in Lubbock, Texas,” Grason added.

For Big Country natives DL Hartley and Aryn Eris, there’s a connection to the ‘325,’ especially when the show comes to Abilene, like this Saturday, May 13.

“I try to stay around 325 due to the 3-2-5 area code because I love repping my area everywhere I go. If I get lower than that it gives me an excuse to eat,” Hartley explained.

“Not only being the first female graduate out of the rampage dojo but I am the first female wrestler out of Abilene, Texas. Running in my home city there is nothing like it. It means the world to me,” Aryn Eris added.

In case people wonder just how real a Rampage show is, Grason said, “Fake is a dirty word in a lot of, not only in pro wrestling but in a lot of performance art stuff.”

For Grason and Gentry, what separates Rampage Wrestling from the rest is simple.

“Roman Reigns isn’t going to interact with you like the way Axel Savage is going to interact with you, and that’s priceless, especially for children,” Grason shared.

“Abilene was always a wrestling town. I heard those stories growing up my entire life, and so it was very important to us to bring that to the people so they can have the same experiences we had,” Gentry added.

‘Rude Awakening’ will take place at the Abilene Convention Center from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Saturday, May 13. Tickets are $20 for front row seating and $10 for general admission.