Wrestling With The King: A Sports Startup

Drama, spandex, rivalries, storylines, blood, sweat, tears, athleticism, cheering crowds, boos and passion, welcome to the world of professional wrestling. Primarily one of the biggest and most popular sports in the US as well as being televised worldwide to an audience of millions, wrestling has spent decades entertaining countless generations of fans, and furthermore, inspiring fans to make the transition into the sport itself.

Jakub “The King” Pešek is one of those fans, inspired by what he saw in his youth, he decided to start his own wrestling company in his native homeland of Czech Republic. Since being interested in wrestling since 2001, Jakub and his friends organized sporadic wrestling events until 2012 when they created the first ever professional Czech wrestling company, VcV Wrestling. Since 2012, VcV has gone on to host over 50 events, as well as airing their own web show, growing in size, and winning over more and more fans with every event.

This summer marks their biggest tour yet in the Czech Republic, and we managed to catch up with the co-founder and former 2 time VcV Hardcore Champion, Jakub Pešek, better known in the ring as The King, for an insight into this fascinating world.

How did you become involved in wrestling?

I had been interested in wrestling for fifteen years and it was a dream one day to be a manager in wrestling or a wrestler. I wanted to show people our passion and to make them excited and fun.

I was inspired, primarily, by two people. The first was the owner of WWE and former wrestling commentator, my hero, Vince McMahon. While I was growing up, I had many wrestling heroes; Triple H. Shawn Michaels, Edge, and Hulk Hogan, but Vince McMahon will always be my hero

That’s understandable; Vince McMahon, current chairman of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) turned wrestling into the massive global product that it is today. Who’s the second?

The Game – Triple H. He has incredible charisma, and he has the best heel style like no one in history.

Heels are the bad guys and Faces are the good guys right?

Yes. And I love Triple H in the ring and outside the ring as man in the charge (corporate executive in WWE). I love his fighting and talking, he is the king and inspired me in my heel position in VcV. For me he is the greatest wrestler alive today and my hero.

Who had the greatest impact on your life?

In wrestling it is surprisingly Vince McMahon, but in real life it is my girlfriend.

What does it feel like when you are in the ring, one on one with your opponent, with the crowd cheering, can you describe that feeling?

It’s something huge and incredible. You are excited and you love it. It is the best thing about this business, it‘s really magic, a feeling, which you will never ever forget.

What is it about pro-wrestling that interests so many people? Is it the story? Is it the heels and faces?

I think that it’s the passion we show for this kind of sports entertainment. Wrestling is my life. Wrestling is something special to me and I love it. I can say that it is like “Life in Life”.

Also, for the fans, they can see a show, a battle, ongoing feuds, storylines and everything they would want to see in a show. It’s a never-ending story and this is what we are talking about that connects with fans. The stories are huge and interesting for me. I have always loved the bad guys such as Vince, Triple H who I mentioned earlier on.

Is it tricky working out what happens in the storyline with the wrestlers?

Yes, exactly. We are a group of people and sometimes we don’t have the same opinion and it can be tricky to satisfy everyone, but at the end of day it is all right and we figure it out.

How did you start VcV?

It was hard work to do this. We had a dream and our friend to helped us to make our dreams come true. Hard work and passion created Czech wrestling. And we could never give up, we had to carry on, even on the good days and the bad days. That’s what it’s all about and how we started.

What are your favourite matches in VcV?

I have three favorite matches here in VcV. Firstly, KSK (The King) vs. Otec H in Prague, which was a huge, very bloody and brutal fight. Second, KSK vs. R.J. Kolda at our huge MegaShow II. It was a Three Stages of Hell match, it was incredible and I will never ever forget this match. Three Stages of Hell forces wrestlers to wrestler 3 types of matches all within one match. Thirdly, KSK vs. Kellerman for the Hardcore Championship, it was my last time in the wrestling ring as a wrestler. After this, I became a referee and work as the announcer for VcV.

Who do you enjoy working in the ring the most?

One name, my closest friend in VcV, and my cousin R.J. Kolda.

Can you describe the Czech wrestling scene?

It‘ s very small but we are on the way to making this popular and I think that is a good way for us. In the Czech Republic, it’s all about the show, wrestling fights and excitement. Wrestling is our passion here in the Czech Republic.

But it is a very small scene in the Czech Republic, which gives you the passion to organize wrestling in the Czech Republic?

It very easy to say. Three words: Victory, emotion, and passion. We love this.

What type of people join VcV and how do you find wrestlers in the Czech Republic?

Every new member of VcV is different and it’s very hard to work with all these different talents, but we love to make new stars. We find people through the internet They contact us and we invite them for training. We are trying constantly to make the new faces and stars of Czech wrestling.

Any final words about Czech wrestling?

We made this from zero. We made VcV from the bottom of our hearts. We do this for passion. We do this for people like us. Even though I am no longer an active wrestler, I am the voice of VcV, and my final words are – “We are the first Czech wrestling company and after our 50th show in Trutnov, we are taking Czech Wrestling to a new level”.

Read more about unique stories that are coming from the Czech Republic.

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