July 17h, 2007
SUMMER TRYOUTS FOR FALL CLASS COMING SOON

- Schedule has been updated.
- Open Tryouts for classes this Fall will be scheduled sometime this August. Please email Sricard@topropepromotions.com for more information.
- Media from the past seminars will be added next week.

April 27th, 2007
TWO NEW SEMINARS ANNOUNCED !

Schedule has been updated.
Luna Vachon wil be heading to The Lock Up for a special seminar on Thursday May 31st at 6:30pm. This seminar is open to the public and more info can be found on the schedule page.
- Simon Dean/Nova wil be coming to The Lock Up on June 2nd to check out the wrestlers of TRP for possible appearance on future WWE events! For info, visit the schedule page.

April 9th, 2007
LOCK-UP STUDENT MAKES DEBUT IN FALL RIVER!

(Article by Brother Runt)
The wrestling business has blessed me with many memorable moments. I’ve met and worked with some of the greatest of all time. However, any matches, PPV’s, titles and money just can’t compare to the pride I felt this past weekend. I’ll get to the source of that down the line. Allow me to start from the beginning.
Last Thursday Top-Rope promotion’s school, The Lock-Up, held a wrestling seminar taught by Simond Diamond. Simond currently is TNA agent. That means he pretty much runs the locker room, assists with production, vignettes, writing, promo’s---just about everything. Agents in any company must have a great mind for the business. I worked with Simond in the original ECW days from the late 90’s until its demise. We saw each other over the years at some indies, but it wasn’t until I started at TNA that we really worked again. Simond was a natural choice as a guest instructor.
The seminars the Lock-Up run are a great tool for local wrestlers. Not only is the instruction great, but it gives the wrestlers a chance to be seen by people within the business. Wrestling is all about networking, and there are just too few opportunities for young wrestlers to be seen. Well let me tell you, Simond Diamond gave one heck of a seminar. For five and a half hours he poured out any knowledge, advice, critique, criticism, etc., that he had. Everyone walked away a better wrestler. Everyone left feeling they were one step closer to the next level. So I really wanted to send props out to Simond for being unselfish and willing to give back to the wrestling community. He was truly professional and classy, until Friday night.
Friday, Top-Rope ran a show at the Fall River, PAL. It’s what we consider our home arena and the show looked great all the way down the line. Not only was Simond on the card, but legendary Greg “The Hammer” Valentine. Also, the Lock-Up’s first student, Lea Morrison, was scheduled to make an appearance.
Let me tell you about Lea. She’s 18 years old and has been training at the Lock-Up for about six months. When she first came in I thought to myself, “There’s no way this shy, timid, young teenager is going to last more than a month.” As the head instructor I’m very aware of the rigors a young wrestler must go through and she had very little physicality in her background. But no matter how hard we pushed her, no matter how much she hurt, she was at every practice. There is absolutely no quit in her and she started progressing at a very nice rate. A few months later, with her confidence up a little, she started tossing around some of the guys like a little tiger. She really studies the sport and has a lot of fire. Because of her hard work and dedication we have a debut date for her coming up very soon (keep your eyes open). But we thought it would be nice to introduce her to the local crowd and let her get a feel for what it’s like to in front of a live audience.
After the first match our ring announcer introduced Lea as our first graduate and just as she stepped into the ring Simond Diamond and Gregory Edwards interrupted the proceeding. They went on to really get into Lea’s face and Simond flat out said she was the least impressive wrestler at the seminar. It got much uglier than that, and I really didn’t see the point of two men trying to bully around a young woman who hasn’t even had a match. But bullies will be bullies. To Lea’s credit, she acted like a true pro; in fact she didn’t say a word. She simply turned to leave the ring like a lady. And that’s when Simond decided to super-kick her in the face.
The audience was stunned, the wrestlers were stunned, and I was stunned. It took me a second to snap out and Vain (my tag partner for the night) and I ran in to chase them off and check in on Lea. I was really scared, but I should have known better. She’s a tough chick. Yeah, she probably will eat soup for the next couple of days but she was alright.
Think it ends there? Well check this out. Vain and I were fortunate enough to be scheduled against Simond and Edwards a few matches later. We kicked the crap out of them. I mean we took them all over around and through out that building. Just as we were doing great, they of course, pulled some really dirty stuff out and Edwards had me literally tied to the guard rail. Vain then got double teamed and left to be stomped at their leisure. Well, Simond pulled a chair out of the ring. Just as he was about to crack Vain, Lea ran down, smacked the living “you-know-what” out of Simond, hit the ropes and gave a beautiful tilt-a-whirl head scissors to him and Vain rolled him up for the win!
Now granted, we might have had outside interference for the win, but so what? They would have taken it if they could have. But as I crawled back into the ring I heard the crowd chanting, “Lea, Lea, Lea!” Want to feel pride? Have your first student debut to a standing chant. Man my heart swelled. As head instructor it really felt great to see one of your students do well. She didn’t back down to a guy with 16 years experience, she held her own and the crowd loved her. It was a really great night. Look out for this girl down the road, she has a great future.

March 1st, 2007
TNA SEMINAR #1 SOLD OUT! NEW MATT HYSON SITE
- The first seminar is completely full. We can not add anyone else, but there are some spots available on our second seminar, taking place on April 5th with Simon Diamond. If you are interested email SRicard@topropepromotions.com or call 508 525 1866. Once again thanks and we're sorry that there is no
room. Hope to see you in April!
- Check out the all new www.matthyson.com and be sure to check out the official myspace at www.myspace.com/matthyson

February 4th, 2007
GOODBYE NEW BEDFORD, HELLO FALL RIVER! PREVIEW PICTURES NOW UP!
- We are moving to downtown Fall River! We spent the weekend getting ready to move in our new home of the PAL Hall. These pics are in the early stages, but we plan on being up and running this week! A grand opening as well as another open tryout are in the works. Details to follow after our Feb. 9th show in all River, MA. Pictures are now up on the MEDIA page.
- Testimonials page has been updated.

February 1st, 2007
THE NEW & IMPROVED LOCK-UP, 2nd TNA SEMINAR TO BE ADDED!
- After shopping several locations, we are plased to announce that The Lock-Up will officially be moving to our home in Fall River, MA! As many know, The Lock-Up was originally in the TRP Arena, which doubled as an auction hall, which obviously limited hours of operation and other liberties. Well, we are proud to announce that The Lock-Up will now be located on 31 Franklin Street in Fall River, MA on the third floor of the Police Athletic League Hall. The wrestling school will be located below the boxing facility and we are excited to be moving our school right in the heart of downtown Fall River. P.A.L. chairman Lt. Cullen stated "I want to help keep wrestling alive in Fall River! I loved wrestling as a child, and I love the fact that TRP brings in the top stars of pro wrestling, as well as the legends of yesterday". Details, Hours and pictures of the new facility will be available in the following weeks. Also a date for an Open House as well as Open Tryouts will also be announced for sometime in March. Anyone who would like information on the school can call 508-525-1866 for more information.
- Our first TNA Seminar with Jerry Lynn will be taking place on Thursday March 8th, and we will have an announcement this Saturday, about our second TNA seminar, which will take place on Thursday April 5th!

January 25th, 2007 REMEMBERING BAM BAM, 1st CAMP ANNOUNCED - Brother Runt's latest column is up on TNAWrestling.com & talks about the recent passing of the legendary Bam Bam Bigelow . Click here to read the article. - After several months of hard work, The Lock Up is proud to finally announce that we will now working with TNA Wrestling as an exclusive Northeastern site for several camps and seminars in throughout 2007! This March, we are proud to present the first camp, featuring former TNA, ECW & WWE Champion, Jerry Lynn! Check back for updates on the seminar, as well as who will be coming down to The Lock Up this spring and summer! For more info on the camp, please click here. - Schedule has been updated. - A great bio of Bam Bam Bigelow can be found by clicking here.

December 5th, 2006
OPEN TRYOUTS ON JANUARY 2nd!
- Brother Runt wants to know if you have what it takes? Open tryouts will be held on Tuesday January 2nd at The Lock-Up. This tryout is open to all males and females with any experience, if any at all! Please email SRicard@topropepromotions.com to sign up now!

July 28th, 2006
Fighting Spirirt, MTV's True Life & more!
- Fighting Spirit Magazine in the UK recently wrote about The Lock Up:
"Matt "Brother Runt" Hyson (or Spike Dudley, as everyone knows him) famously gave up his job working at a school to become a professional wrestler. Well, guess who's going back to write his name on the blackboard...? Top Rope Promotions announced the opening of The Lock Up Pro Wrestling School, with Hyson as head trainer. It's good that Matt's planning for his future, because after ripping up the ECW contract that WWE sent him on a TNA show, he won't be going back there in a hurry."
-The crew from MTV's True Life recently visited The Lock-Up to film for their upcoming October episode entitled "True Life: Sibling Rivalry".
- We are currently looking for ideas for a t-shirt. Anyone interested in helping, please contact us.

July 7th, 2006
DUE TO OVERWHELMING DEMAND, A SECOND ROUND OF OPEN TRYOUTS WILL BE TAKING PLACE ON WED. JULY 26th. Please visit our contact page and sign up now!

Watch a message from Matt Hyson by clicking here

Have you ever dreamed of being a professional wrestler? Do you believe you have what it takes to make it in the squared circle? Are you looking for the finest instruction and op
portunity a wrestling school can offer? Welcome to The Lock-up, Top Rope Promotions training facility.
Many wrestling schools offer different training techniques and prices. Most rely on partially trained wrestlers with little or no experience. Some schools make claims of having a person trained and ready for a match in as little as two months. Don’t kid yourself. Pro wrestling takes months of preparation to debut and years to master. Here at the Lock-up we don’t offer quick fixes to your wrestling dreams. We won’t tell you it’s easy or quick or painless. What we will offer you is the most complete training and best opportunity to begin and continue a career in pro wrestling.

What makes the Lock-up different from other schools? Let’s start with the head trainer. Matt Hyson, formerly Spike Dudley and currently Brother Runt, has over 13 years experience. He wrestled five years with ECW, five years with WWE and is a current member of the TNA roster. Throughout the wrestling community, he has gained the respect of his peers for his passion, knowledge and endless love of the sport. As a former school teacher, Hyson not only knows wrestling he knows how to instruct.
Training is not merely learning how to fall. To master the art, one must understand the mental aspect of wrestling. Here at the Lock-up your instruction will be both mental and physical. With a vast library of wrestling videos at our disposal, studying the craft will be as important as learning the maneuvers. Hyson’s knowledge, experience and understanding of the mental side of wrestling allow students a chance for a complete wrestling education.

Once trained, a student has far more opportunity to succeed at the Lock-up than most schools. Top Rope Promotions began 25 years ago and runs as many as 100 shows per year. Aside from guaranteeing a first match, all graduates will be on the Top Rope roster. Getting matches under one’s belt is the key to success. Many independent promotions run shows infrequently. Without the experience of frequent matches a young wrestler’s progression slows drastically. At Top Rope, all graduates will have the chance to wrestle many times in their first year. A wrestler’s first few years are the most critical. Top Rope will allow students an atmosphere to grow, learn and develop to complete wrestlers.
Aside from our promotion in Southern New England, Matt Hyson’s many connections with TNA, WWE, US independent and Japanese promotions gives student’s instant access to the often closed inner circle of wrestling. Getting discovered can be the hardest aspect of breaking into wrestling. With Hyson as head instructor that discovery is at your fingertips. And even if you never reach the elite levels of wrestling, a graduate is always welcome to continue their dream wrestling with Top Rope.
If you are willing to work hard, if you want to learn the complete game of wrestling, if you want the best teaching and opportunity to make your dream come true, than the Lock-up is the best pro wrestling school for you.