Sport and artistic performance have a long, intertwined history. Despite this, they are so often regarded as separate.

This roundtable event brings together five academics/practitioners with a view to reimagining that most potent of presences in sport and performance: the body.

The contributors are Tom Dawkins (wrestler, as Cara Noir, contemporary performer and fitness coach), Claire Heafford (former UK gymnast and bobsledder, wrestler and performer), Dominic Malcolm (Reader in the Sociology of Sport and author of The Concussion Crisis in Sport), Gareth McNarry (Para-swimming lead at Loughborough Sport with a doctorate in swimming embodiment) and Claire Warden (Senior Lecturer in English and Drama and co-editor of Performance and Professional Wrestling).

They discuss a range of interests and concerns including pain, discomfort, the fraught notion of work, touch and haptic communication.

This event is part of Interface: a week of discussions and events that showcase interdisciplinary practice

In her own words, Heather grew up wanting to be a writer, and then accidentally became a Lucha libre wrestler aged 21. Since then, she has launched herself fully into a series of adventures, including writing feminist narratives on wrestling; and bringing jovial violence to London's cabaret scene.

We talk about anger as a creative force, wrestling as a form of feminist resistance, comedy, and of course Heather’s obsession with Cher.

This episode with Heather was both fascinating and joyful to record and we hope you enjoy listening to it.

Just a word before you listen into the episode, for those that may find such topics triggering, that the conversation contains reference to the experience of sexual assault.

Conor Heffernan is a formerly Assistant Professor of Physical Culture and Sport Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. In September he will start a new role at Ulster University in Northern Ireland.

Conor’s research focuses on the meanings of the body in nineteenth and twentieth century Europe and the United States. This includes the study of gender, race, nationalism, food and childhood.

Away from Academia, Conor is a regular contributor to health and fitness websites. At present, he contributes regular articles to Barbend.com as well as his own history of fitness website Physical Culture Study.

We hope you enjoy the episode. If you do, please subscribe and leave a review!

Sam Benjamin is an award winning actor known for his role in The War of the Worlds (2019), and his guest turns in Doctor Who (2005) & Peaky Blinders (2013). Recently he stared in the Netflix action movie I Am Vengeance: Retaliation (2020) along side former Wrestler Stu Bennet.

As well as acting, Sam is also a writer, director, and of course a massive wrestling fan! We discuss Sam’s career, the intersections between acting and wrestling, and a selection of Sam’s favourite matches, including Goldberg verse Hollywood Hulk Hogan!

As well as Tunisha's fascinating work and varied research, they discuss two of this years standout matches from WWE and AEW: Brit Baker and Thunder Rosa's Lights Out Match, and the first WWE WrestleMania Main Event to feature two people of colour - Sasha Banks and Bianca Blair.

This episode is the first in a new line of interviews where we will be joined by people working in and around the wrestling space, such as academics, actors, artists and film makers.

Over the course of around 90min we talk about the ideas behind the film, the making process, and various other topics including genre, style, and the differences between wrestling for the screen and wrestling for a live audience.

We discuss Spike’s acting background, the origins and inspiration for the Trivet character, as well the intersections between wrestling, cinema, and theatre. We also cover Spike’s seminal feud with Cara Noir in Resurgence, as well as his work for Brighton promotion Riptide.

Spike has some fascinating takes on wrestling, especially regarding character development, storytelling, and the importance of collaborating with wrestling promotions. I would highly recommend this episode to any wrestlers looking to develop their in-ring persona.

We hope you enjoy the episode as much as we enjoyed recording it. If you do, please subscribe, and leave a review.

We explore a range of themes including training schools, holiday camps, and issues highlighted by the recent speaking out movement. We also discuss some fantastic matches including the recent WrestleFriends story in pro-wrestling eve, which culminated in Jetta and Erin winning becoming the first Eve Tag Champions.

All the matches we discussed are available to watch via Pro-Wrestling Eve's video on demand: https://eveondemand.pivotshare.com/ and you can get a 7-day free trial.

He can be found tearing it up, up and down the UK for wrestling companies such as Pro Wrestling Chaos, Attack Pro Wrestling, Good Wrestling, Riptide Wrestling, Ambush Pro Wrestling and of course Wrestling Resurgence.

Outside of the squared circle, Mike Bird is the former head trainer at the prestigious Dragon Pro Wrestling school, he taught 'The Modfather' Flash Morgan Webster, The 'Dragonheart' Danny Jones, and many more. He is now the owner of Catch-22 Wrestling in Gravesend where he continues to train the next generation of professional wrestlers.

For this interview Mike set us 3 matches that influenced him as well as 3 matches that he feels best represented him as a performer! So, in the course of the episode we discuss The Southern Boys Vs the Midnight Express from The Great American Bash 1990, Bret Hart vs 1-2-3 Kid from Monday Night Raw 1994, and Kenta Kobashi Vs Kensuke Sasaki from Noah Destiny, 2005.

From his own body of work, we hear about his much loved Iron Man Match against Wild Boar Mike Hitchmen, his subsequent tag team with Wild Boar in Insane Championship Wrestling and two matches with fellow welsh wrestler Danny Jones including their epic championship encounter at Pro Wrestling Chaos from February this year. We finish with a chat about teaching, training and what its like to be a locker-room leader.