I purposely didn’t post this on April 1 because it could be too easily seen as an April Fool’s Day Joke. It isn’t.

On a recent trip to Mt. Carmel, as I was driving a group through the Druze village of Daliyat al-Karmel, I noticed what I thought was a “rassling ring” behind a building just off the main road. I didn’t really believe it could be, but I was certain enough of what I thought I saw that I pulled over, grabbed my camera and told my group, “Wait here, I’ll be back in a minute. I think I saw a rassling ring.” Of course, that sounds so bizarre, that none of them believed me, but a few got out to see what it really was that I saw.

As it turned out, what I saw was, in fact, a rassling ring in the back yard of a home in a Druze village. When I first got in place to see the ring, one of the guys had a mask on, which, I guess is part of his rassling persona. However, once he saw me, he moved out of sight and removed his mask before coming back into sight. I didn’t get close enough to talk with them, so I have no idea if they are part of “the show” in America or somewhere else; or if they are simply training to get a chance at a show. From what I saw, I’m guessing they are not yet in “THE show.” 

In the photo sequence below, you can see the two rasslers and an apparent trainer (relaxing against the ropes).

In photo one, the smaller rassler on the right has just been thrown into the ropes and is rebounding toward the larger man coming into the photo from the left (previously in a mask). In photo two, the larger rassler is administering a “flying drop kick” to the head of the smaller rassler. Well, sorta: you can see that he needs more practice, because his kick came up a couple feet short of his intended target. However, to his credit, the missed kick was so powerful that he was still able to knock the smaller rassler down, as can be seen in photo three. Perhaps he isn’t so far from the show, after all.