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I'm a professional wrestler fighting through blood and broken ribs is worth it

EXCLUSIVE: Maddison Miles started off her wrestling 'journey' at just five years old - now 20 years later has wrestled in 11 countries and carved out a career for herself

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Maddison Miles has spent over a decade in the ring(Image: INSTAGRAM)

Wrestling is certainly not for the faint of heart. The cheering crowds and heart-pounding adrenaline rush of making an entrance aside, its a dangerous business.

The chance for injury is high under a month ago WWE star Kevin Owens had to kiss goodbye to his Wrestlemania slot after sustaining a neck injury that could see him out of action for a year. Even at the highest level where the best health care is affordable for stars, a stunt done wrong could end a career.

Maddison Miles, 25, a wrestler fighting up the ladder to the WWE one match at a time, spoke to the Daily Star about her often painful career. The conversation took place on the eve of Wrestlemania 41 and Maddison spoke from her hotel room in LA before setting off to compete in an indie wrestling event happening alongside the Greatest Stage of Them All.

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Maddison's had a long journey to get to where she is(Image: INSTAGRAM)

Maddison started her wrestling journey when she was five years old, around The Maritimes region of Canada where she hails from. Supported by her devoted father, she got the taste of what it takes to be a wrestler on the road early. Wed travel up to anything like seven hours to get to shows, she said. Id see behind the scenes, did merchandise at shows, ring set up and take down.

When I was 12 or 13 years old I started doing backstage segments and a bit of TV work and when I was 14, I was doing ring announcing.

I never thought Id be able to handle the pain at that stage I started off as a fan, she admitted.

Maddison started training with proper experts around the age of 15, but had to fight hard she was the only female at that level wrestling in her territory and was the youngest competitor by quite a long way. And when she started her training, Maddison realised she had a lot to learn.

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Now Maddison is wrestling in the shadow of Wrestlemania(Image: Getty Images)

When youre learning to hit the ropes, or hit the mat, people dont expect it to hurt that much. You have people wholl take themselves to the hospital because their ribs hurt so much, she said. When I was 15 my trainer accidentally cracked two of my ribs at one point, because Id made a point of wanting to be treated [just as roughly] as everyone else.

When she wrestles, Maddison puts her life in somebody elses hands.

The most important thing is keeping you and your opponent safe. When I wrestled here in LA I was in a match with eight other people Id never met and had 20 minutes before the event to put something together and talk a bit about it. But thats it.

You have 20 minutes to work out how safe or legit someone is someone youre trusting your entire life with. Although the majority of people I work with are absolutely fine, theres the odd jerk who knows theyre not being safe.

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Maddison's been in and around the wrestling world since she was five years old(Image: INSTAGRAM)

But thats the name of the game as a wrestler. Youll fly across the world and someone with a sign that says your name on it will pick you up. As a 16-year-old, that can be quite intimidating.

Maddison balanced learning how to keep herself safe on the road, both in and out of the ring, with climbing through the ranks of professional wrestling. In 2019 she wrestled in 11 different countries and was ranked the 74th best female wrestler in the world in a list published by Pro Wrestling Illustrated.

She even had a try-out for the WWE in Toronto, and although she didnt quite make the grade that time round, has high hopes of furthering her career.

I love what I do, she said. Ive suffered a few injuries in my time but its not for nothing. Ive learnt a lot.

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