When Grit met Ballet, Violently

By Renee (@phoenix_renee on Twitter)

© Photography by Attack! Pro Wrestling

Much like ballet, violence itself is an art form. There is beauty in such emotion given to action and there is something timelessly compelling about the endurance of the human spirit. The visceral visuals of violent art shortcuts to an instant connection with any human viewer. And I’d wager it could appeal to any somewhat sentient creature. Possibly nothing in all of performance is as clear in what it communicates than the blood on the face and welts in the skin of a pro wrestler. Everyone has a reaction to seeing such physical effect. I am a clumsy person and end up seeing my blood more than I’d hope to and yet every time my brain seems jolted. Something sets off in my mind and I notice it as something serious. The same is true when I see a wrestler bleed. Whether it be buckets of fluid pouring out of the face of Luke Jacobs or Connor Mills bleeding red tears out his cheek. Blood can communicate so much for us. Dramatic tribulations or righteous punishment, it represents what a competitor is willing to inflict on an opponent. And moreover, what they are willing to go through to win.

Bruises and welts are much the same, if perhaps more subtle. A babyface valiantly wearing the expressions of the damage inflicted unto them or a heel receiving tangible and visible comeuppance, is an undoubtedly effective way to elicit reaction from the audience. Theatre performances have been using all kinds of tricks to portray physical wear and tear for centuries. Wrestling, however, physical as it is sometimes needn’t deceive. And can instead work with real, genuine ghastly effects to tie its story to a real thing an audience can see. I am never not going to feel something when I see talent bleed, or get chopped so hard as to leave a mark. Must they, to gain my attention? No. But will it always be theirs if they do? Yes.

Someone who captured my attention from the first opportunity at my first ever britwres show was ‘True Grit’ Connor Mills. A man seemingly constantly on the cusp of being the guy on the scene and few would deserve the spot more. Perhaps one of the most ubiquitous and diligent talents on the scene who is able and willing to bring everything he has to every match he has, be it in front of a couple dozen fans or a few thousand. The epitome of violence interweaving unforgiving strikes with immaculate and detailed limbwork and technique. The violence and intensity he brings means that a win over Mills is earnt. And a loss is endured. I truly believe he can drag the best out of an opponent through his dedication to hard-hitting, nail-biting, intense pro wrestling.

‘The Prima’ Tommy Vril immediately seems a stark contrast, however on further consideration holds more similarity to Mills than one would expect. I have covered the question of “who is Tommy Vril?” in a prior piece. But what I say is that Vril is, perhaps more than anyone, a commodity. In that, quite simply, no one wrestles how he does. No one moves how he does. Building upon a strong and rich background in dance, a physical medium of art that bears more similarity to wrestling than the average consumer of either would realise, Vril has developed a style that is as compelling as it is refreshing. Ballet can be as testing and physically intensive as wrestling in its ways. Ways that Vril is more than likely to know all too well, and he brings as much power and viciousness as he does poise.

Connor is no stranger to Attack Pro Wrestling, and as Attack makes a rare trip to Connor’s home of London this could so easily be his night. While not ever officially pushed as a ‘gatekeeper’, I do get a sense that Connor is good at making others prove themselves. Someone as accomplished and close to the summit as he is good for assessing and testing the next up on the scene. This match taking place not long after Connor and his ‘Diamond Eyes’ teammates (Nico Angelo & Jay Joshua) took on the trio of Vril, Shane Hook, and Leon Cage at New Wave Wrestling in a match that seems to highlight the former group’s transition into being stalwarts of the scene who can uplift and benefit the younger members of the scene. That is to say, I do not think there to have been a single person occupying the space under the arches of London Bridge that night who wasn’t well aware of who Connor Mills is. Circumstances that would only serve to increase the confidence of a man who commonly enters with a face so confident you could believe that he believes the match to be already as good as won. Which, despite his opponent coming in with a vast amount of momentum it is very possible he was considering the match to be in his favour.

The road Tommy Vril took to ‘Live Under The Arches’ was one directly through The Royal Black Swan Cara Noir. A match whose significance can be read about in further detail here, in which Vril secures a decisive win over one of the most enigmatic, powerful, and successful talents in britwres. With the momentum of that and looking forward to a championship match when Attack ends up back in its home of the Cathays Community centre in Cardiff, The Prima is not necessarily an underdog here. But once again, a win against Connor Mills is hard-fought and earnt. Underdog or favourite.

https://medium.com/@wrestlingodyssey/five-course-graps-3-tommy-vril-83947e226362

While I feel when I discuss Vril I am pretentiously proclaiming that I am seeing something others are not, which isn’t quite the intention, moreover I see something not being mentioned and wish to ensure that it is noticed by most. Because once again I just think there is more than meets the eye. Something that even I failed to note in my prior piece. While I described Cara as being violent I said that in opposition to Vril. Implying, disingenuously, that as an artist he is not the violent sadist Cara is. Which does Tommy a disservice. Because an artist aims to excel in their medium. A ballerina achieves this through their grace and control. And while a wrestler also creates art through movement, there is another facet to it (much as I am sure there are more facets to dance that I simply do not know enough to be aware of). Violence. Wrestling in its most simple form features two competitors in combat, attempting to best the other. And the art of that is violence, a word that the Cambridge dictionary defines as “actions that are intended or likely to hurt people or cause damage”. Which of course makes sense. To succeed in such a contest one must damage an opponent and render them unable to continue or incapacitated. But once again it is far deeper than this. Violence and blood, it is all the result of emotions. Even a relatively by the numbers first round match of a tournament has the underlayer that both competitors wish to advance and the only way to do so is to go through the other.

Most violence, especially in wrestling, happens because someone wants something. Despite ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin saying he ‘needs’ to beat The Rock. That line is hyperbole. It’s Austin’s desire to recapture the WWF championship and specifically take it from the man who took his spot at the top, leads to the pain and punishment inflicted upon Rock in the No Disqualification match at Wrestlemania X-Seven. Brutal, unrelenting violence is unleashed upon The Rock, so-much-so that the crowd began to turn against Austin. They lose their faith in him due largely to his alliance with the chairman but the reason he does all this is because he wishes to be the WWF Champion. But he can’t, because The Rock is. Many believe The Rock is better than him. And he can’t accept it. And that is why he hurts The Rock.

You needn’t have ever been in a fight (either real or scripted) to understand the necessary force of emotion that it could take to inflict violence on another person. I myself have, once, been in a martial arts sparring match. Me versus another combatant. I was punched in the face (despite such a strike being against the rules of the contest) and had to keep going. That was of course a very real example of a fight, but it was also held under a strict set of rules. I had no specific quarrel with my opponent; it was simply a sporting contest. However, within the fictitious world of pro wrestling it’s easier to imagine that with its characters, animosity can brew and the emotions and motivations of its characters lead to volatile situations. Characters are, of course, multifaceted. Not as much as real people are. And not in the same way. But they are (or can be) deep and interesting. Characters, though, serve a role. A purpose in stories. They exist for reasons. People however, just simply exist. And thus the motivation and reasoning behind characters is specifically designed with an intention. In wrestling this oft leads to violence. In the case of Mania X-Seven, the violence is brought about because one man wishes to be better than the other. At Wrestlepalooza 1997, however, the motivations are a bit more personal.

The ‘loser leaves town’ match between Raven and Tommy Dreamer from that show is one of the most iconic and defining matches in ECW history as part of its defining rivalry. It is also cited as a large inspiration of Tommy Vril in this article (Shibruva, 2026). Raven’s arrival in ECW was epic. Being foretold for weeks he descended on the company with a unique look and unnerving presence. And not long after he arrived, he set his sights on Tommy Dreamer. Because, the story went, Raven and Dreamer had known each other prior. Among other influences like the tales Raven tells about his father and the effect that had on him, he expressed his hatred of Dreamer. Because allegedly Dreamer had mistreated Raven when they were both kids, bullied the social outcast. He admonished Dreamer for the actions he had taken and how he’d made Raven hurt. And so that is why Raven hurts Dreamer. The match as Vril puts it “building meaningful and emotional connections and feuds that culminate in a brutal match fans are begging to see”. Because that’s what it is all about, wrestling is an entertainment medium built off of building a story that leads to a match that people want to pay to see. And for a lot of us, that interest is born from emotion and the such hatred required to take and inflict the abhorrent punishment that both Dreamer and Raven experience.

As I could attest, competing in combat is not overly difficult. But as our look into Raven proves, hurting someone and desiring to hurt them because you think they deserve it, or you think you deserve whatever you may get out of it, requires something different. A different strength, a different resolve.

When Connor Mills and Tommy stepped to each other under the arches, both had surprisingly similar motives. In a tale as old as wrestling both these men want to be the best. They want to be the champion. And last time out, at Attack, Connor had been able to defeat previous Attack! Pro Wrestling champion James Ellis. Ellis was, in fact, one of the more recent champions only losing it to Kanji in December of 2025. He held it for two hundred and eight days, so if his match with Connor had happened anytime between May 18th and December 12th Connor would be the champion. Wrestling, of course, doesn’t work like that. But it’s important to see this as another almost moment. A moment that establishes Connor as being close to the title that both him and Vril wish to stake a claim to.

Tommy meanwhile cannot plainly be described as wishing to create art. He is, don’t get me wrong, but as we’ve established violence is an important part of the art wrestler’s make. And so Tommy Vril wants to hurt Connor Mills. It is also possible that he, however, is not overly concerned with being hurt or having violence inflicted upon him. This could be because he knows his art only gets better when he endures pain, and as long as he still exits the other side as the victor, it suits his goals. Because he is ‘the Prima’, a name he attributes to himself. Assuming the title that connotes his importance as the most talented and important artist in the scene. A fact he wishes to prove. A fact he may only prove by defeating Connor Mills on his way to becoming Attack! Pro Wrestling champion.

Early into the match, commentary highlights that Connor Mills ‘has been wrestling for longer than you think’ and in the same breath says that Tommy Vril is ‘surprisingly early in his career’ and visually we immediately see the men grappling. Testing each other’s mat game establishing the prowess and experience of both men early on because I have heard so many say, Tommy Vril wrestles like someone who has been wrestling for longer than he has. Which happens in sports. Sometimes people are just talented but that always will come with the question of how far talent can take you. Does it make a difference when you are against an opponent who has had longer to hone their own skills.

An advantage Vril has (both in his appeal as a performer but also in the narrative of this or any contest) is no one moves like he does. His uniqueness makes him dangerous because that is harder to deal with. However he starts this match on the back foot. Connor, being more experienced is able to adapt and keeps his plans to target Tommy’s limbs not giving his opponent time to breathe. He’s even able to quickly switch up holds to ensure that Vril does not have an opening to get the upper hand. The momentum Vril has following his win against Cara Noir is not a secret and Mills is not stupid enough to take his opponent lightly. The crowd’s support is more loudly in favour of The Prima, a fact that Mills does seem to notice and does seem to play on his mind. He is seen trying to quieten them down and generally stifle their enjoyment of the match out of spite. Because assumedly in Connor’s mind there is no way that this guy who is still in the early days of his career deserves to get the shot over him. He evokes classic British style harkening back to the WOS days fluidly making Vril fall for some of the oldest tricks in the book to establish that before the pair get to the stage of unabashed violence. Here in the opening, in first gear, Connor Mills is outwrestling Tommy Vril. Though as Mills reaches his stride and starts to lay in some of his rather hard-hitting and almost mean-spirited offence, Vril bridges out of a pin attempt and looks back as if to as say ‘It isn’t going to be that easy’.

Not a word need be spoken between the two to establish the frustration of Mills and the smug defiance of Vril. It is just a perfect evolution of our established starting point of the two potential championship contenders vying for control.

It is, I believe, this moment that incites the proper grit and violence from this match as Connor tries to show Vril up again but gets rocked by a loud overhand strike from The Prima. In less than four minutes we have seen how the match evolves from just a contest and the motivations of inflicting pain creep in. Because as discussed, unless you are a raving lunatic there has to be a reason to wish that upon someone and the two have antagonised each other enough to incite violence. However in violence is art and here we unlock another level of good out of this match.

Because as wrestling fans we are partial to violence. Even if you disagree and say you are watching simply for results and to see your fave win, they likely cannot achieve that without inflicting pain. This pain is of course in a sporting context so happens under a ruleset and in the presence of a referee. But there is not wrestling without violence and violence can be art. While both are fighting hard, Vril is fighting from under which is allowing him the twisted ‘benefit’ of not having the option of slowing down. Because Mills is in control he is able to catch his breath, get lax, and get comfortable. Vril is being forced to fight tooth and claw because any second he doesn’t is the match lost and possible damage to any one of his limbs. Mills is at no point ready to be put on the back foot because at no point is he expecting to be. He is repeatedly being surprised by the resilience and power of Vril and in turn having to raise his tempo to try and regain his control.

As both wrestlers, and the crowd, are learning. These two are more alike than we knew. While he is more artistic than Connor, Tommy also boasts a high technical prowess and explosive strikes. Both men have seemingly boundless cardiovascular reserves. And the ability to take as much brutal offence as they provide and get up each time. While wrestling may be ballet, the artistic movements of ballet are held by Tommy Vril only here. While it’s safe to say that both have shown an amount of grit.

The match is taken to an extreme. Mills has been unable to keep Vril down and his opponent only seems to come back with more ferocity each time so he takes Vril up to the top rope to finish it from there. But Tommy has enough energy to escape and hits his own kill shot on the ring apron. And then once more in the centre of the ring to secure the win.

It could have gone either way, to be clear. Much as in many sports, and often combat sports, you can make reasons or excuses on the behalf of each side. But at the end of the day every wrestling match is won because one party bested another. Maybe Connor was too lax. Maybe he could have been more on top of things. Maybe he really did underestimate The Prima. But to entertain such a thought is to ignore the simple base line fact, Tommy Vril beat Connor Mills. He got his opponents shoulders down for a three count. Both men had the same amount of time and opportunity to do so but it was Vril who was successful.

This match is art as much as it as violence, so much so that the lines blur and I do not distinguish the two. In a great professional wrestling match you can always see this and see the provocation and expression in red handprints and well-sold limbs. This is one of the finest and most compelling matches I have seen recently for these reasons and perfectly shows what I mean when I call wrestling art. If you don’t see what I see now, you perhaps never will. That being said, as pretentious as I sometimes am, sometimes it’s just cool to see two people hit each other increasingly hard.