In her previous series for RTÉ2, Angela Scanlon explored different aspects of life in modern Ireland – including extreme make-overs, getting fit, and dating in the age of I-Phone hook-ups. In her new series Close Encounters, Angela spends time with a number of individuals who interest, annoy or intrigue her. Each episode covers roughly one day in the life of each of those individuals, and Angela brings her own sense of fun, warmth and curiosity to all of them.
In the first episode, Angela travels to San Jose in Southern California to meet up with “Sheamus” – the first Irish-born superstar in the world of pro-wrestling. Sheamus’s real name is Stephen Farrelly, and he comes from Cabra on the northside of Dublin. He has been part of the World Wrestling Entertainment circuit for the past six years, and has held the world championship title on three separate occasions.
Professional wrestlers usually come in two basic character types: good guys and bad ones. Sheamus started off as a good guy, but last season he “turned heel”, as they say, adopted a Mohawk hair cut, braided his beard, and became the sort of villain that wrestling fans love to hate. Sheamus loves his new double-crossing, back-stabbing evil persona.
As a pro-wrestler, he follows a punishing schedule – on the road for months at a time, and in the ring 3 or 4 times a week. Injury is never far away, and Sheamus has been hospitalized on a number of occasions. In San Jose, he was in the ring with his current “feuding” partner, Randy Orton. They fight each other almost every week: sometimes, Randy wins – sometimes, it’s Sheamus’s turn. In this episode, Angela goes backstage to follow the build-up to a so-called “grudge match” between Randy and Sheamus.
“Pro-wrestling has its critics”, Angela says, “who claim that it’s all fake, and not a proper sport at all. But the passion of the fans is certainly real, the injuries are also real – and, above all, the entertainment is real.”
In future episodes, she meets Jason Byrne, Katie Hopkins and Dawn O’Porter.