Jason Blake, 47, of Tupelo, Mississippi, took the concept of the traditional American "nuclear family" — mother, father, children — and ran with it. Then he put it in a headlock, gave it a suplex, and slammed it into the ropes.
Operating on the fringes of the professional wrestling marketplace, the Blakes have adopted a wrestling identity, as a sort of father-mother-daughter-son tag team. They call themselves — explosively, patriotically — "The American Nuclear Family."
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementOn Nov. 24, Blake — who uses the name "U.S. Jay" when he manages wrestlers in rural West Tennessee and North Mississippi — was star-spangled from head to toe. He wore American flag pants and an over-the-head red-white-and-blue wrestling mask, its eye holes cut through the spread wings of an eagle insignia.
His wife, Bay Blake, 39, was less flamboyant but also was dressed in red, white and blue. Meanwhile, the couple's 18-year-old daughter, Lilly Dutchess Blake, was more like Wednesday Addams than Betsy Ross, with black torn stockings and nose ring. "You've always gotta have a rebel child," explained Bay Blake.
But the star of the American Nuclear Family on this particular "Memphis Wrestling Kid's Camp" morning was Jason and Bay Blake's 7-year-old-son, who was christened with a name ready-made for the ring or some other celebrity arena: Jupiter Reign Blake.
"Juju," as he is called, wore an American flag cape. His long hair was in dragon braids. "Jupiter Reign, the Star-Spangled Stud," said the boy's daddy. "The first one-handed champion." In fact, due to a congenital condition known as amniotic band syndrome, Jupiter's right wrist ends in "what we call his nub," Jason Blake said.
Jupiter Reign Blake, 7, stretches with other campers as they are led by the wrestling coaches during the Memphis Wrestling Kid's Camp at the WrestleCenter in Memphis on Nov. 24.Asked if he aspired to be a professional wrestler, Jupiter said "Yes," with enthusiasm. "A wrestler or a popular YouTuber," he added.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementJupiter was not alone in his enthusiasm (for wrestling, at least). On the morning of Nov. 24, he was one of about a dozen young aspiring wrestlers and wrestling fans — boys and girls ages 5 to 14, from across the Mid-South — who participated in the first day of the 2025 edition of "Memphis Wrestling Kid's Camp," a two-day rumble of fitness and fun held at Dustin Starr's Memphis Wrestling WrestleCenter.
"End your summer with a BOOM!" was the come-on for the camp posted on the Memphis Wrestling website. In fact, "We don't do any punches or body slams or bumps," said Starr, 43. Instead, the emphasis is on "character creation" (kids get to imagine and enact their own wrestling personae); teamwork; and exercise, as professional wrestler "coaches" lead the kids in athletic drills.
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Wrestlers Xya Wolf and Sevyn Cruz take part in an exhibition match as campers try to help Wolf during the Memphis Wrestling Kid's Camp at the WrestleCenter in Memphis on Nov. 24.“We’re kind of tricking them into working out,” said Starr, as the kids were led in various exercises by such pro wrestler “coaches” as Xya Wolf (also a member of the Bizzness Dawgs tag team) and Ash Taylor (who manages the team of Nasty Nick and Jagged James, collectively known as Slaughterhouse).
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“We’re not teaching them how to wrestle, we just want them to have fun,” said Taylor (real name: Justin Norris), 30, who lives not far from the WrestleCenter, which is located at 3296 Winbrook Drive in Whitehaven. “We want them to be healthy." After all, "Even though some of us may not have chiseled physiques like Hulk Hogan in 1985, when you're a wrestler," he said, "you have to be able to move."
Ensconced in a sort of office park strip mall, the Memphis Wrestling WrestleCenter is hardly a standard business tenant. The lobby has a desk, but its walls are decorated with headlines, photographs and posters touting such all-star grapplers as Jerry "The King" Lawler and Sputnik Monroe. Tables offer wrestling "merch," and a counter sells such "Slammin' Snacks" as beef jerky, a "Pickle in a Pouch" and a Subway "Slamwich." The back room is both gladiatorial arena and television studio; it contains the 19-by-19-foot wrestling ring that for the past five years has been the stage for the Memphis Wrestling television show, which airs weekends on the WMC-TV Action News 5 Plus streaming service, and sometimes also on the parent WMC-TV broadcast station.
Memphis Wrestling owner Dustin Starr signs a championship belt for Sully Long, 11, during the Memphis Wrestling Kid's Camp at the WrestleCenter in Memphis on Nov. 24.WRESTLING NEWS: Memphis Hall of Famer Bruno Lauer talks WWE, The Rock and work as Mississippi alderman
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAs a sort of unofficial headquarters for current Memphis wrestling culture, the WrestleCenter is an attraction in its own right for wrestling fans and veterans. "You know King Cobra," said Starr, introducing the tall, dignified man who had just entered the lobby. "He pinned the King in December of '89, Mid-South Coliseum."
The man was James Kimble, 77, aka King Cobra, who may no longer be active in the ring but apparently is still in demand: As he shook hands, his phone, with its "Sanford and Son" theme ring tone, was blowing up. “Telemarketers,” Cobra explained.
Typically, more than a hundred fans crowd the WrestleCenter studio for the televised matches. “There’s not a lot of live entertainment with this level of interaction,” said Taylor/Norris, pointing out that wrestlers and fans are in tantalizingly close proximity in the studio-style space. “To see your favorite heroes and villains fight each other and be only five feet away, they love it. They love having someone to cheer and someone to boo.”
Wrestler Seyvn Cruz taunts campers as he is introduced as one of the coaches during the Memphis Wrestling Kid's Camp at the WrestleCenter in Memphis on Nov. 24.The "Kid's Camp," in fact, began with a reason to boo and cheer: an exhibition match between two of the "coaches," the comically villainous Sevyn Cruz (a "heel," in wrestling parlance) and popular symbol-of-strong-womanhood Xya Wolf (whose actual name is itself wrestling-worthy: Star Hamilton). Wolf won, even though, physically, she was overmatched: She's 5-foot-2 and weighs 100 pounds. Yet she was a dervish in the ring, bouncing off both the ropes and her opponent.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“I’ve always done splits and flips,” said Wolf, 27, who lives in Jonesboro, Arkansas “That’s why I spent most of my childhood on crutches.” In fact, she broke her arm in February during a match, she said.
For Blake, Cruz, Wolf, Taylor and most of the other adults, wrestling is a passion more than a livelihood (Wolf earns a regular salary working with kids with autism, while Mr. and Mrs. Blake work for a home company that removes mold and repairs water damage).
In fact, many Memphians who recognize Starr are unaware of his career as a professional wrestler and wrestling impresario: They know him as an in-arena host at Memphis Grizzlies home games and also as the crowd-hyping emcee for home games with the University of Memphis Tigers, the Memphis Redbirds and the Memphis Hustle.
Starr and the other adults are part of the wrestling community because they love it. And they enjoy working with kids who love it, too.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"I love the energy,” said Kid’s Camp attendee Cooper Groves, 11, who said his favorite wrestler was “Stone Cold” — i.e., “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, who essentially retired from wrestling before Cooper was born. “I watch his 2001 stuff,” Cooper explained.
Cooper already is making career plans to follow in Stone Cold's booted footsteps. He plans to call himself “Sean Steele — Steele with an ‘E’ at the end. I have this special move called ‘Stand Still,’ but I call it ‘Stand Steele.’ It’s kind of like a jackhammer and then I hit ‘em with a piledriver.” He continued explaining, with greater depth, but it was hard to keep up for those of us who have yet to complete even a single Memphis Wrestling Kid’s Camp.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis Wrestling's next superstars? Inside the ring at kids camp
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