TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — With his opponent at his feet, pro wrestler Ben Bishop’s eyes cut through the ropes to front-row fans at the Crimson Clash wrestling event at Two Dimes.
Despite towering at 6-foot-10, Bishop’s grin wasn’t evil, but curious. Before offering the crowd the main course of his body-slamming showdown, he had just one warning:
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“Here comes Big Trouble.”
“The Alpha” Alexander Lincoln got the win on Thursday, Sept. 11. Still, the man also known as Ben Crenca lived up to his tagline.
Outside rings littered with Legos and doors waiting to be smashed, “Big Trouble” Ben Bishop is Ben Crenca, a former college basketball player at Vermont who went from grappling in the paint to the squared circle.
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How did Vermont basketball player become ‘Big Trouble’ Ben Bishop?
Crenca’s four years with the Catamounts ended in 2013. Afterward, he knew the pros weren’t an option.
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The big man’s freshman season ended early due to a knee injury that left him struggling for the majority of his career. He was at his healthiest during the 2011-12 season, when Bishop made 14 starts and appeared in 32 games as Vermont went 24-12. His role in helping the team win the America East Conference Tournament and securing an NCAA Tournament bid saw Crenca return for an injury-riddled senior season as team captain.
After graduation, the one-time McDonald’s All-American Game nominee became, he says, a “regular person” − with a brief stint playing Australian rules football for the USAFL Baltimore Dockers.
“I wanted to do something else. I just didn’t know what to do,” Crenca said. He had always loved wrestling, but didn’t know how to get into the sport.
That changed in 2019 when he attended an independent wrestling show in Maryland.
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“I was just standing there as a fan and a former WWE wrestler Duane Gill, known as Gillberg, came up to me and said, ‘Who are you?'” Crenca recalled. “I said, ‘I’m just Ben.'”
Gill saw more than “just Ben” and introduced Crenca to WWE alum James Ellsworth. With the help of the ex-big leaguers, Crenca was training the next day. His ring name wasn’t far behind.
Crenca is a “cheap ’80s movies” buff, a fan of directors like John Carpenter and movies like “They Live” and “Escape from New York.”
One day at training while discussing the 1986 film “Big Trouble in Little China,” Crenca’s colleague dubbed him with his ring name.
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“So I really compare my character to Jack Burton − he’s kind of like an anti-hero, a lovable jerk,” Crenca said. “I just never wanted to get into the super-serious monster that everybody wanted me to be as a big guy.”
What does future hold for Catamounts alum Ben Crenca?
Two years ago during alumni weekend, Crenca’s Vermont teammates finally saw “Big Trouble” live in Burlington, Vermont.
“They loved it. They’ve known I was a fan my whole life, so when I’ve been following a dream, they just think that’s so cool,” Crenca said. “I wouldn’t trade my experience at Vermont for anything in the world.”
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John Becker, Crenca’s coach at Vermont, has attended his former player’s wrestling appearances in Vermont. Becker said “he’s always been a larger than life character” who remains a Catamount for life.
“I’ve just been impressed by his work ethic, passion and skill for wrestling,” Becker said. “His social media content is really well done and hilarious. I also appreciate he is a guy that has stayed connected with the program.”
Before he was “Big Trouble” in the ring, Ben Crenca was a college basketball player at the University of Vermont.
Crenca is grateful to have gone injury-free since college. Healthy at last, he rose to the ranks of auditioning for the WWE, although the tryout didn’t pan out as Crenca had hoped.
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Undeterred, Crenca continues finding ways to put himself on star-studded cards and bigger stages, whether by introducing his social media following to viral characters like “Tribal Keith,” or his acting debut in an upcoming film “Gentle Giants.”
“The wrestling itself is great, but the performance aspect of it … I love performing. I’ll do it here in Tuscaloosa. I’ll do it in Pocahontas, Tennessee,” Crenca said.
“Wherever it may be, wherever it takes me.”
Emilee Smarr covers Alabama basketball and Crimson Tide athletics for the Tuscaloosa News. She can be reached via email at esmarr@gannett.com.
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Burlington Free Press Staff Writer Alex Abrami contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: How Ben Crenca went from Vermont college basketball player to pro wrestler