From Nightmare to mentor: Daryl's wrestling journey

DARYL Naidoo, known in the wrestling world as “Nightmare”, has transformed his childhood passion into reality despite humble beginnings.

From watching recorded WWF matches in primary school to establishing Durban’s wrestling scene and a successful tattoo studio, his journey exemplifies perseverance.

Now, even after battling cancer, Naidoo, 40, continues to nurture young wrestling talent through his World Wrestling Alliance. Naidoo’s love for wrestling began at an early age.

“I had a wild imagination growing up. Sadly, at the time there were not many privileges afforded to us. I came from a hard background, but I had amazing parents who always gave us what they could. We did not have luxuries like M-Net. While in primary school, one of my classmates, who lived in Malvern, recorded the old school WWF (World Wrestling Federation) on VHS (video tape) and brought it school. We had access to the school library, which had a TV and a cassette player, and he played the video for us.

“That is where I first saw Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior and all these old-school WWF guys like The Undertaker. I started looking at them as real-life super heroes, and that was when wrestling caught my eye. I was drawn to the sport. The seed was planted and I told myself repeatedly that one day I would to see myself in that ring. I was going to be a wrestler,” recalled Naidoo.

Growing up watching American wrestling, Naidoo said he missed the era of wrestling that took place at the Westridge Stadium in Durban. He said at the time, the great fan favourite Indian wrestlers included Gama Singh, Tiger Singh, Tarzan Govender, Tiger Ellappan, Flash Gordon and Fireworks Indrin.

In 2004, the then 19-year-old’s dream came true with the announcement of a WWE tour to South Africa.

“At the time there was no Uber, so I took taxis to The Workshop and walked from there to the Westridge Stadium. I arrived about four hours before the show. I was the first person in the arena. I was so blown away because it was the first time I attended a live wrestling match. There was no better feeling than watching a live wrestling event. I lost my voice that night. I stayed behind because I wanted to get autographs from the wrestlers. I was told that they were staying at the Hilton Hotel and were having an after-party.

“So once again, I walked from the Westridge Stadium to the Hilton Hotel. I met the stars again. It may have seemed like I was stalking them … but I was,” he said.

Naidoo said he eventually got to speak to show promoter, Shaun Koen, and told him that he was passionate about wrestling, and that it was his childhood dream to get into the ring.

“He told me that if I ever went to Cape Town, I was welcome to train with them. Unfortunately there was nothing available in Durban. This dampened my spirits,” he said.

Years later, following an advert for student wrestlers, Naidoo moved to Johannesburg to pursue his dream with WWP Thunderstrike. He was successful and featured on the series filmed for the SABC. Returning to Durban, Naidoo’s passion was fuelled by his time in Johannesburg.

“I came back home. While there were no wrestling opportunities in Durban, there was a huge fan base here.”

He said in 2011, a wrestling academy was set up at the Chatsworth Youth Centre with the legendary wrestler, Tiger Ellappen.

“We began training youngsters and promoting them with monthly shows. We brought kids from impoverished areas and shared a meal with them, put on a wrestling show, and gave them a chance to wrestle in front of live crowds,” Naidoo said.

Naidoo said an injury forced him to take a break from wrestling, but in that time, he developed a love for art. He recalled drawing a massive image of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on a wall at home when he was a little boy. He said during the school holidays and over weekends, he helped his parents at their flea market stall for extra income for their family.

“Opposite the stall, was a tattoo parlour and I watched customers walk in and out. Eventually I saved enough money and got my first tattoo there. And I just fell in love with everything related to tattoos.”

Naidoo said he did a course in tattooing and shadowed a few tattoo artists. Today, he owns a Chatsworth-based tattoo studio, Nightmare Ink with Subhadra “Scooby” Jakobi.

In 2019, Naidoo hung up his Nightmare cloak after an Renal Cell Carcinoma kidney cancer diagnosis. Fans were disappointed, but Naidoo explained that his health needed to be restored. However, his love for wrestling did not die.

Last year, he set up the World Wrestling Alliance (WWA) to promote, showcase and train young people keen on joining the wrestling world. The second annual match hosted by the WWA will take place on September 12 in Chatsworth.

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