From the back yard to the square circle

As two teenage boys trade punches in a backyard, a police car pulls up in front of the house and the officers make their way to the yard. When they arrive, the one teenager puts his arm over the other motionless body and a small crowd starts to count, but they only make it to two. The officers only came to fill the two empty seats by the homemade wrestling ring, adding two more spectators to the crowd of 14 people.

The backyard wrestling craze started when professional wrestling began appealing to teenage audiences. They imitated the violence that was being shown on television, resulting in injury, controversy, and commercials urging them "Don't try this at home."

Everyone heard the warning, but Robert "Johnny" Deppen and Ryan Yost. Deppen, 23, Yost, 21, and their friends have their own wrestling ring in their yard, and the police officers only come to watch with the friends and family of the wrestlers.

"They didn't know we used light tubes," says Deppen. As long as they are over the age of 18, don't charge a fee to watch, and follow the rules of the health department, there is nothing illegal about it. "The cops even posted on our website," says Yost.

The only time the wrestlers had to stop a match was when a neighbor called the health department on their "no-rope, barbed-wire match." If that doesn't sound brutal enough, here are some of the injuries that they have witnessed over the years: A torn ACL from falling on ice, a concussion from a power bomb outside the ring, broken ribs from a punch, stitches from broken glass, and a shattered wrist that now requires metal rods.

Why would anyone want to take part in such a dangerous activity?

"I do it to hurt people," says Deppen, trying to maintain his bad guy image. "I used to watch it on TV a lot and always said that I wanted to do it. I really liked watching Hogan, Owen Hart, Razor Ramon and what they did. Then my brother said he was doing it, so I went up to watch him and then the next week I got into it."

Yost never watched professional wrestling when he was younger, but became a fan when he saw his friends trying it out in their yard. "I didn't watch it too much because my parents were strict," says Yost. "But Deppen started doing it, so I would go up to watch and then I got into it."

They both agree that there is nothing better than the cheers of a crowd. "When you're real flashy, you make the crowd go crazy," says Deppen. "It feels great having that crowd cheer for you," said Yost.

It seems idiotic to risk severe injuries, but Deppen and Yost said that they were never seriously hurt and believe that they are safe in the ring. "We know how to do it and don't do anything too crazy," says Deppen. "You have to trust the other guy," says Yost.

"When I wrestled my brother, I took a 'Death Valley Driver' off the top to the outside ground," says Deppen. "I don't trust anybody to do that except him."

Safety also depends on practice and planning before you get into the ring. "When you think about it, that's when you get hurt," says Yost. "You have to focus on what's next."

Some family members and friends weren't supportive of Deppen and Yost's favorite hobby. Their parents and girlfriends always feared that they were going to get hurt. "My mom used to say that I was stupid," says Deppen. "But my dad and step mom loved watching wrestling and are supportive and come to watch."

Yost's parents recently changed their opinions on how their son spends his free time. "My parents weren't supportive when I was in the backyard, but when I went to the independent organizations they were all right because it was more professional," says Yost. "My mom still won't watch, but my dad will."

This past year, Deppen and Yost made the jump from backyard wrestling to the independent organizations when they joined the local wrestling organization in Mount Carmel, the Pennsylvania Championship Wrestling Alliance. The owner of PCWA, Greg Berezovske, known as G.I. Bear while inside the ring, was looking for new talent and attended one of their backyard shows. Deppen and Yost joined PCWA, along with most of the friends in their backyard organization and are two of the youngest trainees.

In PCWA, Deppen and Yost now go by Johnny Stantz and Ryan Venkman, the "Ghostbusters." Deppen is so into the gimmick that he recently had the "Ghostbuster" logo tattooed on his forearm.

Although the PCWA is an independent organization, it does not provide a constant paycheck and the audience still mainly consists of family and friends of the wrestlers. "If you're in it for the money, you're in the wrong business," says Berezovske.

The "Ghostbusters" certainly aren't in it for the money.

"Maybe gas money, but that's it," says Yost. "We just want one or two times a month to have a show and wrestle," says Deppen.

They aren't looking for fame either. "We just do it for fun," says Deppen. "I used to always want to go to the WWE, but I don't think I would anymore. You have to have a certain look on television, and if you don't you're a jobber."

Yost also prefers to stay in the independent organizations. "It's more fun in the independents," says Yost. "You can stay local and you still have freedom."

The "Ghostbusters" show the freedom and creativity that the independent organizations have to offer with their plans for their next show. "We want to have our next show in a firehouse," says Deppen. "We want to drive a car made to look like the 'Ecto-1' from the 'Ghostbusters' movies into the ring."

Professional wrestling is an industry that thrives on creativity and innovation, and the "Ghostbusters" prove that it doesn't have to look any further than the backyard for inspiration.

(This week's Insider column was penned by Mark Gilger Jr., a Lourdes Regional graduate and journalism student at Bloomsburg University)