However much it may sound like it, this Saturday night scene falls short of World Wrestling Entertainment. On the other side of these four walls is a Hayward industrial plaza. Sanders' impending match against current heavyweight champion Kafu is taking place as part of the bi-monthly "Gym Wars" shows, which give students of the independent All Pro Wrestling School a chance to show off their skills and practice fighting in front of an audience.

A double life

By day, Derek Sanders goes by his real name, Justin Kerley. He is a 21-year-old Los Gatos resident who majors in sociology at San José State University and works at Joe Kerley's Lincoln Mercury on Stevens Creek Auto Row, one of a string of dealerships started by his grandfather.

Kerley says that as a boy he was mesmerized by Hulk Hogan on TV and wanted to start training to be a wrestler just like his idol. However, wrestling schools wouldn't take him until he turned 18, so instead he wrestled for Archbishop Mitty High School during his four years as a student there. However, he didn't completely leave his dream behind--in January of 2004 he found the All Pro Wrestling School in Hayward online and enrolled in beginners' classes.

"I thought, while I'm getting my degree, I might as well do something I like, too," Kerley says. However, what started as an enjoyable hobby has now become a passionate dream for Kerley.

Most APW students are required to go through the beginners' program twice, but Kerley says he showed so much promise that the owner and trainers passed him through to the "semi-pro" program after only one go-round.

Kerley says the semi-pro sessions are teaching him advanced moves such as body slams, and what they call "ring psychology"--how to act in the ring, how to be comfortable in the ring and in front of a crowd, and how to develop a charismatic "character."

"You learn how to keep yourself so you don't get tired in the first two minutes [of a match], how to control your breathing and how to control the match," Kerley says.

In addition to the proper skills, every aspiring wrestler also needs a "character"--therefore, Derek Sanders was born in 2004. Kerley says the owner of APW, Roland Alexander, and his bookers helped him design his alter-ego.

"They thought I looked like the all-American boy, so they came up with 'The Heart of Fire, Derek Sanders,' " Kerley says of the persona he has adopted for the wrestling world. He says his mentors thought Derek Sanders was the ultimate name for a blue-eyed blond American boy, and that it effectively conveyed a fighter with a lot of energy, like "a ball of fire."

"Wrestling skills are part of it, what makes a wrestler successful, what it takes--but it's also the look, the charisma, the character. It's a whole package," Kerley explains.

On his way to the big time

With his character complete, Kerley could continue moving forward.

"I think I'm progressing really well. I only trained for eight months and then debuted [in my first Gym Wars match] in November of 2004. That was a quick debut."

Kerley remembers his first match well.

"I was nervous as all hell, but it was cool to get out there," he says. For Kerley, even cooler than that was winning that first match, with no mistakes and no injuries, he says.

Today, 10 months later, Kerley has continued to prove himself a promising independent wrestler, and has earned quite a few fans at the regular bi-monthly matches. Nerissa Pressley, who attends nearly every Gym Wars show, says Derek Sanders is definitely her favorite.

"He's cute," she said during a Gym Wars match on July 23. "But it's also his wrestling moves; he's a great wrestler. Plus, he's there for his fans; he's very supportive of us." Kerley is known for sticking around after the shows and autographing color photographs for members of the audience.

Mark Dorighi, who went to high school with Kerley, is proud to see his buddy getting out there, and remembers what a passionate wrestling fan he was as a kid.

"In high school, we'd always wrestle and pretend to do this kind of stuff, and he always really got into it," Dorighi said before the July 23 match. Dorighi says that out of all the APW wrestlers, "I think he's the best one out there. He's in the best shape, and he's the best looking."

Layne Patrick and Nick Gudgeon of Los Gatos, who also attended the match, couldn't agree more. "He's electric. He's a crowd favorite. He warms the heart of all his fans," Gudgeon says. "He's charismatic and magnetic," Patrick says. "He's a god."

It's not just the fans who think Kerley has what it takes to make it as a wrestler--Kerley's booker and promoter, Gabriel Ramirez, says professional wrestling organizations such as WWE and Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling are already starting to take notice of the budding star.

"He's got a great look, he's hungry. Right now, he's getting a lot of publicity," Ramirez says, adding that Kerley got a call from ECCW just a few months ago and representatives flew out for a match. "They really liked his look, his body, and they thought he had a lot of charisma in the ring."

WWE called APW recently and asked that the school send its four best male wrestlers to a show being taped in Sacramento over the Fourth of July weekend. From time to time, WWE needs wrestlers for a non-televised match during the show, called a "dark match," or, in this case, WWE needed wrestler "extras" for a particular fight when WWE star "The Undertaker" would be attacked by four masked men.

Kerley was one of the wrestlers APW sent. He got paid to travel to Sacramento, and although he wasn't used in the show, he says it was a pretty exciting experience nonetheless.

"They basically paid us to hang out backstage and meet our idols," he says. The best part? He got to meet his all-time favorite, Hulk Hogan. "It was awesome," Kerley says.

Kerley was also sent to Las Vegas a few months ago to attend a convention and two-day training seminar at the Cauliflower Alley Club. At the end, the organization picked the 30 attendees they thought showed the most potential to be professional wrestlers, and put them in a match. Once again, Kerley made the cut.

However, wrestling isn't all cheering fans and winning matches. As many of the APW wrestlers will attest, the sport can come with a fair amount of injuries. Kerley has been lucky in that department, and has only suffered a strained ankle and a few bumps and bruises so far--except for those trademark powerful, open-handed fist slaps that champion Kafu loves to deal to his opponents' chests. This move is known to leave deep welts and occasionally cause bleeding. However, that has pretty much been the worst of it, Kerley says, which is more than Tiffany, one of APW's two female wrestlers, can say. Tiffany just returned to the ring after suffering a broken nose a few months ago. Tiffany says she was the victim of an ill-planned body slam to the face.

A promising future

Alexander, the owner of APW, says he can definitely see Kerley going far in the wrestling world.

"I think he's got a lot of potential. Wrestling fans look up to wrestlers because they're different," he says, explaining that he thinks Kerley's muscularity, ability, charisma and talent for interacting well with his fans all add up to a winning combination in that regard. "A wrestler is like an orchestra conductor--you have to bring the crowd up, and then bring the crowd down."

Kerley appears to excel in all those areas, which he proved on July 23 when, during the Gym Wars show, he and his tag-team partner Nate Rulez defeated the APW heavyweight champion Kafu and his partner Antonio Mestre from Brazil.

Kerley says he doesn't know how far his wrestling will take him, and he knows what a long road it can be to the top, but he's willing to keep working.

"It's a slim chance [I could make it into WWE], but there's always the chance," he says. "I'm not just going to quit after two years; I'm not going to give up. I'm not going to say it's impossible."

It certainly seems like Kerley has a strong group of people behind him, who don't think it's impossible, either.

"I'm proud of him; he's working really, really hard. I hope it materializes soon, so he sees that all the hard work can pay off," Ramirez says. "If he sticks to his dream, we all believe he has a bright future."

Visit www.allprowrestling.com. DVDs of some of the Gym Wars shows are available online and at most Fry's Electronics stores.