FUTURE STARS
**Interview from Issue 9 of Westside Pro Wrestling Newsletter - May 2010**
WPW's Tez speaks to four young wrestlers making their way into the WA and Australian Wrestling scene. Former AAW WA State Champion, James Grace, former EPW Hardcore Shield holder, Gavin McGavin, NHPW’s big man, Kabel and SHWA’s new sensation, Crazy Train. Four rookies in different companies, and on
different paths, but all looking at bright futures on the WA wrestling scene.
WPW's Tez speaks to four young wrestlers making their way into the WA and Australian Wrestling scene. Former AAW WA State Champion, James Grace, former EPW Hardcore Shield holder, Gavin McGavin, NHPW’s big man, Kabel and SHWA’s new sensation, Crazy Train. Four rookies in different companies, and on
different paths, but all looking at bright futures on the WA wrestling scene.
CRAZY TRAIN
WPW: What made you want to become a wrestler and who were your influences? TRAIN: Ever since I was growing up I have always been a big wrestling fan, so when I found a federation in Perth, I was stoked. The biggest influences to me were guys like The Ultimate Warrior, Jake “The Snake” Roberts, “Macho Man Randy Savage, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and of course Hulk Hogan. WPW: How did you decide on the company you ended up with? TRAIN: I found out about the Southern Hemisphere Wrestling Alliance through a friend and tried out for it and, well, the rest is history. WPW: Had you been training for long, before you made your debut? TRAIN: I had been training for about three months before I made my debut. WPW: When you made your debut, what was the experience like performing in front of a paying audience for the first time and what do you remember most? TRAIN: It was a great experience being out there, I loved every second of it. I remember the surprising ovation I received from the crowd and how supportive they were. Even though I was not victorious on this night, the atmosphere around me made it all worth while. WPW: You have been getting a lot of crowd support and have become one of the most popular talents for SHWA in the short time since your debut. Even gaining victories over established guys such as Jarrad Slate, in a Match of the Month bout, and The Wraith. Could your debut year get any bigger? TRAIN: I am very thankful for all the support I have received from the crowd. It is very overwhelming. Yes, my debut year can get bigger. I just have to keep doing what I’m doing and winning my matches, and eventually I will be fighting for the SHWA Championship. WPW: What goals are you hoping to achieve in the business? TRAIN: I would love to wrestle interstate at some point through my career, and of course, I would really love to get my hands on some Championship Gold. GAVIN MCGAVIN
WPW: What made you want to become a wrestler and who were your influences? McGAVIN: It’s just something I’ve always wanted to do. Some kids want to be a fireman growing up, I wanted to do fireman’s carry’s. Then they want to be a cop when they are a little older, then when they are a little older still they want to be an accountant. For me, it was always a Pro Wrestler. If Pro Wrestling was on at the local PCYC I would have done it. Amateur was the next best thing, so I used that to tide me over. As for influences, I’m a textbook case of a wrestling fan of my age. When I was five I wanted to be Hulk Hogan. Once they stopped showing wrestling on Saturday mornings it became pretty hard to keep up with it. I wasn’t until High School that I got back into it. I was channel surfing and saw Raw late one Friday night. I was hooked again. This time I wanted to be Steve Austin just like every other teenager. In the last 10 or 12 years though I’ve become a huge fan of guys like Dean Malenko, Chris Benoit, and Eddie Guerrero. I think they are the guys I try to emulate the most. And of course guys like Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar who have been able to transition from amateur to pro are a real inspiration. I mean, neither of those guys amassed a record like 163-0, but they were pretty good amateur wrestlers none the less (laughs). WPW: How did you decide on the company you ended up with? McGAVIN: I had a friend training with Explosive Professional Wrestling so it was always in the back of my mind. To be honest I put it off for a little while because I thought I was too small. Once EPW heard about my impressive undefeated amateur career they approached me and asked me to think about it. I made my mind up when I was sitting in the crowd at Challenge Stadium, watching the finals to crown the first ever NWA Australian Champion. The quality of the guys in the ring was above anything I expected to find in this country. I didn’t care how big I was, I was going to win that belt some day. I never even looked into any other schools. I knew EPW was for me. WPW: Had you been training for long, before you made your debut? McGAVIN: I had been training nine months before my first match. That is nine months, four nights a week, three hours a night. There would usually be another training session on Sundays every couple of weeks as well. All of the amateur training gave me a good head start on the fitness but it was still bloody hard work. Nobody makes it into a wrestling ring unless they nearly kill themselves trying to get there. WPW: When you made your debut, what was the experience like performing in front of a paying audience for the first time and what do you remember most? McGAVIN: It was incredible. Even though I spent my entire life wanting to be a Pro Wrestler, never in a million years did I think it would actually happen. I remember being so nervous that I wanted to scream, so that’s what I did. I stepped through the curtain and let out an almighty roar. I was a bundle of nervous energy so I just started pacing up and down in the ring and doing squats and star jumps. The rest of it was basically a blur. Mainly because Jamie Jurah spent the entire match kicking me in the face. I do however vividly remember a “dogface gremlin" chant at some stage during the match (laughs). WPW: Re-Awakening 8 saw you become the first ever Hardcore Shield holder, in a match everybody expected KrackerJak to win. and have held the title since November last year. What was it like to get your first title win in front of such a big crowd and at the biggest EPW show of all? McGAVIN: Championship reign, day 153 (as of April 7th) (laughs). That was wild. The crowd was incredible that night and the match got a great reaction. When the ref handed me the shield it was the greatest moment of my life. You know that makes me undefeated at Re-Awakening right! Winning a title, any title, was a goal I set myself from the very beginning but I never expected to be the first ever Hardcore Shield holder within nine months of debuting. Let’s face it, my amateur background doesn’t exactly lend itself to the hardcore style. Although I think I have been able to adapt my style into a bit more of a hybrid now. Amateur Hardcore if you will. I think there is a T-Shirt in that (laughs). WPW: What goals are you hoping to achieve in the business? McGAVIN: Priority one right now is to keep a hold of my shield as long as I can. I’ve Got Goldrush 3 coming up on April 17th, funnily enough on day 163 of my title reign. So I’ve got to make sure I defeat the six other guys in my match and leave the Cyril Jackson Rec Centre still the champ (McGavin would lose the Hardcore Sheild, and received a nasty cut to the head requiring 17 stitches, after receiving a shot to the head with a clock). Long term I want to get my hands on any other titles I can of course. Looking at the names that have held the EPW title, it would be an amazing achievement if I could add mine to the list. I also want to wrestle internationally. The USA, the UK, and Japan are the big three I want to visit. No matter where I go though EPW will always be my home and helping to raise the profile of the company is the one common goal the entire roster shares. It's the greatest wrestling company in this country and we want to get our product out to as many fans as possible. I love Pro Wrestling so I’m going to do whatever I can do to help bring it to the masses in Australia. Check out Gavin McGavin’s Facebook page. |
JAMES GRACE
WPW: What made you want to become a wrestler and who were your influences? GRACE: Well I think like most in this business I have been fan since I was a young kid like four or five, and whilst everyone around me thought I would grow out of it I never did. I went from becoming a fan to becoming a student without even realising really! I love everything about wrestling, the passion, desire, dedication, the way it can take you completely away from reality and on a journey of emotions like no other show I've ever seen. As influences go I would have to say Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels are the best ever at doing what we all love. WPW: How did you decide on the company you ended up with? GRACE: Well as a younger kid I really liked both AAW and EPW to be honest, after I attended both training camps I just felt that AAW was the better choice for me, I felt there was more opportunities for young guys coming through at AAW, and they focused on lots of different sides of wrestling. WPW: Had you been training for long, before you made your debut? GRACE: Absolutely, you could say I was training when I was four, jumping off the roofs of cubby houses through piles of boxes! But I was going through the AAW school for about a year before I debuted, I think you have to be more than ready before you go out there, and like I’ve said before you never stop training. WPW: When you made your debut, what was the experience like performing in front of a paying audience for the first time and what do you remember most? GRACE: Well I remember hoping that my desire to show everyone what I could do and the story I could tell wouldn’t be crippled by my nerves, and that I would be the one they remembered at the end of the night, and not for being the skinny kid but for being the one who gave the most of himself for their money. WPW: You have currently held the AAW WA State Championship for five months of your seven month career. Has it added extra pressure on you to perform on a certain level consistently or are you relishing it as a challenge? GRACE: There is definitely pressure in the sense of I need to be one of top guys every night, not just at shows but after the shows and at training. But I am loving every minute of it, it is a great honour to be a champion so young and it has forced me to get my name known fast which I think has really help my performances. On top of that being the State champion means I have to defend against some of the best in Australia guys like Dustin Dice, who I beat, Blue Blood, who I beat, and Esteban Molina who mathematically is just the next guy to discover James Grace. When you're in the ring with that caliber of opponent you cant help but raise your game and learn on the job. WPW: What goals are you hoping to achieve in the business? GRACE: I already achieved them to be honest. No-one thought I’d debut, which I did, no-one thought I would have any amount of success, which I have, and I have already got Interstate and International bookings coming up in the next few months. My guess is that everyone who gets into the ring wants to make it two the big time WWE or TNA so obviously if that happens then great, but if not, I have told myself that within the next year or two I will be one of Australia's greatest ever. KABEL
WPW: What made you want to become a wrestler and who were your influences? KABEL: The Road Dogg was the reason I wanted to be a wrestler. At the first WWA event in Perth at the Entertainment Centre, he got on the mic, and in seconds had the crowd eating out of his hand. That’s when I knew I wanted to be a wrestler. As for influences, I would say Kane is my biggest influence, and you can see that in Kabel. The moves I use, the way I walk and even the mask, also Undertaker, Edge, Kevin Nash and A-Train. WPW: How did you decide on the company you ended up with? KABEL: I came to NHPW through Mana. I had been a fan of EPW for ages and had trained in the Dynamite Factory for over a year until I blew my knee out at work. (Later on) I had also had made inquiries to SHWA, through them I got in contact with Mana. NHPW for me had the biggest upside and had the best fit for me. WPW: Had you been training for long, before you made your debut? KABEL: I had the year or so with EPW’s factory, then about another three months on top of that with Mana in NHPW. EPW gave me the tools for wrestling, but NHPW polished them and showed me how to use them in a way I was comfortable with. WPW: When you made your debut, what was the experience like performing in front of a paying audience for the first time and what do you remember most? KABEL: I was nervous as hell! What I’ll always remember was hanging under the ring with Mange, waiting for our time to debut and it was so loud under there during the first match that we couldn’t hear anything and missed our cue. But the reaction I got when I slid out from under the ring and stood up and people were like "where the hell did he come from...holy shit, that guy is massive" that was cool. To get an instant reaction like that on my first time out was nice. WPW: You are one of the tallest guys on the WA scene along with EPW’s Richter, and one of the bigger, if not biggest guys on the NHPW roster, do you think your size is an advantage in making you stand out and get yourself noticed? KABEL: Lets get this right. I am THE tallest guy in not just the WA scene but the whole Australian wrestling scene. I’m 6’ 10”!! Richter, Seb Sander and even my tag partner Mange are only about 6’ 5”. When you’re so much bigger than everyone else people take notice. I just have to prove now that I’m more than just another lumbering giant. I can move and bump as well as or better than most guys in my size/weight range. The last thing I want is to be WA’s version of the Great Khali or the Big Show. WPW: What goals are you hoping to achieve in the business? KABEL: At this point I'm just trying to establish myself in NHPW as a contender and a draw. I would also like to stake my claim as the premier big man in Australia at some point and that’s gonna take some effort to achieve. Guys like Richter, Tapu and Wayne Mattei are the best big guys for a reason and if I can be considered on the same level as those guys at some point then I can think about bigger and better options. WPW: Thanks for speaking with Westside Pro Wrestling, guys. |