Dear Wrestling,
In my digging around for the other letters from the feud with Generico, I managed to dig up something I didn't even know existed: columns Kevin wrote for his website back around 2011--or at least, that's when the Internet Wayback Machine snagged them.
Finding stuff like this, maybe it's not the only thing I can give to the wrestling community, but it's probably the best thing. I can't draw or paint, I haven't nearly got my 10,000 hours in writing yet. I can't even recognize faces, so match reviews are right out.
I'm pretty good at research, though.
A gentle warning before you proceed: two of these columns are about wrestlers who passed away. One took his own life, although this isn't mentioned--if you look him up, like I did, it's there. Trust your gut, folks.
(As with Kevin's Letters 2, these were pulled from the ruins of steenwrestling.com)
****************************************************************
Tough
In my line of work I have met countless guys who I would describe as tough. Actually, every wrestler is tough, no doubt. But there's tough, and then there's really tough. Like the Briscoes, Austin Aries, Bryan Danielson, Super Dragon and so many others. Then there's the tough motherfuckers like Nigel McGuiness, Steve Corino and Eddie Edwards.
I'm not really sure which of those two categories I'm a part of. I've never been knocked out in my entire life even though I have never put my hands up to try and block any shot, kick or weapon thrown at my head or face in the last ten years. I've been wrestling with a torn up knee for about 3 years. I guess that could make me a tough motherfucker...but then again, who hasn't wrestled hurt. Eddie Edwards for instance, became an instant hero in any ROH fan's heart when he hid the cast on his arm from the New York State Athletic Commission all night so that he could be part of the Ladder War II. Everyone knows that by now. Steve Corino has been wrestling for months with a fractured elbow, partly torn tricep and a vicious infection in that same arm. Nobody would know it from looking at him work, though.
The other day I was at my doctor's office, in the waiting room and I was watching some MMA on my iPod touch. They were talking about how tough this one particular fighter was and I then saw him get knocked out in 22 seconds right after the announcers were praising his ''great chin.'' It got me thinking about what makes someone tough. What makes someone really tough. And what makes someone a tough motherfucker. As I was leaning towards officially putting my name in the third column, thinking with pride about how many superkicks I could take before finally being put down, and elderly man came into the waiting room. He must have been at least 80 years old. He was bent over, putting as much of his weight as he could onto the walker he was using to get around. The 12 feet between the door and the secretary's office must have taken him a good 2 minutes to complete. When he got up to the office I watched him struggle to get his wallet out and get his Medicare card. I watched as he politely asked the secretary for an appointment. When she said there's no way the doctor would be able to see him that day, he said that was fine, any other day would work. She told him to hang on, she'd be back with him in a minute.
The minute turned to 5 and I offered him my seat, which he declined. I sat back down and kept watching him as 5 minutes turned to 10, and then 15. This entire time, he continued to decline the seats people were offering him, struggling to balance his body weight on his walker, never once asking the secretary what was taking so long, never once looking annoyed. The secretary finally told him she was too busy to give him an appointment right now and he'd have to wait another little while. He replied that he had another appointment in 10 minutes in another building, so she said he'd have to come back later. This would have infuriated me and I'm a relatively healthy 26 year old man.
All she had to do was look in her stupid little book but she told him to come back later. And you know what? The old man looked at her, said no problem, he'd be back later and then thanked her with a nice smile. He put his hat back on, grabbed his walker and made his way back to the door. As he slowly passed me, I saw him look up at me, nod and wink. Now unless he was hitting on me, I'm pretty sure that this man I saw struggle to simply walk a mere 12 feet, wait for close to a half hour standing while struggling to keep his balance with his walker, and who had just gotten turned around and told to come back later by a horrible secretary who was too busy to open a book, was in a good mood. Just another day for him, no big deal!
The doctor called my name and as I headed to his office it occurred to me why I was there. I have a skin infection that causes a great deal of pain in my right arm. It burns and keeps me up at night. I complain about it all the time. It sometimes makes me miserable for days at a time, just ask my family. Then I remember I was about to put myself in the tough motherfucker column...But the tough motherfucker column is something very exclusive, very hard to get into. It can't get too crowded in that column otherwise the title just isn't as prestigious. So, at that moment I made a decision. I went ahead and put myself in the really tough column, almost as prestigious as the other one.
But in the other column, the really special one...
I put that old tough motherfucker.
**********************************************************
SINCE THE FINAL BATTLE...
The last few months of my career have been very strange, to say the least. I've been feeling quite conflicted about the whole thing. Over the past 2 months, I have gone through more ups and downs than I have in the 10 years I spent in this crazy world before.
December started off great, with a match in NSPW, a promotion in Quebec City, that was not only a blast to be a part of but ended up being voted Match of the Year in Quebec for 2010. It only got better when I made my return to PWG and had a match with Dragon Gate's Akira Tozawa that I can honestly say will forever be one of the highlights of my career. The dude is incredible, the crowd in PWG is, I truly believe, one of the best in the world, always has been, and the fact that I was back in my wrestling home, all those combining factors made this a night I'll always remember.
(The match actually just came out on DVD on the Cyanide: A Loving Tribute to Poison event and I encourage everyone to go out of their way to get this show! Not only does it have the aforementioned match with Tozawa but it also has an opening match featuring the debuting Willie Mack against Peter Avalon that was tons of fun, two crazy tag matches in the Young Bucks vs the Fighting Taylor Boys and the Cutler Bros vs the RockNES Monsters and an excellent main-event tag team championship match with the champions, Paul London and the retarded waste of space masked disease vs the Kings Of Wrestling. Please visit www.prowrestlingguerrilla.com to get this, you won't regret it.
Don't download it illegally because I guarantee you'll regret that when you die and get to hell, which just so happens to be my basement)
Then came my last ROH weekend. The first night was a real treat. I got team with my idol Steve Corino one last time. And it was against my favorite opponents, the Briscoes.
I had a blast in there with all those guys and I'm glad I got to work with all of them one last time in ROH before my departure. The next night should have been a crowning moment, the culmination of something I had worked for all year, put everything I had into. I had been obsessing over that night for over a year. But it didn't end quite the way I thought it would. We did have a great match like I thought we would. The fans were all very into our story, like I thought they would be. But I didn't think the walk back to the locker room after the match would be my last one.
Following Final Battle, I had a couple of interviews to do. One with Alan Counihan for the Dr. Keith radio show that I really enjoyed doing. Alan was a great person to talk to and the hour and half flew by. Most of all, however, everyone who commented on the interview enjoyed it and I'm glad my story entertained them. I had another interview with PowerSlam magazine with a fellow named Fin Martin which was also very enjoyable. A quote from the interview actually came out on various websites last week regarding a claim I made about TNA. I'll probably comment on that whole thing at some point, since I have received quite a few e-mails and text messages about it and people seem a little confused over what I meant to say. Keep an eye (or ear) out for that soon.
Through all of this, I was wondering where do I go from here? Talking about my career at length with these guys made me realize that I had accomplished everything I set out to do, except for winning the ROH World Title. Maybe taking an extended break would be a good idea?
My entire January schedule revolved around shows in Montreal, Quebec City or Ottawa, all less than 2 hours from my home. That means I got to spend time with my son and wife which I don't get to do as much as I wish and man, that's by far the best part of not having such a busy wrestling schedule. The shows themselves went very well.
C*4 Wrestling, the promotion I wrote about in my last column, ran two shows in as many weeks, one in Montreal and one in Ottawa and I can honestly say that after the second one, I could tell myself for the first time in quite a while that I loved wrestling. The stuff I'm doing over there with Jimmy Jacobs and this up-and-comer named Mike Bailey has people going crazy and is just so much fun to be a part of. Both shows should be available on DVD soon and I hope some people decide to check them out.
The end of January saw me fly to California for PWG's show as part of the second Wrestlereunion. This was my first, true big test since Final Battle. A match on a big stage, with a sold-out crowd to witness it live, and a lot of people that would see it on DVD after. And it was against one of the best wrestlers in the world currently, Chris Hero. I always get very nervous when I wrestle Chris, not sure why. But it might have been even worse in this particular case, since it was my first high profile match since my ROH departure. We ended up having a really good match. A lot of people noticed Chris and I had a bit of a talk following the match and have asked me what was said. Well, the exact words will stay between Chris and I but I will say this, I'll always be grateful for those few words and keeping them in mind since then has helped me greatly.
February has been pretty quiet so far but that's not bad considering I'm heading into a tag team tournament with Akira Tozawa as my partner. Suffice to say I'll need all the rest I can get. Actually, last weekend wasn't that quiet, now that I think about it. My turn on fan favorite Pee Wee in Quebec City's NSPW led to the crowd throwing empty bottles, full bottles, chains and one particularly tough guy threw a chair at me. When I caught it and jumped over the guardrail, he promptly ran right out the door. My night wasn't over though. When I turned around to head back to the locker room I was met with a slap to the face by a woman who looked to be about 50 and was absolutely seething with rage. She turned out to be Pee Wee's mother. My advice for her to start saving up for her son's funeral didn't seem to make her feel much better so I decided to tell her the same thing her dear son tells everyone all the time...keep on smiling!
Well, that's about it for what my wrestling career has been like since leaving ROH. For those of you who've asked me what I was up to, well, there you have it.
I'll try to update the website more often but I can't promise anything. Keep checking back though!
Kevin
P.S. I miss my friend Steve.
*************************************************************
Alex
This is the second time in two weeks I write something like this and I really hope it's the last time for a long, long time.
Everyone was shocked and saddened by the passing of Alex Whybrow, better known to the wrestling world as ''Sweet N' Sour'' Larry Sweeney.
A lot of people I consider myself close to were very good friends with Sweeney. I, unfortunately, can't make that claim. Those guys were lucky enough, throughout all the years they spent on the road and in the ring with him, to collect hundreds of memories of Sweeney that they will now look back on forever. I can't say I had such luck. Larry and I were friends, at one point. Seeing him was always a pleasure and we'd always spend a few minutes bullshitting about whatever was on our mind but we never hung out extensively.
When I heard about his death, I was immediately brought back to one specific moment, my favourite memory of Alex. While it may not be as touching or memorable as the memories his good, close friends have of him, this is something I will always get to hold on to and smile as I look back on the short time I got to spend with him.
It was in March 2008. ROH had a Friday night show in St. Louis, followed by a Saturday night event in Indianapolis. I remember having a particularly rough time on the Friday because when I left home to catch my flight that morning, my son, who was only 3 months old at the time, was very sick and having to leave him and my wife in that state was quite a struggle. I ended up calling home about a hundred times that day and every time, the updates were never good. Nothing that day put me in a good mood or made me smile, I was just miserable...until I got to witness something that still makes me laugh out loud to this day. Adam Pearce had an idea for a promo involving Sweeney and Ric Flair, who was appearing in ROH for the first time. I don't remember who was there to witness this, I know Hero, Hagadorn, Generico and Adam were there for sure.
There may have been a few others but not many.
The promo started with Super Agent Sweeney on the phone, in the midst of an important, deal-making call when Ric Flair walked past him, talking on the phone as well. As they passed each other, their eyes locked and they both closed their flip phones at the EXACT same time while staring at each other intensely. Then they both threw off their sports jacket, again at the exact same time, almost like mirror images of each other. They then proceeded to have a ''Whoo'' exchange and strutting contest that had all of us in tears.
I can't do justice to how incredible that promo was. For some reason, I don't think it's ever been used by ROH. Unless I completely missed it, I checked and it's not on the DVD of that event and it was never put on a videowire either.
Maybe someone in ROH can try and look for it...I don't know if they even keep footage of the past events that doesn't end up getting used.
All I know is I was lucky enough to see a moment that I'm sure meant the world to Alex.
And the smile on his face after was enough to take me out of my slump for that day. I will never forget that moment because to me, it defined perfectly the Sweeney I knew and loved. He loved to performed and could do it as good as anyone in wrestling, even a legend like Ric Flair.
And that's the Alex I will always remember...
12 Large brother!
Sweet N' Sour Forever...
Goodbye Alex.
**********************************************
Phrank
A little over a week ago, a truly amazing person was taken from this world way too young.
It's had to comprehend, how in this day and age, a young man of only 23 years could be attacked by such an aggressive, unstoppable monster. That monster was cancer.
I'll never forget seeing my buddies Player Uno and Stupefied with their head shaved, back in January. It was out of the ordinary as they had always had hair in the past. I asked them, with a smile, why the trim job.
Uno just looked up at me with and said something that chilled me to the bones, ''Phrank's got cancer.''
Phrank was Francois Morin's nickname. Some of you may only know him as the loveable hobo from Inter Species Wrestling, Stinky the Homeless Guy.
Why was his nickname spelled with Ph instead of an F? I don't know...
To tell you all the truth, I don't know nearly enough about Phrank...I really wish I knew more. I wish I had known him better. I knew him for years but never really have the chance to get to know him well.
But I know this: I never heard a single bad word about him from anyone. His best friend, Player Uno, spoke highly of him anytime his name would come up.
I know one thing about Phrank that is absolutely undeniable. He was a kind person and he loved life. One of the best examples of his good heart is easy to find for me...it's simply the way he always treated me.
I'm not the most sociable person. Anyone who knows me will tell you that. I have a lot of friends in wrestling but they all accept me the way I am. I don't talk much and I rarely go out of my way to speak to people. Yet, every single time we would end up at the same place, no matter how long it had been since we'd seen each other, I would feel a tap on my shoulder and when I looked up or turned around to see who is was, I'd be met with a huge grin and a heartwarming ''Hey man!''
Not a little handshake or a discrete nod...He would go out of his way to welcome me and talk for a while. He'd ask about my wife and my son even if he'd only seen them once or twice and he wasn't just asking because that's what people do. He asked because he cared. He listened, smiled and really cared.
That was Phrank. That's the memory I will always carry with me when I think of him.
Some people come into your life, are in it for a very long time and barely have any effect on you...but some people end up only being here for a short while, yet they leave a lasting impression and you remember them forever.
I will remember Phrank forever...
Dude, you are the best friend I never had the chance to have and you will be missed.
Here's a link to an article written by Michael Ryan, in tribute to Phrank:
http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2011/04/07/17910576.html
Here are some words from Mark Pollesel, the owner of C*4 wrestling in Ottawa, where
Phrank wrestled as Bash Bison. He was good friend:
I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the death of a great person, a friend, and a popular member of the C*4 and ISW families, Phrank Morin.
Phrank, age 23, was better known as Stinky the Homeless Guy, as well as Bash Bison, to all of you fans.
For the last several months, Phrank was battling an aggressive form of cancer, which had come upon him suddenly late last year. His friends and family stood with him the whole way. And in turn, he kept a brave and smiling face, and kept those around him comforted with his one of a kind sense of humor.
To know Phrank was to love him. On Friday when he passed, he did so with the love of countless people, who carried him and his battle in their hearts.
I hope all of our fans take a moment to remember the outstanding performer that Phrank was. And to all his friends to continue to remember the great person he was.
I miss you Phrank, and so do the wrestlers and staff of the promotions you worked for.
You gave us all something to smile about every time you stepped into the ring, whether it be as Kid Supreme, Stinky the Homeless Guys, Bash Bison, Big Van Voltage, or whichever member of the illustrious FireMask family was debuting next.
Rest in peace, and in the love of everybody you left behind.
And here's a few memories shared by another one of Phrank's close friend, Mike Rotch, one of the owners of Inter Species Wrestling:
I first met Phrank when he was a 14 year old kid, skinny with shaggy bleached hair. He was training at the local wrestling promotion's wrestling school - and my friends and I were looking for a filming gig. He was nice. Spoke very little English, and I made jokes about how he kinda resembled French actor Gerard Depardieu.
Every time I saw him, he greeted me with a smile. Something he'd become known for.
We became better friends one night while attending a fellow wrestling school student's wedding reception. It was boring. Just really, really boring. I was sitting around with a few of the guys - including Phrank - and we were just absolutely bored to tears. I mentioned that a friend of mine was having a party that night, and I was missing it. A party where he was known to smoke and grill tons of meat - and people would just eat, drink, and party.
We ditched the reception, and drove from Gatineau, Quebec to Ottawa's west end - and hit up the party.
To put myself over for a second (I promise, it's to further the story) - I was known amongst my party friends for my ability to slam beers faster than anyone else they knew. I was dubbed the "Ottawa drinking champion" at another party - and there's actually a championship belt out there somewhere.
Anyway - upon our arrival, I was handed bottles of beer - and asked to slam 'em. I popped the caps off, and down they went. Downed 3 in a row, in about 8 seconds. My friends cheered - as Phrank looked on in amazement. He had never seen anything like that before. He put his hand on my shoulder - I looked at him - and he, in his slowly improving English asked "Mike...will you be my papa?"
I accepted, and with that - I was a 21 year old man with a 14 year old son. Later that night, another of the young students became my son, too.
Phrank was an incredible artist - and he drew this picture of our "family" a little while after that night.
I have many, many memories of Phrank - from filming him dancing all over malls in Ottawa for no reason - to arriving at his apartment one night, to see that he'd spraypainted the word "POO" all over the place out of drunken boredom. There's one that has me laughing every time I think about it, though.
Canada Day (July 1) 2007 - I had a huge party. Basically, the entire Inter Species Wrestling, C*4, and IWS rosters were in attendance. Just a really good time, where food and drink were consumed - and people were powerbombed and German suplexed into a kiddie pool. The party was great, and I have many fond memories of that day - but as I mentioned - one makes me laugh every time.
Late at night, the party was winding down. It was dark outside, and the mosquitoes were out in full force - so we decided to take the party indoors. There was karaoke and a little guitar hero - but Phrank's time was spent play fighting with my little brother and his friends. They were about 6 at the time. At one point, they decided they needed more room to fight - so they went out front.
About 10 minutes later - the kids came back into the house laughing. Phrank followed - his hair messy, his clothes grass-stained, and footprints all over his face. Dirty shoe footprints, as if the kids actually beat him up - covering his face - which, like always, had a smile plastered on it.
That's my favourite Phrank story.
As I said before - one of the greatest people I'll ever know. I just wish that more of you had a chance to meet him.
That's all I've got for now.
-Mike
***********************************************
Q&A Part One (if Part Two exists, I haven't found it yet - RAD)
Q. Considering Quebec wrestling's state, what is your take on what is wrong with it, and what should be done to bring it's popularity back From YouTube User:smumdax
A. I think every Quebec wrestling company should start booking me for seminars, several times. I did one in GEW recently and it was great! *wink*
The popularity of Quebec wrestling will never be back, simply because times have changed and too much has happened to make wrestling seem like a gigantic joke, from the people involved to the unbelievable amount of ''promotions'' that would start up with the same wrestlers in the same city and draw 30 people every show, yet passed themselves up as serious wrestling companies.
There's nothing to be done to make this better.
Q. How much Japanese do you know? Can you teach us any? From YouTube User:ajdisdaman
A. I know none. I can still teach you some but it will be made up and if you use it in Japan, people will not understand you.
Q. Throughout your career, who has been your favourite person to work with and who do you consider to be the best worker that you've been in the ring with? From YouTube User: ciaranoid
A. I have so many guys that I love being in the ring with but I think the Briscoes are at the top of my list. Just amazing dudes to work with and they always bring out the best in me. As far as the best worker I've ever been in the ring with, that honor is divided between Steve Corino and CIMA of Dragon Gate.
Q. Kevin, where do you see yourself in 5 Years time? Will you still be wrestling then? From YouTube User: TheSuperPlex1001
A. I certainly hope so. But I can't tell where or if I will be for sure. The only place I see myself at in 5 years is home with my family.
Q. Smoked meat or poutine? From YouTube User: KaceCC2
A. Poutine hands down.
Q. Hey Kevin, I was wondering... How in the blue hell do people survive the turnbuckle Steenalizer?!! From YouTube User: KreatorOfEvile/Also Via Email
A. I don't know. You could ask Adam Cole, Mike Bailey or Johnny Yuma. They were the three latest victims of it and they're all still walking around from what I can tell.
Q. What are you thoughts on John Zandig and CZW? I know Zandig doesn't run it anymore, but he paid you out in his shoot interview. From Rob Love Via Email
A. I have no idea what CZW is like now. Can't be too bad considering the Briscoes are back there I think. As far as Zandig goes, I don't want to say too much for two reasons. One, I'm aware of the tragedy his family has suffered recently with his son passing away, and two, I believe I am soon recording an Art of Wrestling podcast with my buddy Colt and I think the Zandig stuff will be part of it.
Q. How do Gaijins and Puroresu wrestlers call matches if they don't speak each others' language? I know you have limited experience in Puro, but I was hoping you would answer this question. From YouTube User: KreatorOfEvile/Also Via Email
A. Wrestling is kind of a universal language. Every wrestler in the world, at least all the ones I've met, know what the names of moves and holds are in English. Sometimes the communication can be a bit tricky but we always figure it out.
Q. Do you ever give out receipts to other wrestlers when they stiff you? If so, then who? Super Dragon comes first to my mind :P From YouTube User: KreatorOfEvile/Also Via Email
A. Yes, I do. It's pretty easy to spot me doing so because when I do, I apparently have a tendency of getting a crazy look and my tongue comes out through my teeth when I'm about to hit...at least that's what I've been told. As far as Super Dragon is concerned, I wouldn't say I've ever given him a receipt simply because we always beat the living shit out of each other when we wrestle. But he is the man I credit for showing me that hitting hard in the ring is not something negative. The first time I took a forearm from him, my eyesight got blurry and it rattled my brain...and for some reason, I loved it.
Q. Has weight been a problem for you in the ring, since your a hard hitting person does it take a toll on your body? From YouTube User: brianverrett
A. Absolutely.
Q. How come you are so AWESOME?!
From YouTube User: xShineyxDiverx
A. Because I'm the Miz.
Q. What jobs (if any) did you have before wrestling and do you have a job to support your wrestling income? From Ben Baxter Via Email
A. I used to work at a gas station for a long time. I quit because I was able to make a living off wrestling. Now I do have another job, at a warehouse, which I enjoy quite a bit. I have a family that depends on me and as good a living as I get to make from wrestling, you can never have too much money when you have a little dude in the house constantly eating and breaking stuff on a daily basis.
Q. You've used Linkin Park (One Step Closer) and Drowning Pool (Tear Away) as entrance music, do you still follow either band, if so what do you think of them now? From Clive Gray Via Email
A. I don't follow either. I haven't heard any new Drowning Pool song in years and the new Linkin Park stuff I've heard, while catchy, doesn't appeal to me much at all.
Q. What was one of your worst moments in wrestling? From YouTube User: dietfreeman42718
A. Two come to mind. One was right after a match I had with Nigel McGuiness in Chicago for the ROH title in 2008. We had a pretty good match, I think, yet the crowd never got into it much at all. Then I found out that I was incredibly underpaid compared to what other guys were making (something that was rectified quite quickly) and on top of that, I had major back pain and I had no idea what was causing it. I came as close as I ever did that night to quitting wrestling.
The other is walking out of the Manhattan Center after Final Battle knowing I was done with ROH. That fucking sucked, plain and simple.
Q. Do you like to do Big Shows(ROH) or Smaller Shows(PWG)? From YouTube User: dietfreeman42718
A. I don't consider PWG shows smaller than ROH. The number of people doesn't dictate what is a big show to me. The PWG fans, no matter if there's 100 of them or 500 of them, are always insane and ready for a good time. Every time I'm in a PWG ring, I feel like it's a big show. Same for ROH. Smaller shows, to me, are local shows like C*4 and NSPW. But I don't wrestle any differently. I really don't. I bust my ass everywhere because people paid to come in and see good wrestling. I'll try to measure the crowd to figure out what I need to do to make them happy and sometimes, I may end up doing a whole lot less in the ring than I would in ROH or PWG but I always do everything I can to give the crowd a good show.
What's that? Yes, yes I am a great person. Thank you!
Q. What was one of the hardest things for you to learn when you started training for wrestling? From YouTube User: dietfreeman42718
A. That's a good question. I always hard a real hard time giving dudes a fireman's carry. I also don't have a great hip-toss. I feel awkward doing it. Which is why I never do either.
Q. How did you get into PWG? From YouTube User: dietfreeman42718
A. I used a magical key I found in a goat's tummy...........
Super Dragon saw the IWS 4-way in CZW and the next week, we saw him again in JAPW and somehow ended up in his room. It was quite an unusual situation, especially since he had a reputation of being a loner and an asshole. Here we were, a bunch of strangers in his room, hanging out with him. The rest is history. He liked Generico and I's work so he brought us in to work one match, for a one time thing. We got over, I got especially over, and about 8 months later I was the motherfucking champ!
Q. Dear Kevin, I recently watched ROH Salvation. After the Main Event there was a backstage vignette where you talked about Tyler Black to who-I-presume-was Steve Corino over the phone about how you "saw it in his eyes", how he'd "changed" and how you'd "got him".
It has been driving me insane ever since - no pun intended - and has filled my head with questions... Were you planning something more with Tyler? If so, what were those plans? How did your cryptic words on the phone, and on the ensuing ROH Video Wires (in one you talked about you and Tyler now shared blood, in another you implied that him keeping the belt past Glory by Honor - and thus bringing it to WWE -was a focal point) play into them & foreshadow events? Was it intended to bleed into your *ahem* problems with El Generico at the time? From Phillip Wright via Email
A. When we did the match, we didn't know what was going to happen with Tyler. He had WWE and TNA calling and ROH was trying to re-sign him as well. He was taking time to think things over and this is when Adam was still in control. I had a lot of room with Adam to do things I felt were a good idea, even if there was no real plan to go anywhere with them. He would let me try stuff out and if something came out of it, then we could run with it. This was the same with Tyler. I was personally hoping that my feud with Tyler would last a lot longer than it did, or even better, Tyler would eventually turn and join us. But my ultimate goal was for Tyler to credit Steve and I for talking him into going to WWE, saying we motivated him to dream bigger and achieve his destiny...only for us to brag about having kicked out the one person who could have stopped us by getting inside of his head and making him think it was a great idea for him to leave.
It didn't pan out at all because it wasn't something the new management wanted to pursure and that's fine but that was my idea. I always wanted to make my feud with Tyler about something completely different than what other wrestling feuds usually are. I didn't hate Tyler. I loved him. I thought he was amazing wrestler and he was heading down the wrong path by trying to make the fans happy when they had turned on him immediately after he'd won the belt. I wanted to help Tyler realize what he was, which was the best damn wrestler in the world. I wanted to offer him the chance to beat me so that he could understand what he was...indestructible.
That was my whole thing with the Tyler feud and the reasoning behind every promo we did leading up to it.
Thanks to everyone who sent in questions. One little thing before I take off, I get asked daily, literally, about shirts. The answer is this: I don't have any for sale currently. I am hoping to re-stock the Mr. Wrestling shirts soon and they will be available here when I do. As far as the Generico head shirt, it was an ROH shirt. If you wish to get one, you'd have to contact them but last I heard, they had sold out. Thank you all!
************************************************************
C4
A few years ago a friend of mine came to me with a vision. He wanted to run some shows in his hometown of Ottawa. Nothing big, just a little place for the people in the area to be able to see wrestling again and something for him to be proud of, as a wrestling fan.
His name is Mark. He had tried running in conjunction with the IWS in Ottawa before but the experience was not a very good one, especially when the venue told him and IWS owner Manny they would never be allowed back there again due to a certain wrestler acting erratic and scaring people. Jeez, I wonder who that could have been...
Anyways, a few years went by and Mark was still talking about starting up something of his own. In 2007, he finally did it. He set a date, came up with a name and announced that Capital City Championship Combat, C*4, would hold its first event in November of that year.
I wasn't originally scheduled to be part of that first event because my son Owen was set to be born any day at that point but when I heard Eddie Kingston had to pull out of the show, I couldn't help but offer up my services to Mark as a suitable replacement. Mark took me up on it and the first main-event in C*4 history was set, Kevin Steen & Max Boyer vs Hallowicked and MVP. No, not the recently released, internationally-bound, no-longer-allowed-to-use-that-name MVP but the Ontario independant stand-out Michael Von Payton MVP, who had that moniker way before Antonio Banks, by the way.
That first main-event was held in a horrible six-sided ring, I remember. I fractured my elbow in that match by doing a frog splash off the guardrail to the floor and I still to this day have bone spurs floating around in there.
After that first show, Mark booked a few more dates at the venue he had found. He didn't seem too sure how long he'd run for or how successful he would be but he seemed happy just to be able to bring good wrestling back to Ottawa on a regular basis.
It's now 3 years later and C*4 is still going strong. It doesn't have the best venue, the nicest set-up, the best ring or a huge budget but what it does have is a bunch of guys in the locker room who believe in and love wrestling, loyal fans who come out every show to support their favorite company, and an owner who has one goal in mind: at the end of every show, everyone, from fans to wrestlers, go home happy. Mark is very successful in that aspect.
I'm not sure how the company does financially. I know it does well enough that Mark isn't running ''going out of business'' sales every 2 months to get sympathy and move merch quicker. I know Mark doesn't have to tell his wrestlers he's going to make up for the money they are missing out on at the next show or work at Taco Bell. And it's doing well enough to have some very good independent wrestlers on every show, in addition to the good local talent from the Ottawa area.
Guys like Sonjay Dutt, Hallowicked, Petey Williams, Colin Delaney, Kyoshi, Claudio Castagnoli, Cheech, Cloudy, Jimmy Jacobs, Eddie Edwards, Brodie Lee and many others have all taken part in a show or two in the past. Guys like myself, Tyson Dux, Player Uno, 2.0, Beef Wellington, Sexxxy Eddy, Twiggy, Stupefied, Michael Elgin, El Generico and others are all part of the regular roster.
The reason I chose to write about C*4 for my second column here isn't to kiss up to Mark, although it sure doesn't hurt my standing! The reason I am writing about this is because I feel that C*4 is somewhat of a hidden secret to American wrestling fans and I think a lot of you out there would enjoy the stuff C*4 is putting out quite a bit. I want to try and get the word out and help C*4 get the recognition it deserves.
In the end, all I want to say is if you're wrestling fan and you enjoy ROH, PWG, Chikara or anything like that, if you enjoy good, fun pro wrestling and you're looking for something new to take a look at, C*4 is as good a choice as any. Pick up a DVD or two and you'll see what I mean.
For those of you interested in seeing what C*4 has to offer, go to www.c4wrestling.com
I hope you all check it out!
In my digging around for the other letters from the feud with Generico, I managed to dig up something I didn't even know existed: columns Kevin wrote for his website back around 2011--or at least, that's when the Internet Wayback Machine snagged them.
Finding stuff like this, maybe it's not the only thing I can give to the wrestling community, but it's probably the best thing. I can't draw or paint, I haven't nearly got my 10,000 hours in writing yet. I can't even recognize faces, so match reviews are right out.
I'm pretty good at research, though.
A gentle warning before you proceed: two of these columns are about wrestlers who passed away. One took his own life, although this isn't mentioned--if you look him up, like I did, it's there. Trust your gut, folks.
(As with Kevin's Letters 2, these were pulled from the ruins of steenwrestling.com)
****************************************************************
Tough
In my line of work I have met countless guys who I would describe as tough. Actually, every wrestler is tough, no doubt. But there's tough, and then there's really tough. Like the Briscoes, Austin Aries, Bryan Danielson, Super Dragon and so many others. Then there's the tough motherfuckers like Nigel McGuiness, Steve Corino and Eddie Edwards.
I'm not really sure which of those two categories I'm a part of. I've never been knocked out in my entire life even though I have never put my hands up to try and block any shot, kick or weapon thrown at my head or face in the last ten years. I've been wrestling with a torn up knee for about 3 years. I guess that could make me a tough motherfucker...but then again, who hasn't wrestled hurt. Eddie Edwards for instance, became an instant hero in any ROH fan's heart when he hid the cast on his arm from the New York State Athletic Commission all night so that he could be part of the Ladder War II. Everyone knows that by now. Steve Corino has been wrestling for months with a fractured elbow, partly torn tricep and a vicious infection in that same arm. Nobody would know it from looking at him work, though.
The other day I was at my doctor's office, in the waiting room and I was watching some MMA on my iPod touch. They were talking about how tough this one particular fighter was and I then saw him get knocked out in 22 seconds right after the announcers were praising his ''great chin.'' It got me thinking about what makes someone tough. What makes someone really tough. And what makes someone a tough motherfucker. As I was leaning towards officially putting my name in the third column, thinking with pride about how many superkicks I could take before finally being put down, and elderly man came into the waiting room. He must have been at least 80 years old. He was bent over, putting as much of his weight as he could onto the walker he was using to get around. The 12 feet between the door and the secretary's office must have taken him a good 2 minutes to complete. When he got up to the office I watched him struggle to get his wallet out and get his Medicare card. I watched as he politely asked the secretary for an appointment. When she said there's no way the doctor would be able to see him that day, he said that was fine, any other day would work. She told him to hang on, she'd be back with him in a minute.
The minute turned to 5 and I offered him my seat, which he declined. I sat back down and kept watching him as 5 minutes turned to 10, and then 15. This entire time, he continued to decline the seats people were offering him, struggling to balance his body weight on his walker, never once asking the secretary what was taking so long, never once looking annoyed. The secretary finally told him she was too busy to give him an appointment right now and he'd have to wait another little while. He replied that he had another appointment in 10 minutes in another building, so she said he'd have to come back later. This would have infuriated me and I'm a relatively healthy 26 year old man.
All she had to do was look in her stupid little book but she told him to come back later. And you know what? The old man looked at her, said no problem, he'd be back later and then thanked her with a nice smile. He put his hat back on, grabbed his walker and made his way back to the door. As he slowly passed me, I saw him look up at me, nod and wink. Now unless he was hitting on me, I'm pretty sure that this man I saw struggle to simply walk a mere 12 feet, wait for close to a half hour standing while struggling to keep his balance with his walker, and who had just gotten turned around and told to come back later by a horrible secretary who was too busy to open a book, was in a good mood. Just another day for him, no big deal!
The doctor called my name and as I headed to his office it occurred to me why I was there. I have a skin infection that causes a great deal of pain in my right arm. It burns and keeps me up at night. I complain about it all the time. It sometimes makes me miserable for days at a time, just ask my family. Then I remember I was about to put myself in the tough motherfucker column...But the tough motherfucker column is something very exclusive, very hard to get into. It can't get too crowded in that column otherwise the title just isn't as prestigious. So, at that moment I made a decision. I went ahead and put myself in the really tough column, almost as prestigious as the other one.
But in the other column, the really special one...
I put that old tough motherfucker.
**********************************************************
SINCE THE FINAL BATTLE...
The last few months of my career have been very strange, to say the least. I've been feeling quite conflicted about the whole thing. Over the past 2 months, I have gone through more ups and downs than I have in the 10 years I spent in this crazy world before.
December started off great, with a match in NSPW, a promotion in Quebec City, that was not only a blast to be a part of but ended up being voted Match of the Year in Quebec for 2010. It only got better when I made my return to PWG and had a match with Dragon Gate's Akira Tozawa that I can honestly say will forever be one of the highlights of my career. The dude is incredible, the crowd in PWG is, I truly believe, one of the best in the world, always has been, and the fact that I was back in my wrestling home, all those combining factors made this a night I'll always remember.
(The match actually just came out on DVD on the Cyanide: A Loving Tribute to Poison event and I encourage everyone to go out of their way to get this show! Not only does it have the aforementioned match with Tozawa but it also has an opening match featuring the debuting Willie Mack against Peter Avalon that was tons of fun, two crazy tag matches in the Young Bucks vs the Fighting Taylor Boys and the Cutler Bros vs the RockNES Monsters and an excellent main-event tag team championship match with the champions, Paul London and the retarded waste of space masked disease vs the Kings Of Wrestling. Please visit www.prowrestlingguerrilla.com to get this, you won't regret it.
Don't download it illegally because I guarantee you'll regret that when you die and get to hell, which just so happens to be my basement)
Then came my last ROH weekend. The first night was a real treat. I got team with my idol Steve Corino one last time. And it was against my favorite opponents, the Briscoes.
I had a blast in there with all those guys and I'm glad I got to work with all of them one last time in ROH before my departure. The next night should have been a crowning moment, the culmination of something I had worked for all year, put everything I had into. I had been obsessing over that night for over a year. But it didn't end quite the way I thought it would. We did have a great match like I thought we would. The fans were all very into our story, like I thought they would be. But I didn't think the walk back to the locker room after the match would be my last one.
Following Final Battle, I had a couple of interviews to do. One with Alan Counihan for the Dr. Keith radio show that I really enjoyed doing. Alan was a great person to talk to and the hour and half flew by. Most of all, however, everyone who commented on the interview enjoyed it and I'm glad my story entertained them. I had another interview with PowerSlam magazine with a fellow named Fin Martin which was also very enjoyable. A quote from the interview actually came out on various websites last week regarding a claim I made about TNA. I'll probably comment on that whole thing at some point, since I have received quite a few e-mails and text messages about it and people seem a little confused over what I meant to say. Keep an eye (or ear) out for that soon.
Through all of this, I was wondering where do I go from here? Talking about my career at length with these guys made me realize that I had accomplished everything I set out to do, except for winning the ROH World Title. Maybe taking an extended break would be a good idea?
My entire January schedule revolved around shows in Montreal, Quebec City or Ottawa, all less than 2 hours from my home. That means I got to spend time with my son and wife which I don't get to do as much as I wish and man, that's by far the best part of not having such a busy wrestling schedule. The shows themselves went very well.
C*4 Wrestling, the promotion I wrote about in my last column, ran two shows in as many weeks, one in Montreal and one in Ottawa and I can honestly say that after the second one, I could tell myself for the first time in quite a while that I loved wrestling. The stuff I'm doing over there with Jimmy Jacobs and this up-and-comer named Mike Bailey has people going crazy and is just so much fun to be a part of. Both shows should be available on DVD soon and I hope some people decide to check them out.
The end of January saw me fly to California for PWG's show as part of the second Wrestlereunion. This was my first, true big test since Final Battle. A match on a big stage, with a sold-out crowd to witness it live, and a lot of people that would see it on DVD after. And it was against one of the best wrestlers in the world currently, Chris Hero. I always get very nervous when I wrestle Chris, not sure why. But it might have been even worse in this particular case, since it was my first high profile match since my ROH departure. We ended up having a really good match. A lot of people noticed Chris and I had a bit of a talk following the match and have asked me what was said. Well, the exact words will stay between Chris and I but I will say this, I'll always be grateful for those few words and keeping them in mind since then has helped me greatly.
February has been pretty quiet so far but that's not bad considering I'm heading into a tag team tournament with Akira Tozawa as my partner. Suffice to say I'll need all the rest I can get. Actually, last weekend wasn't that quiet, now that I think about it. My turn on fan favorite Pee Wee in Quebec City's NSPW led to the crowd throwing empty bottles, full bottles, chains and one particularly tough guy threw a chair at me. When I caught it and jumped over the guardrail, he promptly ran right out the door. My night wasn't over though. When I turned around to head back to the locker room I was met with a slap to the face by a woman who looked to be about 50 and was absolutely seething with rage. She turned out to be Pee Wee's mother. My advice for her to start saving up for her son's funeral didn't seem to make her feel much better so I decided to tell her the same thing her dear son tells everyone all the time...keep on smiling!
Well, that's about it for what my wrestling career has been like since leaving ROH. For those of you who've asked me what I was up to, well, there you have it.
I'll try to update the website more often but I can't promise anything. Keep checking back though!
Kevin
P.S. I miss my friend Steve.
*************************************************************
Alex
This is the second time in two weeks I write something like this and I really hope it's the last time for a long, long time.
Everyone was shocked and saddened by the passing of Alex Whybrow, better known to the wrestling world as ''Sweet N' Sour'' Larry Sweeney.
A lot of people I consider myself close to were very good friends with Sweeney. I, unfortunately, can't make that claim. Those guys were lucky enough, throughout all the years they spent on the road and in the ring with him, to collect hundreds of memories of Sweeney that they will now look back on forever. I can't say I had such luck. Larry and I were friends, at one point. Seeing him was always a pleasure and we'd always spend a few minutes bullshitting about whatever was on our mind but we never hung out extensively.
When I heard about his death, I was immediately brought back to one specific moment, my favourite memory of Alex. While it may not be as touching or memorable as the memories his good, close friends have of him, this is something I will always get to hold on to and smile as I look back on the short time I got to spend with him.
It was in March 2008. ROH had a Friday night show in St. Louis, followed by a Saturday night event in Indianapolis. I remember having a particularly rough time on the Friday because when I left home to catch my flight that morning, my son, who was only 3 months old at the time, was very sick and having to leave him and my wife in that state was quite a struggle. I ended up calling home about a hundred times that day and every time, the updates were never good. Nothing that day put me in a good mood or made me smile, I was just miserable...until I got to witness something that still makes me laugh out loud to this day. Adam Pearce had an idea for a promo involving Sweeney and Ric Flair, who was appearing in ROH for the first time. I don't remember who was there to witness this, I know Hero, Hagadorn, Generico and Adam were there for sure.
There may have been a few others but not many.
The promo started with Super Agent Sweeney on the phone, in the midst of an important, deal-making call when Ric Flair walked past him, talking on the phone as well. As they passed each other, their eyes locked and they both closed their flip phones at the EXACT same time while staring at each other intensely. Then they both threw off their sports jacket, again at the exact same time, almost like mirror images of each other. They then proceeded to have a ''Whoo'' exchange and strutting contest that had all of us in tears.
I can't do justice to how incredible that promo was. For some reason, I don't think it's ever been used by ROH. Unless I completely missed it, I checked and it's not on the DVD of that event and it was never put on a videowire either.
Maybe someone in ROH can try and look for it...I don't know if they even keep footage of the past events that doesn't end up getting used.
All I know is I was lucky enough to see a moment that I'm sure meant the world to Alex.
And the smile on his face after was enough to take me out of my slump for that day. I will never forget that moment because to me, it defined perfectly the Sweeney I knew and loved. He loved to performed and could do it as good as anyone in wrestling, even a legend like Ric Flair.
And that's the Alex I will always remember...
12 Large brother!
Sweet N' Sour Forever...
Goodbye Alex.
**********************************************
Phrank
A little over a week ago, a truly amazing person was taken from this world way too young.
It's had to comprehend, how in this day and age, a young man of only 23 years could be attacked by such an aggressive, unstoppable monster. That monster was cancer.
I'll never forget seeing my buddies Player Uno and Stupefied with their head shaved, back in January. It was out of the ordinary as they had always had hair in the past. I asked them, with a smile, why the trim job.
Uno just looked up at me with and said something that chilled me to the bones, ''Phrank's got cancer.''
Phrank was Francois Morin's nickname. Some of you may only know him as the loveable hobo from Inter Species Wrestling, Stinky the Homeless Guy.
Why was his nickname spelled with Ph instead of an F? I don't know...
To tell you all the truth, I don't know nearly enough about Phrank...I really wish I knew more. I wish I had known him better. I knew him for years but never really have the chance to get to know him well.
But I know this: I never heard a single bad word about him from anyone. His best friend, Player Uno, spoke highly of him anytime his name would come up.
I know one thing about Phrank that is absolutely undeniable. He was a kind person and he loved life. One of the best examples of his good heart is easy to find for me...it's simply the way he always treated me.
I'm not the most sociable person. Anyone who knows me will tell you that. I have a lot of friends in wrestling but they all accept me the way I am. I don't talk much and I rarely go out of my way to speak to people. Yet, every single time we would end up at the same place, no matter how long it had been since we'd seen each other, I would feel a tap on my shoulder and when I looked up or turned around to see who is was, I'd be met with a huge grin and a heartwarming ''Hey man!''
Not a little handshake or a discrete nod...He would go out of his way to welcome me and talk for a while. He'd ask about my wife and my son even if he'd only seen them once or twice and he wasn't just asking because that's what people do. He asked because he cared. He listened, smiled and really cared.
That was Phrank. That's the memory I will always carry with me when I think of him.
Some people come into your life, are in it for a very long time and barely have any effect on you...but some people end up only being here for a short while, yet they leave a lasting impression and you remember them forever.
I will remember Phrank forever...
Dude, you are the best friend I never had the chance to have and you will be missed.
Here's a link to an article written by Michael Ryan, in tribute to Phrank:
http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2011/04/07/17910576.html
Here are some words from Mark Pollesel, the owner of C*4 wrestling in Ottawa, where
Phrank wrestled as Bash Bison. He was good friend:
I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the death of a great person, a friend, and a popular member of the C*4 and ISW families, Phrank Morin.
Phrank, age 23, was better known as Stinky the Homeless Guy, as well as Bash Bison, to all of you fans.
For the last several months, Phrank was battling an aggressive form of cancer, which had come upon him suddenly late last year. His friends and family stood with him the whole way. And in turn, he kept a brave and smiling face, and kept those around him comforted with his one of a kind sense of humor.
To know Phrank was to love him. On Friday when he passed, he did so with the love of countless people, who carried him and his battle in their hearts.
I hope all of our fans take a moment to remember the outstanding performer that Phrank was. And to all his friends to continue to remember the great person he was.
I miss you Phrank, and so do the wrestlers and staff of the promotions you worked for.
You gave us all something to smile about every time you stepped into the ring, whether it be as Kid Supreme, Stinky the Homeless Guys, Bash Bison, Big Van Voltage, or whichever member of the illustrious FireMask family was debuting next.
Rest in peace, and in the love of everybody you left behind.
And here's a few memories shared by another one of Phrank's close friend, Mike Rotch, one of the owners of Inter Species Wrestling:
I first met Phrank when he was a 14 year old kid, skinny with shaggy bleached hair. He was training at the local wrestling promotion's wrestling school - and my friends and I were looking for a filming gig. He was nice. Spoke very little English, and I made jokes about how he kinda resembled French actor Gerard Depardieu.
Every time I saw him, he greeted me with a smile. Something he'd become known for.
We became better friends one night while attending a fellow wrestling school student's wedding reception. It was boring. Just really, really boring. I was sitting around with a few of the guys - including Phrank - and we were just absolutely bored to tears. I mentioned that a friend of mine was having a party that night, and I was missing it. A party where he was known to smoke and grill tons of meat - and people would just eat, drink, and party.
We ditched the reception, and drove from Gatineau, Quebec to Ottawa's west end - and hit up the party.
To put myself over for a second (I promise, it's to further the story) - I was known amongst my party friends for my ability to slam beers faster than anyone else they knew. I was dubbed the "Ottawa drinking champion" at another party - and there's actually a championship belt out there somewhere.
Anyway - upon our arrival, I was handed bottles of beer - and asked to slam 'em. I popped the caps off, and down they went. Downed 3 in a row, in about 8 seconds. My friends cheered - as Phrank looked on in amazement. He had never seen anything like that before. He put his hand on my shoulder - I looked at him - and he, in his slowly improving English asked "Mike...will you be my papa?"
I accepted, and with that - I was a 21 year old man with a 14 year old son. Later that night, another of the young students became my son, too.
Phrank was an incredible artist - and he drew this picture of our "family" a little while after that night.
I have many, many memories of Phrank - from filming him dancing all over malls in Ottawa for no reason - to arriving at his apartment one night, to see that he'd spraypainted the word "POO" all over the place out of drunken boredom. There's one that has me laughing every time I think about it, though.
Canada Day (July 1) 2007 - I had a huge party. Basically, the entire Inter Species Wrestling, C*4, and IWS rosters were in attendance. Just a really good time, where food and drink were consumed - and people were powerbombed and German suplexed into a kiddie pool. The party was great, and I have many fond memories of that day - but as I mentioned - one makes me laugh every time.
Late at night, the party was winding down. It was dark outside, and the mosquitoes were out in full force - so we decided to take the party indoors. There was karaoke and a little guitar hero - but Phrank's time was spent play fighting with my little brother and his friends. They were about 6 at the time. At one point, they decided they needed more room to fight - so they went out front.
About 10 minutes later - the kids came back into the house laughing. Phrank followed - his hair messy, his clothes grass-stained, and footprints all over his face. Dirty shoe footprints, as if the kids actually beat him up - covering his face - which, like always, had a smile plastered on it.
That's my favourite Phrank story.
As I said before - one of the greatest people I'll ever know. I just wish that more of you had a chance to meet him.
That's all I've got for now.
-Mike
***********************************************
Q&A Part One (if Part Two exists, I haven't found it yet - RAD)
Q. Considering Quebec wrestling's state, what is your take on what is wrong with it, and what should be done to bring it's popularity back From YouTube User:smumdax
A. I think every Quebec wrestling company should start booking me for seminars, several times. I did one in GEW recently and it was great! *wink*
The popularity of Quebec wrestling will never be back, simply because times have changed and too much has happened to make wrestling seem like a gigantic joke, from the people involved to the unbelievable amount of ''promotions'' that would start up with the same wrestlers in the same city and draw 30 people every show, yet passed themselves up as serious wrestling companies.
There's nothing to be done to make this better.
Q. How much Japanese do you know? Can you teach us any? From YouTube User:ajdisdaman
A. I know none. I can still teach you some but it will be made up and if you use it in Japan, people will not understand you.
Q. Throughout your career, who has been your favourite person to work with and who do you consider to be the best worker that you've been in the ring with? From YouTube User: ciaranoid
A. I have so many guys that I love being in the ring with but I think the Briscoes are at the top of my list. Just amazing dudes to work with and they always bring out the best in me. As far as the best worker I've ever been in the ring with, that honor is divided between Steve Corino and CIMA of Dragon Gate.
Q. Kevin, where do you see yourself in 5 Years time? Will you still be wrestling then? From YouTube User: TheSuperPlex1001
A. I certainly hope so. But I can't tell where or if I will be for sure. The only place I see myself at in 5 years is home with my family.
Q. Smoked meat or poutine? From YouTube User: KaceCC2
A. Poutine hands down.
Q. Hey Kevin, I was wondering... How in the blue hell do people survive the turnbuckle Steenalizer?!! From YouTube User: KreatorOfEvile/Also Via Email
A. I don't know. You could ask Adam Cole, Mike Bailey or Johnny Yuma. They were the three latest victims of it and they're all still walking around from what I can tell.
Q. What are you thoughts on John Zandig and CZW? I know Zandig doesn't run it anymore, but he paid you out in his shoot interview. From Rob Love Via Email
A. I have no idea what CZW is like now. Can't be too bad considering the Briscoes are back there I think. As far as Zandig goes, I don't want to say too much for two reasons. One, I'm aware of the tragedy his family has suffered recently with his son passing away, and two, I believe I am soon recording an Art of Wrestling podcast with my buddy Colt and I think the Zandig stuff will be part of it.
Q. How do Gaijins and Puroresu wrestlers call matches if they don't speak each others' language? I know you have limited experience in Puro, but I was hoping you would answer this question. From YouTube User: KreatorOfEvile/Also Via Email
A. Wrestling is kind of a universal language. Every wrestler in the world, at least all the ones I've met, know what the names of moves and holds are in English. Sometimes the communication can be a bit tricky but we always figure it out.
Q. Do you ever give out receipts to other wrestlers when they stiff you? If so, then who? Super Dragon comes first to my mind :P From YouTube User: KreatorOfEvile/Also Via Email
A. Yes, I do. It's pretty easy to spot me doing so because when I do, I apparently have a tendency of getting a crazy look and my tongue comes out through my teeth when I'm about to hit...at least that's what I've been told. As far as Super Dragon is concerned, I wouldn't say I've ever given him a receipt simply because we always beat the living shit out of each other when we wrestle. But he is the man I credit for showing me that hitting hard in the ring is not something negative. The first time I took a forearm from him, my eyesight got blurry and it rattled my brain...and for some reason, I loved it.
Q. Has weight been a problem for you in the ring, since your a hard hitting person does it take a toll on your body? From YouTube User: brianverrett
A. Absolutely.
Q. How come you are so AWESOME?!
From YouTube User: xShineyxDiverx
A. Because I'm the Miz.
Q. What jobs (if any) did you have before wrestling and do you have a job to support your wrestling income? From Ben Baxter Via Email
A. I used to work at a gas station for a long time. I quit because I was able to make a living off wrestling. Now I do have another job, at a warehouse, which I enjoy quite a bit. I have a family that depends on me and as good a living as I get to make from wrestling, you can never have too much money when you have a little dude in the house constantly eating and breaking stuff on a daily basis.
Q. You've used Linkin Park (One Step Closer) and Drowning Pool (Tear Away) as entrance music, do you still follow either band, if so what do you think of them now? From Clive Gray Via Email
A. I don't follow either. I haven't heard any new Drowning Pool song in years and the new Linkin Park stuff I've heard, while catchy, doesn't appeal to me much at all.
Q. What was one of your worst moments in wrestling? From YouTube User: dietfreeman42718
A. Two come to mind. One was right after a match I had with Nigel McGuiness in Chicago for the ROH title in 2008. We had a pretty good match, I think, yet the crowd never got into it much at all. Then I found out that I was incredibly underpaid compared to what other guys were making (something that was rectified quite quickly) and on top of that, I had major back pain and I had no idea what was causing it. I came as close as I ever did that night to quitting wrestling.
The other is walking out of the Manhattan Center after Final Battle knowing I was done with ROH. That fucking sucked, plain and simple.
Q. Do you like to do Big Shows(ROH) or Smaller Shows(PWG)? From YouTube User: dietfreeman42718
A. I don't consider PWG shows smaller than ROH. The number of people doesn't dictate what is a big show to me. The PWG fans, no matter if there's 100 of them or 500 of them, are always insane and ready for a good time. Every time I'm in a PWG ring, I feel like it's a big show. Same for ROH. Smaller shows, to me, are local shows like C*4 and NSPW. But I don't wrestle any differently. I really don't. I bust my ass everywhere because people paid to come in and see good wrestling. I'll try to measure the crowd to figure out what I need to do to make them happy and sometimes, I may end up doing a whole lot less in the ring than I would in ROH or PWG but I always do everything I can to give the crowd a good show.
What's that? Yes, yes I am a great person. Thank you!
Q. What was one of the hardest things for you to learn when you started training for wrestling? From YouTube User: dietfreeman42718
A. That's a good question. I always hard a real hard time giving dudes a fireman's carry. I also don't have a great hip-toss. I feel awkward doing it. Which is why I never do either.
Q. How did you get into PWG? From YouTube User: dietfreeman42718
A. I used a magical key I found in a goat's tummy...........
Super Dragon saw the IWS 4-way in CZW and the next week, we saw him again in JAPW and somehow ended up in his room. It was quite an unusual situation, especially since he had a reputation of being a loner and an asshole. Here we were, a bunch of strangers in his room, hanging out with him. The rest is history. He liked Generico and I's work so he brought us in to work one match, for a one time thing. We got over, I got especially over, and about 8 months later I was the motherfucking champ!
Q. Dear Kevin, I recently watched ROH Salvation. After the Main Event there was a backstage vignette where you talked about Tyler Black to who-I-presume-was Steve Corino over the phone about how you "saw it in his eyes", how he'd "changed" and how you'd "got him".
It has been driving me insane ever since - no pun intended - and has filled my head with questions... Were you planning something more with Tyler? If so, what were those plans? How did your cryptic words on the phone, and on the ensuing ROH Video Wires (in one you talked about you and Tyler now shared blood, in another you implied that him keeping the belt past Glory by Honor - and thus bringing it to WWE -was a focal point) play into them & foreshadow events? Was it intended to bleed into your *ahem* problems with El Generico at the time? From Phillip Wright via Email
A. When we did the match, we didn't know what was going to happen with Tyler. He had WWE and TNA calling and ROH was trying to re-sign him as well. He was taking time to think things over and this is when Adam was still in control. I had a lot of room with Adam to do things I felt were a good idea, even if there was no real plan to go anywhere with them. He would let me try stuff out and if something came out of it, then we could run with it. This was the same with Tyler. I was personally hoping that my feud with Tyler would last a lot longer than it did, or even better, Tyler would eventually turn and join us. But my ultimate goal was for Tyler to credit Steve and I for talking him into going to WWE, saying we motivated him to dream bigger and achieve his destiny...only for us to brag about having kicked out the one person who could have stopped us by getting inside of his head and making him think it was a great idea for him to leave.
It didn't pan out at all because it wasn't something the new management wanted to pursure and that's fine but that was my idea. I always wanted to make my feud with Tyler about something completely different than what other wrestling feuds usually are. I didn't hate Tyler. I loved him. I thought he was amazing wrestler and he was heading down the wrong path by trying to make the fans happy when they had turned on him immediately after he'd won the belt. I wanted to help Tyler realize what he was, which was the best damn wrestler in the world. I wanted to offer him the chance to beat me so that he could understand what he was...indestructible.
That was my whole thing with the Tyler feud and the reasoning behind every promo we did leading up to it.
Thanks to everyone who sent in questions. One little thing before I take off, I get asked daily, literally, about shirts. The answer is this: I don't have any for sale currently. I am hoping to re-stock the Mr. Wrestling shirts soon and they will be available here when I do. As far as the Generico head shirt, it was an ROH shirt. If you wish to get one, you'd have to contact them but last I heard, they had sold out. Thank you all!
************************************************************
C4
A few years ago a friend of mine came to me with a vision. He wanted to run some shows in his hometown of Ottawa. Nothing big, just a little place for the people in the area to be able to see wrestling again and something for him to be proud of, as a wrestling fan.
His name is Mark. He had tried running in conjunction with the IWS in Ottawa before but the experience was not a very good one, especially when the venue told him and IWS owner Manny they would never be allowed back there again due to a certain wrestler acting erratic and scaring people. Jeez, I wonder who that could have been...
Anyways, a few years went by and Mark was still talking about starting up something of his own. In 2007, he finally did it. He set a date, came up with a name and announced that Capital City Championship Combat, C*4, would hold its first event in November of that year.
I wasn't originally scheduled to be part of that first event because my son Owen was set to be born any day at that point but when I heard Eddie Kingston had to pull out of the show, I couldn't help but offer up my services to Mark as a suitable replacement. Mark took me up on it and the first main-event in C*4 history was set, Kevin Steen & Max Boyer vs Hallowicked and MVP. No, not the recently released, internationally-bound, no-longer-allowed-to-use-that-name MVP but the Ontario independant stand-out Michael Von Payton MVP, who had that moniker way before Antonio Banks, by the way.
That first main-event was held in a horrible six-sided ring, I remember. I fractured my elbow in that match by doing a frog splash off the guardrail to the floor and I still to this day have bone spurs floating around in there.
After that first show, Mark booked a few more dates at the venue he had found. He didn't seem too sure how long he'd run for or how successful he would be but he seemed happy just to be able to bring good wrestling back to Ottawa on a regular basis.
It's now 3 years later and C*4 is still going strong. It doesn't have the best venue, the nicest set-up, the best ring or a huge budget but what it does have is a bunch of guys in the locker room who believe in and love wrestling, loyal fans who come out every show to support their favorite company, and an owner who has one goal in mind: at the end of every show, everyone, from fans to wrestlers, go home happy. Mark is very successful in that aspect.
I'm not sure how the company does financially. I know it does well enough that Mark isn't running ''going out of business'' sales every 2 months to get sympathy and move merch quicker. I know Mark doesn't have to tell his wrestlers he's going to make up for the money they are missing out on at the next show or work at Taco Bell. And it's doing well enough to have some very good independent wrestlers on every show, in addition to the good local talent from the Ottawa area.
Guys like Sonjay Dutt, Hallowicked, Petey Williams, Colin Delaney, Kyoshi, Claudio Castagnoli, Cheech, Cloudy, Jimmy Jacobs, Eddie Edwards, Brodie Lee and many others have all taken part in a show or two in the past. Guys like myself, Tyson Dux, Player Uno, 2.0, Beef Wellington, Sexxxy Eddy, Twiggy, Stupefied, Michael Elgin, El Generico and others are all part of the regular roster.
The reason I chose to write about C*4 for my second column here isn't to kiss up to Mark, although it sure doesn't hurt my standing! The reason I am writing about this is because I feel that C*4 is somewhat of a hidden secret to American wrestling fans and I think a lot of you out there would enjoy the stuff C*4 is putting out quite a bit. I want to try and get the word out and help C*4 get the recognition it deserves.
In the end, all I want to say is if you're wrestling fan and you enjoy ROH, PWG, Chikara or anything like that, if you enjoy good, fun pro wrestling and you're looking for something new to take a look at, C*4 is as good a choice as any. Pick up a DVD or two and you'll see what I mean.
For those of you interested in seeing what C*4 has to offer, go to www.c4wrestling.com
I hope you all check it out!
Kevin
