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Please explain briefly about yourself and how you got into the wrestling world?
I grew up in Aberdeen, Washington, which is a small logging town. Aberdeen is a nice quiet community, but most kids are dying to get out of there by the time they finish school, and I was really no different. I appreciate it alot more now after living in big cities for the last three years, and I'm a small town guy at heart. I lived there until I was 18 (I'm 21 now), and then the night I graduated high school, I started driving down to San Antonio, Texas to train with Shawn Michaels. I had my first match after about three months of training, but continued to train with Shawn for the next year.
How did you find out about this INOKI DOJO?
I found out about it from my friend Spanky, who wrestled for Zero-One. He was living in Los Angeles at that time and he had heard that there was going to be a tryout, so we drove from Las Vegas to get a chance to wrestle in front of Mr. Inoki. That trip to INOKI DOJO was the first time I had met Mr. Inoki, but we didn't get the chance to train with him but to just wrestle in front of him. Having trained with him now, its amazing how much he knows, and that comes from years of studying and hard work. You can't help but respect that.
You have wrestled in the big Tokyo Dome show and you are going to Japan again for the next series. How do you think about NJPW style and the wrestlers?
I like NJPW style because its a very rough style, and they have tough wrestlers. You need to be tough to survive in that style.
Which style of wrestling do you prefer? Any favorite wrestlers?
I like the older style of pro wrestling. I was able to train with Steven Regal, and he really taught me the value of hard mat wrestling. I enjoy the styles of people like Bill Robinson, Chris Benoit and Mr. Fujinami. Also, I love watching Mr. Nishimura wrestle. He seems very intelligent and knows the proper technique for each thing he does. I would love to wrestle him sometime.
Is there anything special you want to show in your fight this time at NJPW that you couldn't do the last time?
Definately. Last time I was nervous, but this time I'm a little more confident. I think being so uptight made me wrestle differently and not as well as I'm capable of. We'll see this time. As with everyone, I want to make an impact and hope I can do that on this tour.
Please compare American pro wrestling and Japanese pro wrestling.
American pro wrestling is all about entertaining the fans. Japanese pro wrestling is more about the wrestling, which is what I enjoy. Right now, they actually have alot in common although it might not seem like it on the surface. Everybody's trying to find their place or develop their style to see what works best. It's completely different than it was ten years ago.
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