"Shootin' It Up" - Sly Sommers

[Phoenix Fury Legdrop 0]

(Shot of Sly Sommers, sitting down in a chair, close up so you only see his upper-chest and up. He's sitting in front of a gigantic OAOAST banner that takes up the entire wall behind him.)

 

COACHMAN

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the first installment of OAOAST "Shootin' It Up", where we delve past the sports entertainment and go into the real mindsets of some of your favorite OAOAST superstars. In our first installment, we're joined by a former X-Division Champion and a man who's made quite the impact in the past twelve months, Sly Sommers. Welcome, Sly.

 

SLY

Thanks, my man. Pleasure to be here.

 

COACHMAN

First thing's first: What's your first wrestling-related memory?

 

SLY

Hmm...it was probably when I was about five or six. See, my dad had a habit of getting up really early on Saturday mornings, but not telling anybody why he was. He'd disappear until about noon, when he'd reappear for a normal day. I got kind of curious as to what was up, so one Saturday I set my alarm really early and woke up at around the same time he did. I kind of snuck back into the garage before he could. When he came in, he turned on the TV set that he had stashed in there, where he was watching pro wrestling. I was watching from behind a shelf for a little bit and got really intrigued by what I was seeing. After about an hour, I popped out from behind the shelf and asked Pops what it was he was watching...scared the holy hell out of him. But, he sat me down and explained that it was pro wrestling, and then told me about all of the guys when they came on-screen and their histories and stuff...this continued on for about six or seven years, until my parents finally broke down and bought me a TV set for my room. It really brought me and my dad closer together. In fact, he might be flying in for Anglemania to watch me wrestle. But anyway, that was the day that I became a wrestling fan.

 

COACHMAN

Let's delve into your training now. How'd you discover that you wanted to train to be a wrestler?

 

SLY

(chuckles) Well...I'm guessing a lot of the fans out there probably know a lot more about my training than they should, thanks to my little feud with Zack that I'm guessing we're gonna get into later. But anyway, let's see...I think it was around two and a half years ago that I saw this ad on one of the TV shows that we were doin' at the time, I honestly forget which one. But, it was promoting the new school that Zack Malibu was opening up. I was like, "WOW! This could be something cool to do." Plus, I wasn't exactly doing well in terms of being accepted into any academic schools. So, I gather up most of the money that me and my parents had saved up for my college, and I drove from Chippawa, Michigan which, yes folks, is my legitimate hometown, to some shithole town near Orange County in California...

 

COACHMAN

...which was Zack's school?

 

SLY

Nah, some whorehouse. (chuckles) Yeah, it was the Malibu school. I checked the address about five times when I got there, because I was expecting this fancy building with bright lights and built to the nines. That was my first of MANY reality checks in wrestling, as this place couldn't have looked any shittier. It was this abandoned warehouse that Zack had bought from some old merchant with a Pay-Per-View payoff, where he thought he could probably help out the company that made his career by supplying future talent that'd work for cheap, while putting money in his own pocket from the trainees.

 

COACHMAN

What was the actual training like?

 

SLY

I was getting to that, Jonathan. So, I walked into the place...and I saw two rings. They were pretty beaten-up, but as cheesy as it sounds, I felt I belonged there as soon as I saw the rings. The school had just opened up, so no one was even allowed to touch the ring; all calistenics. I waited and watched the guys working out. At the end of the session, I approached Jose, who the fans watching this probably know as Phoenix, who was leading the drills that day, and asked him about where I could meet with Zack about signing up for the school. Suffice to say, I was pretty shocked when Jose told me that Zack only showed up a few days a week, and wasn't too hands-on with his own guys.

 

COACH

So, who was training the guys there if Malibu wasn't around?

 

SLY

Well, I think I short-changed Zack there: they met for training on Monday-Friday, and Zack was there Monday, Tuesday, and most of Wednesday usually, and while he wasn't bumping around a whole lot, he would be quite the advice baron. But, the guys that usually got in the ring and bumped around with us were Phoenix, Peter Knight, and, at least for our first month of bump training, Jay Darring.

 

COACHMAN

Was it true what you were saying in the promos during your feud with Zack, about how you were seen as the one pupil of his advancing way faster than most?

 

SLY

Yeah...in fact, a lot of what we said towards each other during that feud was really truthful, but I'll go into that later. Not to really be a braggart, but I was kind of excelling a lot faster than the other guys. I think I can kind of attribute that to the fact that I was the smallest guy of the bunch, as the nationally-run ad definately attracted a lot of the glamour-stricken football-player types who were big and impressive-looking, but didn't really have a wrestling mindset. Not to off-set myself, but I'm kind of glad to hear that the new class at Zack's school is a lot more athletic and wrestling-based than the ones in mine were. But anyway, since I showed up about a week or two late into the initial class, I was kind of expected to do way more on the calistenics load than most to make up for lost time...something that, due to my conditioning, thanks to that one year of high school wrestling, and my lack of size I was able to achieve a lot easier than most of the 6'5, 300 pound muscleheads there at the time. When it came to the bumping, I was probably the closest in size to any of the trainers, so it was easy for me to learn the way they bumped since they had, more or less, the same amount of weight to distribute around that I did.

 

COACHMAN

Did you feel any heat from any of the other trainees for the fact that you got it a lot faster than they did?

 

SLY

Most definately. They all came from heavily-athletic backgrounds where, if you weren't the best, you weren't shit. I was there because I grew up as a diehard fan of wrestling and I was in pretty good athletic shape for a schmo. I came up worshipping all of these guys, and would just think to myself whenever it got almost untolerable, that I grew up wanting this worse than any of those guys combined. They kind of took it as this little shrimp who didn't really have that impressive of an athletic background showing them up at something they thought would be an easy shot into fame since the NFL or NHL or whatever other initials wouldn't accept them. Plus, I've always had a smart mouth.

 

COACHMAN

I'm guessing that smart mouth got you in plenty of trouble...

 

SLY

It still does! (chuckles) Yeah, I went through plenty of chop clinics from all the guys there and tons of hazing because I maybe said too much about how well I took this bump, or wouldn't shut up about how fast I took to sequencing stuff together.

 

COACHMAN

How long did it take you from beginning to end in terms of your training?

 

SLY

Well, I consider even my first six months in the business to still be training days. But, in terms of my first day in the school to my in-ring debut...I'd say eight months max.

 

COACHMAN

When was your official in-ring debut?

 

SLY

Let me think...I debuted on TV in October of last year...I think I debuted in late-December 2002. I'm pretty sure it was a dark match before an Intense Zone telecast. I worked under my real name, which is Bryan Sommers, for you Internet kids out there. I think I worked about three weeks' worth of dark before the company decided to send me and another guy, who happened to end up being AJ Flaire, who came in from a school in Massachusetts away for a bit. I think AJ moved to Florida and started working indies there for a while. I worked indies in California for a few months before packin' my crap up and moving to Pennsylvania.

 

COACHMAN

Let's touch on your indy work for a second...this is where I believe some of your hostility towards Zack comes from.

 

SLY

Yeah, most of the old crap I hated Zack for comes from this. I booked myself around for a few months, and if any of the tape marks have any of my first indy matches, the promoters would bill me as "a student of Zack Malibu". Plus, the 'sheets kind of got whiff that Zack had this student who actually had some potential and got to dropping my name a bit. Zack got whiff of all of this, and I guess decided to call me up one night. I think it was the week of Anglemania that year...he goes on this angry, raving rant about how I'm supposedly disrespectful towards him and the business, and how I'm not earning a damn cent or any of the ring time I'm getting by using his name to get on shows...the fact of the matter was, most of the promoters that were booking me made sure that the posters and programs they printed said in big, bold letters, "STUDENT OF OAOAST SUPERSTAR ZACK MALIBU", or that any time I would be introduced, the ring announcer would mention Zack's name. The one or two promoters who I kind of had to throw Zack's name in there to get booked had a crapload of talented veterans who I knew I could better myself by working with, and therefore did whatever I had to get booked in those places.

 

COACHMAN

So, what'd Zack do from then?

 

SLY

Well...after his twenty-minute rant, Zack proceeded to let me know that I couldn't have that "Student of Zack Malibu" tag anywhere NEAR my name, or he'd both sue me for deflamation of character and blackball me from ever coming to the OAOAST. He then proceeded to tell me to get a new name, some new ring gear, and even wear a hood, or mask. He said that the word was out about me being associated with him, and he wanted people to think that I kind of just fell off of the face of the planet.

 

COACHMAN

And of course, you followed?

 

SLY

Of course! I mean, I was barely getting my feet wet within the business and Zack was kind of like the adult owner to me being a puppy dog, to make such a harsh comparison. I bought a multi-colored singlet, grew out a goatee, changed my ring name to "Brandon Jefferson", and for the places that were already booking me, started wearing a mask and asking to be called "OC Dragon".

 

COACHMAN

Looking back, do you feel that your own self-admitted smart mouth brought some of it on?

 

SLY

A little bit of it...actually, probably a lot more than I'll admit to, but I still believe that Zack was kind of out to get me from day one. But, we've talked those issues out; the past is past.

 

COACHMAN

Fair enough...moving on, you debuted in September of 2003 on the then-HeldDOWN~! brand. How did you getting on TV come about?

 

SLY

Well...backtrack to that three-week period of dark matches. I remember every week, me and Adam...I mean, AJ, would be called into the room where they usually shoot those short videos of all the guys posing and what-not for the match hype graphics, and they'd tell us to cut promos to show them how far along we are in terms of getting a character over. I remember that I was super-smart-aliky and snarmy during my promos, even the face promos which I sucked at. The bookers thought I'd be perfect for this chickenshit heel role that they had planned out. It wasn't supposed to be anything major; just some undercard amusement. I know that the whole Michelle Branch obsession thing was a rib, as for whatever reason at the time, I actually bought her newly-released CD and listened to it often in the car with whoever I was driving with to shows. The teen show trivia master stuff was a little "wink wink, nudge-nudge" inside joke to allude to the fact that I was trained by a guy who had most of his persona based off of the King of Saturday Morning, Mark-Paul Gosselaar.

 

COACHMAN

You explained where the influence for your original gimmick came from; would you mind sharing who some of your in-ring influences are?

 

SLY

Well, as a heel, I definately watched a lot of tapes of a guy from the NWA Wildside promotion in Georgia named Sal Rinauro, who happens to not only share one hell of a resemblence to yours truly but also is one of the more unheralded performers in the business, especially at being a tremendous heel promo guy. As I got more into the actual pure wrestling side of things and was being turned face, I studied a lot of Chris Hero tapes, and it's really obvious by the fact that I started to regularly use the cravate around March-April, and in a lot of my mannerisms and other holds, such as the One Hit Wonder.

 

COACHMAN

Cool. Segueing badly, your first feud was, ironically enough, against Crystal. Can you tell some of your memories of that?

 

SLY

Well, I remember I actually had worked her in my...I want to say, second dark match back in January of last year, before anyone had a clue who she was or would end up being. We seemed to show off some pretty decent chemistry, especially considering how damn green we both were at the time. We hung out a lot whenever I'd be called in for dark match spots, and I definately remember that, up until the actual feud itself ended, the boys wouldn't stop ribbing me about how they swore me and her were "an item". The truth was, I think there was a bit of attraction there on both ends, but we kind of both realized that we'd screw ourselves professionally if we did anything about it.

 

COACHMAN

Any memories of the actual feud itself?

 

SLY

I remember that it was pretty fun. I know I got to work a lot with Josh Matthews during it. Believe it or not, he's a pretty damn cool guy. Always had a good idea on anything. In fact, remember that bit where Crystal ended up in that cheerleader get-up for a couple of weeks? Well, originally, the blow-off was originally not supposed to be me losing Josh as a friend for life, which sucked because I loved being with that guy on-screen. It was originally supposed to be him having to wear the cheerleader outfit himself for a month, which was totally his idea.

 

COACHMAN

Did you like the matches that you and Crystal had back then?

 

SLY

Eh...looking back, I think considering our inexperience, we did the best that we could. But, we weren't makin' rocket-busters out there, ya know? The one thing that REALLY sucked about that series was about a week before the big Pay-Per-View blow-off...we were working a house show match together to prep us for the match on the Pay-Per-View, which I think was originally just supposed to be some hardcore schmozz with high school-related weapons to live up to the "Bayside Death Match" name. Anyway, we were supposed to do this spot where I go for a top rope side suplex, but she reverses into a lateral press in mid-air. Well, when I lifted her, I somehow got my hand stuck in the bottom of her shirt. I have no clue how...anyway, she turns, my arm's stuck under her....and SNAP! I felt my arm just die on me. Turns out that I didn't break my arm, but I hairline'd it up, so to speak. So, I was supposed to be on PPV for the first time ever that Sunday...and my arm was in a cast. What to do? Luckily, there was some f'd up high school out there who let us do a pre-tape in their commons area where we could re-do any screw-ups, and luckily our prop guy was able to get me this sleeve thing to cover up the cast so I looked weird and not injured. So, to answer your question, I thought they were decent for the time, but we had better in us.

 

COACHMAN

From there on, the OAOAST kind of took you away from the whole "Teen Show Icon" gimmick and made you just a cocky, arrogant SOB, putting you in a feud with AJ Flaire that kind of made both of you.

 

SLY

Yeah...I remember the first TV I came back to after that PPV with the Bayside match, they sat me down and said that I could keep the crimson and silver tights, but the letterman jacket had to go. I know Jay Darring was sitting in on the booking meetings then, since he only had to work a couple of days a week and still bring in that paycheck for his family. He's huge on the athletic side of things, as am I now, but he was really wanting to get something going with the X-Division to seperate us from the rest of the guys here. I remember coming to a TV right before...I want to say World Without End, last year, and being told immediately as I walked into the door that me and AJ were being programmed together. I asked, "When?" and the gopher said "Tonight."

 

COACHMAN

So you think you guys kind of got a cold open?

 

SLY

Very much so. I think we were literally told that week to just go out and wrestle. I think we had about six-seven minutes to work with. I remember begging for, and getting about a half-minute of mic time to explain crap, but we still barely got anything in. I remember he beat me, and that led into a Two Out of Three Falls match at the Pay-Per-View...I think he beat me there too. I thought it was a good match, though again we were still both green beyond belief. I remember...I think it might have been Szechstein in the ring with us, working the entire match out with us before the show. I definately learned a huge bit from Cal.

 

COACHMAN

From then on, you started a three-way feud with Flaire and Mad Matt over the X-Division Title. Could you delve into your thoughts on that?

 

SLY

Hmm...well, I love working with AJ whenever I can. Beyond being from the same "new class" of OAOAST guys, he seems to move and think similarily to how I do when I'm in the ring. That makes him beyond easy to work with. Plus, he's a cool guy just to shoot the shit with. Matt...well, I'll say the same thing now that I said to him when he left: "Good riddance." I just honestly didn't like the guy. I mean, he was cool to me when I first came into the company. But, as soon as I started working with him on house shows and we started the three-way feud, I realized that he's almost untolerable to work with. The dude was doing this gimmick at the time where he'd just absolutely snapped, aka something that three-fourths of the company seems to be doing right now. But, he LIVED the gimmick. Apparantly he thought that if he were pissed off 24/7 that he'd be able to portray the gimmick better. The fact of the matter is, it made him portray the life of a dickwad a lot better. He wouldn't show up before the shows to work out crap in the ring, he'd lock himself in a locker room before each match and throw trash cans and shit around, and he was a big fan of potatoing guys in the ring. Plus, the guy couldn't call a spot for the life of him.

 

COACHMAN

I see...did you like the whole concept of a three-way feud?

 

SLY

Not really. I think even Matt, in his one moment of clarity, asked to feud with one of us or the other and not both, because he knew that it wouldn't work. I think that two faces going after one heel kind of made them look like heels, stacking the odds against me, who was supposed to be the heel. I don't think there was a good enough job of portraying any hatred between Matt and AJ whatsoever, other than the fact that Matt was this constipated, paranoid asshole and AJ wanted his belt.

 

COACHMAN

What'd you think of the three-way X Division cage match from November 2003, where you won the belt?

 

SLY

Well, it's a good thing you didn't ask what I remembered, because I'd answer with "none of it". (chuckles) For those that don't know, I got knocked out about three minutes into the match when I got tossed into the cage, and I still can't remember much of that night. Watching it on tape, I thought it was such a cluster. First off, you got me and AJ, just finishing our first official year as wrestlers, in this three-way feud that neither one of us are smart to the business enough to grasp. Then, you got the combustable element of Matt having to be the guy leading us through the match when he wouldn't even remember to call half of the spots and locked himself up in a room to throw a tantrum before the match. Add to it that it's everyone's first cage match and the fact that we had to plan around the clusterfuck ending with Andy and the Tetherses debuting, and it was just a mess planning it. Don't get me wrong: I LOVE those Tethers boys...Nate's even been travelling to shows lately with me, Crystal, and Alex Bryant. But back to the point...I remember there being one spot in the beginning where I was almost embarrassed to be out there, as no one called it, so I thought they all remembered it. Turns out they didn't, and thankfully the cameraman wasn't looking directly at us at the time or else millions of geeks at home would have called us on it online, but we just kind of stood around for five seconds like jackasses.

 

COACHMAN

So despite getting the belt that night, you were upset at the OAOAST braintrust for the match?

 

SLY

Don't get me wrong, I thought it was a huge honor to get that belt so soon into my run, but the conspiracy theorist in me wants to think that Zack, who's obviously in every booking meeting and gets his ideas listened to, kind of wanted to screw us over by throwing us in this cluster that couldn't have been any good with any of the elements that we had to work against.

 

COACHMAN

There was an incident in this time period where you got into quite the publically spoken-about argument with Mad Matt over an angle on TV...care to explain?

 

SLY

Well...I think it was November when I did the angle where I brought out the little kid as AJ Flaire, and I think I brought out a monkey or an old man or something and said he was Matt. I thought I cleared it with everybody, but I guess not. For some reason, Matt took offense to a worked angle we did on TV. I think the guy has some sort of ego thing beyond what a wrestler usually is expected to have. But anyway...he went off on me backstage, threatened to kill me, the usual nine yards. So, when someone brought up Matt when I was doing a radio appearance to promote a house show in Cedar Rapids, I said how much I hated him and described what he said to me...then he went online and rebutted what I said. It was crazy and stupid...much like Matt. Next question...

 

COACHMAN

Any memories on the four-way dance that you, Mad Matt, AJ Flaire, and Saint Andrew had at Bloodied, Battered, and Beaten 2003?

 

SLY

I remember it being way too damn good for being either a four-way or a four-way with three rookies and a slug involved. I liked Andy as a person, but he just wasn't good at all in the ring. He had some cool moves, but his "Minions", so to speak, had cooler ones and could work a match. Why he got the push over them, I'll never understand. However, I remember this really being the first time that I got to put anything together match-wise in the company, and really being proud of it. I think I kind of fluked on this one, as I had about a month after this where I was having shit match after shit match. But, I thought it was really cool for what we went out to do. I did remember thinking at the time that it was bullshit to have the belt taken off of me so soon, but looking back, I totally think it was the right decision, as AJ needed the belt to cement himself because my promos were getting me over pretty big for someone who was only around for a few months.

 

COACHMAN

I'll get to that in a second, but first I wanted to discuss the Hour-Long Gauntlet from New Year's Day 2004 on HeldDOWN~!...

 

SLY

(sarcastically) NO! Please don't! (laughs) Man, that was such a fuckin' clusterfuck. I remember we were told about it a week...yeah, a week before the Pay-Per-View that month. It was me, Andy, Jake Lyne, both of those Tetherses, Matt, AJ, I think Rodez, and...I forget who else. But it was supposed to be this non-stop gauntlet thing that went for one hour. The thing is, I think it's kind of hard to put together fifteen-twenty short singles matches in one day. To add to that, I think there was another match that day who were hogging up all the ring time before the show, so we got maybe an hour to plan all of this crap out. Then during the match, I remember...I think it was Matt's knee kind of buckled on him, so we had to improv in the middle of the match and send the Minions out to "take him out of the match" to cover it all up. I dunno; it was all crazy and hectic.

 

COACH

Any positives?

 

SLY

Well, there's the fact that I never have to do one of those again! (chuckles) Also, I thought that it really made Jacob Lyne in a lot of people's eyes; he was probably the only one in there that was having good sequences with people. Of course, the bastard pissed it all away for some rat at a strip club, but that's beside the point...

 

COACHMAN

For those who don't know, could you explain that further?

 

SLY

Well, Jacob was set for this huge push where he was gonna win the X Division belt and be the semi-main event on all of these shows...then the office gets a call from him about a week before Anglemania where basically tells them that he won't be around much longer, he's gotta follow his team...a bunch of crap basically. It turns out he met this chick at a strip club and fell for her. The thing is, she hated the fact that he wrestled. So, she told him to quit...and he listened to her. So, he screwed over about six months' worth of plans because of some rat that ended up dumping him a few months after he quit. I hear he's coming back for the next X Cup, and I'll tell you right now what I'm gonna tell him if and when he comes up to me and shakes my hand before the show: that must have been some Super-Pussy. Otherwise, get out of this locker room.

 

COACHMAN

I thik the big turn-around for you in terms of crowd response came at around this time...

 

SLY

You mean the people cheering me when I'm trying to be the chickenshit of all chickenshits? (laughs to self) Yeah, that was interesting. I remember coming to the back after that Four-Way at Triple B 2003 and someone...I'm wanting to say it was PK, saying to me, "You just got turned face in four months." He was off by a month, but I've been told that the cheers for my heel schtick were the main reason why they turned me in April.

 

COACHMAN

I know I'm coming completely out of order here, but at the end of 2003, about a month or so before the time of your X-Division Title win, you were put in with Calvin Szechstein and Colvid as a member of Totally Endorsed. Your thoughts on that whole ordeal?

 

SLY

I thought it was kind of cool that they'd throw someone so new in with the top heel group. I know the whole thing was kind of like I was the junior member and they were still a step above me with the whole "I'm friends with the World Champion, so I can run all of you low-card guys around" stuff, which I thought was pretty funny, but I was still a lot higher up than anyone in the company for that short of a period of time should have been. Cal had a bit of a hand in my training through his guest training stints at Zack's school, so me and him had kind of known each other for a while and therefore he definately served as a mentor to me. Colvid was a nice guy and he really helped me in terms of developing some of the little things that I was missing as a worker, but I think he kind of realized when I came into the group that the company was trying to phase him out. I think he also realized that his body was giving out on him, and that I was able to bump around like crazy for the faces, something that he was really becoming unable to do.

 

COACHMAN

Did you get heat from any of the other guys that were on the low level at the time about your sudden elevation?

 

SLY

Some of the veterans definately seemed to dislike the fact that I had only been around for a month and was already programmed with the World Champion and Zack. A lot of people thought that it was because I had been trained by Zack, but if they would have been in those booking meetings and would have heard the shit Zack would say to the higher-ups then, they'd know a lot better.

 

COACH

Like what?

 

SLY

He'd constantly tell them, "If it gets out that I had a hand in bringing that little shit into the business, it's gonna be your asses, his ass, and I think I'll probably quit." He didn't want ANYTHING to do with me whatsoever. If we can fast-forward to April, I even remember him no-showing a series of house shows just because he didn't want to have that program with me. The guy just has a hard time with the fact that someone from the generation after his has come around and is able to hang on his level.

 

COACHMAN

Very well. Now, in January you had a short feud with Scotty Static, resulting in the first-ever Total Decapitation match in company history. Thoughts on that?

 

SLY

It was the first feud I ever really got to control from beginning-to-end, so I kinda dug that. What I didn't dig was having to work with Scotty Static. Kid's so damned full of himself, and it's obvious that he's related to who he's related to...

 

COACH

Who's that?

 

SLY

I ain't gonna say. I actually kinda still believe in kayfabe, which is funny considering I'm doing the first in a series of OAOAST shoot interviews. I think it's gonna come up in a storyline somewhere down the line, according to what the bookers are telling me, but I ain't gonna ruin it. But anyway, I kind of had some problems in terms of working with him because he wanted to get this move in and that move in, and constantly was talking about how he was gonna do this great promo, and then work this awesome feud and win this title and that title...it was quite obnoxious. But, it was kind of nice that he wasn't really concerned with the feud, because he just let me do what I wanted with it, which was both fun and a learning experience for me.

 

COACHMAN

Who came up with the Total Decapitation concept?

 

SLY

It was an idea that Peter Knight told me and one of the other guys from Zack's school about when we were still training there. He had all of these amazing ideas written down in a notebook that he carried around with him, and I don't think he let that many people even look at it, let alone read through it. But, T.D. was in the notebook...took up about three pages with all the different stips for the match, and a shitload of spots related to the match that could be done and all the different psychological kinks that could make up the story or a match like this; it was like reading through this amazing novel of sorts. But, he came to me...I think in December and said that he was thinking of hanging up the boots soon, and that before he retired, he wanted to see someone use the Total Decapitation idea and do it right since he thought he was too banged up and his head wasn't in the game enough to pull off a good one. I disagreed with him to his face, but he wouldn't admit to it. But anyway, he said right then and there that he wanted me to do it since he thought that it'd help get me over and stuff like that. I wanted to do the match against either PK or AJ, but the booking team decided to throw Scotty in there since they thought he needed it too or something...

 

COACHMAN

What'd you think of the match itself?

 

SLY

I thought it rocked. I've always been a huge mark for the whole wild Memphis-style brawl. A bunch of people were comparing it to ECW or CZW on the Internet the day after, and I kind of wanted to go on a head-kickin' spree reading that. I mean, we did some stuff with the ladders and the barbed wire and that huge fuckin' platform thing with the insanely stupid shit in it that is CZW-incarnate, plus I had done a ladder match with Andrew on Christmas Day that people were still talking about where we did a bunch of huge, insane spots that kind of got me a rep as a garbage worker. But, everything out in the crowd brawling and shit was all Memphis. I remember there was one spot up in the lobby where these little girls were standing around, almost in tears from seeing Static, who of course does that whole teen idol blowjob bit, being beaten half-to-death. So I said to Scotty, "Let's go scare 'em." I threw him down and started whipping him with my belt while screaming at them about how their hero was dying...it was fuckin' brilliant. I also remember that they were kinda starting a slight tease towards my face turn there, when I sent Colvid to the back instead of letting him help me, showing that maybe my character had grown some balls. I actually still got some scars on my chest and left arm from that match, which I think is really cool that I got keep-sakes on me to remember what I personally think is my first great match.

 

COACHMAN

Any regrets?

 

SLY

Yeah, I totally regret that the feud didn't go on longer leading up to that match, as I thought it was a great match, but I don't think the time we got to build up the feud really let us build the heat realistically so that we'd be killing each other like that.

 

COACH

Here's a question from that time period that I forgot to write down but I personally wanted to know: whose idea was it for you to hold the WCW World TV Title?

 

SLY

(laughs) I'll take credit for that one. I did buy the belt off of eBay, and I had nothing to do with it. I hate displaying crap in my house without being able to use it, and plus I thought it'd be pretty funny.

 

COACHMAN

Okay. Now, the next month, you had to totally change gears, going to the finals in the first-ever Super X Cup.

 

SLY

Ah, the Super X Cup. I had heard plans about doing a tournament ever since they decided to program me and AJ together. Jay was big on the Japanese stuff and wanted to use the junior heavyweight tournament concept to get the division over as a whole as soon as we could get at least three or four guys over on top of the division. The thing is, we didn't have too many guys to throw into the thing. We had me, Andrew, Jake, Matt, and AJ. I remember that we all had to go to Jay seperately and get him to put his name in for it. We still only had six guys in, so...I forget whose idea it was, but one of the newer bookers had the idea to let it be interpromotional to make it seem more important, so that's where we got Black Diamond and PRL.

 

COACH

First round, you wrestled Crystal. Your thoughts?

 

SLY

It was a hell of a lot better than our first big match, that's for sure. I remember sitting down with her before the show to go over the match, and we both kind of agreed to just go in and wing it since we only have like eight minutes and no one was really expecting much out of us based on our previous work together. It ended up being the most fun I had out wrestling that night, as we actually clicked that time, and made something out of our eight minutes. I'd like to think that someone viewed that match after she won the belt and that's where they got the idea for the program with me and her based on actual wrestling.

 

COACHMAN

Speaking of that feud, we'll speak on that in a little bit. But now, in the second round, you faced Puerto Rican Lightning...

 

SLY

Oh dear...

 

COACHMAN

Don't like him?

 

SLY

Dude's a fuckin' idiot. First off, Dwayne Johnson called: he wants his bit back. I know you think it's a tribute and all, but doing every single damn thing that the guy does isn't a tribute: it's called gimmick infringement. I steal a couple of things from Chris Hero's moveset because I want to tribute him; I don't come out to "Kryptonite" calling myself "Nick Hero" and feuding with another dude doing a straight edge gimmick. Alex Bryant's obviously very influenced by Alex Shelley and Roderick Strong, but he doesn't do a weird bunny-fingers strut or claim he's anything of the "Next Generation" or "GenNext" or call himself the Messiah of anything. It's called being original; something PRL needs to learn how to do.

 

COACHMAN

I'm guessing you didn't like the match then?

 

SLY

It was alright...could have been a lot better. I thought they booked him well for the tournament; taking advantage of the fact that the guy, when he's contained into actually wrestling and not ripping off crappy WWF gimmicks and storylines, can throw some damn good strikes and booking him as the striker of the tournament. I thought we were able to build a good story around that dynamic. Would I like to work with him again? Fuck no. If I do have to, it's gonna be a lot like the Malibu feud where I just won't hold back when I say what I think about him during promos, even if I do end up shooting a bit on him.

 

COACHMAN

Finally, the finals, where you lost the X Cup to Jacob Lyne...

 

SLY

Loved that match. Jacob was so easy to work with, in that he's probably the most athletically gifted guy to ever enter this company not named Sean Bryant, but he has a lot more muscle in order to do offensive moves with. Plus, he has a mind for the business that most of the athletic jock-types that come into wrestling don't have. I remember we were gonna plan that one out a bit before the show, but by the time all of the other guys had their shit in the ring planned out, they were about ten minutes out from letting fans in the doors. So we just decided to kind of wing it. I think that's when I learned that my matches come out a lot better when we call them out in the ring. I could be nice and say it was when Cal and PK told me back when I first started working here, but I'd be lying about listening to elders at that point.

 

COACH

Were there any disappointments coming out of the tournament?

 

SLY

Eh...not really. I mean, if you're referring to the last-minute change of Lyne winning the tournament over me, I gotta say I was actually relieved and really happy that Jacob won the thing. I did kind of think that my feud with AJ was kind of left unresolved, but I can't complain about much there, considering the match I got to have at Anglemania. My only complaint, and it was a complaint that nearly got me booted off of the Anglemania card for being too vociferous about, is that there were so many damn non-tournament matches that it distracted from the tournament and made it secondary. I heard the format for the next Cup is changed dramatically to keep the stuff more compact on the Pay-Per-View, which definately disappointed me that the OAOAST couldn't get the guys their own PPV time, especially considering I think quite a few of the best workers here will probably be involved.

 

COACH

March is when your elevation towards the very top of this promotion began, as you won a Number One Contender's Match against Peter Knight, a man who you've already said earlier in this interview was one of your mentors coming up in the business, at the biggest show in OAOAST history, Anglemania III. Thoughts? Memories?

 

SLY

I remember...I think it was a couple of weeks after the January Pay-Per-View, Peter came up to me and said that he was for sure hanging up the boots, and that he wanted his last high-profile match to be putting me over. I was so overwhelmed that, and I'm man enough to admit it, I actually broke down and cried right there on the spot. Here's one of the guys who nurtured me into this wrestling business, and probably the one guy to help me along in terms of ethic and the lifestyle itself more than anything else, as well as a guy who I really loved watching in the ring, wanting to put ME over on the biggest show in company history, which is his last big match. I even tried convincing him not to waste it all on me. But, he said he saw something in me that he didn't see out of any of the other new guys in the company, something that he also apparantly told the head cheeses here, as around that same time, I got word through the office that I'd be a top guy following the Anglemania yearly restart. For not only putting me over so huge in front of the bookers, but for giving me so much guidance as a baby in the business, as well as a clean win in his last match and being so selfless with his final feud in the company, I have to say I owe just about everything to good ole' PK. Petey, if you're watchin'...God bless, man.

 

COACH

What'd you think of the match itself?

 

SLY

Thought it rocked. We called it all out in the ring, which being with a guy like PK in a match as important as that one really helped my nerves on matches in the future where me and the other guy have to call it out in the ring. It was also probably the last match where I got to be a chickenshit heel, outside of a booking the OAOAST let me take in Germany where I was working the promotion's top guy and therefore had to put him over as a heel, as right after that, they started the double-turn with me and Zack. I was kind of disappointed with the build-up, as it was for a shot at the World Title and it was Peter's last big match, and we only got three weeks to build for it for the biggest show in company history. Plus, I thought there should have been a bit more respect given to Peter post-match by the company, in terms of not just turning to the next segment as soon as I left the ring. The man got this huge standing ovation and I think he even got a "Please Don't Go" chant, and they never showed ANY of it on TV. I dunno, I thought it was kind of crappy. But, you do with what you're dealt with.

 

COACHMAN

Since you did bring up how that was the last time you got to really be a good heel here, I should ask this: do you have a preference between being a face or a heel?

 

SLY

It honestly depends. As a heel, I'm allowed to do a lot more and be a lot more like myself than I would be if I were a babyface. I like working feuds more as the heel. I don't really prefer wrestling heel per se, as usually heels are required to cheat and do the weird mannerisms and such. As a face, I'm able to get away with doing the straight pure wrestling-style matches like I had with Crystal overseas in September. Plus, I make a shitload off of t-shirts and DVD's and I'll admit it: thousands of people cheering you can sure stroke your ego quite well. To answer your question decisively...I do have a preference, but it depends on the occasion.

 

COACHMAN

Going into the whole heel/face thing again, we lead right into the big, infamous, quasi-shoot double-turn that you and then-World Champion Zack Malibu had at Living Angleously. I know you're quite outspoken with your thoughts and there's quite the interesting story about the behind-closed-doors goings-on of this feud...so I'll just let you talk for a while.

 

SLY

(laughs) Thanks, man. Well, I think I said this earlier, but right when Zack got wind that his post-'Mania feud was with me, he went completely and totally apeshit. He tried threatening that he'd have his lawyers find the smallest loophole possible and get him out of his contracy, he tried telling everyone he could that he'd shoot on me if we were to go on as the main event in April, he tried convincing people that he'd thrown down the belt on TV...I think he did everything possible but leave a suicide note, but luckily for my ass, I had PK, Jay, and Calvin on my side in the booking meetings, and they ended up convincing the company to continue with my push. The afternoon before the first post-Anglemania HeldDOWN~! broadcast, we all got Zack's ego to fit in one room long enough for all of us to discuss how exactly we were gonna do the feud. We ended up having this huge argument over the morals of how Zack's been treating me since I graduated from his school, which set a lightbulb off in all of our heads. You see, Zack had been wanting to do one of those shoot-style, Russo-like feuds for the longest time, and I was exactly the perfect guy to do it with. Believe it or not, and I was sure shocked, Zack agreed with me.

 

COACHMAN

So the entire feud was based off of one argument?

 

SLY

Well, one argument based on about fourteen months of hostility.

 

COACHMAN

Okay. Go on...

 

SLY

Well, we were kind of afraid at first that coming right out with the facts from my point of view would heel Malibu on the crowd way too fast. But, I kind of admit to messing up the speed of the reveal a bit much after the first week's TV, where Zack pissed me off during this brawl we had after they turned the cameras off where I was supposed to take a few bumps and run off. Zack decided it'd be cool to go on a potato-frenzy. So, I grabbed the microphone and hot-headedly blew the whole reveal in front of the whole live crowd, who then spilled every detail on the Internet the next day. I tried covering it up on TV the next week by bringing up about five other things that the big secret could have been, but it didn't work. Either way, there was a shitload of heat for the "reveal", even though I wasn't revealing anything that, thanks to my big mouth, at least half of the crowd didn't know.

 

COACHMAN

The promos...were they a total shoot?

 

SLY

They weren't TOTAL shoots. I mean, it'd be downright unprofessional to say some of the stuff I wanted to say on TV. It was a worked-shoot, meaning that we both kind of held back from saying what we truly meant, but every single word out of our mouths was weeded with what we thought was the truth. We had to throw in some stuff that'd obviously sound like a work to keep people hooked in without going, "We just don't know what's going on," and plus Zack was a face going in...we had to throw in some stuff to tease the heel turn, but I couldn't say certain things, and he had to say certain things, to make sure it was at least a mixed reaction by bell-time at the Pay-Per-View.

 

COACHMAN

What'd you think of the match?

 

SLY

It was good. We had a few miscommuncations in the ring, but I'll put the blame on myself there. As much as I personally dislike him for what he's done to me, working with Zack is like working with a rock star: the guy can control a group of hundreds of thousands of people just with a glimmering glare. It's magic what the guy can do as a performer.

 

COACHMAN

How do you think the double-turn at the end went?

 

SLY

I thought it was awesome. Going in, I honestly didn't think anyone would "get it". I mean, Zack's used so many weapons throughout the years that I thought a measly chain was just gonna get the same old "yay, our hero's getting his revenge" pop it usually does. But, Zack was able to turn "it" on and get a lot more boos than we expected. At the same time, it was kind of cool when I got that standing ovation after the show went off of the air because, as good of the pop was for the Super X Cup finals, they weren't necessarily cheering me. They were either cheering Jacob Lyne or they were cheering cool moves. The ovation after the Malibu match was for me...it was for the character, for my work, whatever. But they were cheering me, and that felt damn good, as much of a mark as I might sound like.

 

COACH

You had been in Totally Endorsed up to that point, as the couple of weeks of HeldDOWN~! saw the group disband and morph into The Thrillogy. What'd you think about that?

 

SLY

To be honest...I mean, in order for everything to work, Cal HAD to have left me and Colvid, I'm not stupid. I was basically a face by then, and Colvid was retiring. But, I thought it was stupid to kill off the Totally Endorsed name. I thought that between the version I was in and the version with Axel, Colvid, and Cal, we had kind of built the group up to be the OAOAST Supergroup; kind of like what the Horsemen were to the Crockett territory and later to WCW. I thought the group put together on top, that being Zack, Calvin, and Hoff, was PERFECT for the spot. But, I thought they should have had Calvin stick with the "Totally Endorsed" name and not gone with "The Thrillogy".

 

COACHMAN

Okay. Now, after The Thrillogy formed, you went into a feud with the guy who was played up on the TV up to that point as being your mentor, Calvin Szechstein, starting with the European Rounds match in May.

 

SLY

Remember earlier when I stated that I was a HUGE Chris Hero mark? Stole the idea from a match he had with Arik Cannon in April of this year where they impromptuly brought a Euro Rounds match to the States. It was a great match, so I thought I'd try it out in the OAOAST. The problem is, I think it was brought in wrong. It was built like the wussiest form of boxing match ever, in my opinion. Plus, I think we only had two weeks of TV to build it up, and I got in one example match with Phoenix that kind of went array due to the crowd getting confused by the round breaks since they evidently forgot to turn on the clock on the scoreboard during the match. Then, when we went to go do the match at the Pay-Per-View, I thought we worked it a bit too American-style for it to make sense within the rules of the bout, which confused and bored the crowd quite a bit. Plus, the finish was way too convoluted for a match like that. I'd like to do it again, I just don't know when.

 

COACH

So you thought it should have just been a regular one-on-one match?

 

SLY

Considering the type of feud it was and the lack of build the match got? Totally.

 

COACH

Okay. Moving on...in June, you got to totally change gears, as yourself, AJ Flaire, Crystal, and Northstar faced off with the Thrillogy and the 7-foot-plus monster Gibraltar in a War Games bout at the Great Angle Bash. Thoughts?

 

SLY

I thought the build for the match was pretty damn good. I remember in specific a really good tag with me and Crystal against Zack and Cal from a HeldDOWN~!, and a six-man tag that's probably my second favorite HeldDOWN~! match ever with me, North, and Crystal against all three Thrillogy members. We had some really great work in those matches and the crowd was MOLTEN for both matches. I thought the build towards Gibraltar being the weapon of mass destruction on the heel side was great, as was the promo where we were all arguing and CWM came back like General Lee or something and brought us all together to fight against the Thrillogy. I swear there was a match either in June...maybe it was May...either way, there was a match between me and Hoff somewhere in that time period for the 24/7 Title that I loved to death too.

 

(pauses)

 

SLY

As for the match itself, I thought it was, to steal a horrible phrase, a "rocketbuster". I remember watching War Games when I was younger, then watching the nWoized versions and thinking, "that's NOT War Games." What we had on that night WAS War Games, and it did click on every cylinder possible. We had a shitload of great stories all tying together and becoming more clear, between Crystal making Zack tap out in the center of the ring, and me and Calvin beating the shit out of each other, and North's big comeback, and us chopping down the big giant, and AJ's back injury...everything connected for once, and it just felt right. The only thing I thought could have gone wrong that I'm thankful didn't happen was the original plan of Gunner Sharps being the fourth guy on our team and not North. No offense to Gunner, who's a pretty decent guy, but I think he's a big oaf who's not exactly a great wrestler. I mean, the dude's obviously doin' something right to be over like he is, but I didn't think he was right for this match. Plus, I'm not a fan of monsters as faces. It just takes the drama out of everything. Oh, before I forget, I gotta make a shout-out to my boy Gibraltar, who's doin' pretty fuckin' well for himself in Japan right now in HUSTLE. Keep at it, Giant Gorilla Destroyer XIX.

 

COACHMAN

Very well. You stayed along the violent pathway throughout July, as you competed in the Emperor of Death Tournament, competing with the Cuban Wall in Round One and a familiar foe in Calvin Szechstein, who you lost to in the Quarter-Finals...

 

SLY

Emperor of Death Tournament...that was actually Sean Bryant's idea, believe it or not. The kid, and I do mean KID...he's like sixteen, right? Anyway, the kid's a huge mark for the Big Japan deathmatch style, and thought it'd totally work here. We had done a previous deathmatch tournament that kind of got over, so the office green-lit it. Speaking of Sean, I thought that four-way Daredevil match he had with Rick Edwards and the Tethers brothers was, by far, the damndest thing I think I have ever seen. They killed each other and looked like a zillion bucks doing so. If I were Sean or Nate or Mikey, I'd be pissed that a bigger push didn't come out of that match. Anyway...first round against Cuban Wall...hmm...had some really good heat considering we had absolutely no conflict at all going into it. I got to do the whole Jim Duggan bit with the American flag, which I totally marked out for when Crystal came up with the idea for me to do in my entrance. As for the actual work...it was probably the first match where I had to completely and downright carry someone. I didn't even find out until an hour before the match that the only one in that whole Lightning Crew crap that was actually trained outside of PRL was Spanish Fly, so I basically had to make chicken salad out of a glorified backyarder. But, not to mark out for myself or anything, but I thought I got a pretty good match out of the guy; definately the best match the guy's ever had. All I gotta say after that though, is thank the Lord that those Lightning Crew guys are gone now...

 

(laughs)

 

SLY

Now onto the second round...I honestly think it's just about up there with the one-hour World Title draw in terms of my best matches. I remember seeing the Necro Butcher/Toby Klein match from the IWA King of the Deathmatches and thinking, "THAT'S how garbage wrestling should be worked." Plus, me and Cal had this heated rivalry going, so it was completely natural that we have this completely out-of-control brawl all around the building just looks like a legit fight as opposed to two guys trying to out-bump and out-spot the other. It completely and totally worked, and I thought it was the best match on the show, with the exception of maybe Crystal vs. Zack. But did I regret taking some of those stupid bumps and spots after the match and the next day? Fuck yeah! (laughs) That shit hurt like a motherfucker! But do I think the tournament actually worked? Nope. I thought there was so much on those two nights that, by the end, everyone was desensitized towards the violence. Plus, by the time we got to the finals, everyone was so beaten up and destroyed physically that no one could do shit.

 

COACH

I agree. However, you and Calvin stayed on quite the violent path with your feud, ending it with the first-ever Barbed Wire Pergatory match...

 

SLY

...and last. (laughs)

 

COACHMAN

(laughs) So I'm guessing you didn't like it.

 

SLY

Hated the match. First off, I thought it was a stupid concept. Total overkill on the whole barbed wire gimmick. I don't think we got enough build-up to really get this one over as the be-all, end-all of the feud, nor anything with the barbed wire. Plus, it was way too fuckin' dangerous. We had to take it home about eight minutes early because I got a chunk ripped out of my right shin that left a scar for about a month that looked like the loosest fuckin' vagina you'll ever see! (laughs) I honestly did think I was gonna bleed to death or something out there, so we just went home early. The only part of it that I thought was anything great was the finish to the match, and the feud with the scissors and shit...that was great. Otherwise, it was a tramatic experience, which sucks because it was a great feud.

 

COACHMAN

Yeah, it was kind of a train wreck, wasn't it?

 

SLY

Kind of? More like "totally"!

 

COACHMAN

Yeah...anyway, around that time, you began what many refer to as, for pure wrestling, the best feud of the year, between yourself and Crystal. Thoughts on the first match?

 

SLY

I thought it was excellent for what we were going for. I remember we both looked at each other in the locker room when we found out that we were booked against each other on HeldDOWN~! the next week, and at the exact same time, said "Call it in the ring." We totally did, and I thought we built some great stuff for the second and what we thought would be the third match. We got to establish that we've both grown a lot as workers since that crap back in September of 2003, and certain moves that were death to either one of us. We got around thirty minutes of ring time on HD, which no one really ever gets. I really loved that. Some people hated the Thrillogy run-in finish, but I personally dug it. We didn't have to have a decisive finish, which would have killed us right in the water in September. Plus, every fan, even the Internet geeks, collectively said, "Fuck the Thrillogy for ruining one hell of a wrestling match", which is totally what the purpose of a great run-in should be.

 

COACHMAN

Then, you two go to Australia and have what many are considering to be the "Match of the Year", in an excellent one-hour draw for the World Title...

 

SLY

Best match of my career, without having to think about it. I think we knew from right around when they told Crystal that they were putting the strap on her that we were doing the hour-long broadway in Australia. We had been going thirty-to-fourty-five minutes on the house shows, and sometimes we'd be doing the whole ECW "run-ins turn into a tag match" thing with the Thrillogy, so we'd be out in the ring for about sixty-seventy minutes at a time for a couple of weeks leading up to it. We had actually kind of avoided each other on the plane trip over to Australia so that we wouldn't get on each other's nerves and therefore possibly break up any cooperation process that we had going. I know, at least with me, I watched this DVD that I put together myself of all of our previous matches, trying to put together some psychology to string the match along with the other stuff we've done together. I don't think we practiced much out in the ring before the show, other than a few big spots, a couple of which we didn't even have time to bust out during the match, and the finish with us applying our finishers on each other at the same time, since I didn't think we were flexible enough to do it. But, it happened. I think the last time we actually spoke to each other before the match was about two hours before bell time, while eating dinner in the catering area backstage. I honestly think that the fact that we didn't rely on constantly being around each other to make sure we knew our shit for the match really helped out in terms of putting together the match. The crowd there was awesome too, as they went APESHIT for both of our entrances, but they were obviously legitimately split between both of us in terms of who they wanted to win, which I thought was damn cool, especially hearing that many people have a chant duel. They were also so attentive and respectful that, at times, I honestly thought we should have saved the final match in the series for the next Australian tour, which considering the shit that went down, might end up happening. I mean, I've never seen a building that loud for a side headlock. By the finish, it was basically like everything I've heard from some of the legends who I've bumped into throughout my short career who talk up the broadways of the past, in that everything slowly built until this huge climax at the end, where we had people believing that this was a life-and-death struggle in the double submission. When that bell rang, I remember people in the crowd actually moving from their seats to see if maybe they actually had missed a last-second tapout, and being upset or glad, depending on who they were cheering for, when they found out for sure that it was a time limit draw. I remember hearing a few faint "Bullshit" chants, but I thought that was awesome since we drew them in and made them show legitimate emotion for once. Of course, the big "Match of the Year" chants and that many people standing up, applauding, and thanking you for busting your ass sure helps one's ego. But it wasn't just the crowd...when we got backstage, all the boys, who were at the monitor watching the match, gave us a standing ovation as well. I even remember Axel, the hometown boy, coming up to me after the match and saying, "How the hell are we gonna follow that?" (laughs) But yeah, it's probably my finest moment as a wrestler. Hell, if it weren't for the World Title series with Crystal, I probably wouldn't be here...

 

COACHMAN

Could you please explain that for the viewers at home?

 

SLY

You want me to just combine the whole Japan thing in too since it's basically part of the story?

 

COACHMAN

Sure.

 

SLY

Okay. Well, I guess it all began at the beginning of August. I wasn't too happy with the OAOAST as a whole, especially when it was concerning the office and some of the boys on top. My contract was coming up, and I was quite vocal with the company about how I didn't really want to re-sign. I remember them being oddly okay with me not signing back, as long as I finished up my last month under their terms. They were cool enough to put me over at the end in the feud with Cal, despite the match suckin' an egg. I was supposed to then finish up by putting over Chris Stevens, Drek Stone, PRL, and Sean Bryant in consecutive weeks to basically kill any heat I could have going somewhere else. In early-August, I got ahold of Jun Kayamaki, the guy who runs HI-YAH over in Japan, and got me a bunch of dates booked for over there for the rest of this year and early-2005. But, not any more than a few days later, Crystal asks the office for me as her first title feud. They weren't exactly happy with the choice, and even wanted her to start the Hoff feud a month early. But, she stood up for me more than just about anyone else in my career has, and got me the spot. But, I was still gonna leave in mid-September. But, after that hour draw in Australia, and the amount of respect that everyone in the company showed us, I really wanted to stay and build on that. So, I re-signed as soon as we got back to America. But, there was one problem: I still had those HI-YAH bookings. They announced the 2/3 Falls match, thinking that they could get me out of all the bookings since HI-YAH's become kind of like OAOAST Japan. They were able to unbook me from October on...but I was still booked for September. Therefore, no 2/3 Falls match for the World Title, which is by far the biggest disappointment of my career. I did get to go to Japan, which is a goal of any young wrestler in this day and age, and I got to have some pretty good matches, including a pretty fun sprint with Yuji Chusaki, who a lot of smaller guys in America look up to like a God, including me. But, I still think me and Crystal would have had the best match in the history of this company had I stayed. I'm not giving away what we had planned, since we still might go ahead with it. But, it would be

[Phoenix Fury Legdrop 0]

NOW WITH THE ENDING~!

 

 

********************

 

SLY

Okay. Well, I guess it all began at the beginning of August. I wasn't too happy with the OAOAST as a whole, especially when it was concerning the office and some of the boys on top. My contract was coming up, and I was quite vocal with the company about how I didn't really want to re-sign. I remember them being oddly okay with me not signing back, as long as I finished up my last month under their terms. They were cool enough to put me over at the end in the feud with Cal, despite the match suckin' an egg. I was supposed to then finish up by putting over Chris Stevens, Drek Stone, PRL, and Sean Bryant in consecutive weeks to basically kill any heat I could have going somewhere else. In early-August, I got ahold of Jun Kayamaki, the guy who runs HI-YAH over in Japan, and got me a bunch of dates booked for over there for the rest of this year and early-2005. But, not any more than a few days later, Crystal asks the office for me as her first title feud. They weren't exactly happy with the choice, and even wanted her to start the Hoff feud a month early. But, she stood up for me more than just about anyone else in my career has, and got me the spot. But, I was still gonna leave in mid-September. But, after that hour draw in Australia, and the amount of respect that everyone in the company showed us, I really wanted to stay and build on that. So, I re-signed as soon as we got back to America. But, there was one problem: I still had those HI-YAH bookings. They announced the 2/3 Falls match, thinking that they could get me out of all the bookings since HI-YAH's become kind of like OAOAST Japan. They were able to unbook me from October on...but I was still booked for September. Therefore, no 2/3 Falls match for the World Title, which is by far the biggest disappointment of my career. I did get to go to Japan, which is a goal of any young wrestler in this day and age, and I got to have some pretty good matches, including a pretty fun sprint with Yuji Chusaki, who a lot of smaller guys in America look up to like a God, including me. But, I still think me and Crystal would have had the best match in the history of this company had I stayed. I'm not giving away what we had planned, since we still might go ahead with it. But, it would be awesome.

 

COACHMAN

Indeed, it would have. Now, you're back in the company to stay, and you headed into a new life as a character, as you faced a new young gun in Chris Stevens at World Without End in October. What'd you think about that match?

 

SLY

Thought we had a hell of a match. I loved working with Chris because he has such a great mind for wrestling. A lot of the guys used to cry "bullshit" when certain guys that I won't mention by name would get these big pushes and Stevens would be stuck jobbing in opening matches on house shows and TV, because as political as this business can get, he's that damn good. The entire feud concept was his idea, how they'd be interrupting his newly-found TV time to update the fans on my happenings in Japan, and how he'd rip on me when I'd come back for acting like a returning hero when in reality, I shamed the company by having a losing record there. There'd be this big thing about him wanting my spot, so I'd be a man and put it on the line in a match. We actually had a lot of crowd heat for the match, something I didn't expect whatsoever, considering the feud only had about three weeks of build, if that. Part of it has to be because Chris "gets it", and milks being a heel for all its worth. It was a lot of fun working with Chris because, while he doesn't have this stupidly simplistic moveset, it isn't too complex but he makes it work way better than a lot of guys who use every move physically possible. It made it a lot of fun to be able to feed off of him and get in all my big moves at the end. I honestly think the only part I came up with was the ending, which was him kicking out of two of those self-hug Saito suplexes...USA High Angle backdrops or whatever...and then finally tapping to the cross-face chicken wing. I wanted that to be the finish if I were winning since it'd get something for both of us: I'd get my new submission finisher over, while he'd be able to go around saying that I dropped him on his head twice in a row with my big move and he kicked out at two. Guys had to put me over when the company was elevating me to the top; I was more than happy to do the same for Chris. Really fun to work with; I just wished he wanted it more.

 

COACHMAN

What're you referring to?

 

SLY

I dunno...I mean, he does kind of act like he was happy where he was in the lower-card. When the company decided they needed him to up his game and become a bigger name, he seemed kind of apathetic towards the decision. He's cool, just wish he wanted it more, which makes me wish it even more since he has so much damn talent.

 

COACH

Very well. Now, just a few days ago, you participated in a match for the vacant World Title inside of the Elimination Chamber at Thanksgiving Star Wars in Dallas, as it was you, Chris Stevens, Crystal, Axel, Ragdoll, and the eventual winner and current World Champion, Drek Stone. Thoughts?

 

SLY

Thought it was a good top-style match. Thought the Axel/Rags section was really good, despite those detractor geeks who claim that Ragdoll didn't get in enough offense. Guess what? He's a fuckin' HEEL! Heels aren't supposed to be the tough guys, unless they're huge monster types or are being portrayed as wrestling machines. They're supposed to have to back down because the face hates them enough to shoot them in the face if he could! Ugh...anyway, I thought we could have done a bit more with Chris than we did, but it's cool. Thought the bit with me and Crystal arguing after she pinned me was a good tease towards something later, though looking back, I don't think we should have gone as far with the anger as we did. I thought it was a great way to bring in Drek as the new top heel, with the whole hoopla at the finish. I hope I don't give too much up here, but as much of a pompous ass as he can be, I look forward to working some main events with him in the future.

 

COACHMAN

Now, we're in the present. Looking back, what do you think your proudest accomplishment has been in the OAOAST?

 

SLY

Geez...there's been a few. Them putting the X Title on me so damn soon is one; I'm proud to say that I'm a mark for the championships, unlike other guys around here who couldn't care less. The match with PK where he put me over at 'Mania was huge for me both professionally and emotionally. My first PPV main event, despite who I had to share it with, was pretty damn cool as well. But, there's been a lot.

 

COACHMAN

Very well. Now, let's go into some name association as we wrap this one up...first one: Zack Malibu.

 

SLY

Trash who I've put over way too much by even mentioning him on this shoot.

 

COACH

AJ Flaire.

 

SLY

Good guy, good wrestler...hope he gets over his back injury.

 

COACHMAN

Peter Knight.

 

SLY

Mentor of mine who I wish were still around. Great guy, and I wish the OAOAST would wise up and hire him in some non-physical job or something.

 

COACHMAN

Crystal.

 

SLY

Wrestles better than most of the guys here. Very humble, very deserving of how good this company's been to her, and has to be given a ton of credit for being able to go beyond the generic "girl who fights guys" gimmick and blur the whole gender line, so to speak. Probably the person I like wrestling the most, because of how well we think alike and are able to physically react to each other in the ring. I'm crossin' my fingers for the 2/3 Falls match to happen sometime in the future.

 

COACHMAN

Calvin Szechstein.

 

SLY

Good guy. Has a presence about him that makes people notice him, even though he's a pretty plain-lookin' guy. Pretty good veteran hand, and taught me a lot about structuring my matches.

 

COACHMAN

Hoff.

 

SLY

A damn shame that he hurt his ankle when he did; he could have been this company's next great top guy, a lot like Malibu before him. The dude has freaky size for someone that moves around so well, which I personally think he doesn't take advantage of. He shouldn't be bumping as much as he does, and needs to replace some of the regular wrestling he does with more power moves. Next time I work him, notice how much bumping I do and how much he doesn't. He needs to work like a big man. That's the only flaw he's got that's keeping him from being a mega-star, in my opinion. Real good guy too.

 

COACHMAN

Northstar.

 

SLY

Not gonna say shit since I don't know him too well. Good worker though.

 

COACHMAN

Chris Stevens.

 

SLY

He's got every tool possible to take this company to new heights. Now, he just has to get the hunger that the rest of us have to get to those heights.

 

COACHMAN

Finally, Sly Sommers.

 

SLY

A young guy who works his ass off for something he loves, and only wants to get better. Umm...hopefully someone who's around for awhile (laughs).

 

COACHMAN

Any last comments for the fans?

 

SLY

Keep watching and supporting wrestling. Without you, there's no us. Thanks for all of you who've supported me so far, thanks to the guys and the company who've given me this opportunity to do what I love...hmm...and buy my non-existant book! (laughs)

 

COACHMAN

Well, thanks for being the first subject of our "Shootin' It Up" series.

 

SLY

Thank you too.

 

(FADE TO BLACK)

[Dr. Zoidberg 0]

Dude, I am SO going to rip this off.

 

 

That was awesome. A great read.