The Bravado Brothers

This article is posted in conjunction with the “10 for ’11″ feature by Mike & Tom Present, another WordPress blog that is full of wrestling and etcetera goodness!

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With proud smiles and argyle sweaters, Lance and Harlem Bravado invited everyone to hop on their bandwagon at the beginning of 2011.  They knew it was the right one to be on, because their Grandma was its creator.

This young tag team’s bandwagon, more appealingly to the masses, includes pretty much every top name in Ring of Honor — the promotion that the Bravados call home — due to their hard work and commitment to both the company and their growth as a unit.

The above image of the Bravados let you know exactly who they are at the core.  They don’t drink, they don’t smoke, and they’re not exactly party animals.  They’re two good ‘ol boys from North Carolina raised on good family values, elbow grease, and dedication to their craft.  But the story of how they got to show this side of themselves is just as interesting.

Wrestling Road Diaries

Fans of wrestling don’t often think about a wrestler’s life outside the context of their performance on a show.  The matches and interviews are largely what determines who you like and dislike.  Part of this website is to give a glimpse into the other gems about the efforts of performers and promotions, and the Wrestling Road Diaries is a prime example of what lies beyond the surface.

Wrestling Road Diaries is a production by The Wrestling Roundtable that follows three independent professional wrestlers of varying fame traveling together to shows, seminars, and everyday life.  It follows Colt Cabana (at the time recently released by the WWE, bringing a new level of confidence and skills to his craft), Bryan Danielson (bidding farewell to the indy scene and transitioning out of his comfort zone) and Sal Rinauro (an underrated veteran who is certainly not as well known as the other two, but whose chemistry clicks really well with the other two and makes for lots of entertaining moments).

A cameraman travels with these three on a week-and-a-half trek (followed by a two night swing a week later with Ring of Honor) as they compete for different organizations, lead two seminars, deal with cancelled shows, and bounce around various cities.  It’s a light-hearted look at what is actually an overlooked and arduous task pro wrestlers must endure: hours and hours of travel.  Not to mention the qualms of money, diet, physical health, technology, and shelter while on the road.  In the midst of that inescapable disarray is the joys of comradery, the thrill of adventure, and the unexpected stories that come from it all.

It is also the timely chronicle of Bryan Danielson’s last days as an independent wrestler, and his uncertainty if he would even make it to the WWE.

Jonathan Gresham

 

Credit Lyle C. Williams

A first glance at Jonathan Gresham will give you a bevy of thoughts.  His diminuative stature definitely comes to mind, but in the larger-than-life world of professional wrestling, it helps him stand out.  You can also see that he looks tough; he wears a mouthpiece not for vanity’s sake, but because he’s ready to fight.  He can be likened to the small, silent member of the gang in martial arts movies, who patiently waits for the front line thugs to get wiped out, and when it’s his time to fight, you know there’s about to be an explosion of action.

Looking at Jonathan Gresham now, though, you know that he is a success and his stock is on the rise.  The junior heavyweight is fresh off an appearance for Ring of Honor on HDNet, placed in ROH’s Top Prospect Tournament despite not yet competing for the company.  He is also now a mainstay in Combat Zone Wrestling based in Philadelphia, as well as CHIKARA where he has undergone a transformation as the masked Hieracon, rounding out the Egyptian trio known as the Osirian Portal.

When I first saw Jonathan, he was in a mix of about 40 other wrestlers who came to compete in an open tryout on October 26th, 2008 for IWA Mid South, which is a place where a lot of talent gets their first good exposure to the wrestling fan masses via Smart Mark Video.  I had been pestering promoter Ian Rotten into letting me help him put together shows on some level & didn’t know until I arrived at this event that I would get my first shot.  It was a bit of an unenviable task, as there were a number of unknowns trying out and you had to serve a lot of masters.  Of course, you had to give all these competitors a fair chance to succeed.  You also had to please the live crowd, and hope for something to spark the interest of potential buyers, whether it be a blowaway match, a breakout star, or the inevitable “LOL match” where people get heckled & fail miserably.

On this show, Jon would spark interest by fitting into the first two parts.

Michael Elgin

When you like something, you want to tell everyone you know about it.  That is how I feel about the good things in the misunderstood world of professional wrestling, and that is how I feel about the talents of the man known as Michael Elgin.  I want to start with some of the people I feel I know best, and through our dozens of road trips and phone conversations, Elgin is someone that I truly feel everyone should know about.  It’s kind of an odd choice, considering he is now a competitor for Ring of Honor — a company that has fans worldwide, has been around for 9 years, and has 2 years of television coverage.  Elgin’s current success, however, is long overdue.

Michael Elgin is currently 24 years old and hails from Oshawa, Ontario.  He has been wrestling professionally since he was 16 years old, and in his 8 years he has traveled more miles than most people at his experience level, and more than others ever will.  I first met Elgin sometime in 2007 but I first really utilized my chance to get to know him in October 2008 as we traveled to Joliet, IL for IWA Mid South’s 2008 Double Death Tournament, a two night tag team wrestling death match tournament that is available via Smart Mark Video.  I was the commentator and Elgin was participating, teaming with another one of my favorite people in wrestling, Sami Callihan.  Elgin wasn’t at the time nor was he at any point considered a “deathmatch wrestler” (a term with a negative connotation, but many of them are so much more than that) and originally agreed to do the tournament because two other wrestlers from his area were to travel with him.  Days before the show, they had to back out, which left Elgin to travel all by himself to meet me in Kalamazoo, MI, which is about a 6 hour drive that he did solo.  Kalamazoo to Joliet is another 2 1/2 hours, which is just a hiccup compared to the task Elgin had to endure all by himself.  That long trip would climax in him getting hit by chairs and being cut up by barbwire once it came time to perform in Joliet.  These are just a few of the tremendous feats Elgin has done for the art he loves.

You Should Know #wysk

My favorite thing to do in the world of professional wrestling has always been to put people and things over.  Whether it be through commentary, booking, article writing, interviews, or any of the many possible avenues.  Promotion is key in any aspect of life.  When you go in to a job interview (and even when mingling with co-workers after you’re hired), you’re promoting yourself.  When you talk to potential girlfriends or boyfriends (and even after that first date), you’re promoting yourself.  When you’re trying to make it in Hollywood (and even after your newly-released film has been nominated for an award), you’re promoting yourself.  It never ends; it only constantly begins.  And the beginning is where I like to start.

The purpose of this site (if my title isn’t telling enough) is to be able to inform & alert wrestling fans about things in pro wrestling that they should know.  Whether it be wrestlers, promotions, shows, matches, or a few other ideas I’ve brainstormed.  It may be about someone from the middle of Iowa (and I can think of at least 4 subjects right now based on that random example) or someone as big as a current WWE Superstar.  There may be millions of wrestling fans in the world but you know you’ve all come across the guy or gal who watch wrestling on TV every week, but when you ask them about your favorite wrestler, all they can say is, “who’s that?”

Speaking of “who’s that?” I would not be offended if that’s what you ask about myself.  To paraphrase what I’ve been telling friends recently, I love verbally putting people over, but man, do I ever feel like I need my own publicist!  My name is Michael Z and I have been fortunate enough to be working for pro wrestling companies on a regular basis since 2006.  I have a degree in Radio & Television Production, which gave me many advantages to getting involved with the entertainment form I had been following since November of 1991.  My roles in wrestling have included commentary, filming, booking shows, ring announcing, video editing, running sound, a few stints as a referee and one lone managing spot (actually ASSISTANT manager — which I just smile at the absurdity of it — that maybe 45 people have or will ever see).  But the roles I have been able to fill over the years have made me an invaluable asset according to promoters and wrestlers alike, and have allowed me to work for companies like Ring of Honor, SHIMMER Women Athletes, Combat Zone Wrestling, IWA Mid South, and much more.  No matter company label, I have been able to meet hundreds of people who work both in the ring and out of it, and these stories are what I intend to use to tell you about my subjects.  You could just as easily Google or Wikipedia the names I decide to write about, but I plan to write information that you won’t be able to hear anywhere else, and hopefully this info will make you appreciate these subjects much, much more.

If you like any of these articles, please help support the site by subscribing above and sharing the stories online.  Speak to the masses by tweeting about us (or providing your own subjects) using the hashtag #wysk.  You can also most definitely “LIKE” us on Facebook, or just try to reach me via e-mail at themichaelz@gmail.com.