Damian Slater interview - Westside Pro Wrestling

Aussie Gold

Damien Slater, the Golden Boy of the Australian wrestling scene, NWA Pro star and current Warzone Champion has been wrestling since May 2003 and has wrestled all over Australia and in the United States. WPW’s Tez Himself got the chance to speak to the South Aussie as he prepares himself for the upcoming Warzone show on April 16.

WPW: You started wrestling as a teenager in South Australia for Joint Promotions Wrestling. How did you get your start?

SLATER: I’m not going to say that I was always a fan of wrestling because I wasn’t. I started watching back in 1999 and immediately became obsessed. I found out my Dad was playing Rugby with a local wrestler called Otto Von Hess in a company called PWSA. So my Dad took me to see him one night and I basically went to every local show after that. I had always wanted to go and train with PWSA at their Monster Factory with Col Dervaney but I lived about an hour away and my parents wouldn’t let me train unless I could find somebody to drive  me. So eventually in 2002 at age 14 I talked a friend into picking me up a couple of times a week and that’s my story.

It was such a privilege to train with one of the only old timers left in Aussie Wrestling. I got beat up every night man. I remember having to try my best not to vomit in my mate’s Dad’s car on the way home from EVERY training for about a year straight. These days kids wanna take the easiest route but I never for one second, even as an immature 14 year old, thought that wrestling should be easy.

Col taught me so much about professionalism and respect that is missing from a lot of current Aussie Wrestlers. I have a lot of love and respect for the guy that I can never truly pay back.

WPW: EPW’s Survival of the Fittest in 2005 saw you make your WA wrestling debut, in the past five years what have been your favourite matches in Perth?

SLATER: My five or so matches with Shane Haste are at the top by far. We have a chemistry that has only been matched thus far by wrestling Davis Storm. Any time I’m in the ring with those two I definitely feel like I’ve been in a war, and I feel on top of my game. I’d also put a match I had with Hartley Jackson for Monday Night Wrestling in the same category. We were both tired, beat up, had already wrestled about four times over the weekend and had a great 20 minute match in front of probably only as many people. My match with Rocky Romero from the NWA 2007 Tour is probably my favourite just for what it meant to me, though far from my best effort.

Other than that, some surprise packages have been my matches with Dan Moore and Marcius Pitsonopolous. I love the challenge of wrestling up and comers rather than established veterans, and I think those two matches delivered when nobody really expected much from them.

WPW: You have made two trips to the States first in 2007 and then early 2009. On your first trip you took part in the King of the Summit Battle Royal, as seen on the NWA Fiesta Lucha DVD, and in 2009 you got the chance to take part in a Shawn Michaels seminar while you were part of the Empire Wrestling Federation. Can you tell us about these experiences and others you have had during your time in the US?

SLATER: The Shawn Michaels seminar was a let down. Don’t get me wrong it was cool to meet him and wrestle a match (and lose teeth) for him, but he was really only there as a social visit and it wasn’t much of a seminar at all.

The Fiesta Lucha was amazing. I was 19, had barely been in the States for a week and we were put up for five days in a beautiful Vegas hotel, on the NWA’s dime and had an opportunity to share a locker room with a ridiculous amount of talent and great names. It was an eye opening experience to wrestle in a building that seats about 4000+ and for such a rabid Lucha audience. I remember it feeling surreal when I was sitting next to Billy Kidman as we put our gear on. I had his poster on my wall as a kid Haha.

But my best experience wrestling overseas was my 2007 trip. It was just me, TJ Perkins, Rocky Romero and Karl Anderson (Don’t worry I’ll pick those names up later) training every day for 3-6 hours. I’ve never learnt so much about wrestling in my life. Often we would train, go work out, spend the day playing video games at Rocky’s house and then hit the bars at night. I miss those days so bad. Unfortunately TJ has moved to Florida, Karl to Japan and Rocky to Mexico, so those memories are well behind us.

WPW: Are you planning on making a return to the States in the near future?

SLATER: 2011 is the year. I don’t think I’ll be returning to California though. We will just have to wait and see where I pop up but I do already have something sorted. I’m basically finishing my Sports Science degree this year and then I’m free to give it my best shot at making it in this crazy industry. Education is the only thing thus far that has kept me from going all out.

WPW: The 2009 PWI 500 list saw you come in at number 343. There were quite a few Aussies on the list last year. How does Australian talent get on the list?

SLATER: My understanding is that you have to be recommended. I’m pretty sure there’s a guy up in Queensland who works for PWI who put in last year’s recommendations. So honestly it really isn’t much of a list, but always an honour to get a bit of publicity and to be a Top 3 Australian in someone’s eyes.

WPW: WrestleClash 2 supercard saw you become the first ever Warzone Champion. Now, at Warzone 4 in April you make your first Warzone Championship defense against Shane Haste in Victoria. You have had some classic matches with Shane in the past and. Is it a big thing for you personally, for a SA vs. WA match to be headlining at Victorian show?

SLATER: It’s a huge thing. I have a special interest in Warzone wrestling and am confident that they will be the breakout of all the mediocrity in Melbourne wrestling as of late. Every single guy on the roster is a great talent with a good head and the boss is about the most down to earth guy I know. As for wrestling Shane, I’ve been waiting over a year to get this rematch and it will be a war. Nothing less. I owe it to myself.

As far as I believe it’s one of the only shows in recent years that has been Main Evented by two interstaters, so I guess that counts for something too.

WPW: Who would you like to compete against on the Australian scene that you haven’t had the opportunity to as yet?

SLATER: I’ve been fortunate enough to wrestle almost everybody I’ve wanted to wrestle in this country. I’d put Ryan Eagles and the Fitness Maniacs as three guys who I haven’t had the opportunity of wrestling and who would all be a perfect fit in EPW.

As for local guys… Chase Griffin and Jimmy Payne. Any time I think about this question those two names always pop up first. Adam Banks and Alex Kingston would also be up there.

WPW: You are one of the most travelled wrestlers in the country, regularly making appearances in WA, SA, VIC and QLD. Are you hoping to one day make wrestling your full time career?

SLATER: I’ve spent most of my free time in the last 7 ½ years throwing my body onto a hard mat and reducing myself to gyms at stupid hours. If I wasn’t looking to get a payoff then I’m a fool who has wasted most of his life. I guess I’m too stubborn to live an average life, so always have my sights set extremely high and a full time Pro Wrestler has a nice ring to it. If I don’t make it to where I want to be, at least I can say I spent my best years seeing Australia for free.

WPW: Thank you taking the time to speak with Westside Pro Wrestling, Damian.

SLATER: I’ll expect my cheque in the mail.

Check out Damian’s blog at http://www.epwperth.com/commentary/index.html

NWA and EPW present a Free Show at the Malaga Markets

With a huge 2010 ahead, Explosive Pro Wrestling is set to kick off the year with a FREE SHOW for all of our wonderful fans. Saturday January 16th will see EPW rock the MALAGA MARKETS with a day of non stop wrestling action.

EPW’s last visit to the MALAGA MARKETS was a huge success and we’re extremely pleased to coming back for another show in 2010. (Video Recap available here)

The show will feature plenty of EPW’s top talent including: the EPW champion Richter, ‘the Ironman’ Davis Storm, Nate Dooley, Jay Taylor, ‘Shotgun’ Tyler Jacobs, AZ Vegara and Team All Star’s Michael Morleone.

There will be three shows taking place at 11am, 12:20pm and 1:50pm.

With plenty of fantastic stalls through out the Markets it should make for a fantastic day out for the whole family.

We hope to see you all there for a great start to 2010.

Please visit www.malagamarkets.com.au

Courtesy of Explosive Pro Wrestling

NWA EPW Kristmas Kaos 2 Recap Video

Dean Olsen takes a look at the last Explosive Pro Wrestling event for 2009, Kristmas Kaos 2 which saw the EPW Tag Team Championships defended in the main event. Mikey Nicholls and Shane Haste vs Davis Storm and Jimmy Payne.

Eye of the Storm An Interview with Explosive Pro Wrestling’s Davis Storm.

Our friends over at Westside Pro Wrestling did a great interview with Davis Storm recently. With their permission we are re-posting this interview. To keep up with the all the news, results and info on the Western Australian wrestling scene, subscribe to westsideprowrestling@hotmail.com.

The Ironman of Australian Wrestling, two time EPW champion and eight year veteran of the West Australian Pro Wrestling scene talks to Tez Himself about his long and illustrious career.

WPW: Can you tell us about the early years of Davis Storm and Explosive Coastal Wrestling and what it was like to be part of the rebirth of Local Wrestling in Perth?

STORM: I could probably write a whole article just on this topic but I think the early days of Explosive Coastal Wrestling and Davis Storm were quite similar. A work in progress. It was an incredibly exciting time as we were breaking new ground. Locally produced pro wrestling had been absent from Perth for over 15 years. We had a really rough start in our first two shows but I have no regrets as its all led us to where we are today.

WPW: In early 2002, some Explosive Coastal Wrestling talent including yourself went to South Australia to train with Col Dervany, Jag and Havok. While over there you wrestled a few shows for now defunct federations Maximum Power Wrestling and Pro Wrestling South Australia. What was the experience like for a young wrestler new to the business and are there any stories you can share about the time?

STORM: I remember that trip being the most testing time I’ve ever had in wrestling. We were training 10 hours a day every day of the week. We were doing brutal cardio with a boxing coach, weights training and then wrestling for about five to six hours a day. Our bodies were broken down after one day but we had six weeks of full time training. No rest days. I remember everyone in Adelaide going out of their way to be as helpful as they could be. There are too many stories to recount them all, I just remember it all being an incredible learning curve and it was a huge turning point for EPW in terms of where we stood in Australian wrestling.

WPW: January 2005 saw the birth of the Ironman at Survival of the Fittest when you defeated Jag in a 1 hour Ironman Match, which was the first ever in the history of Australian Wrestling. At the time there were a few people that thought it couldn’t be pulled off. Just under 2 years later at Re-Awakening V it was voted the greatest match in Explosive Pro Wrestling’s history up until that time. What were your feelings leading up to the big match?

STORM: Depends on which day you caught me on. I had prepared as best I could so most days I was confident that I could physically make it through the hour. But it was brutally hot that summer and it was still a complete unknown as to whether we could make fans pay attention for an hour. I wanted it to be a match that just happened to go for an hour rather than a match where two guys are clearly trying to see out an hour. I put so much physically and mentally into that match. People see the hour as a big deal. As far as achievements go, I’d rather stand next to a good match than a match that went for an hour. Hopefully we achieved both.

WPW: In late 2005, early 2006 you trained and wrestled at the New Japan USA dojo. Do you have any desire to give it another crack over there with the success that Mikey Nicholls, Bobby Marshall and Shane Haste have had?

STORM: Getting the opportunity to train at the Inoki dojo was a privilege. Jushin Liger was my inspiration for wanting to wrestle and to get the chance to tread the boards where he had previously was an amazing feeling. Being trained by Kendo Ka Shin and Mr. Inoki himself was truly an honour and a humbling experience. Stepping into the ring each day along world class names like Fergal Devitt, Karl Anderson and Rocky Romero showed me what was required if I wanted become the wrestler I wanted to be. But I really wasn’t there to make a name for myself. I was there to learn and despite the wonderful success that the other lads have enjoyed, I still have no desire to pursue wrestling overseas.

WPW: You’ve had some classic encounters with Interstate Talent over the years including “Jag” Hartley Jackson and Carlo Cannon. Which Australian talent would you like to face off with in the future?

STORM: I don’t keep an eye on Australian talent like I used to but the only name that leaps out at me is Damian Slater. He’s been wrestling here in EPW for almost five years and we still haven’t had the chance to have a one on one match. To me, he is the barometer for Australian wrestling today.

WPW: You have been wrestling for eight years coming up in November. What have been some of your favourite moments and matches in your career so far?

STORM: Most of my favourite moments have probably taken place away from wrestling shows because they tend to get a little stressful but the aftermath of the brawl at Inner Turmoil was amazing. Absolute mayhem all over the building and the fans going crazy. My favourite matches are ones that most fans probably don’t even remember. My two timed rounds matches with Brad West. Brad is probably one of my favourite guys to wrestle and I think he’s probably the most underrated mind in Australian wrestling. Dooley and I taking on GST in a tables match at Settling the Score was a match where I was able to just get lost in the moment. My recent match with Sebastian Sander was a lot of fun for me. I think his potential is just about unlimited and he has a huge future. But I think my best match is my Falls Count Anywhere match with Jimmy Payne. We’ve had a lot of matches that I rate but that one was special as it was Jim’s last singles match at the time. I’m really proud of that one.

WPW: The NWA Australian National Championship hasn’t been seen in Explosive Pro Wrestling since Mikey Nicholls lost it to Hartley Jackson in April 2008. Could we see Davis Storm in the future go over to Adelaide and bring the belt back to where it was born?

STORM: I think with the recent name change of EPW Adelaide to NWA Pro, we may have seen the last of the NWA Australian title in Perth. BUT, never say never.

WPW: What type of injuries have you suffered over your career?

STORM: I carry a lot of injuries that just don’t go away but that’s just part of what we do. The two worst I’ve had came one after the other in 2008. I first cracked my tailbone at Evolution against Jimmy. Although I’d say I’m over that now, it still bothers me to this day. Straight after getting over that, I broke my wrist. I first cracked it in the six man street fight but after not seeing a doctor, I officially broke it about six or seven weeks later. I had to convince the doctor to cut the cast off a week early so I could compete in the cage match last Re-Awakening.

WPW: Re-Awakening 8 is approaching very quickly. What does Re-Awakening mean to Davis Storm?

STORM: It is truly a celebration of what professional wrestling means to those involved in EPW. I have had some of my greatest moments at this show. I just have an emotional connection with it that I can’t explain. To perform at Re-Awakening is unlike anything else I have experienced in Australian wrestling and it gets the very best out of the best.

WPW: What are your future goals for both yourself and Explosive Pro Wrestling?

STORM: Just to be the best I can be. Same for EPW. I just want to continue to improve and enjoy the ride along the way. The day wrestling doesn’t bring a smile to my face will be the last day I lace up my boots.

WPW: Thank you for taking the time to talk to Westside Pro Wrestling, Davis.

STORM: My pleasure.

NWA EPW presents: Kristmas' Kaos 2

NWA EPW recaps Re-Awakening 8

It was the biggest night in EPW history when Explosive Pro Wrestling delivered RE-AWAKENING 8 at the Craigie Leisire. Lukey Bolland takes a look at the many highlights that took place at the show. We saw the night get off to a great start when four of EPW's tag teams met in a number one contenders match for the tag team championships. Jimmy Payne's undefeated streak is finally no more as Nate Dooley made his return to EPW by attacking his former team mate which allowed AZ Vegara to pick a huge win. KrackerJak's hardcore battle royale was next on the card and it did not disappoint! Weapons were used, even a fit ball made an appearance at RE-AWAKENING but it was Gavin McGavin who surprisingly picked up the win. Jamie Jurah was disqualified just minutes into the match against Devlin Reeves. The Invitational Final was decided in fine style as Davis Storm picked up a big win over Damian Slater, JT and Tyler Jacobs. The EPW Championship was on the line in a brutal Last Man Standing match between Richter and Bobby Marshall. This match went all over the building and was not short of highlights, brutal highlights and lots of blood. Gavin Miller and Brad West settled their dispute as Ferguson Block took on Sebastian Sander in a special stipulation match. As Ferguson Block won the match, Brad West has now been fired from Explosive Pro Wrestling! Finally, it was six months in the making with state pride on the line, it was WA vs VICTORIA and it was for the EPW Tag Team Championships as Carlo Cannon and Slex defended their belts against two of EPW's finest in Shane Haste and Mikey Nicholls in a ladder match! By the end of the match all four men had given it their all and Nicholls and Haste had done WA proud as they brought the EPW Tag Team Champions back to Perth where they belong! Thanks to everyone who attended RE-AWAKENING 8!

NWA EPW Charity Bash Video Recap

Lukey Bolland takes a look at Explosive Pro Wrestling's CHARITY BASH held on the 3rd of October at the Cyril Jackson Rec Centre with all profits going to TELETHON. Thanks to the fans who attended, EPW was able to raise a total of $2348 for this very worthy cause. Matches that took place were Davis Storm and JT vsTeam Allstar, Tyler Jacobs vs Alex 'The Kid' Kingston, Garry Schmidt vs Gavin McGavin, Jimmy Payne vs Jamie Jurah vs AZ Vegara, Mikey Nicholls vs Devlin Reeves, Chase Griffin and Dan Moore vs Chris Vice and Jonny Wimbledon, Bobby Marshall vs Michael Morleone and the night finished with EPW's first 15 Man Charity Bash Rumble! EPW's next live event is RE-AWAKENING 8 to be held at the Craigie Leisure Centre on the 7th of November. Check out http://www.epwperth.com for more details.

NWA Pro Wrestling and Explosive Pro Wrestling

He who wished to secure the good of others, has already secured his own.

--Confucius

Wrestling Fans in Perth have certainly secured the good of their own and EPW is giving them the goods. This Saturday, October 3rd at the Cyril Jackson Rec Centere will be welcoming home everybody's favorite Super-hero, Mikey Nicholls. All in the name of Charity. Mikey Nicholls, who is a native of Perth has spent this year wrestling for Kirk Sheppard's Northern Wrestling Federation. All the while, Nicholls has been looking for his first taste of Championship gold since losing the NWA Australian Heavyweight Championship to "Jag" Hartley Jackson. Nicholls first match back will be against Devlin Reeves.

Also scheduled:

THREE WAY DANCE
Jimmy Payne v Jamie Jurah v AZ Vegara

Bobby Marshall v Michael Morleone
Davis Storm & JT v Team All Star
Dan Moore & Chase Griffin v Chris Vice & Jonathon Wimbledon
Alex Kingston v Tyler Jacobs
Garry Schmidt v Gavin McGavin

EPW and NWA Pro Wrestling Present WA vs VIC

EPW Tag Team Championship Match
Payne & Storm vs. Slex & Cannon

Handicap Match
The Blackest Hour vs. Jurah and Marshall

Rising Star Cup 4 Way Elimination
Kingston vs. McGavin vs. Schmidt vs. Banks

Tyler Jacobs vs. JT

6 Man Tag Team Match
Team All Star vs. Moore, Griffin & Matthews

AZ Vegara vs. Ferguson Block

NWA's Explosive Pro Wrestling: The Malaga Markets Recap

Explosive Pro Wrestling spent a day at the Malaga Markets putting on matches throughout the day for free! In this video recap, Callan takes a look at all the matches including The Ironman of Australian Wrestling Davis Storm vs The New Sensation of Australian Wrestling AZ Vegara, Gorgeous Gary Schmidt vs Jamie Jurah, A round robin challenge featuring JT, Michael Morleone and Chase Griffin, Jarek Matthews vs Shotgun Tyler Jacobs, Jimmy Payne vs Gary Schmidt, 6 Man Tag Match featuring Davis Storm, Jimmy Payne & Jarek Matthews vs Tyler Jacobs, Michael Morleone & the EPW Champion Richter, Richter vs Shoot Fighter Gavin McGavin, Chase Griffin & JT vs AZ Vegara & Gary Schmidt, Adam Banks vs Tyler Jacobs and Davis Storm vs Tyler Jacobs. 10 EPW Matches for free! Pays to shop at the Malaga Markets! Check out http://www.epwperth.com for info on EPW's next event! Explosive Pro Wrestling extends its thanks to the Malaga Markets for hosting this free show!

NWA Pro Wrestling and EPW Present WA vs. VIC