June 19, 2025 • 41 mins
Today on Brewsers, we talk to Zach Hendrix. We talk about his journey in pro wrestling, tag team wrestling, and so much more. Follow us on instagram and twitter at Brewserspod. Like, share, review, enjoy and cheers. #brewsers #brewserspod #Enjoylife #DrinkLocal #Cheers
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Welcome to Bruisers, a podcast about beer, coffee, booze and bruisers.
I'm your Hostrodi John and today we talked to Zach Hendricks.
We talk about his journey in pro wrestling, tag team wrestling,
and so much more. Zach is doing big things on
the independent scene. He is definitely making a splash and
you are gonna want to check him out. But first
here's his story. So, without further ado, here is Zach Hendricks.
(00:57):
I would like to welcome a show. Zach Hendricks. How
are you doing?
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Today's doing well? How are you?
Speaker 1 (01:02):
I'm well? So for those listening, kind of paints a
word picture. Where are you at? What's going on around you?
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Yeah? I'm actually in my living room, like in the
Milwaukee area, just chilling. If anyone knows me, they know
I have Simpsons on TV. I'm hanging out with my
hanging out with my dog Mindy. Yeah, just relax and
just got done with work not too long ago. Now.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
I enjoy the Simpsons and I have friends that are
very further into the Simpsons.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
That I am.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Is there a season that you think that they kind
of fell off? And is there to you like a
golden era?
Speaker 2 (01:38):
I mean the Golden Era. I would say, like like
a lot of people say the Golden eras are like
season like eight through ten. I mean, obviously something. I
don't think they ever fell off. But I'm just a
Simpson nerd. But some other people might say just because
I've heard the complaints of like oh, how they're more
modernized like how it was back in the day. But
I mean I like the fact that they keep up
with the social trends and all that.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Yeah, and they predictlar.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
My bad, no, go ahead, where were we saying? I said, Oh,
and Trios Horror is like always my favorite thing every year.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
I always love I always looked forward to those two
because I was always curious what they were going to
do and like how and what genre of like horror
they're gonna go after?
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Oh yeah, Like uh, I like the little special they
had a few years ago is called not It where
they did Crusty as a penny Wise that was probably
my favorite special.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
I love their their fun ways of getting around things
like uh, calling it the shinning or not it or
things like that.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Oh yeah, and then like uh, I listened to like
a podcast sometimes while I'm working, like they will tell
you insiders like the Itching and Scratchy Land. They like
made that show only because since it's a family TV show,
even though it's a cartoon, you can't go as gory.
So they did it chance Scratchy so they can go
as gory as they want. Technically, it's a cartoon pro
training a cartoon. It's like a little fun move boops,
(02:56):
like you find out.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
I did not know they did. That's why they did that.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Yeah, it was like one of those like hey, we
can go nuts and do like a bunch of fun
stuff and like crazier stuff that like in real life families,
like since simp it's like real life family you can't do,
but like with the cartoons you can.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
This is true. Huh, that's fun. I didn't realize that.
Is there a favorite character you have?
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Uh? I always tell my tag partner were Carl and Lennie.
But I love I'm a big itchy, scratchy poochy guy
and krusty Okay.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Is there a favorite voice that you enjoy?
Speaker 2 (03:31):
I don't. I mean, I know he has like controversialists
like with a a pooh, but like he does so
many other voices like Hanka's area, he does mo the Kleatis,
the Captain. He does so many and like my fiance,
she's a big Wicked fan. So he actually did a
video of him doing all his voices like Frank and
(03:52):
all them singing like a couple of the Wicked songs.
So those are very fun to watch.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
I did not know he did that, and I'm gonna
look that up.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Yeah, if you go on his Instagram, it's like Hantkasario,
but he'll like do something like Instagram, but he'll like
switch from voice to voice in between each line.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
I didn't know, so I knew him from like actually
seeing him as an actor first before I actually put
it together that that's the guy who also does all
these voices. And I was like, holy shit, that dude
is not only good looking a great actor, but like
an amazing actor or voice actor as well.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Oh yeah, like it's a jack of all trades. Like
he's like half the characters said on the show, him
and Harry.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Yeah, and I understand them being people being upset about
you know, the a poo voice, But you know, for
how long did could you really separate you know, a
poo from that?
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Like it just makes me sense, I don't know, I mean, yeah,
I mean just they're all like, hopefully maybe they can
bring him back and like do it where it's like
something where everyone's happy with it. Because Who. I liked
that who as a character.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Yeah, exactly. He was the It was the cornerstone for
a lot of those episodes too.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Oh yeah, and they always like built him up too,
like when like they had the episode then being a
bachelor him like he was like every girl wanted to
be with him.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Yeah, I love that. Have you so? Segueing to wrestling
real fast? Have you ever met TJP DJP.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
I've never met him yet.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Okay, well I've heard him on the podcasts and I've
been lucky enough to be around him a few times.
And his connections of like storylines between like pro wrestling
and Simpsons is so like right on that you're just like,
holy shit, I never thought about it that way, but
that's exactly the way it is. It's it's aflutely fantastic.
If you ever get to meet him, please ask him
(05:39):
about both of those things together and he will definitely
figure out a story.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
I will definitely have to ask him because I would
be definitely cool to hear like his stories with wrestling
and Simpsons commind.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
Yeah, you know, just listening to him talk. I could
just I just listen all day and be like, okay,
just keep doing keep talking.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Oh yeah, those are like the good ones. And you
have the guys who can tell you those stories where
you can just listen and you're like, it never gets old,
never gets boring. Mm hmm.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Yeah, and you're always learning something different or just thinking
about ways in a different way. That's always great.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Oh yeah, that's my tag partner. Like we'll think of
like a lot of our names will think of Simpson's
like six shot lullaby, or we have like an itchy
scratchy move that we do. So like we'll try to
think of stuff. And I told him if we ever
made it big and got signed, like how they show
the superstars show up and enter, like like shown up
to the ran, I'm like, we have to dress up
as a Simpsons character every time.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Yes, very New New Day of you guys.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Oh yeah, definitely stealing the New New Day stuff too,
like well always do like the tag team, like the
Hipswir World Champions.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
I really wish Biggie would have had a better ending,
but he you know, he got to the Mountaintop and
that was great.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Oh yeah, at least I got to say he didn't
like was super over when he was doing it, and
just unfortunate.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Though, I mean there's not ballet.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Yeah, you could definitely get hurt.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Yeah, he's I mean, he's doing a great job a
commentary and I think he's going to do bigger things
in the future. Whether he wants to come back or not,
it's all up to him and he just you know,
I know he's newly engaged as well, so that's probably
a very good thing for him as well.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Yeah, and like it's like at least he has a
job and he's like on TV and he's still doing
stuff any regardless of the breakup, Like he helped An Xavier
and Kofe like Skyrock into that heel spot. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Oh I you talk about the New Dale day too,
but we're here talk about you. So let's go all
the way back in time. What is your earliest memory
of pro wrestling?
Speaker 2 (07:36):
My earliest is the New Age Outlaws. I love the
road Dog Jesse James, like every time, like the ladies
and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages, Like
I would have that down to a t. I was
a big degeneration x guy, but I was. I got
into wrestling like right after Sean left, so like my degenerations,
I knew it was just Triple H, China Xbox and
(07:58):
the New Age Outlaws. I didn't watch w CW when
I was little. I was like a really loyal kid,
so like I didn't watching Disney Channel because I was Nickelodeon.
So I was like, I didn't watch WCW because I
was Team WWF. But yeah, might really remember you talked
to add you are like getting grounded for a little
bit because I was doing the second at school or
(08:18):
stone cold a salute.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
I think a lot of people got suspended, suspended the
atension and also grounded the same p.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Yeah. Yeah, you are definitely helped shaping us up in
the wrong ways.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Yeah. I was definitely around. Yeah, I was in like
like teenage years at that point. I was like, this
is the best thing ever. And then, of course, you
know when you get older, they go into the g
rate in and it's like or PG and it's like, oh,
what are we doing here? But also society had changed
at the same time, so you know, the nineties were
all great until the two thousand kid. Yeah, well what
(08:56):
was your kind of moment? Well, I guess when did
you figure out that there was other wrestling?
Speaker 2 (09:01):
So like I went to like an indie show one time,
like in Heights, like after high school. I was in college.
My brother was like his bank was a sponsor. They
got tickets. It was like a show called Fire Pro Wrestling.
It was out in Indiana. Uh. They did a show
in the Texas Roadhouse parking lot at Portage. It's like
right off of a Route thirty. But like we went there,
(09:23):
hung out and was really cool. Main event was like
two local guys and like al Still and Rhino, Like
everyone was really cool there. There was there's a guy
there who steel wrestles. His name's John Motley. Really cool dude.
I'm friends with him on Facebook, but I always call
him out and tell him like, hey, one day we're
gonna get that match. But no, I just remember that
and then like a we I go. Was big on
(09:45):
like watching T and A growing up, Like I love
the X Division growing up, so like loved Saban, loved
Shelley AJ styles like Christopher Daniels, Samoa Joe, all of
them were like like just Ultimate X was always awesome.
So I think what aid me like finally decided to
do it was I went to all In in Chicago.
Oh did you Yeah, I just moved to Milwaukee. I'm
(10:07):
like originally from Indiana, but I moved to Milwaukee, new job,
went to all In just like really, like my whole life,
I've always wanted to do it and just always just
questioned and finally, like when I went to all In,
I'm like, all right in a new state. I don't
know know why, Like I need to find out hot
something to do, Like I'm gonna try to find a
camp to go to.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
Yeah, So who's school did you have going to?
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Yeah? So I'm a like I went to the Thumpers
Den and trained there. I was. My trainer is an
Angel Armani, and I give a lot of credit to
my fiance as well. Her name is a val Malone.
She was like still a lot of aaw back in
the day. She's like been in about nineteen years now,
but uh, she like when we got together, she like
we watched a lot of old school wrestling, talked about
(10:49):
the psychology there, and like anytime I was cutting promos
in the house working on anything, like we would watch
mattresses this year, telling me little things that she thought
to work on. So I would credit Angel Armani for
like teach me how to us. He taught me like
the psychology behind it, like the purposes. And then like
val Malone as well, for like promos like facials, like
the small in betweens, like those things that they do
(11:10):
matter when you do it right. So like those two
are like definitely true.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Well, so how did you to me? How did you
vow me?
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Oh? Yeah, so we met. When I first met her,
It's funny because it just happened this weekend. It's crusher Fest, okay,
but the first ever crusher Fest. VAL's was there. I ran,
I ran into her right by Odb's barbecue truck. I
met her through her friend Ashley Winchester. She introduced hers.
(11:43):
We were just talking about at the time val was
off the market. She was like she was married to
her ex husband at the time. So I just met her,
got to talk to her. I just saw her a
little bit. But then after that we really like started
talking more during Quarantine where we did a past the
video like don't Rush like we saw w W do
Don't Rush where everyone's at home and their goals and
(12:04):
they like camera switching there in their gear and like
me and my buddies did it. And then we had
a bunch of guys in the state like, oh, like
we wanted to do that, So we made a huge
like Wisconsin like anyone who was like on the indies.
We messaged and like put together a whole like don't
rush video with us passing tape, and I messaged Val
asking her she wanted to be a part of it,
(12:26):
and then from there we just kept talking, kept talking,
and then eventually, like when I found out she didn't
was not like she was no longer married, asked her
if I wanted to hang out, Like the rest is history?
Speaker 1 (12:36):
Good for you? That's awesome, yeah for those that for
those that don't know, And obviously it's a huge Wisconsin
thing because he's from there. But can you tell people
with Crush your fastus.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
Crusherest Yeah, the Crusher, Uh. I mean when you think
of Wisconsin wrestling, you think of the Crusher back in
the day, him and Dick the Bruiser. Uh, we go
like that work in the territories. A Crusher came out
of a giant uh keg cigar chomping, hard hitting. But
crusher Fest was the honor of the Crusher. Milwaukee has
(13:08):
a bronze. They revealed the bronze statue of the Crusher
and like, like I said, that was first, that was
the first show I got to be a part of.
It was not my first show. It is like for
I got to be a part of the first ever
Crushers FST show. And it's like always special to me
because like that's where I met Val And like I
remember the day I met her, Like in my heart,
I knew something. I was like, oh, I told her,
like even yesterday when we were walking we went to
(13:30):
crusher Fest yesterday just to sightsee and all that I
told her, Like I was like, yeah, I remember I
met you right here, Like I knew, like, all right,
something I don't know what, but me like something something
that is linked with me and her.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
That's awesome that you felt that right away.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Oh yeah. And she like told me like too, like
she had like the like she said she like had
a weird dream one time about me, like and like
it was just like, oh, no big deal. But like
dreams tell you stuff in the future.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
Yeah, it's like windows into the future. Oh, yeah, yeah,
this statue is actually really cool. I didn't know they
actually hey, he's holding the beer keg and everything.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Oh yeah, it was like it was like the first
crusher Fest. It was so hard to see that statue
because it was so packed.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
Right, But how tall is that?
Speaker 2 (14:17):
It's I'm five eleven, so it's gotta be like maybe
six three six four. It's like, no, a little bit
taller than me.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
That's not too bad.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
I could be wrong too. I'm not really good with heights.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
And that's fair well for those that aren't in them. Uh,
in your area obviously, the Milwaukee area of wrestling is
growing like crazy, obviously, but it bleeds over probably a
little bit to what's happening in Chicago and then Minnesota
and in all the Michigan as well. But like, what
does your scene kind of look like for people that
(14:49):
aren't in that part of the country.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
So, like, uh, I mean Milwaukee, it's like, uh, one
thing I love about Milwaukee. They're like old school traditional,
like obviously a lot of drinking and all that. But uh,
the fans like, uh, I mean icw is like my
main promotion. I work at icw WE, and we love wrestling.
Fourth Wall and like you got like the loyal fans. Uh,
you're always gonna hear Jim Hockey in the crowd yelling
(15:13):
at you saying something like not tonight Hendricks or at
fourth Wall, the whole crowd calling lightweight, like when you
have like you have a good crowd of like we
have a good loyal fan base. But they'll let you
know too, like if you're not h Milwaukee, we're known
for hard hitting, like like we're safe, but we're snugging, Like, uh,
that's what the fans expect from us too. Like if
(15:34):
like you're week and all that, they will call you
out for a week chop, week hit or nothing. So
I mean, uh, the one like, uh, one thing like
Milwaukee I'm really proud about seeing is like I feel
like when I first broke in, you see a lot
out of state, a lot Wisconsin guys going out of state,
and now you see it like everyone, Like every weekend
you see someone out of state.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Like the guys like me and Doc Simmons had a
like the pleasure of having a hand in to help
out with their training, like CJ. Cole Jack, Sirius, Armando Alvarez,
tau Yeddie Henderson, Like all those guys are going out
like taus like a stet, like all over Minnesota, like CJ. Coles,
all over like Michigan. Like it's like proud to see
(16:16):
all that. So like, uh, I mean when you see us,
it's like a lot of the guys who like we wrestle,
they hit hard, but like we also like just like
the Chicago we like that like fast paced, like a
highest spot uh flippy stuff too.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
I spot flippy stuff.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
That's like my whole that's my whole style, high spot,
flippy and power.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Yeah, I've seen a couple of your matches and like
it is a great combination of really good chain wrestling
and like you said, a little bit of flippy stuff
and then yeah, I've seen you were you and somebody
else were just chopping the ship out of each other.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
So yeah, I'm definitely like a like a me and
my tag partner, Like we were in Florida and we
did a match and after we got done, like the
guys I owned I they were used to like like
guys who wrestle us, like the premiere nds banging Matthews,
uh Lroyal Flavor, those tag teams like they always know,
like they bring it, we bring it, Like like we
(17:09):
wrestle the tag team and they're calling us like they
said we were shooting on them. So then that's where
the out of town shooters came from, because like, oh
all right, well so yeah, me and Doc are very
known for like laying it in.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
There's nothing wrong with that because obviously, like you're working snug,
but you're also working safe.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
Yeah, we expect I expect the same back, like I'm
never gonna get hit, Like I've had guys like my
students like hit me hard, like in a match, and like, oh,
I'm so sorry. It's fine, Like it's it's for wrestling,
it's not a it's not ballet.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
Right, Well, where did you what's your background with having
the kick pads?
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Uh? My background is like I'm an amateur wrestler, so
like for the kick pads, it's more of like a
I did a little bit of mixed martial arts, but
not much so some kicks, but like it was more
for the fact of Uh, I didn't want to wear
boots because they weren't comfortable and like rest of the
wrestling shoes are way more comfortable for me, right, But
(18:05):
I just feel like like a with the style that
me and doctor with the kicks and all that just
felt like we need like I need a kick pad too,
like as well to protect the shins and I lay
it in.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Good point. Yeah, I can imagine how the boots can
be very uncomfortable as opposed to wrestling shoes that are
very snug and very comfortable.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Oh yeah, And like there's guys like who wrestling boots,
like and they've told me it's very secure and all
of that, and like, I just think it's a preference.
But for me, like I tried boots one time, and like,
and I wrestled the one match. It was like thirty
minutes long, and I twisted my ankle in between the
middle of the match and it was just like, yeah,
I'm done with this.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
Yeah. Well's the same thing with people with like people
have specific elbow pads or knee pads that they use,
So I mean, you know boots are the same way.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Oh yeah, Like, uh, I always will have a pair
of Simpson socks on if I'm wrestling. It's like those
weird little things you have to have.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Yeah, what are some other weird So what are some
standards in your bag or what are some things that
you always good for you.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
Standard for the bag if it's like a called Doc
and be like, hey, what colored gear are we wearing?
And then make sure I have the right gear. I
bring like a couple of sets, so like because we
have done over like he'll tell me one color and
then he'll forget it and then we'll go at least
we have the other colors. But standard would be like
a wrestling underwear, Simpson socks, my biker shorts, knee pads,
(19:25):
kick pads, most likely my cow shorts to wear on
just over my gear, a pair of flip flops in
the bag, and then uh, some comfies like a sweatpants,
a nice T shirt and hoodie and like an entrance
shirt and all that, but trying to pack light, Like
I've been really enjoying like the backpack lately. I've been
(19:45):
how everyone has those big rollaway suit lugg cases and
like I don't. When I get back with Doc, I'll
be bringing my lug awake roll I can't say it
my carry on bag, rollaway bag, those hard cases. But
now that like right now with Doc, like I only
have like a little pair of shorts and like knee
pets and kick pats, so it's easy just to throw
in like my little backpack and go there.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Yeah, I've been so I'm a ring announcer for a
couple or for one major promotion in Arkansas, and then
I'm trying to work closer at home. But you know,
as it comes, I get business or I get working
like and as I can get it. So I've always
been curious about trying maybe I should get a rolling bag,
but I just have my suit and then whatever I
change into. So like the backpack has worked for me,
(20:27):
and I'm always curious if I need to expand to
an actual rolling bag. But also I don't have any
merch or doing to keep it small.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
With the backpack. I mean, I guess said I'm a
fan of backpack, but like the rolling bag, especially like
me and Doctor, like for a while we had all
these different colors. We're now just doing pink and blue,
but like we already have like purple, yellow, red and
all that, and we were trying to like bring a
couple of sets because like if we brought one color,
the chances are the tag team we were wrestling had
the same color. And we're like, we don't want to
(20:54):
match at.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
All, right, No, I mean if you are attack team
and it makes more sense if you guys match.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Oh yeah, like uh, very like I'm the docs, like
the quote guy and all that, but I'm the one
that designs the gears of this T shirts to come
up with the crazy ideas and like, what do you
think of this? And he's like, let's do it.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
Oh so you're the one actually come home with artwork.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
Well, I got I went to the artwork. Uh it's more.
I draw stick figures and I send it to the
guy and then he made like a cprs he does
our T shirts. I like draw like I like like
show people all the time the little stick figures. I
draw them like this T shirt designs he'll make for us.
It's like completely like everyone's like, how did he even
make that out? What you drew? And I'm like, hey, lucky,
(21:35):
I'm blessed that he knows what I see.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Well what kind of merch you guys normally having that
shows so merch?
Speaker 2 (21:42):
Uh? We uh will like T shirts for sure. Our
go to is like our number one shirt. I think
everyone likes this. Our Mama's your Mama's favorite tag team
logo it's a knock off of a itchy and scratchy
h we do. Uh. We have the out of Town Shooters,
which is just us with like the Doughnuts saying it.
And then every year we come out a shirt called
Triosa Champions like Triosa Horror right on every belt we've
(22:05):
won that previous year. So like we started three years ago,
so we put like all the tag belts we won
twenty twenty three, we had like eight or fourteen different
championships were on the belt, and then like last year,
since I pretty much was on a singles run, we
just I just had the singles championships. So that's something
we come out with every year. Other than that, we
(22:26):
have like stickers like like a little rubber bracelets, and
then as well if we have them like snapbacks as well.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
What is something that you guys have got from merch
that you didn't think was gonna sell as well as
it did and then some other thing that you were like,
this isn't gonna sell and then you fucking sold out
of them.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
Man. We I don't know if we got anything like that,
Like I know we did baseball jerseys one time, like
we started entering with baseball jerseys, and then like a
lot of fans were asking us like, hey, we want
a baseball jersey, and we were pretty upfront like hey,
it's not going to be cheap. But we ended up
selling thirty to thirty five jerseys for about seventy five
dollars each and they're like stitch Country Air jerseys and the like.
(23:12):
We got so good with that because of the order,
Like the company that made the jerseys made us our
own a little promo called promo code called Country Air.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
That's cool. Yeah, I'm always curious because I know some
people will say like Dave's had pins that work really well,
or like photos are really still selling, which makes no
sense to me, but you know a lot of people
are into that kind of thing, and I'm always curious,
like who brings different things or you know, trying different merch.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
I know like uh Wa Main, he's one to half
a tau. He enters off like the Samurai assassin mask
type deal and he sells masking. He said, he sells them,
like sells a couple every show. But I think the
best like methods for merch. I think a lot of people,
like a lot of fans, like like someone like me,
where if you get shirt, you just don't want a
(24:01):
half naked guy in your shirt. You want something that
like if you see it, like if people know, like, hey,
I know that's a wrestling shirt. But if you don't.
But even if you again you don't know wrestling, you
just look at McMahon. It's a cool, like shirt, that's
a dope shirt. And that's how I always try to
model our shirts. It's like, let's do something that's like
something that's cool even if you don't even if you
don't know it's wrestling. So it's like, oh, that's a
cool shirt. It's like because they don't have to wear
you can wear anywhere.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
Yeah, that's why I always when, especially when prog wrestling
te's got really big, which you were also in prog
wrestling teas, there were so many people had awesome designs,
and I was like even if yeah, like even if
you didn't know who was a wrestling shirt, you'd be like,
people like, that's a badass shirt.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
Oh yeah. Like the New Guys just got some new merch.
They're from a tag team out in Minnesota. I like
their merch, Like their first one is just the sharply
jawl faces of themselves times that was funny, and then
they gots like they like their shirts. Like you wouldn't
tell it the tag teams a wrestling shirt, but it
just looks like a Saint Louis like shirt. But those
are the shirts I like, the shirts that if you know,
you know but not know, people are still gonna appreciate
(24:58):
the art, right.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
I always think that about like breweries and stuff, that
they should have that with T shirts. I'm like, just
make it fun so that everyone, especially like all those
different beer labels that are really awesome designs, I'm like,
make that into a T shirt. Like, even if you
know you don't sell all of them, there's enough people
out there like, oh, that's really cool. What is that
and be like, oh, it's a beer.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
Oh yeah. Like Three Floyds, I like their uh is
a bubblegum their logo there, like it's like a yellow cat.
That would be like, yeah, like those things like a
unique art that just like stands out there when you
get to tell about talk about and then someone might
look into it.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
Too, right, Exactly, you never know what people are going
to be fans of until they get into it.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
Well, who are some of the veterans as you've been
coming up that especially in your area, considering there's so
many from that area that have really kind of helped
out you along the way.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
Uh well, I'll say, like, like I said, my fiance
valm alone, Yeah, we're like we're a couple in the house,
but like when we're at shows, we're not like we're business.
It's like and like she'll tell me, like she'll tell
me a lot, like I've had matches where after the
match is over, she's like you did too much, Like
with tell me like, hey, like I feel like you
could this less was more here, Like I like really
(26:11):
respect her opinion because like not just because she's my fiance,
but like I respect that she's like wrestled for Dragon
get USA, Like she's a aaw like legend. She's like
I mean, she is the Queen of Wisconsin for a reason,
Like she's like number one manager here, So like I
respect her opinion. Dysfunction is a big influence in my career.
(26:33):
He told me from the get go, like when I started, like, hey,
like you're young, first five years, keep your mouth shut,
just do what you're told. And like was telling me,
like did get out there grind anytime there's opportunities, like
you know, like when promoters are like put on Facebook
who to reach out to, Like he would always like
tag me and dock in it. So super appreciative there.
He's actually the guy who named country here. We'll always
(26:55):
give him credit for that. And he's the one that
actually took the first like real chance is a tag
because my second ever match being doc tagged and like
the crowd was really crowd was into and all that
and then just went away and then he put like
he ended up just putting us together and like we
just had that chemist natural chemistry and like it's been
a country ever since. Uh but this and bow alone
(27:16):
and then uh Angel Armani as well, like like they
got another man who trained me, but Armani he's had
a hand in like Austin airis Juice Robinson, uh silas
young guys like that, and like he's all like, uh,
like I always like will help me out with opportunities.
They have a no tryout coming up in Wisconsin and
uh he like right away and he ride away messaged
(27:38):
me and said like make sure you sign up and
always looking out for me, Like yeah, he's one of
those guys who trusts me too, like will give me
like opportunities so I have me like put me in
those situations where I can help someone learn or I
can learn myself, and like he trusted it's going to go.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
Well, that's awesome. It's so good to have like genuine
good people. I mean even in the same house with you.
But let alone have somebody that you can actually reach
to or they will tell you like real ship as
opposed to it was good, you know, like that doesn't
help anybody, like.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
Oh yeah, and like outside of the state, like my
opponent this Saturday, Gary Jay is a big like a
guy who's helped me in Doc out like he saw
us traveling and like he like he definitely like tested
us too, like he has come to Saint Louis anarchy
and he wanted to see like like if we were
guys with egos and not like we helped do the
set up, tear down all that and like since then,
like we were on the show, and like he told us,
(28:28):
like even message us when Doc when injured got injured,
like hey, guys, like we want you as a tag team,
but don't worry when Doc's back. You guys didn't lose
your spots. So like Gary's a good one. Uh, Joey
O'Reilly down at zero one is always him in a
I can't I'm going to forget his name. I feel
like a jerk for saying it. But his tag partner,
they're the low Lives side man. He was I right,
(28:52):
Like you're listening to this, I apologize. He runs Glory Pro.
I gotta look him up. Jordan, Jordan, Jordan, there you go.
Yeah Jordan, Yeah, Jordan, Like always he was a big
advocate for country or like we when we won the
zero one USA tag titles, we weren't even booked, like
we weren't booked for no more dates, like he just
like we were, like he was up, but like we
(29:12):
were getting over and he was trusting us and like
the like the tag who were the champions at the time,
but even like told him like, hey, these are the
guys and like, uh so Jordan, Joey O'Reilly Gary. And
then the last one I'll give the shout out to
is Marsha Rocket. Uh. We traveled a twenty twenty three
over the summer of NWA helping out with shows there
(29:36):
and Marshay was always there mentoring us, telling us what
to do, like letting us know who to talk to,
like making sure like we were always like, uh, we
were always where we needed to be, always made sure
like we were looking good. Uh. So like those are
like vets I like always go to for advice and
vic Capri as well.
Speaker 1 (29:54):
That's awesome. Well, so if people have never seen your
wrestle before, what are three matches, they should go out
of their way to watch three matches?
Speaker 2 (30:01):
Go out your way to watch Uh for a singles match? Uh,
CJ Cole versus Zach Hendricks four twenty Classic. Uh, that
match was special. It was one of those. It was
the night I turned heel but J and I like,
uh we like I we tore it up like I've
It was like we had a match where the crowd
(30:23):
yelled both these guys Hendrix, CJ. Cole, Uh, this is awesome,
holy shit fight forever. And then like at the end
of the match, like we had a standing applause and
like a like the fans were on rematch. So like
that match for sure, I'm trying to think, uh, Countryer
(30:46):
versus the Premiere, any one of those tag matches. I'm
try and find the right one. We have, Like we've
had like so many good matches with the premiere, it's
hard to like we can put out the spot, like
what matches are good of mine? I mean a fun
fatal four way match was if you look up Zach
(31:06):
Hendricks versus CJ. Cole versus Jaden Mercer versus Chucky Bates.
I was really proud of that match. I like we
came up a lot, we like had the structure and
like I was really proud of Like I hate when
it's a fatal four way match and like it feels
like it's two heels against two baby faces. It's more
of a tag team match. So we like made sure
like we like did not do that, and like everyone
(31:28):
was fighting everyone. So I'm a big fan of that match.
And we have a lead up match too where Mercer
and I tagged against CJ and Chucky the night before,
so like I always called it our SmackDown match before
the big pay per view because like we had that
like that standard, like oh, tag team match, and then
the last one I would say to watch, like look
(31:51):
on my YouTube channel just to find the ones so
many I mean, I mean I was like the one
I just posted yesterday Zach Kendricks was Yoanny GQ Janos,
Like all these shows are at ICW. These are probably
more of my recent matches, and like last year, I'm
(32:12):
not like I did like last year, like we were
waiting for my I thought me and Doc thought he
was going to get back a lot sooner than he did.
I did get to travel, but not as much as
I'd like to. But like a lot of my good matches,
a lot of the matches were like I felt like
I got to like let loose and like guys were
listening to the ideas and all that. Like a lot
of them were at ICW, and a lot of them
were like I mean, I've had good matches to at
zero one USA that if you watched the ladder match
(32:34):
we just had, we had like three rookies in that show,
and like they killed it, like Quest Parker, Anthony Lopez,
and no Noah Clover, all three guys first times on
the show. Definitely like felt a little I felt proud
of that match too, just because like I was looking,
I'm like, man, I'm like it's weird to kind of
like when you realize you're more seasoned in that group
(32:54):
and then you're like all right, I'm here to like
help lead the charge. And even like, yeah, I was
say any like I say, like if we watch anim
we love wrestling matches like we love wrestling. Has been
giving me opportunities and been trusting me. I've got to
work Dante Leon. I worked Isaiah Moore and we ended
up in a thirty minute drawl. I got the wrestle
(33:15):
Ariel van Go and this Saturday, I'll get the wrestle
Gary j.
Speaker 1 (33:19):
And things are just yeah, you're having a lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
Oh yeah, Like things are like clicking, and I hopefully
it keeps clicking right.
Speaker 1 (33:28):
Right, Well, I have a second on the show. I
call it the five count. It's just five random questions.
What was your first car?
Speaker 2 (33:35):
My first car was a Ford two thousand and three
Ford Escorre. It was like a white Ford Escort with
like little blue stripes on the side. And within like
the first year, I backed into my dad's truck and
like smashed the bumper.
Speaker 1 (33:52):
That's awesome. It's not awesome, but it's a it's a
fun story. Now. Oh yeah yeah. If you owned a
liquor cup, any brewery, winery, or coffee shop, which one
would you own? And what would the name be.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
So I'm not really a big drinker, even though I'm
in Milwaukee, I'm actually not a drinker, so I have
to go off a coffee shop. And because my fiance
is the coffee drinker, not me, I'm like literally just
soda or like water or like something like that, I
would name it VM's Corner.
Speaker 1 (34:20):
Oh, there you go. Who's your first celebrity.
Speaker 2 (34:23):
Crush, first celebrity crush? I want to say it was
Kim Possible when I was little because I was like
watching a lot of cartoons.
Speaker 1 (34:36):
I mean, I get it. Those guys know what they're doing.
They're drawing these cartoons. Yeah, who are what inspires you?
Speaker 2 (34:45):
Uh? I would say, like my for wrestling, my inspirations
are like my number one's road Dog Jesse James, Like
super charismatic, super outgoing and all that. Like a wrote
when we wrestled I don't know if you know Christian Rose,
but this we did a tag match doc and I
versus Christian Rose and uh Connor Hopkins. And by the
(35:06):
time we were like, I told my favorite wrestler's road
Dog and he was judging me. But by the time
we were done with the matches, like, oh, I see
why you like road Dog. You're a big hype guy,
so like a love road Dog. For tag team moves,
big influences are motorcy machine guns. Like any other tag team,
I think everyone mimixed the motorcy machine gun style. On
(35:26):
top of that, I would say, uh, Red Dragon, Bobby
fish Kyl Riley with that smash mouth hitting, and then
uh the rascals just cause like even though it's probably
not inside joke for him. Uh. There was a little
small thing where I made like my first ever custom gear.
I had these like cool ripped shorts not like Buddy
(35:47):
Murphy but very similar, but biker where they're a little
bit higher and like verb batim. Like a few months later,
like Trey McGill had the exact same like style, just
like same color, the same like layout, everything, but just
a different color. And when he like posted, I put
nice gear and set back at you. And it was
cool because when we were at I was at Warrior Wrestling,
he pointed at me. It's like, hey, here's the guys.
(36:09):
I took the gear from him and like he was
like real cool, but like Trey's like we ran into him.
Desmond Wolf and Zach Once and like those guys have
always like they're never like you can tell they don't
treat anyone above like they're up there, but they don't
act like they're up there. And they were always good
guys and like even talk to me and Doc about like, hey,
even though you're a tag team, like when you go
like you guys, don't be afraid to do singles and
don't be afraid of support, like because like everyone like
(36:32):
has that common misconception when you're a tag team, like
you have to break up. You can't just do singles
like you have to break up where it's like, uh,
they were telling us, like you don't have to break up,
Like you'd be like, hey, do you do your thing,
go get your singles goal and get mine, but uh
have each other's back still.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
Right exactly. Uh. And finally, what would you tell your
seventeen year old self?
Speaker 2 (36:53):
I would tell my seventeen year old self, like, uh,
just stay positive, like uh, don't focus on the negative.
Life's like short, enjoy it like lived it like live
in the moment like uh, and don't like and don't
be afraid to be yourself like I feel like a
lot of people like especially when you're young and you're
a teenager, like you're so like wine to be like
(37:13):
what everyone else is doing and all that, But as
you get older, you realize that doesn't matter. Like if
you came into my house, like we have I have
like the whole Simpsons, Like I have like bookshelves full
of like Simpson action figures on displays. I have like
Krusty dolls hanging up, like, uh, my fiance has all
her wiki about barbies up like this. We're adults, but
like our whole house just has toys everywhere. But that's
(37:35):
who we are. And like we like like uh, you know,
we'll go out there like we go we call Bummitt
or like our Bummitt Days where we go we'll walk
around Target, like we go there like maybe three or
four times a week. But like that's just our thing,
and like, don't be afraid to be who you are
like other people like like and don't judge people too,
like if like everyone likes their own thing, but like
as long as it makes them happy, like it shouldn't matter.
That shouldn't matter because like I feel like when I
(37:56):
was younger, I was still worried about what everyone else
thought of me. And it's like at the end of
the day, Like I'm like I've been I've been living
my life like the last few years just me. I've
been like super happy and like things have been going
my way.
Speaker 1 (38:07):
I love that. Yeah, I think you could tell anybody.
You tell somebody that at any age. Really.
Speaker 2 (38:12):
Oh yeah yeah.
Speaker 1 (38:14):
Now, if people want to find out more about you,
follow you online, see you in person, by your merch
how can we do all the things?
Speaker 2 (38:20):
Oh yeah, social media z Hendricks brand. That's all across
the board. Uh, and like for your mama's favorite tag
team country air checkout Country Official Country brand on the
social media's if you want to find me U. This summer,
I'm gonna be taking limited book games kind of like
a no spoilers, but I mean the Goat should be
returning here soon. And uh, as much as I've been
(38:42):
loving the singles, run like, I want to get back
into the tag division because there's so much that's needs
to be done. I mean, I ain't talking bad about
the tag team division, but since Doc has been injured,
I haven't seen a lot of title changes. I haven't
seen a lot of movement, So like, uh, Doc and
I are ready to come and like get back where
we were, but to find us based out of Milwaukee.
(39:04):
But to be blunt, we'll wrestle anywhere, Like our goal
is to get back where we were before Doc got injured.
Like we were booked in Ohio, Michigan, Iowa, Nebraska, Nevada,
we went out to Cali. We've had like Texas and Florida, Minnesota.
(39:25):
It's like trying and of course I always trying to
find new states. So like I mean where to find me?
Like I always post every like Wednesday. I try to
do it like my two weeks out, so like I
always post out my two weeks like where I'll be
at two weeks out primary promotions you will see me at.
There would be like ICW, WE Love Wrestling, Destination six
(39:46):
zero one USA, and any tag team looking for a
goob Reel Golden any show looking for the Gooburul Golden
richare rounds, y'all show up and like we'll drive anywhere,
so any state, it doesn't matter.
Speaker 1 (39:57):
Like thank you so much as Zach for being on
the show again. If you can find him in your area,
or just go travel and check out a new city
and also check out their local wrestling. So wherever he's
(40:19):
wrestling you want to be and when you're doing that,
make sure to tag us on the social media's and
follow us. That is bruisers Pod. That is b R
E W S E R S p O D on
the Instagram, of the threads and the Twitter. If you
want to send us an email, it is Bruiserspod at
gmail dot com. If you want to follow me directly,
it is Rody John. That is r O d I
E j O N. Roady John is the name on
(40:40):
the Twitter and untapped. In case you want to find
out what I'm drinking, maybe we can have a beer together.
If you want to follow me on the threads or
the Instagram, it is official Order John. So until next time,
make sure to enjoy life, drink local, and cheers.
Speaker 2 (41:02):
Three two one
Welcome to Bruisers, a podcast about beer, coffee, booze and bruisers.
I'm your Hostrodi John and today we talked to Zach Hendricks.
We talk about his journey in pro wrestling, tag team wrestling,
and so much more. Zach is doing big things on
the independent scene. He is definitely making a splash and
you are gonna want to check him out. But first
here's his story. So, without further ado, here is Zach Hendricks.
(00:57):
I would like to welcome a show. Zach Hendricks. How
are you doing?
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Today's doing well? How are you?
Speaker 1 (01:02):
I'm well? So for those listening, kind of paints a
word picture. Where are you at? What's going on around you?
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Yeah? I'm actually in my living room, like in the
Milwaukee area, just chilling. If anyone knows me, they know
I have Simpsons on TV. I'm hanging out with my
hanging out with my dog Mindy. Yeah, just relax and
just got done with work not too long ago. Now.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
I enjoy the Simpsons and I have friends that are
very further into the Simpsons.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
That I am.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Is there a season that you think that they kind
of fell off? And is there to you like a
golden era?
Speaker 2 (01:38):
I mean the Golden Era. I would say, like like
a lot of people say the Golden eras are like
season like eight through ten. I mean, obviously something. I
don't think they ever fell off. But I'm just a
Simpson nerd. But some other people might say just because
I've heard the complaints of like oh, how they're more
modernized like how it was back in the day. But
I mean I like the fact that they keep up
with the social trends and all that.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Yeah, and they predictlar.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
My bad, no, go ahead, where were we saying? I said, Oh,
and Trios Horror is like always my favorite thing every year.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
I always love I always looked forward to those two
because I was always curious what they were going to
do and like how and what genre of like horror
they're gonna go after?
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Oh yeah, Like uh, I like the little special they
had a few years ago is called not It where
they did Crusty as a penny Wise that was probably
my favorite special.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
I love their their fun ways of getting around things
like uh, calling it the shinning or not it or
things like that.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Oh yeah, and then like uh, I listened to like
a podcast sometimes while I'm working, like they will tell
you insiders like the Itching and Scratchy Land. They like
made that show only because since it's a family TV show,
even though it's a cartoon, you can't go as gory.
So they did it chance Scratchy so they can go
as gory as they want. Technically, it's a cartoon pro
training a cartoon. It's like a little fun move boops,
(02:56):
like you find out.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
I did not know they did. That's why they did that.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Yeah, it was like one of those like hey, we
can go nuts and do like a bunch of fun
stuff and like crazier stuff that like in real life families,
like since simp it's like real life family you can't do,
but like with the cartoons you can.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
This is true. Huh, that's fun. I didn't realize that.
Is there a favorite character you have?
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Uh? I always tell my tag partner were Carl and Lennie.
But I love I'm a big itchy, scratchy poochy guy
and krusty Okay.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Is there a favorite voice that you enjoy?
Speaker 2 (03:31):
I don't. I mean, I know he has like controversialists
like with a a pooh, but like he does so
many other voices like Hanka's area, he does mo the Kleatis,
the Captain. He does so many and like my fiance,
she's a big Wicked fan. So he actually did a
video of him doing all his voices like Frank and
(03:52):
all them singing like a couple of the Wicked songs.
So those are very fun to watch.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
I did not know he did that, and I'm gonna
look that up.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Yeah, if you go on his Instagram, it's like Hantkasario,
but he'll like do something like Instagram, but he'll like
switch from voice to voice in between each line.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
I didn't know, so I knew him from like actually
seeing him as an actor first before I actually put
it together that that's the guy who also does all
these voices. And I was like, holy shit, that dude
is not only good looking a great actor, but like
an amazing actor or voice actor as well.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Oh yeah, like it's a jack of all trades. Like
he's like half the characters said on the show, him
and Harry.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Yeah, and I understand them being people being upset about
you know, the a poo voice, But you know, for
how long did could you really separate you know, a
poo from that?
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Like it just makes me sense, I don't know, I mean, yeah,
I mean just they're all like, hopefully maybe they can
bring him back and like do it where it's like
something where everyone's happy with it. Because Who. I liked
that who as a character.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Yeah, exactly. He was the It was the cornerstone for
a lot of those episodes too.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Oh yeah, and they always like built him up too,
like when like they had the episode then being a
bachelor him like he was like every girl wanted to
be with him.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Yeah, I love that. Have you so? Segueing to wrestling
real fast? Have you ever met TJP DJP.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
I've never met him yet.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Okay, well I've heard him on the podcasts and I've
been lucky enough to be around him a few times.
And his connections of like storylines between like pro wrestling
and Simpsons is so like right on that you're just like,
holy shit, I never thought about it that way, but
that's exactly the way it is. It's it's aflutely fantastic.
If you ever get to meet him, please ask him
(05:39):
about both of those things together and he will definitely
figure out a story.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
I will definitely have to ask him because I would
be definitely cool to hear like his stories with wrestling
and Simpsons commind.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
Yeah, you know, just listening to him talk. I could
just I just listen all day and be like, okay,
just keep doing keep talking.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Oh yeah, those are like the good ones. And you
have the guys who can tell you those stories where
you can just listen and you're like, it never gets old,
never gets boring. Mm hmm.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Yeah, and you're always learning something different or just thinking
about ways in a different way. That's always great.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Oh yeah, that's my tag partner. Like we'll think of
like a lot of our names will think of Simpson's
like six shot lullaby, or we have like an itchy
scratchy move that we do. So like we'll try to
think of stuff. And I told him if we ever
made it big and got signed, like how they show
the superstars show up and enter, like like shown up
to the ran, I'm like, we have to dress up
as a Simpsons character every time.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Yes, very New New Day of you guys.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Oh yeah, definitely stealing the New New Day stuff too,
like well always do like the tag team, like the
Hipswir World Champions.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
I really wish Biggie would have had a better ending,
but he you know, he got to the Mountaintop and
that was great.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Oh yeah, at least I got to say he didn't
like was super over when he was doing it, and
just unfortunate.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Though, I mean there's not ballet.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Yeah, you could definitely get hurt.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Yeah, he's I mean, he's doing a great job a
commentary and I think he's going to do bigger things
in the future. Whether he wants to come back or not,
it's all up to him and he just you know,
I know he's newly engaged as well, so that's probably
a very good thing for him as well.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Yeah, and like it's like at least he has a
job and he's like on TV and he's still doing
stuff any regardless of the breakup, Like he helped An Xavier
and Kofe like Skyrock into that heel spot. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Oh I you talk about the New Dale day too,
but we're here talk about you. So let's go all
the way back in time. What is your earliest memory
of pro wrestling?
Speaker 2 (07:36):
My earliest is the New Age Outlaws. I love the
road Dog Jesse James, like every time, like the ladies
and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages, Like
I would have that down to a t. I was
a big degeneration x guy, but I was. I got
into wrestling like right after Sean left, so like my degenerations,
I knew it was just Triple H, China Xbox and
(07:58):
the New Age Outlaws. I didn't watch w CW when
I was little. I was like a really loyal kid,
so like I didn't watching Disney Channel because I was Nickelodeon.
So I was like, I didn't watch WCW because I
was Team WWF. But yeah, might really remember you talked
to add you are like getting grounded for a little
bit because I was doing the second at school or
(08:18):
stone cold a salute.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
I think a lot of people got suspended, suspended the
atension and also grounded the same p.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Yeah. Yeah, you are definitely helped shaping us up in
the wrong ways.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Yeah. I was definitely around. Yeah, I was in like
like teenage years at that point. I was like, this
is the best thing ever. And then, of course, you
know when you get older, they go into the g
rate in and it's like or PG and it's like, oh,
what are we doing here? But also society had changed
at the same time, so you know, the nineties were
all great until the two thousand kid. Yeah, well what
(08:56):
was your kind of moment? Well, I guess when did
you figure out that there was other wrestling?
Speaker 2 (09:01):
So like I went to like an indie show one time,
like in Heights, like after high school. I was in college.
My brother was like his bank was a sponsor. They
got tickets. It was like a show called Fire Pro Wrestling.
It was out in Indiana. Uh. They did a show
in the Texas Roadhouse parking lot at Portage. It's like
right off of a Route thirty. But like we went there,
(09:23):
hung out and was really cool. Main event was like
two local guys and like al Still and Rhino, Like
everyone was really cool there. There was there's a guy
there who steel wrestles. His name's John Motley. Really cool dude.
I'm friends with him on Facebook, but I always call
him out and tell him like, hey, one day we're
gonna get that match. But no, I just remember that
and then like a we I go. Was big on
(09:45):
like watching T and A growing up, Like I love
the X Division growing up, so like loved Saban, loved
Shelley AJ styles like Christopher Daniels, Samoa Joe, all of
them were like like just Ultimate X was always awesome.
So I think what aid me like finally decided to
do it was I went to all In in Chicago.
Oh did you Yeah, I just moved to Milwaukee. I'm
(10:07):
like originally from Indiana, but I moved to Milwaukee, new job,
went to all In just like really, like my whole life,
I've always wanted to do it and just always just
questioned and finally, like when I went to all In,
I'm like, all right in a new state. I don't
know know why, Like I need to find out hot
something to do, Like I'm gonna try to find a
camp to go to.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
Yeah, So who's school did you have going to?
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Yeah? So I'm a like I went to the Thumpers
Den and trained there. I was. My trainer is an
Angel Armani, and I give a lot of credit to
my fiance as well. Her name is a val Malone.
She was like still a lot of aaw back in
the day. She's like been in about nineteen years now,
but uh, she like when we got together, she like
we watched a lot of old school wrestling, talked about
(10:49):
the psychology there, and like anytime I was cutting promos
in the house working on anything, like we would watch
mattresses this year, telling me little things that she thought
to work on. So I would credit Angel Armani for
like teach me how to us. He taught me like
the psychology behind it, like the purposes. And then like
val Malone as well, for like promos like facials, like
the small in betweens, like those things that they do
(11:10):
matter when you do it right. So like those two
are like definitely true.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Well, so how did you to me? How did you
vow me?
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Oh? Yeah, so we met. When I first met her,
It's funny because it just happened this weekend. It's crusher Fest, okay,
but the first ever crusher Fest. VAL's was there. I ran,
I ran into her right by Odb's barbecue truck. I
met her through her friend Ashley Winchester. She introduced hers.
(11:43):
We were just talking about at the time val was
off the market. She was like she was married to
her ex husband at the time. So I just met her,
got to talk to her. I just saw her a
little bit. But then after that we really like started
talking more during Quarantine where we did a past the
video like don't Rush like we saw w W do
Don't Rush where everyone's at home and their goals and
(12:04):
they like camera switching there in their gear and like
me and my buddies did it. And then we had
a bunch of guys in the state like, oh, like
we wanted to do that, So we made a huge
like Wisconsin like anyone who was like on the indies.
We messaged and like put together a whole like don't
rush video with us passing tape, and I messaged Val
asking her she wanted to be a part of it,
(12:26):
and then from there we just kept talking, kept talking,
and then eventually, like when I found out she didn't
was not like she was no longer married, asked her
if I wanted to hang out, Like the rest is history?
Speaker 1 (12:36):
Good for you? That's awesome, yeah for those that for
those that don't know, And obviously it's a huge Wisconsin
thing because he's from there. But can you tell people
with Crush your fastus.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
Crusherest Yeah, the Crusher, Uh. I mean when you think
of Wisconsin wrestling, you think of the Crusher back in
the day, him and Dick the Bruiser. Uh, we go
like that work in the territories. A Crusher came out
of a giant uh keg cigar chomping, hard hitting. But
crusher Fest was the honor of the Crusher. Milwaukee has
(13:08):
a bronze. They revealed the bronze statue of the Crusher
and like, like I said, that was first, that was
the first show I got to be a part of.
It was not my first show. It is like for
I got to be a part of the first ever
Crushers FST show. And it's like always special to me
because like that's where I met Val And like I
remember the day I met her, Like in my heart,
I knew something. I was like, oh, I told her,
like even yesterday when we were walking we went to
(13:30):
crusher Fest yesterday just to sightsee and all that I
told her, Like I was like, yeah, I remember I
met you right here, Like I knew, like, all right,
something I don't know what, but me like something something
that is linked with me and her.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
That's awesome that you felt that right away.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Oh yeah. And she like told me like too, like
she had like the like she said she like had
a weird dream one time about me, like and like
it was just like, oh, no big deal. But like
dreams tell you stuff in the future.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
Yeah, it's like windows into the future. Oh, yeah, yeah,
this statue is actually really cool. I didn't know they
actually hey, he's holding the beer keg and everything.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Oh yeah, it was like it was like the first
crusher Fest. It was so hard to see that statue
because it was so packed.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
Right, But how tall is that?
Speaker 2 (14:17):
It's I'm five eleven, so it's gotta be like maybe
six three six four. It's like, no, a little bit
taller than me.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
That's not too bad.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
I could be wrong too. I'm not really good with heights.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
And that's fair well for those that aren't in them. Uh,
in your area obviously, the Milwaukee area of wrestling is
growing like crazy, obviously, but it bleeds over probably a
little bit to what's happening in Chicago and then Minnesota
and in all the Michigan as well. But like, what
does your scene kind of look like for people that
(14:49):
aren't in that part of the country.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
So, like, uh, I mean Milwaukee, it's like, uh, one
thing I love about Milwaukee. They're like old school traditional,
like obviously a lot of drinking and all that. But uh,
the fans like, uh, I mean icw is like my
main promotion. I work at icw WE, and we love wrestling.
Fourth Wall and like you got like the loyal fans. Uh,
you're always gonna hear Jim Hockey in the crowd yelling
(15:13):
at you saying something like not tonight Hendricks or at
fourth Wall, the whole crowd calling lightweight, like when you
have like you have a good crowd of like we
have a good loyal fan base. But they'll let you
know too, like if you're not h Milwaukee, we're known
for hard hitting, like like we're safe, but we're snugging, Like, uh,
that's what the fans expect from us too. Like if
(15:34):
like you're week and all that, they will call you
out for a week chop, week hit or nothing. So
I mean, uh, the one like, uh, one thing like
Milwaukee I'm really proud about seeing is like I feel
like when I first broke in, you see a lot
out of state, a lot Wisconsin guys going out of state,
and now you see it like everyone, Like every weekend
you see someone out of state.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Like the guys like me and Doc Simmons had a
like the pleasure of having a hand in to help
out with their training, like CJ. Cole Jack, Sirius, Armando Alvarez,
tau Yeddie Henderson, Like all those guys are going out
like taus like a stet, like all over Minnesota, like CJ. Coles,
all over like Michigan. Like it's like proud to see
(16:16):
all that. So like, uh, I mean when you see us,
it's like a lot of the guys who like we wrestle,
they hit hard, but like we also like just like
the Chicago we like that like fast paced, like a
highest spot uh flippy stuff too.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
I spot flippy stuff.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
That's like my whole that's my whole style, high spot,
flippy and power.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Yeah, I've seen a couple of your matches and like
it is a great combination of really good chain wrestling
and like you said, a little bit of flippy stuff
and then yeah, I've seen you were you and somebody
else were just chopping the ship out of each other.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
So yeah, I'm definitely like a like a me and
my tag partner, Like we were in Florida and we
did a match and after we got done, like the
guys I owned I they were used to like like
guys who wrestle us, like the premiere nds banging Matthews,
uh Lroyal Flavor, those tag teams like they always know,
like they bring it, we bring it, Like like we
(17:09):
wrestle the tag team and they're calling us like they
said we were shooting on them. So then that's where
the out of town shooters came from, because like, oh
all right, well so yeah, me and Doc are very
known for like laying it in.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
There's nothing wrong with that because obviously, like you're working snug,
but you're also working safe.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
Yeah, we expect I expect the same back, like I'm
never gonna get hit, Like I've had guys like my
students like hit me hard, like in a match, and like, oh,
I'm so sorry. It's fine, Like it's it's for wrestling,
it's not a it's not ballet.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
Right, Well, where did you what's your background with having
the kick pads?
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Uh? My background is like I'm an amateur wrestler, so
like for the kick pads, it's more of like a
I did a little bit of mixed martial arts, but
not much so some kicks, but like it was more
for the fact of Uh, I didn't want to wear
boots because they weren't comfortable and like rest of the
wrestling shoes are way more comfortable for me, right, But
(18:05):
I just feel like like a with the style that
me and doctor with the kicks and all that just
felt like we need like I need a kick pad too,
like as well to protect the shins and I lay
it in.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Good point. Yeah, I can imagine how the boots can
be very uncomfortable as opposed to wrestling shoes that are
very snug and very comfortable.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Oh yeah, And like there's guys like who wrestling boots,
like and they've told me it's very secure and all
of that, and like, I just think it's a preference.
But for me, like I tried boots one time, and like,
and I wrestled the one match. It was like thirty
minutes long, and I twisted my ankle in between the
middle of the match and it was just like, yeah,
I'm done with this.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
Yeah. Well's the same thing with people with like people
have specific elbow pads or knee pads that they use,
So I mean, you know boots are the same way.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Oh yeah, Like, uh, I always will have a pair
of Simpson socks on if I'm wrestling. It's like those
weird little things you have to have.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Yeah, what are some other weird So what are some
standards in your bag or what are some things that
you always good for you.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
Standard for the bag if it's like a called Doc
and be like, hey, what colored gear are we wearing?
And then make sure I have the right gear. I
bring like a couple of sets, so like because we
have done over like he'll tell me one color and
then he'll forget it and then we'll go at least
we have the other colors. But standard would be like
a wrestling underwear, Simpson socks, my biker shorts, knee pads,
(19:25):
kick pads, most likely my cow shorts to wear on
just over my gear, a pair of flip flops in
the bag, and then uh, some comfies like a sweatpants,
a nice T shirt and hoodie and like an entrance
shirt and all that, but trying to pack light, Like
I've been really enjoying like the backpack lately. I've been
(19:45):
how everyone has those big rollaway suit lugg cases and
like I don't. When I get back with Doc, I'll
be bringing my lug awake roll I can't say it
my carry on bag, rollaway bag, those hard cases. But
now that like right now with Doc, like I only
have like a little pair of shorts and like knee
pets and kick pats, so it's easy just to throw
in like my little backpack and go there.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Yeah, I've been so I'm a ring announcer for a
couple or for one major promotion in Arkansas, and then
I'm trying to work closer at home. But you know,
as it comes, I get business or I get working
like and as I can get it. So I've always
been curious about trying maybe I should get a rolling bag,
but I just have my suit and then whatever I
change into. So like the backpack has worked for me,
(20:27):
and I'm always curious if I need to expand to
an actual rolling bag. But also I don't have any
merch or doing to keep it small.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
With the backpack. I mean, I guess said I'm a
fan of backpack, but like the rolling bag, especially like
me and Doctor, like for a while we had all
these different colors. We're now just doing pink and blue,
but like we already have like purple, yellow, red and
all that, and we were trying to like bring a
couple of sets because like if we brought one color,
the chances are the tag team we were wrestling had
the same color. And we're like, we don't want to
(20:54):
match at.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
All, right, No, I mean if you are attack team
and it makes more sense if you guys match.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Oh yeah, like uh, very like I'm the docs, like
the quote guy and all that, but I'm the one
that designs the gears of this T shirts to come
up with the crazy ideas and like, what do you
think of this? And he's like, let's do it.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
Oh so you're the one actually come home with artwork.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
Well, I got I went to the artwork. Uh it's more.
I draw stick figures and I send it to the
guy and then he made like a cprs he does
our T shirts. I like draw like I like like
show people all the time the little stick figures. I
draw them like this T shirt designs he'll make for us.
It's like completely like everyone's like, how did he even
make that out? What you drew? And I'm like, hey, lucky,
(21:35):
I'm blessed that he knows what I see.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Well what kind of merch you guys normally having that
shows so merch?
Speaker 2 (21:42):
Uh? We uh will like T shirts for sure. Our
go to is like our number one shirt. I think
everyone likes this. Our Mama's your Mama's favorite tag team
logo it's a knock off of a itchy and scratchy
h we do. Uh. We have the out of Town Shooters,
which is just us with like the Doughnuts saying it.
And then every year we come out a shirt called
Triosa Champions like Triosa Horror right on every belt we've
(22:05):
won that previous year. So like we started three years ago,
so we put like all the tag belts we won
twenty twenty three, we had like eight or fourteen different
championships were on the belt, and then like last year,
since I pretty much was on a singles run, we
just I just had the singles championships. So that's something
we come out with every year. Other than that, we
(22:26):
have like stickers like like a little rubber bracelets, and
then as well if we have them like snapbacks as well.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
What is something that you guys have got from merch
that you didn't think was gonna sell as well as
it did and then some other thing that you were like,
this isn't gonna sell and then you fucking sold out
of them.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
Man. We I don't know if we got anything like that,
Like I know we did baseball jerseys one time, like
we started entering with baseball jerseys, and then like a
lot of fans were asking us like, hey, we want
a baseball jersey, and we were pretty upfront like hey,
it's not going to be cheap. But we ended up
selling thirty to thirty five jerseys for about seventy five
dollars each and they're like stitch Country Air jerseys and the like.
(23:12):
We got so good with that because of the order,
Like the company that made the jerseys made us our
own a little promo called promo code called Country Air.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
That's cool. Yeah, I'm always curious because I know some
people will say like Dave's had pins that work really well,
or like photos are really still selling, which makes no
sense to me, but you know a lot of people
are into that kind of thing, and I'm always curious,
like who brings different things or you know, trying different merch.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
I know like uh Wa Main, he's one to half
a tau. He enters off like the Samurai assassin mask
type deal and he sells masking. He said, he sells them,
like sells a couple every show. But I think the
best like methods for merch. I think a lot of people,
like a lot of fans, like like someone like me,
where if you get shirt, you just don't want a
(24:01):
half naked guy in your shirt. You want something that
like if you see it, like if people know, like, hey,
I know that's a wrestling shirt. But if you don't.
But even if you again you don't know wrestling, you
just look at McMahon. It's a cool, like shirt, that's
a dope shirt. And that's how I always try to
model our shirts. It's like, let's do something that's like
something that's cool even if you don't even if you
don't know it's wrestling. So it's like, oh, that's a
cool shirt. It's like because they don't have to wear
you can wear anywhere.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
Yeah, that's why I always when, especially when prog wrestling
te's got really big, which you were also in prog
wrestling teas, there were so many people had awesome designs,
and I was like even if yeah, like even if
you didn't know who was a wrestling shirt, you'd be like,
people like, that's a badass shirt.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
Oh yeah. Like the New Guys just got some new merch.
They're from a tag team out in Minnesota. I like
their merch, Like their first one is just the sharply
jawl faces of themselves times that was funny, and then
they gots like they like their shirts. Like you wouldn't
tell it the tag teams a wrestling shirt, but it
just looks like a Saint Louis like shirt. But those
are the shirts I like, the shirts that if you know,
you know but not know, people are still gonna appreciate
(24:58):
the art, right.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
I always think that about like breweries and stuff, that
they should have that with T shirts. I'm like, just
make it fun so that everyone, especially like all those
different beer labels that are really awesome designs, I'm like,
make that into a T shirt. Like, even if you
know you don't sell all of them, there's enough people
out there like, oh, that's really cool. What is that
and be like, oh, it's a beer.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
Oh yeah. Like Three Floyds, I like their uh is
a bubblegum their logo there, like it's like a yellow cat.
That would be like, yeah, like those things like a
unique art that just like stands out there when you
get to tell about talk about and then someone might
look into it.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
Too, right, Exactly, you never know what people are going
to be fans of until they get into it.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
Well, who are some of the veterans as you've been
coming up that especially in your area, considering there's so
many from that area that have really kind of helped
out you along the way.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
Uh well, I'll say, like, like I said, my fiance
valm alone, Yeah, we're like we're a couple in the house,
but like when we're at shows, we're not like we're business.
It's like and like she'll tell me, like she'll tell
me a lot, like I've had matches where after the
match is over, she's like you did too much, Like
with tell me like, hey, like I feel like you
could this less was more here, Like I like really
(26:11):
respect her opinion because like not just because she's my fiance,
but like I respect that she's like wrestled for Dragon
get USA, Like she's a aaw like legend. She's like
I mean, she is the Queen of Wisconsin for a reason,
Like she's like number one manager here, So like I
respect her opinion. Dysfunction is a big influence in my career.
(26:33):
He told me from the get go, like when I started, like, hey,
like you're young, first five years, keep your mouth shut,
just do what you're told. And like was telling me,
like did get out there grind anytime there's opportunities, like
you know, like when promoters are like put on Facebook
who to reach out to, Like he would always like
tag me and dock in it. So super appreciative there.
He's actually the guy who named country here. We'll always
(26:55):
give him credit for that. And he's the one that
actually took the first like real chance is a tag
because my second ever match being doc tagged and like
the crowd was really crowd was into and all that
and then just went away and then he put like
he ended up just putting us together and like we
just had that chemist natural chemistry and like it's been
a country ever since. Uh but this and bow alone
(27:16):
and then uh Angel Armani as well, like like they
got another man who trained me, but Armani he's had
a hand in like Austin airis Juice Robinson, uh silas
young guys like that, and like he's all like, uh,
like I always like will help me out with opportunities.
They have a no tryout coming up in Wisconsin and
uh he like right away and he ride away messaged
(27:38):
me and said like make sure you sign up and
always looking out for me, Like yeah, he's one of
those guys who trusts me too, like will give me
like opportunities so I have me like put me in
those situations where I can help someone learn or I
can learn myself, and like he trusted it's going to go.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
Well, that's awesome. It's so good to have like genuine
good people. I mean even in the same house with you.
But let alone have somebody that you can actually reach
to or they will tell you like real ship as
opposed to it was good, you know, like that doesn't
help anybody, like.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
Oh yeah, and like outside of the state, like my
opponent this Saturday, Gary Jay is a big like a
guy who's helped me in Doc out like he saw
us traveling and like he like he definitely like tested
us too, like he has come to Saint Louis anarchy
and he wanted to see like like if we were
guys with egos and not like we helped do the
set up, tear down all that and like since then,
like we were on the show, and like he told us,
(28:28):
like even message us when Doc when injured got injured,
like hey, guys, like we want you as a tag team,
but don't worry when Doc's back. You guys didn't lose
your spots. So like Gary's a good one. Uh, Joey
O'Reilly down at zero one is always him in a
I can't I'm going to forget his name. I feel
like a jerk for saying it. But his tag partner,
they're the low Lives side man. He was I right,
(28:52):
Like you're listening to this, I apologize. He runs Glory Pro.
I gotta look him up. Jordan, Jordan, Jordan, there you go.
Yeah Jordan, Yeah, Jordan, Like always he was a big
advocate for country or like we when we won the
zero one USA tag titles, we weren't even booked, like
we weren't booked for no more dates, like he just
like we were, like he was up, but like we
(29:12):
were getting over and he was trusting us and like
the like the tag who were the champions at the time,
but even like told him like, hey, these are the
guys and like, uh so Jordan, Joey O'Reilly Gary. And
then the last one I'll give the shout out to
is Marsha Rocket. Uh. We traveled a twenty twenty three
over the summer of NWA helping out with shows there
(29:36):
and Marshay was always there mentoring us, telling us what
to do, like letting us know who to talk to,
like making sure like we were always like, uh, we
were always where we needed to be, always made sure
like we were looking good. Uh. So like those are
like vets I like always go to for advice and
vic Capri as well.
Speaker 1 (29:54):
That's awesome. Well, so if people have never seen your
wrestle before, what are three matches, they should go out
of their way to watch three matches?
Speaker 2 (30:01):
Go out your way to watch Uh for a singles match? Uh,
CJ Cole versus Zach Hendricks four twenty Classic. Uh, that
match was special. It was one of those. It was
the night I turned heel but J and I like,
uh we like I we tore it up like I've
It was like we had a match where the crowd
(30:23):
yelled both these guys Hendrix, CJ. Cole, Uh, this is awesome,
holy shit fight forever. And then like at the end
of the match, like we had a standing applause and
like a like the fans were on rematch. So like
that match for sure, I'm trying to think, uh, Countryer
(30:46):
versus the Premiere, any one of those tag matches. I'm
try and find the right one. We have, Like we've
had like so many good matches with the premiere, it's
hard to like we can put out the spot, like
what matches are good of mine? I mean a fun
fatal four way match was if you look up Zach
(31:06):
Hendricks versus CJ. Cole versus Jaden Mercer versus Chucky Bates.
I was really proud of that match. I like we
came up a lot, we like had the structure and
like I was really proud of Like I hate when
it's a fatal four way match and like it feels
like it's two heels against two baby faces. It's more
of a tag team match. So we like made sure
like we like did not do that, and like everyone
(31:28):
was fighting everyone. So I'm a big fan of that match.
And we have a lead up match too where Mercer
and I tagged against CJ and Chucky the night before,
so like I always called it our SmackDown match before
the big pay per view because like we had that
like that standard, like oh, tag team match, and then
the last one I would say to watch, like look
(31:51):
on my YouTube channel just to find the ones so
many I mean, I mean I was like the one
I just posted yesterday Zach Kendricks was Yoanny GQ Janos,
Like all these shows are at ICW. These are probably
more of my recent matches, and like last year, I'm
(32:12):
not like I did like last year, like we were
waiting for my I thought me and Doc thought he
was going to get back a lot sooner than he did.
I did get to travel, but not as much as
I'd like to. But like a lot of my good matches,
a lot of the matches were like I felt like
I got to like let loose and like guys were
listening to the ideas and all that. Like a lot
of them were at ICW, and a lot of them
were like I mean, I've had good matches to at
zero one USA that if you watched the ladder match
(32:34):
we just had, we had like three rookies in that show,
and like they killed it, like Quest Parker, Anthony Lopez,
and no Noah Clover, all three guys first times on
the show. Definitely like felt a little I felt proud
of that match too, just because like I was looking,
I'm like, man, I'm like it's weird to kind of
like when you realize you're more seasoned in that group
(32:54):
and then you're like all right, I'm here to like
help lead the charge. And even like, yeah, I was
say any like I say, like if we watch anim
we love wrestling matches like we love wrestling. Has been
giving me opportunities and been trusting me. I've got to
work Dante Leon. I worked Isaiah Moore and we ended
up in a thirty minute drawl. I got the wrestle
(33:15):
Ariel van Go and this Saturday, I'll get the wrestle
Gary j.
Speaker 1 (33:19):
And things are just yeah, you're having a lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
Oh yeah, Like things are like clicking, and I hopefully
it keeps clicking right.
Speaker 1 (33:28):
Right, Well, I have a second on the show. I
call it the five count. It's just five random questions.
What was your first car?
Speaker 2 (33:35):
My first car was a Ford two thousand and three
Ford Escorre. It was like a white Ford Escort with
like little blue stripes on the side. And within like
the first year, I backed into my dad's truck and
like smashed the bumper.
Speaker 1 (33:52):
That's awesome. It's not awesome, but it's a it's a
fun story. Now. Oh yeah yeah. If you owned a
liquor cup, any brewery, winery, or coffee shop, which one
would you own? And what would the name be.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
So I'm not really a big drinker, even though I'm
in Milwaukee, I'm actually not a drinker, so I have
to go off a coffee shop. And because my fiance
is the coffee drinker, not me, I'm like literally just
soda or like water or like something like that, I
would name it VM's Corner.
Speaker 1 (34:20):
Oh, there you go. Who's your first celebrity.
Speaker 2 (34:23):
Crush, first celebrity crush? I want to say it was
Kim Possible when I was little because I was like
watching a lot of cartoons.
Speaker 1 (34:36):
I mean, I get it. Those guys know what they're doing.
They're drawing these cartoons. Yeah, who are what inspires you?
Speaker 2 (34:45):
Uh? I would say, like my for wrestling, my inspirations
are like my number one's road Dog Jesse James, Like
super charismatic, super outgoing and all that. Like a wrote
when we wrestled I don't know if you know Christian Rose,
but this we did a tag match doc and I
versus Christian Rose and uh Connor Hopkins. And by the
(35:06):
time we were like, I told my favorite wrestler's road
Dog and he was judging me. But by the time
we were done with the matches, like, oh, I see
why you like road Dog. You're a big hype guy,
so like a love road Dog. For tag team moves,
big influences are motorcy machine guns. Like any other tag team,
I think everyone mimixed the motorcy machine gun style. On
(35:26):
top of that, I would say, uh, Red Dragon, Bobby
fish Kyl Riley with that smash mouth hitting, and then
uh the rascals just cause like even though it's probably
not inside joke for him. Uh. There was a little
small thing where I made like my first ever custom gear.
I had these like cool ripped shorts not like Buddy
(35:47):
Murphy but very similar, but biker where they're a little
bit higher and like verb batim. Like a few months later,
like Trey McGill had the exact same like style, just
like same color, the same like layout, everything, but just
a different color. And when he like posted, I put
nice gear and set back at you. And it was
cool because when we were at I was at Warrior Wrestling,
he pointed at me. It's like, hey, here's the guys.
(36:09):
I took the gear from him and like he was
like real cool, but like Trey's like we ran into him.
Desmond Wolf and Zach Once and like those guys have
always like they're never like you can tell they don't
treat anyone above like they're up there, but they don't
act like they're up there. And they were always good
guys and like even talk to me and Doc about like, hey,
even though you're a tag team, like when you go
like you guys, don't be afraid to do singles and
don't be afraid of support, like because like everyone like
(36:32):
has that common misconception when you're a tag team, like
you have to break up. You can't just do singles
like you have to break up where it's like, uh,
they were telling us, like you don't have to break up,
Like you'd be like, hey, do you do your thing,
go get your singles goal and get mine, but uh
have each other's back still.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
Right exactly. Uh. And finally, what would you tell your
seventeen year old self?
Speaker 2 (36:53):
I would tell my seventeen year old self, like, uh,
just stay positive, like uh, don't focus on the negative.
Life's like short, enjoy it like lived it like live
in the moment like uh, and don't like and don't
be afraid to be yourself like I feel like a
lot of people like especially when you're young and you're
a teenager, like you're so like wine to be like
(37:13):
what everyone else is doing and all that, But as
you get older, you realize that doesn't matter. Like if
you came into my house, like we have I have
like the whole Simpsons, Like I have like bookshelves full
of like Simpson action figures on displays. I have like
Krusty dolls hanging up, like, uh, my fiance has all
her wiki about barbies up like this. We're adults, but
like our whole house just has toys everywhere. But that's
(37:35):
who we are. And like we like like uh, you know,
we'll go out there like we go we call Bummitt
or like our Bummitt Days where we go we'll walk
around Target, like we go there like maybe three or
four times a week. But like that's just our thing,
and like, don't be afraid to be who you are
like other people like like and don't judge people too,
like if like everyone likes their own thing, but like
as long as it makes them happy, like it shouldn't matter.
That shouldn't matter because like I feel like when I
(37:56):
was younger, I was still worried about what everyone else
thought of me. And it's like at the end of
the day, Like I'm like I've been I've been living
my life like the last few years just me. I've
been like super happy and like things have been going
my way.
Speaker 1 (38:07):
I love that. Yeah, I think you could tell anybody.
You tell somebody that at any age. Really.
Speaker 2 (38:12):
Oh yeah yeah.
Speaker 1 (38:14):
Now, if people want to find out more about you,
follow you online, see you in person, by your merch
how can we do all the things?
Speaker 2 (38:20):
Oh yeah, social media z Hendricks brand. That's all across
the board. Uh, and like for your mama's favorite tag
team country air checkout Country Official Country brand on the
social media's if you want to find me U. This summer,
I'm gonna be taking limited book games kind of like
a no spoilers, but I mean the Goat should be
returning here soon. And uh, as much as I've been
(38:42):
loving the singles, run like, I want to get back
into the tag division because there's so much that's needs
to be done. I mean, I ain't talking bad about
the tag team division, but since Doc has been injured,
I haven't seen a lot of title changes. I haven't
seen a lot of movement, So like, uh, Doc and
I are ready to come and like get back where
we were, but to find us based out of Milwaukee.
(39:04):
But to be blunt, we'll wrestle anywhere, Like our goal
is to get back where we were before Doc got injured.
Like we were booked in Ohio, Michigan, Iowa, Nebraska, Nevada,
we went out to Cali. We've had like Texas and Florida, Minnesota.
(39:25):
It's like trying and of course I always trying to
find new states. So like I mean where to find me?
Like I always post every like Wednesday. I try to
do it like my two weeks out, so like I
always post out my two weeks like where I'll be
at two weeks out primary promotions you will see me at.
There would be like ICW, WE Love Wrestling, Destination six
(39:46):
zero one USA, and any tag team looking for a
goob Reel Golden any show looking for the Gooburul Golden
richare rounds, y'all show up and like we'll drive anywhere,
so any state, it doesn't matter.
Speaker 1 (39:57):
Like thank you so much as Zach for being on
the show again. If you can find him in your area,
or just go travel and check out a new city
and also check out their local wrestling. So wherever he's
(40:19):
wrestling you want to be and when you're doing that,
make sure to tag us on the social media's and
follow us. That is bruisers Pod. That is b R
E W S E R S p O D on
the Instagram, of the threads and the Twitter. If you
want to send us an email, it is Bruiserspod at
gmail dot com. If you want to follow me directly,
it is Rody John. That is r O d I
E j O N. Roady John is the name on
(40:40):
the Twitter and untapped. In case you want to find
out what I'm drinking, maybe we can have a beer together.
If you want to follow me on the threads or
the Instagram, it is official Order John. So until next time,
make sure to enjoy life, drink local, and cheers.
Speaker 2 (41:02):
Three two one
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