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Besides being a pro wrestler, I delve into my past martial arts training, and we expand into hand-to-hand combat and the tools that may help us protect ourselves in these more than uncertain times.
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12 Gauge Uncut - Jarett Diaz
===
[00:00:00] Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to 12 Gauge Uncut I have here today the closer Jarret Diaz. Say hi Jarret. Hello. Hello, Rocky. Thank you for having me. I hope you can hear me okay all the way up from New York. Thank you again for having me. Happy to be here. No, man, that's awesome. So before we get into this, I'm gonna do a quick, let's take a look at these highlights and let's let some of the guys see some of the skills that you possess here in the ring.
All we're back and my brother, that's an impressive reel right there. Thank you, man. Hey, shout out to the editor who's also me. I, I, I like that one. Actually. I'm getting ready to drop a new one [00:01:00] next month, so I do it every year so that, All of that footage was from the year 20 from 22 and like some of 23.
So it was like my year four or rather 21 and 22, my year four highlights. So I'm coming into year five now, so I'm gonna drop a new one. Okay. Next month, which I'm excited about. So, so you've been in roughly five years at this point? Yeah. I'm, I'm about to wrap up year four in. In the fall, in October. So I'm entering year five.
Hopefully haven't overstayed my welcome just yet. I I, I seem to be at a, in a good place, so, well, yeah. Your, your move set is very diverse as far as I'm impressed that you, when you said five, just five years because who broke you in, who was your how did you start training? Sure. So I, I started at Creative Pro out on Long Island, which to my indication is the best wrestling school in the world.
I, I did a lot of my basic, my fundamental training there. [00:02:00] This was just before, and then just, just directly after playing college football, which I did for a couple years. But I didn't pursue wrestling until I moved down to Florida and went to school at Full Sail University, which has that partnership with W W U, which is why I went there.
And while pursuing that degree, I continued to train. That's when I started doing it full-time. Basically who broke me in is, is Jason Kate, who is, happens to be a, a second cousin of mine, but he's wrestled with Impact. He was contracted with M l W for some time. He's done Revolver, p w g. He's, he's been, you know, all around and he's not currently active, but for a long time he was very active on the Indies.
Okay, awesome. Well tell me this. So, so how big of a guy are you? I am on the books, six feet tall, five 11 to six feet tall, depending on what shoes I'm wearing that day. And I, I currently weigh 186 pounds, so [00:03:00] 186 pounds. Okay? You wouldn't, you wouldn't exactly stop and you know, be in awe at an airport.
But I am currently in the best shape of my life. You're not gonna find a lot of people in independent locker rooms that. Look and are in the shape that I am. You know, when you get to a tv, it's a whole different level. But when it comes to the level of my current competition, I would stack my physicality up against just about anybody.
Absolutely. And I would agree that was one of the reasons I selected you out. 'cause I like to see that someone who spends the time in the indie circuit, it's sad how many people we see that just. You know, throwing set of tots, sometimes you're scarred from seeing those people in sets of tots. So, you know, it, it's tough because I, I can respect it and I can understand it.
Like we're on the independence, which means that we have a regular life. We have families or, or shoot jobs that take that time. We have responsibilities and, and you know, until this is your full-time job, finding the [00:04:00] gym is just another. Sometimes obstacle, but if you can take the time out and there are a lot of guys who do, who take the time out and make sure that they present what they want to present and make sure that they have the look.
Because if they are trying to pursue this, somebody like me who's trying to pursue this full-time and, and make this their full-time career, then you gotta find the time. Or make the time. Absolutely. Very well said. Well What, what initially, tell me about your early inspirations and motivations. What, where did you start as far as what drew you into professional wrestling?
So I had I had two parents that both worked. So I was in the afterschool program and I was in like the fifth grade. And some kid has a A P S P, you know, like the PlayStation Portable playing SmackDown versus raw. And I, this is 2006 I. 2007, somewhere rounding out that time. And I see a [00:05:00] cinematic, like just a video game motion of Shawn Michaels hitting sweet chain music.
And I was like, oh, that's the coolest thing ever. Like, what is that? And that classmate, he goes, oh, it's, it's w w roll. Like you have to, you have to check this out. It's tonight, it's Monday, it's like nine o'clock. I'm like, okay, cool. After some convincing, stay up after. After bedtime 'cause I'm 10 years old.
Stay up a little after the 9:00 PM bedtime. So I turn the TV on, it's like 9 10, 9 15, and we're jumping into match number one. First recollection of watching wrestling live on TV is Jeff Hardy diving off the apron onto MAGA probably hooked me in before we even hit the ground. I was set, I was in.
That's not to say I was the biggest Jeff Hardy fan right away, but it was wrestling. It was, it was the WWE brand and, and I guess that high flying style that really drew me in and, and it's something that I still take with me to this day. Like, I mean, you said I have a diverse move set. I have a diverse skillset, but high flying is always something that's gonna be attractive and and fun to me.
So that was like, [00:06:00] I guess my first memory of diving into like wrestling and fandom and then after that it's, it's, it's falling in love with watching John Cena's stories when I'm a kid or like, you know, hating Randy Orton. It's watching Mr. Kennedy win money in the bank is watching CM Punk win it twice.
Like, it's, it's some of those early moments that like, That era of wrestling between say 2005 to 2011, that sort of forgotten post ruthless aggression, but pre reality sort of era that a lot of people PPO on happened to be the wrestling era that I grew up in. So like, it was the stuff that I found myself falling in love with.
And of course, as I get older, I watch the older stuff. I watch you know, new era. I watch attitude era, golden age stuff even especially with the, with the advent of the network and then peacock. But that was my early. Introduction to wrestling. Okay. Who would you credit give the credit most for? Is all those wrestlers that you mentioned there between Hardy and Sean Michaels and I also, Sean Michaels [00:07:00] is my goat.
So I will have noticed when you, when you did the suit your super kick. That's actually was my, is my finish as well, and that's what they've called me. The 12 gauge before is once you get hit with the 12 gauge, nobody gets up. So so I, I would say, I would say my move set and my inspirations have, they've somewhat evolved over time.
I, I, when somebody asked me like what my style is, I'm like, yo, like if you took Ricochet and Adam Cole and just made them have a love child, it would be me and I. I like to think that way. But in terms of early inspiration, like who, who's the guy that I study? Who's the, the dude that I do most film study of and watch tape.
It's Shawn Michaels because like you said, he is the goat. He's he's my goat. Yeah, absolutely. So did you face any challenges coming in? So you said, so six foot, you're not really that short. So 180 pounds, which is, [00:08:00] I know in wrestling every it. Everybody thinks you need to be 300 pounds. A lot of the promoters and bookers, of course you're, you're up north, so maybe it's a little less.
But in the south here, they, they want you when walk in the door, they're like, I, I weigh at, at my heaviest without putting in a lot of weight, 2 35. And I've been asked so many times like, can you get to 300? And I was like, there's just no way. Not without, that's too, not without special medications, you.
Right. And so no. So my challenges have never really been, here's what I'll say. I was always a small kid. I was lucky enough just to play football at my size, let alone in, in college at, at the time, five 10, coming in as a freshman, 165 pounds. Playing quarterback in college is like, it's unheard of. I was, I was a small guy.
But that's something that I was always comfortable with because I. Trained. I trained, it was something that I knew was gonna be an obstacle, so I made [00:09:00] sure to do everything I could to build enough muscle to protect my bones, right? 'cause number one is like, how do I take the pounding, the, the, the physical demands that football and then wrestling take that they, that they demand from you, but, It's also in the training, it's making sure that I'm explosive, that I'm fast, that I have proper mechanics, proper footwork, and that goes for both wrestling and for football.
Like I was, yeah, coming up in football and being the hardest worker in the room, hardest worker on the team, on every team, because I knew I was one of the smaller guys and those brought difficulties. So in wrestling, I've, I've had promoters look at me and say, Hey, like, can you get up a little bit? And I have, like, when I started wrestling, I was one 70.
Now I'm up to 180 6. That's, to me that's a big deal because my body naturally wants to weigh about 160 pounds. So it's, it's it's a work in progress. It's eating right. It's training right? It's eating often. It's training often. And so far it's been on the climb, but is, it's something that I really sweat too much.
No, [00:10:00] I, I look at guys like Adam Cole, for example, or Ricochet or Finn Ballor, and none of them break 200 pounds, and they're three of the best rushers in the entire world. So Gargano being another one, champ being another one, none of these guys are breaking 200 pounds. At the end of the day. How you look doesn't have to be the biggest thing about you.
It matters, but it's not, it's not breaking any deals in, in this era, at least in, in, in my style. Yeah, and I agree with that and I think, I think Sean was really the opening door for that because until, until his era that there, you really didn't have those people going. I mean, his level and size guys weren't getting championship bounce past inter continental.
You, you may, you know, mid cards, maybe you look at Sean and you look at X Pac and, and even, you know, Jeff and Matt Hardy to some degree, like not the biggest guys, but if you show that you have the talent, the ability, the charisma, you can [00:11:00] break barriers. Okay. So, so you mentioned that you already had someone in the family was in the business beforehand.
So how was your transition into, because I. It's a little bit different going, coming into every locker room, you know, in wrestling it's a different locker room. So we you know, we've all, and I'm sure you've been through the same things, we still have the tradition of everybody shaking everybody's hands we come through.
But did you, is it still a tradition there? Do you, is the new guy, you being green, did you get ribbed a lot? You know, I, I, I was lucky that Jason, I. Sort of took me under his wing early. What's interesting about that is that he's a cousin of a cousin, so I didn't even meet him at all until I was getting ready to move to Florida and pursue this full time.
So when I first got into training, I was just like anybody else. I didn't even know that this guy existed. I had never met him before. I didn't know that he was a wrestler before, like it was only, I [00:12:00] was 22 when I met the guy. I had started training at 1819, like at least part-time. So, I was lucky to have him and he, he, you know, took me under his wing real quick and basically gave me the ropes of, you know, you shake hands, you introduce yourself, you stay outta people's way when you can, especially when you're new and when you're green, you help the ring, you help break down the ring.
All of the, basically all the, the rules and regulations of breaking into the business, right? Who to me, who not to talk to as well. That was a big one with him, but, Did I get ribbed a lot? Not so much. A little bit. I wanna say I got ribbed a little bit or like, you know, maybe given a little extra Griff rough.
Especially because of, you know, having a cousin who like, sort of knew everybody was, was in the scene, had friends in high places. So like, I got maybe a little bit of a hard time, but it also opened the door for opportunities that maybe I wasn't able to. You know, get, if I, if I wasn't related to who I was, related to, like I was hanging out with Rich Swan and Matt Riddle at their [00:13:00] apartment, plane two K, I was in the gym with like a Sedric Alexander or a Simon go, like, sort of breaking in at double speed is what I'll say.
Awesome. That's, that's impressive. It's a good group of guys to be. I just Monday night watched Riddle out there again. So that, that he is one of those people that I think him and Cesaro are, nobody really realizes how strong those guys are. They don't look that that big, but when they, they can wanna move.
I'm talking to people. I think pound for pound Ro Claudio might be one of the strongest wrestlers in the, in the history of the business. Riddle, I think Matt riddle's a perfect example of like somebody coming from the outside world of, of M M A and transitioning seamlessly. The guy's only been on RAW for a couple years, but he's been doing this for a long [00:14:00] time.
You know, cracking into like, evolve in 20 16, 20 15. He's been wrestling for a long time and, and at a high level for a long time. Yes. Yeah. And I can understand the transition. I was when I was come up, I was a ju kdo trained fighter, so I went from martial arts to learn wrestling. And so it, it was, and it was a lot harder transition than I thought it would be.
So I'm sorry. The idea of now I'm gonna fight this man for real, using these very specific techniques and all of a sudden you're stepping back and, and it's something else entirely correct. Yeah. So as far as your early, have, have you always been a high flyer from the very beginning? Did you know that's exactly the star that you just kind of, you got into the ring and the adrenaline flowed and.
Before you knew that you were just, you were doing your dives or did you work into that? So [00:15:00] my, my wrestling experience leading up was technical, just like anybody else's. Like you have to learn how to do the most fundamental, most basic, your chain wrestling, your holds, your, your technique. First time I had a proper singles match in front of a crowd, though was with Jason Cade, and he was far too talented to be working with my green ass.
So I had three, I had three things that I knew I could do and do well. One of 'em was a snap power slam. One was a drop kick, and the other was a, a butterfly suplex. I knew three moves that I could. Execute very cleanly, and that was not enough because we had a 13 minute match and it was a very like indie style P w G thing.
Even for a beginner like I. The one thing that I knew I could do was be an athlete. So when he was like, all right, like, here's a move here, here's a, an opening for a dive spot. 'cause he was calling half of my stuff. 'cause I didn't have moves, I didn't have a [00:16:00] move set. I didn't have a, have a character. I, the only gear I had was hand me down from him.
I was not ready to be in like a position of wrestling him, to be wrestling him. But I just, just went forward and he was willing to take me. He says, Hey, this is a position for a dive. Do you wanna do a dive? I'm like, of course, I wanna do a dive. So I, I whipped out that move that I now do almost every night, which is that big flip topic on Hilo over the top.
And I, I've always had the hops because I trained at it because of, like I said, being explosive. Being an undersized guy, I knew I could do the dive, so I just went for it and I wasn't afraid. And, and. That sort of took on a life of its own. When it comes to my style, it's just not being afraid. It's, as you saw in the clips earlier, like I did a moon, saw off a ladder all the way out onto the floor.
I will do a dive off. Basically anything. It's a matter of not being afraid. Yeah, and I respect that. There's absolutely no way you're getting my big ass to jump off the top of the ladder on anybody. Ah, it's not for everybody. It's not. I would recommend it. I wouldn't [00:17:00] recommend it to people. It is not the wisest thing that I do.
But like I told earlier, my first recollection of watching wrestling is Jeff Hardy. So who am I to say, oh, yeah, I'm not gonna do that. No, I'm, I'm gonna do it. Yeah. No, I respect it. I mean, and then the fact that you can do it with no fear, that's, and that, that's really it. 'cause I, I know and I saw in training, and no matter what you do in wrestling, hesitation is what'll get you hurt.
Absolutely. And so well, can I tell me about a little bit about your, your upbringing from what kind of home life did you have from I'd probably say, let's talk about the, I guess the school years, the, the three and four year olds going up. I mean, were you it's 'cause you, you were in New York.
New York, right? Is that where you were raised at that point? Yes. Yes sir. Born and raised in the Bronx. Born, raised in the Bronx. So I know, I like, I love the leakers back there behind you there, so [00:18:00] yeah. I love this thing, so Sure. Let's talk about the upbringing. I, like I said, I was born in the Bronx back in 96.
My dad was a police officer, N Y P D, highly decorated detective in homicide, narcotics, and other, other divisions as well. He also played football for 20 years with the police department. He is a, a football hall of famer in the minor leagues hall of Famer with the N Y P D. Very decorated in his field.
My mom Came to Puerto Rico at 18. My dad was born here. My mom came, came to Puerto Rico. Came from Puerto Rico at 18, and they met, yada, yada, yada. Had my sister and I, I'm the second of them. I have an older brother as well from my dad's first marriage. So there's three of us. Grew up, it was a, it was a, the football house.
You know, we watch football every Saturday, every Sunday. Jets fan, huge Jets, fans. Myself and my family, not my dad. He. Picks around, but I'm a big jazz fan. Growing in New York is interesting. Growing up in New York is interesting. You know, you don't really have like backyard life. [00:19:00] You don't really have like not very naturey people, right.
Grow up in the cities. But I grew up playing like sewer to sewer football. Like you grab whatever neighborhood kids you have and you just set up a football game in the street and when there's a car passing by, you move out the way. 'cause they will hit you if they.
Moved around a bit, but you know, mostly in New York. Very rarely would we leave the Bronx until around middle school. I, I went up in Westchester, which is like a, a county just north of the Bronx. Very different from where I grew up. Like I was one of the only Hispanic kids, one of the only Puerto Rican kids in the town.
So that was a different environment as well. Trying to fit in in the area. I didn't really look like everybody else, but. It took some courage, it took some time and patience, and you find your way through it. Just like any, anybody in any, you know, wrestling locker room, for example, you're, you're meeting people from all different walks of life.
You're meeting people that, that are different from you. And that's something [00:20:00] that I've taken into my real life is like you find different. Groups and you just work your way into 'em and, and make friends, meet people and, and get along as best you can. I found myself fighting a little bit, which I didn't love.
So I moved again. And around this time I was starting to get recruited for high school in high school to play football in college. So I was traveling a lot. This helped me get rest ready for wrestling too, was like, Traveling every weekend, competing all around the country. I played quarterback since I was seven years old, so by the time I got to high school, I knew I was gonna play in college, and I was in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Mississippi Louisiana, Florida.
Indiana, Ohio. Basically traveling to different colleges and, and different camps. Working with different private coaches and just trying to perfect the craft as best I could. 'cause like I said, I knew I was playing college, but the scene, the football scene in New York is nothing like the [00:21:00] south. It's, it's a joke.
We don't really take it that seriously up here. It's very much a basketball place, but I wanted to play in college, so I wanted to make sure that I was. Trying to get seen as best I could. I wanted to compete with the best guys that I could compete with, and that helped a lot when it came to learning how to travel, learning how to improve, watch, film, all of that for wrestling.
I get to college out in Indiana. I play for a little while, and then I move back home eventually when I go out to Florida to pursue wrestling. But I didn't, I could've did that anywhere, but I chose Florida because, I went to Full Sail University to, to get a degree in sports Broadcasting. Now, full sail, if it sounds familiar, it's 'cause they hosted the N X T for years.
Mm-hmm. And I wanted to get my degree, but I also knew I was getting into wrestling when I got there. So I wanted to work with wwe b and I basically spoken into existence. 'cause when I got there I met with my student advisor and the program director for sports broadcast. And I said, Hey, there's this.
Relationship built in with wwe. E [00:22:00] NXT is hosted here at the school. How do I get in the performance center? What do I have to do as a student to form a relationship with wwe e? And after a couple months of asking and asking a, an internship was finally developed where I got to Work in the Performance center as a broadcasting intern.
So I was working with Tom Phillips, who now is Hannafin at Impact and Byron Saxton and Caleb Braxton and Alicia Taylor and and Johnny Lato as well. And like, be in the PC two to three times a week working with the talent I was learning. Ring announcing color commentary play by play. Panel analysis I was doing Live event HO hosting all of those like non wrestling talent jobs at the pc.
So here I am starting my wrestling journey in Ring at various sch and also at the performance center working with Ray Ripley who, and, and Cassius [00:23:00] Ono and Casey Zaro, Daniel Vido, Strickland 2.0. All of the. All of the guys that you see now on tv, whether it be on A or N or or WWE money or SmackDown, A lot of them that I was working with were very hands-on with us working with broadcast interns.
So that was something, like I said, I, I broke in at double speed. That was part of it. I was getting his wrestling education, traveling to coconut loop shows and sitting backstage right next to Tom Phillips as he feeds lines to Morrow and Beth and Nigel. I'm fully ingratiated in the NX C system all while going to wrestling school.
So that helped my development tenfold. Dude, that's awesome. That was a lot. A lot. No, that was, that was fantastic. I enjoyed every piece of that. So it makes my job easier if you guys can talk and I don't have to. So, and you're very Well, if there's [00:24:00] one thing I could, if there's one thing I could always do is talk Yes.
And, and you do. You're, you're very well spoken and you, you're showing that, that skill very well. So man, I have to, I have to dig into your stuff 'cause I've got a feeling you can cut some mean promos at this point too. I do. I, I I got a little mean streak here and there, but I just love to talk.
It's something that I went to college for it, I went to school, to broadcast and to talk and, and that's something that has always been a valuable asset in my life. Yeah, so, dude, that's awesome. There's so much there that you gave us for us. You, you brought up Rheia Ripley and I mean, she's on fire right now.
I mean, one of the best, one of the best in the world. Her promo, her character, her matches. She is, she's unlike almost any other woman we're seeing on TV right now. She's also just got engaged, shout out her and, and buddy. She is a, a friend. She's somebody that, anytime I see her, I'm able to pick [00:25:00] her brain and, and she's wonderful.
And just one of the hardest workers. One of the hardest workers that I come, would come across at the pc. She was putting countless hours in there. Okay. Well, while you were at the performance center, did you get to spend any time with Sean? I met him once. I met Sean Michaels at what we called N X T Live, which is like, or sorry, PC Live, which is the performance center is basically in.
Interior show. On the last day of our internship, we put on a full PC live show with the, with the other, with the other interns. I was doing color commentary for the show. I called matches with like Raro Mendoza, I can't remember his name. His name changed since he moved up with Legato. But de La Cruz Toro de Toro de la Cruz Cruz del Toro, Cruz del Toro.
He was on the show. Rich Holland was on the show. Austin Theory was on the show. Daniel Vade was on the show. Like all the guys that are on N X T or on Level Up or I'm [00:26:00] even Raw or SmackDown, like they all came from the pc, like I said. So I was doing show, I was doing commentary on the show, but. Sean was there because it was a PC show, so everybody was on hand, bloom was on hand, and, and Norman Smiley, coach Smiley was on hand.
I got a very brief, brief chance to talk to Sean where I basically just told him like, Hey, you are the first thing I ever saw in wrestling, and here I am now. I think that's pretty cool. And he said to me, that is pretty cool. I'm happy to have you, and that's good enough for me. Yeah, absolutely. Well, I mean, that's cool.
I just to have a chance to talk to him would've been awesome. 'cause I just, you know, of course I know he's overwhelmed with so many of the, the same people that sit there and look to him as that hero growing up. So good on you for getting to meet him. And dude, it's, it's awesome to hear that thing.
What, what I do have to get you promised is when. When you finally make it, and I, and I'm gonna call my shot right now, I fully believe you're gonna be in WWE programming in the future and probably the near future.[00:27:00] The skills that I saw, that, that video and just your, your natural talent, your charisma that you display Man, that's a package.
It's hard to put all that together and it doesn't come for everybody. So a lot of people, you know, kill themselves to get what little bits you have already naturally there. So, and I love the fact that you worked so hard for it still. So that's you know, kudos that's really kind of you. That's the dream.
I mean, look, we all, we all fall in love with this business at some point, and we all fall in love with what we're watching. And I, I've, I've worked at WWE as a broadcast engineer. I've worked extra work with a w and, and I've been in these locker rooms. I've been in these places, and I, I just, I marvel at them, but I also realize like, I can be there too.
And it just takes the right opportunity, the right work and the most work that you can put in. That's, that's how I feel. Yeah. Awesome. Yeah. At this [00:28:00] point, since I'm kind of coming out of the ring, I, I look at like in Marvel at like Paul Hamman, the, the brains behind that. And, you know, I'm trying to position myself in into the Indies where I can spot those guys with the talent and stuff like that and kind of help them push along.
And that's why when I spotted you, I just had that good feeling when I looked at the thing, I was like, I'm reaching out to him, I wanna talk to him. 'cause I feel like he's going somewhere. So that, that's gonna be awesome. 'cause I wanna you know, I wanna, you know, in time I'd love to have have you back and kind of, you know, you know, a year later and then two years later to see how things go for you.
'cause I got a feeling there's gonna be some big stories there. But I hope tell I'll be happy. Get me back here anytime. I'm happy to talk to you. Awesome, awesome. Well, tell me this as far as what do you use as your finisher? I use, I use a crossroads I call it the Cross Bronx. It is a devastatingly traffic folded highway here in the Bronx.
And [00:29:00] so I'd like to think that it is just as painful to take the move as it's to sit in that traffic. So I use, I use my version of, of the Crossroads, the Cross Bronx. How did you develop it? Was it like day one or is this something that you played around with some other things? This is the one that I wanted.
I first, the first fish, first finish I used was a, a cutter from the middle rope. And I literally just, I started using it 'cause I started using it in the video game before I even started wrestling. I was using it for a couple years in the video game, but I realized that I wasn't, how do I put this?
There weren't a lot of fun ways that I could think of at the time to set it up. This was also, you know, maybe a year into wrestling where I just wasn't as creative and I, I didn't have as much experience in, in Ring IQ as I, as I do now. But I started using the Cross Bronx, the Crossroads because when I was coming up bef, like just before I moved to Florida, I wanna say [00:30:00] a year before I moved to Florida.
I had already had some training, not enough to start having matches or anything like that, but I saw that Cody was running a seminar while he was still Ring of Honor champion at AR Fox's school. WWA four down in, down in Georgia. Mm-hmm. And my stepmother, my stepmother I was still flying. She's a flight attendant, so my stepmom I was still flying under her benefits where I was flying for free standby.
And so I thought to myself, I'm like, listen. This seminar is $25, which is unheard of especially for a guy like Cody Rose, who's Ring of Mind champion, hottest thing on the Indies at the time, by far. And had yet to even idealize. I d i a e W at the time. So I take the trip, I'd go down to Florida, I'd go down to Georgia.
I work with Cody. And I referee the matches that he was gonna be giving feedback on for the people who were more experienced. And at that were Alex Kane, who's m l w, world [00:31:00] Champion, Danny Jordan. Austin Theory, like some really talented guys were there and were just before me on that I guess on that chain of wrestling, so, mm-hmm.
I met Cody. I had a, a really cool conversation with him there and with Brandy as well. They're lovely people. Fast forward about three years and I'm at a e w for my first extra spot. I don't end up getting booked, but I'm there for an extra spot. And I don't know how much you've heard about or if you've been backstage with a, but it's very at least at the DA's Place era, 'cause this is just coming out of Covid, it was very loose.
Like you don't have to report to any single room, you're just kind of. Backstage or you're being used for what they need you for. So I come across Cody talking to one of the production team a woman on the production team. And as that conversation ends, I start walking over and I say, Hey Cody, I don't know if you remember me.
And he stops me and he goes, Jared, from the seminar Atlanta. [00:32:00] And I, I, I lose my, I lose my head because it's like, I haven't seen this guy. I haven't seen this guy in three years. This is the busiest man in wrestling today. He was still e v Ping, he was backstage agency and he was a full-time wrestler with a w busiest man in wrestling probably.
And I met him maybe once or twice. So how does he remember me? But he did, and that just blew me away. So much to the point where now I'm, I'm just one of the most, I'm probably the biggest Cody admirer. Who isn't on an AW roster because it just, it meant a lot to me. And I met him a couple times after that and we would always chat and, and he was just really gracious, very generous with knowledge and very cool.
So until I make it to WWE and have to change my finisher, that's gonna be something that I, that I use going forward. Yeah. Well that's awesome. And I, I love the fact that you had such good relationships and. Like that because [00:33:00] you know, as well as I do, there's, there's the great side of this business relationships, and there's the people that would just, there's knives always behind your back at the same time in this business.
So Absolutely. It's, it's, it's, it's interesting because, you know, I'm, I'm a few years in and I'm still very positive about it. I still have a, a great attitude about wrestling because I've had very few experiences that are really negative, and I'm lucky for that. I understand that. Like, that's not everybody's experience.
Yeah. It helps that. I don't go into any locker room with any intention other than just to work well with people, make a friend or two, and just have a great night. That's what I want. That's what I want in wrestling. Like I'm out here competing. I'm trying to be the best version of myself, but I don't look at anybody as like, oh, I wanna take their spot, or, oh, they're coming for my spot.
I don't think about it like that. Maybe I should someday, but right now, that's not where I'm at. And. It helps me have really good experiences, really good relationships and wrestling and, and I just want more of that going forward. Yeah, no, I would encourage you keep that.[00:34:00] It seems like it's, it's treated you well so far, so if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Absolutely. Well I guess we're as we're starting to kind of wrap up here, tell me this, if you were talking to 'cause we've got a, a lot of My buddies on here that are still training or they're still waiting for their first batches. If you were giving someone advice right now, if you were sitting them down and talking them to get to where you are, tell me exactly coach, you know, coach the camera right now on how you would get to where you were at.
If you are already training, I'm assuming you've already found a place that you feel comfortable enough to train and improve and, and hone your craft and really find out who you are as a wrestler, that's gonna be assumed for, for this piece of advice. My, one of the things that have take, that has taken me far in this is finding like-minded people.
So when you're at your wrestling school and you feel like you're, [00:35:00] there's a couple people that you're, you know, getting along with and you want to, you know, maybe work with them more often than others, hold that, keep that and, and as best you can, don't let go of it. Quick story. Two of my best friends in the world, my two best friends in wrestling.
Are Richard King and Jay Sky. There, there are two boys down in Florida who have been able to travel a bunch. When I first broke in, and that was at wrestling school. The two of them were tagging full-time and they decided that they wanted a third to come to a show with with them to Georgia. And I volunteered because we got along.
We spent. A seven hour car ride, laughing and talking and sharing stories, and just bouncing ideas off each other. Fast forward almost five years later, they are two of the closest people in my life. We talk almost every day. Why? Because we are like-minded people who share that desire. [00:36:00] To get where we want to go, but also because there is a, a phrase in my life that I, that I came across once and I came across it a lot since.
It's, if you wanna go fast, go alone. If you wanna go far, go together, there's strength in numbers. There will always be strength in numbers. And if you can find people who want to be where you are, and they're willing to do it the right way too, hold them as tightly as you can. Absolutely that dude. That's awesome.
Love it. So wow. That was, you took me off. That was a good, that's a good one. Now it kind of took me out of the, the space there. Well I want to thank you a little bit, wrestling. Hey, thank you. I, I appreciate, I appreciate you having me. This was a lot of fun, rock. So, and, and we will do it again. I will be reaching out to you again.
This has been fun and So do, do me a favor. Keep me up to date though. Put, add me on, add me on your Facebook friends. And so, you know, something happens. [00:37:00] Hook me up and let me know what's going on. If you come up, I'm in, I'm in Georgia, so if you do, you wind up coming to Georgia sometime, let me know.
We'll meet up and I find myself on south from time to time. I, I got a, got a couple of, couple of Southern boys that I could hit up for a, for a ride or, or booking or anything. I'll be sure to let you know. Yeah, absolutely. We need to get you on and you'll see, I don't know if you have you Scrilla the Great, have you ever met Scrilla?
Heard of him? I don't think I've met him, but I do believe I've heard of him. Yeah. So Skrilla is the most decorated champion in Georgia, in the Indie. So he actually, his podcast will I with me, will air tomorrow and then yours will follow next week. So so if you wanna kind of get a little idea, see what Rill is Y'all two will probably run into each other one time.
'cause y'all think your, your roads are both heading toward the same place right now. And Skrill's a great guy and also somebody you'd love to meet, I think. I hope that happens. So, so well do me one favor. And I, I know this is something you, you'll [00:38:00] be able to, so you said Erica is your opponent in a month from now?
Eric Damia. Yeah, she and I are going toe to toe at Limelight 20 for cz W Combat Zone, which is a promotion that I hold very closely, is one of the places I always wanted to work, and now it's a place that I am a mainstay main event player, so I'm really happy about that. I'm looking forward to the matchup with Eric Academia.
I just hope she can keep up. All right. Cut. Gimme a promo against her. Tell her what she's expecting to come against. Well, Rocky, I'm not sure how familiar you are with the story, but at the moment I am I'm buttoning heads with the one Zeta Steel now Erica, Damien made her c c w last week, her debut last week against one Zeta Steel where she lost a very respectable, very honorable match.
And I assaulted Zeta repeatedly with super kicks afterwards. I think Erica took some slight to that. I don't think she liked the way I handled post match events. So she wants. If she wants to defend her new friend, that's fine. Here's the thing, [00:39:00] Erica, you are wet behind the ears. Breasts still smell a like similac and I I am double speed in this bitch.
So if you think you can get into the ring with me and walk out unscathed, you are terribly mistaken. I am the closer, I'm the best wrestler in C C W. And if you think that you have a chance, you don't, but sure do your best come out. Anyway. It'll be fun for me. Awesome. Awesome. All right guys, for Jarret Diaz and Rocky Shaw, the 12 gauge.
Until next time, beware of the 12 gauge.