Joe Rules

1. How long have you been a professional wrestler? Where were you trained?

On November the 5th, it will be 10 years. I was trained by J.T. Smith at the ECW Wrestling School in Philadelphia. Some of my classmates included The "Celebrity" Chris Krueger, The "Tall Cool One" Jake Lawless, and James Proper. Dino Sendoff (now known as Cujo) and The Blue Meanie would also come down often, and were very helpful with our training. J.T. was a great teacher, and if it were not for him, I would never have gotten as far as I have in professional wrestling.

In April of 2001, I had the pleasure of training with the legendary Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat at a two-day camp hosted by Maryland Championship Wrestling. There is literally nothing this man doesn't know about how to have a good match.

2. What promotions have you worked for? Which stand out as your favorites? Any least favorites?

I've wrestled for too many different organizations to give a complete list. Pennsylvania Championship Wrestling was definitely one of my favorites. That was the most high-profile promotion I worked for on a regular basis. I was there for about three years. There was always a good crowd, and it would be hard to ask for a better group of guys in the locker room. Honorable mentions go to the United Wrestling Coalition and especially the Great Wrestling Federation. I look forward to all GWF shows, because I am guaranteed to have fun, and that's the only promotion I can say that about. But of course I'd have to say my all-time favorite place to work is the JWA Wrestling Alliance and United Wrestling Federation. Hey, you're in trouble if your own promotion isn't your favorite!

Least favorite? I used to work for an organization that had a good roster of workers, but the "promoter" was a complete and total megalomaniac who pushed himself to the exclusion of all others and to the detriment of the promotion. I'm not going to feed his ego by mentioning who he is. But he's so vain, he probably thinks this answer's about him.

3. What made you decide to start your own promotion? When did you start it and where are you based out of?

The reason I started the JWA was due to my complete lack of satisfaction with the wrestling product that was being offered--from the WWE (still WWF at the time) right on down to the lowliest independent. I wanted to put on shows that I would actually enjoy, thus the JWA was born.

The first JWA event took place on June 2, 2001 in Guilford, Connecticut. It was The Quest For The Best Tournament to crown the first World Champion. The Hot Rocker won, I might add, without actually wrestling a single bout. And he's still the champion today. We run in New Jersey more often than Connecticut these days. The JWA has since joined up with Rick Silver's United Wrestling Federation. There is a JWA World Champion (Hot Rocker) and a UWF Champion (Zieg), but we have just one Women's World Champion (Ariel) and one set of World Tag Team Champions (Grand Master B & The Great Cerenzio.)

4. What do you think of the current state of indy wrestling? Is the oversaturation of promotions in places like NJ hurting the business?

I don't really follow the indys too much anymore, because, well--I just don't care. I'm not really worried about the number of promotions out there, because none of them are promoting the same style as the JWA. And if there is, I'd love to hear about it and check them out. It's apples and oranges. Fans who like our product will come and see us, and those who don't have a very large selection of other shows they can choose from.

5. What do you think is more important, putting on a great but poorly attended card or putting on a crappy show that is well attended?

What's important is making money. And you do that by always putting on the best show possible to build your audience. Put on a lousy show, and no one's going to come back.

6. During your wrestling career, who have been some of your favorite people to step into the ring with or against?

I've always enjoyed working with Rick Silver, The "Maniacal" Hubie Volk, Chris Krueger, "Lightning" Mike Quackenbush, Susanna, "Live Wire" Dave Desire, Rudo The Heel, and Bill Ding. The Soul Brothers were always fun to work with, too, whether I was teaming with Chris Krueger or Rick Silver.

I usually have Patricia M. Steinman and/or Luxurious Lynne as my manager, and they are both a joy to work with.

I've also done some managing myself from time to time, and it was always a blast to be in Mr. Ooh La La's corner in PCW. What a great entertainer!

And I want to make special mention of Foxxy Dreams. A few years ago I wrestled Tiger Mulligan in the UWF, with the stipulation being that if I won, I got five minutes in the ring with Foxy. Although the match with Foxy probably lasted less than two minutes, no one before or since has ever made me look so good.

7. What has been the highlight of your career thus far? What has been your most embarrassing moment?

Defeating Rick Silver at a show in my old high school in a few years back was a highlight, and it's still one of my favorite matches. Steve Corino was the guest ring announcer for that bout, I might add. In 1997, I was ranked #500 in the annual Pro Wrestling Illustrated Top 500 Wrestlers list. Another highlight was appearing on The Jerry Springer Show with Kristy Kiss.

Most embarrassing moment? Losing the Hair vs. Hair Match to Rick Silver and getting my head shaved in the ring at SummerBash was pretty embarrassing.

8. What do you enjoy the most and the least about being in professional wrestling?

I've made some good friends and worked with some big names. But I don't like what professional wrestling has turned into over the last 10 years. Hardcore and high-flying without any compelling storyline or emotional connection is just a waste of time for me. The huge size and sheer number of egos in the business today is also something of a minus.

9. If you had unlimited resources and could book your dream card who would be on it?

With unlimited resources, the first thing I would do is drag Chris Krueger kicking and screaming out of retirement. I'd continue using the majority of wrestlers already on the roster, and bring in lots of big names from the past, guys like Mr. Bob Backlund, Hacksaw Duggan, Dusty Rhodes, and the like. And I'd book "Macho Man" Randy Savage and have Luxurious Lynne as his manager.

10. Where do you see yourself, and JWA Wrestling, in 5 years?

I don't know where I see myself in five hours, let alone five years! But I'll probably be wrestling a lot less and working behind the scenes a lot more. And maybe do a little managing again. I wouldn't mind managing someone like "Textbook" Philly Madison or James Proper. As for the JWA, it'll still be around and hopefully going strong. Check us out on the Web at http://www.jwawrestling.com and find out what we're all about. And buy some videos while you're there, the SummerBash tapes were just released!

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