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Hello fellow wrestling fans I'm Anthony Lora and welcome to this edition
of "Spotlight". The only column designed to showcase Indy wrestlers
as A- list Hollywood Actors!
My guest at this time is "De" James Brown of ECPW, "De"
hardest working Light-Heavyweight Champion in ECPW: DAN DE MAN!
To be "De" man, you got to... have been inspired by the man...
1) Being that Pro Wrestling is perhaps the most difficult business
to break in to, who or what made you decide to pursue it?
I've always wanted to be a pro wrestler since I was six years old. I grew
up watching NWA,AWA,UWF,WCCW and WWF now WWE. Ric Flair was my favorite
wrestler not cause he was a great wrestler which he is. It's cause he
talked a lot of smack and dressed well. When I saw Flair come out on Georgia
Championship Wrestling with a tailor made suit, I knew I had to be a wrestler.
So I searched for years to find a school to train. I found ECPW and this
is where I would train and make my home.
Now... We go to school... woooo!
2) I know that you trained at Gino's ECPW (East Coast Professional
Wrestling) school in Lake Hiawatha, NJ describe a typical training session
over at "Camp Gutt-check-time."
It was a lil tough at the beggining but since i had a amatuer wrestling
background and I wanted to prove to all the experienced wrestlers that
i can be just as tough as them . The training is more about learing the
basics , cardio in the ring and learning psychology.
"De" attitude of gratitude...
3) Who can you attribute your in-ring work to?
Oh theres alot of guys that helped me and i'll name them Gino Caruso,
Kodiak Bear, Johnny Thundar,Red Hot Russ,Crazy Ivan (even though were
trying to kill each other now) Nunzio,Jimmy Powers,Chris Callahan the
only guy to show me other indy feds and introduce me to alot of other
workers. Thanks Chris. There are so many other guys I learned alot from
and i thanked them all for the knowledge.
Hooked on Monday night wars, worked for me!...
4) I know that you have a degree in Communications, which evidently
landed you a position in the Tv-production field, tell us a little about
that and how it has affected your wrestling career?
When I was working for a certain cable company I used to watch both Raw
and Nitro at the same time. I already started working on my character
by watching so much wrestling that I knew that my character would make
an impact one way or another.
Sex, Politics, and... Wrestling
5) What are your thoughts about the current product out there that
many label as "Wrestling?" (don't hold yourself hostage, be
as out-spoken as you want about this topic)
Wrestling now is too much bull ish. Don't get me wrong, I love to wrestle.
But mostly these days if you don't wrestle for certain feds then nobody
wants you. If you don't cater to the internet marks, then you're a nobody
lol . I don't wrestle for that many feds now (i'm saving money to purchase
a home) but wrestling is turning into like strip clubs except that wrestling
has alot more bitches now.
Can't we all just get... Booked?
6) Would you say ethnic wrestlers are being given the recognition they
deserve, or is that aspect of the business still clouded? ( voice your
opinion freely!)
Well let me say when I started looking for a place to train I was told
by a wrestler :"Oh, you're black you won't get booked much or you
too small and your black we don't know. I've been wrestling for a long
time and I know certain bookers don't want to book too many black guys
. and if they do there not good or they make them do some stereotype like
gimmick which is bull ish!!!! think about it how many black guys you know
on the indies that get book I can count on one hand. I'm not playing the
race card, but I believe most promoters and workers don't like booking
that many black guys . I guess they think that most guys will get outshined
by a black guy. Oh, I also forgot, if you're a black guy with a body they
will book you faster. If people read this and I know they will I would
love for anybody to prove me wrong and I don't mean lets book this black
guy so he job to everyone crap. But yes, ethnic wrestlers don't get that
much recognition.
Eat, drink, and... Stay wrestling!
7) What are your future ambitions both professionally and personally?
Professionally, is to keep wrestling and having fun and try to wrestle
for other promotions. Personally- just get my home and start my own business
and maybe even start my own fed one day.
Just want to say thanks for the interview
You are very welcome, and fans that does it for another edition of "Spotlight
7". Anyone out there interested in booking Dan De Man may contact
him at: Icondanman@hotmail.com
( he comes equipped with 2 cool merchandise T-shirts that fans can enjoy:"De
Man, De Legend" and "Who's DA Champ"?)
-------
The opinions above are those of Anthony Lora and do NOT necessarily reflect
the opinion of Brett Schwan or any other member of the Clothesline Crew.
To contact Mr. Lora email : AnthonyLora7@yahoo.com
