by Gerry Strauss
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Gerry Strauss here, back with another edition of my personal contribution to playing out the art of shoot interviews, "Seven Deadly Questions"... You know, if Tazz read my columns lately, he might call me a produce man, because I am all about the tomatoes... ok, bad joke, but I HAVE been doing a lot of women lately... INTERVIEWING them, I mean, get your mind out of the gutter... my latest subject is Alura, a manager and wrestler for several promotions in the NJ area, and a young woman who has been pretty impressive in her short time in the business...check it out, and do me a favor, drop me a line at gerrystrauss@aol.com, even if you dont have any comments, just to let me know you are out there...enough with my cry for help, on to the interview...
1) You are not the first, nor will you be the last, but you are one of
many women in the wrestling business who, somehow or another, became part
of a
tandem with a male counterpart. In your case, that would be Johnny Thundar,
who reportedly had a hand in breaking you into the business, and then
became your regular in-ring partner. People seem to be really curious
as to how your relationship came about, how far it went, and what happened
to it, past, present and future. How did it develop, and what happened
to it?
Johnny was my neighbor and then we became very good friends. He introduced me to the wrestling business when he realized I needed more direction in my life. I began training with him at Gino Caruso's ECPW Wrestling School in Lake Hiawatha, NJ. As my training went along I began getting bookings with him and he allowed me to shine in a way most wrestlers would not allow their "valet's" to do. Promoters began to recognize me for my in ring abilities and it took off from there. As far as relationships go we were best friends. As you know relationships change and evolve over time as has ours. While we are not as close as we once were I will always respect and admire Johnny for what he did for me.
2) Do you think your affiliation with Johnny Thundar helped or hurt your career thus far? Why?
I feel that it helped my career because without him I would have no career.
He taught me how to behave in a professional manner in the wrestling
business and in life in general. I was 17 when I started this and now
I am 18 going on 25. He definitely helped me to grow.
3) Regarding your in-ring work, have you often dealt with "workers",
male or female, who have undergone subpar, if any training, and if so,
have you
ever felt like you were risking injury just being in the ring with them?
What's your worst experience dealing with that?
I feel as though I am not in a position to look down on anyone as I am still green. Yes there have been wrestlers who I have worked with that seemed as though they needed additional training. But who doesn't? I don't think I have a "worst experience" to speak of in that regard.
4) Connections are everything in this business. Getting hooked up with
bookings and establishing relationships and opportunities within the biz
is often the result of favors from peers. Do you find that workers or
promoters are quick to offer to help you out, and if so, how much of it
is because you are
a peer, and how much of it is simply because you are a good looking female
that may or may not be available?
You never know why anyone does what they do in this business but you
take it with a grain of salt and use your better judgment. You can't put
yourself out there to get labeled which is why my availability is no ones
business :).
5) Based on the communication which led to this interview, it is apparent
that you are letting SSCW's promoter, Carmine Sabia, represent you to
some
extent. Being that it is kind of uncommon on the indy level to utilize
an "agent", what functions have you farmed out to him? Do you
think that
relying the promoter of one company to help your career as a whole might
represent a conflict of interest due to his possible bias towards his
own
promotion's agenda?
Carmine is a good friend. He is helping me along and trying to get me
bookings. He does not dictate to me where I can and can not work and in
fact
tries to get me work wherever he can. So long as I am available for his
dates there isn't a problem. Further because he has alot of connections
that
I don't have it has been and will continue to be beneficial.
6) Often times, Indy promotions have banded together to create "partnerships",
with varying results. Now, Jersey Championship Wrestling, National Wrestling
Superstars, and Stars and Stripes Championship Wrestling, whom you work
for, have announced that they are combining their efforts to promote all
three individually, and additionally will have unified champs while
retaining their own. Do you feel this is more of an attention-grabbing
announcement, or are there truly positive ramifications from this endeavor,
and if so, what do you think they are?
Hey that just means more work for me :). Honestly I am not in a position to answer a question like that as it is more directly aimed at the Unified Wrestling Syndicate. However I can say that within the next two weeks it will become very clear that the UWS is more then just a Jersey thing.
7) I'm blatantly stealing from the movie "Almost famous", but my next question is simply this: what do you love most about wrestling?
I love everything about it. The good and the bad. I love the fact that you can go out there and perform for total strangers have them buy into your gimmick. Have them care about you and care about your direction. It's an unreal feeling.
