1. What
was your life before you got into wrestling?
-I was a failure.
2. How did you get into wrestling?
-I first got involved with true independent promotions while I was in college.
I went to the
3. What was training like?
-I trained under a number of people in the
4. What was going through your mind just a few minutes before your very
first match?
-There's a few matches that probably qualify as my
"first" match. The first time I wrestled in a ring was on a show I
organized and promoted in my own high school. The show consisted of two
matches, and all my friends and peers and classmates were there for that. I
don't think I puked or anything like that, but I was
very nervous. I worried that they would just laugh at us, or think that we were
ridiculous. Although it wasn't a very good match, the audience loved it that
day, and I think if the reaction of the people had been different, I might not
have pursued wrestling as seriously.
5. What do you say to people when they tell you that wrestling is fake?
-People who say that wrestling is fake or that we read
a script and wrestle the way it tells us to, are just out of touch. Wrestling
is only fake in the same way a super hero movie is
fake. It is a show with good guys and bad guys fighting each other to entertain
an audience of paying customers. The good guys aren't fake.
The bad guys aren't fake. The action really happens.
The audience is really there. People that still obsess on what is
"real" or "fake" in wrestling are stuck in a mind set from
1984.
6. You've invented a lot of moves, which one is your personal favorite?
-I am always working on new moves, so it seems like my favorite is always the
last one that I invented. I just started using my Quackendriver 2 back in
April, and I really like that move. Of my submission holds, the new Lightning
Lock Delta is a fun one.
7. What is the strangest gift a fan has given you?
-Several years ago, a fan gave me a CD of Britney Spears' song "From the
Bottom of my Broken Heart." I still have it. I have no idea what it is
supposed to mean.
8. What is the back-story of having your own column in "The
Wrestler" magazine?
-I began writing "From Bell to Bell" as an online travelogue for a
web site in 1997. The website went belly up, and at that point, I was
approached by London/Kappa Publishing, and they bought the column to publish in
"The Wrestler." Since 1997, I have written maybe 45 - 50
installments.
9. What is the story behind CHIKARA?
-CHIKARA began in January of 2002 as a joint venture between Reckless Youth and
I. We wanted to have a school where the emphasis of
the teaching was on exotic and foreign wrestling styles. Reckless departed the
company after 8 or 9 months. I continued on training and facilitating the live
events on my own after that. I think of CHIKARA as an experiment in wrestling.
Sometimes we use elements of comedy, mystery, drama, science fiction or other
other genres that don't seem congruous with wrestling, and find ways to make
them a contextual fit. I am lucky to have CHIKARA as a forum for my students to
grow, and for my own ideas about wrestling's potential to be tested.
10. What is your opinion on backyard wrestling?
-As a former back yard wrestler, I know how much fun it can be. But a lot of
"back yard wrestling" today is not really wrestling at all, but
dangerous or violent stunts being performed by kids. I've seen these Best of
Back Yard Wrestling videos, and to even label most of it "wrestling"
is a joke.
11. WWE or NWA-TNA? Which would be the promotion for you?
-Neither one particularly interests me. I guess NWA would be a better goal if I
had to choose, because the WWE has never understood how to promote lighter
weight wrestlers. NWA has made great strides in that category.
12. Has there ever been someone you saw on TV that made you say, "What the
hell are you doing in a wrestling ring?"
-A lot of the muscleheads that get called up to WWE TV from developmental, that
obviously don't know what they are doing, make me say that.
13. Could you explain the "Friday Night Improv" at the Pit Theatre
back in 2000?
-Well, there were two "Friday Nite Improv" shows. The one at the Pit
Theatre ran through most of the 1990's until the building was demolished to
make parking spaces. When I was at the
14. Does improv comedy help a wrestler in learning how to handle doing a promo?
-Absolutely. The skills I learned from doing improv would make anyone that
performs live in front of an audience, a better entertainer.
15. What was it like wrestling Eddie Guerrero and El Hijo del Santo?
-Both were dreams come true. Santo was a strange experience in that we couldn't
just sit together and tell stories, because my Spanish is poor, and he speaks
no English. Wrestling Santo really taught me how very little I knew about
wrestling, it was a sobering experience. Wrestling Guerrero was great fun, and
a bit humbling as well. But perhaps the best part of wrestling Eddie Guerrero
was being able to relate to him, and hear stories about his Dad, or working
Dean Malenko, and being able to sit under his "tree of knowledge," so
to speak.
16. Who can you say right off the bat that whenever you wrestle with that
person, they give you a match of a lifetime?
-I've never had a bad match with
17. What has the process of writing "Headquarters" taught you?
-Writing that book made me look at my life in ways I
never had previously. The process of creating "Headquarters" really
made me see the story and the themes of my life in a way that I never realized.
If you look at the beginning of the book, and where I am at the end of the
story, every chapter inbetween is telling the story of how I got from Point A
to Point B. Its not so much a collection of stories as
it is an examination of how a starting point and an end point are linked.
18. What does Mike Quackenbush do to relax when he's stressed out?
-Writing is great therapy for me. Wrestling is a great stress reliever in its
own way, as well. I also enjoy reading; books, magazines, comic books,
anything. When I can, I love spending a day at an amusement park.
19. Anything you wish to plug?
-Drop by the ol' CHIKARA website, please. (www.chikarapro.com) Tell your
friends about us!
20. Any final comments?
-I want to thank all the real fans of wrestling that come out and support the
independents. There are some people that fancy themselves experts and critics,
and I don't really care about them. I am grateful for those fans that come to
the shows to be fans, to have a good time, and to be entertained.
Name Association
Reckless Youth- The most important independent wrestler of the 1990's.
Ace Darling- My friend and my mentor.
Legion Cage- A great guy with a wacky sense of humor.
Don Montoya- Truly one of the sport's most underrated players.
Blind Rage- Unlimited potential.
El Hijo
Mike Quackenbush- Still crazy after all these years.