PART 1 - STARTING AT THE START

Growing up in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, William Rousseaux from a very early age was a wrestling fan. He practically grew up with sports entertainment always surrounding him and his home. Will's father was a wrestling aficionado and thus had the TV tuned every Saturday to a wrestling program be it a local promotion like Stampede Wrestling or a bigger international promotion like the World Wrestling Federation....

"I was told that as a kid I would often recite wrestlers catch phrases simply because I heard them over and over again from either the TV or my father and his friends. Of course kids pick up and copy anything they see, so I was acting like Hulk Hogan did, I was wooing like Ric Flair.

I don't remember doing all the imitating though, the one thing I DO remember.. my first memory of me watching wrestling on TV is when Randy "Macho Man' Savage attacked Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat and 'broke' his larynx with a ring bell... I don't think I watched wrestling for a few months after that! That attack... seeing Steamboat in so much pain was too much for my little mind to handle. Of course I later found out from my parents that wrestling was - in their words - staged and all an act.. but for a while there Randy Savage almost turned me right off of wrestling! I still bug him to this day about it when I see him. ** laughing **

Ever since that point though, I became hooked. We (my friends and I) attended as many Stampede Wrestling events as we could, I went to Wrestlemania parties with friends, we all had our favorites. Wrestling a huge part of my life. I was quite addicted, have been to this day.."
~Will

At the age of 16, Will had decided that wrestling was something he had wanted to get into. He had already been honing his skills with friends by backyard wrestling and watching hours upon hours of tapes of wrestling matches from WWF, NWA and overseas in Japan.

"The backyard wrestling we did back then is nothing like the crap the kids call backyard wresting today. Back then, we worked on our technical skills on this somewhat soft mat a friend laid out in his yard. We didn't use trash cans or two by fours or chairs. We 'got' the concept of wrestling... We knew we didn't have to kick the living shit out of each other.. we knew it was staged, so we not only worked on giving moves, but selling them. We worked matches, making up as we went along. And damn did we have epic battles!

Anyway, I got quite good, the best out of all my friends easily. I was picking up wrestling moves left and right and using new ones each week. I had perfected the fisherman's suplex, my knife edge chops were pretty damn good.. and loud as hell! I knew I was ready to train full time and get into wrestling. There honest to god never was a doubt in my head of "What if I don't make it?" or "I better have a back up plan." I knew what my calling was and with a little help, I was going to make it"
~Will

Will at the age of 16, left home, and with his parents help moved to Calgary, Alberta to train with the legendary Hart Family. He continued to work on his technical skills and started to incorporate aerial moves to his repertoire. It was at this time he had his first 'real' match. A win versus some other unknown guy. It of course was a win

"Will has a great worth ethic in the ring, he came in and from day one was very dedicated to learning the craft. We gave him a hard time as well, being that he was so young. Most young kids quit when they start to realize how much work we and the sport of wrestling demands of them, but Will was bound and determined to succeed. Every time we or one of his fellow wrestlers put a road block in front of him, he ran right through it and kept on going. He earned a great deal of respect from us and his peers.
~Bruce Hart - Hart Brothers Wrestling

"That first match was gawd aweful! I missed so many spots, the jackass in the ring kept on changing things around... I had to give him some very stiff (meaning real) punches to the side of the head to snap that bastard out of it. I'm still pissed at him to this day. I was told it was a good match, but it didn't feel like it. I just took my 30 bucks that night, put it away as a memory well served and used it to fuel my next match in the hopes of being better."
~Will

After a year in Calgary. A Mr. Brian Dobson came calling from Dallas, Texas. He had seen William on a video tape sent to him by one of his friends living up in Canada. Brian traveled to Calgary, met with Will and together with Bruce, convinced Will that he was better served by moving down to Texas, where he could work with high level wrestlers, receive more of a one to one training and get an inside track into the pro world of wrestling. So in 1992, at the age of 17, with a small amount of belongings and a smaller amount of cash, Will Rousseaux moved to Dallas, Texas...

Continued in part 2 - "Texas Two Step"
coming soon!