The Rap Sheet of "Soon To Be" Justin MacIntyre
8/18/2K4
The views expressed by Crimefighter and his guest do not necessarily
reflect the views friends, associates, co-workers, organizations or any
of the other six billion people on planet Earth. Today's
interview is with a newcomer to New Midwest Wrestling, that would be
"Soon To Be" Justin MacIntyre. The scope of this interview is
wide open to activities engaged in elsewhere because that cannot be
left out in this case, otherwise it would be a really short
interview. Thus, you should be forewarned, there will be some
shoot comments.
CF: How does Justin MacIntyre best represent the counties of Pope and Ogle?
JM: I represent Canada, I thought. LOL. Good try tho.
CF: Okay mystery guest, please introduce yourself to America.
JM: My name is Justin MacIntyre, currently residing in Peoria,
Illinois (though, I have yet to see Sage Ramsey here). I'm a
Virgo, that likes long walks on the beach, seeing movies and -- Wait...
wrong kinda interview.
CF: Well this IS open ended...
JM: I'll be alright. I don't need more baby mama drama than I already have.
CF: Okay, when did you decide to become a pro wrestler and who were your original trainers?
JM: Right into the juicy stuff, huh? Well, to be quite
honest, I absolutely hated wrestling until I was about 17/18. I
hated everything that had to do with it being choreographed.
There was nothing anyone could say or do that would get me off that
high horse. Then it was around my senior year in High School that
I was oh-so-priveleged to watch the Wrestlemania Iron Man Match.
It blew my mind. These two guys went out there and for 60 minutes
went above the bar of believability and it just wowed me.
It was more the fact that they were "competing" and not hot dogging
through the whole thing. It was one on one, better man
wins. And I just loved that idea. Then a couple of years later, I
was connected to a very small show 45 miles outside of
town. It was one of those "friend of a friend of a friend
knows this guy" things. I became really excited about this show,
because I was given the chance to find out how everything worked in
making a match. But after the newness of the whole situation wore
off I noticed that most of these guys, if not ALL of these guys were
just a few steps ahead of me. Here I was thinking, "Aw,
man. These guys must've done it all!" But it wasn't the
case. It was more of that "Let's put on a show" attitude.
But I started watching training sessions there for a good couple of
months before their first show of the season (The building where they
ran shows was also used as a haunted house during the fall). For the
first show of that season, they needed a ref. I had no interest
in wrestling, so what better way to learn than to actually be in the
middle of it all. So I did the reffing thing for a few shows. The
"management" at the time started to noticed that I was slightly bigger
(more tall than anything) and a hell of a lot more charismatic than 90%
of the wrestlers. So, they gave Justin MacIntyre, The Referee, an
attitude, a character if you will. Norman Calloway (NGW's
Apocolypse) was the head trainer at the time, and pretty much ran the
place. He threw me with my best friend at the time, Shane
Griffin. Little by little, I joined in on training drills and was
introduced in matches, thus blurring the line and eventually dropping
the Ref gimmick. So, all in all, I didn't really do the formal
training that a lot of people around me at the time did.
CF: So you did your training a little at a time?
JM: Yeah. To be honest, I would still consider myself
training going into my fourth year doing this. You know with that
show, as it started in Forest City as EAW, through the Thunder
Wrestling Federation North (thunderwrestling.com) that moved into
Peoria, and Next Generation Wrestling, and now New Midwest Wrestling
and whatever else I do, I'm constantly keeping myself in a state of
mind that I'm just starting out. Not to meantion all the places
inbetween. And as much as I like to build myself up, and as much
as an ego as I put across sometimes, I can't stand to hear compliments.
CF: Seriously? You don't like hearing people say you had a great match?
JM: No. Specially now, with the "Soon To Be" gimmick, with
Steph coming out with the camera. I see every match. In and
out. 40 times or so. I'm big on watching tape. Not
just of myself. Each time I watch myself wrestle, it gets worse
on my eyes. I get to the point where i wonder if I should even be
trying. But that works. It helps me see what I can work on. When
someone comes up to me and says, "Good match", I almost want to shake
them and ask if they're blowing smoke. And I question it,
constantly.
CF: So if you have a ***** match, would you know if you had a ***** match and if a fan says it, he's full of it?
JM: I don't rate matches. I either have fun with the match or I
don't. And with some fans, they could be saying because you do
it. You think any mark wants to go up to a wrestler and say, "You know,
that match was sub-par. I didn't like the psychology and there's
no reason Wrestler B should have lost to that move." Of course
not.
CF: Hmmm....I seem to have done it a few times...course that's
when I keep getting chewed out for not knowing anything about
wrestling...
JM: So, I don't trust them. I respect them...I just don't trust them.
CF: So...going back a ways, how did you find out about wrestling schools in the area?
JM: There were none. Absoluately none. I had known
Shane Griffin for a few years and through him I met Alex Larson (who
now runs NGW), who knew the person that ran the Forest City show.
And they had been to one show before they had brought me. We had
to drive 45 minutes 3-4 days a week to train. Forest City's
population was 200 or something like that. So we worked our
hardest to let it grow and move to Peoria.
CF: So...the little fed moves to Peoria...and I'm not quite sure
about when this group was named what when...maybe you can clear that up
for me.
JM: Oh, man...let's see. The 2000-01 seasons in Forest City
were EAW (Extreme Amateur Wrestling). The 2002 Season in Forest
City was Thunder Wrestling Federation. The show moved to Peoria in
September of '02 and amically split from the Thunder group in March of
03, thus becoming NGW.
CF: Was NGW and various incarnations the only place you wrestled until 2004?
JM: I had wrestled for the Thunder South out of Jacksonville, FL,
and had wrestled in the UWF in one of the Carolinas... lol
CF: Do you currently wrestle for NGW now?
JM: Why no. No, I don't. I don't get along with management
there. It's a bunch of bullXXXX, too. It's one of
those instances where I didn't have pull that I thought I had with the
company. The promoter, Alex Larson, and I are two very stubborn
people. I had my views on how the show should be ran, he has
his. But the bottom line being, he has the power, whereas I
don't. It's as simple as that. We can point the finger and
label each other the "bad guy" all we want to, but all the weight,
every last bit of it is on his end. Am I pissed off about
it? Yeah, you bet I am. There's nothing I can do about it
though.
CF: So you're one of the early members of the group...and they didn't care what you thought?
JM: No. It doesn't matter, really. Hell, we (while I
was in the NGW) kicked out the guy that started that show. And
had little to no problem doing it. Apocolypse got booted in the
height of the NGW, last year. We all felt like it was his
plaything and that he needed an ego-check, so we kicked his XXX
out. With help from the treasurer/secretary/everything else of
the group, Kathy Hauk, we bought a new ring, signed a lease in that
builing (which was something Apoc never did) and carried on
shows. It was a big momentum boost for us at the time. But
for some reason or another (once again, finger pointing does no good),
we lost a heck of a lot of that momentum. The thing that gets me
the most about the NGW is this... When it's good, the "Office" is all
over taking every bit of credit they can. But when it's not so
good... they're twiddling their thumbs, staring at the sky, whistling
like nothings wrong.
CF: But I see Apoc is there now and was their heavyweight champ.
JM: Because he cleaned up his act, made an effort to go back and provided his "gear" in the "machine" again.
CF: You've said it's really your home fed...despite being in exile. What would it take to get back in?
JM: I've offered. There's nothing I want more than to
wrestle for the NGW again. If even for a one-shot, just to cap it
off. I have the chance to talk to Alex, more often nowadays, but
I don't know how to actually approach him. I hear stories of the
boys up there asking him to bring me back, but he says it's out of his
hands.
CF: Think he'll see this interview?
JM: I'm not sure. But I have the idea it's not gonna be much use, or make any difference with him.
CF: So after you left NGW...how did you come across NMW?
JM: Sinnister, from NGW, actually called me up and asked if I
still wanted to work anywhere. He told me that NMW had spots open
up for their Capital Punishment show and that they were looking for
people. I said sure and went down for a training session that
week before it. Met a few of the guys, but wasn't sure that I
wanted to even show up that next show planning to be booked, when i
hadn't even talked to anyone that ran the show. But I did bring
my gimmick with me, just in case. I wasn't booked, but felt more
comfortable knowing that I was acknowledged and that I still had time
to be booked on my own merit, other than just what Sinnister had told
them. As much as I like to play myself up to be a real life heel,
I truly enjoy taking the high road in all things that I do.
CF: Now you call yourself "Soon To Be"....soon to be WHAT?
JM: That right there tells me that my gimmick works! I'm
soon to be Justin MacIntyre. I'm not a star, yet. I
recognize that. I'm not going to run around calling myself a
superstar if I know no one knows who I am. I'm soon to be
Heavyweight Champion. I'm soon to be the next NEXT big
thing. I'm soon to be a legend. I'm "Soon To Be" Justin
MacIntyre.
CF: Okay who did you USED to be?
JM: That's funny.
CF: You knew I'd ask that.
JM: Because I have always been Justin MacIntyre. It's
pretty much the same gimmick I had toward the end of NGW "era".
But I threw Stephani King in there. She's the catalyst of this
gimmick. Her and that camera are the reason that "Soon To Be"
works. I'm so not into cliche gimmicks, and I didn't want a
"valet" anyway. I wanted a documentarian. That's different.
That's the kind of "characterization" that I like. What's a
"valet's" purpose anyway?
CF: Cheating.
JM: "I want a pair of jugs walking next to me with no other
purpose." No, thanks. Stephani is out there to record the
"rise of a star". I truly feel that in all kayfabe terms, a
"valet" is pointless.
CF: She also wants to be a wrestler too I've seen.
JM: To a certain extent, yeah. She's more along the lines
of learning what wrestling is. She had a scare in training a
couple of weeks ago, and kind of layed off the heavy training for a
little bit. She's my girl, though, and she'll be full force soon
enough again. I want her to be more involved in my matches, and
I'm not going to let her do it without being very safe about it.
CF: You mean cheat for you more?
JM: She hasn't cheated, yet. Name me an instance where she has tried to cost my opponent their match.
CF: Actually she jumped in the ring during your first match here and almost got run over.
JM: She was coming in for a closer look. Doing her
job. She never attempted any harm on KC or Matthews.
Another reason I love my gimmick. Because it's true, and you
can't argue it!
CF: So if she gets run over...she can't film...
JM: Yeah, she can. She's a rough and tumble girl.
CF: So what do you think of NMW so far?
JM: I love it. I love the way it's ran. I love the
friendships there. We call the cliques. LOL Just
kidding. But the overall professionality is awesome. I saw
how Capital Punishment was ran and I was taken back. Like I said,
I wasn't too sure if I wanted booked, but once I saw that show and how
it was put together, I made as much of an effort as possible to get
booked on Revolution. You know, I got a lot of flack from fans,
because they aren't so used to seeing "indy guys" for more than one
show, so I had to try to keep the spot I was given. I have never
dropped any ball I've been given, and I wasn't about to drop it with
NMW. I'm an idea man at heart, and I got the sharp end of the
stick with that in NGW, so I was, and still am in a lot of places,
walking on eggshells. I want to be able to go to the "Office"
here and tell them, that I got this, this and this that I want to try
with them, but I don't want it to bite me in the rear. They run
their show very well without me, so I try to keep a closed mouth about
things.
CF: But you've been quite open here today...
JM: It's an interview. I get that way sometimes.
CF: So far you have yet to get your first victory in either an official match or exhibition...
JM: I'm working on it. I'm trying to get a feel for the
style here at NMW. It's quite a bit different than in
Peoria. In Peoria, they rely quite a bit more on innovation,
whereas in NMW they work on perfecting the basics, which is the way to
go, when it comes to outside talent such as myself. I'm not
bashing NGW by any means because there are some workers up there that I
would love to watch in NMW and mix around. The innovation works
for them. The Triple Threat Title...GENIUS! I helped come
up with that. It was actually Scott Keyes' brainchild. That
kid eats, sleeps and screws wrestling. And the triple threat
matches in NGW keep getting better and better.
CF: Who do you see yourself going after next in the next couple of shows?
JM: I desperately want to find a niche somewhere. Just to
prove to the fans that I'm investing myself into New Midwest. So,
I want to find someone that I can piss off just enough to want to fight
me. Albeit a heel vs heel scenario, I would love a good technical
throwdown with Mr. Elite. There's Toga Steve... I want to fight
him, just because I used to do that whole Frat Boy thing back before
the MacIntyre you see before came around.
CF: Which fraternity?
JM: Tau Kappa Beta. Or as we like to refer to it...Tappa Kegga Beer.
CF: Well I've been asked to do the word association game...so lets play. Vince McMahon.
JM: Soon to be... My New Dad.
CF: Jerry Jerrett.
JM: Soon to be... Telling me to gain more weight and telling me to do more flips...
CF: Paul Heyman.
JM: Soon to be...A genius again.
CF: Triple H
JM: Soon to be...Hunter MacMahon
CF: Kurt Angle
JM: Soon to be... Retiring... ya know... once I get there.
CF: Eddie Guerrero
JM: Soon to be... The best thing going... tah-day.
CF: Now to hit on the current champs...Randy Orton.
JM: Soon to be... Out of my spot.
CF: John Bradshaw Layfield
JM: Soon to be... Deported.
CF: Jim Cornette
JM: Soon to be... The best gift of gab in the bidness.
CF: Ian Rotten.
JM: Soon to be...crippled.
CF: AJ Styles
JM: Soon to be... the best match of my life. He's a goal I've set for myself.
CF: NGW
JM: Soon to be... Soon to be.
CF: Double soon to be...what?
JM: I won't say no more.
CF: MC Trip C
JM: Soon to be... Crimefighter trying to get some dirt...
CF: WWZ
JM: Soon to be... My Personal Chicagoland Playground.
[CF: Unfortunately as of 8/22 WWZ has gone out of business.]
CF: Sage Ramsey.
JM: Soon to be... Toby Keith's stunt double
CF: 4GQ
JM: Soon to be...Not the horsemen.
CF: Rian Cruz & Cherry Malone
JM: Soon to be... taking beauty tips from my Stephani
CF: Billy Morgan
JM: Soon to be...Not Champion.
CF: PHD
JM: Soon to be... Hairier on his chin than on his head.
CF: Tuff'N'Stuff
JM: Soon to be...Tuff...and Stuff.
CF: Well what about the individual members of the team?
JM: That's what I meant. It's going to Tuff... and then
it's going to be Stuff. That's a good point to bring up. El
Diablo Silverado says that Eric Logan stole his spotlight, right?
CF: He claims it, no evidence supporting it...
JM: Yeah, well, what's he complaining for anyway...Soon to be... MY SPOTLIGHT!
CF: Chris Hazard.
JM: Soon to be... picking a different entrance theme...
CF: Russ...Staley.
JM: Soon to be... People Magazines Most Elegable Hobbit.
CF: Sinnister.
JM: Soon to be... pulling his pants up... again
CF: Crimefighter...
JM: Soon to be... ENDING THIS INTERVIEW!
CF: Just in time...any closing comments?
JM: Yeah... I want to thank NMW for the chance they've given
me... And in the next few weeks, I'll make sure they don't regret
it.
CF: Any shout outs?
JM: Hmmm. To whom it may concern: Yes, I am better than you.
CF: Err...there's 25 guys with better win-loss records....anyway...thank you for talking this afternoon.