Wild Talk Radio sent out the following:
Colt Cabana Talks Wrestling Road Diaries 3, Comedy in Wrestling, Chicago Cubs, returning to Ring of Honor & More!
The Rack Radio Show Podcast Featuring Colt Cabana
Hosted by Lindsey Ward & Sir Rockin
Listen Live Thursday Nights at 10pm ET on www.wildtalkradio.com & www.rackradioshow.com.
Check Out The Interview: http://wildtalkradio.com/rocknsock/therack/therack102716.mp3.
Interview via Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16KmU5XEO88
Ring of Honor, Global Force Wrestling and Independent wrestling star, host of ‘The Art of Wrestling’ podcast and creator of the Wrestling Road Diaries series Colt Cabana joined “Multi-time Award Winning” the Rack Thursday Night. In a nearly 20-minute interview, he talked about his Wrestling Road Diaries Volume 3 coming out soon, why he chose to focus on comedy wrestling as a topic of this new video, why he chose Grado and Kikutaro as his co-hosts for this edition, examining what makes comedy wrestling special and what makes a good comedy wrestler, his Seven Levels of Hate feud with Adam Pearce, what he thinks of the Cubs in the World Series, his return to Ring of Honor after several years away and much more.
What it like for him having the Cubs in the World Series: “Oh man, for context, last night was first night of the World Series and we did not do well. But, the reality is I’ve been watching the Cubs since I was five years old. My mom is a die-hard Cubs fan; she’s 70 years old and I’ve grown up watching her watching the Cubs lose every single year. So for that 70-year old, Jewish mother of mine, I’m so happy and I’m so happy for myself. It’s the team I grew up with, I know and it feels like home. It’s a special moment for me and for Chicago; it’s exciting.”
What made him want to do the Wrestling Road Diaries and this new edition: “Well, A) I had to do comedy because I had to do something different; I couldn’t do the same Wresting Road Diaries every single time. For people listening, in the first one, Daniel Bryan who, at the time, was Bryan Danielson, for years we’d wrestled on the independents and it was such a weird scene, unless you were really immersed in it. There’s guys in different places who only stay in their own town; we have guys in Chicago who only wrestle in Chicago. When I go everywhere, there are guys who only wrestle there and at the time Bryan and I were lucky enough to be those guys who went everywhere, to everyone’s crazy scene, and we wanted to document it. Luckily enough, in 2009, we just did it ourselves but as we were doing it, Bryan got signed to the WWE, so essentially, I kind of did it myself and it was such a great experience. It was so successful and fans got to see a different side of indy wrestling that they never knew was around or available to see. That kind of became the cornerstone of my entrepreneurial go forth; as that became successful and then my podcast became successful and just the idea of this DIY venture. The third one, obviously, I’m a comedy wrestler and it’s what I love to do; I can wrestle all different kinds of styles, I can wrestle serious, I can do hardcore, I can do lucha if you really wanted me to, but my love is comedy wrestling and it’s never really been documented like this. No one has ever really picked it apart and analyzed how and why you can get away with the idea of comedy wrestling. So, I brought over two of the funniest comedy wrestlers in the world, I flew over a guy from Scotland and flew over a guy from Japan and me, Kikutaro and Grado do kind of a long weekend road trip and you get to see us on the road, see how independent wrestling works. You also get to see these comedy matches and what works and what doesn’t work because there’s just some stuff in there that’s not funny and that’s also the stuff we want documented; the idea of trying a joke in the ring and it not working. So you get to see all aspects from it and that’s where we came from with it; it hasn’t been done so we wanted to do it.”
What was a type if comedic idea that just didn’t work in the ring: “Not that it wasn’t a good idea, but Grado wrestled Tracy Smothers and I don’t think that worked, at all. And, they also wrestled for like 50 minutes, because Tracy Smothers is notorious for that; he does that Memphis stalling, like he thinks it’s 1987 but it’s 2016 so it’s kind of come full circle. So, it’s kind of funny but it’s just too much. So that, not that is falls flat but it makes for a great movie and you get to see all of us dissect it and it’s kind of cool.”
Why did he choose Grado and Kikutaro for this series: “I fell in love with Grado; Sonjay Dutt pointed out to me the Vice documentary that they did on him (Grado) back in 2010, I think it was and if you never seen it, it is on YouTube and it’s called ‘The British Wrestler’ I think and this was before they blew up and then Grado and I were part of this BBC documentary in 2013. But there’s just something to him, he’s just so loveable and it’s hard because I don’t know if it’s transferred over; I don’t watch TNA as much as I should and I don’t know how much as transferred over to those fans who had no clue who he was. But, if you’re in his element and see him, he’s just amazing. He’s hilarious; it’s just a natural comedy too. We talk about this in the move, we go to so many shows and see wrestlers trying to be comedy wrestlers who really aren’t funny guys or maybe failed as regular wrestlers so then they go “Oh, well I’ll just try comedy because I can’t do regular.” There’s just something about being a natural comedian that helps and Grado and Kikutaro, outside of the wrestling ring, they just have natural wit and they’re naturally funny. Right away, you know that is the building block of what makes them so successful.”
What makes comedy wrestling special and what makes a good comedy wrestler: “You take the idea of wrestling, and that’s hard itself, and I think what people don’t understand is if you then add a crazy different element to it so comedy or high-flying, like if you’re going to do basic, Lou Thesz wrestling, that’s still hard but then when you add an element, like you look at a guy like Richocet or Will Osprey or even a Necro Butcher and you do these different divisions of natural wrestling or basic wrestling; it’s a different part of your brain that’s starting to work and we talk about it in the movie. You have to be a really good, skilled, basic wrestler to then become a good comedy wrestler; it’s not the other way around. You can’t become a comedy wrestler because you failed at being a regular wrestler; it is an art form and is really hard to do. You look at Kikutaro and he’s been wrestling for about 20 years and it’s something you really have to work at.”
His return to Ring of Honor and being part of “Final Battle” on December 2: “I returned (to ROH) on WrestleMania weekend and I did a, what people like to think was, an epic promo on why I should return. I got into it with Jay Lethal at a pay-per-view match here in Chicago. Yeah, I came back to Ring of Honor and I don’t yet have a match for Final Battle but I’m hoping to be there for Final Battle. I’ve been in there lately; Dalton Castle and I have been teaming, which I think is a nice little tag team and it’s been nice. I left there years ago with a little bit of a chip on my shoulder; a new regime kind of took over and I think didn’t know who I was, even though I was a part of the show since 2002. I don’t think it was any secret that Jim Cornette didn’t like me as a wrestler or my style. So, as he got me out of the company, I held a little grudge and as soon as he left, they invited me back but I said no thank you. It’s been 5 years and I thought maybe it’s time to come back and kind of have a nice, positive vibe in my life. I think by coming back and bridging those gaps, it’s been really nice.”
You can follow Colt through his Twitter (@ColtCabana) for the latest news and notes on Colt Cabana and his activities. You can follow Colt through his personal website (www.coltcabana.com) where he posts his “The Art of Wrestling” podcast, has the latest on his upcoming appearances and is the home of his merchandise including his latest video “Wrestling Road Diaries, Volume 3” with independent stars Kikutaro and current TNA star Grado now available for sale. Finally, you can see Colt and the other stars of Ring of Honor weekly as part of the Sinclair Broadcasting networks and on December 2nd for “Final Battle” iPPV. Go to rohwrestling.com for TV listings, available channels, and iPPV ordering instructions.
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