John E Bravo

Tim Burt(Head of Security/Office member) Q and A:

Growing up How did you first become a fan of Pro Wrestling and what organizations did you follow? I started watching wrestling around 1978 or 1979. I used to watch the WWWF from MSG. Then with cable it would be Georgia Championship Wrestling.

You were once a UCW fan then you became head of security and now part of the office. How did you come to find UCW in the first place?I first came to a show with my brother back in 2002. Then I would hold autograph sessions in my shop at Sears and the rest is history.

Being Head of Security, im sure you have seen many crazy things happen inside the ring. What was the craziest thing you witnessed? Most awesome thing? The craziest thing would be the barber wire match between Dave Dupont and Justin Rhodes. The most awesome would be any match with Zach Gowen.

What are some of your most memorable moments you have experienced at UCW? This may sound hokey but when my dad, brother and I went to a show headlined by Brutus Beefcake. This was the last time we saw a show together.

With UCW’s home base being in Bay City and you as a lifetime resident. When fans come to Bay City that from from Different area’s What are some of the spots they should check out in Bay City?  Well I would tell the to come to one of are festivals. The 4th of July, tall ships, or the river roar. I would always encourage them to come to the best Promo wrestling in Michigan.

Dave Duponte Q &  A:

Justin Mane Q & A:

1.How old were you when you first realized you wanted to be a wrestler/manager/referee
I was about 17. I went to Survivor Series 2005 and got knocked over by HHH while I was in the 5th row. Changed my life, and I knew immediately that I wanted to get into the wrestling business.

2.Who were some of the people that inspired you to become a wrestler/manager/referee?
Sting was my biggest influence. He was originally the wrestler that got me into wrestling in the first place. Performance-wise, definitely Chris Jericho, Shawn Michaels, and Eddie Guerrero. I like to think you can see a little bit of all of them in me.

3.What was the hardest thing to overcome regarding wrestling, how did you overcome it? Were you anxious your first match and when did that take place?
My biggest obstacle was finances. I was always pretty athletic (pretended I was a power ranger when I was a kid), and you can ask anyone about my personality… But the biggest problem was my financial situation. I didn’t have a lot of money growing up, so getting training was a struggle, and whenever I could put money together, it went to travel. But if you want something bad enough – you need to pursue it, no matter what. As for my first match, yeah, I was pretty nervous. I just wanted people to be entertained. Luckily, it all went well. That match was in August 2007.

4.What is your favorite move and how is it executed?
. I would have to say that my favorite move is the moonsault. There’s such an art to making it look perfect. Some people just focus on getting over – but there’s so much more to it than that. The trick is to let your body follow your head, and arch as much as you can.

5.If you could choose a wrestling partner or even an opponent past or present, who would that be and why?
Partner-wise, I’d pick CM Punk – we came from similar backgrounds and attitudes. As for an opponent, it’d easily be Shawn Michaels… Because it’s Shawn Michaels!

6.Everyone usually collects things from baseball cards to comic books, etc. What do you collect? What is the oddest thing in your collection?
. I actually am a HUGE Zoo-thusiast. Whenever I go to a new zoo, I get a fridge magnet from the gift shop and add it to my collection. My goal is to have one magnet from every major zoo in every single state in the U.S. I also have a pretty extensive Jurassic Park collection – I’ve had it ever since I was a kid. Favorite film franchise ever!

TK Parker Q & A:

1.How old were you when you first realized you wanted to be a wrestler/manager/referee
I don’t think there was a time that I didn’t want to be involved. One of my earliest memories is watching wrestling with my Grandma. I’ve always loved it.

2.Who were some of the people that inspired you to become a wrestler/manager/referee?
The 1980’s era really inspired me as a manager. That was definitely the “Boom” for managers. Bobby Heenan, Jimmy Hart, Mr. Fuji, Slick, Cpt. Lou and so on. Now a days I am a huge fan of Paul Heyman.

3.What was the hardest thing to overcome regarding wrestling, how did you overcome it? Were you anxious your first match and when did that take place?
I have always been 100% confident in my abilities. Its been a tremendous amount of time since I’ve been anxious or nervous before a match. When I first perform in front of a brand new crowd in a new city I get a tad nervous. But give me the microphone and the nervousness goes away. April of 2005 was my first event being apart of.

4.What is your favorite move and how is it executed?
Any move that results in whoever I’m managing winning the match is my favorite.

5.If you could choose a wrestling partner or even an opponent past or present, who would that be and why?
I would of loved to work with Curt Henning. Without a shadow of a doubt he is the one I look up to the most. Some of my favorites that I have worked with though are Paul Bearer, Bushwacker Luke, Rhino, Dave Duponte, The Scarboni Brothers, and Demolition.

6.Everyone usually collects things from baseball cards to comic books, etc. What do you collect? What is the oddest thing in your collection?
I collect anything Curt Henning. Also I collect Nick Castellanos memorabilia.

Ingrid Isley Q & A:

1.How old were you when you first realized you wanted to be a wrestler?

I believe I officially decided that’s what I wanted to do for my life when I was 12. I always enjoyed wrestling up until then regardless. But we were doing a career program in school and I remember saying well, I want to be a wrestler, they don’t put that in the program. I think I ended up getting to be an “entertainer” or a “clown” as an option. Which that’s close enough to wrestler for me so I was okay with the “results”. Ha. I spent a lot of time trying to convince myself I could do it through high school and finally just decided there was no reason to not try for your dream.

2.Who were some of the people that inspired you to become a wrestler?

Well my father for one was the one that introduced me to wrestling. So I give him a lot of credit for what inspired me to become a wrestler. It was one of the things that we have in common. But out of wrestlers, I really loved Stone Cold and Shawn Michaels. But the minute I saw Lita and Chyna, I was hooked. I loved that they wrestled with the guys. I thought it was so cool the girls were fighting in the same ring as the guys were doing. I couldn’t believe they were doing the things they were doing. Lita, more so than anyone was the reason, I wanted to be like her, look like her and do what she was doing. She completely had an air of confidence that at the time, I was lacking as a wrestling nerd at school. I wanted to do what she did.

3.Do you feel the industry treats you fairly? Are there things that should be changed or could change for women?

All the companies I have worked for have always treated me fairly as a female wrestler. We are in a cool era of female wrestling where there are all girls shows happening more often and all girls promotions. With Shimmer and Shine leading the way, it’s a great time to be a female wrestler. I think there could always be things changed for wrestling in general, but we have this cool era of wrestling, especially independent, that is getting a great rebirth, that I’m loving the girls are wrestling again and getting good spots on shows. I think the most thing to change is if you are a girl in wrestling, go train at a great school and learn to wrestle. It’s so much more fulfilling knowing each time you wrestle you are gonna get better if you keep working on it. And to watch other girls have great matches is inspiring to keep you going.

4.What was the hardest thing to overcome regarding wrestling, how did you overcome it? Were you anxious your first match and when did that take place?

The hardest thing to overcoming is wrestling and confidence in yourself. I’m still overcoming it. It takes a lot of time and hard work to be where you want to be. I’m my own hardest critic. I just want to keep bettering myself and doing better after each time I wrestle. I still go to my school and train weekly to keep learning and improving. I’ve noticed the more comfortable I get with myself the better my wrestling is. My first match, I was petrified. I was standing backstage listening to them announce my match was coming up and I was crying because I was so happy I finally did it, I actually became a wrestler. I followed my dream. I was so nervous, it wasn’t the greatest match but it was a hurdle I needed to jump. Everything just gets better from that first match if you work hard enough and want it enough. It took place in 2012 in Windsor, Ontario through my wrestling school’s company Can-Am Rising.

5.What is your favorite move and how is it executed?

I love the perfectplex. It’s a fisherman’s suplex. It’s a hooked leg bridging suplex.

6.Do you have a favorite WWE Diva or TNA Knockout, if not what woman wrestler inspired you the most, if any?

I haven’t seen many of the current divas/knockouts because I don’t have cable anymore. So what I see is mostly on the network or online. But I’ll always be a fan of Natalya. I really love the submission style wrestling. But the diva that inspired me the most is Lita to become a wrestler. Most of my wrestling style is submission style/chain wrestling. And then mix in Minnesota influences of Molly Holly and Mr. Perfect, to throw back to my Minnesota roots. But I loved the era of Lita, Molly Holly, Beth Phoenix, Natalya style wrestling. I loved the girls that would work with the guys and work with the girls.

7.How is UCW compared to other places that you have wrestled?

UCW is one of the most supportive companies in my wrestling career. They are one of the companies that gives me a chance to work on myself and my wrestling. They have always let me come back and are very much a family life style in the locker room. I’ve always appreciated the way UCW has treated me, along with their fans.