SWE Spotlight: In Profile – SLTD Wrestling meets Chaz Phoenix

After the success of last week’s interview with Steven Magners (one half of SWE tag-team The Syndicate), this week’s SWE Spotlight falls on his tag-team partner, Chaz Phoenix. Chaz is often billed as “the most hated man in Scottish wrestling”.

Over the years, he’s worked all over Scotland and had a few matches with WWE legends like Tatanka. Chaz is also involved with the SWE training school and we spoke about a lot of other topics, including his favourite match, what he’s learned from “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase, who he thinks is the future of SWE and what job he’d ask Vince McMahon for! Let’s get right to it!

Tell us a little bit about how you got started in wrestling and who your influences were when you started watching it?

Back in 2002, I saw an advert in a shop advertising wrestling training so I applied and trained on mats for nearly a year before getting in the ring. It was another six months before I actually performed in front of a crowd. The main influence I had when I was young was most definitely Hulk Hogan (I’m an original 80’s Hulkamaniac), but only his early stuff and last WWE run. Since I have grown, I like to watch wrestlers that can execute moves well. I love to see very basic moves well executed over the fancy stuff.

When did you decide that you wanted to be a wrestler?

For as long as I can remember. I used to watch World of Sport when I was a kid, then the WWF and I’ve been hooked ever since. When the opportunity came along to train as a wrestler, I went for it and here we are!

For anyone that hasn’t seen you wrestle, how would you describe your style?

My style is slow ground and pound. I take a “less is more” approach to matches. If you execute moves well, you don’t need to do 1,000 things to make up for it. However, I can mix it up when required and have a fast paced match.

What are your memories of your first match?

Nerves, the crowd being loud and landing on my shoulder (first in a long line of pains lol)

Where are people most likely to see you wrestling?

I’ve wrestled 100% for SWE for a few years now after I stopped taking bookings with Wrestlezone Scotland. I did it so I could put more time into training the young SWE trainees, along with Steven Magners and others at the SWE training school.

What’s the one thing that frustrates you about the world of wrestling right now?

The poor quality shows out there. Fly-by-night promotions that put on sub-standard events. Promoters who advertise stars on posters that they haven’t even booked. Promoters that don’t pay venue bills, which makes it hard for venues to trust other wrestling companies.

There are lots of good, strong wrestling companies in the UK right now. What do you put that down to?

A talented pool of workers, a growing social media presence. Advertising has never been easier and it’s the key to creating successful events. Probably the biggest reason is promoters that genuinely love wrestling and only want to see the scene as a whole get stronger. If that happens, then it’s good for everyone and may start to repair the poor perception that most of the general public have about wrestling.

ICW over in Glasgow has been getting a lot of attention lately. Surely that can only inspire SWE as well. What do you think that Scottish wrestling companies as a whole do differently than others in the UK & Ireland?

I think that at the moment it’s a case of the right people in charge. These people have a clear idea of what they want to achieve and at SWE if we say we are gonna do something to the fans, we deliver on our promises. We don’t con the fans by promoting people who aren’t actually booked on the show and we don’t sell rip-off merch. We’re not in this to make a quick buck, we’re in this to create a great product.

Chaz Phoenix is billed as the most hated man in Scottish wrestling. Do you enjoy playing the role of a bad guy and what do you do that makes you stand out from the other heels on the roster?

I don’t think it’s what I do to stand out, its more of a case of I’m the original SWE bad guy! I’ve been around since Hell for Lycra 1 and we are now heading into number 10 in 2013.It’s just that I’ve always been the bad guy and the fans remember me as “the guy to hate”, so it makes me stand out from the rest of the heels on the roster. I’ll also do anything to win a match or retain my title.

How did your tag-team with Steven Magners come about?

I was looking to create a tag division in the SWE that could be something to be proud of and had just come off my 4th SWE Title reign. I was looking to slow down and let other guys have main event spots, so myself and Magners were booked together on a show and we worked well as a team. That was the birth of “The Syndicate”. In our second match together, we fought Bryan Tucker and Tatanka, which gave us the rub we needed to become one of the best teams in the SWE.

When you’re the champion of a promotion (you’re a 4-time SWE Champion and were the Wrestlezone Scotland champion), do you feel any extra pressure knowing that the main-event is on your shoulders and your match will be the thing that people go away from the show remembering?

Of course. Being the champ means you’re the target of the fans attention and the rest of the roster wants your spot, but all I do is go out, give it everything I have and try to put on a good match.

Who would you say is the most under-rated wrestler on the roster right now?

“All Night” Ian Ambrose. He’s one of the guys that has the ability, charisma and he can talk. He’s definitely the future of the SWE.

Of all the wrestling seminars you’ve been to, you must have taken something different away from each one. Would you say that you’ve maybe used some material from one more than the others, or have you tried to incorporate something from each of them into the way you work?

I’ve taken something different away from each seminar. I’ve tried to use it in the way I work and passed that knowledge to SWE trainees when I take training sessions. The one I took most from was Ted DiBiase as he has a vast knowledge of the reasons for doing things in the ring and storytelling in a match.

Over the last few years, the SWE have managed to get some WWE legends at their shows like Ted DiBiase, Virgil, Tatanka and most recently, Chavo Guerrero. What’s it like to be around those guys backstage and are they generous with their time to the boys in the back?

These guys are great and the working relationship SWE have with these guys couldn’t be better. They are very generous with their time. Piper, Ted and Tatanka took the time to go through some of the finer points of booking a card and the reasons why you’d do something a certain way. All of the legends, especially Ted, have become our friends, not just fly-by-night acquaintances, so the SWE as a whole has benefited from their presence.

What’s the goal for SWE moving forward?

We’re working hard to create an entertaining family product and our final aim is to take SWE to a place that’s thought to be impossible in the UK. Whether we manage or not is a different story, but we’ll never stop improving and being our own biggest critics.

Of all the matches you’ve had in your career so far, which one stands out to you most and which one are you most proud of?

I am most proud of my match against Tatanka at Hell for Lycra 8 in Dundee in 2011. Me and Steven Magners took one hell of a beating, but Tatanka put us over and that meant a lot. It gave us the push we needed to be one of the top tag-teams in the SWE.

Who’s been your favourite opponent to get in the ring with and why?

I would have to split it between Tatanka for being so easy to work with and Damian because all the matches we’ve had. We’ve just gelled and it’s been great.

Is there anyone you haven’t had the chance to wrestle yet that you’d love to work with?

In all the years we’ve both worked for the SWE, I’ve never worked a singles match with my old tag partner and current SWE Future Division Champion, “Tenacious” Johnny Lyons. I think we could have a great match.

Let’s pretend for a second that I’m Vince McMahon. I call you up and say “I want to give you a match at WrestleMania against any wrestler in the world, from the recent past or present”. Who would you want to face on that stage and why?

It would have to be Hogan at the height of Hulkamania. Other than that, I’d tell him to keep his WrestleMania match and give me a job as a booker! I think I could put on a great WWE event and use guys better than they are being used now.

And finally, have you got a message for all your fans?

If Chaz Phoenix has fans I have failed as a heel but you do get the odd moron that loves a bad guy so all I say that this is the SWE where “The past is history the future is now! And the best has yet to come”

That’s the second of our exclusive “SWE Spotlight” interviews in the books! What a way to kick off the spotlight. We’ve now heard from both members of the SWE tag-team The Syndicate! Just like Steven was last week, Chaz was great with his time doing this, so I wanna thank him for taking the time to talk to us! You can find “the most hated man in Scottish wrestling” on Twitter @chazphoenix, where you can keep up to date with his latest appearances and future SWE shows. For more information on SWE Wrestling, follow them on Twitter @SWE_online or visit their official website at www.sweonline.co.uk.

Next week’s “SWE Spotlight” interview will be with the man that Chaz mentioned as the future of SWE wrestling, “All Night” Ian Ambrose. Check back here next Wednesday afternoon for that!