JQA: First of all, how old were you when you first remember being a fan of the wrestling you saw on tv?

SHOW: Wow, well, that dates back to my earliest memories as a child. My father was a staff member of Cobo Hall in Downtown Detroit and that gave him free entry to all events at Joe Louis Arena too. My grandmother Vivian was a huge wrestling fan back when I was just a 2 year old kid and she'd sit there watching all kinds of wrestling while she played solitaire. So I was always watching wrestling on tv with her and when I was a bit older my dad would take me to Joe Louis and Cobo for every show. I'm 26 now, so it's been 24 or 25 years. Like I said, it started very young in life for me.

JQA: Do you remember the first live wrestling event you ever attended?

SHOW: I can't recall the very first show but it was definitely at Joe Louis Arena with my dad when I was like 4 or 5. We went to all of the WWF shows there. When my dad stopped working for JLA our family friend Frank the Indian would round up me and all my cousins and we'd go sit in the nose-bleeds with our binoculars. I always remember seeing Corporal Kirschner, who my cousins and I always thought was named "Kernal Casey". I don't know why we thought that, but it's funny to look back on now.

JQA: You used to run a pro wrestling news hotline based out of Detroit in the 90's, how did that come to be?

SHOW: When I was very young I used to watch for every Friday's Detroit News paper to read M.L. Curly's wrestling reports. I thought it was way cool how he always knew what was going to happen before it even happened on tv. In 1993-94, I discovered that M.L. Curly had a free wrestling hotline put out by the Detroit News, called "News Now". I started listening to his reports every day until one day a kid named Brian Gorie opened a free hotline of his own. I thought it was way cool and I wanted to try out doing my own. Eventually I won a contest Brian Gorie was doing on his hotline and he called my house for my prize. I asked how to get one of those hotlines, which was nothing more than an Ameritech stand-alone voicemail box with a 10 minute outgoing greeting. That was it, I got my own using a "stolen" voicemail box that was just sitting there inactive and not used by anyone. I hacked the password, did my first report in 1996 and The Pro Wrestling Revolution hotline was born. By the way, Brian Gorie is now a respected referee for IWR, IWA Midsouth and occassionally Ring of Honor.

JQA: How and when did you decide to get involved first-hand in the MI indie wrestling scene?

SHOW: After about 5 years of doing the PWR hotline thing, I had met hundreds of hotline hosts on my line, gone thru dozens of different #'s and I needed some new voices to work the line with me. I remembered this Detroit punk rock band called The Bump-N-Uglies. They mixed live wrestling, sneak attacks and heel villains into their stage show. Their lead singer Bubba Mackenzie used to live down the street from me and he owned a black hearse with flames down the sides. I knew they had a friendship with the Insane Clown Posse and they even owned the wrestling ring that ICP used for Stranglemania, Hellfire Wrestling and their Big Money Hustlas movie. So I shot an email to guitar player Amado Movado of the BNU and he instantly accepted a spot on the PWR hotline. After Amado's first few reports, he disappeared from the hotline, but in his place was BNU drummer Josh Movado. As time went on, Josh and the BNU's decided they wanted to run a one night only punk rock concert/pro wrestling event. It would be held on August 25, 2001 at Saint Andrews Hall in Downtown Detroit. They called it "Brawl at the Hall 2001" and Josh kindly tossed the role of ring announcer and play by play commentator into my lap. I had never done anything like this live and I never imagined I'd have the chance to do so, so immediately I accepted the offer. I figured, "hell, I'm a hotline host, I have a decent voice, I get to work inside of a wrestling ring, why not?"

JQA: Explain the entire day of your experience at Brawl at the Hall 2001?

SHOW; When it came time for the show I was nervous beyond belief. I was one of the very first people to show up to Saint Andrews Hall that morning to meet the Bump-N-Uglies. I wore a pair of khakis and a button up grandpa-style retro shirt, eventhough I was asked to wear a tuxedo. I spent about 8 hours hanging out and meeting over 60 wrestlers for the first time as they arrived. It was overwhelming. The more workers I met, the more faces I forgot. By the time it came to start getting my ring announce info ready for every match, I had forgotten who 90% of the wrestlers were. It was extremely stressful trying to get ready and I finally started to feel like I was in way over my head. How did 'I' end up in this position with absolutely zero experience? How would I ever go thru with this and speak to a live crowd for the next 4 hours? I was second guessing the whole night and I wasn't so sure the BNU were still happy they chose me to announce. When the time came to kick off the show, I climbed into the ring in front of a massive crowd of people who just stared at me like "who is this punk kid with the microphone?". I brought the Bump-N-Uglies out to the ring so they could greet the crowd and explain the night's event. The mic was handed back to me and it was time for me to take over for the rest of the evening. To this day I feel my heart pounding when I think of this moment....I grabbed the top rope with my left hand, leaned back looking to the sky and screamed "Detroit! Are you ready to blow the roof off this motherfuc--" *BAM!* My hand slipped off the rope and I fell flat on my boney ass in the middle of the ring. The crowd was no longer dead silent staring at me with "WTF" looks... instead, they popped with laughter. I stood back up, forced a smile and pushed on announcing. In-between ring intros, I was at the commentary table trying my best to provide play-by-play for wrestlers that I couldn't even mention by name. I was obviously out of my league and thrust into a position I did not deserve. I still look back and thank God that Scotty Libido (BCW's Jeff Scott) was my color commentary partner. Man, he really saved my ass on that show.

JQA: Who were some of the wrestlers on that show?

SHOW: The more well known guys were CM Punk, Colt Cabana, Ace Steel, Chris Hero, Mad Man Pondo, Corporal Robinson, Deathdealer Tommy Starr, Larry Destiny and a few others. Troma Films even sent their movie hero The Toxic Avenger for an angle on the show. Plus we had a ton of guys in their very first year of wrestling, some even still training such as Chris Sabin and Jimmy Jacobs.

JQA: So falling on your behind and doing a not-so-great first attempt at commentary didn't scare you away?

SHOW; Oh yes, at the show I was scared shitless and found myself counting down the matches to the end of the card so it would be over. I was that awkward that I just wanted it to end. However, by the end of the show those feelings went away and I was happy I did it. I was even happy that I fell in front of the entire crowd. That first "bump" popped the fans as a sort of an ice-breaker for me. After that moment they weren't sitting on there hands when I was in the ring, they were actually cool with me on the mic. I'm almost glad that I fell on my ass for that reason. As for the play by play, I stunk. I still don't think to this day I'm cut out for play-by-play, even if I do actually know WHO the wrestlers are now. lol

JQA: So that was a one-time deal, how did you continue to stay involved?

SHOW: After the Brawl show, it was back to normal everyday PWR hotline stuff for me. The Bump-N-Uglies continued to do their concerts, which featured run-ins on stage by local wrestlers and blood bath mini-matches to end the gig. The BNU's also started doing more matches with other local indie feds. I tried to stay in the loop with what others were doing in Detroit wrestling and I started more indie show coverage on the PWR hotline. Sometime in the fall of 2001, Josh Movado gave me a ring and informed me that the BNU were considering running another show in January 2002. We brainstormed ideas for a name for the event and we came up with a play on the PWR-- the Independent Wrestling Revolution. When we booked the first date, 01/26/02, we decided to go ahead and book a February date and a March date for the second Brawl at the Hall show. Again, and to my shock, Josh asked me to do the ring announcing. It took me a second to think it over and there was no way I could turn it down. I was just happy to be welcomed back and I swore to myself that THIS TIME I would do things the right way.

JQA: How did the IWR come to life?

SHOW: We went thru some connections and actually booked Jerry "The King" Lawler for our March 2002 Brawl at the Hall show. It would be Jerry's first match ever in Detroit. So the plan was that we would use the January debut show to crown our first IWR Heavyweight Champion and he would go on to face Jerry Lawler in the main event of Brawl at the Hall 2002 in March. We woud also use our February show to crown the first IWR tag team champions. We did alot of press around Detroit and ran a handful of media interviews with Jerry Lawler challenging us to present a champion for him to face in the ring. It was enough buzz that we had the entire indie scene looking at us, so we decided to throw it all on the table and make this IWR project a full-time federation with monthly shows.

JQA: Can you relive that first night explaining how you felt?

SHOW: The debut show came on January 26, 2002 in Sterling Heights, MI. I was in a much more calm state of mind this time around. I spent a few months prior figuring out what I would say and how I would carry myself on the mic. I didn't want to pretend to be a ring announcer after the way I performed at the first Brawl show, so I came up with more of an emcee or host type of character. Instead of being the suit-wearing statuesque ring announcer, I was going to be the animated, casual dressed "award show host" type of announcer. I had all of my lines memorized and I did alot more research on the wrestlers I'd be working with. I was a helluva lot more prepared this time around and I think my work came off near flawlessly. I found an immediate connection to the fans and I didn't have to force myself on them to get them to react. Essentially, I tried to present myself as a fan with a live mic as I introduced the IWR, it's stars and our opening storyline with Jerry Lawler. To end the show, the late great "Raging Bull" Yukon Braxton won the first-ever IWR title and the chance to represent our company vs. Jerry Lawler at Brawl at the Hall 2002.

JQA: Which IWR wrestlers caught your attention right away on that debut show?

SHOW; Immediately Chris Sabin, Yukon Braxton and CK3 blew me away. All 3 had the means to become huge superstars. Also, for a few months before this debut show, I had been talking to a one-legged kid named Zach Gowen. He was trying to train to become a pro wrestler, which I found very interesting. We ended up booking Zach on that show as a referee.

JQA: From there, the IWR moved on to the second Brawl at the Hall, what was special about that night?

SHOW: Brawl 2002 featured "Revolution vs. Royalty", as Yukon Braxton defended our title against Jerry "The King" Lawler. The crowd was very hot all night and especially for the main event. I found myself very confident in my announcing and I finally felt like I redeemed myself for the mistakes I made at the first ever Brawl show.

JQA: The IWR has continued to grow over the last 4 years, who are some of the bigger named wrestlers who have come thru?

SHOW: Oh, too many to list. Jerry Lawler, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, AJ Styles, Larry Zybysko, Sabu, Monty Brown, Shane Douglas, ICP, La Parka, Christopher Daniels, Konnan, Hijo del Santo, Blue Panther, the list can go on for days. We've also had a lot of TNA's current stars a few years back before they hit the big time, such as Petey Williams, Eric Young, A1, Bobby Roode, etc. IWRwrestling.com has a section of all of our past results and the names of superstars who have worked for us.

JQA: You have also "turned heel" as a ring announcer, something thats pretty much unheard of. Can you explain the reason for this?

SHOW: The reason for me becoming a heel ring announcer was that I wanted to rile the crowd up even more. It's so much easier to pop a crowd when you're an asshole than it is to come out, smile and practically beg them to make noise. One rule of ring announcing is that you NEVER shout "Make some noise!"-- as a heel, you don't have to worry about asking. It was just an easier way to draw reactions. I wore the t-shirt of The Threat, the IWR's hottest heel faction and I started running my mouth off in a heelish way. The fans instantly reacted and booed the hell out of me. It also worked to the effect that our babyfaces recieved much louder response from the fans. So all in all, heel-Showtime accomplished everything I hoped it would. It almost doubled the crowd heat for the entire show and put the wrestlers over even more without them having to work any harder. Indie shows have smaller crowds and the fans are sometimes finnicky, so what better way to keep them popping all night than to have a heel hosting the show?

JQA: Have you ever taken any bumps or beatings in the ring as part of the show?

SHOW: Absolutely. The first bump I ever took was the night Josh Movado stormed the ring and t-bone Josh-plexed me. I was in the ring doing my usual heel mic work in-between a match, so Josh came out to shut me up and get the crowd hanging from the rafters to see my ass getting kicked. From there, we did a lengthy 6 month storyline were The Deathdealer Tommy Starr would stalk me out at every show with his kendo stick. The fans would chant for Deathdealer to destroy me with the cane and everytime he'd come within an inch of doing so, I would find a way to escape and continue running my mouth. Eventually the pay off came when Deathdealer finally got his hands on me-- he whacked my face with the kendo stick and then broke it by beating it over my back. The crowd erupted at my expense. While I was being carried from the ring by referees, IWR senior ref Mark Johansen snuck a 50,000 volt tazer gun out of his pocket and shocked my ass silly as an extra added bonus for the fans. As the months went on, The Threat, whom I had been supporting for many months finally turned on me as well. They forced me to take the Threat shirt off in the ring and then they beat me down 5 on 1. Of course my biggest bump in the ring ever was at Brawl at the Hall 2004, the night Al Snow headbutted the hell out of me, hoisted me up and delivered the Snowplow to me, knocking me cold.

JQA: Have you gone thru any sort of in-ring training?

SHOW; Nope. Maybe I should have, eh? lol

JQA: How many of the IWR indie stars have gone on to bigger fame?

SHOW: Quite a few of the IWR alumni have gone on to bigger stuff. Chris Sabin, Petey Williams, A1, Roode, Alex Shelley, Jimmy Jacobs, Zach Gowen, Elvis Elliot and so any others have been on TNA, ROH and even Zach with the WWE.

JQA: You have also worked for Ted Dibease's church wrestling organization. How did you get that role?

SHOW: In November 2004 Ted brought his church event to Detroit World Outreach, along with Sting, Shawn Michaels, Buff Bagwell, Greg Valentine and Road Warrior Animal. A month before the show I recieved a phone call from Nate Mattson saing that Scott D'Amore, Ted Dibiase and Jimmi V.would like me to ring announce the event. There was no way I would turn that one down, not for anything. The show was an amazing experience. It was very nice to work alongside Sting, HBK and the others. Ted was a very humble and very nice guy to work for. Working the mic in front of those 5,000 fans was my biggest achievement ever in pro wrestling.

JQA: Where do you see the IWR and Michigan wrestling going in the next 2-3 years?

SHOW: In the next few years I hope to see the IWR continue doing what we're doing now. We have some really good stuff coming up for 2006 including 2 more of our Revolucha supershows and much more. I just hope we can stay active, keep our boys healthy and continue to watch our stars break out into bigger and better things in the business. That is what our Revolution is really all about when it comes down to it. We are the platform for the stars of tomorrow and we are very proud to help these young workers make it.

JQA: Where do you want to see yourself 5 years from now in the business?

SHOW: Myself? Well, like I just said, I want to continue doing what I am doing now with the IWR. I hope to continue accepting those special bookings that come my way and keep seeing where my path leads me. As you can tell, I never planned for any of this to happen and I don't really think I can predict where the next 5 years will take me. I just wanna be happy doing what I'm doing, and right now, I am happy.

JQA: Would you ever drop it all on the indie scene for a shot at the bigtime?

SHOW: That is a tough question. I'd be lying if I said no, but it would be very hard to just give up all that I have done wth the IWR, even for the biggest company in the world. Every wrestling fan dreams of one day being in the WWE, so it is a dream that I've had since childhood. I never expected to even work on indie shows and here I am. So, I guess I do not ever expect to get a phone call from the WWE, but if that day ever comes then I'll do what my heart tells me to do.

JQA: Any last comments?

SHOW: Just one thing-- SUPPORT INDIE WRESTLING and the stars of tomorrow! Go out and buy a ticket, help spread the word and support the young guys that will one day be the superstars in this industry! Indie wrestling is the grass roots of pro wrestling and the foundation of what this whole game is built from. Your support is needed to keep the local business surviving and free of a one-ruler industry, so go out and do your part for what you believe in! Thank you.