Recently, Steve had the opportunity to sit down and interview Rising Son. Son talked about how he gotin and out of XPW before he even debuted, working for MLW over on the East Coast, his thoughts on CZW, Marketplace feds, the SoCal Internet wrestling scene, the state of Rev Pro, his match with Ricky Reyes at the Revolution J, his dream opponents, and much much more.
Steve: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview.
Rising Son: Not a problem my friend. Anything for the good people of SoCal.
Steve: When you did your last interview with SCU, it was shortly after you defeated Super Dragon in the Spirit of Revolution finals, a match that was Match of the Year runner up for SoCal. How do you feel your career has gone since then?
Rising Son: I feel that everything has been on the up and up, other than a few injuries. I think I may have declined in my work rate a little. I’m not sure why. But I also feel that I’ve been making a strong charge as of late within the scene.
Steve: The big news with you right now is that you just quit XPW before you ever debuted there. First, how did you get involved with XPW?
Rising Son: Well, American Wild Child, a person whom I owe so very much to, came to me and told me of a few ideas that XPW had been mulling around, such as the new tag division, a cruiser division, and he told me that one of the first names they had mentioned was mine, so he came to me and asked me to be a part of it.
Steve: You were contracted to work a match at EPIC at the time. What made you choose XPW over EPIC?
Rising Son: Well, one big factor was this. EPIC told me, “You can always come back to us if things don’t
work out”. But XPW said, “If you work for [EPIC], then you cannot come back here”. And with that, I chose XPW because I figured why not give it a chance. But it was a rather hard choice to come to.
Steve: Why did you quit XPW?
Rising Son: Well, in my original talks with XPW, mainly with Kevin Klienrock, I asked about future bookings, and he told me that all they really cared about was MPW and EPIC. But word came from Kevin through a very close friend of mine that they wouldn’t let me work any other shows other than San Diego, which I nearly never go to, and Rev Pro. This was intentionally withheld from me to keep me in ring shape and to keep my name circulating. But the reason I left is that if that’s how things were going to be, they should have been very up front with that and told me that originally.
Steve: Do you regret choosing XPW?
Rising Son: No I don’t, because it was good to have a ring to train in, and get to know their workers better, and see some old faces and stuff. I just wish they’d been more up front with me.
Steve: So if they had been up front with you and told you, “No, you can only work Rev Pro and San
Diego”, would you have chosen them?
Rising Son: No, I wouldn’t have. The difference is simply the amount of work. I don’t want to trade up to possibly 6 shows a month for maybe 2 if things work out for [XPW].
Steve: While still on the subject of XPW, what do you think of their plans to go to the ECW Arena?
Rising Son: I hold no grudges against XPW. I really hope that everything works out for them. I’ve not really heard too much about their plans, but things seem like they could really work out. If not, then so be it. But if so, then that’s cool. I am not real sure that the ECW Arena is the place for them though, because mostly people there look for things to be like ECW and with XPW, that’s not what you are going to get because as people can see, there is an obvious difference.
Steve: You got to wrestle in the ECW Arena for the first time last month on MLW’s debut show. How was that experience?
Rising Son: Frigging amazing. I had the first impression that apparently everyone has. You walk in and say, “This place looks bigger on TV”. But the whole thing was great. I got a lot of good heat because of [Super] Dragon selling his tapes, the fans had seen me and knew of me. Some were even chanting my name before I got in the ring. It was really great. Good fans out there they are really into wrestling of all
kinds out there.
Steve: Has there been any talks of bringing you back for a future MLW show?
Rising Son: I’m not really sure. I’d love to go back and give the fans a 2nd dose of Rising Son and show
them more of what I can do. I’d love to go for CZW as well and who knows, that might be coming up sometime soon too.
Steve: Recently on various shows, you and Excalibur have been cutting promos on each other back and forth. Is there any real heat between the two of you?
Rising Son: From my standpoint? No. From his? I hear that their might be because of the huge mix up at the GSCW show. I can only apologize for that so many times and I hope that it doesn’t affect us in anyway. I’ve not really talked to him about it, but I hope that everything is cool between us.
Steve: What do you think about all of the new promotions that are springing up at the Marketplace?
Rising Son: I think it’s good, because you never know when all of a sudden a new MPW or a new WPW will come out of it. I love working shows no matter who is putting it on… as long as I get paid ON TIME! (laughs)
Steve: So you don’t feel that it over exposes the scene and decreases attendance across the board?
Rising Son: I don’t really think about it that much.
Steve: OK, going back a little bit, last year you were in the match that was runner up for Match of the Year, and were nominated for Wrestler of the Year. What were your thoughts on those honors?
Rising Son: Everyone says, “It was great to be nominated”, and it is. At the same time, while it would have been great to win, and I’d have loved it, part of me is glad I didn’t, because once you are on top there is no place to go but down, and I’m Rising Son, not Descending Son. I like have a place to rise ahead of me, and that’s what I think I’m doing now is trying to widen my horizon and show how much I really can do.
Steve: What do you think of the Internet wrestling scene as a whole?
Rising Son: For me, it is a good thing, because I can sit and read what people have to say about my work. And I can feed off of it and see what the fans are into.
Steve: Do you see any negatives in it? For instance, a lot of people in wrestling dislike some of the information that gets out that most people wouldn’t know if not for the Internet.
Rising Son: Well, I don’t believe that anything has been said about me that’s not true, except that I’m a bad worker. (laughs) But I don’t see too much of it. It’s how things are. People are always wanting to know what’s next or what’s going on, so you can’t really stop it, so no reason to worry about it too much.
Steve: The matches you are best known for are your matches with Super Dragon. What are your thoughts on him, and his recent success?
Rising Son: Well, when I think of Super Dragon, the first thing that comes to mind is “goddamn mutha fucka Super D is one good dick sucka”. Then beyond that, I think that he is one of the best workers around. I’ve seen a lot of the changes he has gone through, and a lot of the hype isn’t hype, a lot of the shit talked is just shit talking. Dragon is a great guy, and unless you know him you don’t get him. I think with all his hard work, he deserves all the success that he has gotten and I wish him nothing but the best.
Steve: If I remember correctly, you guys haven’t had a singles match in SoCal since September. Do you see your feud restarting at some point in the future?
Rising Son: I hope so. Dragon and I have had some awesome battles and we’ve never come to a point where people have said that I can’t beat him. So I’ve got more wins against him coming I’m sure.
Steve: What do you think about where Rev Pro is right now, versus where it was at the same point last year? It seems while Rev Pro was the most talked about and most hyped promotion around last summer, this year it’s largely forgotten.
Rising Son: I feel overly sad and pissed off. Rev Pro is my home. I was born there. I have a lot of history with people there predating Rev Pro going back to 94. I would love to see Rev Pro go back to where it was. And with the right booking and the right team behind it and if we can all refocus, it can get there. I’ve kind of been passed the torch to “carry” the Rev Pro banner, and that’s something I hold highly. I want to do my best to show people all over just what Rev Pro is about, no matter who I’m working for or against.
Steve: A little known fact is that before you were Rising Son, you were El Gallinero. How did the Rising
Son gimmick come about?
Rising Son: (laughs) well I believe that the whole Rising Son story is in the other SCU interview about how it was one of Blitzkriegs old gimmicks, and I asked to have it, and he didn’t mind, so I took off with it. And yes, I was the first Gallinero, for one match. Who knew some other poor schmucks would get that gimmick… poor, poor people. (laughs) It’s fun to do though.
Steve: Yeah, it’s in the other SCU interview. I just wanted to mention you were once El Gallinero. Do you think the El Gallinero gimmick is the next Tiger Mask? (laughs)
Rising Son: (laughs) WHAT?!? No dude, because they put good workers in the Tiger Mask gimmick. Not to say Gallineros aren’t good workers, but its just a way to get people some ring time and not have them go through that crappy stage where you suck when you come out as your gimmick. It’s a really good way to give people ring time and hone their craft before they become an actual main stay in wrestling.
Steve: What do you think of the rep you, and some of the other Rev Pro guys have about not being able to work outside your circle?
Rising Son: Well, I think if you look at my work with people outside my circle, it seems pretty solid. I hate that crap too cause think about it. The most important thing is working with people inside your group. Because I mean, that’s all the WWE is or NJPW. It’s a big group, and if you don’t work well with those people, then you are up a creek with out a paddle. But, I feel my work has been good all around. But, you’d have to ask some fans about that.
Steve: What are your thoughts on your match with Ricky Reyes from the Revolution J last year?
Rising Son: I feel fine about it. The only problem I had that day was that [Reyes] seemed to give me a cold shoulder all day that day, then for him to get in and “stiff” me. Now I don’t care about being stiffed. I’ve wrestled Dragon too much to care. It was just how [Reyes] acted before that. I’ve seen [Reyes] after the Rev J many times, and I think he is a great worker and a good person. That’s the past and I don’t worry about it, and I didn’t worry about it then either.
Steve: Who are some wrestlers in SoCal and outside of SoCal that you would like to get a chance to wrestle?
Rising Son: [Chris] Daniels, Spanky, ummmm [Lil] Cholo… anyone really. Those are just some names off the top of my head, but I really like working with everyone and anyone. Also Jardi [Frantz] and American Dragon, [“Sick” Nick] Mondo, and I’d like to work with Messiah again.
Steve: Aside from Super Dragon, your biggest feud has possibly been with Jason Allgood. What are your thoughts on him?
Rising Son: Well, I’d say my biggest feud was with TARO, because that lasted like 2 years or something. But I like Jason. Good guy and a solid worker, strong American style, which is good cause it shows I can work that way as well. At this point, I believe that he is up on me a few and I owe him for a few chair shots, but I shall get the last laugh.
Steve: In your last interview with SCU, when asked where you see yourself in five years, you said “a wheelchair”. Hopefully you were kidding. So, what is Rising Son’s future?
Rising Son: My future is really out of my hands. I want to work. I love wrestling with my entire heart. It’s more about where the fans and promoters want to see me. I’d love to tour Japan, if not, work there for good. I want to go east again. And I want to go through Canada. But yeah, that was a joke, but it could come true. I do some semi-dangerous stuff.
Steve: Is there any last things you want to say before we finish?
Rising Son: I want to thank everyone who has ever enjoyed a match of mine. You people are the ones who make me do what it is that I do. I hope that you have the same respect for me that I do for you, because I kill my body for you. And you give your money to see me work. I give to you my heart and soul each time I’m out there in front of you. So thank you for helping me become who I am in the wrestling world. And no, that’s not me kissing ass. I really do mean that!
