Recently World’s Biggest Mark had the chance to sit down with Black Metal. In this interview Black Metal discusses his start in wrestling, why he chose lucha, his time in Mexico, getting de-masked by New Jack, Batman, and more.
World’s Biggest Mark: How did you get your start in wrestling?
Black Metal: If you read an interview on the Internet, it’s always the same. “I watched it as a kid, this and that.” I’ll be honest. I was a Batman fan. My first memory of wrestling was getting a Hulk Hogan action figure. I guess it grew from there, over the years. My brother-in-law was the one who told me I should be a wrestler. I didn’t pay any attention to it until he took me to the Marketplace. I saw the Ballards and the Haystacks. I said, “Alright, I’m going to
do it.”
Worlds Biggest Mark: Is that why you chose Lucha over American?
Black Metal: I didn’t really choose it over American. I was 16 and all I looked at was, it’s wrestling. It was 15 minutes from my house. I thought of going out to Jesse [Hernandez’s], but I had to go with what was close.
Worlds Biggest Mark: Did you speak Spanish before you started training?
Black Metal: Not one word. I could cuss pretty well, and my brother-in-law speaks Spanish, but I was nowhere near fluent.
WBM: How did you get the gig where you got to wrestle in Mexico for months at a time?
Metal: Martin always had talked about it, and I finally said, “Let’s do it.” We asked Wagner, and he let me stay at his house, so we did it.
WBM: So how does wrestling south of the border differ from wrestling here?
Metal: The way I see it, here the fans watch, wait for a spot, and then clap. Some say the fans here respect wrestling here more, but I don’t see that. In Mexico, it’s like going into an arena, like the WWF. There can be 40 people, but there’s so much reaction, it feels like 40,000.
WBM: Do you prefer wrestling in Mexico to the States?
Metal: I love Mexico, I love the States. It depends on the promotion. I’ve been in bad promotions with horrible crowds, both here and in Mexico. I like wrestling up North because the crowds are very good. When I worked with SPW, they had awesome crowds. They have good promotions down here too.
AWS has great crowds. I’d have to go with Mexico.
WBM: Your dream contract. Who ya gonna wrestle for?
Metal: I’m not gonna lie and not say WWF. However, I’d like to go back to CMLL. I’d like to go to one of the more Lucha style Indys, maybe Japan.
WBM: When did you start wearing the mask?
Metal: I used the Black Metal mask around 1999 on a few WPW tours, but didn’t wear it full time until early 2001, when I went to Mexico. That’s where I learned the pride of the mask. The mask is something you don’t mess with. It’s like telling Hulk Hogan he can’t wear the red and yellow. When Bischoff told Austin he’d never get over with black trunks, he was taking away part of the character. The mask is everything, and that’s how I feel.
WBM: How did you feel when New Jack tore it off?
Metal: When he took the mask off, there was nothing I could do. I was mad, and wanted to quit. I can’t look at it that way, because in my honest opinion, when people remember New Jack, they’ll only remember a huge black guy who used to wrestle for ECW. They won’t remember him taking my mask. I respect him, but only because my momma taught me to respect my elders. Otherwise, no.
WBM: Recently, WPW has been in using a lot of American workers. Does this correlate to the drop in attendance?
Metal: Honestly, yes. I like them. I like Joey Ryan, Scott Lost. I like every single one of them. My wife is Hispanic, and like many, she doesn’t like it. In wrestling, you have to cater to what the fans want. If they don’t like something,
you have to change it to remain successful, no matter how much money you’re saving.
WBM: Who’s your favorite partner/dream partner?
Metal: Wagner is my dream partner. I’ve partnered with him before, and he was my trainer. He’s one of the best workers in the world, if not the best. Favorite partner is King Jackal. I tag with him at AWS, and feel we have good chemistry.
WBM: Favorite/dream opponent?
Metal: My favorite right now is Supa Badd. We have good matches together. I don’t care what Justin Crast or Steve [Bryant] say, Supa Badd is good. He may not do flips, he may not do strong style, but he is good. I’ve been in the ring,
taken a bump. I know that [Supa Badd] is really good. I also like working Ghetto Matt. I’ve known him since he started, and he is good.
WBM: At one time, there was animosity between yourself and the Hardkore Kidd. Was it resolved, and if so, what did you learn from it?
Metal: Everyone grows up. I was what, 17 when that was happening? I was a little kid, and he wasn’t that much older. It was like jealousy between brothers. Kidd was one of the reasons I started training. Had I not seen him, I might not have had the balls to start training. I don’t hate him. The jealousy worked itself out and we are now friends.
WBM: When he’s older, would you encourage your son to get into wrestling?
Metal: It’s up to him, but I would love for him to train. I’d like to start a new lineage like the Guerreros or Von Erichs. I’d love to have that. It’s his choice. Besides if you try to stop them, then bad things happen.
WBM: Time for some name association. Let’s start with Martin Marin.
Metal: Martin was my first best friend in this business. We might not always agree, but that’s the brakes. I’m not his father. He was there for me many times. I have nothing bad to say about him. He’s helped me out so much.
WBM: Mil Mascaras
Metal: Mil gets a bum rap. People think since he’s been around so long, he’ll take advantage of people. When I first wrestled him, I was scared. He is a class act, and the one true living legend. Bruno [Sammartino] is too, but Mil still
wrestles. He’s in his 60’s.
WBM: Super Dragon
Metal: I first met Dragon at a WPW training session. I saw this skinny little kid, but apparently he had trained with Martin before, so it was like, “Cool. Whatever.” He injured his knee that day. Jakal was there, the Ballards, Hardkore. After training, I talked with Shane Ballard until like 10:30. We were there in the blackest night, fog rolling in, and we got our bags to leave. As we left, there is Super Dragon, sitting next to the ring. We thought he left, but there he was. We offered him a lift, but he was like, “No. It’s cool.” That’s how I met Dragon. He does stuff that gets him over. It’s good for him, as long as he’s doing well for himself.
WBM: Lucky
Metal: (laughing) Oh my, Lucky. He doesn’t know when to shut up. Nothing bad you can say about Lucky.
WBM: XPW
Metal: I have nothing bad or good to say. I am not that familiar with them. I’ve seen a few tapes. After a half hour of watching this in Mexico, the guys were like, “Ouch. Can you show me how to do that?” Never met anyone from XPW,
so that’s that.
WBM: UIWA
Metal: It was cool. Never wrestled for them, but worked out at the dojo. [Johnny] Hemp was a good guy, nothing bad to say. The guys were like family. It’s too bad they… it sucks they haven’t come back in some way.
WBM: Last question. If you could pick any cartoon character to be president, who would it be?
Metal: Batman from the animated series.