Hey SoCalUncensored peeps, its Mike aka Draven/Ravensoul 1 & I’m here with the next installment of interviews for SCU. For the next interview, I had the chance to spend some time with a member of Fresh 2 Death, Leo Blaze. If you’re a fan of Leo & Fresh 2 Death, you’ll love this in depth interview..enjoy.
1. First of all, how are you & how are you feeling today?
LB: I’m doing well thanks for asking.
2. Do you remember the first time you saw a wrestling match & if so do you remember who was wrestling?
LB: Hmmmm, I believe I was about 6 or 7 when I saw my first pro wrestling match and I Bert hart was in that match but i forgot against who but once I saw Bert give those bright pink sun glasses to a fan , I got hooked because I wanted to be that fan that gets the glasses next time
3. Who was your inspiration to get into the wrestling buisness?
LB: Well I was always into wrestling growing up, it started just wrestling at a park with friends, then more people of us got together and started backyard wrestling , at first just with us as the crowd then later we actually started doing show, to make a long story short my friend had a cousin that also wrestled in east la so I hopped on the bus one day the check it out and that’s how I met Phoenix Star and Zorke before they became the Los luchas of course and they introduced me to Gil’s garage which was mechanic shop that had a ring in the back room and lots of local luchadores trained there and thats how it begun.
4. What was it about pro wrestling that made you decide that this was the thing you wanted to do?
LB: Well the first thing was the high flying I loved tag teams like the Hardys and Edge and Christian and how athletic they were and me being a athlete I taught myself how to tumble and that really helped me get a better grasp on my Lucha libre training.
5. Where did go for your training & who were your instructors?
LB: Well I was one of those guys that try to learn from everybody because different trainers have different training methods , when I first started training it was at Rev Pro with Ron “American Wild Child” Rivera , Santino bros Lucha libre with Shamu Jr and the Los luchas , M1w with Joey Ryan and Johnny Goodtime.
6. How do you feel about where you trained to be a pro wrestler? Were your teachers a positive infulence on you?
LB:Yes all my teachers were very positive and willing to help me with the most basic or the most difficult of things , there’s some much to wrestling that regular people will never know and that’s great because I’m always learning new things and that’s what keeps me hooked on wrestling.
7. Who were some of the other students in your class & do they still continue to wrestle?
LB: The ones that I have trained with and are still wrestling are nick Madrid , my tag partner Josh Rozay , Peter Avalon, Angel Lopez to name a few.
8. How long did you train before you had your first match?
LB: I trained for about a year and a half before my debut at HPW in 2005
9. Exactly how long have you been wrestling?
LB: About 5 and a half years
10. I know I’ve seen you wrestle for Championship Wrestling of Hollywood but is there any other promotions you compete for? If you do compete for other promotions, do you have a favorite & why?
LB: Other than CWFH , I have wrestled with Hybrid Pro Wrestling , IWL, LAW, DCW, Lucha va Voom. If I had to choose a favorite it would have to be Lucha va Voom because it’s so different from the your regular Indy show. It has a club vibe and there’s lots of variety, there’s dancers, comedians and of course wrestling, if you haven’t checked it out I highly recommend you too you will have an awesome time.
11. Have you or do you want to wrestle in other countries?
LB: I have not yet traveled but if I could only chose one place outside the us it would be Japan, I’ve always wanted to go its been a dream of mine for years and to go and wrestle would be amazing.
12. Please tell me about Leo Blaze & how that came about?
LB: Well I am a very confident person when I’m good at something whatever it may be , I want everybody to know , I’m sort of a sucker for the spotlight lol, so Leo blaze is pretty much me with more attitude and cockiness.
13. Tell me about the early days of Leo Blaze, were you part of any factions prior to Fresh 2 Death?
LB: Yes, when I first started at CWFH I was apart of a faction called the Disorder.
14. Has Leo Blaze changed over the years? Meaning did you start your career with a different style compare to now?
LB: Yes, when I first started I was more Lucha base more fast pace and over the years and learning more about the psychology in wrestling I’m now able to control a pace of a match better by being able to choose when to turn up the pace for better crowd reaction.
15. When did the formation of Fresh 2 Death happened? What are your thoughts on your partner Josh Rozay & the newest member of the group Othello?
LB: Me and Josh have been tagging since m1w for about two years. Josh has really good potential and has showed it alot this year especially since our run at CWFH. Josh is still pretty new to wrestling and he getting better each day of training, and Othello just look at the man , he’s a monster lol I’m glad he is on our side, I believe we mesh really good and can do great thing together.
16. Throughout your career, how many championships have you won & is there any that means alot to you & why?
LB: Unfortunately I have not won any title as of yet but we are eyeing the CWFH tag team belts.
17. Who are some of the talent you enjoy working with & why? any matches stand out to you as your favs?
LB: I really enjoyed working with Willie Mack , Scorpio Sky , TJ Perkins, Peter Avalon, Ray Rosas, Jerak Matthews, & Johnny Yuma. These guy are so good at what they do and they are open to lots of new ideas.
18. Is there any Indy talent in Southern California or anywhere that you would like to eventually work with?
LB: In So Cal, there are some many people but the main person would be Scorpio sky. I wrestled with him but I always wanted to wrestled against him I think we can have a great match.
19. Do you have any road stories or any fond memories with talent outside the ring you would like to share?
LB: Not that I can think of right now.
20. What do you think makes a good match in the ring?
LB: Being able to tell a good story that crowd can get behind and if the chemistry between the wrestlers are good. The sky’s the limit on how good the match will be.
21. Do you watch WWE or TNA? if so what do you think of the product?
LB: I try to watch both and both are good IMO because they something alittle different , WWE has good storylines while TNA has the more high pace wrestling.
22. Speaking of the big 2, have you had an opportunity to wrestle for them in any dark matches, tryouts or gut checks?
LB: I had a WWE tryout in August of this year, great expericence I learned alot building my character by strengthing my weaknesses.
23. How do you feel about the current Indy Scene here in So Cal?
LB: Well it has the potential the be really good there’s alot of new promotions that have just started, PWC and LAW both have great talent and have been making good choices in making their promotions better.
24. Some talent has set a goal for themselves saying if they don’t make it, they’ll walk away. Some are in college while wrestling, some have full time careers. So do you have a goal in trying to succeed in the buisness or do you have something to fall back on if things don’t turn out the way you want it? Or will Leo Blaze continue to wrestle & enteraining fans for many years to come?
LB: Well I don’t have a deadline as far as how long Leo blaze is going to be around right now I’m on the rise so I’m excited to see how far that will take me. As far as goals I want to would like to get the chance to work PWG I believe I can have good matches with the great talent they have there, and I want to tour Japan to see how it feels to wrestle in a foreign country, and of course to continue to sharpen my skills and get another shot at WWE or TNA. But I do have a career I’m a state certified massage therapist and that’s going really good.
25. I think you have a very devastating finisher, how did you come up with your Corkscrew Suplex finisher? Do you have a name for it?
LB: Oh the swag swing , I thought long and hard about it & I want one move that nobody in So Cal has done and it just popped in my head , I haven’t seen nobody do a 360 suplex , is basic move with some flash to it, I’m glad everybody loves that move.
26. Tell me about your “Dream Match”?
LB: Leo blaze vs Shawn Micheals would be my dream match, he has been in the greatest matches in WWE history and I know we can have a great match.
27. Last Question: Do you have anything to say to the fans of southern california & especially to the fans of Leo Blaze?
LB: Yes to all my fans in So Cal, you have just only seen just a bit of the greatness in Leo Blaze , best believe I have some fresh new moves for you guys coming 2013.
Thanks again to Leo Blaze for a great interview & thanks again to all the SCU.com fans for checking out another interview with another great So Cal talent. Be sure to check back again for another Mike’s interviews here on SoCalUncensored.com