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UK Wrestling Scene Interviews

The Dominator Interview #2

In case you don’t know, Dominator (Real Name: Stuart Allen) is one of the top-UK wrestlers at the moment. He has worked with the FWA, is part of the infamous Dead Souls stable and even owns his own promotion called Extreme World Warfare. He has even had try-outs with the WWE in the past, and I recently got in touch with Dominator in hope of conducting this interview, which he gladly accepted. So ladies and gentlemen, my interview with…DOMINATOR:

In case you don’t know, Dominator (Real Name: Stuart Allen) is one of the top-UK wrestlers at the moment. He has worked with the FWA, is part of the infamous Dead Souls stable and even owns his own promotion called Extreme World Warfare. He has even had try-outs with the WWE in the past, and I recently got in touch with Dominator in hope of conducting this interview, which he gladly accepted. So ladies and gentlemen, my interview with…DOMINATOR:

Dominator, first of all, we know you were in the spotlight for a while last year with EWW and the Dead Souls, but as of late we don’t seem to have heard much about you. What have you been up to as of late?

At the moment, I’m training hard in the gym, and hoping to be a solid 18 stone for the summer. I’ve gained some quality muscle since Christmas, and will be coming back with an entirely different look. I had a lot of good comments about my look after Revival, but that was just experimentation.

We have a few ventures that we are looking at; we have been asked if we will lend a hand to a few new guys starting out with shows etc. Obviously, any help we can give, we will do our very best.

What’s going on with EWW at the moment? Any plans for future shows or appearances?

I’m booked on a couple of shows this year, most notably one in Dublin, which is a fantastic place to visit. As far as our shows go, we have no immediate plans to follow up Castled until we realistically believe we can better it. Why do a show that would be anything less than what your fans are used to?

What did you think of Revival and were you disappointed that you weren’t picked for the tournament?

I thought it was a great night for the business. And the fact people still talk about it proved it worked to a degree. It was booked with a format that has been seen time and time again, and I would have liked to have seen them take a few more risks. It looked very English, but that isn’t a bad thing really.

I wasn’t disappointed in not being picked. To be involved in something that will always be a part of U.K wrestling history was nice. After all, they could have not bothered with a draw and just done the tournament, but they wanted us involved in its advertising and build up, so they knew what they were doing. We looked so diverse from the others that it would have given the card more depth than it appeared to have on T.V. But they know that I have a look that sells, and I still didn’t get used. I did get a load of nice emails from FWA fans who thought that I should have worked the show and wanted to know why Tyrant and I were left off the card. But that’s life. The Breed and Guy Thunder are all talented guys and deserved to get on the card too. But they only had a two-hour slot to fill, so they had to be realistic.

Now lets go back to the start of your career. How did you get into the business?

I was trained by Adrian Street in Pensacola, Florida in January 1994. He pretty much got me involved the old school way. Training hard twice a day, and finishing it off in the ring where we used to shoot and the students would try and take him down. Then he would make us pay for it in a big way. I have videotape of Adrian gouging my eyes and mouth so hard that I was bleeding. He had a wicked knowledge of body manipulation. He knew how to hurt you in the cruellest and most demeaning ways. It did me a lot of good though, and those few months were oddly the greatest times in my life. I would be lying if I said I’m not p*ssed off with the way the guys get into it now. A lot of them expect to just walk into a ring because they have watched wrestling for years and can do a few half-baked moves on their mates in their gardens. I wanted to learn it all when I started, not just the theatrics. 90% of guys who get in there now wouldn’t know what to do if it turned ugly in there.

Did you ever do Backyard Wrestling?

Never. Not once. I hate it now, and I hated it then, which is why I knew the only way to do it was the right way. Luckily, EWW, Hammerlock and FWA have all put good solid schools on the map, so there is no excuse to do that sh*t anymore. It would be safer to take a backyarder into a car park after a show and beat the sh*t out of him rather than lend him your body to do a few f*cked up moves on in a ring. They don’t deserve to get into the business, and they all know it. That’s why they’ve all got attitudes, because deep down they know they haven’t got what it takes to get into a ring.

When was your first professional match? And was it at all scary?

Yes it was. It was at Dragons Gym in Montego Bay, Jamaica. It was an outdoor show, and over this fence was a big football match going on. The crowd saw this ring being set up and the D.J with these massive speakers belting out our music, and that was it, they all ran over, climbed the fence and sat patiently for 3 hours until the show. It was absolutely mental! The footballers must have been well p*ssed off with us. In Jamaica all they had was WWF on T.V once a month and that was it. They had NEVER seen it live. And so I was opening match with Irish Brett Dillon, and they went nuts for it. I remember I got so carried away that I bumped over the top rope and took out four rows of seats. I was the babyface that night, and when Brett hit me with a padlock behind the ref’s back for the pin, the crowd tried to kill him. They all thought it was real! One guy chased him to the locker room with a knife. F*cking hilarious. So yes, it was scarier than your normal debut I would say!

What has been your favourite match so far?

My cage match with Frankie Capone at Scorched Earth. That was the last match that I really enjoyed doing, where you feel it’s all going right.

Have you ever been in any extremely hardcore matches and if so, which one was the most hardcore?

Not extremely. I have never been a major hardcore nut like Zandig, but people always thought of me as hardcore, but I don’t think so. Other than a few cage matches and loads of anything goes matches, nothing out of the ordinary.

How many serious injuries have you had and which was the worst injury you had?

My very worst injury, which I still suffer with to this day, was from wrestling school. Adrian used to bring in a guy called Turbo Ted who was the local stiff pr*ck who would rough up the guys once they were ready. He taught Bob Holly allegedly which must qualify him to be a bad ass! Anyway he nailed me with a neckbreaker and snapped me down way too fast and took out my top vertebrae. I still have to see a Chiropractor, but no way near as often as I used to. I had constant headaches for years. If I ever run into that guy again, I will do time for him.

Who do you consider your best friends in the wrestling business?

Over here it would have to be people like Jonny Storm, he’s a good little guy. Alex Shane and I have done a lot of stuff, and I would consider him a friend. Lee Edwards who has retired is a good mate, and also the “rotten” Chris Manns!

Is there anyone in the UK scene (wrestlers, bookers, promoters etc) who you don’t like, whether for backstabbing or attitude or anything?

I always give most guys the time of day. I can’t be bothered with anybody having attitude unless we make it so that we are doing this for a living. Until then, it’s not “the business”, and we should make it a fun place to be. Forget all the egos. Nobody has backstabbed me yet, and god help anybody if they decide to.

Who do you think has the brightest future in the UK scene?

We have some amazing talent over here, as I have said before the guys have to work that much harder here because they aren’t household names. It’s a predictable thing to say, but I would say Jody or Jonny, for work rate and charisma. For overall appearance and work rate, then Doug Williams.

The old WCW was famed for bringing in the experienced guys like Hollywood Hogan, Sting and The Outsiders, who seemed to do nothing but hold back the rising young stars of the company. Do you think guys like Drew McDonald and Dino Scarlo have the same effect on the UK business, or do they have a positive effect?

It’s been positive so far, and the FWA shows have benefited from having bigger, more experienced guys on the show instead of the same meaningless matches. The Old school Vs New School angle is good too. I’ve always been a big fan of ongoing storylines that have lots of room to develop.

Do you ever see yourself in the WWF?

No. Maybe about 2 years ago if I had have been as big as I am now and had the contacts I have now, but it’s a closed shop now. You’ve all seen how good Nova is, and he can’t get in there right now, and he has big hook ups all over the place and has an awesome look and is a seriously good worker. I doubt that we will see any big surprises turning up in the fed in the next few years other than the homeless WCW and ECW guys. Vince has got it sewn up!

Out of the different companies in the UK (FWA, TWA, NWA-UK etc), which one do you think is run the most professionally and has the brightest future (excluding EWW)?

I still haven’t seen a Hammerlock show, other than a couple of really old tapes of Alex in his ‘Mavis’ days. So it would have to be FWA, as the shows look more professional every time I see them.

Is there anything in the UK scene that you wish wasn’t there?

The lack of respect by the media. I know I’m not alone in hating it when people snigger at the word ‘wrestling’. It’s purely because this country hates things that it cannot label. Is it sport, is it entertainment? They won’t have it that it’s called Sports Entertainment, that’s too Americanised for them. The British general public are impossible to sell to.
Recently, DJ Tommy Boyd was fired from his DJ job at TalkSport. Do you think this will have any effect on UK wrestling?

Is that for real or is it a work? If it’s real and Talksport has kicked off the 2-hour wrestling slot, then it’s a massive blow. Look at the popularity of Revival. That was purely from Talksport and nothing else. If it is real, then it will send the U.K scene back another few years, that’s how much the publicity was worth.

What is the worst part about wrestling/sports entertainment?

The pay!

On the flipside, what is the best part about wrestling/sports entertainment?

Whatever anybody says, the best thing is, unlike any other job, all wrestlers from the highest paid to the lowest, all still watch wrestling. We are all marks for it, and that shows the passion for it. Also, the adrenaline is a massive natural high for a lot of guys, which like Boxing, wrestling or acting is why you see people go on way after they should do. It’s not for the money, it’s the need for the adrenaline rush.

Now I’ve got to ask, what’s your take on Scottish Championship Wrestling (SCW, ran by Kenny Morrison) and Beyond Xtreme Wrestling (BXW, ran by both Aaron Spencer and former GBH Champion Iceman), two new companies who have recently staged their first shows to modest success?

I have heard of SCW only because he has emailed me, other than that, I don’t know anything about either of them.

Now your valet, as many people know, is Pleasure. Are you two an item and is she as sexy in person as she looks in, say, a magazine?

She’s my fiancée, and the best looking valet in this country by a mile. And yes, she looks way hotter in person my friend.

Now lets play a little game of Word Association:

Doug Williams: Professional

Jodie Fleisch: Nuts

Alex Shane: Charisma

Jamie Clubb: Good friend

Pleasure: Massive hooters!

Tommy Boyd: Wakkaday

Hardcore Wrestling: For guys who don’t know how to work

Backyard Wrestling: For guys who haven’t got the guts to work

FWA: Working hard

EWW: Working skint

Old school/New School: I respect any man or woman who gets in that ring whether they are old school or new school.

Dominator: Outspoken

Being interviewed by a 14 year old: Same as being interviewed by anybody else. The Internet is swarming with all sorts.

Now if you are up to it, I’d like to do a Name Association, if that’s ok. It’s just the opposite of Word Association. I’ll say something and you give the wrestler who fits that description perfectly, in your personal opinion:

Best all-round UK Wrestler: Doug Williams

Most gifted UK Star: Jonny Storm

Most entertaining UK star: Jonny Storm

Most Irritating Wrestler: Jonny Storm

Funniest guy backstage: Jonny Storm

Biggest backstabber: Jonny Storm (I’m bored now..)

First company to secure a national TV deal: Wouldn’t like to say. Probably FWA if anybody.

What would you say to someone who wanted to become a pro wrestler?

Do it the right way or quite simply, not at all. Backyarding is not the way, and if you do love this business, then you won’t want to see the hard working indie promotions shut out of venues up and down the country because of it.

Find a good school, EWW, FWA or Hammerlock and work hard and most importantly of all, be respectful to the established guys, or you deserve everything you get.

Finally, any last words?

Thanks for your time in sorting these questions out. All the best.

Stu

Mitchell Jones