This week I got the chance to sit down with a man you will know lots about if you have been watching your RoH and IWA Mid South. He is a former NWA Tag champ and is part of the second city saints, he is of course the one and only Ace Steel. I managed to talk to him about his less publicised work in Japan, his opinions on NWA:TNA and WWE as well as giving us his insights on how our Brits are doing abroad.
Hi Ace how are you doing today?
I’m fine as I just returned from Japan and happy to be home
For the people of the UK who may not have seen your work can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Depending on which promotion you see me in I like to sometimes mix it up with some matwork, brawling and possibly some stuff off the top rope. You quite possibly could see some comedy as I dig having fun.
The list of promotions you have worked for reads like a who’s who in the wrestling world, which ones have been your favourites to work for?
TNA was no fun at all except for the first night in. NOAH is awesome to work for because they exemplify what wrestling is all about. ROH is a great promotion with many knowns and unknowns constantly raising the bar.
On looking at the list of promotions you have worked for though I didn’t see any UK ones down there, would you like to come and work in the UK and is there any possibility of it happening?
I certainly would enjoy working in the UK as well as just about anywhere. I’m up for new experiences. I haven’t made any contacts but who knows what the future holds.
We recently talked to HWA owner Cody Hawk in an interview what was it like working there?
HWA is a great deal of fun and Cody is a good guy trying to help the youth of wrestling.
You have though worked on the same cards as UK stars like Doug Williams and Nigel McGuiness, what do you think of their work?
I think they both are very diverse even though they wrestle a traditional British style. Nigel has some crazy spikes in his hair and I’ve seen the arm wrestling prowess of Doug and it’s impressive.
Being an international globetrotting wrestler how does it compare to work in Japan compared to the states?
No comparison. Japan hands down is the best as one is completely consumed by the environment.. wrestling/working out everyday and travelling town to town doing nothing but. It’s one of the only places to make a living doing nothing but wrestling.
What are your thoughts on the current Indy scene in the states?
It’s pretty bleak, people who don’t own a gym membership need to get one. The top guys right now will eventually move up to the big time or fade out because there isn’t enough areas to work and learn and it gets increasingly harder for smaller guys.
After spending time in NWA:TNA scaling the heights of becoming a tag team champion what are your thoughts on the promotion and do you think they will ever challenge the WWE?
No I don’t. I have plenty of respect and like a lot of people that wrestle there on a personal level and for their sake I hope it doesn’t go under. Honestly they can’t keep using old WWE talent and hope to compete.
Have you seen any of the WWE recently if so what are your thoughts on it?
I never catch Smackdown but I see RAW here and there and I can’t believe they spend so much time on the Diva crap. Women’s wrestling is totally fine but the limbo contests and whatever are wasting valuable TV time for guys that work hard.
Now you can also claim a hand in a lot of other successful wrestling careers being the former co-proprietor of the Steel Domain. What was it like training the likes of CM Punk and Colt Cabana to name a few?
Cabana? Cabana was a natural and it took Punk to work his butt off to get where he is. That said, I wonder if Cobana’s work is AC/DC and if Punk still urinates in plastic milk jugs.
Would you pursue training full time if you decided ever to stop wrestling?
Possibly, only if I wouldn’t lose tons of money and could set up relations with Japan to send guys over or another company. It’s a lot of work to run a promotion or book it..etc..
So finally what does the future hold for Ace Steel any big bookings we should be watching out for?
I’m content with my Japanese tours as it’s the pinnacle of my career and wouldn’t mind ending my days there.
You can find out more about Ace Steel at his official website: AceSteel.net
Adam Sibley