8 Stupid Questions with JB Trask

Name: JB Trask
Years Pro: 23
Height: 6'
Weight: 220 lbs
Home town: Bloomington, MN
1. When and how did you get started in pro wrestling? I started training in my early teens with my uncle Kenny Jay. My camp was held in Kennys backyard, no ring or mats just the ground. Once in a while Kenny took me over to Verne Gagnes where he had a ring set up and I was able to work out in a ring. Around 1984 I got one of Vernes old rings and had it set up at my brothers where I trained with guys like Road Warrior Animal, The Warlord, Brady Boone Etc. Then in 1985 I sold the ring to Eddie Sharkey and went to his camp. That's when I actually started wrestling on shows. (Trask Vs Ken Anderson 2/18/04 First Ave)
2. Have you ever worked as a bartender? Yes. I went to the Minnesota School of Bartending and bartended at a couple different places.(Trask Vs Jaysin Vaine 10/12/03 MIW)
3. What advice would you give to someone who wanted to get into pro wrestling? I would say if they are really serious about a career in pro wrestling hit the gym and go to a legitimate wrestling school. Make sure the trainers have been around for a while and have actually worked with some of the big companies. If someone is just looking to work indy shows to impress their family and friends, Don't get into pro wrestling. ( Trask Vs Lenny Lane dog collar match from First Ave 6/23/04)
4. Do you remember that match you had with Jerry Lynn when you gave him a pile driver on a chair then a ddt that same chair and tried to break his knee with that same chair? To be honest I have wrestled Jerry so many times I'm pretty sure I did that more than once. (Trask Vs Jerry Lynn sometime around 1993. I didn't keep good notes back then.) Editors note-Trask will be wrestling Jerry Lynn once again on January 10th at the Northeast Armory for NLW.
5. You used to run your own promotion, NPW, what did you like most about being a promoter and what did you not like about it? Also, can I have one of your old NPW t-shirts? First off, yes I will get you an NPW T-shirt. What I liked best about being a promoter was giving the fans great shows that are still remembered today. I've been told by a few people that NPW is the reason they became involved in the business whether it was wrestling, refereeing, or promoting, etc. I still get asked to bring back NPW, I guess never say never. There wasn't really anything I didn't like about promoting, I did however have to deal with this other promoter that spent more time tearing down my posters and calling my venues rather than trying to put on better shows than me. (Trask Vs Nate Bash, Joey Envy and Kamikaze Klecker NPW 9/16/06)
6. What’s the difference between a wrist lock and a wristwatch? Hmmmm, I will have to think about this one more.(Trask with what maybe a wrist lock on Red Lightning 9/19/04)
7. Do you have any new year’s resolutions? No resolutions here. (Trask vs Estaban Molina 8/10/07 NPW)
8.Were you the WWE’s first choice for that carny guy? I wish, at least it would have been done right. (Trask as 'Last of the Great Carny's'12/08/07)

A new place to train for pro wrestling- The GWA

(Editors Note 10/11/2011- This training camp never really got started)
Former AWA tag team and tv champion Greg Gagne has returned to the pro wrestling biz with a new training camp call the Gagne Wrestling Academy (or is it Gagne Wrestling Association? It's listed both ways on the web site). It looks like Gagne wants to pass on the great tradition of pro wrestling that his father passed on to him.

Helping Gagne will be former AWA light heavyweight champion Buck Zumhofe and his Rock N Wrestling promotion. Zumhofe promotes over 150 cards a year and he has been training wrestlers for many years.

One of the wrestlers that Zumhofe has trained is Sammy Savard. At the GWA Savard will be training the basics of pro wrestling to all the begginers.

Helping with the training will be the first two graduates of the GWA, "Lover Kid" Erik Lockhart and "All Star" Paul Brewski.

The GWA wants women to train with them as well. Zumhofe's daughter Heather and Mystik Sexton are the women who will train any females who sign up to train with the GWA.

8 Stupid Questions with Rob Page

Name: Rob Page

years pro: 6 years
height: 5'9"

weight: 140lbs

hometown: Minneapolis, MN

website: www.myspace.com/whole_reffin_show

1. Who taught you how to count?Terry Fox & Eddie Sharkey. Before meeting them, I knew nothing of numbers
2. Why did you want to become a pro wrestling referee? Can I tell you a secret? Good! Im a small guy so after training for a while, I knew the whole wrestling thing wouldn't pan out. So I figured, Im already paying for training, I might as well try reffing.
3. Who were the members of the Super Powers and the Mega Powers and which team would win if they ever wrestled each other in their prime? SUPER POWERS - Nikita Koloff & Dusty Rhodes MEGA POWERS - Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage. Jeez, now thats a tough one. It depends on where the match happened & who was booking. But in the end, when I was you, I was a Hulk-a-maniac, so I would go MEGA POWERS.
4. Have you ever seen a pro wrestling rule book? Its freaking HOOGE. Believe it or not.
5. Are there any wrestlers who scare you in the ring? Sandman. Guy scared the crap outta me when I worked with him. Around here, its Thoruf
6. Do you prefer zebra stripes or a button down shirt with a bow tie? It depends on the situation. But I will say, that the button down does look good on me
7. What has been the high point of your career so far? Its cliche, but I would say the HOW show back in November. Its the highest profile show Ive ever been on, & the biggest house Ive ever worked in front of. Second being, working with Molly Holy in her ONLY match since leaving WWE.
8. You ever dance with the devil in the pale moon light? Once, but then he tried to sell me some Joker Products & accused me of stealing his balloons

8 Stupid Question with The Black Stallion

Name: The Black Stallion

Height: 6' 1"

Weight: 242 lbs

Home Town: Dallas, TX

Years Pro: 10

Web Site: myspace.com/blackstallionbmf

1.When was your first pro match and what do you remember about it? My first pro match was against Terry Fox in September 1999 at the Indian Community Center. And yes, I whipped his ass from pillar to post! (Stallion VS Mitch Paradise 11/12/03 DCW)
2.What was your first car? My first car was a Buick Century. (Stallion VS Johnny Parks 12/10/05 Neo Pro)
3. Did it hurt when you got those tattoos? Pain is only a state of mind, in order to be in this business you must enjoy dwelling in it! So to answer your question, yes it hurt and I love it!
4. You were the last AWA RUSH heavy weight champion. Who do you think was the best AWA heavy weight champion, Vern Gagne or Curt Hennig? Curt Henning was THE best AWA champion, with myself running a close second…(Stallion after winning the AWA RUSH title with Aaron Corbin & Gator Magraw 9/27/07 AWA RUSH)
5. Speaking of Curt Hennig, Do you like his song ‘Rap is Crap’? When he made that song, rap was in its infancy. I am sure he would love rap music today! I think lil Wayne would be one of his favorites! (Stallion VS Big Daddy Hoofer 9/6/06 Neo Pro)
6. What is your least favorite type of match to in? My least favorite match is a dog collar match!!!!! JB Trask is on my hit-list. This is far from over! He has had more dog collar matches than anyone in the history of Minnesota wrestling, while I’ve only had one! The TLC match is MY specialty match; I have NEVER lost a TLC match! All you have to do is ask The Bigg Gunns (Big Brody Hoofer and James Thomas) how good I am at this match! (Stallion VS JB Trask 11/15/08 NLW)
7. On 11/13/2004 in Shakopee, MN you got to tag with Road Warrior Animal in a match against Big Daddy Hoofer & Tommy Gunn. Was that cool or what? It was an honor and a privilege to fight along side one of the greatest wrestlers of all time!! (Stallion with tag partner Animal 11/13/04 MIW)
8. Stallion, you like movies about gladiators? I like the movie “Paparazzi”… Have you seen it? It’s about a punk ass photographer that gets his ass smoked by a big time star like myself! Watch your back Wayne, watch your back! (Stallion VS Thoruf Marius 12/6/08 AWF)

AWF Zimmerman, MN 12/6/2008

The American Wrestling Federation put on a benifit card for the Zimmerman Quarterback Club at the Zimmerman high school this past Saturday night.

In the opening match Nate Bash defeated Brody Hoofer. Bash used a top rope leg drop to finish off Hoofer.

Mitch Paradise pinned "Livewire" Johnny Parks after a powerbomb. Parks was an easy crowd favorite as the Zimmerman football teams name is 'Thunder' and Parks is also known as 'the Thunder from down under'.

Aaron Corbin & Angel Armoni w/Buddah defeated Cory O'Neill & Mikey Stanley. O'Neill's regular AWF tag team partner, his twin brother Cody, was not with him for this match as he was out celebrating his birthday. After the match Cory challenged Corbin & Armoni to a rematch at the next AWF card in Elk River.

Tony DeNucci pinned Chris Black in the simi main event. This was listed in the programe as a 'falls count anywhere' match. The two wrestlers did take the match out to the crowd for a little while but pin happened in the ring.

The Black Stallion pinned Thoruf Marius w/Sheik Adnan El Kasie in the main event. Referee Jay Soltice was knocked out so one of the Zimmerman coaches came out to make a fast 3 count for Stallions win.

IWA MN Savage, MN 12/5/2008

There is a new promotion in town and it's called Intercontinental Wrestling Association and they had their first card this past Saturday night at Niesons bar in Savage, MN. This promotion is kind of an off shoot of the RWF that started up a few months ago. Snow was falling on this night but there was still a big crowd for this night of wrestling.

In the opening contest Mikey Stanley pinned 'The real deal' Sky Steel. I'm not a big fan of wrestlers that wear jeans as part of their gear.
Corp. Julio Julio won by DQ over Udo when Udo hit ref Jay Soltice. Udo continued to choke Julio after the bell and new comer Corp. Ryan Cage came to the ring to chase Udo away. Cage is in the process of getting trained for the ring.
In an intergender tag match Ann Brookstone & The Brauler defeated Allison Wonderland & Jesse Chan. Brookstone bit both of her opponents in the crotch during this match.
The IWA picked long time fan Razzlin Rick to choose an opponent for 'Playboy' Pete Huge. Rick thought that Bad Boy Brain would really test Huge but Huge was able to get a 3 count on BBB.
The Black Stallion defeated Venom. After his loose Venom challenged Stallion to a rematch.
In the main event The Asylum defeated Mitch Paradise. The Asylum had a little help from a steel chair so Paradise asked IWA MN owner Dan Souprano for a no DQ match against The Asylum.

Introducing Dakota Darsow

Dakota Darsow is in Vol 25 of The Wrestler/Inside Wrestling in the 'Introducing' feature in the Wrestler side of the mag on page. The photos shown here were taken the same time I took the ones that are printed in the magazine. Check your local news stands to pick up a copy of this mag to read more about the WWE's newest future superstar. Dakota reported to FCW this last week and I heard that he already got on their tv show.

Sojourner Bolt, AKA Josie, signs with TNA.

On Deceomber 3 TNA.com reported that TNA Wrestling signed Sojourner Bolt, AKA Josie to a contract. I had the pleasure of photographing/chatting with Josie before the NPW card last Saturday. I asked her about her new TNA name. Josie pointed out that Sojourner was also the first name of woman's rights activist Sojourner Truth.

NPW Hayward, WI 11/29/2008

Northwoods Pro Wrestling in conjunction with Minnesota Independent Wrestling, held their first card that the L.C.O. casino in Hayward, WI this past Saturday night. There was a pretty good turn out so it looks like NPW will be back at the L.C.O. some time in the near future. My luck at the casino was good as I walked out with $27 more then I came with.

Daryl Hall defeated 'Livewire'Johnny Parks in the opening contest with a roll up pin. Parks had been in retirement untill promoter Terry Fox gave him a call to get booked on this card.
'Playboy' Pete Huge defeated Cpl. Julio Julio. Once again Julio came out to a different name but this time I think it's for good as the fans really liked to cheer 'Julio Julio'. I think that Huge may have used the ropes to get the pin on Julio.
MIW Heavy weight champion Brody Hoofer defended his title against 'the Professional' Benjamin Sailer. There was a lot of back and forth action in this match but Hoofer came out still holding on to his belt in the end.
Zack Mercury pinned Mitch Paradise. It's not often you see a man as big as Mercury do a missile dropkick from the top rope. One of the referees on this card was former AWA referee Gary DeRusha as seen here in this photo.
The regiegning MIW ladies champion, Josie, returned but with a new name. Josie is now know as Sojourner Bolt in TNA and on this night she faced Reggie who wrestles for OVW. Bolt got the win after a DVD.
The main event of the night was a battle royal for the 'king fo the Northwoods' ax. All the male wrestlers from the card were in the battle royal plus 3 more. The final four in the ring were Huge, Hoofer, Mercury and Paradise. The winner of the axe was Paradise when he dumped Mercury over the top with help from Huge and Hoofer.