Hello again wrestling fans and welcome back to another spectacular interview here on *Kayfabe Kickout. For this interview I had the pleasure to speak with "The Crazy Mo Fo Himself" Cam!!ikaze, Canadian Indy & Next Generation Wrestling Superstar. Kaze has been in the pro wrestling business since 2005, and in that short time he has wrestled for some fantastic promotions not only in Canada, but in the US as well, including Ring of Honor. Kaze is eager to learn the professional wrestling game, and has studied under some of the greatest legends in the business such as; Roddy Piper, Dusty Rhodes and many others. In January 2013, Kaze competed in the tournament to crown a new Next Generation Wrestling Champion in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and although he did not win the championship, his determination as well as his tremendous wrestling skills will carry him to a long and successful career in professional wrestling. I spoke with Kaze on who were his wrestling idols growing up, his thoughts on the controversy surrounding Next Generation Wrestling and Hart Legacy Wrestling, how he received his start in pro wrestling and more. Richard: For wrestling fans who might not know what you are involved with in the world of professional wrestling, can you just give us an update on what's going on in the busy schedule of Cam!!ikaze?
Kaze: Basically I've been going all in with Professional Wrestling, I have dedicated my Life to this, This is my job, this is how I am making my Living, I train Hard in the Gym, I train Hard in the ring, I am constantly studying tapes and DVDs and my own Matches, always trying to improve and get better, Always traveling to seminars and tryouts all over North America, I'm staying as busy as possible working where ever I can, whether it be Locally or out of town doesn't matter, if there's a show, I'm trying to get my face out there and provide my services as a Professional Wrestler. Richard: In your career you've had the opportunity to wrestle for the NWA via. ECCW (Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling) on several occasions, what was it like to work for a promotion as historic and legendary as the National Wrestling Alliance? Kaze: Its really cool when you think about it, with the great Legacy the NWA has and to be apart of that is pretty neat, I also worked for a big super-show they put on out in BC in 2008, great show great crowd over 1000 people here's a link to the match I wrestled Sid Sylum. As for ECCW I have only been out there twice now I do believe and both times was an absolute blast, I love there Locker room and they have a ton of great talent. I hope I can get back out there this year. Richard: Over the past few months there has been some controversy regarding the problems of both Hart Legacy Wrestling and Next Generation Wrestling, what are your thoughts on what's been happening with both promotions as of late? Kaze: Well Hart Legacy Wrestling was really cool to be apart of, to be given the opportunity to perform at the Legendary Stampede Pavilion in front of over 1700 Fans it was just unreal! Great Experience for sure! the biggest thing I noticed with Hart Legacy Wrestling and this is just my opinion was that there were too many cooks in the kitchen, and nobody seemed to be on the same page with almost anything when it came to management and the higher ups who were basically running or putting the show together. Lack of communication, and I also got the impression that all the higher ups involved had there own secret agendas, hence so much lack of communication with one another. It was real sad the way everything happened in the end cause that Promotion had the potential to seriously bring back Professional Wrestling in Western Canada, there is so much Talent here that doesn't get a chance to shine because Geographically where we are located and it could have showcased that talent the Local talent....still bothers me thinking about it. Now with Next Generation Wrestling biggest problem i seen with that was none of the local talent got to work with the names and stars or was even featured on the main show for that matter, all the stars and names worked each other, and the local guys were thrown in dark matches. Local talent is key, they are still gonna be there at the next show, when maybe your star or name is not going to be, Local Talent needs a bit of the rub too. NGW seemed to not get that. Regardless I'm thankful for the opportunity it was an awesome experience and of course I'd do it again, but a lot of the local boys we just kinda shook our heads at how things were booked.
Richard: You've had the privilege of training under some of the most legendary and well known wrestlers in the business such as Harley Race, Dusty Rhodes, Roddy Piper, Ricky Steamboat and so many others, who was your absolute favorite to train under? Kaze: I learned and picked up something from everyone and I'm very thankful I had the chance to train with so many legends within the industry, Roddy Piper really helped me and opened my eyes with Promos. And as for in ring work id have to say Lance Storm really broke a lot of bad habits and polished me up good, he showed me all the little things and details in a match that make things mean so much more. Richard: Canada has a deep and rich history in terms of professional wrestling, do you think other countries can benefit to learn from the training regimens and discipline of Canadian Professional Wrestling? Kaze: I think everyone can learn and take something away from every style of wrestling around the world, its a beautiful art form in which you can never stop learning and improving, Like I was saying earlier with the Hart Legacy Wrestling thing, I personally feel Western Canada has a lot of top talent here that has yet to be seen, and its been proven in the past with the caliber of talent that has come threw here, Dynamite Kid, Bret Hart, Owen Hart, Chris Benoit, Davey Boy Smith, Brian Pillman, Jim Neidhart, most recently Tyson Kidd, Nattie Neidhart, and Harry Smith. There needs to be another Wave to hit the Wrestling World Soon coming from Western Canada, and I wanna be apart of it! Richard: So far in your career you've worked for various high profile promotions including Ring of Honor, out of all the promotions which was your absolute favorite to work for and why? Kaze: Ring Of Honor was really cool In Toronto, the fans were awesome and genuine appreciated good wrestling, I remember doing my Lil' Headstand gimmick on the top turnbuckle and the crowd threw streamers in at me. something i will never forget really really cool experience. Richard: Can you share your thoughts on what it was like to participate in "Rowdy" Roddy Piper's "World of Hurt" Series? Kaze: World Of Hurt was a Gong show simple as that, Just a roller-coaster of emotion. Learned a ton from Piper, I think it is unheard of anyone has had the chance to train and learn from him for 2 full weeks, but we did, it was just an amazing experience! Richard: How did you get your start in professional wrestling? Kaze: I fell in Love with it at the age of 11, my parents were divorced and every Monday my sister and I would go to my dads and have supper and watch wrestling, WWF Raw, my dad is a huge fan and he is the one that really got me into it, but from that point on that's all I really wanted to do. I was looking into schools and how to get trained but found out I was to young, so I took matters into my own hands and started doing the whole Yard Tard thing haha, I did it from the age of 12 to 18, putting on shows and performing in front of people. My dad transformed our trampoline into a wrestling ring with real legit steel cable ropes, the thing was genius, that's how I learned a lot of the high-flying stuff that I still do today. I have over 25 tapes of shows, and you can literally watch me grow up on all those tapes, that was my childhood, wrestling, Best childhood a kid could ask for, I'm very thankful for that. Then I found a school in Edmonton Alberta Canada, and the owner Sean Dunster who wrestles as Massive Damage agreed to have me come live with him and train, so a week before my 19th birthday i hopped on a greyhound bus with 500 bucks in my pocket some blankets and a box of wrestling tapes and headed to Edmonton. I owe Sean a lot for taking the chance with me, putting a roof over my head, teaching me how to workout and train properly, teaching me some of the basics in the ring, and giving me my 1st break working shows. But I was in the right place at the right time when I moved there because Chi Chi Cruz was Living with Sean at the time, and Cheech had been wrestling all over the world and had been in the business for 20yrs at that point in 2005, so when Cheech got his hands on me, I couldn't help but learn and soak it all in, it was awesome to learn from somebody so old school. Thankful for that. Richard: Who was the number one pro wrestler who inspired you to get into the business, if you had one that is? Kaze: So hard to just pick one, I went through phases, as a young young kid, it was Hulk Hogan, then I fell out of it and didn't get back into wrestling until i was 11 in 1998, from there it was Stone Cold Steve Austin and Mick Foley. Then I fell in Love with Jeff Hardy for a short while, but when I seen ECW in 2000 and saw Rob Van Dam perform for the 1st time, I was blown away, I wanted to be just like him, then as I got more smart into the business the final turning point for me was watching Tiger Mask and Dynamite Kid. from there I was blown away just amazing work. they are both my Top Favorites I'd have to say. Richard: Who was your toughest opponent thus far in your career? Kaze: Thus far? id have to say I had a big feud with my old tag team Partner Eclipse which ended in a No DQ No Count Out Match. That was the first feud I'd ever been in, another epic battle was with Alex Plexis we had a 6 month long feud where he stole my mask, then I stole his Cruiserweight Title, and it just went on both of us playing mind games with each other, really good story, he eventually unmasked me and that's how I lost my mask, and the feud ended after 6 months in a No DQ match for his title. I was hurting so bad after that one haha Good Times! Fans can check out Cam!!ikaze on Twitter @KazeCMF4Life, On Facebook , On YouTube and you can check out his Official Highlight Reel. I want to personally thank Cam!!ikaze for taking the time to speak with me here on *Kayfabe Kickout.
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