John Skyler's Insatiable Quest For Hatred And Respect

John Skyler (Photo Courtesy of Wayne Rush)

In the midst of my interview with wrestling legend The Barbarian, I catch out of the corner of my eye a gent in a button-up green flannel and a pair of jeans. He wears a broken-in Country Strong ball cap with it's brim bent in almost a perfect upside down u-shape.

John Skyler is operating on maybe five hours of sleep in the last 48 hours, but he doesn't make a peep about it. Instead he does what he does best, what has made him one of the most talked about wrestlers in the southeast: he listens and observes.

I part ways with Barbarian, and turn my attention to the seated Skyler. A fresh beard blankets his face; another casualty of the No Shave November movement sweeping the nation. I've heard previous radio interviews done with Skyler in the past. Useless drivel. Unless someone has been on television with that blasphemous mutated WWE logo in the bottom left corner, they don't know what to say. Their minds are stunted by a constant addiction to the national wrestling scene; like children scarfing down candy as their only source of nutrition.

The true meat and potatoes of professional wrestling lies in the independent scene that stretches coast to coast through the gymnasiums and National Guard armories. If this scene was a Wild West metaphor, Skyler would be Billy the Kid.

Before he donned the stage name John Skyler, John Brumbaugh (real name) began his wrestling training in March 2008 under the tutelage of wrestling veteran Bob Keller. His first meeting with Keller was actually as a fifth grader in 1998, but as a novice wrestler looking to learn the trade, it was Reginald Vanderhoff who brought Brumbaugh to Keller's attention ten years later.

Brumbaugh's training continued throughout the summer of 2008, but the show that fell on July 6th proved to be a fateful experience. As Brumbaugh recalls, it was in Big Bear Lake, West Virginia, and he found himself confined to grunt work, constructing and deconstructing the ring while also hawking merchandise at Keller's table.

In between making sales for Taka Michinoku and Ahmed Johnson bend-em figures, Keller asked Brumbaugh if he was nervous. Sensing a good rib, Brumbaugh asked why. A dead serious Keller revealed that he was wrestling third on the card that night against Bill Bain. (The monosyllabic alliteration lends me to imagine Bain as Big John Studd in the film Harley Davidson And The Marlboro Man.)

Not having any gear to change into, Brumbaugh relied on the patchwork donations of the other wrestlers to look presentable for his debut match. His nerves ran high, but the match, itself, was thankfully a straightforward jaunt: Bain squashed Brumbaugh inside of three minutes.

His trial by fire was a success, and to this day, Brumbaugh remembers all of the nerves he felt that night. But most importantly, it was the night his metamorphosis was complete. John Skyler was born to the wrestling world...

Three yeas later, the seasoned Skyler has continued his travels throughout the Carolinas all the way up to West Virginia, where it all began, and as far west as Las Vegas. In fact it is West Virginia where Skyler has burned the midnight oil from to attend tonight. His tank is running on empty, but his stories refueled laps ago.

Skyler is fashioned as a heel in the majority of the shows he is booked. He has a particular knack for upsetting the crowd, especially this year while embroiled in a feud with his mentor, Keller, which ended in Skyler retiring him as a result of a match.

Now, he proudly wears a "I Retired Bob Keller" when he makes an entrance to the ring, which produces a venomous reaction from the Lowcountry crowd that OSCW entertains each show. The pigtails in his hair and the flirtation with ambiguous homosexuality with former WCW star Lodi in the match tonight incited the Goose Creek youth to spat chants of "You are gay!" A sad byproduct of a show designed to be a benefit for a medically impaired coach, revered by the local community.

But as Brumbaugh, the man behind the maleovant Skyler, the success of his character lies in the dichotomy between actor and wrestler. Skyler maintains strict kayfabe at all times and believes heavily in the old school rules of the business. When someone approaches him and asks if he really is an asshole in real life, he replies with spit and a dismissal. But when Brumbaugh is told by fans or his peers how his match was a standout of the night and awe-inspiring, he is humbled and appreciative, like a Broadway star stepping out of the stage door onto Jane Street in New York, flooded by appreciative theatre fanatics.

The comparisons to Shawn Michaels humble Brumbaugh the most. Michaels, after all, was the idol that inspired him into the business in the first place. There's even a slight resemblance to HBK, but it is more so in the confidence he projects even in humility. There seems little doubt in his words that in five years he will be on television in some role as a wrestler.

The long nights on the road away far from home is a trope of the wrestling business right out of a Bob Seger song, and it no doubt takes it toll on the men and women who frequent it. However, the end result, the reaction of the crowd, more than outweighs the hardships. Such as was the case when Brumbaugh competed in a tag match with BJBrumbaugh, and it still does, spurning him to put on that high quality of a match each and every show.

A future in wrestling is an uncertain abyss full of barracudas in the forms of swine promoters and shooting muscle heads, but Brumbaugh maintains just enough insanity to stay ahead of the danger. An interjection by Barbarian and Mike Griffie (Barb's manager) indicates a possible future venture for Brumbaugh. The location and the event unknown. Perhaps it is a secret mission to rescue Meng or Warlord from a Gulag. My attempts at surveillance are thwarted by my immediate presence in the conversation. I will stick by my hypothesis for now.

However, for Brumbaugh, it is another adventure in this mad, mad world of wrestling and another addition to an already burgeoning resume that also includes training with Japanese stars CIMA, Akira Tozawa, and Naruki Doi at Dragon Gate USA. It is also further accreditation that Brumbaugh is an exceptional student of the business.

In a way, it is Aristotelian. Brumbaugh is what he repeatedly demonstrates. Therefore, dedication is not merely accident but habit.

And His Name Was Barbarian...

The Barbarian (Photo Courtesy of Wayne Rush)

As a boy growing up, there were three sacred wrestling tapes that would make the rounds of my VCR as part of my own person home theatre exhibition. One was Wrestlemania VII, with Hogam versus Slaughter for Wrestling's interpretation of Gulf War supremacy. Two was Summerslam '91, with Bret Hart's first title as a singles wrestler, Macho Man's wedding, and the night the Mountie spent the night in jail.

The third was a tape entitled WWF Superstars, a mix tape of random matches with the top draws in the company. Of course there was Hogan, Savage, and Warrior. The obvious inclusions. But it was the opening match I remember and recall so well: a handicapped match between Demolition and the Powers of Pain.

The theatricality of the match was immediately striking. Clad in black leather with demon-like face paint, Demolition was a clear callback to George Miller's cult classic film The Road Warrior. Powers of Pain, were a post apocalyptic reciprocal to Demolition. Their names, Warlord and Barbarian reflected their appearance: back alley bruisers sent through time to fend off the armies of Genghis Khan, while covered in their own frightening face paint. Their manager, the maniacal, Mr. Fuji, was suited for battle himself, creating the handicap for Demolition.

The match was an absolute bruiser. A callback to to classic brute force in the ring, while simultaneously dismissing the art of classic Greek style takedowns for clubbing shots to the abdomen and lower back. A destructive festival of power and strength. Such could have been assumed from their ominous monickers. The finish of the match was fitting. The sniveling swine Fuji attempted to throw the white powder in the eyes of Demolition, but instead blinded the eyes of his tag team partner and ended up taking the signature elbow drop from Axe and Smash. The fan favorites went over in Caesar's Palace.

As the years went on, Warlord and Barbarian would take singles routes as wrestlers, still maintaining their fear provoking personalities. Barbarian, in particular, I remember as part of Bobby Heenan's "family" of wrestlers during the early 90's as a mid card heel to oppose the likes of Hogan and Big Boss Man. He would also frequently find himself as the tag team partner of Haku. Later, in WCW, he would continue to appear with Haku (then under the name Meng)as part of the Faces of Fear. Same schtick for Barbarian. Just a relocation down south.

But as the Monday Night Wars era faded to black with WWE's acquisition of WCW, so did Barbarian's tenure on the main stage after well over twenty years in the wrestling business...

Nearly a decade later, I have a bit of a lump in my throat. Trepidation grips like a Ted Nugent "Stranglehold". The same aforementioned Barbarian sits ten feet away. His face painted in the same Powers of Pain style I saw as a kid on that Superstars tape.

Despite being nearly twenty years older than I was back then and a little bit taller, I still look at Barbarian like he could headbutt if I said something wrong, and I wouldn't wake up for five years.

What do I call this man? I hear him referred to as Barb by the other wrestlers. Do people just walk up to him and call him Barbarian as if man and character never separate? It's like when I used to think if Ultimate Warrior signed his checks under the same name. As if the electric company would have service for a man under such a handle and mail invoices to Parts Unknown.

Barbarian's real name escapes me. I've looked it up recently in preparation, but the Tongan pronunciation is too foreign to recall a syllable. I would probably sound like a fool. I also worry about the reliability of my tape recorder, which seems Soviet and inefficient in button design. I feel like a hobbit about to have a conversation with a dragon in his den.

But funny enough, there's a calming reassurance I get from Barbarian's chuckling grin as he puts a pinch of tobacco in his lower lip. He sits down and calls over Mike Griffie, his business manager of sorts on the independent circuit. He resembles Kurt Cobain with shorter hair and acts as the mouthpiece in answering my questions.

What fascinates me the most about the man sitting before me is the fact that as a wrestler, Barbarian has navigated the major eras of the wrestling business and managed to sustain a certain amount of relevancy. As I ask how he was able to achieve that sustainability, he nods and communicates briefly in short, brief answers. Griffie fills in the blanks.

"Barbarian has been able to wrestle constantly throughout the years, and as much as the eras changed around him, he was also able to adapt his style to what the crowds wanted... In the 80's, which is considered 'old school' now, the wrestling was a lot slower and more powerful. In the 90's, of course, it was about the Attitude Era, which through his size and stature, Barbarian was able to stay relevant despite the need for bigger, riskier spots. Nowadays, it's about his overall experience that he brings to ring, which allows him to wrestle anybody no matter their experience level."

Barbarian methodically rocks back and forth on the bench he sits on, staring into a particular spot in the floor. I can tell he's in that zone like when Heenan would build him up during one of those backstage promos that would appear on WWE television.

Other wrestlers from the independent show that has just ended stop to talk to him or get a signed poster, but Barbarian politely declines until the interview is over.

I am honored by his commitment to our time, as if I was Bill Apter or Mike Mooneyham. I can't help but ask him how a man from Tonga, sent over by his own king to Japan to study the art of Sumo, transitioned to professional wrestling in the United States. Griffie draws the parallels between the two and how the training benefited Barbarian.

"After coming over to the States, it was the Sumo wrestling that made the transition so smooth for the guys who came from Tonga. Barbarian was able to maneuver his size around the ring and maintain balance while being able to push opponents around. The balance is and has been the key to his strength over the years."

Strength was the key factor in charting Barbarian's success with Warlord as Powers of Pain, which is widely considered where his push began in the business. A timely and famous feud with the Road Warriors set the NWA landscape ablaze, culminating in many highly regarded tag matches and even in the infamous weight lifting contest at the Great American Bash where the Pain crushed Animal's eye socket.

Upon entering the WWE, the Pain were originally fan favorites built primarily around their bruising history in the NWA. The heel turn came against Demolition when Fuji jumped shipped ship as manager, turning Demolition into fan favorites themselves.

When Powers of Pain went their separate ways, Barbarian overhauled his image, discarding his previous incarnation for the brown fur attire and antler headpiece he would wear for entrances. His singles career saw him score a victory over Tito Santana at Wrestlemania VI, but very soon he would be thrust back into the tag team scene with Haku, whom he would team with until the final days of WCW.

"With Warlord, it was about power. With Haku, it was about aggression," Barbarian bluntly, simply relates as he rises his head.

His dichotomy between both tag teams is brilliant in it's economy of words. I'd swear he was Hemingway, or at least the kind of guy Hemingway would have idolized or used as a muse.

But what I am curious about is how Barbarian, a man of continued fame and stature, has avoided the national stage for ten years despite the constant love for nostalgia in today's wrestling business. I inquire about any desire he would have to return to WWE, where he had his most fame and success.

Barbarian's head shakes no as if he's completed this line of thought long ago.

"My time is over," he says, again very directly minus any ornate romantic explanation. "Barbarian is a big proponent of new talent getting their push. He's had conversations with WWE, and we've entertained ideas, but Barbarian enjoys the independent circuit and the personal connection with the fans," Griffie adds.

Griffie even mentions a deal that was in the works to bring back Powers of Pain with the reformation of ECW within WWE, but it was a deal that fell through because WWE showed more interest in bringing in Barbarian than Warlord, something Barbarian would not agree to.

Barbarian's presence in the main event of the OSCW show indicates how he has transitioned to the role of traveling mentor. Tagging with local grappler Glen Lane, the two opposed former WCW star Lodi and regional wunderkind John Skyler (the West Skylerwood Blondes). With the show billed as a benefit for local coach Phillip Morgan, who was stricken with a paralyzing stroke last year, Barbarian is uncharacteristically billed as the face in the match.

He is an immediate draw for the children in attendance, but never draws attention to himself during the match. Instead he gracefully puts the younger Skyler over in spots and supports partner Lane, who has not been in the ring for fifteen years. He even goes as far as to go into the crowd and greet Coach Morgan with a handshake and a hug.

A long way, coming from the guy who crushed Animal's eye over twenty years ago.

My final question is like Wakefield's knuckleball; my go-to; my favorite. I know the majority of what I have asked is likely commonplace and been put forth before Barbarian numerous times before me, but this one I hope has not.

"What are you asked the most on the road?" I ask.

Barbarian sinks into his bench again, thinking. His mind works backwards through hundreds of thousands of wrestlers, matches, and shows.

I start to hear a chuckle, and he raises his head.

"Is Warlord still alive?"

Griffie and I laugh in return. From working Caesar's Palace and the Toronto Skydome all the way to Goose Creek High School in Charleston, South Carolina, he still maintains an amiable sense of humor. No ego. No sense of entitlement. Just a forehead branded with scars and a heart of selfless return to the business that made him a household name.

It's strange to see Barbarian exit with Griffie, wearing a t-shirt and jeans along with a ball cap while his fur entrance coat is stuffed in his bag. He is on his way back to North Carolina tonight. Most likely to resume his job as a construction manager in Charlotte on Monday morning. Imagine that. Your house might be the design of one half of Powers of Pain. If nothing else, you can guarantee it's probably tough as hell, much like the man himself.

When I get back into my car, I go on the Internet and read the name Sione Vailahi from my search page. Yeah, I would have sounded like an idiot trying to say that.

But for the record I am able to verify one pressing fact: Warlord is indeed very much alive.

And as such the legend of Powers of Pain lies preserved like the leopard in Hemingway's Snows of Kilimanjaro , frozen at the summit, forever remembered in its prime.

The CIW Awards And The Great Fan Uprising

Bill Maher had a great quote in the recent book charting the rise and success of ESPN entitled Those Guys Have All The Fun. Actually, Maher has more than a few quotes, but the one that stuck out in particular was his opinion of the ESPYs, the high profile awards show ESPN hosts every year.

Maher called the ESPYs the dumbest awards show there is because creating an award for "best team" is ridiculous when the teams decide who the best team is by the respective sport they play.

Now, one could argue the necessity of an awards show for professional wrestling based on the dreaded "f" word used to describe it by wrestling pessimists. Then again, it is honestly no different than how the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences or the Hollywood Foreign Press vote for the best films every year. After all, professional wrestling at its core is theatre with the overall purpose of entertaining. Thus, there is some merit to what Tim Dixon created in 2006.

Dixon, an independent wrestling enthusiast, created the website CarolinaIndependentWrestling.com as a central forum to showcase the talent and promotions of the North and South Carolina region. Besides creating a source of advertisement for all of the promotions, Dixon also spawned the Carolina Independent Wrestling awards (the CIWs) as a way for the fans to vote on which wrestlers and promotions they liked the best.

What might have started as merely an offhand idea to Dixon created a rabid response from the fans but more so from the wrestlers themselves, lending the CIWs to be become as high of a pedistle as any other achievement during the calendar year.

Dixon, unfortunately, had to close the website in 2010 due to his own increasing schedule demands, but Wayne Rush (who is clearly the Matthew Brady of independent wrestling with the amazing photography he brings) picked up the reigns from Dixon and revived the website through his own message board http://cwaprowrestling.yuku.com/ where the CIWs found life again.

Nearing the end of 2011, though, the amount of chatter around the awards is sadly dismal. Rush's forum is flooded with a deluge of posts from the OSCW and CWA enthusiasts, but where is everyone else at? Has there been a surrender by the promotions of the upstate?

On the surface, a CIW award can be viewed as merely ego stroke for the individual wrestler, but for YOUR wrestling promotion, the one you never miss and sacrifice gas money to see every
month, it represents the ultimate "feather in the cap" so when they advertise, they can bill themselves as "CIW Award Winner."

This is not the time of fractious, feudal territories that were defended at knightly games centuries ago, but Carolina independent wrestling needs a polarizing injection from it's fan base. Rush's forum should explode with outlandish commentary from starved jackals in support of who the best wrestler is and where he bears his flag from.

This year the CIW awards will begin it's nomination process on November 25th through the website http://cwaprowrestling.yuku.com/forums/163/Coming-soon. Rush has a strict "one IP address per day, per nomination" stipulation to eliminate repeat flood voting. The top five nominations in each category will be announced December 4th and from there the voting will be opened for the top five through December 23rd. On Christmas Day, the winners will be announced.

And the categories are...

Wrestler of the Year, Promotion of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Comeback of the Year, Feud of the Year, Tag-Team of the Year, Cruiserweight of the Year, Best New Promotion, Most Improved, Best Female Wrestler (includes valets and managers), Best Manager, Best Announcer and Best Referee.

On November 25th, do your civic wrestling duty. Nominate. Vote. Be heard. Everyone loves to be clever and smart when passively criticizing wrestling through the social media. Why not go all the way for the CIW Awards?

Be that starved jackal.

OSCW's "Kaos For The Coach" More Than A Wrestling Show

Joe Blumenfeld is up front when he tells me I have fifteen minutes to talk with him. It is 8:15 p.m. on a Monday night, and Blumenfeld's Chicago Bears are about to take on the Philadelphia Eagles for Monday Night Football. He tells me he is even wearing his Brian Urlacher jersey as we speak. I believe him. That's why I get right to the point.

Despite the truncated time, Blumenfeld is more than eager to talk about Old School Championship Wrestling's yearly finale before the promotion returns in 2012. The focus, though, of the scheduled November 20th show is more than just wrestling as suggested with the event title "Kaos For The Coach."

The benevolent cause driving the show is a benefit for longtime Charleston high school coach Phillip Morgan, who was stricken with a paralyzing stroke over a year ago. Morgan's influence and contribution over the years is not lost on Blumenfeld.

"We're talking about a guy that gave thirty five years of his life to his community. Thirty five years of helping others is pretty selfless, and it's something I admire and we all should admire," says Blumenfeld. "The effort we put into the show has to match the kind of effort that Coach Morgan put into affecting people's lives in our community. That's what we have to do as performers."

OSCW's inclusion in Morgan's benefit is a direct result of the growing buzz created by Blumenfeld's promotion since planting roots in Hanahan, South Carolina earlier this year. With the scope of this benefit reaching beyond OSCW's core audience and a higher anticipated turnout than usual, the show will be taking place at Goose Creek High School rather than the usual Hanahan Recreation Center where OSCW had frequented.

And with the event being promoted through many of the Lowcountry's high schools, Blumenfeld is excited about the possibility to showcase OSCW to a new audience not previously exposed to the promotion in the past.

"We have no idea what to expect, but based on Coach Morgan's presence in the community over the years, we could be looking at double the audience we're used to seeing. And hopefully it will want to bring them back to future OSCW shows."

In terms of ticket prices, ringside seats are available for $25 and bleacher seating is available for $10. ALL of the proceeds go toward Coach Morgan and his continued recovery effort.

The pressure of a potentially larger audience does not phase Blumenfeld, though, or the OSCW talent. "The guys were taught the philosophy it's a 100% effort whether its a hundred people in the audience or a thousand. We're going to give it all we have, regardless."

"Kaos For The Coach" will mark the 2011 finale show for OSCW, but in looking back on the year in review, Blumenfeld is proud of where his promotion is headed.

"What is really exciting is that we're getting a lot more feedback from the fans. And not just basic comments that the show was good or bad. We're getting specific criticisms about what worked with the fans and what they want to see more of."

Of course like previous shows, OSCW will be bringing in a couple of guest stars to headline the main event. One of which is former Raven's Flock member and WCW superstar Lodi, who just appeared in Columbia as part of a wrestling show about a month ago. He will be taking on legendary heel, The Barbarian, who frequented both the WWE and WCW stage throughout the 80's and 90's.

In looking forward to 2012, Blumenfeld does not cite possible gimmick shows he has in mind or grandiose ways to expand his promotion but rather a continued grass roots approach to broaden OSCW's horizons.

"I want my guys to continue to reach out and connect with the fans. That is what is most important to making this grow. Wrestling fans aren't stupid. They can recognize who is giving them an honest effort as a character and performer versus the ones that are not."

The "Kaos For The Coach" show will begin with a 6 p.m. bell time with the doors opening at 5 p.m. Goose Creek High School is located at 1137 Redbank Road. For further information about the show, visit www.oscwonline.com or call 843-743-4800. Once again, limited ringside seating is $25 and general bleacher seating is $10, and all proceeds go toward Coach Phillip Morgan.