Out Of The Shadows And Into The Asylum

Photo Courtesy of Wayne Rush

There is a rare currency that exists in professional wrestling that performers cannot barter for title reigns or extended pops from the crowd. It exists in the locker rooms, on the roads between shows, and in the anecdotes passed along at gatherings.

It is the friendships forged through trial, tribulations and success that define these performers. That's at least what I remind myself standing outside the Hanahan gymnasium last May, looking out of place with a pad I'm scribbling notes on.

It is the first Old School Championship Wrestling show I've seen in years, and I'm getting leering eyes from the patrons entering the gymnasium. They look at me like sharks sensing a flailing minnow in the ocean. Especially the gentleman carrying a replica title belt. Apparently he accepts challenges at any point via wayward stares from others. I quickly decline with a look-away and act like a profound limerick is guiding my pen.

"Showtime."

The faint sound of my former in-ring persona comes from around the corner of the building where the locker room door is. A tall gent wearing a ball cap and masking his face like a bandit from the wild west beckons my attention.

Despite masking his appearance, I recognize this black condor. Hello Brandon Smalls. Hello, old friend...

I first met Smalls eight years ago when I was auditioning to be a commentator/writer for another local independent wrestling promotion, CPWA (a forerunner to OSCW). Of course as fate would have it, I would quickly transition to becoming a wrestler, and most of my training would be working with Smalls under the tutelage of Tank Lewis.

But well before we would have our first match in a bowling alley, Smalls was just a young wrestling fan in Charleston attending NWA/WCW shows at the McCallister Field House and County Hall.

"My mother was and still is a huge wrestling fan. She would take me to all of the shows in Charleston and even wake me up to watch the Clash of the Champions and Saturday Main Event when they came on television. She was a huge influence on me as a wrestling fan."

After attending Voorhees College in Denmark, SC, Smalls returned to Charleston and officially threw caution to the wind by beginning the transition from wrestling fan to wrestling performer. His training had begun.

Immediately, Smalls was being packaged into a heel persona based upon the way he maneuvered his long frame in a stalking sort of manner. Inevitably he was given the performing name Shadow Stalker to personify his movements in the ring.

But Smalls had another element he wanted to bring to the character, based mostly out of the Black Scorpion angle during the early 90's in WCW. Something to create a dichotomy he craved between himself and his in-ring character: a mask.

"I felt it was different than what everyone was doing at the time. Everyone wants their face to be seen so that when they're outside of the ring, they're recognized. I wanted to keep that separate."

Eventually, as his career on the independent scene started to gain steam in the southeast, Smalls grew away from the name Shadow Stalker because of the dated connotation that came with it. He wanted a name that would pop more when it was said. Something that would stick out a little more.

"I was in a hotel room watching television when a commercial for a 90's alternative rock compilation album was being plugged. I saw the band name Soul Asylum, and it immediately clicked with me. It just sounded cool."

Photo Courtesy of Wayne Rush

Thus the name change was complete. Shadow Stalker was out. Asylum was in.

With his persona reinvented, so to speak, Smalls gained more and more seasoning and momentum as a character in OSCW. Eventually, Smalls' hard work paid off when head promoter Joe Blumenfeld offered him a career defining opportunity.

"Joe has always been a big proponent of putting over local talent. He liked what I was doing at the time and gave me a choice. He asked me who I would rather wrestle: Tatanka or Hurricane Helms? Now, I'm sure Tatanka is a cool guy, but I thought a match with The Hurricane would be an awesome fit for me."

And so it was in place. Smalls would get to headline the next OSCW show with none other than a former WWE superstar. Smalls was elated but also realized there was a certain amount of pressure that would come with a match of this magnitude.

"I always get a little nervous before a match, but the days leading up to my match with The Hurricane I was even more nervous because this was a guy I had respected and was a fan of all the way back to his WCW days. I didn't want to let him down."

It is no secret that marketing and advertising can make or break independent wrestling shows, and with Smalls' main event clash with The Hurricane a brilliant campaign was built by OSCW. Soon, the posters were hitting the streets with the match being billed as "Superhero vs. Monster." It was a great a fit for the two contrasting characters. One, a nationally recognized face and the other, a locally recognized heel. The situation could not have been better for Smalls.

Photo Courtesy of OSCW

The paradigm that frequently exists in independent matches that feature a "name" wrestler is a reluctance to deviate from what they want to call or take in a match. That was not lost upon Smalls when he met his opponent the the night of the show.

"I expected him to dictate the entire match to me. But it was actually the opposite. He gave me a lot of leeway and was very receptive to what I wanted to do. He put a lot of trust in me and even took my chokeslam and let me come off the top rope on him."

The match itself is a near twelve minute main event that is seamless from the perspective of an outsider. (A link to the match on Youtube can be found here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05YrC2kSl1Q)

Smalls admits one botch in the match, but it is near impossible to see where it might be. Helms looks as fresh as his WWE days, and in fact was less than a year removed from his release from the company. But the mark of his true humility is in letting Smalls kick out of his own chokeslam finisher and take a roll up pin for the finish. Granted, it was a classic heel roll up with Smalls using the tights for leverage, but it is a credit to Helms' reluctance to let ego dictate circumstance.

"I really liked the match, and Helms said he did as well. Hopefully, with the finish we worked out, we can have a rematch in the future."

Holding his own with Helms was certainly the hallmark in a still burgeoning career for Smalls, but what I've learned through my friendship with him over the years is that he notoriously underplays and understates any success he has had while keeping his goals and priorities in line.

"I haven't had that low point in my career where I have doubted myself as a wrestler because I am content with where I am right now. I don't have specific timetables on when I would want to get to WWE or TNA. I'm just going to see how things progress."

But there is one thing that Smalls is open to admit now at this point in his career, and he says it with a bit of a chuckle.

"No matter what, I can always say I have a pin fall victory over someone who pinned The Rock."

Photo Courtesy of Brandon Smalls

Smalls will continue his run with OSCW in Hanahan, SC when the promotion starts the 2012 calender year with a show on February 26. Details released thus far can be found at the OSCW Facebook page.

In a true case of how everything eventually comes full circle, there is one fan that regardless of the fact that Smalls is a stereotypical monster heel, she still screams his praises at ringside. Smalls' mother. Just like when she took her son to the matches as a child, she now attends to see him in the ring.

My sentiments are similar. Smalls was the first person I wrestled and someone I enjoyed frequent tag matches with. As a writer now about wrestling, I couldn't be more proud to see him succeed in the business. But the one thing I now think about is if what Smalls said was true about his match with Helms, then I technically own a pin fall victory over the guy who pinned the guy who pinned The Rock. I guess I can live with that too.

You can follow Smalls on Twitter at @smalls316