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Xtreme Wrestling Interview with Slyk Wagner Brown & April Hunter

XW: At what age did you realise you wanted to become a wrestler?

Slyk: At the age of 12. I use to watch wrestling with my aunt and she was a really big fan.

XW: What made you decide to get involved in professional wrestling?

April: I sort of fell into it. I was doing fitness and playboy work: Kevin Nash saw some photos and sent Terry Taylor to offer me a job. They were looking for cleavage to spice up the ratings. It was fun and it was crazy. After a while I left to get fully trained. Nash had wanted me to be WCW's "cross between Sable and Chyna" and had asked me to train at the Power Plant. My boyfriend at the time also pushed me into wrestling, telling me I had the look for it. I ended up getting referred to Killer Kowalski's instead by Kevin Kelly. And now I'm in the 'minor leagues' perfecting my craft.

XW: What wrestlers did/do you idealise and why?

Slyk: Shawn Michaels & Rick Rude. Michaels because of his size and his abilities in the ring, he was a smaller guy making a name for himself in a big mans game, despite what the critics had to say. Rude, because of his charisma. He had the ability to attract instant heat without speaking. People just wanted to hate him. That's talent.

XW: What kind of training, if any did you have?

April: I train four days a week at Killer Kowalski's. Slyk and I also trained briefly at UPW in California.

XW: At school you had an impressive sporting record being captain of he football, wrestling, track and basketball teams. What made you you choose wrestling as a career?

Slyk: Thank you. Actually I loved all the sports I participated in, but unfortunately I could only do one. It was a tough choice between football and pro wrestling. Ultimately, I chose wrestling because of the setting. Everyone has 8-10 minutes (on stage) to make the people notice and appreciate them.

XW: How did the two of you get together? Who's idea was it to team you together?

April: I'm not sure-it might have been Walters. I was working my very first show---and was nervous. I was put with Wagner since he was the most advanced student at Kowalski's at that time.We went over pretty well and the white girl with a black guy just enhanced us as heels, so we kept working together. I felt I was learning a lot from working with him, too.

XW: You turned down a full amateur wrestling scholarship to UMass so you could attend Walter 'Killer' Kowalskis school. Looking back do you think you would have had the success you have if you accepted it?

Slyk: I don't look back. I made the decision to go with wrestling and I don't think for one second that I made the wrong choice. Wresling is not just a job to me, it's a lifestyle.

XW: What promotions have you worked for?

April: ECWA-De., MCW-Md., LAW-Pa., JAPW-Nj., MWF-Ma., ACW-Ct., Killer Kowalski's All Stars, NWA-NE, NECW-Ma, WCW.

XW: As I just mentioned you attended Killer Kowalskis school and were partially trained by the Killer himself who is famous for training the four time WWF Champion, Triple H. As one of his most promising performers it must be good to know that he has trained some of the top wrestlers in the game before and that you could be the next one to rise to stardom in the wrestling world.

Slyk: Your absolutely right, it's a very good feeling to know that you were trained by the very best that our business has to offer, and I would like to think that I could be the next rising star in this business. But the truth is, competion is tough. But if there's one thing I can say above anything else, it's that I was trained by the Legendary Walter Killer Kowalski. He's a walking, talking wrestling encyclopedia, trust me!

XW: How did you get started working for the ECWA? How did Jim hear about you?

April: Kevin Kelly referred us and wanted us to work together more as a team. Both Kevin and Jim have been really good to us and ECWA is one of my favorite places to work, as well as possibly the best all-around indy show right now.

XW: On joining the school you were taken under the wing of "Too Smooth" Tre, the "Smooth operatin' Gangsta'". What did he teach you about the sport?

Slyk: Well, I was very green at the time-and I still am. But Tre' taught me the nature of the business. He didn't just show me the reversals and so forth, he told me there's much more to this business that only time will tell. I had no idea what he meant then. But today, it all makes perfect sense. I just want to say "thank you" to Tre', one of the very few people that's never said he had my best interest in mind, but showed it every chance he had.

XW: What has been your most memorable moment in wrestling thus far?

April: Oh, Geez-there are a lot. My first time walking out with the n.W.o to a crowd THAT big. (yes, even half full, WCW was a bigger crowd than I was used to!) My first day at Kowalski's-I was terrified. It was all male, and they were doing these complicated drills--and it scared the crap out of me. My first indy show at Assumption College. Our first mention as a team in PWI. I could go on, but I'll bore you.

XW: You debuted in a battle royal with Prince Albert and Steve Bradley. What was the experience like as you stepped into the ring for your first pro match?

Slyk: I was thanking my lucky stars that my first match was a battle royal. As i've been told, "that's much easier". I just want to say that's bullsh*t. Those guys beat the hell out of me for at least 20 minutes and it was far from fun. Still today, I wonder what it would have been like to have my very first match as a singles?

XW: Of all the promotions you have worked for which has been your favorite (and least favorite) and why?

April: Well, as I mentioned, ECWA is my favorite. Their show is very good from top to bottom. Great workers, spotlights, titan tron, locker room, the ring is set up early, fans that appreciate wrestling-all of it. I also like LAW in Philly and MCW in Maryland. Enthusiastic fans and the promoters are good to us. I don't really have a least favorite yet. I guess I'm too new! Unless you count a women's-only promotion I had a horrible experience with. Long story.

XW: You are managed by former nWo girl, April Hunter. How did this partnership come about?

Slyk: April and I attend the same wrestling school. She started working with the same company as myself and after a while we both felt that our career wasn't going anywhere and we needed to explore the wrestling world. We decided to travel as a team and one of the WWF talent scouts decided to book us as such with the ECWA (a WWF developmental territory).

XW: What is your favorite thing about being a pro wrestler? What is your least favorite thing?

April: My favorite is getting in front of a crowd, making them hate me. Making them freak out when I take a crazy bump. I love it! Then they come up later and say how much they liked the match. I love meeting the fans and getting feedback. Oh, I like my partner Slyk, too. He's cool to work with. Most of the time. My least favorite is the bullshit in wrestling. The lack of truth, the politics, the games and the cattiness. I'm coming from a field where if you don't speak up, you'll be walked all over. You can't really do that in wrestling.

XW: In a five year span you have wrestled for every promotion, held every pro-wrestling belt and well deservedly ranked #1 wrestler in the New England area. That is some acomplishment to achieve. How did you manage to do that?

Slyk: With the way you phrased this question, it makes me look better than GOLDBERG. It's not a challenge being a big fish in a small pond. The real challenge comes when you're the big fish in a big pond. Now that is my goal and it's a goal I plan on making. Everyone has goals, but not everyone aims high when making them.

XW: What do you think of the current state of pro wrestling? Vince McMahon now controls a majority of the mainstream wrestling and it looks as if attendance and ratings for his shows are dropping. Where do you see wrestling headed in the next year?

April: I think having only one company is bad for the business in just about every possible way. For the workers, for the fans and for the product. competition is always great. As far as how wrestling will be in a year-well, it will still be around. It comes in and out of style. We recently saw a big surge, and now we're in a low. It will eventually go back up again.

XW: Who would you most like to face in the ring and why?

Slyk: Shawn Michaels. I know he's no longer wrestling, but if he had one match left, I would love to say I had the privilege and honor of wrestling the one guy I looked up to most in the wrestling business. If anyone has made tremendous gains and left an impact in this business, it's Shawn Michaels.

XW: Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

April: With any luck, healthy and making a living doing what I love surrounded by people I love. Sounds ideal, right?

XW: What has been your best match so far?

Slyk: I wrestled Frankie "The Future" Kazarian in California this past summer. I believe that was my best match due to the fan reaction and the fact that we did 'the least for the most'. Which basically means we didn't do more than we had to, but the wrestling fans got more than they expected.

XW: What is the most memorable moment in your career?

Slyk: The most memorable moment in my career was on WWF Smackdown, where I played a police officer who arrested Kane and took the big boot-on the ramp-from the Undertaker.

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