Ryan DragoBy Oliver Newman
ON: Can you tell the readers a little about yourself?
RD: I'm 24 years old, I began training in August of 2001 and made my debut in August of 2002. My trainers were "The American Dragon" Bryan Danielson, Mike Modest, Donovan Morgan and Bison Smith.
ON: Were you a Wrestling Fan growing up, and if so who were some of your favourites?
RD: I started watching Wrestling when I was 3. I liked the traditional heroes: Hulk Hogan, Ricky Steamboat, and The British Bulldogs.
ON: Was there a defining moment/match when you said this is what I want to do for a living?
RD: In the summer of 2000 my brother and I went to Los Angles for Extreme Championship Wrestling's 'Heatwave' PPV. I decided I wanted to be a wrestler when I saw the Van-Terminator (utilised by Rob Van Dam).
ON: Which Wrestling school did you go to?
RD: I found a relatively local place called Pacific Coast Sports. I say relatively, but it was actually a two hour drive each way.
ON: Who were you trained by?
RD: Initially, Donovan Morgan. A few months in though, he had a falling out with the company and left. Bryan took over training, I actually wound up getting a lot of extra training with Bryan, sometimes 2-4 hours a night more, since I was willing to stay late and get beat up by Sara Del Ray. I trained with Bryan for 9 months, up until he left for The Inoki/New Japan Dojo in L.A. After that, I moved to Donovan Morgan and Mike Modest's Pro-Wrestling IRON group, where I trained until it closed in August of 2005.
ON: Thoughts on your trainers?
RD: Bryan has an exceptional eye for detail. He's the type of guy who will spot the smallest flaw and point it out for correction. He was also very easy to get along with and never buried someone to placate his own ego. Mike Modest has an ESP when it comes to wrestling. I've seen him make a cup of coffee, (thus not watching the ring), then call the move/sequence back to us, point out what we did wrong and tell us what would have looked better. All seemingly without looking!
Donovan is one of the best guys I've met in wrestling. You do right by him and he'll fight to the death for you! There are a lot of bull shitters in wrestling, Donovan isn't one of them. He's just a great guy to work with. Bison, despite his size, is exceedingly kind. He always made time to work with anyone who needed or wanted help.
ON: Can you explain the trials and tribulations involved in training to become a Professional Wrestler?
RD: Training means turning your entire life upside down. It's a lifestyle and not one to be taken lightly! I actually weighed in at 250lbs when I started training. I also had about as much muscle on me as a 12 year old Ethiopian girl. This meant a complete overhaul of my diet and exercise routines. I literally ate egg whites, dry chicken breasts and tuna for 3 solid months. I would then run for an hour every morning before breakfast, then lift weights for two hours. This eventually lead to me dropping 50 pounds in 3 months.
There is also the driving to take into account. I had to drive 4 hours total, 3-5 days a week for 4 years. In that time I think I went through 3 cars! Injuries also tend to pile up quick when your working that hard and there's not much you can do other then take some Advil and tape it up.
There was actually a point when I bruised my static nerve and my legs would go numb every time I wrestled for about 8 or 9 weeks! I didn't tell anyone because I didn't want to take time off. The hard part (with injuries) was in training, when it would happen, trying to get up without giving away the fact that I was hurt.
ON: Thoughts on Sara Del Ray?
RD: She's a lady! (It's an inside joke, but if she reads that, she'll understand it). She is super nice and just as tough. I've seen guys that won't take half as much punishment as she will. She truly deserves all the praise she's been receiving lately. We actually started around the same time and trained together for about 3 and a half years. It's also nice to see a woman in Wrestling who's actually good, and not just good for being a woman!!
ON: Do you have a best or worst moment during training that you would like to tell the readers about?
RD: Not really a best or worst, just kind of a funny one. This happened early in my training. On this particular day, Brian "Spanky" Kendrick was the guest instructor. If you've never met him, let me say, he can be a bit head strong. Due to my transportation situation, I arrived late.
Upon seeing me, Brian told me to take off my shirt and go to the parking lot for cardio. Basically, he ran my ass off and yelled the whole time. At one point, during sprints, my Asthma started kicking in bad. I stopped to use my inhaler only to hear, "WHAT THE F--K ARE YOU DOING!?!!?" I looked up at him and he saw my inhaler and said "Oh." It's funny now, but it was gruelling as hell when it happened.
ON: Thoughts on Brian Kendrick as a wrestler and as a person?
RD: He's a nice guy and a good wrestler, just a bit head strong at times.
ON: You trained for a year before your debut match, what were you thoughts leading up to the match?
RD: As bad as it may sound, my thought was "About f--king time." A couple of guys I started with had already debuted. I was put on the back burner. It sucked because Bryan left for LA the same day I had my first match. I was sad he wasn't going to be able to give me input on it, but in retrospect, I'm glad he never saw it. It was bad!
ON: Thoughts on your opponent?
RD: His name was Robert, he was a nice enough guy.
ON: You wrestled the first match for new upstart promotion Pro Wrestling Guerrilla in July 2003. How did this come about and what were your immediate thoughts prior to your debut?
RD: Well, I actually wasn't booked. I had driven down with Hook Bomberry and Apolo Kahn, just for the hell of it! Apparently Phoenix Star didn't show up and Joey Ryan, who I'd wrestled previously, asked If I brought my gear. I did and he put me in the match. My opinion prior to the show was" How long is this going to last?". Considering what it takes monetarily to run a company like PWG, I wondered how long they would be able to do it. Apparently, quite long!
ON: You teamed with Topgun Talwar and Zokre v Charles Mercury, Sara Del Rey & Supa Badd, could you share your thoughts on the match?
RD: The first thought I had was "This match was going to be WAAAY too long". My concern was we were going to kill the rest of the card. An opening match, in my mind, should be fast paced, fun and under 10 minutes. We went 13+ minutes. If the opening match is the best of the night, why hang around for another 2 or 3 hours?
ON: Could you also share your thoughts on both your partners and your opponents?
RD: Topgun is damn funny, Zokre is good at Lucha. Charles has improved a lot thanks to training at Inoki Dojo, Supa Bad is a very nice guy and Sara, as mentioned earlier, is just awesome.
ON: The biggest match of your career thus far was a six man tag with You, Mike Modest & Donovan Morgan v Sal Thomaselli, Yoshinari Ogawa & Japanese legend Mitsuharu Misawa, tell us how you came to be involved in this match?
RD: In January of 2004, Mike had told me that they were going to start pitching me to the NOAH office to go and train in their dojo in Japan. In the months leading up to the shows, and really since I'd entered IRON, I'd been doing a lot of gofer work (Picking guys up at the airport, dropping tickets off, flyers etc). If it needed to be done I did it. A few weeks before the show, I got a call from Mike. We talked for a bit and he just sort of dropped it on me!
"You're going to be teaming with us against Misawa, Ogawa and Sal". I was actually pretty calm when he initially told me. We talked a bit more, I thanked him, then hung up the phone and yelled a very loud "F--k YEAH!!!".
ON: Your thoughts on the match?
RD: I was so scared! Misawa is my favourite wrestler and to be in the ring with him was unbelievable!!! I felt fine before and during the match, afterwards however, my heart just wouldn't stop pounding. He's much bigger then you'd guess. I always heard Japanese wrestlers worked their height, then I met him and suddenly felt very small!
ON :Thoughts on your opponents?
RD: Misawa is a legend and well deserving of that title. Hands down my favourite wrestler to watch. Ogawa is funny as hell and works a very underrated style. He tends to get over looked since he wrestles more like an American, but he's still quite good.
ON: Your next big match was against (PWG Battle Of Los Angeles winner) Davey Richards in Pro Wrestling War, thoughts on the match and Davey?
RD: I actually didn't like the match. Davey and I have fairly similar offence and it's actually kind of limiting to wrestle someone like that. Right off the bat you know you either have to cut a lot of your offence or do the same thing.
ON: How did you get the shot in TNA?
RD: Actually, Mike and Donovan got it hooked up through Terry Taylor. Terry told them to find a third guy for the match and they asked me to do it.
ON: Thoughts on match v LAX?
RD: Well if you break it down by pay vs. length of match, it was the most profitable match I've ever had!!
ON: Thoughts on LAX?
RD: They're some nice guys. Homicide has a pretty unique style, Konnan was good in his prime, but from what I understand his hip is pretty bad now. Machete, who was there third at the time, seemed to disappear pretty quick after that. I've never seen anything else of his.
ON: Thoughts on the NWA/AWS/WPW 2006 Best of the West tournament?
RD: I actually wanted to talk there and cry racism as the two Russian Jews were pitted against each other in myself and Alex Koslov! It was a fun match, I actually enjoyed it a lot. Also, in another example of me being a star maker, Alex got signed to CMLL not long after our match.
ON: Thoughts on Indy Promotions?
RD: I think the most important thing for any Indy promotion is to find a good balance. Too many companies try and do too much too soon (E.g.1PW) or they are too cheap when it comes to talent to ever draw. I believe, ultimately, it's good wrestling that brings people back. Not angles, gimmicks, or promos. If your not willing to spend the money to put on a good show or you are too careless with the money you have, you can look forward to very limited success in the wrestling business!!
ON: Do you have a favorite Wrestling promotion to watch in 2007 (if so why is said promotion your favourite)?
RD: Pro-Wrestling NOAH! It's hands down the best promotion in the world, and a place where you can see just about every type of wrestling done to it's fullest.
ON: Thoughts on WWE as we stand in 2007?
RD: They're doing their thing.
ON: Thoughts on TNA?
RD: I would like to see Impact extended to 2 hours. They have too many guys and too little TV time right now. I honestly don't watch wrestling on TV that often. I stick to DVD's as they tend to give me what I actually want.
ON: Thoughts on ROH as we stand in 2007?
RD: They seem to be doing good, hopefully, they won't stretch themselves too thin.
ON: Do you have a greatest moment/match of your career thus far?
RD: My greatest moment was getting to wrestle Mitsuharu Misawa, but my greatest match was with Nigel McGuiness.
ON: If you could pick one Ryan Drago match to showcase yourself to the readers which would it be?
RD: The one coming soon to their neck of the woods, so be sure to show up! Or they can just watch the matches on my (myspace) page.
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