Top picture above: The Nighthawk applies the Texas Cloverleaf in an NWA Gulf Coast title defense vs. Jon Davis in Valdosta, Ga.
Bottom picture above: The Nighthawk applies an ankle-lock grapevine against Bam Bam Mancuso in Cecil, Ga., for Extreme Pro Wrestling.
I recently ran across the name of a Daytona Beach area resident, The Nighthawk, in Mike Aldren's Wrestling Globe Newsletter. The 51-year-old, who is a Southern indy wrestler, had surgery last month and hopes to return to the ring this summer. Maybe a shot against Suicide in TNA Wrestling is in order?
Q: First off, let's plug your Web site -- http://www.thenighthawk.us/
It's very extensive. Do you credit your stints as a contributing editor and photographer with some American and British wrestling magazines for its success?
A: I know how to tell a story. I think I know what pictures convey the action. I have to credit Gordon Solie for that, getting ringside and getting a ringside look. I was in Ocala at the time and we used to bring Championship Wrestling into town as a college fundraiser. It was Steve Keirn who said I needed to get out of photography and into wrestling.
Q: You debuted in 1990 and are billed as The Nighthawk at 6-foot-3 and 235 pounds. Dean Malenko trained you. Tell us about Malenko and your career, now at 18 years.
A: It's the only gimmick I've ever used. When Keirn told me to get trained, I saw a tiny little ad that Dean was running in the classifieds of The Tampa Tribune. I called and found out who it was. I said, "I gotta to do this, because (Dean) is a technician.'' In the same manner as Lou Thesz, he presented a wrestling match -- how to bump correctly. I liked working with guys that had come of legitimate wrestling schools. I had no problem with opponents -- you get your best hold, I'll get mine.
Q: What was your major at Florida State? Any good stories?
A: Communications. I was just coming in when Ron Simmons was coming out. He still goes back to FSU all the time. I gave up my season tickets when I moved down here. We started a grappling club (an MMA club). It couldn't be a registered organization. They liked the fact I came up through traditional freestyle wrestling, and I had the MMA-type background.
Q: You played semi-pro football as a tight end (Ocala Outlaws) and pro baseball as an outfielder (Panama City Flames). Why wrestling?
A: I was nearly average (at both). I refused to pass on the opportunity (for wrestling). I had been watching Texas Wrestling and Championship Wrestling from Florida. The interest was always there. I didn't actually turn pro until I was 30.
Q: You wrestle with a mask. Describe your character.
A: I was a big fan of Tim Woods, The Masked Superstar and Mr. Wrestling No. 2. I started out as a face and the bookers turned me to heel in about three weeks. I took to it naturally. I was able to take shortcuts and regroup. Fans came up to me and asked why I had to cheat. Guys like Curt Hennig didn't cheat. Somehow I morphed into a respectable veteran, along about 2000 or 2001. I had charisma and could take any green stick in the locker room and get 10 good minutes out of him. I was doing a show in Port St. Joe and they matched me up against Dr. X (the Gulf Coast titleist). It was the first show for a new promotion. We were told to do our thing. We talked for 2 minutes and the promoter was (beyond) impressed with our match.
Q: You have been a heel for most of your career. Any interesting stories?
A: We were working a rodeo arena. There was no dressing room, and we dressed on a flatbed trailer. One of the guys forgot his gear and I loaned my boots to him. I quit loaning gear out after that show (the boots walked through everything). We also worked Bainbridge, Ga. The ring crew broke down on the way to the show. It was 2 hours late. The crowd grew restless. Pretty soon, the locker room outnumbered the crowd. They were hardcore. But I figured if Bob Armstrong was staying, I was staying.
Q: You say you draw inspiration from some of the greatest technical wrestlers of all-time -- Hennig, Jack Brisco, Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho. Do you have a favorite of this bunch?
A: Brisco is the No. 1 guy to me of all-time. It (getting hooked) was watching Brisco chase Dory Funk for the NWA title and go 60 minutes and keep it interesting. That's what I thought professional wrestling was supposed to be like. I think something like Bret (Hart) and Shawn (Michaels) doing Ironman matches harkens back to the day of being a wrestler -- building drama and not doing high spots.
Q: And your favorite current wrestlers?
A: AJ (Styles) I like. Kurt (Angle) I still like. I am really impressed with The Motor City Machine Guns and The British Invasion. I like TNA Wrestling over WWE right now. I watched a triple-threat with Chris Sabin, Christopher Daniels and AJ. Normally I hate them -- those three guys made it happen.
Q: You also studied some great tag teams -- Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson, The Rock-n-Roll Express, The Road Warriors, The Midnight Express, The Fabulous Ones and Demolition. Do you have a favorite here?
A: Because of Keirn, the Fabs were under-rated. When they worked with The Sheepherders, you knew they would tear the house down. I always thought a good tag team shouldn't be identical but complimental -- one speed guy and one power guy.
Q: Biggest name you've wrestled is...?
A: That would be Bob Armstrong. The only Armstrong I didn't wrestle was Jesse. It was Scott, Brad, Steve and Bob, and the four of us -- the masked heels. From Orlando to Atlanta.
Q: You wrestle other champions in territories quite frequently. Anything noteworthy on these stops?
A: I was wrestling one of Adrian Street's trainees. He wanted a copy of the DVD of our match. We only said four words to each other for 20 minutes. Two of the words were, "I'm sorry," because we had an inadvertent headbutt. We got the crowd up and we cooled 'em off. The finish came out of nowhere and the crowd exploded. When you're the champion, you have to take a lot of the whipping.
Q: Why did you turn down a 1998 tryout with WCW? Any regrets?
A: They wanted me to come up to the Power Plant. I was really interested. But I wasn't 110 percent committed. I had just broken an ankle and was rehabbing from football.
Q: Your favorite match is the bullrope match. On your Web site, you say: "Not only is the sound of the jangling bell music to my ears but you can really go to work on someone with it.'' Any memorable bullrope matches?
A: We had one in Cecil, Ga. Near Valdosta. We were outdoors at a drag strap. The weather was bad. We were supposed to be the intermission during the drag racing. We still wrestled. Some wrestlers left, and the card kept changing. We wound up with a main-event hardcore battle royal. One guy had a kendo stick. I had my bullrope. We had a 6-foot-10 guy and we were all over the place. That was 20-25 minutes. I said chokeslam me and we had to end this. That would make the most sense since he was so tall.
Q: Your finishing move is the Waco Suspension Bridge. Great name. Explain.
A: In Waco, there is a suspension bridge. It's a scale model of the Brooklyn Bridge. That's my hometown in Waco. Since I was already doing the cloverleaf, I needed a finisher that was mine. It's a cross-ankle lock and a chin lock and I flip over to a bridge. He's in a relaxed position and I'm doing all the work, like any great hold.
Q: Trademark phrase is, "This is gonna HURT!" Explain.
A: I used that one a lot. I was so (ticked) when Tito Ortiz used that for his book. I always wanted to give the impression I had great heat with the opponent. I was out there to hurt him. I would do things like handcuff opponents to the ropes and bust them open with a VCR.
Q: Do you still have movie script plans?
A: We finished the script and it didn't get purchased. My writing partner is the guy who does the "gotta go, gotta go, gotta go, right now" (Detrol) commercial. I wrote the technical part for the movie. If I can turn it into a novel that will help him shop it. It's almost a memoir -- maybe six months.
Q: You had back and neck surgery four days apart around Christmas at Tampa's Laser Spine Institute, the same location Hulk Hogan had similar surgery. Tell us about this highway accident involving your black Camaro and a FedEx tandem-trailer rig in 2007.
A: He forced me off the road. He changed lanes and I was already there and went into the median at 70 (miles per hour). I lost feeling in my left hand. It was awful. I'd been on oxycodone for 3 years. I'm about 90 percent from the waist down and my neck/left arm is about 70 percent.
Q: How is your recovery going for a possible in-ring return this summer?
A: I have an upcoming appointment with a rehab specialist, and then I'll know more about my actual timetable. I am hoping for being ready to go by June.
Q: Have you talked to Hogan?
A: I haven't had the chance to talk to Hogan. He was on the Down Under Tour (in Australia) while I was getting prepped. However, being in the biz helped cut the ice in getting an appointment. The surgeon's staff even sent me the video of Hogan's procedure. Thankfully, my knees are in better shape than his!
Q: What are your thoughts on WWE and TNA Wrestling? Can TNA Wrestling resume a ratings war?
A: In the first few shows, I see a lot of trying to catch lightning in a bottle again, to rekindle the WCW-WWF Monday Night Wars. I think ditching the six-sided ring was a mistake, simply from a visual-distinction standpoint. Turning AJ heel, bringing in (Jeff) Hardy and (Ken) Anderson (Mr. Kennedy) and maybe (Rob) Van Dam could be temporary shots in the arm. The old WCW formula of bringing in top names from WWF/E could work but now they need a big current-day free agent. When TNA steals (John) Cena or Batista, ask me again!
Q: Ever meet our other local wrestler, Kevin Nash?
A: I've only crossed paths with Big Kev a couple of times. One of my last photo jobs was doing WCW when he was "Oz." The other time was here at the airport in Daytona, but he was on his cell and I had a tight connection. However, he is one of the few guys who consistently delivers clever promos and I got a real kick out of all of his stuff with the TNA X Division.
On the other hand...
I do have a Scott Hall story. He was one of my interviews for the indy magazines, right after he had come to Championship Wrestling from Florida. He was brought in to take Luger's place after Lex went up to WCW. At that time, he was still channeling "Magnum T.A." and I could tell he understood that he was being asked to be the No. 1 face. Then, a few years later, my future ex-wife and I were at Thee Dollhouse in Orlando and I saw Scott up at the bar. I went up to get our next round and to catch up. This was right after the Diamond Studd gimmick tanked in WCW. He explained that he had just gotten in touch with Hennig (just catching fire as "Mr. Perfect" in WWF) and asked him to use a little stroke to get him up there, too. You'll recall, they had tagged up in the AWA for a good while. Anyway, my wife came up to see what was keeping me, I introduced her and he went totally kayfabe (portraying wrestling events as real) on her!
Thanks to The Nighthawk for his time and awesome answers.
Photos were provided by Jim Brennan.
Top picture below: The Nighthawk's favorite portrait with the SCW Texas Heavyweight Title.
Bottom picture below: The Nighthawk and his favorite valet/manager Vanessa Harding.
