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Mike Iles reflects on 8 years in wrestling

Posted: Jun 18th 2012 By: mikeiles

I have been watching pro wrestling for as long as I can remember. I remember watching Mid South, World Class, and to a lesser extent, WWF. I remember when I was about to graduate high school, I sent a letter (no e-mail back then) to Mid South asking how to get a tryout. They mailed back a few weeks later with a letter on Mid South Wrestling letterhead stating I would need to get transportation to Shreveport and sign a waiver stating I would not hold them liable for an injury. My dreams of being the tag team partner of Jim Duggan, or Jake Roberts, or Ted DiBiase, or me being the newest member of the Freebirds was dashed. I had never even been to the state of Louisiana, much less have the money to go there for a tryout.

Out of high school, I still lived at home and worked at Pizza Hut. While I was there, we had a guy mowing the lawn who happened to be a pro wrestler. His name was Chuck Singer and he was wrestling for Bill Ash up in Arkansas. I talked wrestling to him every chance I got and yes I probably sounded like a huge mark, although I didn't even know that term at the time. He finally invited me to go with him to a show, but my work schedule was conflicting. Unfortunately he dropped off the radar and he stopped being our lawn guy.

Fast forward to 2004, I meet Raymon Downey. We had been going to the same church for a couple of years but I really only knew him in passing. I was at a collectible store over near the Tulsa Fairgrounds and he walks in with someone and I recognize him from church. I said hey, he said hey and he went about his business. But the guy with him recognized me. I am pretty sure that guy was John Crow but I can't be sure. He recognized me from my job at Pro Image in Promenade Mall and Eastland Mall because we sold WWF and WCW shirts. I was given a business card and on the back was written "2 free tickets. The Boss". I never took him up on the offer. But I began a friendship with Raymon that lasts to this day. I began working with him in the TV and computer department of the church. He told me about his involvement with Steel Rage Pro Wrestling (original version) and told me about the website. I wandered over to the site and read about it. I wanted to be involved in some way, but I also knew that I was too old to begin training. I asked about ring announcing and internet help. He invited me to the show the next Friday, and well, the rest really is history.

The ring announcer at the time was Eric Roberts. He is a good guy and has held various positions or jobs in a couple of different feds. He couldn't make it to the show on June 18, 2004. I was riding with a couple of friends to the show as we were passing downtown Tulsa, my cell phone rings. It's Raymon asking if I wanted to ring announce since Eric couldn't make it. I said said yes, hung up the phone and told my friends. Then the fear stepped in. You see I used to have terrible stage fright as a teenager. When I was a kid, I was in plays at school and at church and I was fine. As I got older, the stage fright came. Now, at least in my mind, I was going to get up in front of 1000 wrestling fans and talk on a microphone. I had never been to an SRPW show. In fact, I had only been to 2 indy shows in the Tulsa area my whole life. I got the the gym and found Raymon who brought me to the locker room to meet "the booker". I am thinking it will be an old guy with a carved up forehead or something. Nope, I met Cade Sydal. He gave me the rundown and even made me an integral part of the show by cutting a promo and setting up the main event. He must have had a lot of faith in me, a guy who had ZERO experience. That is what I want to believe anyway.

The show began and I got in the ring, which was a HUGE thrill for me. We started and I didn't feel the stage fright at all. I did mess up because I was trying to setup the match for right then when it was supposed to be the main event. It wasn't my first mistake and I guarantee it won't be the last.

So it has been 8 years today I started in wrestling. It has been a real roller coaster ride. I have been fired in storylines, I have been fired in real life. I have met people I consider my closest friends that I never would have met otherwise. There is no way I could write a weekly column about my 8 years, nor would it be interesting enough to read. But here are some of my favorites:

-My first show: Main Event was Dexter Hardaway, Timmy J, Bobby Dalton, & Prophet vs. Kenny Campbell, Cade Sydal, & The New Texas Outlaws (Bernard Funk & Renegade, w/ Flamon Raymon) in an Elimination Match and I got to set it up in a promo.
-Working an SRPW show at The Myriad in OKC during the Fun Fair.
-Working an SRPW show at the IPE Building in Tulsa during the Fun Fair
-My first show at NWA-OK in Tahlequah. I wish I had taken a picture of Burnham's face when I was introduced as commissioner.
-Standing in Tulsa International Airport with a sign that said "NWA UNIVERSAL". I opted for that instead of "CHARMING CHARLES" or later "ODB". The "ODB" one would have got me funnier looks though.
-The first show for NWA-U at the Muskogee Civic Center. Huge crowd that night.
-My first show for Mid-States Wrestling. Interviewing Butch Reed was a plus, although somewhat confusing.
-My first heel turn. It happened in SWCW and the fans HATED it. Striker and I had a blast.
-Driving to Somerset, KY for a show with Michael Barry, Dustin Heritage, and Jack Legacy and making an overnight stop in Memphis. Had a great time on Beale Street and touring Graceland. At that show in Somerset, I got to work with Al Snow, Ronnie Garvin, Larry Zbyszko, Meng, and Koko B. Ware.
-The first MWA show in Spavinaw and the crowds we drew when we had the midgets
-Watching Jermaine Johnson sing karaoke at a Lawton bar with the IZW Title over his shoulder. He wasn't champion at the time, Michael Barry was. I think I still have that video somewhere. Also, that was the same night a somewhat inebriated Michael Barry gave me the nickname "The Kingpin" at the IHOP in Lawton.
-At Arkansas Pro Wrestling when Michael Barry, Dustin Heritage, and Lars Manderson were in a tag match with S. L. U. G. G. and they proceeded to take off his boots, socks, pants, etc. I couldn't contain my laughter especially when his wife is behind me yelling "Don't take off his pants, he may not have underwear on!" Thank God he did.
-Anytime I got to manage any member of Excellence Personified in any fed.

There are so many more, but just in case you have got this far reading, I don't want to continue to bore you. But I never would have thought I would make it 8 years. It was an accident I made it in at all. But in those 8 years I have got to work in 5 different states and for 18 different wrestling feds. It has been one crazy ride.

In closing, this weekend, I finally get to cross off one of my "bucket list" items. In the 8 years I have been in wrestling, I have never been able to work a show in the town where I graduated high school. So, this Saturday, at the Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club in my hometown of Broken Arrow, I am involved with Wrestling For a Cause. It is a benefit show for Chelsea Brooke Brantwein of Thomas, OK. who has been diagnosed with Stage 4 Glioblastoma, one of the deadliest types of brain tumors. The show's proceeds will go to help with medical and travel expenses for Chelsea and her family. If you are in the area, please come out and support us and this young lady.

Here is a link to the Facebook event listing:
Wrestling For a Cause in Broken Arrow. OK

See you at ringside!!!

Mike Iles
AKA The Kingpin