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IZW Wrestler Talks Being Affected By Tornadoes In Oklahoma, How IZW Is Helping Victims

Posted: Jun 6th 2013 By: mikeiles

I spoke with former IZW Champion Double D, who was in Moore, OK, when it was devastated by tornadoes last month. Double D discussed being in the city when the tornadoes hit and how IZW is helping with relief efforts, you can check it out below:

WrestlingINC.com: I wanted to talk a little bit about IZW. What can you tell us about IZW for people that don't know much about it?

Double D: Well, basically we're based out of Lawton, Oklahoma. We've been running for about nine years now, just had our ninth anniversary. It's really a good place to be. A lot of people here, independent and things like that, they get a kind of certain idea in their head of what it will be like as far as a flea market or run down building. But we got our own building, a great production. A lot of money and time and effort's been put into the whole product in general, from the arena itself all the way to the talent and everything like that. We really try to just do something kind of different while keeping it, we've been described a lot as sort of having an old school vibe, while doing things sort of different. Every time I've ever talked to anyone about the product they compare it to things on TV. They definitely say that we're on the right track and we're basically just looking to get that right exposure and that right person to see us for us to explode out of there.

WrestlingINC.com: You guys have been based in Oklahoma since you started, right?

Double D: Yes, yes.

WrestlingINC.com: The tornadoes recently devastated parts of Oklahoma. You mentioned you're in Moore, correct?

Double D: Yes, yes. My family lives here in Moore.

WrestlingINC.com: Were you guys affected by the tornadoes?

Double D: I was actually here because every time we get done with a show we usually end up sitting here a couple days before we head back. That day I was having to stay an extra day and I was right here. In Moore there's a street called Four Street and it's maybe half a mile from my house, basically my front yard. The storm was coming. Of course you hear the warnings and the sirens are going off. I heard the sirens before and it wasn't that big of a deal and next thing I know I hear a voice come over a loud speaker saying citizens of Moore, take cover now. So I knew it had to be something a little different this time.

Next thing I know it's coming and unfortunately curiosity was getting me and it wasn't coming directly at me, so I kind of stayed up there and watched. And I watched that thing go right down the street, just maybe, like I said, a half mile from my house and it was just huge. You could see just debris flying everywhere. There were pieces of insulation from houses and pictures and all sorts of stuff just landing in my front yard. So I immediately took cover at that point. It was a pretty scary sight, something you never really forget and I have some friends in the area. We immediately ran out afterwards, as soon as it was over, to see if they were okay because they live right there on the edge of that street. Fortunately they were both okay. One of the houses was pretty damaged so unfortunately they are not able to live in that house anymore. The other friend was okay. As of right now they're up and on their feet. Even to this point there's still just devastation everywhere. Things you were used to seeing for years and years are just gone. It's a rough time. They're dealing with a lot of things right now.

WrestlingINC.com: It's good to hear that your family and everything is okay. I know IZW is helping out with relief efforts for the tornadoes. What exactly is the company doing?

Double D: Basically the entire month of June, every single show, all revenue that we bring in, anything from our concession stand or anything like that at all, every single dime that we bring in, not just profit, but every penny, is going to the relief effort for Moore, Oklahoma. We have five Saturdays in June, we run every week, so that's five Saturdays worth of money that we're going to put into it. Every wrestler's giving up their pay. Every person from the top to the bottom is putting in everything we can to help out, basically in any way that we can because we feel the responsibility to do so.

WrestlingINC.com: And when is your next show?

Double D: The next show is actually this Saturday. We're also live on GFL.TV and on demand as well. So live on Saturday nights and then a little later that night it becomes on demand and you can catch it pretty much any time. Past episodes, they have episodes all the way from the last, I'd say almost maybe two years now I think, is what we're approaching with GFL. The address for the actual arena is 1009 SW F Ave in Lawton, Oklahoma. It's the Impact Zone Arena, we're there every single Saturday night. Like I said, we're trying to do everything we can to help out.

WrestlingINC.com: Alright, well thanks again Double D. We'll invite everyone to check that out. Is there anything else you'd like to tell our readers before we end the interview?

Double D: Basically, if you haven't seen IZW, you definitely give it a chance. Anything I've ever heard has been nothing but positive and these are from people who didn't have to say it. Our production value is great. We have great talent; we work very hard to put out a good and fresh product. If you're a fan of wrestling it's definitely worth checking out. I highly recommend it.