The Aussie
12-13-2008, 04:52 AM
September 12th, 2001.
Richard M. Brott- Hello home viewers and welcome to Behind the Bodyslams. My name is Richard Brott and I’m here with our special guest Sionne Tama Petera, better known to wrestling fans as Sionne the Mighty.
Sionne- Glad to be here.
Brott- Tell me, what made you decide to become a wrestler? Who were your influences?
Sionne- My cousin Alasi (Alasi Tua) got me into it when he introduced me to Master Kitozon when I was staying with him while he was working in Burning Hammer of the Wrestling Gods.
Brott- Well, I guess you couldn’t pick a better influence. I suppose he got you into the behind the scenes elements.
Sionne- Actually, Connor Thompson got me into it. When he took up the Head Booker position at Combat Fighting Arts, he offered for me to act as an understudy of sorts to him.
Brott- He took an inexperienced worker under his wing? That’s quite impressive.
Sionne- Tell me about it. Of course, one word of warning though is to never cross Kien Shih. He was in his early fifties and he still gave me, someone twice as wide and half his age, a beating that I’ve never forgotten. Suffice to say, I decided to take my chances and walk.
Brott- You pretty much disappeared for a few years after that. You took this time to train yourself, if I’m not mistaken.
Sionne- Yes. However, history has proven that a 250 pound Samoan who can fly like a Junior Heavyweight will face some difficulty cracking the American market.
Brott- Why didn’t you sign with a promotion in Japan?
Sionne- By 1984, Kitozon had moved on to owning 5 Star Supreme Wrestling so I couldn’t sign there due to my lack of internal genitalia. I couldn’t sign with CF Arts because I was still on the outs with Shih, so Thompson couldn’t bring me in. By now, Golden Canvas Grappling and Burning Hammer had gotten huge and already had established Jr. Heavyweight divisions.
Brott- And the American promotions?
Sionne- No such luck. I didn’t agree with how the Lamberts ran things in APWF, even though by then Franco Lambert had passed away and Professor Nero had become owner. Even then, the APWF was struggling to keep up with the Supreme Wrestling Federation.
Brott- This was when the SWF had pretty much exploded in popularity, correct?
Sionne- Yep. They were riding a wave of popularity when George DeColt became the booker. I don’t mean to kiss his ass but the guy is a genius when it comes to professional wrestling. He pretty much turned Luis Montero into what he is today as well as being able to lay some claim to how dominant Dread has become.
Brott- This was when you realized that the writing was on the wall.
Sionne- Oh yeah, I couldn’t crack into any promotion. It wasn’t until North of the Border Pro Wrestling came around that I made something out of myself.
Brott- You took up the head booker job and really got the ball rolling for them.
Sionne- It was actually pretty easy. The Canadian fans had been pretty much ignored for eight years following the CWF and CPW: A closing down in the mid 70’s.
All I really did was establish a talented base under Sheik Mustafa and build up some good young wrestlers.
Brott- And it was very impressive. Allow me to run through some of the names so you can give me your thoughts.
Sionne- Okay
Brott- Christian Faith…
Sionne- Incredibly charismatic. There’s a reason why he has won the world title so many times.
Brott- Warlord Pain…
Sionne- Limited brawler but he was great in tag matches.
Brott- Chance…
Sionne- Same as Warlord Pain. I decided to team them up as the Disciples and the rest is history. They just had something intangible when they teamed.
Brott- Dread.
Sionne- Scariest Mother****** I’ve ever worked with. Not in a bad way though, his size was so intimidating and his agility really shook me at times. I would constantly think ‘He is someone that no intelligent person would **** around with’.
Brott- You put that politely. Next up is Eric Tyler…
Sionne- Terrific wrestler but he had a huge opinion of himself.
Brott- Haruki Kudo
Sionne- My favorite person to work alongside. He possesses so much natural talent but he was so nice backstage. Hell, Sam Strong even put him over and that is saying something.
Brott- You had so many great young talents. Who would you say was your biggest success story.
Sionne- Sakurako Kagawa. She consistently put on great matches and would get some of the best pops. Interestingly enough, she is only second behind Brenda Martinez in Womens title reigns around the world of all time. Between JPWW, NOTBPW and GC:WW she held 17 championships. Martinez just beats her out with 18 championships.
Brott- You had such success from an early beginning, why did you leave after only five months?
Sionne- I seem to have the misfortune of having a prick as a boss. Creative differences led to me walking from the promotion. He didn’t agree with me having Sakurako face off against Sadako Red as the main event for one of our shows. He felt that the final match had to be something that was marquee or featuring someone from the upper reaches of the card.
Brott- Who walked when you left after this altercation?
Sionne- Amazingly enough only Sadako did. She got into a huge argument with Mustafa over it and actually spat in his face. Doing this blackballed her from any American promotion that did Woman’s wrestling. It didn’t affect her Japanese career which is a good thing. I’d never be able to pay her back if I ****** up her entire career because she stuck up for me.
Brott- This lead to another self-imposed exile for you….
Sionne- I wouldn’t say Exile, I just went on hiatus for three years.
Brott- And then you resurfaced in NYCW.
Sionne- Good times
TBC
Richard M. Brott- Hello home viewers and welcome to Behind the Bodyslams. My name is Richard Brott and I’m here with our special guest Sionne Tama Petera, better known to wrestling fans as Sionne the Mighty.
Sionne- Glad to be here.
Brott- Tell me, what made you decide to become a wrestler? Who were your influences?
Sionne- My cousin Alasi (Alasi Tua) got me into it when he introduced me to Master Kitozon when I was staying with him while he was working in Burning Hammer of the Wrestling Gods.
Brott- Well, I guess you couldn’t pick a better influence. I suppose he got you into the behind the scenes elements.
Sionne- Actually, Connor Thompson got me into it. When he took up the Head Booker position at Combat Fighting Arts, he offered for me to act as an understudy of sorts to him.
Brott- He took an inexperienced worker under his wing? That’s quite impressive.
Sionne- Tell me about it. Of course, one word of warning though is to never cross Kien Shih. He was in his early fifties and he still gave me, someone twice as wide and half his age, a beating that I’ve never forgotten. Suffice to say, I decided to take my chances and walk.
Brott- You pretty much disappeared for a few years after that. You took this time to train yourself, if I’m not mistaken.
Sionne- Yes. However, history has proven that a 250 pound Samoan who can fly like a Junior Heavyweight will face some difficulty cracking the American market.
Brott- Why didn’t you sign with a promotion in Japan?
Sionne- By 1984, Kitozon had moved on to owning 5 Star Supreme Wrestling so I couldn’t sign there due to my lack of internal genitalia. I couldn’t sign with CF Arts because I was still on the outs with Shih, so Thompson couldn’t bring me in. By now, Golden Canvas Grappling and Burning Hammer had gotten huge and already had established Jr. Heavyweight divisions.
Brott- And the American promotions?
Sionne- No such luck. I didn’t agree with how the Lamberts ran things in APWF, even though by then Franco Lambert had passed away and Professor Nero had become owner. Even then, the APWF was struggling to keep up with the Supreme Wrestling Federation.
Brott- This was when the SWF had pretty much exploded in popularity, correct?
Sionne- Yep. They were riding a wave of popularity when George DeColt became the booker. I don’t mean to kiss his ass but the guy is a genius when it comes to professional wrestling. He pretty much turned Luis Montero into what he is today as well as being able to lay some claim to how dominant Dread has become.
Brott- This was when you realized that the writing was on the wall.
Sionne- Oh yeah, I couldn’t crack into any promotion. It wasn’t until North of the Border Pro Wrestling came around that I made something out of myself.
Brott- You took up the head booker job and really got the ball rolling for them.
Sionne- It was actually pretty easy. The Canadian fans had been pretty much ignored for eight years following the CWF and CPW: A closing down in the mid 70’s.
All I really did was establish a talented base under Sheik Mustafa and build up some good young wrestlers.
Brott- And it was very impressive. Allow me to run through some of the names so you can give me your thoughts.
Sionne- Okay
Brott- Christian Faith…
Sionne- Incredibly charismatic. There’s a reason why he has won the world title so many times.
Brott- Warlord Pain…
Sionne- Limited brawler but he was great in tag matches.
Brott- Chance…
Sionne- Same as Warlord Pain. I decided to team them up as the Disciples and the rest is history. They just had something intangible when they teamed.
Brott- Dread.
Sionne- Scariest Mother****** I’ve ever worked with. Not in a bad way though, his size was so intimidating and his agility really shook me at times. I would constantly think ‘He is someone that no intelligent person would **** around with’.
Brott- You put that politely. Next up is Eric Tyler…
Sionne- Terrific wrestler but he had a huge opinion of himself.
Brott- Haruki Kudo
Sionne- My favorite person to work alongside. He possesses so much natural talent but he was so nice backstage. Hell, Sam Strong even put him over and that is saying something.
Brott- You had so many great young talents. Who would you say was your biggest success story.
Sionne- Sakurako Kagawa. She consistently put on great matches and would get some of the best pops. Interestingly enough, she is only second behind Brenda Martinez in Womens title reigns around the world of all time. Between JPWW, NOTBPW and GC:WW she held 17 championships. Martinez just beats her out with 18 championships.
Brott- You had such success from an early beginning, why did you leave after only five months?
Sionne- I seem to have the misfortune of having a prick as a boss. Creative differences led to me walking from the promotion. He didn’t agree with me having Sakurako face off against Sadako Red as the main event for one of our shows. He felt that the final match had to be something that was marquee or featuring someone from the upper reaches of the card.
Brott- Who walked when you left after this altercation?
Sionne- Amazingly enough only Sadako did. She got into a huge argument with Mustafa over it and actually spat in his face. Doing this blackballed her from any American promotion that did Woman’s wrestling. It didn’t affect her Japanese career which is a good thing. I’d never be able to pay her back if I ****** up her entire career because she stuck up for me.
Brott- This lead to another self-imposed exile for you….
Sionne- I wouldn’t say Exile, I just went on hiatus for three years.
Brott- And then you resurfaced in NYCW.
Sionne- Good times
TBC