10-Falls with Indiana Independent Wrestler Travis Southern

10-Falls

featuring Indiana Independent Wrestling Star

Travis Southern

1) How long have you been in the business and where do you receive your wrestling training?

TS: I have been wrestling since 2001. I was trained by "Mean" Mike Jezznowski, who was trained by Dick the Bruiser, Jr.

2) What organizations have you worked for and which ones are you currently associated with?

TS: I started with NAPW and have worked for WSCW, WCWO, CWA, CIW-Indy, EFW, IWA and WWA (Bruiser Wrestling). I currently work for Rising Sun Wrestling, Mayhem Pro Wrestling, And World Championship Wrestling of America.

3) What titles have you held during your wrestling career?

TS: My first title I held was when I started out with WSCW. I won the Tag Team Title along with the guy I started training with, Kid Wikkid. Since then, I have held titles in RSW (Tag Team and Heavyweight), MPW(Tag Team, United States, and currently hold the Heavyweight Title), IWA (Junior Heavyweight) and WCWA (Tag Team, United States, and currently hold the Heavyweight Title).

4) Which match over your career was your favorite and why?

TS: Well, working the WCWA Legends show and having WWF Diva Sunny as my manager was really great, and any match I work against Big Daddy Dean or the Whiteboy are really good. But the match that I liked the best was the match I had with High Voltage for the MPW Heavyweight Title. We had wrestled many times before building up to this match. There happened to be a lot of drama between the promoter and Voltage leading up to the show, and I was afraid it would carry over into the match. It didn't, and we put on a hell of a match. Having Voltage tell me after the show that if he had to lose to anyone, he was glad it was to me. Hearing that made me realize I did have some talent. lol

5) What is the toughest thing about being a professional wrestler?

TS: Having a family. When I started wrestling, I did it to get over a divorce I was going thru. My daughters have really liked going to the shows with me. But now they are getting older, and they have stuff of their own going on, like sports and school stuff. It gets harder and harder to have talented children and try to wrestle as much as I did in the past. lol

6) Any good road stories that you can pass along (keep it clean LOL)?

TS: Pulling pranks on the new guys are always fun things to do. We once did the classic prank of putting Icy-Hot in a guys trunks before his match, by the time he got done with his match, he made a beeline to the bathroom to try and get "cooled down", so to speak.
Also, listening to Kid Italy do "Toll Booth Willy" by Adam Sandler verbateum is really funny too.

7) Are there things that you would like to achieve during your pro wrestling career? Short term and long term goals?

TS: I've done most of the things that I thought about doing when I first started. I have won some titles, main evented shows, wrestled on TV, had Sunny as a manager. I think the only thing that I haven't done is have a match that somehow has Mick Foley involved. Foley was one of the few guys that got me really into the whole asspect of wrestling, stuff like promos and in- ring skills. I knew I would never be a big, power guy, or a high flyer, but I knew I could be a good bumper and just make sure I tell a good story while in the ring.

8) Have you received any important advice from other more famous names in the pro wrestling business and what was that?

TS: The best thing that anyone ever told me was to be good to the guys you see going up the ladder, cause they are the same guys you'll see on the way down. It sounds trite, but its true. There are guys I have seen not follow this saying, and its sad to see how other wrestlers treat these guys now that they have kinda "burnt their bridges", so to speak. To anyone reading this, treat people like you would like to be treated. It's the same in life, like it is in wrestling.

9) What is the BEST thing and the WORST thing about being a professional wrestler, maybe something that you didn't realize would be that way when you started?

TS: The best thing has to be all the friends that I have gotten to meet because of wrestling. "Mean" Mike Jezznowski, Big Daddy Dean, Troy Miller, Whiteboy, Justin Dean, Tommy Drastic, Jason Automatic, JyNx, Don and Amanda Reeder, Gerric Walker, Hank Calhoun. These people mean a lot to me. I am happy anytime that I get to be on a show with any of these guys.
The worst has to be some of the promoters that I've had to deal with. Some have told you one thing than turn around and do the exact opposite of what I had been told. Money issues are another thing that really gets me. Being told I was going to paid one price, than tells me later they could not pay me what was agreed upon. The bad thing is, there are a lot of promoters out there that are like that.

10) If you had to tell someone what it's like being a professional wrestler, what are the three most important things you would tell them?

TS: First thing, get trained by professionals. OVW, HWA, and even guys like Lance Storm, Truth Martini,and Scott D'Amore are a few good places and people to get trained by.
Second thing, Wrestling is not "fake", its choragraphed. There are things that do hurt and there is always a chance I might get injured.
Third thing, no, I have never or will never wrestle for the WWE or TNA. This is a hobby for me. There are a handful of guys that I know in this area that have the talent to even THINK about going any higher, but it would take a great deal of luck for them to get noticed. Hopefully, some of them will and I can say I knew them when.
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"A Special thanks to Travis Southern for being the first person in our "10-Falls" feature"

Randy Klemme