Moving on to the next interview is one that this blogger has been looking forward to for quite some time now.
Mike Madrigal, pictured above, is one of the top wrestling stars in the Philippines. He currently wrestles for Filipino Pro Wrestling or FPW.
Prior to this fan's visit last August, there were numerous times I watched Mike on You Tube. There were matches against the likes of Quatro, Main Maxx and SANDATA, three great wrestling stars in the Philippines. I came away from the videos impressed with and in awe of MIke's strength, quickness and agility.
The match that Mike had with Duke Ortega at the Astig show had me standing at the end of the match. What I saw in the videos was more than a carbon copy. It was real life and it was happening in the squared circle!
Recently, this was the interview that took place. Thank you Mike for wanting to do this. Will see you guys in 2024!
Wayne: Mike, other than the pandemic years, how long have you been wrestling?
Mike: I started training 2014 unfortunately did an internship abroad for a year which stopped me from training but came back the year after to get back into the game. Finally debuted 2016.
Wayne: At what moment or time made you feel that you wanted to be a professional wrestler?
Mike: Since I started watching it back in 1998. Like every wrestling fan I'd have matches with my friends and cousins back then. Unfortunately there wasn't a local scene for pro wrestling when I started to become a fan so the closest thing was combat sports. So I started to train Muay Thai and even competed til I found out about PWR through Bombay Suarez.
Wayne: Do you have a favorite promotion that you watch outside of FPW? It could be local, international or both.
Mike: Well theres no beating the WWE for sure. It's easy to digest and keep up with. As much as I love AEW,ROH,Impact and the Indys I can't watch a whole show or PPV because theres so much happening. Not that it's a bad thing it just takes more time for me to finish so I can appreciate each match more.
Wayne: Do you have a favorite wrestler that you follow today? Again, it could be local, international or both.
Mike: Kenny Omega and Kevin Owens. Both men have different styles and I enjoy watching each of them. The work rate, the character work, the way they tell their stories in the ring. Just awesome.
Wayne: Mike, being in the ring for several years now, what do you think was the toughest match that you were in?
Mike: Toughest yet most rewarding match has to be with El Guapo for the DPW Championship. The guy was the best conditioned guy I've ever worked with and it felt like my gas tank was just not enough to keep up but I hung in there. By the end of the match I was gasping for every bit of air I could get but damn was that a hell of a match. We both left with bruises and I got a black eye but I live for that style of wrestling.
Wayne: Mike, how do you feel about pro wrestling in the Philippines now and it's future?
Mike: I think pro wrestling has a bright future in the Philippines. We have 3 promotions each doing their own thing and if I wasn't a wrestler right now I'd be a fan supporting all 3 of them. We came from literally not having any pro wrestling for years since the originals from Pinoy Wrestling to having a trio of promotions you can choose from.
Now is a good time to be a Filipino wrestling fan and it's only going to get better!
But we do have to acknowledge that Philippine Pro Wrestling is only going to flourish if we are backed by the fans.
So to end the interview I'd like to thank everyone who's supported Philippine Pro Wrestling as a whole but also I'd like to ask everyone to keep on supporting all 3 of our local promotions: FPW, MWF, WuW cause we can't keep this scene rolling just with passion alone. Buy tickets, watch the streams, watch the tv shows, let's show investors that Philippine Pro Wrestling is worth banking on!
With that said please watch the first episode of FPW:Astig debuting on September 14 2023 on FPW's youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@filprowrestling
No comments:
Post a Comment