PWP’s Tim Bell is back with another exclusive interview with indy wrestling star, Shynron, as he talks favorite moments and more!
With TFT4 in the books, Beyond Wrestling is faced with a new challenge as we head towards the end of 2015: finding a new home. Beyond will be running at Fete Music in Providence, RI for the final time on December 27th. Beyond Wrestling will continue, with a second appearance already scheduled in Somerville, MA in January 2016, but there is undoubtedly a bit of uncertainty as to where the new “home base” for Beyond will be.
With that in mind, Beyond is in the process of putting together a super show lineup for their final appearance at Fete, with newly crowned CHIKARA Grand Champion Kimber Lee looking to settle her conflict with Chris Dickinson once and for all, a “Fans Bring The Weapons” match between Matt Tremont and Sugar Dunkerton, Sami Callihan’s Beyond Wrestling debut, and a main event pitting Donovan Dijak against Tommaso Ciampa. However, one Beyond mainstay whose been tearing Fete down on a monthly basis won’t be able to compete on the show. Shynron, “The Dragon Warrior” and current CLL International All Star Champion, is currently recovering from an injury suffered at Beyond’s Tournament For Tomorrow 4 last month, and will not taking part in the show. However, I wanted to get Shynron’s thoughts on the final event at Fete Music, as well as his favorite experiences at Fete, the Beyond Wrestling atmosphere, and more.
Tim: One of the first things I noticed when I first saw you compete at Beyond, and something I believe is a large part of your appeal to audiences, is how creative and unique your style is. The high-flying, Lucha style has become so popular in the past 10-15 years, but with so many wrestlers adopting that style, sometimes it waters down the experience. However, it seems you’ve made a conscious choice to focus on innovation, would you agree? Who/what have been the biggest influences on your style?
Shynron: I definitely have made a conscious choice to go against the grain and innovate. I generally observe the masses and do the opposite, and my ring work is no different. There’s already enough mediocre out there, ya know? Do we REALLY need another regular movement on the show? I ask myself what I can do differently that can set me apart and show off my unique skills. Too many wrestlers, performers, people in general are afraid to step on toes and bring something fresh to the table. That’s what we need! I like to take influence for everywhere. Break dancing, Wrestling, MMA, gymnastics, parkour, movies, all of it. I am a big fan of how the dance group “Quest Crew” would use their insane athleticism and charisma to create mind bending illusions and tricks in their performances. As far as Wrestling goes. Rey Mysterio Jr. was a huge influence for obvious reasons, breaking barriers left and right. AR Fox was also someone I looked up to as an innovator. Although he has some years on me, we trained together. He’d always come in to the WWA4 every day with his notepad and ten new moves to tryout. Some of his ideas didn’t work but others stuck – like the Lo Mien pain. Rain, and the corner inverted senton.
Tim: Before we start talking about Beyond’s Fete Finale later this month, you were just involved in a major event for CHIKARA, Top Banana, where the big story coming out of that show was Kimber Lee’s victory and becoming the first female CHIKARA Grand Champion. Having teamed with Kimber in Beyond multiple times including last month in TFT4, and your experiences around the country with her, what were your thoughts on her landmark win?
Shynron: Kimber Lee has like 17 belts now or something like that, right? HAHA. She’s been on an absolute tear for a while now, and making history as our first female Grand Champion of CHIKARA is breathtaking. She’s was able to do what I couldn’t – wrestle the title away from Hollowicked and make history. Kimber is often seen as the underdog in her bouts, but this year especially she deserves to be among the talk of the best in the country going right now, male or female. Much love and respect Kimber Lee!
Tim: CHIKARA’s obviously been around for years, and is well-known on its own merits for the quality of shows it’s been producing for years, but they’ve been receiving an unreal amount of publicity from Top Banana, with Kimber Lee even being featured in Rolling Stone. What type of impact moving forward do you think the entire Top Banana event will have on CHIKARA? The ending is getting the press, but it feels like the entire event has the potential to be a real landmark night for the company.
Shynron: I’m proud of all of the people involved with making Top Banana a fitting ending for a phenomenal season. Anytime Wrestling can get out of its niche and obtain positive mainstream press, it can do wonders for bringing new eyeballs to what we do.
Tim: This month’s Beyond Wrestling event will be the final one held at Fete Music in Providence, RI, where you’ve had a countless number of exciting and, quite frankly, crazy moments. Balcony jumps, pole climbs, and amazing matches all along the way, do you have one moment at Fete you look back as being your favorite?
Shynron: It’s hard to pick a favorite moment, because each hold a special significance. February 2014 was Feeding Frenzy. I was still on the “come up” then, and I somehow managed to sneak a win on the Evolve Champion AR Fox and take his other belt, the Chile Lucha Libre All Stars World Championship. I was an unproven guy walking around with an (at least in America) unproven Championship. Not only was this an opportunity to shoot up the ranks here, it was the beginning of what made me a star overseas. That feud would culminate into perhaps my favorite match of all time, a ladder match with AR Fox for the title. We just did so much cool stuff to each other in this match… It was unlike anything I’d ever done. I remember asking Drew Cordeiro “where do we go from here!?” All he replied was “Young Bucks”. What a ride!
Tim: In my experiences attending independent wrestling shows, I’ve found that it’s difficult for many companies to generate the type of atmosphere and crowd response Beyond seems to have every month. However, I’m limited to the shows in my area. With your travels throughout the States and even outside the country, and all of the crowds and companies you’re performed for, how do you view the Beyond audience/atmosphere?
Shynron: Crowds definitely vary from state to state and show to show as far as energy and atmosphere. Beyond is special because of the bond and interactivity the fans share with us. We are still the only promotion I’ve seen that has wrestlers in the crowd with fans during the show. This adds such a unique vibe that only Beyond has created. I have been a part of some great audiences elsewhere as well, including the insanely rowdy Freelance Wrestling crowd, and the folks over at Interspecies Wrestling.
Tim: Over the course of the past year in Beyond Wrestling, you’ve been something of a dream match target, getting to square off with talents such as Amazing Red and Ricochet, and even outside of the company working with names like Matt Hardy. Do you have any potential “dream match” targets for 2016? Who would be your top choice to share a ring with?
Shynron: I’ve been blessed to share the ring with so many greats this year alone. Next year, I’d love to see my ultimate dream match happen against Rey Jr.! Some others I’m dying to wrestle are Speedball Mike Bailey, Andrew Everett, Apollo Crews, Adrian Neville, Moose, and Matt Sydal. Bring em on!
Tim: What would you pinpoint as being the biggest moment of your career to this point?
Shynron: For me, winning CHIKARA’s Rey De Voladores 2014 tournament during KOT was a huge elevation for me. It’s not often you pin Tigre Uno and The Great Sanada in the same weekend. Showing that I could go with the world’s premier flyers opened a lot of doors and commanded respect from a lot of my naysayers.
Tim: As noted on social media, you’re currently recovering from an injury suffered at TFT4 last month, and while you mention you’ll only be out of action for about a month, it does mean we won’t see you competing at Fete Finale this month. Any chance we see you on hand, and if not, any thoughts you’d like to leave for the fans heading to the Finale on December 27th?
Shynron: Unfortunately I won’t be making the trip for our final show at Fete. I would have been at just about every Beyond Wrestling event this year, a feat I’m especially proud of considering I didn’t have many appearances at Fete in 2014.
It’s going to be another stellar show with Dijak and Ciampa rounding out an already dynamic card. You’re not going to want to miss Beyond ending its run at Fete with a bang!