J-Man
Posted by Douglas Nunnally
on 07/23/2004
Interviewer's Note:
Welcome to another edition of "Wasting The Time Of..." and in this edition, I have a rookie of the New York area, J-Man!
J-Man is one of ESW's greatest talents, so great that he, along with only 3 others from ESW, were invited to join Neo Spirit Pro shows in Canada. He has spent most of his career as one half of the tag team The New City Thugs with R-Haz, but recently, he has ended this team and has begun to venture out on his own. Despite his less than a year of experience in pro wrestling, he has a lot of accolades to his belt, such as an ESW Tag Title reign, an invitation to tour England, and a part in one of ESW's best tag matches of all time.
Despite his little experience, do not blink, for you will surely miss the improvement J-Man will make in that little time. One year in, he's accomplished so much, and in this interviewer's opinion, the second year will be nothing but amazement.
Douglas Nunnally: Thanks for taking time away from your preparation of your England tour to do this interview.
J-Man: No problem.
Douglas Nunnally: Speaking of your England tour, how did you come about the possibility to go to work in England?
J-Man: Well, "The Sexy Monkey" Robin Kightwing and I were talking about doing other promotions because he wanted to help me get out there. He's been wrestling for 7 years and he knew people in England that he wrestled for, so he asked me if I wanted to work over there with him. I was like "YEAH! Let's do it!" So that's basically the story of it. [Laughs]
Douglas Nunnally: Where are you going to stop by, and how excited are you?
J-Man: Well, we are going to London, and I am really excited about this! This is great to be able to work every day for a week and get paid for it! I guess you can say it's a little taste of WWE working every day and such.
Douglas Nunnally: How do you feel about going to England in less than a year after your debut and only twelve matches in?
J-Man: It feels great! A year ago, there was no way I would be thinking I would be going to wrestle in England or even another promotion for that matter! So I am grateful that I am going and thank God.
Douglas Nunnally: How does it feel to finally be branching off from ESW, which has been your home for the majority of your career?
J-Man: It's exciting. I mean, ESW will always be the place I started, and I will never forget Dan Dobsion, Scott Heim, and Dan Murphy for what they have done for me! But yes, I am excited and can't wait to get a taste of the wrestling world.
Douglas Nunnally: How would you say PWI's Dan Murphy had an impact on your career?
J-Man: Well, he taught me a lot about how indy feds are nowadays and how to be respectful in the business to others. He also helped me as far as in ring works goes and how psychology of matches are et cetera. He is a really great guy.
Douglas Nunnally: Since you are branching off from ESW to promotions like Neo Spirit, do you still consider it to be your home?
J-Man: Yes. ESW is my vehicle basically to where ever else I want to go. Without it, I wouldn't be here. Even all the wrestlers in ESW have helped me! They know who they are!
Douglas Nunnally: How does it feel to be one of the few ESW wrestlers invited to wrestle with NSP?
J-Man: Oh, it feels good! I now know that training is paying off, I guess. [Laughs]
Douglas Nunnally: How did you get started with ESW?
J-Man: Well, Cade Cassidy, Randy Walker, and Mastiff are all good friends of mine. We all went to high school together, and we all loved wrestling, and they all got into it and asked me later on when I was old enough to train if I was interested.
Douglas Nunnally: You originally wrestled as "Jamin," which is your real first name. Why the switch?
J-Man: Well as all ESW fans know, I turned into a "Thug" along with Ryan Hazard, and I thought it would be ghetto to switch our names up a bit and give it some attitude behind our names instead of just "Jamin" and "Ryan Hazard." We thought J-Man And R-Haz was good.
Douglas Nunnally: You have been pro for about a year now. Do you consider yourself still a rookie?
J-Man: Yes, definitely. I haven't been in the business long enough to say I am not.
Douglas Nunnally: How do you feel about your tag title reign with R-Haz as the New City Thugs?
J-Man: I felt it was good! I think we gave the tag division credibility at the time, and I had fun doing it.
Douglas Nunnally: Do you feel you secured a place in ESW history with that title reign?
J-Man: Yeah, I would say so.
Douglas Nunnally: You have recently broken up with your tag partner, R-Haz. Do you have any butterflies as you enter a major singles part of your career?
J-Man: Yeah, no doubt about it. I felt real comfortable going out there with R-Haz as a tag team, and now that I am going out there alone, I don't know what to expect and how fans will take me.
Douglas Nunnally: Any regrets from the New City Thug era of your career now that it is over?
J-Man: No way! I accomplished winning tag titles in that time
Douglas Nunnally: How close are you to R-Haz in a wrestling colleague sense?
J-Man: I would say pretty damn close. Before we were a tag team, we didn't really get along. Well, he kept to himself, and I kept to myself kind of.
Douglas Nunnally: Were you apprehensive at the fact of teaming with him at first?
J-Man: Kind of. I wasn't sure if it was going to work at first. Then he and I talked and got along.
Douglas Nunnally: What was your first match with him like?
J-Man: Good. He helped me during the match a lot. I look at him as the leader of our tag team when we were together.
Douglas Nunnally: Did you ever have any desire to be the leader of the team?
J-Man: No, not really. I just wanted a good tag team out of me and him, and I think we did a good job at it at that time.
Douglas Nunnally: Any desire to re-unite, or is that chapter of your career done?
J-Man: I can't say anything because anything can happen in wrestling right now. I am happy where I am.
Douglas Nunnally: Now that your tag team career is on hiatus, where would you like to go as a singles competitor?
J-Man: Where every singles competitor wants to go. To be the champ! If you're not in this business to be the top guy, then you shouldn't be in it at all.
Douglas Nunnally: You say Shawn Michaels is one of your favorite wrestlers. Does the great success he accomplished at such a small statue give you hope for your career as a cruiserweight?
J-Man: Yeah, no doubt about it. He wasn't the biggest guy, but man did he know how to get the fans behind him, and his wrestling made up a lot for his size.
Douglas Nunnally: Would you say you have that talent?
J-Man: I don't know. I sure hope so. I am going to do my very best!
Douglas Nunnally: Out of the favorite wrestlers you list (Shawn Michaels, Randy Savage, The Rock, and Kurt Angle), who would you say impacted you most as a wrestler?
J-Man: Without a doubt, Shawn Michaels! That man had it all!!
Douglas Nunnally: Are you saddened at all by the departure of The Rock from WWE and/or the small wrestling schedule Kurt Angle is limited to at this point?
J-Man: No, not really. I mean, The Rock is doing his own thing with the movies, and Kurt Angle is limited due to neck problems. I look up to both of those guys and respect them for what they have done for the business at the times they were at their peaks.
Douglas Nunnally: There has been a lot of debate recently in PWI magazines as well as other outlets as to Kurt Angle's place in history as one of the greatest. Some say he is a glorified suplex man, while others say he is a prodigy of the business. Some argue his spot in the top 10, some in the top 100 at all. What are your feelings?
J-Man: I think Kurt Angle is one of the best of all time! He is like a Bret Hart to me or a Chris Benoit. Very technical, but with more character than Bret and Benoit has.
Douglas Nunnally: What would you say to people who argue the other point of the spectrum in that Kurt Angle is nothing special?
J-Man: Well, I think people are entitled to their own opinions. I am not going to sit there and try to convince them otherwise like a 5th grader, you know?
Douglas Nunnally: How did you choose your finisher, which is the J-Man Slam, a.k.a. the Side Effect, which Matt Hardy made famous?
J-Man: [Laughs] I just remember Matt Hardy doing it, and I always said that would make a good finisher, so I decided to do that.
Douglas Nunnally: Would you say Randy Orton influenced your J-Hook at all?
J-Man: Yeah, he and some wrestler from Japan I saw do it on a video tape.
Douglas Nunnally: You seem to make your real name available to the masses on your website. This is not generally practiced by many people. Any reason you choose to do so?
J-Man: I just think that people have a right to know my real name, so they understand the J-Man part. No real reason behind that.
Douglas Nunnally: What are your plans for when you get back from your England tour?
J-Man: To get over big as a singles competitor, get known by other indy feds, and hopefully be ESW Heavyweight Champ.
Douglas Nunnally: Any place besides ESW and NSP you wish to venture to?
J-Man: Anywhere. Doesn't matter really, but my big goal is OVW and then hopefully WWE.
Douglas Nunnally: Would you say you are ready for that level at this stage of your career?
J-Man: Nope.
Douglas Nunnally: Knowing WWE's way of misusing cruiserweights, does that defer you at all from going there?
J-Man: No, not at all. I think their cruiserweights just don't have personas that catch on well. I mean look at Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio. They stand out! Other guys just don't have it, I don't think, so WWE just doesn't use them because those guys can't think of anything good for themselves and neither can creative team. Hope that made sense. [Laughs]
Douglas Nunnally: Do you feel that you could break the cruiserweight curse in WWE?
J-Man: To be honest, I have no idea, but I know I will do something good if I get there.
Douglas Nunnally: Which show would you like to be on?
J-Man: Raw. It's live! What more can you ask for? Nothing against Smackdown. It has good talent, just not used right.
Douglas Nunnally: Any examples?
J-Man: Well for one, Undertaker and Paul Heyman. They push Mordeci like he's some dangerous person, and then Rey beats him. They say that all Smackdown has is good wrestling.
Douglas Nunnally: What is your take on the website, TheWrestlingVoice.com?
J-Man: I think it's a real cool website for wrestling opinions.
Douglas Nunnally: Ok, you're locked in a room for the rest of your life and given the choice of one book, wrestling Supercard, CD, and movie to have. What would be the book, wrestling Supercard, CD, and movie?
J-Man: CD: Anything by Our Lady Peace. Book: I would say Frog and Toad. [Laughs] Supercard: Wrestlemania 15. Movie: Dumb and Dumber.
Douglas Nunnally: Finally, is there anything you'd like to say to the readers?
J-Man: Anybody that has dreams, go for them and God bless you all!
Douglas Nunnally: Thanks again for your time, J-Man.
J-Man: Thank you!
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