#[just WWE bodyslam him into 2018]

[shitloadsofwrestling]

Shitloads Of Wrestling Interview: Anthony Toatele [June 12th, 2018]

Straight out of Salt Lake City, Utah, “The Flowin’ Samoan” Anthony Toatele is one of Indiana’s best kept secrets. Trained by Kongo Kong at Bodyslam University, Toatele’s popularity has risen astronomically since his debut five years ago. Along the way, the high-flying technician met his now-wife Kenzi Alexander, and with her by his side, Toatele has proven that he’s a mainstay and will be for years to come. We at SOW got this very cool interview with one of wrestling’s hottest rising stars!

SOW: Every wrestler has their Marvel Origins story on what made them go from being a common man to becoming a professional athlete. Do you remember the moment that you were struck with the idea to buy yourself some boots and tights and become a wrestler?

TOATELE: I was hooked on wrestling as a little kid. Big Hogan and Sting fan, but it was nothing more than a real life cartoon. Fast forward to the age of 12. Summer after 6th grade I’m spending it in SLC with my brother visiting my family. On a Monday night I sat down and came across WWE well F then, RAW. It was the episode where Vince McMahon asked and invited The Rock to come back to television to save the WWF from the WCW/ECW rebellion. I was intrigued, so I decided to tune in the following Monday. Then, he showed up. The Rock graced the little 16 inch TV in my grandparents bedroom and I was hooked! I wanted to be that guy and knew it. I wanted his confidence, his athletic ability, and his swagger. After that, I was all in on everything that I could do to be like The Rock. It was because of him I started playing football. Not well, but I would get better later. I did everything in my middle school years to groom myself to be a pro wrestler. I only did amateur wrestling back then because of guys like Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar. Alas, once I got to high school I figured it was just a silly dream. I watched it, but never considered it. Post-graduation in the year 2007, I had an idea to look into it. I reached out to a school who told me it would cost thousands of dollars for school. I was a broke freshman that couldn’t even make it to my classes so my answer was a quick “Thanks but no thanks”.

Eventually I got back into playing football and decided I wanted to be a professional athlete. I worked my butt off to be the best quarterback I could be. Hard to do for a kid with barely any high school experience and sitting on the couch for 2 years. I did it though getting onto semi-pro teams and indoor football teams throughout the Midwest. Couple years of that though and I realized that I was not getting younger and other players were. I decided to find something better, something more satisfying. My friend and I had been watching wrestling together when we hung out before lifting weights or going to football practice by then. He asked me if I ever considered it as a real thing. I told him not really but I would be willing to. Thanks to Google, I found Bodyslam University and Kongo Kong, with the rest being history.

SOW: When crafting your style, did you have an idea of the kind of wrestler you wanted to become? Perhaps someone you looked up to?

TOATELE: Is it over the top if I say The Rock? When I first started that was the one wrestler I leaned on as far as I style. Eventually though my pallet expanded for more styles and guys to watch and study. CM Punk, Shawn Michaels, Prince Devitt, Dolph Ziggler, and etc were guys I started to really pay attention to. SOW: You've had some very good matches against top quality talent. Are there any matches in particular that stand out as career highlights?

TOATELE: Easy. Billy Gunn and Joey Ryan. Billy was a family friend of my wife’s family. Not to mention, only of the biggest names from the Attitude Era. I wanted to prove to him that I could perform with someone of his caliber. It was the first “big name” I wrestled in front my family and friends in my city.

Joey Ryan is the other one. Joey has this great following and has done wonders to bring eyes to the independent wrestling scene. Similar to Billy, I wanted to show him and the world that I could hang with one of the top guys in wrestling at the time. Still is too!

SOW: As someone who very clearly spends a lot of time in the gym, what kind of music is on your playlist to keep you motivated? Any particular artists or genres?

TOATELE: Ahh man, I hate this question when people ask me…Haha! I’m a big loser when it comes to music in the gym. Most of the time it’s wrestling theme songs. I would say the breakdown is as follows: 55% wrestling themes; 15% Hip-Hop; 15% Hardcore/ Screamo Rock; 10% EDM; 5% sweet movie soundtracks. Artists-wise though, I’ve got Drake, Lil’ Wayne, Limp Bizkit, Public Enemy, Kanye, Metallica, Bring Me The Horizon, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, DJ Khaled, Lil Jon, Outkast, and Imagine Dragons. Yeah that pretty much covers it. Oh wait, and my guys Downstait!

SOW: Correct me if I'm wrong, but professional wrestling introduced you to your wife, Kenzi. How did the two of you meet, and how did it feel to finally pop the question at Indy Pop Con?

TOATELE: You are not! We happened to be training at the same wrestling school. She was already a year in and managing her brother Kharn Alexander. One day in the hot summer of 2013, she happened to show up to a training session. There she was young, innocent, and arm in a sling due to an injury (a torn AC joint and separated collarbone). There I was looking tan, sweaty, and looking I was sculpted out of granite! HAHA! Don’t ask her about that part though, she will disagree. We ended up getting to know each other over the next year or so, and when Kharn decided to leave professional wrestling we decided to partner up. When the stars-aligned and our lives were ready for it, we decided to give dating a try.

Indy Pop Con was an experience! I was a nervous wreck going into that weekend, mainly because I knew what was on the menu Saturday. My flair for the dramatic led me to set up the proposal while we were on stage for a panel. So when it came time, I was sweating bullets. Once I popped the questions though and the waterworks started, I was ecstatic. We were married on August 12, 2017 and we haven’t looked back

SOW: You've had a lot of great matches against talent both local to the area and national. What have been some of your favorite feuds, and what matches do you think were defining in those feuds?

TOATELE: The first feud that really started my career was me and Alexander S. Kirk. He wanted my girl and she didn’t want him…Classic story of a guy just not know when to quit. We had some great matches that ended with an “I Quit” match at the now defunct Strong Style Wrestling.

After that I would have to say the ongoing rivalry/ feud with Jason Saint. It, literally, has been going on for years! It started at World’s Finest Wrestling when he managed Cliff Compton vs myself with Kenzi. Then, it went to NWA – Circle City Wrestling where he managed the monster known as Zodiak. On to FWF, where I took on Adam Bueller. Finally most recently, at Wrestling Theology where I beat his man, Jeremy Hadley, to advance to the semi-finals for the heavyweight championship. Every match, every opponent Jason has put against me really has made me up my game and I think the crowd has always gotten their money’s worth with those matches.

SOW: Say you won $10 million and you were given the opportunity to sign any professional wrestlers to a startup company. What matches would Anthony Toatele book himself in, featuring current stars of today's product?

TOATELE: Ahh…I see what we did here. You want me to do a list ala Cody Rhodes. Ok, let’s do this. Matches I would use my finances to put myself in (talk about heat with some of the boys if I say it like that…):

Adam Cole, Cody Rhodes, Sami Callihan, Shane Mercer, Zachary Wentz, Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins, The Miz, EC3, The Young Bucks, Adam Page, Jay Lethal, Myron Reed, Okada, Jake Something…

I think that is plenty of options! I would want to face guys from all over the world and from different styles and backgrounds. You don’t become the best in the world by staying on your couch.

SOW: Over the course of the next 5 years, ideally, where would you like to see Anthony Toatele and Kenzi? Do you see yourselves becoming prominent features in professional wrestling?

TOATELE: Ideally, I want to be wrestling all over the world. I think that traveling the world and meeting fans from different corners of the planet would be amazing. Depending on how small or big our family will be in 5 years will really dictate Kenzi’s schedule but I can’t imagine having some of the biggest matches in my career without her by my side. So if we have to load up all the kids, by golly we will! Our goal has always been to see how far we can take our careers in the business of professional wrestling. Wrestling is changing and fans want to get to know those involved. I think hopefully in the near future, we will have some projects that will help our fans do that.

SOW: What do you think the number one draw of professional is? What do you think the biggest allure of the sport is that keeps people watching?

TOATELE: I honestly think that draw comes from the story we tell. The same themes that make successful dramas, comedies, romantic stories all of it can be found in professional wrestling under the guise of a physical competition. People can find their own favorites and connect with them.

The biggest allure of the sport is the wrestlers! Where else can you find real-life superheroes or villains combined with movie and TV stars? We as wrestlers are out there to entertain the people, and if we can do that, they will always come back. Not too many other sports give you the ability to see such well-known human themes played out in front of them involving their favorite athletes. You don’t see Tom Brady punching someone in the face for mistakenly thinking he’s coming after Gisselle. SOW: How can your fans keep up with your work on social media?

TOATELE: Easy enough! Twitter is just @anthonytoatele and the same for Instagram. Find me on Facebook and friend me, as well as give my fan page a “like”.