Hey there folks! Welcome to the first edition of “School of Roc: Class Wars”: The Interviews. How this works is that each week I will be conducting a written interview with one member from the “School of Roc: Class Wars” cast to correlate with the newest episode. For instance, Episode 6 has dropped today and on tap for you is an interview with one of the contestants in today’s match: Reed Bentley. Reed has competed in multiple different companies, from IPW to IWA-MS and everywhere in between. Reed was kind enough to be the first person to grant us an interview, with hopefully many more to come. I encourage you to watch the episode first as the interview does contain spoilers. There is a spoiler warning just in case. Without further adieu, let’s get down to business.
KF: How did you first become a fan of professional wrestling and when did you decide you wanted to become a professional wrestler? Was their a specific moment match, or person that inspired you?
RB: Wrestling period just really captivated me. As a kid I couldn’t get enough. I’d go to any show I could, watch anything I could get my hands on and read every wrestling magazine on the newsstand. I loved it so much that when asked in 8th grade, “High School is upon you children, just as college will be soon after. What do you really want to DO with your life?” I finally realized that wrestling was it, so I wrote PRO WRESTLER on my index card and turned it in. Needless to say, when my teacher read them out loud it got the most laughs.
KF: When and where did you start training? Why did you choose the school you did?
RB: I actually started training in late 2009 and did my basics with Cash Flo. I had seen Cash in IWA Mid South mainly over the years and knew I would get a really solid foundation from him. I met him through mutual contacts who happened to have an open building with a ring and that was my “school”. I’m actually going to be doing some furthered training with Billy Roc once Class Wars is finished and he has the time.
KF: One place your name pops up quite often is IWA: Unlimited. This is a company I myself have recently began watching and have been impressed with many of the people there, yourself included. What do you think of IWA: U and the time you have spent there?
RB: I’m a huge supporter of IWAU. It’s a place FULL of quality people. I’ve had most of my favorite matches there to be honest. Usually against guys with the last name Cannon. It’s nothing but hungry guys from every spectrum of wrestling looking to put on the best shows possible. You won’t find a more agreeable and fun locker room to be in.
KF: When doing some research, I was surpised to learn that you were about of the 2011 King of the Deathmatch tournament taking on Rory Mondo in the first round. The deathmatch style seems completely different from how you present yourself and the type of matches you usually take part in. Why did you choose to compete in this tournament specifically? Any interesting tales from that weekend?
RB: I was originally supposed to work with Osyris, but there had been a misunderstanding of when the dates for the tournament were and he wasn’t able to make it. That turned out to be the case for a lot of guys that weekend. It was IWA’s big return weekend and the tournament competitors had really become sparse so myself, the Hooligans and a few others were asked to compete to fill in. I took Nate Webb’s spot against Rory and we had a Ultraviolent TLC type match. Definitely a fun experience and so far that’s the only one I’ve done. I’m certainly not a full time deathmatch guy though, it’s just not my niche. But, I have all the respect in the world for the guys that do it AND do it well. Just like anything else it’s an art. The weekend as a whole was really full of good vibes, plenty of hilarity ensued with Pinkie Sanchez being present of course. The best story to tell would be when BJ Whitmer asked me what I was doing on Night 1 and I said, “Oh, I’m in the torunament.” His response was, “WHAT THE FUCK?! Reed Bentley in the King of the Deathmatches?” It got me real good.
KF: You have also had the opportunity to be in the ring with guys like Jimmy Jacobs and Arik Cannon. How valuable has it been for you to be able to wrestle guys who have been around the independent wrestling scene for roughly a decade?
RB: I’ve been really lucky to be honest, to have been in wrestling for as small a time period as I have and to have been able to meet and work with the people I have. Guys like Jimmy, Cannon, Jake Crist, etc. have all been around the block and offered a lot just from a one time match-up. On top of that I’ve been through 2 Chris Hero camps, a one on one with Hero in Florida and seminars with BJ Whitmer, DJ Hyde, Nigel McGuinness, American Kickboxer and Drake Younger.
WARNING: The following questions may spoil School of Roc: Class Wars if you are not caught up on the episodes (including Episode 6).
KF: There’s been a bit of flack thrown your way for being apart of the School of Roc: Class Wars since you are not a School of Roc graduate. How did you get hooked up with the school? Any words for those who say you don’t belong on the show?
RB: I met Tripp Cassidy in the late Summer of 2010 at a small time wrestling show in Southern Indiana. We kept in touch and when he was given his first main card spot at Insanity Pro in Indianapolis, he was allowed to pick his opponent. He got in touch with me and it’s pretty much history from there. Everybody at the School of Roc I have either wrestled, broke in with, traveled with or watched them as they were in training. I’m usually regarded as the red headed step child of the SoR because we’ve just all always been around each other. And anyone who says that I don’t belong in Class Wars obviously hasn’t read up on their Reed Bentley history or paid any attention to what I’ve done there as of late. I carved out my own spot amongst the SoR children.
KF: You have aligned yourself with Tripp Cassidy and Big Sue Jackson to form The League. What is it about these two men that made you decide to form a pact with them? You and Cassidy seem to have a history with one another.
RB: As I mentioned, I’ve known Tripp Cassidy for quite some time now and I met Big Sue Jackson shortly thereafter. As much fun as we were all having beating each other up, we soon realized we had similar goals. We all wanted to make a mark on professional wrestling, we didn’t mind stepping on others to do so and we had the attributes necessary to do so. Myself and Tripp were known as Team YUM (Young Upstanding Men) for a while and tried our hand as a duo. After coming to the realization that an enforcer is an integral part of any successful group, we added Sue into the fray and became The League.
KF: One man you three seem to have a disdain for is Remi Wilkins. You and Remi ended up reaching a draw during the third Episode of the School of Roc. In this episode, you and Remi have a rematch in the first round of the School of Roc Cup tournament. What is it about Remi that gets under your skin?
RB: Remi Wilkins is a guy who carries about a sense of entitlement, thinks he’s better than he really is. He screams real loud, oils himself up and tries to be real flashy. That’s not what REAL wrestling is. Wrestling is two athletes, fighting to prove who’s better. I’ve locked up with Remi many times outside of the School of Roc and I have more wins than I do losses to him. I’ll leave it at that.
KF: Unlike your initial match with Remi, this match was contested in three five-minute rounds. When Billy broke this news to you, what went through your head?
RB: To me, three rounds just meant I had three separate time frames in which to show Remi up. Punk him out and slap him around for five minutes at a time. But, my goal was certainly to finish Remi Wilkins, I didn’t and still don’t need a judges scorecard to tell me I’m better than Remi Wilkins.
KF: Do you think Billy’s constant interjection into the match threw you off your game?
RB: It certainly did. No doubt, had Billy Roc kept his usually calm demeanor, I would have been able to execute my offense the way I planned. It’s very rare to see him lose his cool, he’s widely regarded as the nicest guy in pro wrestling. I don’t know what happened with Billy that day, but it felt to me like I was working alone against two men that day, not one. Misplaced favoritism is you ask me, I let the truth speak for itself.
KF: Now that you’re out of the School of Roc Cup tournament, what are your goals for the rest of the season?
RB: I won’t be disappearing from Class Wars anytime soon. I still have my stock in Sue Jackson and I’ll be at ringside every time he competes. I honestly have developed a strong dislike for young Nate Stone. He’s just a really vile guy. His attire is cruddy, his wrestling sub par and has no drive. Some people just don’t belong in wrestling. For some reason I have to put up with more of them than usual with folks like Nate and Trash around. I simply have no respect for Nate Stone and I might just knock some into him if rubs me or The League the wrong way again.
KF: Reed, I want to thank you for being the first person from the School of Roc: Class Wars show do one of these interviews. Before I let you go, please feel free to plug anything and everything you wish.
RB: Sure thing. You can find me at the following places:
Official Website
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Formspring
Words/Hanging/Scramble with Friends and DrawSomething: thereedbentley
I want to think Reed once again for being the first member of the SOR: Class Wars cast to do an interview for us. If you haven’t watched the School of Roc: Class Wars episodes, you can find them all on their YouTube Page. You can also follow them on Twitter.
We’ll see you next week with a brand new episode and a brand new interview.
