In continuance to provide some of the hottest interviews possible, The DOI recently interviewed WXW mainstay, Supreme Lee Great. Supreme Lee Great, or SLG, is a good wrestler, and is constantly improving as time goes on. He is fully involved in many aspects of WXW, such as editing, wrestling (of course), training and spreading the word out. SLG gave us a great interview, and really took the time out to give the word to the DOI Fans. I hope you do the same, and enjoy the interview as much as I did.

Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: What made you want to be a professional wrestler?

Supreme Lee Great : Some of my first memories were professional wrestling at the local Catholic Youth Center in Scranton when my father and mother took my brother and I to see the WWF superstar perform their magic.

I don't remember if there was an exact moment I was hooked, but pretty much since I first saw wrestling was when I became fascinated with the strength, the movement, the challenge, the competition and eventually, the theatrics. I joined amateur wrestling in elementary school in hopes that it would be professional wrestling. It wasn't.

I later became an above average amateur wrestler, winning district championships in folk style, a Keystone State Games second place and various placements at Greco Roman freestyle state tournaments. I was offered scholarships from Wilkes University and King's College for amateur wrestling and a few other colleges recruited me also. When I decided to go to Wilkes, a week before classes I found out they wouldn't let me on the team because at that point I was being paid to be a professional wrestler (Yeah, I know it's bullsh*t but those were the NCAA rules).

Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: What was your entry into the business like?

Supreme Lee Great : My break into professional wrestling was a bit sketchy, I kinda was a backyarder turned pro. I had a connection in the business that provided me with my first couple of pro matches.

Brian Dorshefski (Bryan Bryce), Garrett Orban (Garrett Dominance) and I were all members of my backyard promotion BCW (Real original, huh?)... Anyway, Garrett was friends with an ECW promoter named Dan Kowal (current promoter of GLOOW, and Women's Extreme Wrestling). Through Garrett and Dan, the three of us set up rings for ECW whenever they were in the area.

As time went on, Garrett and I became closer friends with Dan, and Dan asked for a tape of us wrestling in the backyard. I guess Dan saw something in us, or just felt bad for us, because he got us or first match. He got back to us about a week or so later and told us he was going to get us booked on a show in February in a promotion called the WWWA (World Wide Wrestling Alliance?).

At this point I said to myself. "Self ... do you really want to do this? You're not trained and you have never been in a ring before. How do you expect to pull this off?" I replied to myself, "Shut up you idiot this is your dream!"

As time went on, I grew more afraid of that day. Garrett and I kept "training" (and I use that word loosely) in my backyard day in and day out. Well, it was all for not ... or at least it seemed. The show got canceled, and my heart was broken. A day or so later Dan gave Garrett and me a call concerning the event; he apologized for cancellation and told us that we were rebooked for May 22. The pressure was back on. On the bright side, this gave me more time to get ready for the match.

I did end up wrestling my first match on May 22, 1999. I felt it went as good as it could have considering me and Garrett were both untrained at the time.

During this whole time Brian, the smarter of the three of us was getting trained (I say smarter because he was getting trained while me and Garrett were cheating the system). A few months after my first match, I made a trip down to Kentucky with Brian where I got my first official professional wrestling training lessons.

Brian introduced me to a man named Mike "Promo"... This man was the epitome of what you expect a Redneck to be, except he still has all his teeth. After a couple of trips to Tennessee and Kentucky, I realized I NEEDED to get trained. Brian talked me into joining the school he attend, and that is how I first got involved with the Wild Samoan Pro Wrestling Training Center in Hazleton and Allentown.

Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: What would be your advice to anyone wanting to get into the business?

Supreme Lee Great : DON'T DO IT… No just kidding, if you want to do it you better be REAL serious about it. This is by no means a joke and it's an incredibly hard business to make it in, unless your 6'7 and solid muscle.

I have no respect for the guys who are in wrestling, trying to only impress a girl or to do it because it's a cool thing to impress their friends with. I also have no respect for big guys who think they are going to make money or get famous… BULL SHIT … Do it because you love it, do it because IT REALLY IS YOUR DREAM…

My recommendation? Find yourself a good school with a good reputation. I won't shove the Wild Samoan School down your throat, but I will say it is one of the best out there today. Tommy Suede, Molson, Malachi, and I are trainers there, and of course all students are under the tutelage of Afa the Wild Samoan himself.

My other advice is making sure you have a back-up plan. I attended Bloomsburg University for my entire tenure in WXW. I received my degree in mass communications, and I am now attending BU again for my master's degree in Interactive Instructional Technology. If I don't make it in this business I will still have a $50,000-100,000 a year job to fall back on when I graduate. Furthermore, I am seriously considering a plan to get my doctorial degree after I finish my master's program. My point is, professional wrestling is an incredibly hard business to make it in. If it's your dream to do this and for some reason you don't make it, you don't want to end up pumping gas for a living.

Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: You trained in the Wild Samoans Afa training center. What was that experience like?

Supreme Lee Great : The Wild Samoans School is a good school, and WXW is a great promotion to be in… I'll try to give you the highs and lows about both…

Wild Samoan Pro Wrestling Training Center:
(Positives)
" The number one highlight of the school is its reputation. This school has produced several WWE stars and even more independent wrestling stars.
" To the best of my knowledge, Pops (Afa) is the only trainer out there who is still under a WWE contract. His contract is purely talent scouting. Vince McMahon pays him to find the stars of tomorrow. By joining his school, you know the WWE is looking at you at least in one form or another.
" Pops has some of the best trainers in the world under his tutelage, as I said before, Tommy Suede, Malachi, Molson, and myself are all trainers of his school.

(Negatives)
" The Price of tuition is about $4,000 last I checked. That's a real kick in the balls if you don't have any money. However, it's hard to find schools cheaper then $2,500 out there today. So, for the extra $1,500 I feel it's worth coming to this school.
" Pops doesn't get into the ring that much anymore. He really hasn't that much since around the time I graduated. The good thing is Samu , Batista, Rakishi, Mattie Smalls (Rosie), Eki Fatu (Jamal) all still show up to training ever now and then to pass along their words of wisdom and roll around with the students.

WXW
(positive)
" WE HAVE TV… We are the only Indy promotion with LIVE television. WWE gets all the tapes of all our shows... so working for wXw and being on the TV program is a big plus…
" We have some of the best talent on the independent circuit wrestling for us, so you should almost always be able to get a quality match in…
" If you graduate from the WSPWTC you become a member of the roster once you're ready for TV…
" This is kind of a negative to some people but I find it as a positive, too. Wrestlers don't get paid. I feel it's a positive. I think it keeps egos low and all the money that is made in the promotion is put back into the company's production, television, and set ups for the shows… This all gives us a much better product than most other independent wrestling promotions out there…

(Negative)
" Similar to what I have been told about the WWE, the politics in wXw can sometimes be overwhelming. Most independents don't ever have any problems with this, because they don't have as good of a quality product as we do… Once you have a promotion that can make something of itself, I guess the politics thing is expected… The sad thing is I have seen this kill people's dreams and people's love for the sport… I personally have been burned by it a few times, but the best bet is keep a low profile I guess. Doing interviews like this don't help things, but, oh well, I shoot with my great fans…

Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: The word around the block is that you tried out and were considered to be on Tough Enough. Can you address this story, and can you give the truth of what really happened?

Supreme Lee Great : There isn't that much of a story about it, I tried out for Tough Enough I and got picked for the final 200. I went out there and did my deal and wasn't picked… From what I was told, MTV controlled a lot of the selection process and if you look back to TE1 it was a lot more like the Real World/Road Rules bull crap than what a real training program would be like…

My personal belief on the whole thing was (especially with TE1) was the entire competition was bullshit. It would be like having only one team in the NFL and the new way to pick who would be on the team would be based purely on appearance and no real basis of talent, heart and desire…

Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: Supreme Lee Great. Where did you get that character from, and does it reflect you outside the ring?

Supreme Lee Great : The character of SLG was created in my backyard. The personality is the same as my old gimmick "The Comet Warrior" but the name itself came from one of my old friends named Cory. He was a big Justin Credible mark and he came up with the name Xtreme Lee Great. We had a discussion around my first match about how the gimmick name "Comet Warrior" just wouldn't cut it, so he suggested that I use the XLG gimmick. I thought it was a good idea but I didn't like the Xtreme. That's a stereotype that I didn't want to try to live up to and a heavily overused gimmick name in wrestling… I suggested Supreme. He said he really didn't like it but it was my career so he added "Go for it"… The name stuck and the gimmick persona evolved over time…

The person JON and the character SLG are two really different people… although if you were to first meet me you would swear that I live my gimmick because I come across very arrogant and egotistical. I really have to trust you to expose "Jon" to you, because Jon is over-emotional and far too nice of a guy to let just wander the world, LOL... I shield him from the cruelties of the world with SLG… Ok, before you think I'm psycho, I'll end it there…

Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: Do you have any pre-match superstitions?

Supreme Lee Great : No, not really.

Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: What do you think has been your best match to date?

Supreme Lee Great : I can't put my finger on one. It probably would have to be one of the matches I had on the South Pacific tour with Tommy Suede.

Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: You currently hold the WXW Cruiserweight Championship. How does it feel to hold a championship? Do you feel the promoter has good faith in you, since you're representing his company or do you feel the title is what Vince Russo refers to as "props"?

Supreme Lee Great : I feel Pops has good faith in me as the champion representing his company, and I am very thankful for having the spot that I do have. It's rare when a champion gets a strap in wXw with out deserving it. All of the booking decisions have to be cleared by Pops and whether you agree with them or not, the man has been in the business for a whole lot longer than any of us can hope for, so he knows his stuff and usually makes the right decisions… I'm really happy to be the wXw cruiserweight champion. It's an honor to hold this or any other belt in the company. However, I feel I have evolved past this championship, and really feel it's time I go for a run with the TV title… There are two problems with that…

The first is we don't have a strong cruiserweight to take a run with the title right now besides me. We have a couple of young students that graduated the WSPWTC who are breaking into the cruiserweight division that will be great champions when they are ready… And a couple of imported talents that if put into the right angle can possibly carry the ball… But as of right now, I fell that I am a respectable champion for the promotion, and when the time is right I will pass the ball to the hopefully deserving opponent…

The second problem with my goal is the TV title division is stacked with a lot of worthy champions, and the current TV champ is Tommy Suede, I have never beat Tommy in a singles match in wXw… So I don't know how they would be able to get me that strap right now…

As I said before, I am very grateful for the spot that I have in the company now, and I am very honored to be their CW champ representing their company…

Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: There have been rumors that WXW is being scouted by the big dogs of wrestling. Can you comment on that?

Supreme Lee Great : I can only tell you what I hear. After the show on July 12, Eki (Jamal) and Virgil were in the locker room commenting on how all of our TV's are viewed in the WWE offices and by the boys in the back. Whether or not that is true I can't tell you for sure, but Eki would have no reason to lie to the boys…

Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: What is your favorite memory in the wrestling business?

Supreme Lee Great : The South Pacific tour with out a doubt… It might be my greatest moment in wrestling. I never had so much fun as I did for that 30-day period. I can't wait until the next tour to happen… How can you beat touring the world, wrestling and getting paid to do it? I can't imagine anything better.

Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: There was a rumor that you got into a scuffle with Crazy Ivan in the ring. Can you explain to us what really happened in your eyes?

Supreme Lee Great : Heh, this is an interesting story, I was having a terrible day, the sound system crashed and I only had about 10 minutes to fix it, (for those who don't know, I handle a great deal of the technology side of wXw whether that be doing sound, teaching sound, teaching video editing, teaching proper techniques about production etc…)

Any way, after saving that near catastrophe, I found I was working Ivan… Now, I never really had that big of a problem with him before this incident, I always felt he was an overly stiff and reckless workers at times, he took it upon himself to "toughen up" a few of our students usually guys who won't defend themselves or guys that were smaller than him… That isn't his job, that's Pops' job, or Pops' job to tell trainers to do it.

All that aside, I planned on going into this match to have a good match. I had worked Ivan in the past and we have had good matches… When I got downstairs to "call the match", Ivan shot down a bunch of the bumps I wanted to give him, (now this surprises me because he is the guy who "toughens up" people but was being hesitant about taking stuff … Now I was still planning on taking everything he was willing to dish out and I didn't shoot anything he called, but pretty much anything I could have given him a receipt with if he stiffed me he shot down…)

About half way to ¾ of the way through calling the match, I suggested that after he gives me the victim kicks (Homicide kicks to the back) I sell around and then do them to him… He shot it down immediately and said that was his move and there would be no way for me to get up, then he quickly started to "speak his mind" about how I was a pussy and all my students were pussy's cause I trained them… That really hit a nerve with me, because I don't mind someone talking shit about me but don't talk shit about my students. Anyone who is a parent I guess can relate to me on that… He continued to say that they (Pops or Dylan) told him to squash me and humble me. Now I knew for a fact that wasn't true. Pops wouldn't have someone do that to me unless Pops told me directly… (As a side note if Pops did tell me that, it would have been done no questions asked). There was actually a lot more said in the locker room but I will leave it at that…

As time grew on towards the match, there was a tension in the locker room. For those who knew what happened, I think Ivan planned on going into this match to prove his point that I was a pussy and make an example of me to all the students I had a hand in training… As for me, I really wanted to go in and have a good match, but I told everyone, that he wouldn't treat me like he did the other guys and every time he stiffed me he was going to get a receipt…

We go into the match and it starts off pretty good. It was tight, but not what I consider stiff… Then at one point, I felt he gave a real cheap shot and kneed me in the face. Ok now it was time for my first receipt. I shot him off and gave him my clothesline. Oh yeah, it was stiff as hell… But the match continued pretty well. There were stiff shots given and more receipts given… About half way through the match he gave me like 2 to 3 stiff shots in a row, and on one of them, I thought he busted my nose open. He then pulled my shirt up and went for a double chop to my stomach. I told him not to do it, and pulled my shirt back down, he pulled it back up and tried to chop. I told him no, and again pulled my shirt down. He went for it a third time and when he went to throw the chop, I quickly took his leg out with a single leg takedown. I grappled my way into a referee's position and told him, "Cut the shit or I'll end this match right now."

I let him up and gave him back control, he wrapped my hair in his hand, and pulled me into a shoot punch. I don't think he was trying to knock me out, because if he was, he was pathetic… As soon as the punch hit, I dropped quickly into a lower leg gimby (an amateur wrestling short dive single leg takedown) and I took him down to the mat again and told him once again to cut the shit… I said "I'm going to let you up and we’re ending the match…"

I let him up once again, and we locked up and he head butted me right in the temple. I again quickly took him down with the gimby single leg, and said "what the f--k is your problem?" He then tried to bite my hand, I yelled and said "I cant believe you tried to bite me?" Then he tried to grab my balls (I shit you not. I have the video you can see it for yourself) I said "Ahhh you f--king pussy I can't believe you tried to grab my balls."

I let him go and left the ring and headed back stage, Malachi was at the curtain and said go back and finish the match, so I went back to the ring, and then Ivan left immediately. I guess someone told him to come back. When he did we ended the match immediately and I basically laid down for him…

The kicker to this is, I went up to him two weeks later to work everything out and I said, "Ivan, can I talk to you for a minute?" And then I extend my hand to shake his hand. He pushed my hand away and said "No." I found that rather unprofessional but whatever… That's pretty much the whole story. I have the video of the match. If you don't believe me I'll show you …

Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: Who would your dream opponent be?

Supreme Lee Great : I really don't have a dream opponent. It used to be guys like Curt Henning Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Triple H… But now a days, I really just hope to go into matches with guys who are willing to work with me and are willing to work to have a good match. A couple of my opponents have been lazy recently and not wanting to do that much… hopefully that will pick up a bit.

Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: What is your opinion on the state of Indy wresting? The state of WXW referees?

Supreme Lee Great : Indy wrestling is a reflection of wrestling as a whole. I believe the industry is really hurting right now. There are some independent promotions that are really doing well for themselves. Those are the companies I'm trying to get in and work for currently… But for now, I'm really happy to be a part of Wxw and I hope to always be welcome here…
As far as the refs of wXw, all I have to say is, I MISS HANSON…

Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: What does wrestling offer that no other business or industry can for you?

Supreme Lee Great : The ability to control a live crowd is such a high for me. I can make them do anything I want with a few words or a few actions… There is no greater feeling than when a microphone is in your hand and you are controlling everyone in the crowd. That is definitely my favorite part of this business…

Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: What are your short term, and long term career goals?

Supreme Lee Great : Short term is to continue to climb the mountain of wrestling and hopefully step by step attain my dreams… Long term - a successful career in WWE…

Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: What do you have to say to anyone reading this?

Supreme Lee Great : To be a star you must shine your own light, follow your own path and never fear the darkness for that is when stars shine brightest.

www.SupremeLeeGreat.com
www.YourFavoriteWrestler.com
www.wxwwrestling.com
www.wildsamoan.com

Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: Thank you for your time.