In a time where it is difficult for an indy wrestler to make it to primetime (World Wrestling Entertainment), there are few that have what it takes to reach that level. One man that will one day make to WWE is Slyk Wagner Brown.

Slyk currently stands 6'2" and weighs in at 230 lbs. He was always destined to be a professional wrestler as he was very athletic in high school. He was an amateur wrestler and competed on the football, basketball and track teams. Slyk was offered a great opportunity to enroll in college on an amateur wrestling scholarship but turned it down to receive a chance at becoming a pro instead. His school of choice: WWE Hall of Famer Killer Kowalski's school in Boston, MA.

Before getting out of high school, Slyk would regularly attend classes at Kowalski's school. Kowalski would not allow the youngster to participate in classes until he was 17, so for a year and a half, he observed. He even watched former WWE Intercontinental and Women's champ Chyna learn the ropes with Kowalski. When he finally turned 17, Slyk enrolled and prepared for a journey as a major star in wrestling. He even had some training in California at Ultimate Pro Wrestling's (UPW) University, but spent the majority of his time training in Boston.

"The Underground King" made his professional debut in 1997, competing in a battle royal, which also had current WWE wrestler A-Train in it. Once he got past this match, Slyk was ready to conquer the world. Not only has he competed in various independents throughout the northeast, he has competed in such countries as England, Ireland and Puerto Rico.

A few matches into his career, Slyk was paired up with former fitness model April Hunter, and they were an instant hit. They are still together to this day, thanks to their fantastic chemistry and, at times, their teamwork. Slyk's career began in the New England area and has blossomed throughout the eastern seaboard.

One of Slyk's first titles took place two years after he made his debut. He upended Beau Douglas in Somerville, MA for the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) New England Television title August 22, 1999. He reigned as champion for eight months before vacating it in April of 2000. Slyk was making a name for himself in NWA New England and teamed with Luis Ortiz to win the Tag Team titles on August 24, 2000. After a short reign, Slyk set his sights on becoming the top dog in NWA New England and ended up defeating Mike Hallow on February 23, 2001 for the NWA New England Heavyweight title.

Making a name for himself in the New England area, Slyk began competing in Chaotic Wrestling. As always the case, he made an immediate splash beating his former NWA New England Tag Team championship partner, Luis Ortiz, for the Chaotic Wrestling Television title on July 13, 2001 in Lawrence, MA. The reign lasted a couple of months as Slyk dropped the title to "Hurricane" John Walters September 7, 2001 in the same city he won it in.

At this point, Slyk caught the attention of some WWE scouts and was brought in for his first dark match on May 7, 2002. He wrestled and defeated current Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) wrestler "Inferno" Dan Gimondo at The Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, CT.

Before getting a dark match, Slyk entered Assault Championship Wrestling (ACW), based in Connecticut. After wrestling for several months for ACW, he got his chance to win the ACW Heavyweight Title, and he accomplished it when he defeated "Hi Flyin'" Chris Hamrick on March 30, 2002 in Meridian, CT at "Seek & Destroy."

Less than three months after getting the title, Slyk lost the title to former Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) Tag Team champion Balls Mahoney on June 9, 2002 at "Hellride Express." Before leaving ACW, Slyk added another title to his resume when he beat Bull Dredd on August 24, 2002 at "Full Circle: Zero Tolerance" for the ACW Great American Title.

Three nights after winning the ACW Great American Title, Slyk got another chance to wrestle a WWE dark match, this time jobbing to former ECW World champion Mike Awesome at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT.

By this time, Slyk and April entered Fat Frank's Jersey All Pro Wrestling (JAPW). On September 13, 2002, Slyk wasted no time in going for the big gold when he beat Homicide in Bayonne, NJ for the JAPW Heavyweight Title. Unfortunately, the reign didn't last long as he lost it back to Homicide seven days later in the same city.

On November 3, 2002, Slyk found himself losing the other title he was holding, the ACW Great American Title, to Johnny Thunder at "November Pain: Balance of Power." He got an immediate rematch at the very next show, and dethroned Thunder for the title on December 1 at "Dark Offerings."

Scouts from NWA: Total Nonstop Action (NWA:TNA) had their eyes on Slyk and brought him in for a dark match. Slyk went up against his former Chaotic Wrestling rival John Walters on January 15, 2003. Slyk wrestled a few more shows with the company soon left.

While competing and making a name for himself in such promotions as ACW and JAPW, Slyk made his Ring of Honor (RoH) debut on June 14, 2003 when he teamed with The Ring Crew Express (Dunn & Marcos) and jobbed to members of Special K- Slugga, Angeldust and Lit.

Slyk was brought back to NWA:TNA for another dark match, this time facing second-generation star Erik Watts on July 16, 2003. After this, Slyk returned to the northeast to continue to blaze his trail to superstardom.

Slyk was invited to compete in the Jersey Championship Wrestling (JCW) J Cup on August 24, 2003. This is a big and popular annual tournament, which has seen wrestlers like Low Ki, Reckless Youth and Jay Lethal win and seen standouts like "The American Dragon" Bryan Danielson and Homicide compete in them. Slyk defeated Dave Greco and Johnny Ova in the first and second rounds respectively, before losing to Homicide, who lost to Jay Lethal in the finals.

Slyk had wrestled some shows, sporadically, for Frank Goodman's USA Pro shows in New York, defeating Chris Candido in his debut on December 22, 2002. He made his return to the company at the company’s fan fest on July 20, 2003, losing to D'Lo Brown. Despite the loss to D'Lo, Slyk got a shot at the USA Pro United States Title when he challenged, and defeated, the champion Mike Kruel on August 29, 2003 in Queens, NY at "Meltdown."

The reign was short-lived as he lost it the following month on September 26 to "Bullet Proof" Billy Reil in Queens, NY. Slyk went only 24 hours before winning more gold. This time he teamed with his long time sidekick April Hunter to defeat the JAPW Tag Team champions The Dirty Rotten Scoundrelz for the belts in Rahway, NJ. The duo became the first inter-gender tag team champions in the company's history.

Making his return to JCW, Slyk defeated Ace Darling in Garfield, NJ to win the JCW Heavyweight Title on November 23, 2003. As of this writing, Slyk has yet to lose the belt. He hasn't defended yet, but will make his first defense against Prince Nana on April 16.

In late January 2004, Slyk and April were invited on a tour of International Wrestling Association (IWA) in Puerto Rico. During a pay-per-view taping on February 1, 2004 in Carolina, Puerto Rico, Slyk earned a victory over Chicano.

Adding to the huge list of companies he has wrestled for, Slyk made his Pro Wrestling World-1 debut defeating ex-partner Luis Ortiz on February 8, 2004. Slyk kept himself busy in February of this year as he made his return to USA Pro on Valentine's Day, losing a 4 Corners Match for the USA Pro Xtreme title to champion Deranged, Sonjay Dutt and Xavier. And in one of his first appearances in 3PW, Slyk defeated old nemesis Mike Kruel in the ECW Arena on February 21.

Slyk's reign as a duel champion came to an end on March 6, 2004 when he and April Hunter lost their JAPW Tag Team Titles to former Stars & Stripes Championship Wrestling (SSCW) Tag Team champions The Shaolin Wrecking Crew in South Plainfield, NJ.

Although he is a marquee name on the independent scene, he will one day be a force in WWE. It's not a matter of if, but when. He continues to make strides in every promotion he competes in, like RoH, USA Pro, JAPW, JCW, and others.

For more information on Slyk, you can check out his website at http://www.slykwagnerbrown.com/

And just for the hell of it, you can check out April Hunter's site at http://www.aprilhunter.com/

John Gjoni
johnftw7533@aol.com

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