Welcome back, Once again to the Pro Wrestling Evolution ‘EVO Spotlight’ In this 10th edition we go in depth with one of the top stars in EVO’s No rules, Limitless, and electrifying SuperHEX division. The Spotlight is on………..
“The Black Cloud” Joe Black
Hometown: “I was born in Sacramento, California, although I really just consider that to be a “birthplace” rather than call it my hometown. I was raised in many places, due to being an Air Force brat. Being all these places helped mold me into the person I was to become. I consider Frankfurt, Germany; Biloxi, Mississippi; and Greensboro, North Carolina to be my hometowns.”
Trained By: Jeff Rudd, Brass Munkey/Walter Eaton, Arik Royal, Roy Wilkins, and Matt Smith
How did you get started in Wrestling? “I remember working 3rd shift at Wal-Mart in Greensboro with Arik(Royal). Our first conversation was about Shawn Michaels, that’s when I discovered he was an avid wrestling fan who also had dreams of becoming a wrestler. We would work matches in the aisles, and subject the rest of the 3rd shift crew to wrestling for an hour in the breakroom during lunch. That was 2006, fast forward to 2008, I remember riding with Arik to CWF in Burlington when he met Jeff Rudd, to discuss training. I was still hung up about my size so I stayed in the car feeling inadequate. And our first CWF show came in April of 2008 at Sumner Civitan in Greensboro, North Carolina. Arik started training shortly after that, and every Wednesday and Sunday I was there, soaking up everything I saw. I swept the floors, cleaned the bathrooms, set up chairs and the tent at our old facility, set up rings and broke them down all before I even started training. I just wanted to belong. I started training properly the next year (2009) and while I was training I was a referee. I did that for a year and a half, until provoked by Gemini Kid, for my “questionable decisions” and bias as a referee. I made my debut in October of 2010, at the annual CWF Rumble.”
Wrestling Influences: ” I hate to sound long-winded, but this section will be quite large. I was raised off of wrestling, my father and Grandfather respectively, always had me in front of the TV whenever WCW/WWE was broadcast. The first real memory I have of wrestling was a particular match, actually recorded by my grandmother.” It was Survivor Series, 11/27/1991, and I was the biggest Hulk Hogan mark ever. I had the shirt, the wrestling buddy, the action figures, the whole nine. Hogan was going up against The Undertaker that night, and I remember running out of the room, distraught and in tears, when Hogan lost. I had just witnessed the fall of my hero, even though I would slowly start to absolutely idolize The Undertaker, that night I hated his guts and refused to watch wrestling for awhile. I know a lot of wrestlers won’t admit it, but Hogan, was what drew me into the world of Wrestling. What four year old didn’t love Hogan? My grandfather loved Ric Flair, so I came to love Ric Flair. As a kid Hogan, Macho Man, Flair, and ‘Taker were my first influences, as in they always enamored me so much I made sure to never miss a show. As I grew older, and realized that this was what I wanted to do, my attention shifted to “smaller” guys. Rey Mysterio and Psychosis were amazing to me, as were Dean Malenko and Eddie Guerrero. I remember quite vividly a match I saw between Chris Benoit and Booker T, the best of 7 series, and even though Booker T was one of my all time favorites, something about Benoit drew me in. The intensity, the fire, he made everything seem as if it was done with the utmost feeling of urgency. I believed every chop, every snap suplex, every german, every diving headbutt. He was, despite what some may say, the greatest to me and still is. Benoit is the one that made this seem like a viable option to me.”
Favorite Opponent(s): “I have quite a few, My first singles match was against one my mentors, my first wrestling mentor, The KamaKazi Kid. We’ve had matches at Ryder’s, TCW, Power Pro, the list goes on. From each match I learned valuable lessons, as well as being dropped on my head quite a few times. Brass Munkey/Walter Eaton is the same sentiment, these two guys took me under their wings. Also KC Mcknight, we only worked one match but that one match lit a fire up under my ass to stop being ok with “good” and aspire for great. Anytime I get in there with Ben Tyler, Trevor Lee or a combination of the two is always fun. And also Chiva Kid. Ric Converse, and Marcellus King.
Favorite Matches:(You have been involved in) “The match with KC, the tag match of BlackSmith against the Dawson’s (learned how to work through an injury), Kazi at Ryder’s, Chiva and I against the Fun Athletic Guys at Pro Wrestling EVO Follow This, and Chiva at PWEvo Live and In Stereo on Ippv.”
Favorite Matches:(You weren’t involved in) KC Mcknight vs. Louis Moore, Kazi vs. Ric Converse vs. Brass Munkey at Battlecade X, Triple Threat match at WrestleMania 20 between Benoit, HHH, and Shawn Michaels, and Dean Malenko vs Eddy Guerrero their last ECW match.
Promotions Worked: CWF Mid-Atlantic, TCW, Power Pro Wrestling, Pure Pro Wrestling, AIWF, Pro Wrestling Xperience, NWA Main Event(Nashville), Coastal Plains Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Evo, UWC, RCW, SCWA, Firestar Pro Wrestling. Along with promotions in Lexington, Thomasville, and Atlanta. “I’m sure there’s some I’m missing, but those are the ones I remember at the moment.”
Titles Held: The Rising Generation League(RGL) Championship for CWF Mid-Atlantic, and currently Tag Team Champions in Atlanta with Cedric Alexander.
Any thoughts you have on PWEvo or it’s Talents:“Evo has the best roster of talent on the east coast. Guys who have wrestled in a variety of places, bringing all of their knowledge and collective hunger to one place. I’ve had easily the best matches of my career there, I’ve gotten exposure from our first iPPv, and feel that everything I was taught from CWF has given me a certain edge in Evo. As far as specifics go, I think Chiva is the best high flyer on the east coast, even though he dealt me defeat, I can still man up and say he’s one of the greatest talents I’ve been able to work with. Myself and Arik Royal have history, and if ever we clash, we will undoubtedly steal the show.” I’ve always had a vast amount of respect for Marcellus(King), Chip(Day) and Corey(Hollis). And we can’t forget Cedric.. That’s a story for another time..”
Year in Review: Joe Black was named one of the competitors in Pro Wrestling Evo’s first SuperHEX division in January of 2012. This 8 month long competition will wrap up in August but Black made sure to keep his name at the top of the leaderboard for many of those eight months. “The Black Cloud” earned 4 points being outlasted by only one man in the inaugural 6 man SuperHEX match at EVO Eight 2012 which is to date one of the wildest and best matches in the company’s history. Black next met, and defeated Ben Tyler at ‘EPIC’ in March 2012 earning another 3 points and the lead in the SuperHEX division. He continued to sacrifice his body for a shot at SuperHEX gold at April’s ‘Vive La Evolucion’ in a brutal 4 way against Chiva Kid, Kirby Mack, and Robyn Golphin, a match ultimately won by Kirby Mack. The end result of that match set up a tie between Black and Chiva to see who would face Mack for the first SuperHEX championship in August 2012. Live & In Stereo PWEvo’s first Ippv in June was the date that match took place and Black & Chiva did anything and everything to put one another away. The SuperHEX championship was so close for Joe, but in the end it was Chiva who claimed that final spot. As you can see from his comments Joe Black is far from finished and accepts challenges from all comers with the ultimate goal to get better each time and achieve domination. You can see that quest continue in August at ‘This Is Wrestling’ as Joe goes one on one with another young SuperHEX talent “Relentless” Robyn Golphin. The sky is the limit for this intense athlete and there seems to be nothing that can stoke the fire that burns in “The Black Cloud” Joe Black.
2012 Mission Statement: “This is the part where I shun humility, and get down to the meat of what makes me, well, me. Any person in this business, who is complacent, or content, with where they are now have already lost to me. I tear my body to shit, and I love it, but I do with purpose, with my mind centered of a singular goal. KC(McKnight) told me, “If you don’t consider yourself the best, why the fuck are you in this business?” That’s my mantra for 2012 and beyond. This will be the year the world takes heed to “The Black Cloud” and I put any and all wrestlers, on notice, I seek to be the best, and I’ll die in pursuit of that ideal. I want every championship, every accolade, I want all eyes on me, I want all the girls to drip at the sight of me. I want a lot of things, and what separates me from the rest, I intend of getting them all.. At any cost
Thank you to Joe Black for taking time to participate in this feature. You can catch Joe in action anytime as all the matches mentioned above are available at www.evoondemand.com and for updates on his future matches visit www.prowrestlingevo.com and follow him on twitter @blackcloudJB for other appearances.
Are you a Pro Wrestling EVO talent? Aren’t you ready for your time in the Spotlight? Please contact me and we’ll be glad to feature you and give Indy wrestling fans an in depth look at some of the best young talents in all of Professional Wrestling!
Jer Polk
JustJer17@aol.com
@The1andonlyJer
