Indy Spotlight: Willie Rood

Indy Spotlight: Willie Rood

In the next weeks and months, I will be sporadically doing articles on some of the lesser known and perhaps lesser publicized talents on the independent wrestling scene. My goal, as always, is to help educate promoters, fans, and anyone involved in the wrestling business about some of these talented, but less heralded wrestlers. With that being said, we move on to this week’s spotlighted wrestler…

“Pretty” Willie Rood

Finisher: Frog Splash

From: East Paolo Alto, CA

Tag Teams: Pretty, Black & Jakked with Damien Grundy

Twitter: Twitter.com/WillieRood

Current Promotions: PCW, RWF, Vendetta Pro, Gold Rush Pro, SPW, SWF, Future Stars in Vegas

Fans of All Pro Wrestling in California are very familiar with this young athlete who has been slowly gaining momentum on the West Coast throughout 2013. A former #10 in the Indy Power Rankings, his notoriety is picking up with several incidents at APW over the last few weeks. Before we get into that, let’s examine where “Pretty” Willie came from and the path he took to get here.

Willie Rood was trained by All Pro Wrestling’s Boot Camp in Hayward, California, making his debut on October 16^th, 2010 vs. Jody Kristofferson aka WWE’s Garrett Dylan. As a graduate of the Boot Camp, his name will always be remembered along such names as Sara Del Rey, Bison Smith (RIP), Mike Modest, and Donovan Morgan, just to name a few. This is the same school/promotion that was featured on the famous (infamous?) documentary, “Beyond the Mat”, so his training was already top notch.

Fast forward to 2012, Rood’s career really started to take off as he won the APW Worldwide Internet Title (now held by Drake Younger) on two separate occasions. In December of that same year, he received the learning experience of a lifetime as he teamed with Jerry Lynn to defeat Matt Carlos and Rik Luxury at APW’s Gym Wars.  This, perhaps, could be the moment when Willie Rood began his rise to the success he is currently experiencing.

In 2013, he competed in the Gold Rush Pro Wrestling “Reach for the Gold 2-Dynamite Division Tournament” where he outlasted several other competitors, such as Drake Younger, to win the Dynamite Division Tournament. Meanwhile, 2013 marked the year when he began to team with his partner, Damien Grundy, at All Pro Wrestling. They are collectively known as “Pretty, Black, & Jakked”. PBNJ for short. Who says indy promoters don’t have a sense of humor? They have made their mark on APW with not only solid tag team outings, but a disgusting incident on August 11^th where they attacked Tyson Thompson and forced him to eat a peanut butter sandwich! I can’t make this stuff up.

Willie Rood has proven on multiple occasions that he is a bigger guy who can absolutely move. Why some California promoter hasn’t booked Willie Rood vs. Willie Mack in the Battle of the Willies is beyond me! The future is certainly looking bright for “Pretty” Willie Rood whether it’s in tag team action with his new partner or whether it’s in singles competition where he is still your Gold Rush Pro Dynamite Division Champion.

The big man with the awesome sense of humor is going to be getting mentioned a lot in the years to come, so be the first on the bandwagon to check out some of his work below:

Watch “Will Rood vs ” Wrestling Personified ” Rik Luxury (c) w/Markus Mack 2 out of 3 falls match 4-14-12”-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQPXNwVSNYk&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Watch “APW Gym Wars – Jerry Lynn vs Will Rood – Match 007 – Season 4”-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uFeTC9JZ8c&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Watch “WCWF Oliver John vs Will Rood”-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCs1d3zF5gU&feature=youtube_gdata_player