Indie wrestling tag team Better Together began their training in Israel and is currently touring the US with the hopes of making it to WWE or AEW. Despite being in their early 20s, the two have over 10 years of wrestling experience on the indie wrestling scene. After beginning their training in Israel, they trained at the WXW Academy in Germany and Flatbacks Wrestling School, run by Tyler Breeze and Shawn Spears, in Orlando, Florida.
This interview was conducted by Edan Nissen who can be followed at the following links:
Edan Nissen sat down with Ori Gold and Hadar Horovitz to speak to them about their experiences training in Germany and the United States, their experiences with some of the top-level wrestlers that they have come across, their experiences in indie wrestling, and their goals for the future in an exclusive interview.
PWP: First off, how did two Israelis such as yourself get into Wrestling?
Hadar Horovitz: I first got into wrestling after discovering the video game SmackDown vs Raw 2011 with my twin brother. When I realized it was based on a TV show, that was when it clicked in my head that it was something I wanted to do.
When we found out about indie wrestling in Israel, we knew right away it was something we wanted to do.
Ori Gold: For me, I was flipping through the channels and I saw the Undertaker coming down on an episode of SmackDown before traveling to watch shows overseas.
PWP: So when did you start training to be pro wrestlers?
Hadar: I went to my first local indie wrestling show at the age of 11, and after the event, we messaged the promoter to see if we could start training. Obviously, given how young we were, we started on a modified program specifically for kids.
Ori: I also started when I was young at the same organization, but my first session was a wrestling seminar with Nunzio.
Training in Germany
PWP: After wrestling in Israel, you traveled to Germany to train at the WXW Academy?
Ori: I had just finished school and was 18 years old and wanted to explore my options in pro wrestling. At the time, the US was a bit too far but we discovered the WXW academy via Facebook.
Hadar: I remember at the time, our local promotion lost our space and we could no longer train or wrestle and I just missed it. I got out of the army and knew that I wanted to wrestle. We also looked at it as the next step up to see how our training compared to other academies.
Hadar Horovitz and Ori Gold at the WXW Academy with WALTER
PWP: You also got to train with WALTER before his NXT UK title defense against Tyler Bate at TakeOver: Cardiff. What was it like training with him?
Hadar: We have already trained with some big names, including Jay Lethal and Matt Sydal, but this was the first time we got to experience someone with a lot of knowledge who is extraordinarily good. Even sitting down and talking to him about wrestling and the class we just had was an incredible experience.
PWP: One of your training sessions with WALTER ended up on the WWE Network.
Ori: We didn’t know what that was going to be.
Hadar: We had no idea what that was going to be, the trainer just sent us a message to see if we were free on Friday morning. We were only there to train so we said yes. When we arrived there was a WWE camera crew and they explained what was going to happen.
Flatbacks and the US Indie Wrestling Scene
PWP: After Germany, you guys traveled to the United States where you trained at Flatbacks, the wrestling school of Tyler Breeze, and Shawn Spears FKA Tye Dillinger.
Ori: We started at Flatbacks exactly 2 years ago, in October 2020. It was also an eye-opener. As much as I loved my previous training, those two guys [Breeze and Spears] have been training for over 20 years and have been signed for more than 15 years. They know how everything works in the business, from characters to promos, to the camera, and even how timing works.
Hadar: There is also only a certain amount of guys that didn’t just make it to the WWE but also made a long-lasting career out of their time there. Even if they didn’t get a WrestleMania main event, being able to offer the company something over such a long period. It shows you that they know what they are doing.
PWP: Was there a big difference between the training you had been doing in Israel and WXW compared to Flatbacks?
Hadar: Not to dismiss WXW or wrestling in Israel, but those are essentially on the same level, even if there are more opportunities in Europe. Whereas Flatbacks teaches TV wrestling and they would say that right from the get-go. They [Breeze and Spears] want people to be able to graduate from Flatbacks and be ready for a trial with WWE or AEW. Not many places will show you that.
Ori: I think that is the biggest takeaway from Flatbacks. There is an Independent Wrestling scene and then there is the wrestling business, which is where you make money.
PWP: Who else have you been training with while in the United States?
Hadar: We’ve been lucky enough to train a few times with Matt Sydal at his school that he runs with Jay Lethal and Konnor from The Ascension in NXT/WWE.
Ori: Also Timothy Thatcher and Marina Shafir.
Hadar: We helped Shafir prepare for her TV debut.
Ori: Killer Kelly as well, whom we met through our time in WXW.
Hadar: We also met WALTER, because we go to the same gym. He recognized us from WXW which was great.
PWP: You’ve also started performing for smaller promotions in the United States. What have your experiences been like on the indie wrestling tag team scene in America?
Ori: I think we learned that traveling is the key and wrestling isn’t the most important part of the match. You need to mainly entertain people.
Hadar: Traveling is important in indie wrestling. You need to look like you are everywhere but at the same time make sure that everyone knows you.
Better Together making their entrance
PWP: You guys have been appearing on shows that are almost a throwback to the territory days of wrestling.
Ori: Yeah, that is still very much a thing in the US. It’s amazing. You have the indie wrestling scene in the South, which is the Carolinas, Florida, Georgia, and Louisiana. Then you have the West Coast indie wrestling scene that is LA, San Fransisco, and Vegas.
Hadar: Then there is mid-West indie wrestling in Chicago and Minnesota. OVW, Kentucky, and the Northeast with New England. We also trained in Chaotic Wrestling, which is Killer KowalPWPi’s former school.
PWP: A lot of famous names came out of that school, including Triple H, Tomasso Ciampa, and Chyna.
Hadar: Sasha Banks, Kofi Kingston, Dijakovic, and the War Raiders.
PWP: On the indie wrestling scene, what do you think sets you guys apart?
Hadar: I think the biggest thing that sets us apart in the indie wrestling scene is that we’re a proper tag team and not just two guys thrown together. We think there is a serious vacuum in tag team wrestling that the FTR has tried to bring back. Even on the indie wrestling scene, there aren’t too many genuine tag teams.
Ori: It’s not just on the indie wrestling scene, everywhere there seems to be a lack of tag teams that are a proper unit as opposed to guys that have been paired up with matching characters, entrances, promos, and gear.
PWP: This sounds great, thanks for sitting down with us. Where can people check you out?
Hadar: We would love to work with Al Snow at Ohio Valley Wrestling as they have a similar setup to WXW.
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