Welcome to Starter For 10. We ask professional wrestlers 10 questions so that you can find out a bit more about your favourite real life superheroes.

On this edition, the Asian Sensation Umar Mohammed answers our questions.

What drew you into professional wrestling?

My family were nuts about professional wrestling, my dad’s side for the most part, my dad, my aunt, my uncles and the big chief, my grandad, all gathered around and watched whatever wrestling was on the TV, whether it was World Of Sport or WWE from the “Hogan” era to the “Ruthless Aggression” era. Think the wrestling bug was then passed on to me around 2008 I’m sure and I’ve been hooked since.

Who were your favourite wrestlers growing up and who are your favourites now?

I started watching wrestling around early 2008 so probably guys like Cena, Edge, Orton, CM Punk, Undertaker etc. I have had so many growing up but without a doubt one of my favourites growing up and all time has to be Jeff Hardy, he was just so different to the rest which connected to me personally, the way he presented himself to the crowd with his colourful face paint and just genuinely amazing me with his high-risk offence really appealed to me, I don’t know how many times I watched him Swanton Bomb off the titantron on Randy Orton! And you best believe when he returned to WWE in 2017, I lost it. His rivalry with CM Punk in 2009 was great, I remember I came home from school and watched Hardy win the heavyweight title, I was buzzing, then Punk cashed in on him and I despised Punk after that, I don’t anymore, but at 8 years old, I hated him. I don’t really know who my favourites are now if I’m thinking about it, I mean we live in an era that’s full of so much wrestling for anyone… that there’s a wrestlers that you can enjoy. I would say really thinking into it, I would say Johnny Gargano, one for his amazing matches but second for his awesome ring attires, they’re amazing! Also Velveteen Dream and Tomasso Ciampa for their larger than personas that always draw me to everything they do, Samoa Joe’s Promos always get me invested but he always makes sure his words mean something and I love Cesaro’s freakish strength.

What made you decide to start training to be a wrestler and where did you start?

I was always doing something sports related, I tried curling but that wasn’t for me (though I did win a medal at a competition at the Fife Ice Arena), I tried boxing, though it wasn’t wrestling so i decided to leave that, I did do basketball for about six years, two years as part of school and four years in an actual team (shout out to Fife Steel) but the strain of the hectic schedule told me that my time was up there. It was during that time as a basketball-er that me and my mum were in a Halal butchers shop and I saw one of the posters for W3L on the window, I had been to a couple of W3L shows before then so I knew who some of the wrestlers were, on the back of the poster there was an ad for the W3L Action Academy on it, I took a picture of it and looked it up online, unfortunately I was 15 and you had to be 16 to join at that time, so I waited a year and as soon as turned 16 I joined the W3L Action Academy and knew this is what I wanted to do and have never regretted it.

Who are your biggest influences in professional wrestling, as a fan and as a wrestler?

As a fan, I would have once again Jeff Hardy, he really is one of my favourites of all time, when it comes to in wrestling, it’s really a who’s who of people as I’ve had a short career so far, there’s been so many people who have inspired me or have helped me on this journey. My family for always supporting me at my shows. Chris Jericho is one that springs to me, his ability to constantly reinvent himself is a sight to see and his character work and getting anything he touches into gold (yes, even a little bit of the bubbly) is something I’d aim to do in my own career. Mustafa Ali, or Ali now I guess, for constantly showing that not all Muslims have to be the bad guy and especially the little documentary about Ali fasting while on a WWE schedule helped motivate to be like him. Mike Musso, for giving me my first opportunity to wrestle on shows and live my dream but as well as a person, his work ethic inspires me to do more. Jason Reed, Euan G. Mackie, Luke Aldridge etc. have all been there to give me feedback and support whenever I’ve needed and push me to my limit. Taylor Bryden, for the many trips to the gym and constantly trying to motivate me, the unsung hero of W3L, Stevie Wizard for always giving giving me feedback on my ideas and terrible entrance music choices. So many people but probably the one who has influenced me the most is one of my coaches, Johnny Lions, he always has time for me and if there’s anything that I need help with, whether it be in wrestling or in my personal life he’s always there, just a great guy, gutted he’s retiring at the end of the year, would of liked one more match against him.

Who has been your favourite opponent(s) and do you have a favourite match?

I’ve only been training since July 2017 and wrestling since May 2018 so I’m still new to the wrestling scene. I’ve had a good series of matches with Euan G. Mackie, each at different points of my careers, allowing each one to be unique as well as creating a timeline in my development as a wrestler. THE TORMENTOR is always one that springs to mind when it comes to good match, there is something about him (or her) that I can connect with in the ring and we can have a decent match nine times out of ten.

My favourite match has to be at [WrestleZone] Proving Grounds against Caleb Valhalla, though I got launched and thrown around the ring, I did do a lot of stuff in that match that I hadn’t done in match before and in terms of where my career was at that point, it was a huge deal for me. Hopefully I can have more great matches as my career goes along.

What has been your career highlight(s) so far?

Probably Proving Grounds again. I was really, really nervous going into that match because I didn’t want to mess up, but as soon as I came out of the curtain, the crowd gave me a surprising but amazing response. I had no idea that I would get such a good reaction, even after the match, though I was battered and bruised, I had a smile on my face because I knew I put my all into that match. Maybe against Zack Leon at the W3L/SWE invasion this past month, it was great to finally get a win, especially in front of my grandad who has always been rooting for me throughout my career so that was a feel good moment.

Even just this past Friday I took part in a fatal four way match at Wrestlution against three of W3L’s top rising stars and some decent friends in Robbie Balfour, Roderick Jones and Leo King. For all of us that was a big moment and getting to be apart of W3L’s biggest show of the year was a big deal for me, but sharing the ring with them made it even better as we tore the house down, some bright futures for those guys.

Who would be your dream opponent, past or present?

So many good options to chose from in terms of dream matches, if I had to pick just one it would have to be Jeff Hardy obviously, though it would definitely have to be a TLC or a ladder match just for extra risk. That would be awesome.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?

Obviously I’ll still be wanting to wrestle but as well as that, thinking logically, I’ll be 23 in 5 years time. That’s still pretty young in terms of age, but I’ll have six years of match experience by then. The two main objectives before then is to get bigger in terms of weight, and to start driving! I have a car, I just can’t drive it! Besides that I would say that a few title reigns wouldn’t hurt anyone and maybe the chance to wrestle in England, there’s some fantastic talent that I’m hearing about over there but in the meantime I’ve still got plenty to do right here in Scotland.

Where can we find you on social media?

You can find me on Facebook with @TheAsianSensation, you can find showing my Gameboy Advance and Nintendo DS as well as wrestling on Instagram with @professor_of_islamanomics (I love that name by the way) and though I rarely post on it, you can find me on Twitter with @Sensation_CTP.

And finally, why do you do what you do?

I do this for this simple fact that I love entertaining people and to prove to my family, friends, the world and myself that I can achieve what I set out to accomplish, and that is to be great.

Thank you to Umar for answering our questions.

 

 

Photo credit Neil Malone.