Throughout his career, Krieger has typically been thought of as being the comedy portion of a show, with his Liberty X entrance music and his sexy dancing earning him that sort of reputation. However, that’s not to say he can’t wrestle a good match. ‘Scudmaster Sexy’ showed everyone exactly why he was no laughing matter this past summer when he took both Rickey Shane Page and Paul Robinson to the absolute limit over in ICW. Now, he and Fite Network pal Lou King Sharp have earned themselves the opportunity to challenge The Purge for the ICW Tag Team Championships at the 9th Annual Square Go! on February 2nd. Ahead of that huge title match, I caught up with Krieger to talk all things from his initial start in wrestling to his alliances with Lou and Kid Fite to the opening of his own promotion last May, Pro Wrestling Innovation!
Hi Krieger, thanks for allowing me to interview you for Scottish Wrestling Network. We’ll start off with perhaps the most basic question any wrestler in the world can ever be asked – what was it that initially drew you into professional wrestling?
When I was a wee boy I would always sit up and watch the wrestling with my big brother. As people get older they tend to grow out of their obsession with wrestling but I never did. I would always watch it and always be drawn in to it more than anything else. Anyone who wrestles is just a super fan that decided to give it a bash.
Who were your favourites to watch growing up, and who are your favourites to watch nowadays?
Growing up I was always drawn to the characters. Guys like Undertaker, Kane, Gangrel and folk like that. Now being involved in wrestling I’ll watch anything. I like watching all different types of wrestling and trying to get ideas from everyone I can.
What was it that pushed you to give wrestling a bash at the PBW Academy?
PBW Academy track record speaks for itself. The amount of talent it has produced who have gone on to have incredibly successful careers, Noam, Kay Lee, Kenny, Stevie are all examples of the level of training PBW provides. We are very lucky in a country so small we have some excellent training options out there all of which produce excellent wrestlers. PBW was the best fit for me.
Since your debut, you’ve collected quite the list of top-tier opponents. Who would you say has been your favourite opponent(s) and/or match(es) thus far in your career.
I’ll always enjoy wrestling Stevie and BT. Two guys I’ve been lucky enough to wrestle countless times on the holiday park runs. For me to learn on the job from they two was and will always be invaluable. Also feel 2019 I got to test myself against a lot of high profile guys like Joe Coffey, Wolfgang and folk of that ilk. Not for me to say whether I looked out of place at that level or not but I certainly learned a lot on both occasions.
While you’re great in your own right as a singles performer, you’re more well known as the partner of Lou King Sharp (and occasionally Kid Fite) in pairings such as The Fite Network, Pure Dead Brilliant, and Proper Mental. You’ve spoken openly about your opinions towards Lou (check out the Tuck of the Draw podcast for that, folks), so instead of asking that again, I’ll make a request – please share with the kind readers some of your favourite Lou King Sharp being Lou King Sharp moments.
For me Lou is the most underrated guy in the country. Every show he is on he is one of the most entertaining acts there. I’ve seen him get huge reactions on holiday parks, family shows and adult shows. For me that proves how good he is. My favourite Lou moment has to be the first time he came off the balcony at ICW. He had always told me he wanted to do it but when the time came he was dead nervous for it. Once it happened I crawled over to check if he was ok, he looked me dead in the eyes and whispered “E C f’n W”.
On the subject of tag teams, you’ve gone on to have tremendous success when it comes to winning Tag Team Championships, being the current W3L Tag Team Champion with TJ Rage, while also previously winning the SSW Tag Team Championships with Matt Tyson and both the WrestleZone and PBW Tag Team Championships with ‘The Blood Tourist’. Would you say you prefer working in tag matches or on your own, or are there pros and cons to each?
Personally I prefer tag team wrestling. I like the fact that we can be different from almost every match on the card and do some things other matches can’t due to bodies in the match. Wrestling on my own has its advantages as well but if I’m honest I do prefer tag wrestling and have done so since I was a wee guy.
Alongside Sharp and Fite, you were part of the Five Star Wrestling tour in early 2018 that has received its fair share of negative opinions. It may not have ended in spectacular fashion, but as a younger guy in the business though, how much fun did you have appearing on TV the few times you did alongside your pals?
5 Star got a lot of flack from fans and wrestlers. I can completely understand why some people hold grudges against them but I don’t. Whatever happened they gave me and two of my best pals the chance to be on live TV doing what we love. Sadly we never actually got to wrestle, if anyone asks that was scheduled for the week after cancellation.
In ICW, yourself and Lou haven’t exactly had the fairest of opportunities, to say the least. While you’s have had a few chances at the Tag Team Championships and opened the third show at the Hydro in a six-team Tables, Ladders & Chairs Match, the huge opportunities you’ve had have never really been made a big deal. With that in mind, how does it feel to now be walking into the SWG3 with a marquee Tag Team Championships match against The Purge?
It feels great that a company the size of ICW has the faith in our team to give us such a big opportunity at one of the biggest shows of the year. ICW have always had us in and around massive shows ever since we debuted as a team around 3 years ago. I think the reason we haven’t had a big title match at a big show yet is down to us. We have long been a solid part of the tag division but I think it’s only recently we have been hitting our stride and becoming a team worthy of being at the forefront of that division. Our match against The Nine9 at Fear & Loathing is one of the matches I’m most proud of as a team. I feel we are only getting better.
When Lou headed off to China for a few months last summer, you found yourself in two huge matches in ICW, one against Rickey Shane Page on a Fight Club show and the other against Paul Robinson at Shug’s Hoose Party 6. What was your reaction upon finding out you’d be facing two men of this calibre, and how do you feel the matches went?
As a pal I was delighted for Lou going over to China. I know how hard he works and an opportunity like that was amazing for him. As a wrestler I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit nervous about what it meant for me. For the longest time we have been tied together and if one of us is away I wasn’t sure what that meant. When the opportunity first came up against RSP and then Robinson I was delighted. I was more motivated than ever, I had myself convinced that I had to prove I belonged at that level on my own and they matches certainly gave me the chance to do so. I was very happy with both matches, I’m my own worst critic and I’ll always nitpick my matches as I feel it’s the only way I’ll get better but on a whole I was very pleased with them.
Nowadays, you’re not just a wrestler, as you opened your own promotions in early 2018 when Pro Wrestling Innovation was born. How did that idea originally come about to try something new, and how pleased are you with the product you’ve put out so far? From an outsider’s perspective, it looks as if the fans have really enjoyed the past four shows!
My dream since I can remember has been to be a wrestler. There are no guarantees in wrestling and I felt that to support my dream I needed to add more strings to my bow if you will and running shows helps me do that. The idea in terms of mixing the young talent with established talent is as simple as I know how much it benefited me coming through and I’m wanting to give other people that chance.
On PWI’s second show, you kicked off the Young Lions Tournament, which is an eight-man tournament designed to showcase some of the up and coming talent from the PBW Academy. We’re now down to the final four at the time of writing – Danny Edwards, Daz Black, Hal Rayner, and John Trettan. Without having your promoter’s boots on for a second, who would you like to see win the tournament from an audience member’s point of view?
I think the tournament has surpassed all expectations. I know the talent of the guys involved but the level of the matches they’ve produced is excellent. I know this is biased but all four would be worthy winners. Danny Edwards has a way of eliciting a reaction from a crowd that can’t be taught, he just knows what to do to get a reaction. John Trettan technically is at a level far beyond where he should be given his age (Fito says he reminds him of Noam), Hal Rayner is a big guy who moves like a guy half his size and Daz Black is just a special talent. Whoever wins I’ll be proud of and happy to make a centrepiece of my shows.
You obviously came through the PBW system, as did a whole host of some of Scotland’s top-tier names right now, from Stevie Xavier right through to Andy Wild. These days though, you’re sometimes found helping out at the Academy, passing on your knowledge to help mould the next generation of talent. If you had to pick one or two names, who would you say are some PBW lads and lasses to keep our eyes on down the line?
There really is a massive line of talent ready to break out from PBW. Due to how young PBW take on trainees there’s a lot of people who have been ready for a while but only their age held them back. A good few of them are now coming into their own. Guys like Daz Black, Alex Parker, Darren Vice, John Trettan, Dean Ford all will have big years. If I had to name just one it would probably be Danny Edwards. He got his name out there a bit for PWI and PBW last year, he is regularly down south wrestling and watching him wrestle he is very similar in style to Kid Fite. I think he could be class.
Where do you see yourself in five years time?
I’ll still be wrestling. That’s all I can be sure of. There are opportunities out there that I’d love but should they not come up I’ll still be working hard, wrestling as often as I can and running shows.
Where can fans find you on social media?
@KriegerPBW on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. @ProWrestlingIn2 and Pro Wrestling Innovation on Facebook if you’d like to keep up to date with the shows I run.
Final question now, so we’ll end it off in true Krieger fashion – the Morrison Manoeuvre is the deadliest weapon in all of wrestling today. Discuss.
There’s a tag team in Italy that stole the Morrison Manoeuvre. It’s taking over the world.
Our thanks to Krieger for taking the time to chat.
If you’d like to be in attendance for The Fite Network challenging The Purge for the ICW Tag Team Championships, tickets are still available from Ticketmaster. Alternatively, you can watch the show via ICW On Demand, most likely the very next day.
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