Henry Luna interview
by Benjamin Tomas
Recently Benjamin Tomas had a chance
to speak with APW LA promoter Henry Luna. In their conversation
they discussed why Henry changed GSCW into APW LA and how he got
his start in wrestling.
Benjamin Tomas: What motivated
you to get involved in wrestling?
Henry Luna: The same reason
you watch it. I enjoy wrestling.
BT: How did you initially
enter the wrestling business?
HL: By mistake, a friend
called me and said he needed a ride to the airport to pick up
this guy. I said sure lets go.
BT: So how did this get you
into wrestling? Who was the guy?
HL: It turned out the gentleman
took a liking to me, so I became his, "boy". From there
I met this guy and that guy, the word got around that I was cool
(I guess cause I didn't get all dumb around them). Believe it
or not these guys are people too, they just lack a bit of tact.
I guess that's where I got it from. Who was this guy you say?
It was my mentor Alex Rizzo better known as "Big" Dick
Dudley.
BT: Did you ever think you'd
be a promoter and not a wrestler?
HL: Hell no.!
BT: Why not?
HL: When I entered the business
it was just for fun. I was a lackey. I was doing everything from
driving wrestlers to and from the airport or gigs, working ring
crew, Taking Food orders and just hang out some times. Some of
the Workers liked to keep the certain company .I had fun. I'd
listen to stories and keep them out of trouble. Here's a story,
there was this one time at "Lucha Camp." We were leaving
the Lucha camp to go to the venue for the show, but this certain
worker had something taken from his Lucha Camp room. This worker
was so mad he was gonna kill everyone including this pregnant
cleaning lady. Everyone was so confused and scared, I was way
scared and I had no way to calm him down .I also had no choice,
we were very late for the show and if the worker was late, I was
dead. ! So good ol' Mr. Lackey found a way to get him to calm
down, get his gear and go with me to the venue for the night's
work. I was always doing all kinds of stuff like that. To answer
your question, no I never thought I would be a promoter.
BT: How much ring time did
you have before you decided to be a promoter?
HL: None. I Just trained
a little for fun, nothing to the extent of competition.
BT: Why did you decide that
being a promoter was the best choice?
HL: A lot of things were
going wrong in the scene/ business. I thought like any old dumb
ass did and thought that I could change the business. I never
thought for a second I would, " Make a difference",
"Revive the Scene", or even," Capitalize When the
scene was dead." I never tried to be, the next big thing.
That's what a few people have said, but Ben my good man, to be
quit honest with you I think they're crazy. ! All I do is provide
the space for guys like Scott lost and Cholo to perform for the
fans. Guys like that are what make it fun, guys like Mr. Excitement,
Silver Tyger, Excalibur, Bobby, Jardi, Dragon, my main man Disco
Machine and Melissa; those are the ones that do it, the locker
room, not me!
BT: What made you decide
to roll the dice and start a fed?
HL: Insanity!
BT: How did Diablo become
involved with GSCW?
HL: I asked. He said yes.
BT: How did APW become involved
with GSCW?
HL: I booked Jardi and Bobby
threw my good old pal Fordisvietcong. Some guy named Gabe called
me and asked if I had room for a few more guys. I was really shaky
on doing it. I figured, "Ah fuck who cares. I'll do it, and
look at what happened.
BT: Fordisvietcong?
HL: My secret weapon .
BT: Why would you start a
feud with a fed that could import fans to SoCal shows, but didn't
have the room to import SoCal fans to their shows to balance it
out?
HL: I never figured any fans would care as they always
bitch and complain, moan and groan, "My Daddy can beat up
your Daddy", etc. Fuck me, the fans took heed and made their
voice heard loud and clear by saying "Fuck NoCal," lol.
I mean shit; I can't predict the future let alone what I'm eating
in 5 minutes. If the fans would have wanted to go to the APW shows
then someone should have tried to direct some kind of shuttle.
The NoCal fans did it, I'm sure SoCal fans could have done the
same. As for the room, I never thought about it. You got me again.
Scoreboard: Fans 2, Henry 0
BT: As we already have had
the wrestlers of APW at GSCW shows, how do you benefit, as the
promoter, from an alliance with APW?
HL: This one is easy, we draw a little more just about
every show since my involvement with APW.
BT: Aside from how you benefit
from the APW alliance, how do the fans benefit?
HL: Simple. The fans will
be able to enjoy good, solid-wrestling shows. I mean look at the
shows up until the Future in October 2002. Look at the shows that
happened after the Future up until now. It's a totally different
ball game. The draw went from 68 to 230 plus ever since then.
I think that speaks for itself.
BT: Didn't the fans have
that without you becoming a part of APW giving up the name you
worked so hard to build? My question is this: the saying is that
if it ain't broke don't fix it. It was far from broke, and you
fixed it anyway.
HL: Yes, we worked hard on
building the GSCW name. The fans did have good shows and a fun
place to go and watch wrestling before the APW Merger. However,
the shows are 5 times better as far as I'm concerned. How do I
know that? I could name twenty different reasons as to why, but
I'll just name the most important reasons. The fans are louder,
crazier and happier when they are at our shows (not to take anything
away from any other fed but you have to be there to understand).
The workers stepped it up too. Nothing was broke. Good call Benjamin.
Nothing was fixed or changed. APW LA was ever since "Seasons
Beatings." That took place December 14th, 2002. So to use
that old saying, it wasn't broke. We didn't fix it. We just finely
tuned it.
BT: Why has all your staff
taken off once the APW deal was announced?
HL: Diablo left due to personal
reasons, he has some things to attend to and that's that. Joe,
my man, thank you. You're a pain in the ass but I couldn't have
done it with out you. Rasslin' Guy wasn't staff, he was a good
help .He just has his music, I guess. He's gonna be missed too.
The show will go on.
BT: What can fans expect
in the near future from APW-LA?
HL: The same product, my
product, nothing is gonna change.
BT: In your own words, tell
me why fans should show up to the first APW LA show.
HL: Sit down and strap the
seat belt in. Man, right now I would love nothing more to tell
the whole enchilada, but I can't. I my self should not have to
justify why fans should come. My short time as a promoter should
be justification enough. Do the math. Look at the history. We
came from the marketplace and virtually nowhere. Everyone said
GSCW becoming legit was not possible. Everyone said I couldn't
do it, I was just some dumb XPW mark kid, what the hell would
I know about running a fed, I'm just a security guard, blah, blah,
blah. We moved to Newhall, the same thing happened, but this time
my own champion said I would never draw; my own locker room said
I was crazy. They said the fed was gonna die in Newhall. Guess
what? Fuck me, we did it! To be quite honest with you the first
4 shows were suppose to be the end. Whatever's happening now is
out of my hands. When it comes time to book the shows, I'm like
a man on a mission. I shut down and get all weird and moody. I
won't settle for second best. Its like some thing deep inside
me takes over. I know I sound crazy, but its true. Ask the staff
that quit and they will tell you [laughs]. I am known to be real
nasty; if you give me a half ass performance, your gonna get shit
on. The fans don't want to see half ass. . I don't want to go
to a show and see half ass. If I'm spending $11 for a show, $30
for food (I eat a lot), and $10 for gas, I had better get my fucking
moneys worth. Show quality is terrible, recently. I think that's
safe to say. To sum it up, I have proven myself in the past, so
I deserve a little bit of trust and respect. I just want enough
so you the fans can continue to come to the shows and have fun.
Lose your self, relax your mind, and let your conscience be free.
Isn't that why we watch wrestling, to have fun?
On behalf of the [APW LA] staff and locker room, I would like
to take this time to thank the fans for they're continued support.
Thank you for helping us grow to what is now known as All Pro
Wrestling Los Angeles.
5 / 31/ 03
Showdown 2
8 pm bell time
Legion Hall 507.
24527 Spruce St. Newhall, CA. For directions check out la.allprowrestling.com.
BT: Thank you for your time.
HL: No problem Ben, anytime.
Thanks for coming straight to the source.
