{"id":114299,"date":"2022-06-29T12:00:25","date_gmt":"2022-06-29T16:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=114299"},"modified":"2022-06-29T11:21:00","modified_gmt":"2022-06-29T15:21:00","slug":"the-colossal-mike-law-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2022\/06\/29\/the-colossal-mike-law-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"The Colossal Mike Law; Interview With Trainer Based Out of New York"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThey wanted me to quit, I don\u2019t know if it was the Puerto Rican in me or the pride. I wouldn\u2019t quit. I wouldn\u2019t let them win.\u201d Will Gray of Botched Spots and Chair Shots got to sit down with the \u201cColossal One\u201d Mike Law<\/strong>, lead trainer, and coach at the Fall Out Shelter<\/a>, a wrestling school in New York City. When discussing where wrestling started for him, like many others in New York, it started at Madison Square Garden.<\/p>\n

“The Colossal” Mike Law<\/strong><\/h2>\n

An Interview With New York-Based Pro Wrestling Trainer<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cSteamboat versus Savage in a steel cage. It\u2019s the only match I\u2019ve wanted to do, and in 20 years plus in the business, I haven\u2019t had the chance.\u201d Law spoke on the stronghold the then WWF had on the Northeast territory of the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cTitan had the stronghold, especially in the North East. I would watch a lot of WWF. Later, NWA and AWA then later ECW<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Law would tell a story from his childhood when his uncle was the referee for an underground wrestling show in Brooklyn. \u201cArena Puerto Rico, I believe at the time, I really don\u2019t remember what they were called.\u201d In the story, Law says his uncle got into a legitimate altercation with another worker at the event and had a beer bottle busted over his head. \u201cAfter that, he didn\u2019t want to referee anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

This same uncle was the one who got Mike into the business even after everything he had seen. Law started training in 1998 at the peak of the \u201cAttitude Era\u201d and wrestling was at an all-time high. Law talks about some of the lost nuances of the business now that we live in an almost digital age. \u201cI\u2019d take a VHS tape, if you remember what that is, and a hard copy of my resume to a promoter or promotion\u2026 Getting a call from a promoter to work a show, was a big deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t have my first pro match until 2001, for NWA \u201cOver the Top\u201d in New Jersey. Law tells Gray about a story where he is hung upside down on the turnbuckle and the locker room took turns chopping him almost in a \u201cconga line.\u201d He said this was a way for them to test you and break you into the business. This little friendly hazing or a rib however would not get over with today\u2019s locker room, Law said, \u201cI don\u2019t think they\u2019d let you get away with this stuff now.\u201d<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheFallOut_101\/status\/1537627385130102784?s=20&t=J8CSw8K7jr-93oUIKZbJiA<\/p>\n

When asked how things were at the Fall Out Shelter, Law’s wrestling school, he said it was hot. \u201cI love training all the time, but I love training in the heat.\u201d At his school, they are training the next generation of superstar pro wrestlers and sports entertainers. \u201cWe have a lot of personalities. A lot of characters, lots of big personalities, I\u2019m enjoying the ride.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI like people to get uncomfortable. You\u2019re a fantastic ring worker, I\u2019m looking to push you to give me a 30-45 second promo to get me invested in you\u2026 if you\u2019re a big personality and your in-ring work is lacking, we\u2019ll expand on that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The biggest thing Law pushed during the conversation was stepping out of your comfort zone. During the early stages of the careers of his students, he encourages them to wrestle with people that are better than them.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are at a time and age where you have to be the total package. You have to be able to talk on the mic, you have to sell people, you have to have some physical feature to yourself that makes you different, from everyone else. You obviously have to be able to perform in the ring at a high level.\u201d Mike tells Will that in today\u2019s wrestling you have to be able to do it all, to stand out in a climate of athletic in-ring workers. There are things that Law teaches his students that he feels makes them stand out, \u201cthe importance of knowing the crowd and the story you must tell them, knowing the crowd.\u201d In reference to knowing details down to the wild Philadelphia crowd expecting hardcore showcases or
\nsouthern territories expecting technical showdowns. Either way, Law referenced the importance of knowing the crowd.<\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>