{"id":19530,"date":"2018-05-30T14:15:01","date_gmt":"2018-05-30T18:15:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=19530"},"modified":"2018-05-30T14:49:29","modified_gmt":"2018-05-30T18:49:29","slug":"bravo-michigan-indie-veteran-john-e-bravo-now-policing-the-ring-for-impact-wrestling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2018\/05\/30\/bravo-michigan-indie-veteran-john-e-bravo-now-policing-the-ring-for-impact-wrestling\/","title":{"rendered":"BRAVO: Michigan Indie Veteran John E. Bravo Now Policing The Ring for Impact Wrestling"},"content":{"rendered":"

For 22 years, John Mellnick has been a staple in the Michigan and Southern Ontario indie circuit as John E. Bravo<\/strong>, a nefarious hoodwink with a penchant for violence. An early student with Scott D’Amore<\/strong>‘s Can-Am Wrestling School<\/strong> student, the Michigan native is a original (and still regular) wrestler with D’Amore’s Border City Wrestling (BCW)<\/strong> in Windsor, Ontario. Last year, Bravo saw a shift in his career, as he followed the paths of many other pro wrestlers, such as Drake Younger<\/strong>, Scott<\/strong>\u00a0Armstrong<\/strong> and others, and became a referee, when he joined the reffing staff for Impact Wrestling<\/strong>. As Impact Wrestling heads “home” to Border City Wrestling and Windsor, Ontario for this weekend’s set of television tapings, LWOPW talked to John E. Bravo about his career and his new opportunities with Impact Wrestling.<\/p>\n

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Last Word on Pro Wrestling: So first things first. A lot of people now recognize you as an Impact referee, but you’re going on 20 years in the business as a wrestler as well. What first drew you to pro wrestling?<\/strong><\/p>\n

John E. Bravo:\u00a0<\/strong>This November will actually be my 22nd year….I started in 1996. Like every kid in the 80s, I loved watching WWE (WWF). I always dreamed I wanted to do it. But the actual moment I realized it was something I wanted to pursue was after watching Bret Hart<\/strong> vs Mr. Perfect<\/strong> at SummerSlam 1991<\/strong><\/em>. They weren\u2019t particularly big guys like Hulk Hogan<\/strong> and they gave smaller guys like me aspirations to want to pursue Pro Wrestling.<\/p>\n

Once you’d decided to pursue it as a career, who did you turn to for training?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I’d actually seen an article in the Detroit News about Scott D\u2019Amore<\/strong>\u2019s Can-Am Wrestling School<\/strong> in 1994. So my dad called him. Because I was 16, I went and met him at a show in Inkster, Michigan and he described the school to me. One year later, I lost the phone number, but my neighbour was a DJ that did the audio at a local wrestling show in Michigan called Great Lakes Wrestling<\/strong>. He told me if I helped him and was his assistant for one day, he would introduce me to the promoter. That promoter was “Machine Gun” Mike Kelly<\/strong>…. he gave me a phone number for “Irish” Mickey Doyle<\/strong>, who was also a head trainer at Can-Am Wrestling School (so I got the number back). Mickey told me to show up with knee pads and water. So I did, and I never looked back.<\/p>\n

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John E. Bravo’s Facebook Page<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Do you remember your first match?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Unfortunately yes (sarcasm)…It was me and Bobo Brown<\/strong> versus the original “Canadian Destroyer” Doug Chevalier<\/strong> (who also trained D\u2019Amore) and Ricky James<\/strong>. It was a tag match, because I was green, and that\u2019s a good way to hide somebody with less experience. It wasn\u2019t bad – I did really well for my first match. It was about 20 minutes long, I did some highflying things, because back then I was high flier. But when I watch it back on VHS, I have a few cringe worthy moments, just because of my experience – but that\u2019s everybody.<\/p>\n

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Photo: Shannon Callahan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You’ve become one of BCW’s most beguiled villains over the past two decades. Do you find being the bad guy is a more natural fit for you? What heels did you draw inspiration from in finding your inner John E. Bravo?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Growing up, heel Roddy Piper<\/strong>, heel Razor Ramon<\/strong>, heel Mr. Perfect<\/strong>…Yokozuna<\/strong>\u2019s heel eye stare…but to be completely honest, heel John E. Bravo is the real<\/em> guy – John Mellnick is the persona. You can\u2019t tell people what you actually think of them in real life, but you can in wrestling. You can\u2019t smack a drink out of somebody\u2019s hand in real life and not have the cops called on you, and in Pro Wrestling you can. Pro wrestling and the character that I play is basically the guy I wish I could be every single day of my life in public…but society doesn\u2019t allow that, haha.<\/p>\n

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Photo: Shannon Callahan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You’re a product of Michigan, but also work a lot in Southern Ontario’s indie scene as well. Why does this area not get as much focus as other regions around North America when it comes to it’s indie scene? With so much talent that’s come out of Michigan and Southern Ontario, both in the majors and indie circuits worldwide, this area is still somewhat unrecognized and underappreciated.<\/strong><\/p>\n

That\u2019s debatable…I think at times it does get its recognition, but you\u2019re also correct there are times it doesn\u2019t. Everybody knows Rhino is from Detroit, everybody knows the Motor City Machine Guns<\/strong> are from Detroit. Everybody knows “Showtime” Eric Young<\/strong>, Bobby Roode<\/strong>, Petey Williams<\/strong>. We\u2019re all in Team Canada together with Coach Scott D\u2019Amore. And most of those guys got their big break at Border City wrestling. There is a ton of talent to come out of Michigan and Ontario. And if people didn\u2019t recognize that in the last few years…with Border City Wrestling hosting Impact television tapings this week, the rest of the world is going to pick up on that real soon.<\/p>\n