"Not Looking To Start Any Riots, Though. Well, Maybe."
Feb 25, 2021 23:25:34 GMT -5
Mongo the Destroyer, SWAT Team, and 2 more like this
Post by Joseph Mack on Feb 25, 2021 23:25:34 GMT -5
“Alright folks, welcome back to the Pints and Points Podcast! It’s your host Sean Galloway here and it’s time for our regular ‘Five Questions’ segment where we sit down with a local athlete. Today we’ve got standout professional wrestler and hometown boy Joseph Mack. Welcome Joseph, how’s your day going?”
The shot is a laptop screen, splitscreen mode; on one side is the podcaster, seated in a home studio, a decently professional setup, and on the other side is Mack at his kitchen table.
“Day’s going good Sean. I’m assuming that’s not one of the five questions, eh?”
“You'd be correct. You ready to get started?”
“Absolutely, hit me.”
“First question… you were a bit of a hockey prospect for a while, why’d you make the change to pro wrestling?”
“Well, I wasn’t confident I had the wheels or the hands to make a go of it as a pro, being totally honest. If I’d been faster maybe it would’ve made up for my hands or vice versa, but either way I was pretty sure I’d hit my plateau and was ready for something new. Plus, I like going on one one with an opponent, not having to worry about what my teammates might do, y’know?”
“Fair point. Next question: one of your finishing maneuvers, the reverse sitout piledriver, you call it the R2 Driver. What’s the origin of that name?”
“Right, so I named the move as a tribute to my grandfathers, after two of their favourite athletes from back in the day. My mom’s dad, he’s out in New Brunswick, huge fan of Maurice Richard. He always talked about the combination of intensity and skill and athleticism the Rocket showed, definitely something I’ve tried to emulate myself. Not looking to start any riots though. Well, maybe.”
Mack and the podcaster share a grin.
“And my dad’s dad, he was seven years old when he went to his first Montreal Royals game, saw Jackie Robinson make history as the first black man to play pro ball outside of the Negro Leagues. Imagine that for a little black boy back then, seeing that in person. The next year Robinson’s playing for the Dodgers, grandpa becomes a Dodgers fan for life, even when they moved to LA and the Expos opened shop; he cheered for Montreal too but never stopped following the Dodgers. So R2, Robinson and Richard.”
“Pretty awesome your grandpa was able to see that game in person.”
“Right? Absolute ‘if I had a time machine’ moment right there.”
“Agreed. Three, how’s it feel to represent the province of Quebec, the city of Montreal, in Northern Pro Wrestling?”
“It’s pretty great, I won’t lie. I’m a proud Canadian, proud Quebecer, proud Montrealer. To be the guy from the city in the company, it’s definitely a bit more pressure on my shoulders than if I was wrestling in the US or elsewhere, but it’s good pressure I’d say.”
“Four, you’ve got a big tag match coming up in a few days, you and KUMA against Shooters Club. How’re you feeling about that?”
“I’m feeling good. I won’t pretend I know any of the three guys exceptionally well; KUMA’s a hell of a talent, big and capable and I’m looking forward to tagging with him. Shooters Club, they’re good in the ring, damn good, but I’m confident that KUMA and I can walk out with the win. After the last few months it’ll be nice to just have a straightforward match, where it’s not about emotion for me, just about kicking some ass and getting a big win.”
“And that leads to my fifth question. In your last match, the deal was whoever got the pin from your team would get a title shot. Instead of trying to stop Lord Dominicus from getting the win so you could try, you took out Eric Dane to prevent him from breaking it up, allowing Dominicus to get the pin and the win and the title shot. Why not try and make your move for a title shot yourself?”
Mack is quiet a moment, clearly pondering the question.
“Okay, there’s a few things here. For one, there’s not many sure things in wrestling. I let Dominicus get the pin there then yeah, I don’t have a guaranteed title shot but I do get my hand raised and yeah, while getting my hand raised there didn’t get me immediately next to the belt it was another notch on my gun, y’know? Another way to get one over on The Syndicate.
But say I do break up that pin, or I let Dane break it up. There’s a chance The Syndicate picks up the win in that case, then no one walks out with a title shot. Better Dominicus than no one.”
“Mind if I ask one more question, just to follow up on that one?”
“Shit man, it’s your show. Go ahead.”
“Okay, who would you rather see win that title fight on the 16th, Dane or Dominicus?”
Mack breaks into a grin, shaking his head a little.
“There’s part of me that feels like I should say Dane so I can make some ‘so I can be the one to take it from him’ declaration, right? But honestly? Time’s gonna come when I get another shot and when that happens the belt will be what matters, not so much the man I gotta take it from. And it’d be hilarious to see the look on his face if Dominicus gets the win. So yeah, give ‘em hell LD.”
“Alright, thanks for your time Joseph. Best of luck on the 2nd!”
“Thanks for having me Gallo, we’ll do it again sometime.”
With that, the shot cuts out.
The shot is a laptop screen, splitscreen mode; on one side is the podcaster, seated in a home studio, a decently professional setup, and on the other side is Mack at his kitchen table.
“Day’s going good Sean. I’m assuming that’s not one of the five questions, eh?”
“You'd be correct. You ready to get started?”
“Absolutely, hit me.”
“First question… you were a bit of a hockey prospect for a while, why’d you make the change to pro wrestling?”
“Well, I wasn’t confident I had the wheels or the hands to make a go of it as a pro, being totally honest. If I’d been faster maybe it would’ve made up for my hands or vice versa, but either way I was pretty sure I’d hit my plateau and was ready for something new. Plus, I like going on one one with an opponent, not having to worry about what my teammates might do, y’know?”
“Fair point. Next question: one of your finishing maneuvers, the reverse sitout piledriver, you call it the R2 Driver. What’s the origin of that name?”
“Right, so I named the move as a tribute to my grandfathers, after two of their favourite athletes from back in the day. My mom’s dad, he’s out in New Brunswick, huge fan of Maurice Richard. He always talked about the combination of intensity and skill and athleticism the Rocket showed, definitely something I’ve tried to emulate myself. Not looking to start any riots though. Well, maybe.”
Mack and the podcaster share a grin.
“And my dad’s dad, he was seven years old when he went to his first Montreal Royals game, saw Jackie Robinson make history as the first black man to play pro ball outside of the Negro Leagues. Imagine that for a little black boy back then, seeing that in person. The next year Robinson’s playing for the Dodgers, grandpa becomes a Dodgers fan for life, even when they moved to LA and the Expos opened shop; he cheered for Montreal too but never stopped following the Dodgers. So R2, Robinson and Richard.”
“Pretty awesome your grandpa was able to see that game in person.”
“Right? Absolute ‘if I had a time machine’ moment right there.”
“Agreed. Three, how’s it feel to represent the province of Quebec, the city of Montreal, in Northern Pro Wrestling?”
“It’s pretty great, I won’t lie. I’m a proud Canadian, proud Quebecer, proud Montrealer. To be the guy from the city in the company, it’s definitely a bit more pressure on my shoulders than if I was wrestling in the US or elsewhere, but it’s good pressure I’d say.”
“Four, you’ve got a big tag match coming up in a few days, you and KUMA against Shooters Club. How’re you feeling about that?”
“I’m feeling good. I won’t pretend I know any of the three guys exceptionally well; KUMA’s a hell of a talent, big and capable and I’m looking forward to tagging with him. Shooters Club, they’re good in the ring, damn good, but I’m confident that KUMA and I can walk out with the win. After the last few months it’ll be nice to just have a straightforward match, where it’s not about emotion for me, just about kicking some ass and getting a big win.”
“And that leads to my fifth question. In your last match, the deal was whoever got the pin from your team would get a title shot. Instead of trying to stop Lord Dominicus from getting the win so you could try, you took out Eric Dane to prevent him from breaking it up, allowing Dominicus to get the pin and the win and the title shot. Why not try and make your move for a title shot yourself?”
Mack is quiet a moment, clearly pondering the question.
“Okay, there’s a few things here. For one, there’s not many sure things in wrestling. I let Dominicus get the pin there then yeah, I don’t have a guaranteed title shot but I do get my hand raised and yeah, while getting my hand raised there didn’t get me immediately next to the belt it was another notch on my gun, y’know? Another way to get one over on The Syndicate.
But say I do break up that pin, or I let Dane break it up. There’s a chance The Syndicate picks up the win in that case, then no one walks out with a title shot. Better Dominicus than no one.”
“Mind if I ask one more question, just to follow up on that one?”
“Shit man, it’s your show. Go ahead.”
“Okay, who would you rather see win that title fight on the 16th, Dane or Dominicus?”
Mack breaks into a grin, shaking his head a little.
“There’s part of me that feels like I should say Dane so I can make some ‘so I can be the one to take it from him’ declaration, right? But honestly? Time’s gonna come when I get another shot and when that happens the belt will be what matters, not so much the man I gotta take it from. And it’d be hilarious to see the look on his face if Dominicus gets the win. So yeah, give ‘em hell LD.”
“Alright, thanks for your time Joseph. Best of luck on the 2nd!”
“Thanks for having me Gallo, we’ll do it again sometime.”
With that, the shot cuts out.