You're right the name did ring a bell and his name pops up on imdb in a film where he ended up against the Rock. "Faster" is a great film, sure it's a copy of Lady Snowblood/Kill Bill, but it stands out as one of those oddities where Dwane isn't being the same character he always is in films.
Also, Neil Superior... That's a story with a really crazy ending.
Yeah, I know of Neil Superior a bit secondhand from some of the wrestlers I crossed paths with who knew him, but that’s a name that I haven’t heard in many years. He was a well-known independent wrestling name in the early to mid-90s for sure.
I had seen his name written down a few times in old magazines, probably the PWI 500, but I don't think I've ever seen a picture of him. I only recalled the name when it popped up in this story. I did a quiz about wrestling and deaths a few years back and his was an incredibly infuriating and sad story.
There’s a picture of Neil Superior I believe in a magazine story I wrote about Rasta in the early ‘90s where the two were wrestling each other. Rasta had given it to me. If I can readily find it, I will post it. Neil may very likely have gotten a shot at WCW at some point in the ‘90s but certainly would be more known today if he had not died and been able to wrestle the remainder of that decade. He was getting a buzz on the east coast independent scene at the time and the scene was still growing and would be become much bigger within a few years of his passing. Those who knew him always spoke highly of him to me.
As always I absolutely love your post. It's super cool to find someone who is as in love with the pro wrestling business as I am and reading your stories always brings a smile to my face. It also pushes me into thinking about what I could do with my own career in the wrestling business as I did work as a referee. Keep these coming and keep up the great work.
Thanks, I appreciate the words and glad you enjoyed it. I think the independent wrestling promotions are probably always open to new referees these days and there’s a lot of reputable wrestling schools (unlike 30 plus years ago) all over the country that can teach the basics and probably help their students get some initial pro wrestling referee experience.
This seems like a perfect guy for the '90s WWF with all the silly stuff they had happening.
The silly things they made people do killed a lot of careers (Skinner, Atom Bomb, Bastion Booger, etc.), but some of it did work (Doink the Clown, 123 Kid in a diaper, and above all The Undertaker).
Why couldn't they have brought him in to be Papa Shango? Do you just think it was a matter of timing with all the steroid stuff, and that the impressive size (for the only time in pro wrestling history) actually hurt him?
Yeah, agreed re the gimmick heavy era of the early ‘90s.
Rasta’s voodoo character was on ESPN with GWF before Pappa Shango debuted in WWF, and I remember both of us thought back then that WWF had gotten the idea for the gimmick from seeing Rasta on TV.
Perhaps they “casted” the wrestler they did into Pappa Shango, instead of Rasta, because they thought he was a little more experienced. However, I’ve always thought ring presence is something that can’t be taught. Rasta had that from the early days.
I don’t think his size hurt him per se because while he was large and muscular, he didn’t have a bodybuilder physique. (However, he disagreed with me at the time and thought by the mid ‘90s his size may have been the issue.)
Even if his size was the issue WWF had with him, he would have been viable for WCW since they didn’t seem to have that bias as strongly.
My whole inspiration for writing the post was I still don’t understand how this guy didn’t become a famous pro wrestler!
I am whatever's between a casual and hardcore wrestling fan, so I see the guys that get to TV, but is really talented people not getting to TV despite their talents a common thing in wrestling?
I'm not thinking of the Jacob Fatu or Jay Briscoe types (where the big promotions wouldn't touch them due to their transgressions), but people like your man above, who seemed to miss out on the big time for no reason at all. Any further examples?
I think it’s much easier in the modern era for talented wrestlers to make it to the TV promotions, and not be overlooked, than it was in the early ‘90s.
Not only are there more promotions to work for, but streaming has also made it easier for wrestlers to get noticed in my opinion who work on the independent scene.
There were other wrestlers I publicized in the early ‘90s who I thought should have become bigger stars, but they are all made it to WWE (or WCW) in every case even if only for a brief amount of time.
Louie Spicolli is one name that comes to mind (he was Rad Radford in mid-90s WWE). I’ll be doing a post on him coming up.
Rasta, however, was the only one who never got the opportunity at all, and oddly he was the one who based on his look and general ring presence had the most potential to reach a high level in my opinion.
You're right the name did ring a bell and his name pops up on imdb in a film where he ended up against the Rock. "Faster" is a great film, sure it's a copy of Lady Snowblood/Kill Bill, but it stands out as one of those oddities where Dwane isn't being the same character he always is in films.
Also, Neil Superior... That's a story with a really crazy ending.
Yeah, I know of Neil Superior a bit secondhand from some of the wrestlers I crossed paths with who knew him, but that’s a name that I haven’t heard in many years. He was a well-known independent wrestling name in the early to mid-90s for sure.
I had seen his name written down a few times in old magazines, probably the PWI 500, but I don't think I've ever seen a picture of him. I only recalled the name when it popped up in this story. I did a quiz about wrestling and deaths a few years back and his was an incredibly infuriating and sad story.
There’s a picture of Neil Superior I believe in a magazine story I wrote about Rasta in the early ‘90s where the two were wrestling each other. Rasta had given it to me. If I can readily find it, I will post it. Neil may very likely have gotten a shot at WCW at some point in the ‘90s but certainly would be more known today if he had not died and been able to wrestle the remainder of that decade. He was getting a buzz on the east coast independent scene at the time and the scene was still growing and would be become much bigger within a few years of his passing. Those who knew him always spoke highly of him to me.
As always I absolutely love your post. It's super cool to find someone who is as in love with the pro wrestling business as I am and reading your stories always brings a smile to my face. It also pushes me into thinking about what I could do with my own career in the wrestling business as I did work as a referee. Keep these coming and keep up the great work.
Thanks, I appreciate the words and glad you enjoyed it. I think the independent wrestling promotions are probably always open to new referees these days and there’s a lot of reputable wrestling schools (unlike 30 plus years ago) all over the country that can teach the basics and probably help their students get some initial pro wrestling referee experience.
This seems like a perfect guy for the '90s WWF with all the silly stuff they had happening.
The silly things they made people do killed a lot of careers (Skinner, Atom Bomb, Bastion Booger, etc.), but some of it did work (Doink the Clown, 123 Kid in a diaper, and above all The Undertaker).
Why couldn't they have brought him in to be Papa Shango? Do you just think it was a matter of timing with all the steroid stuff, and that the impressive size (for the only time in pro wrestling history) actually hurt him?
Yeah, agreed re the gimmick heavy era of the early ‘90s.
Rasta’s voodoo character was on ESPN with GWF before Pappa Shango debuted in WWF, and I remember both of us thought back then that WWF had gotten the idea for the gimmick from seeing Rasta on TV.
Perhaps they “casted” the wrestler they did into Pappa Shango, instead of Rasta, because they thought he was a little more experienced. However, I’ve always thought ring presence is something that can’t be taught. Rasta had that from the early days.
I don’t think his size hurt him per se because while he was large and muscular, he didn’t have a bodybuilder physique. (However, he disagreed with me at the time and thought by the mid ‘90s his size may have been the issue.)
Even if his size was the issue WWF had with him, he would have been viable for WCW since they didn’t seem to have that bias as strongly.
My whole inspiration for writing the post was I still don’t understand how this guy didn’t become a famous pro wrestler!
Is this a common thing?
I am whatever's between a casual and hardcore wrestling fan, so I see the guys that get to TV, but is really talented people not getting to TV despite their talents a common thing in wrestling?
I'm not thinking of the Jacob Fatu or Jay Briscoe types (where the big promotions wouldn't touch them due to their transgressions), but people like your man above, who seemed to miss out on the big time for no reason at all. Any further examples?
I think it’s much easier in the modern era for talented wrestlers to make it to the TV promotions, and not be overlooked, than it was in the early ‘90s.
Not only are there more promotions to work for, but streaming has also made it easier for wrestlers to get noticed in my opinion who work on the independent scene.
There were other wrestlers I publicized in the early ‘90s who I thought should have become bigger stars, but they are all made it to WWE (or WCW) in every case even if only for a brief amount of time.
Louie Spicolli is one name that comes to mind (he was Rad Radford in mid-90s WWE). I’ll be doing a post on him coming up.
Rasta, however, was the only one who never got the opportunity at all, and oddly he was the one who based on his look and general ring presence had the most potential to reach a high level in my opinion.