On one hand it was like coming back to a house you stayed in for a while but the furniture was changed. I saw a lot of new faces as well as old ones,
but I could tell that I wasn't the only person who had changed in 2 years, so it makes things interesting.
when you look back the last years what have you most missing from germany?...
I missed the fans and the atmosphere in the locker room. It's always more relaxed than in the States most of the time.
Seems like I have to rebuild my reputation after being gone; a lot can happen on the Indie circuit in 2 years and most often than not,
people have short memories. Excessive Force may not be as fresh in the minds of most people, but they still remember the Crimson Assassin, you know?
What is the first thing when you think about Germany?
Wrestling here has treated me better than the States has. It's made me more relevant, and I want to return the favor by doing what I can to maintain the relevance and hopefully become more credible as an athlete, and not just a wrestler.
shaka you are a wrestler but now also a mma fighter.how do you come to the desicion to go in a other ring as the wrestling one?...
Most people don't realize how closely related the two sports are. Even more thanks to the influence Vince McMahon has with Sports Entertainment, and people
are quick to lump wrestling in with that, when they're actually separate entities. Some Indie guys want to be taken seriously as wrestlers but they don't want to
train seriously and that's part of what kills the credibility of wrestling as a sport. I trained for my fight to find out what the differences were and saw an entirely different world from wrestling
yet it was once this way. Even Jim Cornette was said that MMA was a repackaged version of Old School wrestling and you know something? He's right. When you look at it, most of the guys on the circuits now
want to be entertainers because that's what they grew up watching. I saw it slowly transition from athletic event to a spectacle before I got in. I knew that when I got in the cage and told the announcer that I was a wrestler, I knew I took the risk of being laughed at because no one takes wrestling seriously, so I had make believers out of people with what few tools I had with minimal training time before my fight, because I took it on 2 weeks notice. There's much more mental preparation for a fight than you can imagine, and even after one fight, you don't come out of that cage the same person you were when you stepped in. After that, if the Crimson Assassin wasn't dead before, he certainly was afterward. I couldn't go back to just being a wrestler after that. From that point on, I went to the next level of becoming a true Combat Athlete.
can you tell us something about your first mma fight ?...
Like I said, that fight changed me for better or for worse. I trained by the seat of my pants with people who didn't know what was going on, basically everything you shouldn't do to prepare for a fight. I think the only thing that went right was making weight. Otherwise, I got overtrained and that put me in a bad mental state to fight. You know you're in trouble when you're in the middle of a fight and part of you is trying figure out what you're doing there and the other part is running on cruise control enough to keep in the game, but eventually you'll crash and burn. It was still a interesting experience and it told what I needed to know about myself. Arn Anderson was famous for saying that adversity introduces a man to himself and he couldn't have been farther from the truth. Had I kept more composure, I may have won, but when you get a cracked orbital rim during the fight (which initially happened 2 days before when sparring) it's easy to panic, especially when your vision does something usual all of a sudden. Of course, the outcome could have been much worse, so I'm not complaining. Plus, to this day my opponent still can't believe he won, either; he didn't even stay in the cage to get interviewed.
will be your future in a wrestling ring or more in a cage?...
I'll still be in the ring. I got in the cage to prove that it wasn't impossible for a wrestler to step his game up. I also pride myself on being a hard act to follow, and I took MMA training as a challenge. It's beneficial
for adding more dimension to pro wrestling, which I think has become as insulated as boxing has since the advent of Sports Entertainment.
wrestler like brook lesnar and now also batista going inside the cage.do you think batista as a change as mma fighter?...
I don't think Batista will have as good a career in the cage as Brock. He's older, for one and Brock is just hitting his prime as an athlete. You have to remember that he was already a Division I wrestler when Vince recruited him. Most if not all of the top fighters in MMA have extensive backgrounds in grappling or stand up fighting - nationally ranked wrestlers, world class Judo or Jiu Jitsu players, you name it and they're who Batista would have to deal with. I can see Alistair Overeem taking Batista out on his worst day.
You wrestle against Batista 11 Years ago? Hey why i don´t know that? Is there anywhere a photo of this time?
That's due to the silent McMahon Law: If it happened before you got a contract, then it never happened. I'm sure there's even footage around
but it'll be a miracle if it ever turns up.
when you could wish your opponet who will it be?lesnar or batista?...
Neither. We're not in the same weight class, even though I did wrestle Batista in a tag match 11 years ago just before he got his developmental contract. He was Titanium Khan back then.
Your new Wrestlingstyle is more full of submission moves. What do you think about a Wrestlingmatch when you only can win by submission? And who will be your dream opponent?
I've always had a submission game, it was just never acknowledged. That's why it's called wrestling. Just because you see all these cool moves now doesn't mean the guy knows the basics and it's much more than learning 5 points. If you don't know the basics, then you don't know squat. You'd be surprised at how many guys can't even work in the clinch. As for a submissions only match, I've been in a couple and I'm quite at home with it. People forget that you can find yourself on your back quite often in an MMA fight or a grappling tournament. Pin falls are outdated to me, so sure, I'd be more than happy to spearhead submission matches in Germany. I even have a modified stipulation if it ever went the time limit - instead of a draw the match goes into Sudden Death. There must be a winner in 10 minutes. Back in Maximum Championship in the states, there was a title they had called the Respect title where those were the stipulations when the belt was defended. If you're not conditioned for that sort of thing, be ready for a world of hurt. As for a dream opponent, I couldn't say, to be honest.
in may you will come back to germany for the Top Catch event, thats right?
correct. This may be a very pivotal promotion in the future of German wrestling. This is something I'm honored to be part of.
at the PWF Show in Marne you Fight again The Masterpiece from Germany Marsellus. What can you tell us about this match?
You have a guy who knows he's out of his league when he faces me. It took him his flunky to get a pin. Fine. Any fool can get a pin. It seems for this to be a sport, it's overlooked that you can win by pinfall or submission, so what's so shocking about someone going for the tapout after the takedown? That's what wrestling's supposed to be about. Then Chaos wants to get involved. Okay, now I'm no saint, and I've done my share of mind games, so when I tell you that gang-ups and interference isn't new to me, especially in Germany, you know what I mean. Excessive Force was good at that. Still is. Even after a 3 on 1 situtation, I was still standing. They want to make statement? Stand in line, DMK. Not the first time and definitely not the last. I don't look for wins anymore. I make my statements by going for kills, get me?
how was the wrestling legends tour 2011 for you? Fight side by side with the warlord.
Well, if you were to tell me that I'd tagging with one of the guys I grew up watching and in Berlin no less, I'd say you were crazy. Then again, look at the game we're talking about here. The unusal is pretty much another day at the office with me. Amazing chemistry. I got to do my thing and Warlord cleaned house, definitely a match for the books, you know? I know it wasn't the typical locker room for some, but there was a reason for who were all there to begin with, so you couldn't expect any less of a performance from anyone there. Nolte and Spalter tried to take it to me and the big man, but Warlord's got the artillery and you never know what I'll hit you with or where it's coming from so it was a nice remix of 'you hit 'em high and I'll hit 'em low'. Awesome experience.
We talked in Berlin some weeks ago and i thought:Every time i see Shaka he was more and more Crazy. Why you are so funny crazy? You make Yoga to find your inner Funny or what is the reason?
I'm just weird that way. Some would say I'm just a goof. Except when I'm in the ring. Throws people off every time. It's the perfect tactic in psychological warfare,
and I don't use the word 'perfect' very often...
2012 The next Wrestling Legends Tour come with the first big Names like The New Age Outlaws or Rick The Model Martel. Will you be also a part of this Tour? And which wrestler would you like to see on the Tour?
If I'm asked to come again, I'll be there. As for who I'd like to see? I never thought about it. I'm trying to leave my own legacy.
Now you are back in the USA. What will be your next step in Wrestling?
I'm actually studying for Strength and Condition Coach certification for MMA. I've been using new training protocols for the last 3 years for wrestling as well and I think it would benefit wrestling. Even if I don't look like a chiseled statue every time I step in the ring, my technique and conditioning is more solid than it has been. One of the ways wrestling will improve is to get the training out of the Dark Ages and bring it up to the 21st Century. Everyone wants to keep referring back to 'Old School' but keep referencing what they saw on television. Forget that part. The key was BEHIND the scenes, and training is one of the most overlooked skeletons. I want to change that.
Now i want to tell you some names and you tell your first thought:
Crazy Johnny Tiger - flamboyant tights
The Warlord - massive, but very laid back
Shane Douglas - possibly the last revolutionary in 20th century wrestling
The Great Muta - one of my biggest influences ever
Antonio Inoki - shaped the wrestling landscape in Asia in the 80s and unknowingly set the tone for MMA
The Boogeyman - I don't care what anyone says, I did it first but he did it Hollywood. Where is he now?
Wrestlingjunkies - the voice of German wrestling? I know somebody's listening over there...
at the last something to say to your fans in germany and around the world?
I'm going to be jumping around quite a bit this year. Don't expect me to put the face paint back on - it's not happening. You can expect to see a lot wrestling from me, because that's what on the posters. Not Sports Entertainment. If anyone wants to see that, then they should stay home in front of the television. That goes for some of the boys and promoters, too. If can do the research, then it's not that hard for anyone else to do it, so a lot of people need to re-evaluate what they're doing in wrestling. I've been doing this for 12 years now, and I've seen a lot of changes since, mostly for the worst. Before I get out I want to make sure I leave something worth having as a legacy beisdes a good look. That was just a phase in my career. That's not my preferred legacy for Shaka as an institution. It's part of it but not as significant as I'd like. What I'm building now is more important - the wrestler as athlete again. I don't want to be remembered as just the guy in paint. There's more layers to that.
