On Episode #9 of Talkin’ Off The Top Rope, “The Grizzled Vet” Michael McCurdy sits down with longtime wrestler, promoter, booker, trainer, and father “Big Ugly” for an in-depth conversation about a life spent in and around professional wrestling from discovering the business as a kid in California to wrestling in Portland, running his own promotion and school, training future stars, and watching his own children carry the family legacy forward.
He talks openly about growing up without much money, spending a lot of time alone, and how wrestling became both entertainment and motivation. Good grades meant wrestling magazines or merchandise. Saturday routines revolved around wrestling tapes. Heroes like The Road Warriors, Ric Flair, Nikita Koloff, and the Four Horsemen became larger-than-life figures in a childhood where wrestling was much more than just television.
Michael and Big Ugly spend time talking about the old tape trading culture, including World of Sport, Memphis, APW, Ohio Valley, Japanese wrestling, Dean Malenko tapes, strange wrestling compilations, and even Incredibly Strange Wrestling. The two discuss how finding new wrestling used to require real effort hunting through video stores, swapping tapes, buying obscure releases, and discovering wrestlers long before everything was one click away.
After a stint in the 82nd Airborne, Big Ugly eventually makes the decision to seriously pursue professional wrestling. He talks about beginning his training with Roland Alexander’s All Pro Wrestling, driving hours between work and training, and learning very quickly that the wrestling business could be every bit as political and mentally challenging as it was physical.
His memories of APW are especially candid. Big Ugly talks about the atmosphere at “The Garage,” his difficult relationship with Roland Alexander, the old school hierarchy among trainees, and the frustration of driving hours only to sometimes be told to clean up and go home. At the same time, he credits Michael Modest as someone who truly wanted to teach and help him improve.
Big Ugly also explains how leaving Northern California opened his eyes to the fact that wrestling was much bigger than any one local scene. Working in Portland introduced him to veterans like The Grappler, Ed Moretti, Dr. Luther, Cuban Assassin, and Manny Fernandez, and taught him a lesson he still gives his students today: get out of your hometown, travel, meet people, work different crowds, and learn how the business operates outside your own bubble.
The conversation also touches on Big Ugly’s philosophy toward wrestling styles. He and Michael talk about comedy wrestling, Incredibly Strange Wrestling, Hoodslam, traditional wrestling, lucha, hardcore wrestling, and the idea that wrestling is basically like Baskin-Robbins, there are different flavors for different people, and not every style has to appeal to everybody.
The episode also gets into Big Ugly’s influence on the Northern California wrestling scene, the importance of traveling outside your home territory, helping younger wrestlers in the locker room, and the long list of NorCal names who eventually went on to national and international success.
For fans of independent wrestling history, Northern California wrestling, Portland Wrestling, APW, SPW, John Morrison, Timothy Thatcher, and the stories of the people who spent decades keeping regional wrestling alive, this is an episode about much more than matches and championships.
It’s about family, sacrifice, teaching, legacy and making sure the stories never die.
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