For over 20 years, Big Time Wrestling has entertained Bay Area crowds. On Saturday night, Dec. 3 Big Time Wrestling invades Livingston at Livingston High School. The respectable independent wrestling show will bring their roster to the area for ‘Holiday Havok.’
Coming off their 20th anniversary show on Oct. 28 in Newark, California, Big Time Wrestling is making an effort to entertain crowds in the 209 area. Tickets for Holiday Havok are available now at btwrestling.com. Ringside tickets are $20; general admission is priced at $15 and kids twelve and under are just $7.
“Modesto, Turlock, Merced and surrounding areas have a rich wrestling history and we want to bring that tradition back,” said Big Time Wrestling’s World Heavyweight champion Shane Kody.
Kody is a veteran of professional wrestling dating back to 1989 for the then-World Wrestling Federation and National Wrestling Alliance.
“I grew up in the business. My dad was a professional wrestler and I used to watch him since I was four years old. I grew up around the greats Ray Stevens, Pepper Gomez and Kinji Shaibuya and I always knew I wanted to be a professional wrestler. I can’t fill his shoes, but I can follow in his footsteps,” Kody said about his late father.
Kody has been a part of Big Time Wrestling since its second show.
“It’s a great family show and a great company. Big Time Wrestling is a great company that produces some great talent,” Kody explained.
The latest alumni from Big Time Wrestling is World Wrestling Entertainment’s Bailey, who competes on Monday Night Raw. The San Jose native started with Big Time Wrestling when she was 18.
A new era of women’s wrestling began in Big Time Wresting this past summer with the dawn of their new Women’s Championship Division. Ruby Raze defeated Beatrice Domino in a two-out-of-three falls match, in which Raze won in controversial fashion. In August, Domino got her revenge and defeated Raze for the title. She has since successfully defended her title on several occasions.
“I wanted that title so bad. I wanted my name on it. I may not have been the first BTW women’s champion, but I want to be the best women’s champion,” Domino said.
Growing up Domino said her influences were Bill Goldberg, Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar.
“I loved their intensity. The women were great to watch, but I just liked the intensity they brought into the ring. They wrestled with intensity and aggression and that’s what I bring to the ring.”
Domino is proud of her African American heritage and doesn’t mind displaying her independence in the ring.
“I view myself as a strong, independent woman and I stand up for myself. If someone yells at me from the crowd I yell back,” she said with a laugh. “One of the things I look forward to is the crowd interaction when I am out there. If they cheer me then great, and if they boo me I am fine with that, too.”
Big Time Wrestling has its training center and academy in Fremont, California where lead trainer is “The Fighting Unicorn” Kimo. Kimo’s road to the ring was unorthodox to say the least.
“Growing up I was a big fan of professional wrestling. My heroes in the ring were Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, Ric Flair and Ultimate Warrior. I followed it my whole youth and began training and gave it a try,” Kimo said. “At age 21 I stopped training. At age 25 I decided to try it again. Mike Modest was my trainer and it took off from there.”
Kimo made his wrestling debut in 2007 and has since been entertaining crowds across California. Kimo became a singles competitor later in his career with Big Time Wrestling and that’s where he got his big break.
“My gimmick of being the Fighting Unicorn came to surface in Toronto, Canada. I was in a party supply store and saw a unicorn stick horse. I remember staring at it and thinking ‘What if?’ I did not get it there that day, but when I returned to the states, I pitched the idea. That’s just me; I love unicorns and pop music. So I incorporated the two things together. Before this transformation, I felt boring. I was a serious wrestler who wore black trunks and used mixed martial arts. Since that night The Unicorn Club was born.”
For nearly two years, Kimo and fellow Big Time Wrestling superstar Victor Sterling have been lead trainers.
“In March of 2015 our trainer quit and there was no one there to help train the new talent. So Victor and I were asked to take over and we both did not hesitate. We knew we could not leave those guys hanging.”
On Saturday, Dec. 3 Livingston will be treated to a family based wrestling show. Every wrestler has a different type of wrestling style and background. Along with Big Time Wrestling superstars, there will be the Mighty Midgets of Mexico featuring World Wrestling Entertainment alumni El Torito. Also scheduled to appear is former World Wrestling Entertainment superstar, Teddy Hart. Hart is a member of the legendary Hart family.
“I was trained at the notorious Hart Dungeon in Calgary, Alberta, Canada by my family and also by Dory Funk Jr. The stories you hear about the Dungeon are true. It is not for the weak and only a select few graduate from it, it was tough even for me, a family member,” said Hart.
Hart made his debut in 1995 and spent time in the World Wrestling Entertainment from 1998 to 2002. Hart also had a short stint in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling before becoming a sensation overseas in Japan and south of the border in Mexico.
