IZW's Bryan Cruize Interview

“I see gold and lots of it.”

In professional sports, finding a big man with strength, power, agility and dexterity is always a challenge.  A lot of times it’s the difference between a winning season and another year in the cellar.  Professional wrestling is no different.  Big, athletic wrestlers are hard to find.  When you can find one you do everything in your power to lock that talent up.  That’s just what IZW did with Bryan Cruize who’s had quite an impressive run for the Lawton, Oklahoma based federation in the first half of 2012. 

In his short time as part of the IZW roster, Cruize has already been involved with several high profile matches, most notably his feud with one half of the current IZW Tag Team Champions, “The Image of War” Kevin Morgan.  Cruize defeated Morgan in singles competition snapping a 27-week winning streak by Morgan at the iPPV “March Mayhem.”  Cruize followed that up with another victory over Morgan a week later and then another victory a week after that, establishing himself as a legitimate threat to everyone in the IZW locker room.  

Things have come full circle for Cruize as next month at IZW’s next iPPV, “Redemption”, on September 15 on the GFL Combat Sports Network, Cruize will team with new tag partner Randy Price forming an updated version of the Old School Suckas as he takes on his old nemesis Kevin Morgan and partner Damon Windsor who hold the IZW Tag Team Titles under the name Big Business.  It promises to be a grueling match as Morgan and Windsor have been on a rampage ever since they won the belts earlier this year.  Cruize and Price will have their hands full and need to bring their A-game if they have a shot at dethroning the champs.  But that’s nothing new for Cruize.  Just last month at “Evolution”, Cruize defeated former IZW World Champion O’Mally in a Ladder/Brass Knuckles Match proving once again that he is to be feared and respected in IZW and across the country.  

Cruize’s love for the business started at an early age.  A very early age.  “I watched wrestling since I was two years old and always wanted to be a pro wrestler. I started training to be a pro in 1997.  My last hour in high school would let me leave early to go to training since I started training while I was still in school. I couldn’t actually have my first pro match till 98 when I was 18,” Cruize remembered.

Cruize’s training saw him learn the sport under the tutelage of Oklahoma wrestling legend and trainer Tom Jones as well as fellow wrestlers like Slash and Coach Gary Tool. 

A professional athlete in the purest sense, Cruize has set lofty goals for himself and his career.  “My goal in pro wrestling is very simple. It’s to be the guy that people will talk about for years after I am gone. I want to leave a lasting impression on every one I can.”  With Cruize now wrestling regularly for IZW his matches can be viewed live every Saturday night on GFL.tv worldwide as well as video on demand and it’s exactly where Cruize wants to be.  “That is one of the big reasons I came back to wrestling, is because of how big IZW is getting.  It is HUGE and I only expect it to get bigger with time.  I think IZW is top notch and expect major things from the best organization I've ever worked for.” 

As far as the pitfalls of the business, Cruize knows they’re out there and doesn’t hesitate when asked what the largest challenge in the game is.  “Defiantly the injuries. That’s the biggest reason you stop seeing some of the guys who were rising stars and you don't know what happened to them.”

As anyone who’s ever watched Cruize wrestle can tell, he puts a lot of pride in his physique and works hard to keep the inevitable injury bug as minor as it can be in a sport where men regularly throw their bodies around like bowling balls.  “I go to the gym five times a week. It’s about all I can handle and not have torn muscles that don't have time to heal. The first and fourth day is chest, shoulders, and triceps. The second and fifth day is legs, back and biceps. The middle day is just a day for cardio,” Cruize said. 

On September 15 at “Redemption”, Cruize has his first opportunity to make good on his promise of capturing gold and lots of it.  It could be the most intense match of his career as he teams with Price against the only two men in IZW who can match him strength for strength.  Cruize will have to rely on his uncanny dexterity in the ring and look for an opening to land his patented flipping neck-breaker for the finish.  No other super heavyweight in IZW can match his drop kicks or his high flying from the ropes, but in order to get Big Business in such a compromising position, Cruize and Price might have to go to hell and back and withstand the devastating, bone-breaking power of Morgan and Windsor.  Only time will tell, but you can be sure Cruize will be ready to seize the moment and write his name in the record books of IZW.

Cruize finished with a message to his fans.  “I want to thank all the fans of IZW for welcoming me like they have and let them know there would be no IZW or Bryan Cruize without them.”