“I see myself in IZW becoming a champion again. Hopefully, one day, even becoming Heavyweight
Champion.”
“High Risk” Joe Herell has been a top hand in the Oklahoma
and surrounding territory for years.
Always known for his fast paced style, Herell is always a hot commodity
for any organization to sign. Recently, Herell
has found himself back in his old stomping grounds, inside an IZW ring. As one half of the tag team Aerial Assault,
along with Dane Griffin, Herell has stormed into the division shaking up the
status quo and giving fans from around the world another reason to tune into
IZW every Saturday night on GFL.tv.
Along with the weekly platform provided by GFL.tv, Herell
and all of the IZW Superstars can be viewed by 24 million households across the
country on The Comcast Network and over half a dozen Comcast SportsNet regional
networks. For Herell, his return to
Impact Zone Wrestling and getting the chance to partner with Griffin couldn’t
have come at a better time in his career.
“IZW...... What an amazing company. They have so much
to offer for the wrestlers and most importantly for the fans. They have top notch talent and awesome
storylines. And did I mention the production?
This is the best fed that I have possibly been to. The wrestlers look
like wrestlers and not dressed in gym shorts, church shoes and kickpads.
That tells a lot about a fed when everyone has different characters, styles and
gear. IZW having monthly iPPVs and
airing on Comcast once a month is a huge deal because it allows for the
wrestlers to be seen WORLDWIDE and that’s huge in this business. The more you promote yourself, the more you
get booked in other places and the better chance you have to make it to WWE or
TNA perhaps. In my opinion IZW is
up there with TNA,” Herell said.
Herell, like most wrestlers working on the Independent
scene, has had a long, grueling road to the top. But for Herell, he has always been able to
count on something not every wrestler has, and that’s his natural
athleticism.
“Well I grew up in Ardmore, Oklahoma and went to school at Dickson
High School. As far as I can remember back, I have always been a fan of
wrestling, but it’s not what I’ve always wanted to do. I started playing
football in about the fifth grade and I played all through high school and I
wanted to try and get a scholarship to play in college.”
As fate would have it, Herell caught the wrestling bug
during his teens.
“Well come my senior year in high school, right before
football season started, I went to a really big show here in Ardmore. The show
had names like Scott Steiner, Buff Bagwell, Jeff Jarrett, R-Truth and a few
others. That’s where I met my trainer Al Santos and he had told me that
he was starting a wrestling school right here in Ardmore. After that show I got all of his info and the
next day when I came up to help take the ring down I met the owner of IZW, Johnny
Z. He asked how old I was and if this
was something I would like to do and I think that’s when I decided
that this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life and that’s
how I got started in the business,” Herell remembered.
Herell put his years of blood, sweat and tears on the gridiron to good use as he transferred over his skillset into the squared circle as he hit his newfound passion with the same resolve that made him such a highly respected football player. “I started training right after football season so I was midway through my senior year. I trained with guys like Montego Seeka, Javi Hernandez, and my best friend and tag partner now, Dane Griffin. After about six months of training every day, I made my pro debut in March 2007.”
Since 2007, Herell has been progressing up the ranks of
Independent wrestling and has incorporated his own personal family history and
bloodlines into the equation along with his in ring work to help set himself
apart from the crowd. “I do have a
nickname it’s KY-OTE everybody calls me that.
It was my debut name and I had that name for a good five years
until I started to use my real name, Joe Herell. I came up with my finisher after watching one
of my favorite luchadores from Mexico LA PARKA. He calls his the ‘lucha bomb
front-flip power bomb pin combo’ but I was thinking of a clever way to
rename it. I thought to myself well I’m Indian Chickasaw and so I started
calling it the Chickasaw bomb.”
“My goals in pro wrestling are of course make it to the WWE
or TNA. That’s pretty much everybody’s
goal in wrestling. But I want to tour overseas and really get a lot of matches
under my belt. I think experience is the key to make it and being successful in
this business. Being an Indy wrestler
really isn’t a walk in the park. It’s hard for most guys to be really successful
do to having to manage your wrestling time, your job during the week, and
families. It’s harder than people expect. I’ve dislocated my shoulder three
times. And the following Monday, I had to be at my job. That makes it hard to
fully recuperate,” Herell stated.
But with great sacrifice comes great reward. Herell’s work inside the ring has even taken
him outside of the country where he has gotten a chance to rub shoulders with
some of the sports all-time greats. “The
highlight of my career is when I did a one month tour in Puerto Rico where I
did shows with the Great Muta, Scott Hall even Eddie Colon who is now Primo in
WWE. I wrestled three days a week for a
month doing dark matches. It was a really good learning experience getting to
talk to the old timers and legends like Carlos Colon,” Herell continued.
Longtime fans of Herell will know he is a two-time IZW World
Tag Team Champion and will remember him in one of the hottest feuds in IZW
history. “My most memorable feud would
most likely be when I was feuding with Randy Price over the fact that I’m an
Indian. He bribed me with firewater, a
huge bottle of whiskey; we brawled in the parking lot, the locker room and
finally ended the feud with an Indian Death Match which was my idea. It was a
good feud and that match I think is pretty memorable for the IZW fans as well.”
As for what fans can look forward to in the present, Herell
and his partner Griffin are close to reaching the pinnacle of tag team
wrestling on the regional scene. They
are only one or two wins away from having another crack at the IZW World Tag
Team Titles.
“February 16 is Violent
Valentine, two days after my birthday. Yes, my birthday is on Valentine’s
Day. Aerial Assault is ready and whoever our opponents are, they better bring their
A-game because we are ready to be back on top as a premier tag team in
IZW.”
Herell has always been a fan favorite and that feeling is
reciprocated by “High Risk”.
“I just have to say to all the fans of IZW thank you for all
of your support. I promise Aerial Assault will keep doing what we are doing. And
remember when Aerial Assault is in the arena the ASSAULT STARTS NOW!!!!!”
