S2 Ep5 "Bouncers, Gangsters and Wrestlers" Keith Colwill Story Pt2

Pit Yakka: hello everyone. Welcome back to Pit, Yet A Crack. Another episode for you guys today. Today we've got Keith Colwell, aka Ruffneck, You ended up in Manchester. huh. After your sales job and then you couldn't do that and you're in it one of doors. Yeah, I want earth. Do you guys that turned into wrestling pro wrestling? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I was when I was a kid I always loved pro wrestling Always just love the big daddy giant a stacks Mark rollerball rock war johnny saint marty jones the you know, and then you then every now and again, you'd get some japanese guys coming over Like Fujiyamada who went, ended up becoming Jushin Liger. There were like prominent names in wrestling. Yeah, you would have people like Owen Hart over, Bret Hart's brother, know, the one who died. He'd come over, he wrestled with like some Marty Jones and that. Dave Finley. So I used to just adore it. That was just my thing when I was a kid. And obviously as you get older, know, took football, sport, my thing. But I always liked it. But it was probably a bit of a lull where I just wasn't watching it as much. And obviously you've come off TV, but I'd watch it on Sky every now and again. Yeah, so I'd watch it on Sky. I always kept an in somewhat of an interest in it. But like back then, being a wrestler, you had to know somebody in the business. wasn't somewhere you could go to wrestling school there was no wrestling school like none there was one hammer lock nwa hammer lock that was run by a guy called andre biga down way down in in kent but there was nowhere where you could go and when you when you did go if you didn't if you were fortunate to get a position what they used to do was the wrestlers would stretch you the the the chute on you they'd put legitimate holes on you and stretch you out And if you came back for more, they knew that you were game. 99 times out of 100. If you went there, you see you get maybe 1 % that would come back, come back, you know, so we've got 100 guys. One would come back because nobody wants to get stretched like that. Because that would protect the business. Yeah, because back then everybody thought wrestling. I wouldn't say if people thought it was fake. But obviously there was that air of doubt and we hadn't opened up the curtain to anybody, you know what I mean? Take like the Wizard of Oz where you open it and you find out, you know. But we hadn't done that bit yet. Everybody, that was protected, you know what I mean? Even when you talked, you talked in Carney. So it's called K-Fab. K-Fab is basically, if you see normal punters and you're talking about wrestling, or it was a good guy. standing there and a bad guy there who were on TV and there was normal partners who were KFAPE and then they would disperse you know what I mean? keep it KFAPE so that's what it means it means we protect the business basically basically what happened was the thought of being a pro wrestler was just you just you know like I said footballer at a push if you're good enough if you're exceptional you don't get asked to be a pro wrestler yeah you know and like so there was just no through roads anyway so just never had to be mine and I was in Canada and I was in really good shape at the time I've done a lot of training and stuff and I was was probably about eight ten percent body fast for look really good And I was about 16 and a half stone at the time as well. So I was massive. But I just trained in the gym and there was a Canadian national exhibition was in Toronto. And the guy went, I'm having a pint, you know, watching what there's a ring there and I was gonna be some boxers on the box and maybe grandad used to watch boxing all the time, you know, a bit of a historian when it comes to that stuff like you know, top of Ingmar Johansen. Roberto, Juran, Jack Johnson, Jack Dempsey go out and go back even that far. I mean, my granddad used to love it. I thought was boxing gonna be on next thing I know, there's these mask guys come out and jumping around. I was like, what the hell is this shit? I was expecting boxing. So anyway, they're doing the thing but there's a guy staring over at us. And I'm like, darn it, I'm nervous a little bit and you know. I just f**king don't know what the hell, what you looking at here? So I've got, have I got a pie on my head? I said what makes me that interested in that you have to stare at me that way and he went, oh well we're getting off on the wrong foot. I says that's all you've got two wrong feet mate. says what's the problem? I said because I'm nervous. went have you ever thought about being a poor wrestler? I went no. I said I haven't, I haven't. I says where are you coming from? You either gone down the pit, you work on the shipyards or you work out in the sand. I said so and no. I haven't thought of being a pro wrestler ever. This is just not doable. He you see that guy there? And it was, he had one big guy. And he says, I said, well, he's had an extra 70, 80,000 Canadian a year. I didn't know what 70,000 Canadian was. Well, I think bad money, you know what mean? And I went, well, there's my email address, right? This is when I just got an email, the Zoom account or something like that. And I went... They left me an email, I said, if you get back to us, you get back to us. If you don't, you don't. I said, I'm not going you live, so yeah. Sure enough, he says, would you like to train? And I went, no. The girl I was with at the time, her parents lived in Toronto. So what we did was, I went, I said, look, we're thinking about moving over here anyway, full time. So what we're going to do is we're going to find a help. I know what the weather's like in the summer. need to find out what it's like in the winter before we make a commitment or something like that like you know so we go there and we got in february winter february time and obviously it's freezing you know that the lake that we're on that we were skiing water skiing on is the same thing that we were snowmobiling on yeah you know in the winter and yeah so i went there february and i trained there for quite a bit was there for about three two three months as long as that left to the point where we what you call it we had uh your visa yeah and then i went right i said you know i really i was really committed to it uh but then i come back and i tore me acl again i tore the acl and pcl in me knee Some lifting heavy weights and then like and obviously when I with the benefit of hindsight I was a goalkeeper, you know, you you were diving around on concrete and hard floors There's just you know, the knees were gonna catch it. I mean, I need two knee replacements now Yeah, of course me knees a lot banged so I come back and The name that I had was switch. That's the name I was gonna gan with. And round about that time, the guy came up with his idea that I was like, gonna be like, it was when lock stock and two smoking barrels come out. Yeah, it was gonna be like a big Chris character where he wasn't a he wasn't a bad guy wasn't a good guy. He'd switch either side was a mercenary, he would take money from either or wouldnt make any difference to him. And that was the whole idea. I wasn't gonna be a bad guy. wasn't be a good guy. I'd be a tweener, what you call a tweener. And it was loosely based on on that get on that big Chris and I found out some bird took the name and I was like, hell am I gonna call me sell now and like we're trying to think the names and I was like, what what what Keith Keith what what have you done in the past? I went, Im not gonna go and call myself the hairy ass welder and come down with the welding screen on us. It's a big cliche isn't it? I went roughnecks and they went what? I said we used to get caught like the lads who were the actual drillers were called Roughnecks. offshore I said so Roughneck said rather than spell it R-O-U-G-H we'll spell it R-U-F-F-N-E-C-K just to make it a bit different. So I come up with that name and like I said the problem was my name was done so I spent nearly two years like rehabbing. because the the the the redo the surgery on me name is suspended about 18 month old coaches and I actually had a I was a co-partner of a wrestling shop so we used to have a wrestling shop in Manchester and we used to all like the all the tapes from Japan somebody couldn't get stuff yeah like a typical thing me yeah you'd come to us and we used to get their MMA stuff like mixed martial arts stuff we had stuff with UFC we're what we have you heard of ECW before it was a so you had WWF did back then yeah WCW and you had ECW ECW was a lot grimy it was a lot you know wrestling bingo halls for four or five hundred people yeah but the atmosphere was electric and it was the he was for extreme so they used to do stupid shit through tables fight flaming tables you name it right and we almost had a distribution deal with them but we just weren't big enough to to take it on you know what i mean yeah but yeah i had this wrestling shop and then uh so i was trying to get involved in it yeah there was a promotion in the uk called fwa which was a the biggest uk promotion i'd say part of all-star wrestling uh was the second biggest actually All-star wrestling has been going around for you remember when their world of sport was on yeah, that was all that was joint promotions are all star So they then were still around they were prominent they were like wrestling all over the country FW real was more like a AC do ACW version of that, you know, yeah, I basically I kept you kept yourself involved in it and then I started once we nearly held up, I wrestled for a company called GPW, which was a small, really small wrestling promotion. And then it just grew from there, really. And I probably should, I'm gonna lie. I wasn't, I'm not a great wrestler. I'm just not. know, I'm too big to do work like that technical style because I'm big, I'm bloody awkward. So it doesn't look as good as why would I do something that I was where somebody else can make a little better? Yeah, doesn't make sense, right? Let's say putting the center forward and the goalkeeper and tell them to change positions. You know what I mean? It doesn't make sense. Yeah. But I was believable. So when I walked down that ring, people were, fuck me, he's going to kill somebody. So I appealed to that sort of audience, you know, the believability was there where in a place where we're trying to suspend people's disbelief they believed yeah so when i walked down there i'm that's the one you know yeah and then i'd gone in there and i'd lay them out you know what i mean and i was stiff initially you know and i would lay it in and i did a lot of power moves and it was very the gimmick was i actually initially when i first come out i looked like riddick from Chronicles of Riddick, pitch black, all the eight goggles, all the black stuff. And then as time progressed, I did like tag team wrestling. I was in the tag team. Well, I was in a tag team there called Pain Ink. And actually my tag team partner was a dead ringer for The Undertaker. I used to call him The Underfaker. And then... What was he called, Sabotage, he was called. Yeah. And then... And then I ended up with another partner called Joey Hayes And then with Joey he was like Very different. I when I was tagging with sabotage. He was a he was a big unit. I was a big unit So we're like a like a like road warriors type deal, know with the like powerhouses You know what I mean? We just go in there and just hammer people but which was great, but it was quite one-dimensional. Yeah, and you know He thought that People should be making us look good and we werent making ourselves look good by just hammering people But it's quite one that it says one-dimensional And I so if it was ever a time whether we were having matches, I would be taking the heat Yeah So what what that means is is that I get the shit kicked out of us and then I make the hot tag to him he comes in cleans house and that was it and I was like Yeah, it's not really working for us, you know, so I ended up getting another tag team partner called Joey Hayes and there was a tag team called the Heart Foundation, which was like Bret Hart and Jim Knight Hart where you had power and speed. So we did we did that. So I was the power, he was the speed and the quality of the matches were really good. If you ever get the chance. this stuff on YouTube? Painink versus the Chavs. the call for Chavs and it's in one PW there's a straight fight on there it's in two parts and then there's another one it's a last team standing which basically means you've got to keep the two people down for the 10 count and that was the blow-off match and there's a spot in there actually where I took a crucifix bomb so I if you if you know I'm on the top rope I'm sat on the top rope yeah But it's to the outside. So I'm and I was supposed to be going through this table. It was a piece of balsa wood and I got through it. I read the only thing is I'm supposed to like protect myself and go through it on me back. Take a flat back bump. I went through it neck first and then my legs went on my head. So I was like for the rest of the match. And the match goes on another what 1012 minutes I was out. I was like out on my feet. Yeah. Bust open. I was, I was, that was a tough one. When we got backstage, I actually embodied when in the shock, I started convulsing and all sorts of things. Was that your first, was that the first time you'd suffered a sort of the severe concussion? Working for GPW, there's a tag team called the Hardy Boys and they do a thing called the Swant On Bomb. But what they did was, I was laying, like rather than laying on me, on me back, and then they come and dive over and then they roll over you. I was on me front, that's the way they put us over. And then when he done the dive, he might miss, well, it's nobody's fault. He misjudged it. We were all young and we didn't know we really doing at the time. And the heel of his foot went straight in the back of me neck. and like the back of my neck and the beginning of my skull and I was out calling I rolled under the ring I was out didn't know where I was rolled under the ring went under the thing and spewed all our you know that's when I knew I had a concussion and then rolled back out and continued continued the match yeah the thing is is like you've got to remember in pro wrestling the show must go on yeah you know it's not like mixed martial arts if you get knocked out You're knocked out. You're the winner. In this, we've still got, obviously it's a predetermined scenario. So you've got to go out there and pressure it, you know? Can I ask you a case? On that predetermined piece there, you used to watch wrestling and that. Yeah. is it to the point where it's almost like full choreography, where you know... what they're going to do. You've got to get into a certain position. They're going to do this and you're going to do that. Yeah. So effectively we'll know like, like now in WWE you've got producers, which is effectively guys who are their job is to structure the match and put things in place, you know? Yeah. Um, we know what the finish is. So we know what the finish is, but I've got to be honest with you. My memory's terrible. Yeah, you know, no, back in the day, back in the day, when it was towards the end of when this was going on, they will just call it in the ring. Right. So you would, know what the finish was, but everything else was pretty much everybody knows what the signature moves. Everybody's got their own little spots and stuff. So you'd incorporate them into the match, but you would do them at the pace of based on how the crowd were feeling. you know what I mean so was all judged on the on the response of the crowd so if the crowd are down they should wrestling should be effectively like a roller coaster you take the fans up you bring them down you take them up you bring them down to you you get them to that crescendo that fever pitch and then you go it's called taking it home that last couple of minutes is where you take them back up again so you finish on a high you know what I mean regardless of who the winner or the loser is and I was I just haven't got the after the amount of times I've been hitting the head. I was like, can't can't script it. Like they say, put this whole on, put that one just couldn't do it. So I try and bullet point things in my head. And that's effectively how I did it the best I could. So was that your full time job then being a pro? I was but I wasn't. I probably could have I probably If I hadn't if I'd have been injury free, yeah, I would I probably could have made it I probably would have probably could have got a bit further than what I did Yeah, probably would have wrestled a lot more matches than what I had And I probably could have earned a living from it. Yeah, I mean the only thing is the big the big guy was a guy called Bryan Dixon who owned All-Star and he was remember him ringing us and he went I've heard some good stuff about you and I'd love for you to come and wrestle for me I said oh that would be great and he says can you work like can you work do you want to be busy and I was like oh I'd love to be busy that'd be would be great he went right well I've got a show for you in Hanley on Saturday I can't do that date he went why I says that's the day I'm getting married he went can't change it No, no, it's like a 26 grand wedding so no we can't and you never got back after that believe me But like I says I had a lot of injuries the issues with concussions There was a time where I got told I would never be able to wrestle again Because because of it uh i had like i said i had a tia in 2005 which is like a mini stroke and i was like well how long is it going to take for you to make some semblance of a recovery and they like you shouldn't be even thinking about that at all yeah uh like oh well i am thinking about that and they were like realistically speaking it's going to be about 18 months for you to think me so i was like yeah I'll just put in double the amount of Physio and whatever it took to think I just don't like being told what to do. Yeah, you know if someone turns around says he can't do this I'll say well, we'll see about that, you know, We'll go back to the rest of the separate the concussion thing. Okay There's a lot now isn't there like Alan Shearer heads up a lot of it doesn't he like the concussion in sports stuff in football It's it's a massive thing now, isn't it? There's new concussion protocols in football and all that. Yeah, do you think and Well, first question is that now in wrestling as well? And then the second question is, do you think it would have helped you a hell of a lot if there was those protocols in place? Yeah, I mean, the thing is, the thing is, is there was a guy who actually was a wrestler called very intelligent guy called Krishna Winsky. And he ended up with a concussion. But I think it was clued up medically beforehand, you know, before he got involved in wrestling. And he had to retire as a result of this injury. And he held up this thing. with regards to CTE. So he's the guy who's been helping the NFL players with CTE. He's been helping pro wrestlers with it. The protocols that they've got involved now are a lot more stringent. They're not in independent wrestling. Right. They're not there at all. Independent wrestling is independent wrestling. There's no there's no governing body or anything like that. you know, unfortunately. wrestling business I would use the word business in as loose as form possible because of the kind of people who would jump over tenets to get the coins. Do you know what I mean? They don't think like from a... It's a very selfish business. It's a very political business. I know it sounds crazy. because ultimately it's grown men and they'll fit in spandex pretending to hit each other. You let's not lose sight of it. It doesn't mean that's not entertaining. But there's sometimes the amount of bullshit and politics and stupidity that you've got to get just to get that 10 minutes. You know, in a piece people's egos. I don't want to do that. That'll make us look bad. Right? How bad can it get? Yeah, you're pretending to hit me. Yeah. I think you know I think you're gonna be okay yeah do you know what I mean it's and then you've got to deal with so much of the backstage stuff and yeah peas and people because I've done booken as well which is basically effectively structuring the whole show and again like a whole wrestling show should be full of ups ups and downs yeah you know and it should be to the point of where when you get to the main event fans are at fever pitch You know what mean? They can't wait to see that match. But some of these guys will go into business with themselves and try and make themselves look like a million dollars. So by the time you get to that, that main event, them fans are burnt out. Do you know what I mean? So it should be like a team sport, but nobody thinks like that. know what mean? Nobody's got that mentality. going back to that, Nowinski is a very prominent guy with regards to head injuries, concussions. he you know Chris Benoit the wrestler who killed his wife and yes well I say for instance when they opened up his brain opened up his head and found his brain was that of a 90 year old man with dementia you know so across the blots across the repetitive blows yeah Chris Benoit I didn't know how to take a day off as in he would wrestle you know like in pro wrestling you got raw you got smackdown and then you got your pay up reviews But then in between you've got house rules, which are non televised events, but he would wrestle that same aggressive style all the way through. So you think he's one of his finishes was a dive and headbutt. Yeah. And he's doing that dive and headbutt X amount of times over the over the year. Let's say does it like back in the back then they were on a tough road schedule. And I know 280, 290 times in a year doing that move. Instead of doing that house shows, doing something else, he would just be like 100 miles an hour all the time. So just caught up with him. You know that there, because I never really watched it. I know, I've seen it and I don't really understand it. So when you say someone's going to pretend to you, or you're going to pretend to hit someone. Yeah. And you've got to make it look realistic, as realistic as you can. Are you actually, are you making contact but in a lesser? Yeah, but I mean, some, you're really good, you can do it without hitting anyone. Right. If you're not, there's guys, if you're late in, there's going to be some connectivity. Yeah. Ultimately it hurts. Yeah. You know, I don't care what anybody says. Everybody thinks that these rings are part of the knot. You know, there's no but not much given way If I pulled up the ring apron and you saw there's about that much pattern and the rest wooden boards Yeah, underneath that wooden boards is a metal structure to hold it in place. There's there's there's very little give if you don't hit certain rings If you don't hit that sweet spot in the middle It's gonna really hurt. mean, it's gonna hurt anyway When people see all you learn how to fall well, yeah, we do learn how to fall But all that does is minimize the amount of pain that you're gonna enjoy you still gonna endure it. Yeah, know So I mean I've been injured more times from pro wrestling than what I've been from fighting people Yeah, you know, I mean we do we like I says there is gimmicks, you know, how we Get color and stuff like that like how we bleed and that we You know if you you you whacked us our the head with that if you whacked me over the head with that There's no guarantee. I'm gonna bleed is that no so what I will do is backstage. I'll have a I'll have a shot of Jack Daniels I'll have an aspirin thin me blood When you so like typically youll whack us our the head I'll hit the floor right all eyes are on you because you thingy I'll have a little underneath here Ill have a little sliver of razor blade and I'll just give over man run it over my head. I mean most of these here not They're not what you call laughter lines. They're from gigging from getting color. So then like I mean getting color. Crazy that Yeah. Yeah. I didn't know I definitely didn't know that. did you No didn't you No Ah right Bloody hell. So like there's been there's been I mean one time I remember I remember getting put down and I had the blade and it's only like You get a razor blade and you just cut it and then you cut it again. and then you put some tape around it. So its safe back in the day guys used to put it under the lip or in the mouth and then but like I always fastened it there on on to me on to me belt. So I'm down on the floor. It probably probably got the ring apron on the floor and I've got to grab it and I'll so the fans don't see it and I'll and I'll gig it and then but they were trying to help me up. So I've got the gig. I've got the little gimmick here. And I've got my arm like that and someone pulls me up by me arm straight across my head. I went straight across from one end to the other, went east to west. It's like Route 66 on my head. honest, the blood just... And because I took the aspirin, because of the things you put on, then the shot of Jack Daniels, things and more. Just, just... Did you stay on board with all that then? Did you just carry on or...? I just carried on. What are you supposed to do? Mean it's effect. It's for effect. Yeah, no, mean ultimately if you it right you stick it in twist and then pull It's just like a razor blade cut, you know, if you raise a blade cut you'll be a cook. It's profuse but it'll doesn't leave any yeah, and damage but like it says if you Get it wrong a couple of times. Yeah. Yeah, I mean I've got a scar here. I Don't know if you can see it but that's it's right across his nose yeah I was wrestling and the guy was supposed to come over with a baseball bat and with the baseball but had barbed wire wrapped around it and it's real barbed wire right and what he was supposed to do was he was supposed to smack it and it hit the top turn but the bullet would like stay there do you anything I knew Well, rather than coming like from like 12 to six, you're coming from an angle. Right. And it got up into my arm. And then when he pulled it, it just ripped me arm and there was just me arm was just open. You could see the muscle and everything. And again, you got to just carry on, you know, and then in the end, I didn't have time to go to the hospital. So just super glued it. That's next level like, yeah. That's a bit daft like and then like you're doing it and it's You're not getting paid an awful lot of money. That's what gonna say. Like that kind of stuff you would want to like I mean, I've been I've been fortunate in I've been I think I said in my my career hasn't been as Extraordinary as what it possibly could have been I wasn't in a position where I could put as much time in it or dedicate as much time as it than what I would have liked to have, you know, family commitments, knee injuries, shoulder, have I both my shoulders done? I mean, right knee reconstructed, my left one twice, concussions, you know, and all of these things prevent you from keeping any level of consistency. And I do genuinely feel if I had more, if I had been more injury free, would have maybe gone. A little bit further than what I did. Yeah, but it just wasn't meant to be. Yeah, but at the same time I've been really fortunate, you I've Shared the ring with Mick Foley before I shared the ring with like a cactus Jack mankind I actually stopped at my house fully did right? You know raving there's Sandman for me. See do you as there's so many people I've I've met so many people as well. Yeah, like Rick Flair, Hogan, know, yeah Had I used to I used to go out on the piss with the WWE ring crew and stuff like that, you know what I mean? When they were in Manchester, I had a name. Yeah In Manchester. Yeah, I used to be able to get them into clubs and bars and stuff like that, you know But yeah, that's brilliant stuff. Can I ask you if when you were a young lad and used to watch it, used to love the wrestling and all that. There's a lot of the time the reality never lives up to the hype, it? Was it everything you expected it be? yeah. It's the biggest bulls in the world. If you're a footballer, like say you play football and you play at a really high level. What's the best the best thing I grab my ears like playing in a Like see it's a stadium a light in front of a packed house. Yeah. Yeah Pro wrestling is exactly the same. Yeah, I'm Trying to chase that high And I never will yeah, and I think that's played a part of me Me mental health, you know, because it's it's a funny thing It doesn't matter if there's a hundred people Doesn't matter if it's a thousand ten thousand people right? It's a full house is a full house. Yeah, right and I've worked in front of all of them. I've been fortunate to well work in front of like I wrestled a carol road Six thousand people, you know gran gran halt was on the wrestling on the show So I've been you know, I've wrestled and wrestled some really big shows And it's there. It's it's the pose. It's a feeling. There's nothing like it. Yeah. You know, I mean, I'm you have done stuff in the past drugs and stuff and booze and all that stuff. There's nothing like that. There's remotely close to going out front of a of a packed house. And I don't know whether it's a control thing or what, but it's like for that split second when you walk, when you them curtains open. Yeah. All eyes are on you. Yeah, do you know what I mean? Like, it's not a better feeling than the world, you know, was anyone who you wrestled or you knew or in the vicinity of where you were in British wrestling, that got the big break and went, yeah, no, it's loads of people. I've wrestled with guys in WWE now who have wrestled, right? Who are who have gone on that where the big books is? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, you say with your injuries that might have been the next little bit of possibly but like You don't I mean the thing the thing is is that you're factoring in fact doing injuries you factor in Real life, you know what I mean? Yeah You're fucking in my age. I was kind of old for getting it. Yeah realist So the best one come after the Manchester doors and stuff in between was it in between? Yeah But it was it was Yeah, it was definitely in between but Yeah, you just you just never know I mean there was this there was aspects in my game that I knew I was exceptional at there was aspects of it that I wasn't so great at so all I would do is Hide the beauty of wrestling you can hide your weaknesses and showcase your strengths. That's how it should be Yeah, you know and even still there was still Point I mean the reason why I retired force because I just knew I wasn't moving like I used to you know I mean I was hitting moves That I used to do exceptionally well, so I didn't run a lot of plays, know what I mean? I had a a I Want to say I was limited because there was stuff I could do I just didn't do because those people were doing better And then I'd do the things that I do best, you know what mean? But then I saw how I was moving and I wasn't doing them as good as other people. So like, and I was like, if my like, say I did a sphere, my sphere looked like towards the end, like I was doing it in slow motion. Do you know what I mean? Like I was just like a yard off the pace. Yeah. And then I was watching younger guys doing, I was like, And I was like. no it's not it's time to cash in your chips and i would never get a go back yeah i like the thing is the thing that hurts the most with pro wrestling is that when people think pro wrestling but for the average punter it's fake it's it's it's a joke it's you know you know it is what it is you know different than fucking clowns on the surface You know, and all the time I wrestled, I never had one family member come and watch us wrestle, right? Not once. I even deliberately had shows up in North East so they could come and watch, and they didn't. And my very last match, my mum actually travelled down to Norwich to watch me wrestle my retirement match. And I couldn't think of a better finish. than to do that. So why would I try and... I'm not going to eclipse that for me. So that's why I went... I mean I'd love to be involved in some capacity. I mean even in a non-wrestling capacity. You know I used to be able to talk. used to have the gab because I... you know the one line is that you should have people in tears from working on doors. You know like pissing people off. You know, I worked wonders when I was working on Dawes. The other thing is well, other thing is about pro wrestling as well. It's evolved so much. I was very, very much storytelling based. like to, there had to be a rhyme and a reason. If I was going to hit you with that guitar, why am I hitting you with it? There's got to be a rhyme. People are doing stuff for the sake of doing stuff now. It's become a lot faster. and there's a lot of like people that like stuff that used to like what classes finishes back in the day and now one counts or two counts you're like near falls as opposed to being a finisher and it's because the sport the sport the game of wrestling is forever evolving and it's becoming a hell of a lot more athletic yeah some of the things that people can do now is just absolutely phenomenal yeah there's not you're doing any if you call wrestlers just wrestlers you You're doing them a disservice now. Like gymnastics aren't they? Unbelievable. And it's just something I could never do. Punch in the face. Punch in the face, we'll close line the shit out of you. So you're only 50. Maybe you're 51 now. 51, yeah 51. So I've got a few weeks left in just being 50. So you're looking now to just get back into a job on Civic Street aren't you? Maybe back in 2012 or something like that. Something like that. I think you're always gonna. and you mentioned sort of mental health there and we talk to footballers with the same thing here. Do think you're always gonna now miss that high? Not even the wrestling but the doors as well, know, it's an adrenaline rush. Yeah it is. I mean, when I was working on doors, when I was saying that's doors that I used to work in, Berlin, I would be... That wasn't a good feeling because I would be physically sick before I'd go on the door because I knew I didn't know how bad it was gonna be. And I'm stupid as it sounds. wasn't the kind of person who would wear a staff-proof vest. Just wouldn't, you know? Which is ironic really because I've been shipped twice. yeah, I just wouldn't wear one. But I would be physically sick because you you get shot a few times. you should do, but I wouldn't. And then, but like the wrestling, I think the thing with wrestling is that you say if you get that almighty high. And this, there's thousands of people, hundreds of people, thousands of people chanting your name, either booing you or cheering you on. And you've got that buzz of work and that code and you're doing all you can to entertain them. And you go out there and you're giving it your all and for that 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes or whatever, you're You're in the moment. You know what I mean? All eyes are on pop stars. Yeah. Yeah, all eyes are on you, right? And then you go back and you're still on a high because you know that you've done your job. Yeah, you know what I mean? And you're happy with nine times out of 10. You'll be happy with how it's gone. And then you go home. And then you sat there and there's nobody there at all. You what I mean? And you crash and then I'm I'm I'm unfortunately I'm a person of extremes. Do you know what I mean? I'm a bipolar. Yeah, but I I and they were the highest of the highs, but I struggle with the lowest of the lows and then to go from from there's no there's no steady decline. There's no there's no there's none of that. It's just there there. Yeah, you know what I mean? So you've gone from See, you wrestle a thousand people, there's 2,000 eyes looking at you. And then you go into an empty hotel room or empty bed. kills you. And then you'll be impressed for x amount of days until you get your fixed. You're always chasing. It's like tech drill. There's what you call it, and it's old. It must be nearly 30 years old. And it's about it's the desire promo that was done by Creed called my sacrifice the song my sacrifice. And there's one with Stone Cold Steve Austin on there. And he says you might as well be a junkie because you hooked on it. And you and you are literally hooked on going up getting up there and doing your thing for that crowd. And like it says, and there's another part of it where he says, you know, all the injuries, bumps, cuts, bruises. I'd like give nothing none of them back here. Yeah, that's they were worth everyone enough and I feel exactly the same way. Yeah, you know It's a Yeah, it's it's it's it but it's cruel as well. You know, that's a criminal business. Yeah, but I would never change anything. Yes. No Yeah, brilliant stuff. So what I do know Is that you and I said at the beginning there you you you did the doors you did the wrestling you were still sort of back to the doors at times. But you also ended up getting involved in movies. Yeah, so I did. The family I was with was the Knight family and they've got a daughter, the big wrestling promotion and one of the biggest ones in the UK, being around for nearly 30 years. The Knight family are pretty, you either love them you hate them. But they're very prominent in pro wrestling. And they've got a daughter called Serea. It was Paige in WWE. And The Rock was filming over here. He was filming one of the Fast and Furious movies. And there was a documentary about the family called Fighting with My Family. And it was basically showing you them Page or Saraya and Zach getting in getting trialed to the WWE. I So anyway, Page actually, Saraya actually got into WWE and Zach didn't. And thing we saw, The Rock saw it and they went, I'm going to make a movie out of this. So we got back to them, got back and then got Stephen Merchant involved and they They made a they caught with the idea of making them movie wasn't it? yeah and So anyway, asked Stephen Merchant actually come I think Steve Merchant and Ricky G. Bass and his brother come to watch us wrestle But we knew that we're auditioning as well. So they did auditions for us for extras in the in the movie and They said so I did me audition I did like a one minute promo like backstage and then I actually went and wrestled. So I'm wrestling and I normally walk, I normally go stage left. It's actually stage right but if I'm walking down it's stage left and then you go stage right. And I saw them, like all them guys on that corner and I was wrestling as a heel at the time, a heel is a bad guy. I blue eyes which are good guys and got heels that are bad guys All heels and faces, you know, so i've done stage right now and at this point my gimmick's loosely based on Mickey roc in sin city Have you seen the movie since yeah, yeah, yeah, so anyway, I'd put all the plasters on me face and all that and put on me I So I looked I quite menacing, I guess. Long trench coat. So I see him. And I went there. I go passing, and I look like I'm looking straight ahead. I don't, like as if I'm ignorant. He's the fucking bastard, and he fucking jumped up. I'm fucking pelleted. He was like, you know how you're like a Danny Longlegs? He's like six foot seven. He was like a pond skater. He fucking flew. And I was like, yeah, it's gotten by the bollocks there, isn't it? And I'm walking back and I'm walking around, I get in the ring, have my match, do my match and then walk back. But I'm thinking to myself when I'm wrestling, don't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing, with the benefit of hindsight I've either done a really good job or I've fucked it. So anyway, got showered and changed and backstage and he got in there. He kicked, that was amazing. He was fantastic. We'd like to offer you the part in the movie. I went, great, that's amazing that. He went, it's gonna be a ladder match. He says, have you ever done a ladder match before? And he went, you take the piss? He went, do you know the, call me king of the ladder match? And he went, do that? I went, no, I've never done one in my entire life, but I'll give it a gun. And he went, awesome, awesome. And then he saw me arm. And I don't know whether you can see but from here. all the way at the back. It's all Wolverine. Right. Yeah. And he went, he went, fucking hell all your arms Wolverine. I went, I noticed. And he says, he said, so he gets his camera like on his phone. And he's, I think I'm on first name basis with him now. calling him marra Hey, what is like, he's, he's talking Yeah. And I went, you talking to me is he talking to me. He went, dfg give him the phone back no, no, I'm talking to Hugh I went fuck off. He went, no, no, and he went, he passed us the phone and there's Hugh Jackman on FaceTime. And he went, he went, your tattoos are amazing mate they're they're amazing. I went. I've been I've been this far away from Muhammad Ali because I was that Ricky Hatton's gym when he come and visited him I've dealt with Like celebrities footballers, bye, and gave hime the phone back, the funny thing is I never got starstruck. just you know, yeah, but this was this guy's tattooed on me. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, and I was like bye and just gave him a phone back I didn't know what to do with myself. But anywhere that went down there and in the movie I mean we we we spent about three days choreographing this whole thing and the reason why is because they'll take you'll see like if you saw like Nick Frost about to slam someone or get slammed you'll get you'll see them get picked up or about to get picked up could doubles come in like they leave nothing to chance right so like the and then you've got to remember the fans that are there are not wrestling fans the extras yeah you don't know whether they like wrestling or not they're getting paid to pretend that they do like it right but you could tell they were getting bored and restless because they'd seen nothing with any level of continuity right so we went there Which is, we did this whole, me and another guy choreographed this whole scene and it went for about two minutes, right? In the actual movie itself, it's used for about 10 seconds. But it was the only point in that day where these extras saw any sort of continuity. anyway, there's... we got out there as we're going out there you can hear them laughing like laughing because all some of them are like really flamboyantly dressed and you can even take them to piss and stuff and then we did our thing for two about a minute or two and they actually became wrestling fans they were like so this is how they hell this is amazing this to the point of where by the time we've done they were asking us for autographs and stuff like that you know but we did that and then so I ended up getting a fight choreography credit as a result of that and then the agency that was used in that movie always kept in contact with us so basically I was effectively gonna be a heavy in anything that they offered you know I was gonna be the big daft mug who got the shit kicked out of him Don't think Robert De Niro was fucking shitting himself on the house around, you know what mean? Brad Pitt thought I'm safe here. And I thought like, that's effectively what would happen. And I ended up working on Expendables 4. Right. And on which was Stallone and and and Statham Yeah. And I was on that set for about 12 days. And that was pretty surreal. Wow, and and the funny thing is I actually spent about I Would say about an hour with Stallone just shooting the shit with him did you yeah? Yeah, it was I would have done that film for nothing. I would have had I got I got paid pretty good all things considered Just for 12 days work mm-hmm, but it was like I would have done it for nothing. Yeah, and this guy was Rocky yeah, it was like a superhero You know what mean? And I didn't even engage in the conversation. He actually spoke to us. He was like sat behind wer because it was a scene in these strip club, strip club scene at beginning of the movie. Eddie Hall's in it as well. Right. And are you actually in the film at the beginning? Well, funnily enough, I thought, This is the thing about film. And I learned this from doing a fight with my family. Yeah, for sequence that two minute sequence Does this there's two bits of it when you see me in it, but say 10 seconds tops. Yeah They had that many they had that many genuine stuntmen in there Because at some point we thought because we've got the credit from them We might get in and throw some shots but like that that they have like two units and those units where you were got you were in Featured in stuff and then those stuff like they and they film it from different angles and stuff So in the end, I don't think I've never seen it, but I don't believe anybody's the people who have seen it says well We didn't see as well. I guess I'm on him. Yeah, you know Yeah, that's what I I the cutting room floor I might be in the the what you call is the the extras or something like that on the DVD I mean, I was in what you call it as well. They I got interviewed for And in the DVD extras in fight with my family and it brings up my name and what I've gone and so on and so forth but But yeah, was still on I was like because we got talking about pro wrestling And he made a film called Paradise Ali and about it's about pro wrestling and I had a guy called Terry Funk in it and I'm I knew of Terry Funk in Was a show called FW where I spent a few minutes with him, but he was in Terry was in Over the top he's in Roadhouse he's one of the heavies in Roadhouse and he choreographed the fight scene in Rocky five, you know that the street fight. Yeah So he's you know, he's he was pretty tight with With Stallone. Yeah, and then we were talking about that and then we were talking about Hogan obviously from Rocky 3 Yeah, and then he was talking about his love of pro wrestling and stuff And then I says to him I says err I said can I ask you a question? He went yeah yeah says well, you know the only credit I've got here is from doing fighting with my family And I said it's pro wrestling So that's my element. That's my thing. That's what I do So I know how to throw a punch in pro wrestling, like a gimmick punch, but I don't know how to do it in the movies. And he went, and then I was like, he went, I show it. And then we spent about a couple of minutes where he was showing me how to throw a punch and stuff. know? That's fantastic. And it was like surreal. It was properly surreal. Cause you're not supposed to speak to them or you're told, you know, keep your distance. I mean I couldn't get any photos. I mean I took a few photos on the sly, I'll show you them on set but yeah you know you're not supposed to. But I didn't engage, he engaged me first, you know what I mean? Good guy though Keith, was he? Awesome. You know when they say never meet your heroes, the only disappointing thing was the Polar Officer. He kind of implied back in the interviews that I've seen since that. He was a bit of an asshole back in the day when he was younger and had the ego so but everything like when you saw him I if I Was facing this way and he was in that corner, but I know he was there. I'd know he was there He's got he's got that presence about him. He when he when he walked it was cool when he sat down It was cute. He picked up his mobile phone. It was cool. He grabbed a cigar. It was cool. You know what mean? Yeah, it was like I've got nothing to prove No more type deal, you know what mean? And he was genuinely was just a really really nice awesome guy. I was like I'm a lot with surreal. I did see it I'm gonna I'm gonna tell you I'm a bit I'm obviously a bit of a fanboy as is there I went to see Rocky for 10 consecutive weekends when it first came out of the cinema. I said the people at the ABC cinema knew I was on first name So any others Didn't you do have a photograph with me a coon or something? no that picture was with that's Lena Headey Lena Headey. She's actually in fight with my family. Right. Yeah. But she was cool as well. Thrones. Yeah. Princess Cersei and Game of Thrones. And she was cool as fuck as well. Probably cool. I think she was born in Bermuda. But she actually lived in Yorkshire, she was born and raised in Yorkshire. So she's just fucking normal lass, you know what mean? And at the time, I was gonna go to... I was moving to America and we weren't sure if it was gonna be LA or Vegas or... And in the end we chose Vegas because it was a lot cheaper. and she and she's a good contributing factor to that because she was telling us how expensive LA was right and she was like you know I've just sold me I've just sold me a part now for like 10 million dollars I was like nice yeah you should let me know I might have come on yeah honestly yeah you should have said I'd give you 10 more yeah so I'll say what you call it like I went on doors in Manchester the amount of people that were come across like Christopher Eccleston used to be on first name basis with him I used to work at a place called Barca and on the the Keys Castlefields man yeah and he cried, I can't yeah fine and you get other guys like what do you call you come in they're and he can't flint off Andrew Flint's name oh yeah and he's a neapod as well you must have met Wes Brown before then have Wes Brown yeah good friend of mine was really yeah I lived at Lillishaw with him for two years. Oh did you? And then went to Man U with him didn't I? Yeah, yeah. And then I worked at Sunderland as a coach and he was a player there so we kind of reconnected. He gets his tickets for the United game. Oh does he? Nice lad, mean don't know what your studio name Oh just, I mean he was always fine and he's from, I think he's from Moston. he knew a lot of lads that I knew as well. Right, yeah. Well, so I mean the place I used to work I used to work at a place called boss and it used to be co-owned by mchuck no, right? Oh, yeah, and I remember one time and like it says I just I treat everyone the same unless you're Hugh Jackman, obviously I remember him coming up and he's range over one of the He's not a very pleasant person. I don't have he's changed or not But I remember like you'd have his aftershock parties at bar sir, and I remember him setting up a table there was specifically a table for him crew champagne the the works on this table and he deliberately sat on another table when we me stuff up do know what i mean just you know yeah that level of celebrity and yeah but i remember one time i just started on i just started was sort of was a summer's day and he come in his ranger over and he pulled down like you know like the ranger we've got the the the back end and then he falls back down all of a He went, I want X amount of steaks, want X amount of bottles of champagne. He was having a barbecue. I want X amount of bottles of Budweiser. I want X amount of sausage. I I went, you best go and get it. Then he went, you what? I want to do them fucking fat ass thai some good man. I said get yourself up there and get it. I said I'm not getting this. This is not in my job description. I said I'm a doorman. He went, you what? I said I'm a bina mate. I said if you wanted. can get it. Yeah, I'll get one of the like yesterday. It says if you want to repeat that student same stuff to them. Do it. Yeah. Yeah. And he was like, Hey, we've had run ins with she was a miserable old buster. Hold on. He went to run Jones. She's a nasty piece of work. Is she? All right. She what you call it. She We used to do did that Coronation Street Christmas party at life cafe and They used to be a place caught like down the stairs called the lounge and a The what you call it that's where they rented everything and and she come Like flying up the stairs and she pushed the doors to because it was like screaming hollering down the floor And she pushed in the door, like hit me and hit us in the head. You know, when you got a handle that comes off the door, like one of us longhandled and hit us in the head. Yeah, busted you. And then, and I hit the other doorman as well, like hit him in the shoulder. And she's screaming, hollering. And she went, she goes, get me a fucking taxi. I get you a taxi. I said, I don't do taxis. said, do I look like a taxi rank? said, no. I said, just up the road up there. Give me a fucking taxi now. She went, I'm coming back in. went, no, you're not. She went, went, why is that one? You're bad. She went, why am I bad for? said, your attitude's terrible, man. I said, stinks. I said, said, said, half-naked. I said, is she bad? He went, yep, she's bad. I went, there you go, as you said. And she went, you'll never see me at one of these Christmas parties, Henry, again. I all right. Then she just stormed off. Yeah, like I was going to make a difference in your life. And I say what you call it, the guy who played Ashley. He's sound. actually was a Yorkshire lad. Yeah, he was sounded like a really nice kid. Most of them were. We met. Tyrone he plays Tyrone. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it may know Charlie met him at Old Trafford He was in one of the ways go some these tickets in it and I'll tell you what he was he was good at goal He came over there. We had I was telling him Charlie says he plays Tyrone in Coronation Street and he came over and he sat down a bit I'd a bit of crap. I didn't go to go. I think most most people are just people Yeah, like I was saying the other day I'm pumping John McLaughlin is the Middlesbrough keep yeah, and And it was his dog. He's not came over me I was talking about Labradors and I had had Labradors and all that and he stood for about 20 minutes just shooting the breeze, you know what I mean? I knew I said, you're John McCluck right? I yeah, yeah, said, look, Sonny, nice to meet you. And he didn't go, oh, here we go. And trying to get away, he said, what do think of the barrage? And we just, it was just a really normal conversation and he stayed there for a while just outside the house for about 20 minutes and then, see you later, mate. I thought, whatever. What a nice bloke you know what mean? think Well, I've got a request for you. Whether you want to talk about it or not. You had a story about Callum Best. Oh, why I? Can you tell Yeah, why I? No bother. So, it's in the public domain. You know, it's in the papers. I mean, was in page four of the Sun, page seven of the Star. You can just see full again. So basically Chris had a fight. Chris Baker had a fight and he'd won his fight and all the lads were out, was about, I don't know, 30-40 doormen out, know, there was enough sun there and we all went in town and we were all on a decent swally like, you know, but there's nobody in misbehaving at this point yet, that could never be guaranteed, know, you've got 40-odd doormen walking around and then... We went to a called the court or lounge or the court or rooms. So we're under the bridge. I think one of those under the bridge jobs in Danesgate, other end of Danesgate. And we all gone in there and all having a drink. And there's this velvet roped area, which is clearly the VIP section. and like me mate has got his legs on the back of the so he's like the ropes in so it's on the back of his so so he's gently like inside of that area Calum best Kim pushes him because he's on the other side the ropes He's not the right wasn't the right person to punish they push because there was like let's say hot nicks brothers and there's a about two or three brothers there right and you know the game on you know and Next thing you know, that's gone fucking banners. Okay again another ball of dust fucking punch kick thing and I'm trying I'm genuinely trying to break stuff up and the Dorman come in they get us out right so we get out and we're sitting at the Dorman went yeah you know you're throwing us out how about you throw them bastards out this is because next week if it kicks off down here Callum Best not gonna come to save you I said but you'll be on the fucking radio asking us to come and save you I went, so you want to think on? And then one of them went, no, we're rushing the door. I went, what? And then we're like, once one says, we're rushing the door, we're rushing the door. And there was only like fucking three or four of them. You know, we left on our own accord. We could have kicked up a force at that point, but we didn't. But then he went, no, we're rushing the door. We're going to come back and fill them in. went, all right then. So we fucking rushed the door. just pushed the door and out the way went back in there and fucking started going back at it again you've got that little bitch who had that dog wellard what do call him on the extenders dane gaffney yeah screaming like a little girl on on top of a sofa with his arms over knees and knees like that you've got you've got fucking these other celebrities carrying on there's fucking everyone's fucking having a go at calum best it's like got worse than what it was the first time and then i see this guy running at me and I was like don't don't I'm like don't you know I'm telling him not and he ran and he ran and he come at me I'm gonna have to hit you so BANG! and he's all you see the picture on the paper and he's got his hand over his mouth because I've knocked his teeth out of his mouth and there's blood all over the shop and I saw the teeth so I grabbed the teeth and went yeah I'll make them a yoke You know, you'd not be traced out. I I'll knock the fuck and rest out if you don't fuck off and And then we all have the legal here the sirens gone obviously, but the the thing was the following day it was We didn't even know she was now we caught you. No, Judy Marsh She was there and the story that they because and it twisted the narrative because they actually had the photographers there was that one of us had grabbed her and accosted her. didn't even know she was there. It was genuinely a case of the whole velvet rope thing and then put pull but they changed the whole narrative to fit them because we're and we're grunts basically. Didn't it say, didn't you hear you telling me it said something like Calum best saved save the day We saved the day No, but he was like he was like, you know, I mean Calum best for the greatest irrespect. He couldn't knock out the one could he? I mean, I I had a we saw him about six six month later And he was by himself and he was in Circle club in Manchester, which used to be a really prominent one. Yeah, I all everybody wanted to be so what he was in there and he was in there and uh He went yeah, yeah He says you don't remember us then he went no, he says I will I eat you out a few fucking months ago He went uh, can I have a picture? So we're getting close to the end now I think I'm gonna ask you for some advice okay for various people so What advice would you give to any young? People right now want to get into the wrestling game Don't have anybody tell you that it's not possible because all I had when I was young was my omit my My options were ridiculously limited to either I was they I had it so I was channeled to do a specific type of thing that I got to all I wasn't clever so That automatically makes you doesn't make you feel great and You're told what you you're gonna do as opposed to what what you want to do and I would just say if you want to if you want to do something just do it yeah there's a lot of wrestling schools out there don't let and if there's any naysayers out there just just just get rid of them because ultimately life's about spending quality time with quality people and if they don't fit that criteria then why would you have them in your life for yeah yeah you know just just just have rid you know and if you if you if and there's what I would say about pro wrestling is this there's this You might not end up being the best pro wrestler in the world through whatever. You might have a disability, but there's, or whatever, you know, but there's always a space for someone in pro wrestling. It might be backstage. It might be you're writing. It might, it you might be a producer. You could be a booker. You could be, I don't know. You might not be, like if you're a female, you could be a ring girl. You could be, there's a valier. You could, there's so many different avenues. You could be a cameraman. There's there's so many different in it, but if it's something that you love Just just do it. Yeah, you know don't have anybody tell you that you can't do it's basically what I would say. Perfect advice Advice for anyone looking to get into the door game. Don't don't know don't it's a thankless task. You know like you can You know, I've only like scrape the surface I'm raising my I've only scraped the service because it's only so much I can tell you. Yeah, it's obvious reasons, but like For instance, I've had instances where I've let girls in For free right and then as a guy there was a cost of the girl. Well be the cycles. He's too drunk Right, or he's hit her or you they don't they haven't seen that and this is happening done what I had to do to get him out right throw them out why do you do that to him for you know it's like yeah you can't do right for doing wrongs and it is a thankless task and the other thing is is that from a financial standpoint Money's not there no more. I I was the money that I was there's people who were not even learning the money that I was when I was doing it Yeah, but that being said and I'm not I'm not the kind of blow sunshine at me on ass I was good. So I got paid for what I was worth. Yeah, so but at the same time There's people people still working on doors for like 10 12 quid and I'm like you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, so And if you want to be a have a go at it. Well, the thing is, think that the whole industry's changed. The whole environment of doorworks changed anyway since since the last time I've done it. Yeah, it was. I think things were. A lot worse back then than what they are now, you know, so I I was in the police for seven years in God 20 years ago. This was yeah. And obviously we had relationships with the people around the doors in Washington, Chesley Street, etc. who were like, you know, they're not good people. They'll do bad things to people because these people won the dormant. And in this, so this is 20 years ago. The guy around the doors where I was working said he didn't like where the industry was going because what you had at that time, you had wolves looking after the sheep. And he said because the SIE thing coming in and everything. He said you're gonna end up with sheep after sheep. Yeah, it was his his analogy. That's what I think. I genuinely when you think I'll tell him I would be if I come back on the doors now, I'd be very hesitant to do it just on the basis that I don't think you're going to give me the level of protection I'll give to you. Yeah, that's that's the reality of it. You don't like it says I say some of the lights on the doors now. the you know, there's the even about a scrap. Yeah, you never know. You've got your ticket. But yeah, you might as well go to kindergarten. Yeah, do you know what I mean? I mean, anybody can get one. I mean, to be honest with you, before that in Manchester, they used to have Dorsey, right? And you knew who the good doorman were and you and you knew who the bad doorman were, because the bad doorman, their numbers will be higher. The the ones that were being in the trenches, you know, I mean, yes, I mean my first one was one nine seven four Which was my I think the other birth as well, right? Um, and then having said that if you lose it, you don't keep the same number So I went from one nine seven four to two eight one four but there was like Stuff people that were like in the fives and fives and sixes and you're like, ah Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And do you think Knife crimes a lot worse than when you were doing the doors because it it seems to be everything here about these days, doesn't it? Well, I mean it wasn't like I mean in Manchester wasn't calm Manchester was I want what was called gunchester, right? So there was guns were notorious I mean when I was there though I what I would say is that they did have a gun amnesty where I was working on the doors in in in Manchester that just coincided with it and Once I had that gun honestly, they took a whole lot of money where you just handed your gun in and there was no Come back from it and the amount of guns that I took off the streets was was phenomenal and that you could tell From from what you're calling it from from like the feel of the streets, know what I mean? It was but the problem was was like I said, there was a lot of kids who were a lot younger and dafter who you know If back in the day you give someone a good hiding, you know, it was You're knuckled up. You're the best the best man won, you know, you know, you got your ass handed to you got your ass handed to you right, but then And then there'll be no comeback from it, you know, you lived you shook the handles and you lived to see it see another day Yeah now if you give someone a good hiding you didn't have to gonna come back and You know stab you or whatever. So your advice for the doors is just leave it alone. Forget the exist. So two questions this one. Is there any more films possible for you? I'm still trying to get on anything that's Star Wars related and I'm still trying to get on... anything Marvel right like I didn't I didn't not I mean not like my I mean Avengers doomsday and stuff like even if it's just an extra yeah you know what I mean So yeah, it's something where I like doing it and it's And with the benefit if I'd have been younger and I had the encouragement which I never had I Would have loved to have been involved in film. Yeah in somewhere and anywhere cameraman a Anything. Yeah, I would have looked at doing anything like that. Back then, like when we were growing up in a school and looking at crazy stuff, there was no internet, was no mobile phones, nothing like that. I think you got was either in a book or a pamphlet, or you know, the colleges might come or the might come, that's all you had access to, wasn't it? I mean to be someone like a fireman was a glamorous job. Yeah. Do know what I mean? Yeah. But yeah. I wouldn't mind being a fighter man to be honest with ya. But do you know something, if I'd have followed the path that everybody taught, I would never have gotten pro wrestling. I would never have gotten in movies. I would never have worked on those in Manchester and done a fraction of... What I have done, you know what mean? So go on Mr. Right Keith, some quick fire questions for them for you. Hardest man on the doors Chris Bacon by far. Yeah, like I said if you ever if you ever get a chance Google his name YouTube his name. Yeah, and then you'll you'll probably come to the same conclusion as now Most surreal Hollywood moment. think I know what this one is. The Stallone one. Stallone and the Hugh Jackman. If you had to choose one, the Hugh Jackman or the Stallone? Hugh Jackman's on the other end of the phone or you're having a bit of a crack of stone? Well I wish I'd said more to Hugh Jackman than I did but yeah I would probably just go with the Hugh Jackman one to be honest with you. I've got a sorry to digress here but I think it might be up there somewhere. I've got a signed thing of Bryan Robson's Captain Armband Oh yeah yeah. My hero when I was growing up like I think he's one of the best English players ever to come out of the country like. So two years ago Im at err We've been in Malaga or somewhere like that so on the flight back. It was just after Covid as well when everything wasn't back to normal. Flights were being delayed left, right and centre and all that and I think we'd been delayed taking off so that wasn't great. Then we couldn't land straight away and all this type of stuff like that. Honestly the plane ride was horrendous. And then I see this lad comes up to the family in front of us, this fellow comes up and I'm like, thats Bryan Robson that? So I'm going to Pascalle That's Bryan Robson, she's like, I don't know who that is. My hero, she was like, well say something I'm like, nah, it had been a really chewy flight, and that so Ill leave it like, anyway, we get off and lo behold, there's no ground crew to get us off the plane, so we're on the plane for ages, then we eventually get off, but the baggage hasn't come, so everyone's stood for about an hour waiting for the baggage. So I'm stood waiting for the baggage, and then who comes up standing right beside me? Bryan Robson, right? And I'm like, you know, when you get a bit stage fright, like it's in there, like. So I'm like, just talk to him Sonny just talk to him, its your hero, I stood right beside you, it's your hero, just talk to him, I'm going, no, because what if he's stressed to bits and he tells me to fuck off? I'm going to be like, the whole thing of meeting heroes. So I'm like, no, leave it, leave it. We stood there for ages as well. My brain's just going, talk to him, talk to him, talk to him, and the other side of my brain's going, don't say anything. I ended up not saying anything. come away and then, then as soon as I come away and the chance is gone now. I'm going, fuck, why didn't you say anything, man? So, how do I write that if Adrian didn't? Yeah. Yeah. I've got one. I've got one more. I've got one more. And this is when I was working at press offshore. And I was an apprentice at the time and working on this this this oil module for a company called Marathon American Oil Company. So Gaffer comes in with his case. The case of folks, it just looked busy. Will you? went, I've got some important people coming. And I went, all right, me papa. I mean, I was just young and dad was about 18 at the time. So I've got me mask down and I'm just stick welding flat bashing. And then I got a tap on the shoulder and it was like, it was an American voice says, you're doing a great job there son, up the great work. I went, cheers Mara. And then I just see that like, on the back of my welding screen, can see the reflection of people behind us. And it's just like this entourage of people. And I've gone past and I'm just down there welding and finished. Dick's gone, so just about to load up another one. And then me mate comes around about two minutes, goes, Keith, Keith, what did he say to you? What did he say to you? I said, what? He says, what did he say to you? He said, I was doing a great job, just kicking up the good work. And I said, cheers, man. He you fucking what? I went, I cheers, man. He went, do you know who that was? I don't know. says, think of someone who's been somewhere that no one else has ever been. I said, you in the shower. He went, was Neil Armstrong, you daft bastard. I went, you what? He said, it was Neil Armstrong. I went, give-over. I said, there's a lot of things to see there. One of the most important, that's the chairs man. That doesn't get more focused. None of the most sort of important people I've met. I've been asked to write a book about everything. A couple of friends have had books out and they've asked me to do one because it would cover my childhood, that stuff. Everything I would basically cover. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But in but in with all the detail with all the detail and I've I've I've I've I've entertained the idea but then I think about it and I think it's surreal. I've done like professional wrestling being in movies. I'm bit like you know I've met like really important. I've met Mohammed Ali. I've met fucking I've met Neil Armstrong too with the you could be in deepest darkness bloody and they would know how to get and they'd know how them were and uh and uh and then like meeting Stallone and it just sounds ridiculous when you think about it it really does yeah but i have yeah you know but it's do not fall back any money from the book i like both uh i've got there's a story to be told yeah there's definitely a story you've told and i was talking to the lad i was showing you there the lad clip follow over the road that dragged up proper there And he was saying that he started writing short stories. Yeah, just about his childhood and that like things that maybe didn't happen to him Maybe that's his brother. Yeah, but he'd write them, you know, yeah And then he submitted him and he won a competition and he got he got given some money and a laptop and a deal like to write a book book and And he stuck with it the same way. He would just write Stories. Yeah, and then eventually all these stories just came together as a There's a book, so I don't think it's Big a task as you think you would just go, do you I'm gonna write the Muhammad Ali one? Yeah, yeah, and you just write them and then eventually the publishers would put all of them together I definitely get someone else there to like I get like there's a guy who does ghost right? I would probably do it now wouldn't I? You probably just speak what happened in the way I would write that I've seen them on I don't know if they work or not But I've seen it advertised that you don't need ghost writers anymore You just you just tell your story to the TI and it'll write the book guys, there you go. If anything, if nothing else comes from this piece of cod cap you might get the TI, you'll write your book where you write your story. Last one, literally the last question. In the ring, on the door, or on film set, which one's the most pressure? Wrestling. Yeah, yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, cuz you've got to go out there and It's not like a movie the movie you can see a cut and then you can go back and redo it Yeah, so it's a live act. It's live act and there's crowd There's no margin for error and you've got to be exceptional to cover up your your mistakes, you know, you know, if you're wrestling and like Coventry skydome. I remember that was the point that was the biggest audience I'd like worked in front of and and and I wasn't a prominent part of the the the show I was I was a security like a pretend security guy like all pretty much like men menace Like the the roughneck character trench coat and all that and it was It was like 4,000 people there. And I looked through the curtain and I was like, fuck, fuck, fuck, no, no. And then I was like, I can't do it, can't do it, gotta do it. Katie, you do it. Oh, you gotta do it. And then it's like a fight and flight moment. And then you get out there and it's funny. You go out there and I've never done it in front of like a... football before, played in front of like a massive, massive crowd. But because it's the way that it's lit in wrestling, you don't see anybody. You just get out there and you just see the person in the ring. i remember this was i was early on in my career so would say about 2004 from a wrestling grimsby and we got paid in advance but in the end there was about 10 people there right so the the guy hadn't done his job wow yeah he hadn't done his job right at all And I went what the f**k, I'm going out there and wrestling in of 10 people. And Ricky went, let me tell you something son. He said I don't care if there's 10 people there or 10,000. If there's 10,000 people there, they're the same amount of people as what the 10th, 10th. He said, and he went out there and then he went out there as if he was at WrestleMania. And I was like, I've got to raise my game. So I had to follow suit, know. And that was a that was a life lesson that and it's the same doesn't matter if there's Two people there ten people there ten thousand people that you give them everything you go and go to yeah, it's like 100 % Yeah, that's a good one. So right. So definitely One last question before we wrap this thing up then what does Keith Colwell want to be remembered for as? Just a really good block. Yeah, I'm not bothered about the wrestling anything. I haven't got a legacy when it comes to stuff like that. I haven't done enough in the movies to have a legacy in that. Yes, I had. You know, you never have a one in door work. I mean, here's a prime example. Back then, when it was Jordy Keith was working on the doors in Manchester. I go to any bar and just rock up the front and. Getting more problems, you know what I mean? I got a door now and they'll see what. What the fuck's a Geordie Keefe? Today's newspaper's today's headline's tomorrow's chip shop paper. You know what I mean? So I would just prefer to be remembered for being Keefe and try to be the best person I can. You know what I mean? I like the idea of... Ain't nobody ever wants to ever have someone say a bad about them. And I think there's more, I'm confident in seeing as people who despite all this stuff and I'm just, just, just who I am. You know, there's no years of graces about it. I'll give you the shit off me back. I'll, know, I'm just, just, just who I am. Just, just want to be remembered for being a good both. You know, love that. Love that as well. Keith, thank you very much. You're absolutely really interesting. Great stuff and we'll be back next time with another episode. wherever you go and get your podcasts, Spotify, Apple, YouTube or whatever, go and give us a listen. Follow on social media. We need support. So get on there and give us that support. Thanks very much. Thanks everybody.