Interviews
Exclusive: Mason Childs Interview Pt 2
Published November 18, 2011 at 5:51 am by Marek Indyka
Interview by Jason Helton
JH: Just as the Queenslander angle was taking off you all disappeared from SWA what happened there?
MC: Well, things were getting very dire for a time. Then two guys named Phil and Tino started on with the company, helping out booking and promoting. They convinced myself and a few of the Queensland boys to stay on and had some cool storyline stuff for us. They told us we'd be the main heels on the show and that when the SWA Title came in Id hold it. That never happened but that wasn't the reason I left. I saw Phil and Tino working their guts out to make these shows better, they had the best talent coming in from everywhere in Australia and they were just getting used by Johnny D. When they told me they were quitting, I said Id do their final show and then that be it. 4 days before this show, I still hadn't been told I had a match. I found out third hand that I wasn't booked and that was that. I have only spoken to Johnny D once since. Alot of old SWA fans have asked me when I would be going back and why I left. I feel I'm a loyal person to those who have done right by me in wrestling, so out of respect for Phil and Tino, Id never go back.
What do you think of all the infighting that goes on in Aussie wrestling?
I think 90% of it is silly, but its bound to happen in any competitive industry. I think that Aussie wrestling is too small for people to be carrying on the way they do at times.
What made you decide to call it a day in November?
Well, I'm actually finishing up on December 10, 4 days before my birthday. There were many factors in calling it a day, but the main two were my family and an ongoing neck injury which just doesn't seem to heal. My new years resolution was that I was either going to finish up in Australia and try my luck overseas, or retire for something worthwhile. I have no regrets to be walking away from in ring action now at all.
Where have you traveled in Australia?
I don't think there is a state in Australia I haven't wrestled in that has wrestling. Traveling around was always alot of fun, I got to meet so many great people and make friends I still have to this day.
Did you have any chance to go overseas?
I did have a couple of vague shots, but I never really had the money behind me to follow through on it. It is definitely something I really regret, especially after meeting Dingo/Kijimuna in September.
Tell me about breaking your arm?
There's alot to this story so please bare with me. The actual incident itself happened in my second match with Chris Hero. He went to powerbomb me, I bumped badly, then I snapped both bones in my left forearm clean. I did manage to wrestle another 3 or so minutes with my broken arm before Kellie Skater drove me to the hospital post match. I ended up with a steel plate inserted into my arm which I still have to this day. Why did I do this? I'm still not 100% what I was thinking. A couple of months prior to the break, I had a bad break up with a girl I was seeing. I was also training super hard for Rise 2 and trying to work through an injury and I ended up getting hooked on pain pills for a while. For a long time life was a haze. I was falling asleep constantly at my day job, I was very distant from almost everyone including my family but the arm break was definitely a wake up call.
Any funny antics you want to share?
Oh man! Where to start! One funny story involves a time I went down to PWA Melbourne to work a tag match with Damian Slater against Mike Manson and 69er. My brother in law came down for the trip and we arrived around 8am. Slater wasn't far off so we all hung out for the day. We ended up seeing some seedy as heck thing called Club X. We ended up wandering inside and it was a sex shop with a peep show and a porn theater. At this time Slater was about 18, so he was rather shocked and probably scared for his innocence. We went into the porn theater, which was nothing more than a room with 8 seats and a home cinema projector. We were the only ones in cinema two, which had some odd fruit fetish porn going. We all took turns of taking photos pretending to grab the giant ass on the screen. Out of nowhere, a guy stuck his head in, panicked and ran out. We convinced Slater to go into cinema one and see what the guy was doing. He came running back laughing cause the guy was having a wank. After about 20 minutes of this, we got bored and started to leave. As we were leaving, I found a pair of reading glasses on a seat. I picked them up and kept them. I kept trying to wear them as we walked around but the prescription was so strong it gave me a headache. I ended up wearing them to the ring for our match and could barely concentrate on what we were doing. Good times.
Another guy who I could write a novel about is Luke Watts. Luke + Alcohol = Good Times. After one of our January 08 shows in Queensland a bunch of us went out to a strip club in Brisbane Mall. At this particular club, they do a stage show, mainly for a buck on a buck's night where the stripper gets him up on stage, strips him down, whips him with his own belt, walks him around like a dog and just does general embarrassing things to him. One rib I liked to do at this club was get the girls to go around and act like they're selling tickets for a raffle and the winner gets a prize. We set it up so Luke won the "prize". The stripper got Luke up on stage and as she stripped him down, he was wearing these old stained undies. All the boys were in hysterics. After whipping Luke, riding Luke around stage, the stripper sits Luke down on a chair and pours ice down his mangey old undies, to which Luke leaps off a 5 foot stage and runs to the toilets and gets changed. If you're having a party, Luke Watts should definitely be on the guest list.
I don't think I could talk about funny antics without mentioning Mark Davis or Esteban Molina. One road trip we did, we had PWA in Newcastle the Friday then were going to watch PWWA the next night. On the road trip from Brisbane to Newcastle, Davis and I were trying our best to annoy Esteban. We kept making him constantly snap at Johnny Gunn about eating kangaroo meat and that's why Gunn was going to hell. Esteban also claims he has "necrolepsy duuuuude" which he actually means is a sleeping disorder called narcolepsy. Anyway, Esteban had one of his random naps and we kept telling Gunn to put his feet in Esteban's face, because Esteban has a phobia of bare feet. So Gunn does it once, and Esteban starts screaming and yelling. Gunn does it a second time and Esteban wakes up and bends a coat hanger into a stabbing object around his hand and falls back asleep. A third time Gunn puts his feet in Esteban's face and Esteban snaps and starts stabbing Gunn in the chest, legs and arms with a bent up coat hanger, leaving all sorts of claw and scratch marks over Gunn's body. We leave Esteban alone until we get to the venue. Another one of Esteban's pet peeves is being chopped in the back. He loved to go on about how when people chopped him in the back in matches he let them have it. So Davis and I took turns trying to sneaky chop him in the back. Esteban was sitting chatting to Madison Eagles or someone like that, Davis snuck up and chopped him on the back, Esteban snaps, chases Davis around the building with another coat hanger and throws it at Davis and misses.
Here's a chance to give a plug to any wrestlers out there you think need some props......
If you don't know who Jade Diamond and Steve Moore are by this time next year, then you need to pull your head out of your arse!
What are you going to do after wrestling?
Get a new hobby! Ummmm not too sure yet. I was considering moving to a mountain, building a cottage out of logs I chop down and having a family of 14 kids and living off the land, but I realized I suck at chopping wood.
Is December the last we see of Mason Childs or are you going to stay involved in a backstage capacity?
Definitely wont be the last Queensland wrestling will see of me. I intend to stay on and train guys. For as much shit as Queensland wrestling cops, there are some great up and coming guys. In the next 12 months or so, I can really see it becoming a hot bed for talent again like it was a couple of years ago. I would also like to help out in a booking capacity too, but right now I definitely need some time off from it all, its been great being one of the boys again this year, has definitely made me not leave wrestling bitter.
How did you pick the name Mason Childs
Well, another long winded story! I was seeing a girl for a long period around when I first started training. She ended up getting pregnant. We were going to name the kid 'Zac Mason Davison' if it was a boy. Unfortunately things didn't work out between or for the kid. So the name was sort of a play on words to that.
Who was your favorite opponent?
Very tough question. As I said above though, take your pick from Shadow Phoenix, Mark Davis, Shane Haste, Seoul, Steve Moore, Chris Hero, Carlo Cannon, Esteban Molina or Roger Ventura
Who was your least favorite opponent?
Ummm, wow, that's a touchy one! For the sake of how rubbish the match went and I wasn't nearly at my best, I'll say my match with Joey Angel in Perth. I really hope Perth fans dont judge me by that match!
Who would you have liked to have worked with but didn't get the chance?
Looking back there is so many amazing wrestlers I never got the chance to wrestle. The first four that instantly come to my head are yourself (Jason Helton), Jag Hartley Jackson, Dingo/Kijimuna and Davis Storm. These four are definitely my holy grail matches. Each as a true pro in their own right, and Id defineately come out of retirement to wrestle any of these guys. Bobby Marshall and Mikey Nicholls are another two I wish I could've wrestled. In realistic terms, I wish Id been able to wrestle Nosawa Rongai and Trik Davis when they were out. I became really good friends with Trik Davis when he was out in 2008 and it was because of my arm I wasn't able to work him in Sydney. Nosawa was meant to wrestle at Rise of the Warriors 3, but due to All Japan commitments couldn't make the shows.
If you wanted to to show your grand kids that you were a wrestler in your younger days what match would you show them?
Probably the one where I look the least fat. Or my match with Steve Moore recently where we went to a 45 minute draw. Easily one of my finest matches. I can't put Steve Moore over enough.
