Post by The Cosplay Playboy on Jan 28, 2015 12:44:04 GMT -6
Alexander Goldsmith: Hello everyone and welcome to Doing Business with Goldsmith & Bigsby! We are streaming to you LIVE on the Pod Gods Network, inside of an impromptu studio here in the heart of Tokyo, Japan – delivering all of the hard-hitting wrestling content you ask for and beyond. Unfortunately, Teddy couldn’t be with us this tour around due to his classwork at the University of California-San Diego but while Teddy holds down the fort Stateside, I am Alexander Goldsmith and today, I have one heck of an interview for you guys. He’s a young gun from St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada – spending the entirety of his rookie year in Franco-Canadian Wrestling Alliance and cutting his teeth there under the tutelage and management of Bryan Cade, capturing the FCWA Commonwealth title just in his second month of arriving and now nearing a full calendar year of holding and defending that championship. Now, he’s looking to make his mark onto the world stage as he’s been doing shows with Japanese-based Four Islands Pro Wrestling…without further ado, here is “The Viper” Olivier Roy. Olivier, welcome to the show…
Olivier Roy: Thank you for having me. We’ve been trying to get this one booked up for quite some time, so I’m pleased to finally get it done, eh?
Alexander Goldsmith: Definitely. Schedules are always a nuisance to go through sometimes, but I wanted to make sure to get you in-studio rather than just through Skype.
Olivier Roy: Up close and personal. Most people who’ve come across me in this industry wouldn’t want anything to do with that. And the ones who do are just foolish.
Alexander Goldsmith: So, we know you’re an up-and-coming wrestler who has been making some waves on the independent scene and now hoping to expand on that success with Four Islands Pro Wrestling…but what brought you to pro wrestling in the first place?
Olivier Roy: There have been three very important things in my life since I was a kid: hockey, the Montreal Canadiens and professional wrestling. I was introduced to it by my grandmother, who had followed it for her entire life…so it was interesting watching it her and seeing my mentor in Bryan Cade around the territories when he was still active in his final years, seeing guys like Michael Thunder, White Phoenix, Lyn Dallins, Travis Montgomery, Darrin Stearns, Lance Sterling, Chris Davison, Andrew Ashton…I mean, there was a lot of talent out there, all over the world and I was fortunate that our family was, you know, fairly well off to be able to access something like satellite TV and gave me a really big window to see all different showcases of wrestling that were out there. So that was my start and by a young age, along with that, I was fairly active on my side. Hockey is a big thing in Canada and I was honestly having a blast with it.
Alexander Goldsmith: If not for wrestling, you would have become a hockey player then.
Olivier Roy: Absolutely. I actually was taken in the third round of the CHL Draft by the Saint John Sea Dogs and played there for two seasons while finishing with my academics. Another year, I could have made a case for putting myself on play for the NHL Draft but…really, the more I kept watching professional wrestling, the more I wanted to do it…you know, wanted to do it my way.
Alexander Goldsmith: Do something different than what most kids tend to do in Canada?
Olivier Roy: Exactly. My parents weren’t happy. The NHL was within reach and I know I had what it took to make some good money there if I chose that route. And they invested a lot of money in it. They got upset when I made up my mind, at first. I had them meet Cade as well, so they knew I was getting myself in there with somebody who knows the craft, that would guide me in the right direction, but they still weren’t happy. Needless to say, it got ugly enough that the moment I graduated high school…you know, two days later, I had my bags packed and I drove from St. John’s to Toronto while getting told about how much of an ungrateful brat I had been all those years.
Alexander Goldsmith: Yeesh. And I thought my family was bad the moment I told them was interested in broadcasting…although, speaking of Bryan Cade, how did that meeting between you two happen?
Olivier Roy: Cade is a big hockey fan. He usually attends some of the junior games across the country when he has the chance and I met him when I got started in the 2011-12 season, right after the Sea Dogs won the Memorial Cup. I mean, I have a really good physique, I definitely have a passion for professional wrestling on top of it and…it was a really good conversation. It hadn’t been the first time I’ve been scouted for a completely different sport either. There was a scout from the Argonauts that once tried to talk a group of us into considering American football once we finished up with high school.
Alexander Goldsmith: Seems like they couldn’t get enough of you out there.
Olivier Roy: I mean, look, Alex…don’t take this wrong way, but you can’t go wrong with somebody like me representing your sport, let alone putting my face on the promotional material – something that Four Islands Pro Wrestling has been failing to do since we signed with them, I must say. Whatever I put my focus into, I give it more than 100 percent and when it came to professional wrestling, that was basically at 200 percent. Because there was this realization that: “oh my God, I’m going to get trained by a guy who I was a fan of watching on TV and someone who had a great track record as a trainer.”
Alexander Goldsmith: You’re talking about students of Bryan Cade like former EXODUS Pro World champion Chris Strike and former EXODUS Pro World Tag Team champion in Vanessa Cade.
Olivier Roy: Exactly. And those are just two of the most well-known ones. Whoever has come out trained in full from the “Palestra Rectus” has been able to get themselves out there and make a living, whether that’s just settling for the independents or finding their niche somewhere like Mexico, Japan or even in Canada-only promotions. I can’t say enough good things about the Palestra.
Alexander Goldsmith: So, you end up being trained by Bryan Cade and from there, you then go on to Franco-Canadian Wrestling Alliance…with Bryan deciding to take full on responsibility and managing you. How did that come about and how does that not interfere with his wrestling schools?
Olivier Roy: Due to the foundation he left behind, Bryan has found himself a heckuva lot of great trainers to take over the reins of both the Toronto and Winnipeg schools to where he can solely focus on being the managerial force he has become. That was another dream Bryan had and really, I’ll leave you and him to discuss that sometime if you get him on the show. Let’s get back to talking about me, though.
[Alexander chuckled, while Roy made no other sound]
Alexander Goldsmith: Fair enough. But yeah, FCWA…
Olivier Roy: Came into it given how close to home it is and the fact they ran their shows focused on Eastern Canada only reduced my travel time considerably. With Bryan’s help, along with taking up a part-time job in a warehouse and some savings from odd jobs here and there over the years, I got myself into a studio apartment St. John’s and well, Bryan laid out the foundation. He looked out for me, got me a fairly good deal with FCWA to where I’d get paid well enough to pay the rent. I’m not big on roommates or living with other people…takes me away from the time to dedicate to myself and what I need to get done.
Alexander Goldsmith: So, you’re a bit of a loner altogether.
Olivier Roy: Definitely and for me, getting that independence was a big deal…I have two older sisters, a younger sister and a younger brother, so being the kid right in the middle didn’t really do me a whole lot of good, y’know…there was a lot of fighting and just, it’s done me good to be able to finally be alone and not hindered down by the pressure of having to live up to my model older sisters or be an example to my younger siblings. It’s helped me grow over the past year and I took that growing confidence and nurtured it further during my time in FCWA…and for the entire past year, I’ve done nothing but to put in what I’ve learned at the Palestra and wrecked anyone who tried to step up to me in the process.
Alexander Goldsmith: While the footage isn’t the easiest to come by, we do know that you’ve been the FCWA Commonwealth champion for ten months now. You’ve made seven defenses in total and counting. Ever since you won the Commonwealth title, you have not been pinned or submitted…
Olivier Roy: And I’m very proud of that. My first two months were hell and I kept getting screwed left, right and center by some of the “veterans” in that locker room. Be it crooked referees, blatant disregard of the rules and all else in between, I was winless until there was a tournament for the vacated FCWA Commonwealth championship. They nearly kept me out of that, too, until Cade stepped in and dealt with management about placing me on that final spot of the eight men challenging for it. See, in FCWA, a lot of the guys there are journeymen who couldn’t make it to the big leagues or old glory stars from ten years ago here in Canada hanging on to that final bit of a spotlight before it faded away. I was the new kid on campus. Young, handsome, talented as all hell and I could see clearly why they were trying to do everything they could to keep me down at ground-level. And it wasn’t until I grew a set during that tournament and started doing unto those jackasses what they’ve done to me that I started seeing results. I have no problem with saying now that I’ll do whatever it takes to get the victory. Because the winner gets the spoils, the winner gets paid, but most importantly…the winner gets the championships and the accolades.
Alexander Goldsmith: So, it’s a means to end for you.
Olivier Roy: Absolutely. Ten, twenty years from now, people won’t go through and remember how every single key win of a wrestler’s career happened…they’ll just remember that they won. Hell, one of my favorites in the world today in Andreas Lasiewicz. Violent guy, has had no problem with crippling people and ending careers if it meant achieving results. Was there a price to pay for some of his actions? Sure. But winning ten World championships and having multiple Hall of Fame entries? That’s a body of work I want, Alex. That’s a body of work I aspire to acquire as I keep moving throughout my years of wrestling and I know that I’m going to be around long enough to achieve it.
Alexander Goldsmith: Wow. Emulating something like the career of “The Morning Star” is no easy task.
Olivier Roy: But I am up for it. Alex, I’m a very goal-oriented person and I’m extremely disciplined. I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I don’t do drugs like a good majority of people in this industry. When I set my sights on something, I just shut up and do it. It’s why I let Bryan do just about all the talking for me when the cameras are on, so I can focus on what matters. When I entered the tournament for the FCWA Commonwealth title, I made it my goal to win it. After winning it, I told myself that I wouldn’t be the guy known for multiple reigns as the champion but as the champion with that one very long reign that nobody could surpass…and I’m now four months away from becoming the longest reigning FCWA Commonwealth champion in the company’s history. And when I signed with Four Islands Pro Wrestling? My goal then became to take anybody who that company thinks are their top guys, their Aces…and to take them down, one by one.
Alexander Goldsmith: But outside of one show, you’ve barely been booked in FIPW…
Olivier Roy: And that annoys me, Alex. That annoys Cade and I very, very much. I may be cocky, I may be arrogant, but I am good at my job. I want to earn the money that was guaranteed to me, so that nobody can say I’m a couch potato sitting around while getting checks. Because guys and girls who are couch potatoes can’t get the bigger checks, the billboards or the name under the marquee…and I want all of those things. I want to be the biggest attraction that company has to offer and given how Japan has this weird phobia for wanting to make their own country’s stars shine brighter than anyone else? I want to literally shove it in their faces that I am the best wrestler in the entirety of that country and that none of their homegrown, cookie-cutter little stars with bad English monikers can hold a candle to what I do inside of the ring and out…
Alexander Goldsmith: Some very strong, but confident words from “The Viper” Olivier Roy here…and folks, we’re going to take a quick break, let our sponsors do their thing and wow you with their products and soon enough, we’ll be right back to talk with our guest here and take your e-mail questions as well…stay tuned, because we’re still Doing Business, right here in the Pod Gods Network!
[Show theme begins to play here as the commercials come onto the station][/font][/font]
Olivier Roy: Thank you for having me. We’ve been trying to get this one booked up for quite some time, so I’m pleased to finally get it done, eh?
Alexander Goldsmith: Definitely. Schedules are always a nuisance to go through sometimes, but I wanted to make sure to get you in-studio rather than just through Skype.
Olivier Roy: Up close and personal. Most people who’ve come across me in this industry wouldn’t want anything to do with that. And the ones who do are just foolish.
Alexander Goldsmith: So, we know you’re an up-and-coming wrestler who has been making some waves on the independent scene and now hoping to expand on that success with Four Islands Pro Wrestling…but what brought you to pro wrestling in the first place?
Olivier Roy: There have been three very important things in my life since I was a kid: hockey, the Montreal Canadiens and professional wrestling. I was introduced to it by my grandmother, who had followed it for her entire life…so it was interesting watching it her and seeing my mentor in Bryan Cade around the territories when he was still active in his final years, seeing guys like Michael Thunder, White Phoenix, Lyn Dallins, Travis Montgomery, Darrin Stearns, Lance Sterling, Chris Davison, Andrew Ashton…I mean, there was a lot of talent out there, all over the world and I was fortunate that our family was, you know, fairly well off to be able to access something like satellite TV and gave me a really big window to see all different showcases of wrestling that were out there. So that was my start and by a young age, along with that, I was fairly active on my side. Hockey is a big thing in Canada and I was honestly having a blast with it.
Alexander Goldsmith: If not for wrestling, you would have become a hockey player then.
Olivier Roy: Absolutely. I actually was taken in the third round of the CHL Draft by the Saint John Sea Dogs and played there for two seasons while finishing with my academics. Another year, I could have made a case for putting myself on play for the NHL Draft but…really, the more I kept watching professional wrestling, the more I wanted to do it…you know, wanted to do it my way.
Alexander Goldsmith: Do something different than what most kids tend to do in Canada?
Olivier Roy: Exactly. My parents weren’t happy. The NHL was within reach and I know I had what it took to make some good money there if I chose that route. And they invested a lot of money in it. They got upset when I made up my mind, at first. I had them meet Cade as well, so they knew I was getting myself in there with somebody who knows the craft, that would guide me in the right direction, but they still weren’t happy. Needless to say, it got ugly enough that the moment I graduated high school…you know, two days later, I had my bags packed and I drove from St. John’s to Toronto while getting told about how much of an ungrateful brat I had been all those years.
Alexander Goldsmith: Yeesh. And I thought my family was bad the moment I told them was interested in broadcasting…although, speaking of Bryan Cade, how did that meeting between you two happen?
Olivier Roy: Cade is a big hockey fan. He usually attends some of the junior games across the country when he has the chance and I met him when I got started in the 2011-12 season, right after the Sea Dogs won the Memorial Cup. I mean, I have a really good physique, I definitely have a passion for professional wrestling on top of it and…it was a really good conversation. It hadn’t been the first time I’ve been scouted for a completely different sport either. There was a scout from the Argonauts that once tried to talk a group of us into considering American football once we finished up with high school.
Alexander Goldsmith: Seems like they couldn’t get enough of you out there.
Olivier Roy: I mean, look, Alex…don’t take this wrong way, but you can’t go wrong with somebody like me representing your sport, let alone putting my face on the promotional material – something that Four Islands Pro Wrestling has been failing to do since we signed with them, I must say. Whatever I put my focus into, I give it more than 100 percent and when it came to professional wrestling, that was basically at 200 percent. Because there was this realization that: “oh my God, I’m going to get trained by a guy who I was a fan of watching on TV and someone who had a great track record as a trainer.”
Alexander Goldsmith: You’re talking about students of Bryan Cade like former EXODUS Pro World champion Chris Strike and former EXODUS Pro World Tag Team champion in Vanessa Cade.
Olivier Roy: Exactly. And those are just two of the most well-known ones. Whoever has come out trained in full from the “Palestra Rectus” has been able to get themselves out there and make a living, whether that’s just settling for the independents or finding their niche somewhere like Mexico, Japan or even in Canada-only promotions. I can’t say enough good things about the Palestra.
Alexander Goldsmith: So, you end up being trained by Bryan Cade and from there, you then go on to Franco-Canadian Wrestling Alliance…with Bryan deciding to take full on responsibility and managing you. How did that come about and how does that not interfere with his wrestling schools?
Olivier Roy: Due to the foundation he left behind, Bryan has found himself a heckuva lot of great trainers to take over the reins of both the Toronto and Winnipeg schools to where he can solely focus on being the managerial force he has become. That was another dream Bryan had and really, I’ll leave you and him to discuss that sometime if you get him on the show. Let’s get back to talking about me, though.
[Alexander chuckled, while Roy made no other sound]
Alexander Goldsmith: Fair enough. But yeah, FCWA…
Olivier Roy: Came into it given how close to home it is and the fact they ran their shows focused on Eastern Canada only reduced my travel time considerably. With Bryan’s help, along with taking up a part-time job in a warehouse and some savings from odd jobs here and there over the years, I got myself into a studio apartment St. John’s and well, Bryan laid out the foundation. He looked out for me, got me a fairly good deal with FCWA to where I’d get paid well enough to pay the rent. I’m not big on roommates or living with other people…takes me away from the time to dedicate to myself and what I need to get done.
Alexander Goldsmith: So, you’re a bit of a loner altogether.
Olivier Roy: Definitely and for me, getting that independence was a big deal…I have two older sisters, a younger sister and a younger brother, so being the kid right in the middle didn’t really do me a whole lot of good, y’know…there was a lot of fighting and just, it’s done me good to be able to finally be alone and not hindered down by the pressure of having to live up to my model older sisters or be an example to my younger siblings. It’s helped me grow over the past year and I took that growing confidence and nurtured it further during my time in FCWA…and for the entire past year, I’ve done nothing but to put in what I’ve learned at the Palestra and wrecked anyone who tried to step up to me in the process.
Alexander Goldsmith: While the footage isn’t the easiest to come by, we do know that you’ve been the FCWA Commonwealth champion for ten months now. You’ve made seven defenses in total and counting. Ever since you won the Commonwealth title, you have not been pinned or submitted…
Olivier Roy: And I’m very proud of that. My first two months were hell and I kept getting screwed left, right and center by some of the “veterans” in that locker room. Be it crooked referees, blatant disregard of the rules and all else in between, I was winless until there was a tournament for the vacated FCWA Commonwealth championship. They nearly kept me out of that, too, until Cade stepped in and dealt with management about placing me on that final spot of the eight men challenging for it. See, in FCWA, a lot of the guys there are journeymen who couldn’t make it to the big leagues or old glory stars from ten years ago here in Canada hanging on to that final bit of a spotlight before it faded away. I was the new kid on campus. Young, handsome, talented as all hell and I could see clearly why they were trying to do everything they could to keep me down at ground-level. And it wasn’t until I grew a set during that tournament and started doing unto those jackasses what they’ve done to me that I started seeing results. I have no problem with saying now that I’ll do whatever it takes to get the victory. Because the winner gets the spoils, the winner gets paid, but most importantly…the winner gets the championships and the accolades.
Alexander Goldsmith: So, it’s a means to end for you.
Olivier Roy: Absolutely. Ten, twenty years from now, people won’t go through and remember how every single key win of a wrestler’s career happened…they’ll just remember that they won. Hell, one of my favorites in the world today in Andreas Lasiewicz. Violent guy, has had no problem with crippling people and ending careers if it meant achieving results. Was there a price to pay for some of his actions? Sure. But winning ten World championships and having multiple Hall of Fame entries? That’s a body of work I want, Alex. That’s a body of work I aspire to acquire as I keep moving throughout my years of wrestling and I know that I’m going to be around long enough to achieve it.
Alexander Goldsmith: Wow. Emulating something like the career of “The Morning Star” is no easy task.
Olivier Roy: But I am up for it. Alex, I’m a very goal-oriented person and I’m extremely disciplined. I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I don’t do drugs like a good majority of people in this industry. When I set my sights on something, I just shut up and do it. It’s why I let Bryan do just about all the talking for me when the cameras are on, so I can focus on what matters. When I entered the tournament for the FCWA Commonwealth title, I made it my goal to win it. After winning it, I told myself that I wouldn’t be the guy known for multiple reigns as the champion but as the champion with that one very long reign that nobody could surpass…and I’m now four months away from becoming the longest reigning FCWA Commonwealth champion in the company’s history. And when I signed with Four Islands Pro Wrestling? My goal then became to take anybody who that company thinks are their top guys, their Aces…and to take them down, one by one.
Alexander Goldsmith: But outside of one show, you’ve barely been booked in FIPW…
Olivier Roy: And that annoys me, Alex. That annoys Cade and I very, very much. I may be cocky, I may be arrogant, but I am good at my job. I want to earn the money that was guaranteed to me, so that nobody can say I’m a couch potato sitting around while getting checks. Because guys and girls who are couch potatoes can’t get the bigger checks, the billboards or the name under the marquee…and I want all of those things. I want to be the biggest attraction that company has to offer and given how Japan has this weird phobia for wanting to make their own country’s stars shine brighter than anyone else? I want to literally shove it in their faces that I am the best wrestler in the entirety of that country and that none of their homegrown, cookie-cutter little stars with bad English monikers can hold a candle to what I do inside of the ring and out…
Alexander Goldsmith: Some very strong, but confident words from “The Viper” Olivier Roy here…and folks, we’re going to take a quick break, let our sponsors do their thing and wow you with their products and soon enough, we’ll be right back to talk with our guest here and take your e-mail questions as well…stay tuned, because we’re still Doing Business, right here in the Pod Gods Network!
[Show theme begins to play here as the commercials come onto the station][/font][/font]
