Latest / WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio / Talk Line: Ryan Zeshee from ZOWA Live talks local wrestling

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Talk Line: Ryan Zeshee from ZOWA Live talks local wrestling · WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio

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  Speaker 1: Good morning, Sock Valley. You're with the Waking Crew here
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  Speaker 1: on FM ninety five one and AM fourteen sixty w
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  Speaker 1: I XN. I'm your host, Brandon Clark, and it's eight
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  Speaker 1: fifteen on your Wednesday morning, and that means it's time
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  Speaker 1: for talk line and I'm joined today with a very
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  Speaker 1: interesting guest, Ryan Zieshi of ZOUA Live Wrestling. Ryan, how
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  Speaker 1: are you today?
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  Speaker 2: I'm doing great. How are you doing, Brandon?
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  Speaker 1: I'm doing good. Not as good as you're. You're joining
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  Speaker 1: us from from Florida today, much much warmer than us
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  Speaker 1: A sweat midwesterners.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's pretty nice down here. It's a little chilly
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  Speaker 2: for Miami, but I'm not going to complain compared to
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  Speaker 2: what I left the state in. So yeah, it's a nice,
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  Speaker 2: nice day down here in Miami.
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  Speaker 1: Good for listeners who may not be familiar. What is
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  Speaker 1: Zoulve and how did it get started in Rock Falls? Right?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah? Correct? Zala Live is a pro wrestling company, something
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  Speaker 2: like WWE. If you're not familiar with whatever pro wrestling is.
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  Speaker 2: WWE is probably the standard bear for pro wrestling. We
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  Speaker 2: used to be called Funky Monkey Wrestling in Sterling. I
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  Speaker 2: kind of started this program so I could train wrestlers
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  Speaker 2: for that company, and then we just started running our
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  Speaker 2: own shows independently from that all together, and yeah, we're
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  Speaker 2: in our tenth year now here, and the talk about.
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  Speaker 1: Le Oh my goodness, what were you doing before before
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  Speaker 1: this and how did you transition into this?
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  Speaker 2: Strangely enough, I was actually a radio DJ, so that
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  Speaker 2: it hits home, I'll tell you the story of how
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  Speaker 2: I actually kind of got into wrestling was I was
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  Speaker 2: a radio DJ, and I just offered interviews to the
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  Speaker 2: wrestlers and to promote their shows coming up. So yeah,
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  Speaker 2: that's actually maybe you're going to be the next wrestler, Brandon,
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  Speaker 2: because maybe that's your path you're going to follow now
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  Speaker 2: after I described this, but yeah, that's kind of how
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  Speaker 2: I got into wrestling was through radio and promotion, and
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  Speaker 2: I just really liked the scene there and I got
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  Speaker 2: along well with all the wrestlers, very similar mindset. So
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  Speaker 2: it's something that I gravitated to very quickly.
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  Speaker 1: Oh my goodness, I mean that that is awesome to hear.
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  Speaker 1: I will keep a pair of tights and boots on hand.
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  Speaker 1: I'm a big Ray Mysterio fan from back in the day.
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  Speaker 2: So there you go man. Absolutely, a Luca mask and everything.
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  Speaker 2: We got a Taco throw down and rock balls every year.
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  Speaker 2: You can be the DJ that doesn't quit. You know.
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  Speaker 1: I got to ask, like, at what point does this
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  Speaker 1: go from this this interest? Right, you know, you're you're
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  Speaker 1: interviewing these wrestlers to like I can start my own company,
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  Speaker 1: you know, especially in this part of the world. Like
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  Speaker 1: it's it's like you said, you think wrestling, you think WWE,
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  Speaker 1: you think the lights, you think the city's far far away,
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  Speaker 1: but you made it work here.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's I got very lucky in that we have
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  Speaker 2: a crowd in our area. They're really interested in storylines
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  Speaker 2: and characters, and so that's something that's up my alley
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  Speaker 2: is a creative like mind, I guess you would say,
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  Speaker 2: maybe is that I can come up these stories to
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  Speaker 2: characters and put them It's kind of like almost like
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  Speaker 2: a skit show in my mind in a certain way,
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  Speaker 2: and then through physical theater as well. And I think
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  Speaker 2: that these guys are just so good and they know
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  Speaker 2: exactly what maybe I'm thinking, and then they take their
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  Speaker 2: own twists on it and put it on there. Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: like you said, I went from promoting to owning and yeah,
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  Speaker 2: you just you got to be respectful. We still have
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  Speaker 2: a territorial system here where certain regions are taken over.
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  Speaker 2: I wouldn't want anybody come in and wrestling in our area,
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  Speaker 2: and I wouldn't go wrestle in their area, so to speak,
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  Speaker 2: with the Zawa brand. But that's kind of how it
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  Speaker 2: goes in the independent wrestling situation.
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  Speaker 1: I you know, that just fascinates me even more than
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  Speaker 1: I mean just what this is on the surface level,
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  Speaker 1: to know that there's there's territories and you know, it
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  Speaker 1: looks like someone got a little lost if they go
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  Speaker 1: in the wrong spot. I love that, man.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's one of the few things where it's like
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  Speaker 2: if you run a basketball company, you can run wherever
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  Speaker 2: you want, if you run a whatever, if you're in
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  Speaker 2: a band, you can play whatever venue you want. But
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  Speaker 2: when you're wrestling, it just still kind of goes back
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  Speaker 2: to the old Awa and Wa those type of territory
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  Speaker 2: days where your fans are kind of attached to the
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  Speaker 2: guys in your area, and that's kind of how it goes.
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  Speaker 2: And yeah, it's still a little bit of territorial and
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  Speaker 2: I wrestle at those other companies. I just don't run shows.
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  Speaker 1: There so to speak, sure, you know, and speaking of shows,
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  Speaker 1: I don't think people really realize how much goes into
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  Speaker 1: a live wrestling show. I mean, what's some of the
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  Speaker 1: biggest challenges behind the scenes putting these things together?
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  Speaker 2: Oh well, I always say, because I was in a
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  Speaker 2: band before, and when the band would cancel it would
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  Speaker 2: you know, there's four people when so you have to cancel.
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  Speaker 2: When there's a wrestling show, there's twenty each twenty five
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  Speaker 2: people on the roster, so you have to kind of
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  Speaker 2: switch things around. You can't just cancel because one person
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  Speaker 2: cancels or whatever. And the other aspect of it is
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  Speaker 2: the ring itself. If you don't have four or five people,
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  Speaker 2: that ring can take up words of three hours to
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  Speaker 2: put together. If you only have like a two man job.
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  Speaker 2: If you've got a big crew like we have, you
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  Speaker 2: can get the ring up in an hour or so.
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  Speaker 2: But yeah, our show takes about six to seven hours
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  Speaker 2: to fully set up with the ring, the sounds, the lights,
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  Speaker 2: the chairs and everything. So it's a pretty big process
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  Speaker 2: compared to a lot of other entertainment aspects.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, And for as much of this as
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  Speaker 1: a process and a production that gets put together, I mean,
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  Speaker 1: there's still plenty of this that is happening in real time,
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  Speaker 1: real reactions, a very physical production.
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  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, exactly. You can plan the most beautiful spots,
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  Speaker 2: and you can plan the most beautiful folds and moves
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  Speaker 2: and reactions, but once you get in there, it's almost
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  Speaker 2: like a hockey match where everything is reactionary. So you
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  Speaker 2: have something planned, it might not go that way and
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  Speaker 2: you've got to kind of go off the cuff or
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  Speaker 2: see what happens after that. And so yeah, there's there's
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  Speaker 2: a lot of risk. We've had broken bones, We've we've
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  Speaker 2: had torn ligaments, torn biceps. I mean, there's there's a
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  Speaker 2: lot of injury that goes into it. And it's a
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  Speaker 2: very taxing, uh physically and demanding sport.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely, a labor of love, undoubtedly. And you know,
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  Speaker 1: speaking of that, I mean, what, what's your favorite moment
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  Speaker 1: as an owner when you're when you're watching these unfold.
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  Speaker 2: It's so sometimes you put a show together and you're
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  Speaker 2: you got an idea of what it's going to be
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  Speaker 2: and sometimes it actually hits one and that's probably my
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  Speaker 2: my favorite moments, or just even being after a show
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  Speaker 2: and some of the fans come up to me or
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  Speaker 2: you know, especially the parents. Oh man, my kids really
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  Speaker 2: love this show. You know. I loved watching my kids.
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  Speaker 2: And I think, to me, that's probably the most satisfying,
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  Speaker 2: is that knowing that I made, you know, a family's night.
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  Speaker 2: They had a really good time at the show, and
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  Speaker 2: that they're going to come back because they really connected
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  Speaker 2: with the performers and the storylines and all the fun stuff.
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  Speaker 2: And I think that that's probably my favorite part is
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  Speaker 2: just seeing the the parents and the kids each enjoy
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  Speaker 2: it on their own aspects. The kids love it because
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  Speaker 2: they're enjoying it, and the parents love it because they're
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  Speaker 2: watching the kids love it.
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  Speaker 1: You know. And and for those kids and those families,
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  Speaker 1: what do you think is is some of the you know,
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  Speaker 1: what they seem to love most about ZAA And for
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  Speaker 1: someone who's on the fence about you know, coming to
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  Speaker 1: watch it live versus maybe staying at home, like what
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  Speaker 1: would you tell them?
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  Speaker 2: So? I think one of the things about Zala that
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  Speaker 2: we stand out a little bit different from some of
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  Speaker 2: the other wrestling companies is we're very story based and
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  Speaker 2: character based, but we're also pretty funny. I think that
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  Speaker 2: a lot of other wrestling companies and then I'm not criticized.
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  Speaker 2: Are kind of based more on moves and matches, and
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  Speaker 2: I think that our company is kind of based on
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  Speaker 2: storylines and characters, and we get a little humor in
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  Speaker 2: there that maybe might slip over the kids heads and
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  Speaker 2: the parents might like it. It's kind of like I
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  Speaker 2: always tell people, it's like Roco's Modern Life. There was
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  Speaker 2: the jokes in that show that the kids didn't get
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  Speaker 2: but they still laughed at, but the parents laughed at
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  Speaker 2: because they was there too. So there's just different levels
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  Speaker 2: of entertainment. And I think that anybody that would want
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  Speaker 2: to come out and has doubts would probably be pretty
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  Speaker 2: entertained one way or another, whether it's laughing or the
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  Speaker 2: show or the characters or the action. And yeah, February
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  Speaker 2: twenty eighth, So they have that opportunity in Nelson, Illinois.
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  Speaker 1: I love that Rocko's Modern Life reference. My wrestler name
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  Speaker 1: might be Ed Bighead.
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  Speaker 2: I might there you go, the ej Ed big Heads.
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  Speaker 2: There you go, A we got a full gimmick for
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  Speaker 2: you already.
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  Speaker 1: So you know, over a decade of this, where would
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  Speaker 1: you like to see Zeue live? Going the next few years, We're.
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  Speaker 2: Kind of at a spot now that is a really
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  Speaker 2: good spot for us. And uh as far as where
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  Speaker 2: we go, I just keep getting more and more shows.
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  Speaker 2: Like some of our best times are in the summer.
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  Speaker 2: We'll go to Walnut Celebration Days, We'll go up to Woodville, Wooddale,
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  Speaker 2: Prairie Fest, We'll go over to Polo Town and Country Days.
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  Speaker 2: We'll go to more soon, we'll go to We go
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  Speaker 2: to all these little festivals that don't see us throughout
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  Speaker 2: the year, and we see them once a year and
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  Speaker 2: it's a great time. So my goal is that we
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  Speaker 2: just are able to do that and maybe throughout the
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  Speaker 2: years we'll add some you know, say like Dixon Junior
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  Speaker 2: High Wrestling Club wanted to have a show for a
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  Speaker 2: fundraiser or something, we could do that. There's a lot
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  Speaker 2: of stuff like that. I'd like to keep busier throughout
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  Speaker 2: the winter doing fundraisers and stuff. But yeah, just keep
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  Speaker 2: growing and doing more shows. I don't ever plan on
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  Speaker 2: us being like a national thing or anything like that,
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  Speaker 2: where you're just kind of stuck in Illinois and we're
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  Speaker 2: doing the best we can with the resources that we have.
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  Speaker 1: No, I absolutely love it. You guys are doing a
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  Speaker 1: great job. Do you have any upcoming shows or maybe
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  Speaker 1: things planned for this year that folks should be on
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  Speaker 1: the lookout for.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, April third, excuse me, February twenty eighth, we're going
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  Speaker 2: to be in Nelson as long as well as April third,
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  Speaker 2: and then all summer long. We pretty much we're going
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  Speaker 2: to be all over the northern Illinois region basically all
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  Speaker 2: summer we do our summer tour. But yes, February twenty eighth,
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  Speaker 2: we're going to be in Nelson, Illinois. That's kind of
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  Speaker 2: our home base. We do a lot of shows there.
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  Speaker 2: We get our good set up there, we got our lights,
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  Speaker 2: and we got our good arena there. So yeah, February
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  Speaker 2: twenty eighth, come on out to Nelson, Illinois.
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  Speaker 1: That's awesome. And where can people find tickets, show dates
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  Speaker 1: and follow you live?
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  Speaker 2: So tickets are zalilive, dot event right, dot com. And
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  Speaker 2: then we're on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok all at
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  Speaker 2: Thaowa live. So you've just type in ZWA live and
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  Speaker 2: with the little at symbol before it, you'll find us
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  Speaker 2: on all of those platforms pretty much, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook,
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  Speaker 2: and TikTok.
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  Speaker 1: I absolutely love that, folks, head on over online get
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  Speaker 1: those tickets mark those shows. How many people are part
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  Speaker 1: of Zowa, you know, I've actually wondered that.
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  Speaker 2: So any given show, there's probably about twenty five to
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  Speaker 2: thirty people in roster. Wise, we have hundreds of people
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  Speaker 2: to choose from, but any specific show there's probably about
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  Speaker 2: twenty five to thirty people on.
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  Speaker 1: Wow. I mean, how did you go about recruiting, you know,
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  Speaker 1: especially given this, given this area again, how did you
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  Speaker 1: manage to come up with a roster that.
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  Speaker 2: Fall just a lot of guys from you know, Chicago, Peoria, Milwaukee,
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  Speaker 2: Saint Louis, throughout the Midwest. When I started doing shows
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  Speaker 2: for my own because I wrestle as well, so when
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  Speaker 2: I do shows at other places, I would watch these
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  Speaker 2: other wrestlers and kind of see what I liked or
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  Speaker 2: see if they would sit in it Zawa. And that's
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  Speaker 2: just kind of kind of throughout the years, just kind
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  Speaker 2: of there's a lot more wrestlers than people would expect to.
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  Speaker 2: I didn't know that when I got into wrestling. I
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  Speaker 2: didn't realize there was so many wrestlers. But yeah, there's
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  Speaker 2: a ton of wrestlers out there.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, amazing. Well, Ryan, I really appreciate you coming on
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  Speaker 1: the show and sharing all this information. Is there anything
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  Speaker 1: else you want to share, anything you want to plug
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  Speaker 1: before we go?
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  Speaker 2: Oh yeah. I just that these wrestlers work really hard,
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  Speaker 2: and whether you cheer them or boo them, they put
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  Speaker 2: their bodies on the line for our entertainment and I
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  Speaker 2: think that we put out a great product and hope
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  Speaker 2: to see everybody February twenty eighth.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely there you go, mark your calendars, go online, watch
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  Speaker 1: the show. Can't wait to see it. Ryan, thanks again
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  Speaker 1: so much for coming on here and for what you do.
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  Speaker 1: Really appreciate it.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you very much.
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  Speaker 1: Thanks Ryan,