Nick Gage is a professional wrestler and the “King of the deathmatch”. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet at Slingshot House in Santa Monica, CA to talk about his episode Dark Side of the Ring on Vice TV, how he became interested in his ultra-violent style of wrestling, being inspired by Cactus Jack and Terry Funk, his dream opponents, going to prison for bank robbery, dying during a match and being brought back to life, almost killing actor David Arquette in a match, what scares him and much more.
On being a featured episode on Dark Side of The Ring:
“At first, I turned them down. I didn’t want to do it and put my life out there. After I sat down and talked to people I trust, they said it was a good idea and I changed my mind. I’m glad I did, because the creators are very nice people. They treated me great.”
On his love of hardcore wrestling:
“I fell out of love with pro-wrestling in the 90’s. WCW was getting corny and WWF was already corny. All of a sudden I am watching TV and I see these guys going through tables and wondering what the hell is this. It got me back in love with it. It was awesome so shout out to ECW. I wasn’t a daredevil. I was a sports junkie and loved baseball, but all of my friends loved it and my brother loved it. We did the backyard thing with the trampoline but took it a level up. We would set up barbed wire around the trampoline and have no rope barbed wire. Also we would hand out flyers in high school and charge people. We had a whole venue, hotdog stand and merchandise. It was dope, we also gave out our own videotapes.”
On his first hardcore spot:
“It wasn’t light tubes, they came later. I would say barbed wire. I’ve been thrown off the roof of my house, chokeslam through tables on fire. I loved it when I got hit with barbed wire. My brother always had to win, so he would take things so seriously. He would whip me so hard with that barbed wire and I got tangled in it. But I’m alright, that sh*t is cool.”
On not going to the hospital ever:
“It’s a pride thing. I take pride in not going to a hospital unless I really have to. I want to be able to take my pain tolerance to be top notch. If I go to the hospital every time, it’s going to mess with me mentally. I would never go when I was a kid either.”
On going to prison and nearly dying in the ring:
“I would have loved it [dying in the ring]. But thank God I didn’t. It might sound crazy but thank God I didn’t die and thank God I didn’t go to prison. With prison, I was able to sit down and work out. I also met my Eastern Block Crew. Three guys who would have my back, they taught me sh*t man. I started going to pro-wrestling [before prison] but I was getting tired of it. Once I got locked up I was like man I love this sh*t. When they take it away from you, I was able to figure it all out. I figured out the business and my character. I didn’t need 7 years, I could have had a year or 2 and I would have been alright. But it is what it is. If you rob a bank you’re going to do some time.”
On robbing a bank:
“There was no thinking it through. I woke up one day and I was down on my luck, really down. People were tired of my sh*t and I got kicked out, which is bullsh*t. It was cold out too. Firstly I walked into one bank and I pussied out. So I was walking down the street yelling at myself, went in the next bank and robbed that motherf*cker. Then I changed my clothes and as I am leaving there is a cop there. I walked right past him and walked down the street. The plan was I didn’t want to go in there and getting caught without spending the money. I know I am going to get caught but I want to enjoy it. Even if I had a mask on, people were eventually going to know. I never had jailtime before this, but I knew it was going to be for a couple of years.”
On process and aftermath of the robbery:
“I had a note saying ‘Give me the money, I have a gun.’ I thought I was nice until I had to yell at the bank worker. I felt bad doing that. The lady quit her job after that, which I feel bad about. The attorney I had didn’t argue anything. The first time I went to court I never got the details [interview with police, report etc]. The attorney is cutting deals, and it’s sitting on his desk. I’m looking at it and I’m like I didn’t say that or that, I’m freaking out. I’m not taking this deal, I didn’t say I was going to shoot the bank worker. They came in and cuffed me, got me out of there. I’ve never been in trouble before, and they wanted me to take this 5 year deal. I’m like can I get 3, they don’t give me the deal.”
On his first night in prison:
“It sucked. The first night they put you in this tank, it’s a cell that’s holding 20 people in their first night too. It takes 24 hours to get you to a block. I just laid there and fell asleep. People left me alone. I had my weight up so no one messed with me. 24 hours later I grabbed my sh*t and they out me in the murderers block. I was myself, stayed quiet and all of a sudden my sh*t is on the news. I never ran into any trouble, because I was lifting those weights hard. Also I never backed down, I have no problem dealing with that.”
On how he gets ready for events:
“On show day I definitely turn it up a notch. Then we are ready to f*cking wrestle. On show day, I start zoning in and thinking about the match. This day and age, the deathmatch guys are tough! In tournaments, every round someone is an animal, especially GCW.”
On what scares him:
“Heights. I hate heights. Also I love life and death scares me. I am getting older and with life you never know. I do get yearly check-ups at the doctors, the last one was great. The doctor thinks I am insane though, especially with all the cuts. All of my cuts are hard way [no blading]. I was trimming my nose and it got caught, that killed. I’m fine with light tubes and barbed wire but that hurt.”
On when he decided to go back to wrestling after prison:
“Right away, that’s why I was training so hard on the inside. Couple of months down the line, I was like yeah lets do this. I scream 326 because that’s my boy who taught me everything. The guy is locked up right now, but he taught me how to lift, diet and train. He was a natural athlete. He was on the high school football team. I remember he told me this story that he smoked crack in the bathroom before a college football game on ESPN. The cameras are in his face and he was like never again.”
On critics of the deathmatch style:
“I understand what they are saying and I get it. But I just think it’s another art form of wrestling. I’m pretty sure back in the day when Dusty was bleeding, people were saying this isn’t wrestling. When guys started high flying, people were probably saying sh*t about that. I don’t listen to the critics. I am easy going, when I went to prison I learned patience. I’m also not big on the internet, becasue there are a lot of haters on there. They are keyboard haters that say sh*t, but if you meet them they won’t say it to you.”
On nearly killing David Arquette:
“My wife was like you’re on TMZ! He needed to stick to the script, but he went off of it. It wasn’t my fault, I know how to do things to take care of my opponent. I think he got scared, but relax, you’re not the first guy. We had the discussion, it’s entertainment. I’m not going to cut you badly if you stand still and relax. He spun when I had the glass in my hand, it went in his neck. In my head I thought I killed him. To get the glass, I had to go in the back and I saw Chris Hero. Man, I hadn’t seen him in ages but I saw him in the middle of the match. I think David was just doing it for the documentary. I went out and explained it to him the night before at a steak house. He wanted to do fire, I said no, it’s dangerous. I tried to explain that all of this is real. I think when I turned it up a notch he thought I was shooting on him. But what do I do, take it easy on the actor? I treated him like I treat everybody else.”
On trying to get paid for the documentary:
“He has called my house a couple of times where he used the footage for the documentary. I asked for some money and he told me he didn’t give out money for documentaries. He kept calling and his wife called [who produced the documentary]. I’m like when are you going to pay me? You used my footage and will make money from the documentary. Instead of money, they sent me a king sized mattress. It’s a little weird. I’ve still not opened it to this day.”
On if he could keep going into his 50’s:
“I don’t see why not, but I am a day by day kind of guy. We will see if I survive one if I can do another one. This is in my blood and I plan on doing it until I can’t anymore. I hope that when I can’t go no more, I can find a job in wrestling and I can stay in the business all my life.”
On what he is grateful for:
“My wife, the people I’m surrounded by and my health.”
Featured image: PW Ponderings
