Dominic has turned his Jiu Jitsu training into a career in pro wrestling.
Absolute Intense Wrestling was once home to wrestlers who are on the big stage today. Names like Johnny Gargano, Candice LeRae, Ember Moon, Adam Cole & Adam "Hangman" Page just to name a few. One of the wrestlers currently in AIW is Dominic Garrini. While speaking with CantonRep.com, Dominic provided some insight into what made him transition from Jiu Jitsu to pro wrestling.
“I was competing every weekend,” Garrini on his days in Jiu Jitsu. “Everything hit me all at once, that maybe I wasn’t happy doing this anymore and wanted to try something different. Pro wrestling had always been a love since I was a little kid, so I thought, ‘Why not try it now?’ It’s going from something that’s completely real to something that has elements of realness, but still has an element of theater to it. The challenge was just finding out how to project that theater element to it. One of the big things in Jiu Jitsu is you’re not supposed to show when you’re in pain. One of the big things in pro wrestling is that you’re supposed to show you’re in pain so the crowd can register it.”
The 2008 High School graduate began his love for pro wrestling by seeing the likes of Hulk Hogan and Bret "The Hitman" Hart on VHS tapes. But once he came into his teen years, he started to discover pro wrestling outside of the WWF realm and caught wind of wrestlers like Kevin Owens, Daniel Bryan, and current NXT commentator Nigel McGuinness.
"My mom bought it for me from Iggle Video. That VHS is still somewhere in her attic. I started seeing guys like Super Dragon, Kevin Steen, Bryan Danielson, Nigel McGuinness and Samoa Joe,” he said. “My entire outlook on wrestling had changed. It was no longer just this TV product, there was this sport element to it that made it look real.”
Garrini had the opportunity to be trained by who some would debate as being one of the best professional wrestlers in the world, Johnny Gargano. He also had the pleasure of being trained by Candice LeRae at the AIW school.
"When I saw Johnny was the trainer, I knew it would be well worth my commute. Johnny trains wrestlers like he’s never seen wrestlers be trained. The things he was showing us were things that a lot of the time traditional wrestlers don’t show. Having two of the hottest stars on the independent wrestling scene as teachers, it was a big advantage to us. People automatically put a lot of stock into our brand because of their brand.”
Dominic feels that being in AIW is the place to be if you are in the Cleveland area. He would state that its not all about the wrestling, but the experience that comes with the show.
“I always tell people, most of the AIW fans aren’t pro wrestling fans, it’s an event. It’s something to do on a Friday night in Cleveland with cheap beer, and guys beat each other up. It’s not even so much about the wrestling anymore, it’s about the experience of being at the show. That’s something AIW has done in the Cleveland area and the more successful indies out there are doing that. They’re cultivating that experience to where it’s more than just a wrestling show.”
The dubbed "Bone Collector", although young in his pro wrestling career is willing to do anything to make wrestling a full time gig. He shared that he is willing to travel any amount of miles to live out his dream.
"The goal is to honestly make wrestling the only thing I have to do,” he said. “I’m on my way to doing that. AIW has been great and given me an extreme amount of exposure that honestly someone two years in should not have. I’m willing to travel anywhere and to take any booking to try to get out there and get seen. No distance is too far.”
Speaking of Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae, head over to our NXT TV spoilers from today's tapings at Full Sail to see what's next for both stars on the yellow-brand.
