An Interview with Robby Douglas: Part 2

In Part 1, I asked Robby about his origin story as a fan of pro wrestling and his love of Indy wrestling. We continue from there.

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10. I'm just curious, have you tried to become a pro wrestler? Are you content just being a fan?

No, not really. I'm super uncoordinated and un-athletic. Plus I'm horrible at multitasking. Which are all things a pro wrestler needs... at least to be good at it. In a hypothetical world, I would have loved to have been a pro wrestler. But... not to get super-religious or anything... I think God gives all of us certain gifts. I was never blessed with the proper genes to do anything sports-related; or at least do them well. As an example: when I break a score of 100 while bowling, I get a sad sense of accomplishment! Haha.

11. You have a social media presence on YouTube, X, Facebook and Instagram. Is it simply to share your love of Indy wrestling or do you have any other goals in mind?

I'm going to circle the runway once or twice before landing, but ride along on this one. When I was a kid and teenager, I loved watching WWF and WCW, as mentioned. But I think televised wrestling... ESPECIALLY the WWE... has become too commercialized. I don't think I've sat down to watch a Monday Night Raw, from beginning to end, since 2018. Out of a 3-hour episode... it became roughly 2 hours and 15 minutes of promos, hype, and commercials... with only around 45 minutes of actual wrestling. Obviously there's variables each week, but generally speaking. So I think that's what started pushing me towards becoming more of a fan of independent wrestling. The huge amount of indie wrestling matches getting uploaded to YouTube also drew me in. Now, circling back to social media: I almost never feature WWE or AEW wrestlers. Not because I hate them or have some vendetta. I just feel they get enough publicity as it is. So I guess to answer your question: I use my social media accounts to try to feature or push the figurative "little guy": the indie wrestlers. The ones who don't usually get as much of the spotlight or attention.

Axton Ray cries out in pain due to Devin Driscoll's half-crab.

12. You've uploaded over 40 videos to YouTube, do you have a favorite match out those you've uploaded?

I've uploaded over 40 videos to YouTube? Oh wow, that's one stat I didn't know. Thanks partner! Hahaha. I'd say I have two favorite matches that I specifically have uploaded. I'm a mild sadist. I love it when a wrestler... especially a good looking babyface or jobber... passes out in a submission hold. Too noble and heroic to submit, but unable to escape or reach the ropes. Really gets my juices flowing, if you catch my drift. That said, an older match featuring Axton Ray vs. Devin Driscoll is a favorite, and a slightly newer match featuring Ashton Day vs. Turbo Lover. Now, a slight bit of irony, in regards to that second match. The finish to the Ashton-Turbo match is the highest viewed video clip on my personal Instagram page by a mile. Thousands of views. Yet the full version of the match on YouTube is, thus far, one of the lower viewed matches on my channel. That's a real head-scratcher for me. In my mind, that seems like a disconnect. But then again, does anyone fully understand social media algorithms or how they work? Haha.

Turbo Lover leaves Ashton Day face down and helpless.

13. You've commissioned several custom videos, what has been your experience with that? Do you have any general advice for people who might be interested in pursuing custom content?

Oh geez. You're about to get a mini-pamphlet on this one. Yes I have, and the experiences are mixed. I've ordered (or tried to order) only from pro wrestlers who do not work in underground wrestling. I guess because there's some wrestlers who don't feel comfortable working for any of the online companies, and they feel safer making a custom video for a party of one or two... as opposed to thousands, potentially. And presuming that content doesn't get leaked, it's less traceable by the big feds. So for me, it's a nice way, in theory, to get custom content from some hot wrestlers who won't work for the websites. Now, circling back to your original question, I've successfully ordered and received three custom matches from one particular indie pro wrestler. Was in talks with a second wrestler about doing one in 2024, and the conversations were going well, until he suddenly quit responding. I'm guessing maybe he got cold feet. He also took some time away from indie wrestling itself a short time later, so it's possible he was dealing with some issues that I know nothing about. Despite getting ghosted at the end, I still respect him though. Because he was absolutely honest and polite throughout the prior discussions. Then, long story short, I was swindled by a third wrestler. He asked that I pay for 50% upfront, which I was nice enough... or naive enough... to do. Needless to say, I never got a single second of wrestling from him.

So my advice to others out there is two-fold. 1) DON'T prepay for anything. Unless there's a lot of trust there, or spending $200 for nothing won't bother you. 2) This one may offend some people, but it needs said. During the initial stages of the conversation, DON'T come off as overly creepy or, dare I say it... overly gay. ESPECIALLY if you're trying to order content from a wrestler who is straight. Over the years, I've noticed there are some bi-gay wrestling fans who are the perfectly bad combination of being overly horny and overly forward. These are usually the ones who don't have a mental filter, and say (or type) whatever comes to mind. These fans... while I'd like to think they only make up the minority of fans... seem to be the loudest, and give the rest of us fans a bad name. Just like the old cliche, it only takes one bad apple to ruin the bunch (and ruin it for everybody). 

Now, with all that said, if you want a semi-real example of how I lead off an online conversation in hopes of eventually getting a custom match, I generally start with something like: "Hi (insert name of wrestler here), my name is Robby. I'll admit that I'm a bi guy, but I think you're a good wrestler. And if you don't mind me saying, I think you're a good looking dude. Would you ever have any interest in possibly making some custom content?" One pro wrestler was so impressed by how polite and respectful I was, he actually direct messaged me back with an audio message, very respectfully declining the offer and explaining why. He could not have been more sweet and courteous about it. While I won't give away his actual name, I'll just say his initials are CT. And I still have his audio reply saved somewhere in my Instagram messages. Now, not all pro wrestlers are this nice. But I can 75-90% guarantee you they are much more willing to listen to you, and maybe even make a custom match for you, if you lead off with respect instead of sounding like a pervert right out of the gate. Build up a good report first, then start talking about kinkier stuff after the relationship has been built up somewhat.

Shane McCall smashes Troy Baker's face into the turnbuckle. (Jobberpaloozer 4: BG East)

14. Obviously, you know enough about underground wrestling to know about me and my blog, how did you get into underground wrestling?

Great question. And honestly, I don't fully remember. I believe I became aware of underground wrestling somewhere around 2005, give or take. As far as how? I don't really remember. Facebook wasn't really a thing yet, and I don't remember seeing much about underground wrestling on Myspace. If memory serves, I used to be a member of several Yahoo and MSN groups that were wrestling related, back when that was a thing. I know the first underground company I became aware of was BG East. I remember loving Troy Baker, Brad Rochelle, and Justin Pierce. Then several years later, another trio of studs... Eli Black, Jake Jenkins, and Austin Cooper... came along. Fun times.

Dirty 'D' bearhugs Joey McCoy (Weekend Wrestling)

15. (A) Several of the wrestlers you've mentioned earlier have appeared in underground wrestling, specifically Weekend Wrestling and WrestleStuds, are you familiar with their work there?

(B) What are some tropes you like and don't like from underground wrestling? What do you want to see more of from underground wrestling?

I'm going to combine the answers to these two questions because, at least for me, there's lots of crossover themes within my two answers.

I'm familiar with Weekend Wrestling and Wrestle Studs. In the first year or two of WW, I bought a few matches. Don't remember the exact amount; somewhere between 1-5 matches. I have yet to buy any WrestleStuds matches as of yet... but that's because the past year has, ironically, been the worst financial year of my life. For various reasons I won't get into publicly. Now, one problem I've had with some of their matches, whether it be a purchase or just watching the preview trailer... and this personal preference dates back to my early underground fandom 15-20 years ago... is when the studs are the heels. I had the same issue with a lot of Johnny Firestorm and Aryx Quinn matches back in the day. And yes, I'm being completely selfish for a moment, hahaha. But because I'm a mild sadist, I prefer for certain studs to be the jobbers getting dominated, not the heels doing the dominating. If you're wondering what triggered this mild rant, haha: I wish Joey McCoy at WW and Matt Houston at WS would job and/or lose more! Now again... while I do get the feeling that other fans would agree with me... I'm smart enough to know that some fans probably prefer them in the heel roles. So I'm by no means suggesting that I'm speaking for all fans everywhere. It's just a personal desire/hope/request of mine. Make those pretty boys suffer (and lose) more!

Now, one major hang-up/hesitation I've had with WW... which is one I've also had in the past with Wrestler4Hire... has nothing to do with the wrestlers getting booked. In fact I usually applaud them for who they're booking. It's how they're getting used... or at least how they have been used. I feel like a fair amount of matches have been way too gimmicky or cheesy. In fact, this is something that I and a friend named Sean chatted with Cole about on Facebook. Cole, to his credit, was very willing to listen, which was greatly appreciated. I respect that.

"Could you imagine buying a car, but them telling you the car has to be returned at the end of each and every day to the dealership?"

As much as I have loved BGE over the years, I (and some others I've spoken with) really wish they would get rid of the own-to-arena system. Or at least provide other options. I know they're trying to cut down on pirating and bootlegging of their products. I get it. But considering there are so many other underground websites these days... most of which that do allow customers to download and save the purchase to their own personal computer or device... I think really makes the own-to-arena system utilized by BG East seem out-of-touch to a fair amount of consumers. Could you imagine buying a car, but them telling you the car has to be returned at the end of each and every day to the dealership? Causing you to go back to the dealership every single morning to drive it again? I know buying a car and buying an underground match isn't quite apples to apples, but it's the best example I can think of off the top of my head.

Thank you for your time and all the effort you've put into your social media. As we wrap up, do you have any parting words for us? Feel free to make any plugs if you like.

Thank you for taking the time to interview me. Great questions. Especially the last few that, for better or worse, made me take soapbox stances that I've been mainly holding in for several years. Hopefully I don't get too much hate or heat for being honest about my thoughts and opinions. I guess time will tell. 

For those who would like to like, follow, or subscribe to any of my content, here are the links. The Facebook group is open to anyone to join, but I keep it a private group to try to prevent spam bots. If any profile seems remotely fake, I don't approve their membership request. That said, here's my links:

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