If you are a wrestling fan in the state of Florida, there is a good chance that you will meet a tall bespectacled man everyone knows as Neil. He is probably one of if not the biggest supporter of independent wrestling you will ever find. I had the unique experience of meeting him at WrestleBrawl and it was very enlightening to say the least. I took the time to set up an interview because the man just has some very interesting things to say. Here is the interview.

Marcus Pitts: I would like to thank you for taking this time to be interviewed by me.

Neil: It's my pleasure to be on here.

MP: For some of the people who are reading this, what do you do for a living?

Neil: I am a teacher at North Marion HS in Ocala and teach Intensive Reading to students who have failed the FCAT.

MP: Do you ever relay to your students of your interest in pro wrestling?

Neil: I have told stories about different shows I attend on the weekend and tell them there is more than the WWE and TNA.

MP: Were you active in sports when you were growing up?

Neil: I played baseball in high school, junior college, college at the U of Arizona, and then in Mexico for a professional team out of Tucson.

MP: I think I understood from some of your post you have also coached baseball?

Neil: I coached HS baseball for 17 years and college for 5, one which was at the U of Miami in 1980 and we finished 4th in the country

MP: Have you ever coached any big leaguers in your day?

Neil: I coached Mike Pagliarulo who played for the Yankees and Neal Heaton who played for the Indians both off that Miami team.

MP: When did you first get interested in pro wrestling?

Neil: My dad watched a lot of wrestling and got me hooked on it.

MP: How are the mainstream wrestlers from the time when you first started watching changed till the way that wrestlers are today?

Neil: There are more high flyers and cruiserweights now then when I first started to watch wrestling.

MP: What did get you started in watching independent wrestling?

Neil: I saw Indy matches at the Ft. Lauderdale Armory and Hollywood Sportatorium

MP: What promotions have you enjoyed the most since you have been watching independent wrestling?

Neil: I loved IPW, NWA from Florida, and recently Fusion, FIP, RIOT ASW, BELIEVE, and Vintage.

MP: Who are some of your favorite wrestlers in the indies today?

Neil: Bruce Santee is a worker who I always thought had 'it' to make to the WWE as he has excellent ring skills and great on the mic. Frankie Capone has been a favorite. Roderick Strong and Eric Stevens have wrestled in FIP and ROH and I think Nooie Lee and TJ have a lot of skill as well.

MP: You seem to have a special relationship with The Heartbreak Express. How did this get started?

Neil: I am a huge fan of Sean and Phil both because of their old school style of wrestling and as great guys outside of the ring. Sean and I have talked about both our dads who were avid wrestling and baseball fans and hopefully they have met in the afterlife.

MP: When talking tag team wrestling, who do you think have the best chances of dethroning the HBX as arguably the top tag team in Florida.

Neil: The DCFC of Jon Davis and Kory Chavis are as tough as they come and give the HBX all they can handle. The Heavenly Bodies will give HBX a real old school fight on March 6th in Tampa.

MP: You have been a big proponent of Pro Wrestling Eclipse. What was so special about this promotion and why do you think it has such a cult following like it does?

Neil: PWe gave some guys an opportunity to wrestle in front of a live crowd every Friday night even though it was a small crowd with a terrible ring and a horrible building. Some workers to come out of there were Biff, Bobby Fonta, Josh Rayne, Simon Sez, and Eric Cooper who improved his skills there. These guys are wrestling now on a regular basis for at least 3 promotions now.

MP: Who are some of your favorite singles wrestlers around today?

Neil: WWE guys I like are HHH, MVP, who was Antonio Banks in IPW, John Morrison, Dolph Ziggler. Aj Styles I like in TNA and the Motor City Machine Guns. I like Sam Shaw and like I said before Bruce, Frankie, Roderick, and Erick to name a few.

MP: What are your thoughts about Florida Championship Wrestling and why isn’t it as popular as the classic Championship Wrestling from Florida ?

Neil: The original wrestling from Florida was because of the solid wrestling, storylines, the believability, and the CWF with Gordon Solie on Saturdays. They set up the live matches of the week on that Saturday. It was great to watch Dusty, Dick Murdoch, Dick Slater, the Funks, Grahams, and Briscoes as well as Steve Kiern, Hiro Matsuda, Buddy Colt,Boris Malenko, Cuban Assassin and Kevin Sullivan to name a few.

MP: You are so supportive of the Florida indies scene and go to so many different shows. Doesn’t it get expensive traveling here and there every weekend?

Neil: It does get expensive but I love seeing the boys working in the ring and meeting other fans and have become like a family these past few years.

MP: Can you tell us some funny situations that you have seen in wrestling?

Neil: A funny situation occurred when Dusty and Murdoch wrestled the Hollwood Blondes and people threw panties and bras at them. During the match Dusty picked up some panties an shoved them in Jerry Brown's mouth. In the same match Dusty had his trunks pulled down and you could see his crack, a true son of a plumber.lol.

MP: Who do you see as some up and coming wrestlers to watch for in the next few years?

Neil: The up and comers are Biff, Simon Sez, Josh Rayne, and Bobby Fonta.

MP: Do you have anything you would like to say to all the workers and promoters out there in the Florida indies circuit?

Neil: . I want to thank all the workers and promotors for your dedication and all the hard work you put in to put on the best shows possible for us fans.

MP: I would like to thank you again for taking the time for this interview. I would also like to say that wrestling needs more fans like you.

Neil: Thank, I enjoyed it and appreciate it for letting me come on here.

The sport of wrestling could never survive without fans like Neil. If the term of super fan can be given to one person, that would be Neil. The fans love him, the workers love him, and any one that does meet him will be privileged to meet a true gentleman. Thank you Neil for this great interview.