The Most Successful graduate...

PRO WRESTLING HERO of the WEEK
KAFU

He is constantly on the road. Good things happen to those that dedicate themselves.

IDIOT OF THE WEEK
Nancy Grace


I don't mean to pick on Nancy because there could have been so many other mainstream media people as idiot of the week. I just think the media and the industry are going about the Chris Benoit tragedy in the wrong way!


When it comes to the most successful graduate in APW Boot Camp history, that is a choice where no matter who you name, you might not be wrong.

SPIKE DUDLEY
You certainly can't go wrong with Spike. Spike has been in a major promotion since late 1996. Against the wishes of many a wrestler in APW and many a trainer in APW, I forged ahead and pushed a 150 pound wrestler because I thought he had ability and I thought he had heart. ECW mad him a bumping machine but they could have gone in a different direction with him cause he can flat out wrestle. If you said he is the best wrestler to graduate from APW, you might not be wrong. If you said Spike has been the most successful, you may not be wrong with that category either.

CRASH HOLLY
We re-trained Erin O'Grady and helped market him to the point of getting him booked in ECW and then because of some footage that had caught the eye of Jim Cornette involving Vic Grimes, Erin received a tryout with WWF. After one of the best tryout matches in WWF in 5 years, Crash and Vic both received developmental contracts. Crash went to Mexico for a short stint and wound up on television as the cousin of Bob Holly, Crash. Crash was by no means one of the top 5 graduates in terms of in-ring ability although he was right up there. What he always delivered was entertainment and I think he proved that with his run as the 24/7 champion.

VIC GRIMES
Vic was one of the top graduates and was a hardcore wrestler who could actually wrestle but preferred not to. The guy is actually lucky to be alive today as I am not too sure he was supposed to survive the fall from the scaffold. That fall could have had a similar result as the fall Owen Hart had. Is he one of the top 5 graduates in the history of APW. Maybe, maybe not but he sure had a pair. Many will say his pair was not that big but Vic didn't make wise choices. I certainly know he could wrestle.

MICHAEL MODEST
The politician! I gave him the name "Natural One" because everything came natural. I had never seen anyone so out of shape top everyone under the roof when it came to cardio. He was born to be a wrestler. If some of you think I am a carny. He is my carny nephew although I feel he was a much better carny than me and probably belonged wrestling under the carnival tents when wrestling first started in 2005. That guy could sell a fridge in Alaska. He knew how to play the wrestling game to the highest level. Was he one of the top 5 graduates? He had 4 years of success in Japan! But his career ended in an abrupt manner and he can't seem to make a living at the game anymore. Sad!

BOBBY QUANCE
I sure would have loved to see this guy stick with pro wrestling and build a body. He just might have been the best wrestler in the history of the APW Boot Camp. He probably deserved the nickname "Natural" moreso than Modest. This guy could mat wrestle, he could fly with the best of them and it was an artform with him. If you didn't know any better, you would have thought he was a former gymnastic athlete prior to pursuing pro wrestling. He went to the Inoki Dojo and enjoyed great success there including a tour of Japan before joining the Marines. Bobby was young. Don't count him out of the wrestling game quite yet. He gets released from his duties at the age of 28 and he might come out with a very good look and since he is a natural, it wouldn't take him long to get the rust off. Where does he stand in BOOT CAMP history?

JJ PEREZ
Size and a nagging neck and back injury have prevented this guy from making a living in pro wrestling. He and Bobby Quance might go down as the top 2 technicians to graduate from the Boot Camp. Perez has had bad luck with a neck injury twice now. He has been the dependable guy you put in the opener cause you know he'll give you a good one or you can put him in the ring with an A. J. Styles and bring out the wrestler in A.J. J.J. might be the best low-risk little guy in the business. I have never seen anyone his size have success without the daredevil in him. JJ takes his risk when doing cross bodies from the top rope into the ring but yet can't shake the injury bug.

CHEERLEADER MELISSA
Certainly the best female in the history of the APW Boot Camp. Melissa is in a similar situation as Kafu. She is booked so often and needs to travel out of state for almost all her bookings and has had many International bookings as of late, it is really hard to get her on an APW live event. It amazes me to see the stubborness of major promotions when they choose the models over the wrestlers that can wrestle. As good as Trish Stratus was in WWE as a wrestler, and there is no question she was the best ever in WWE, she only wrestled the U.S. style of women. The ChickFight and Shimmer style of female wrestling is so much more physical than the brand of wrestling seen on national television today. There is now lots of competition on the female Indy circuit today but whenever they talk about the top females, you always hear the name Chearleader Melissa!

KAFU
For those that are laughing, you can stop. I am dead serious! He may not be a great athlete and in many ways is very similar to John Cena. He has every other tool that one needs including knowing how to conduct himself in a locker room and understanding the importance of doing something the bookers want - NO QUESTIONS ASKED! Heck, the young guys today will make their pro debut and question what the booker wants out of him and suggest his way of doing so. He has been the best in APW at keeping his mouth shut, ears open and absorbing like a sponge. He is well like everywhere he goes and that is probably one of the reasons, WWE likes him, TNA likes him, Puerto Rico has given him a regular gig without requiring him to live there. They actually fly him in every other week for a couple shots. He has been to Mexico and only finances kept the promotion from continuing to bring him back on a regular basis. He is in solid with NWA Pro because of how he conducts himself, his look and attitude. I wish the guy could spend more time in the ring but I can't see how with his schedule. He still works a 40 hour a week job as a Civil Engineer. I thought we had him next gym wars because it falls on a week where there is no Puerto Rico and I find out he is in New York Saturday for NWA Pro and the next night in Las Vegas for the same promotion. It is still early yet but I don't feel I am going out on the limb if I said he might end up being the most successful graduate and if not, he is certainly the most complete and well-rounded graduate in the history of the Boot Camp.

There is such a strong group in APW right now, some graduates and some not but I predict huge results from our current wrestlers and our next group of guys that will be making their pro debuts in the next 6 to 18 months.

What are your thoughts?