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In this series, I aim to interview some of the top writers here in Sportskeeda as they talk about what drives them in the world of wrestling and share their insights. Last week, I had interviewed Phillipa Marie. This week, we come to yet another extremely talented individual.
Over the last two years, there has been one writer at Sportskeeda who has made a name for himself in the world of wrestling — not by wrestling a match, but by writing about it.
Join me, as I talk to one of the leading interviewers and writers in wrestling today as he talks about the crazy world of WWE, how he decided to cover himself with tattoos, how he stumbled onto wrestling journalism, and his leading talk show, Dropkick DiSKussions where he interviews some of the top wrestling talent in the world. He also talks about interviewing top stars Diamond Dallas Page, Triple H, Chris Jericho, and more, all to spread a message to wrestling fans to enjoy the immense array of wrestling content available in the world today.
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Without any further ado, let me introduce to you, Gary Cassidy.
Gary Cassidy talks about ICW and more
AB: Before we head into this, would you like to talk about who you are to the readers? Who is Gary Cassidy?
GC: “I’ll start with some boring stuff! I’m a 29-year-old guy from Glasgow, Scotland, which is in the UK, for people who do not know Geography. Basically, for my day job as I like to call it, I do subtitles for broadcast television. But the more interesting part is I speak to wrestlers and write a lot about wrestling as well. I like to say I’m a wrestling fan who just likes writing as well. I’d like to think that I have a little bit of a talent for writing, so it’s a bit of a hobby where I do something which I like doing!"
AB: What helped you to become a fan of professional wrestling? Was there any moment that resonated with you as a fan?
GC: “I keep trying to think back, but I can’t actually think of what it was that made me like wrestling. There’s no moment that’s like, ‘Oh! That’s when I did it!’ When I was 3 or 4 years old, I remember having wrestling toys. Wrestle buddies they were called, and you would use them to wrestle yourself of Hulk Hogan, Macho Man, Ultimate Warrior. Later I had figurines. The earliest memory I actually have, I think there are moments when nostalgia hits and I’m like, ‘Oh I remember that!’ But really, my earliest memories were watching WCW and ECW and the Attitude Era after that. From then on I’ve been hooked. But that was when I became a fan for the first time. But I think for me it was how those characters wrestled with a little bit of face paint and charisma, and that hooked me straight away. I’ve always loved the band Kiss, that and wrestling went hand in hand. Everything that was a performance or theatrical, I was very interested in that. Since then I’ve been watching wrestling."
AB: We all have our own funny little incidents which we recall when talking about wrestling in our own lives. What are some of yours?
GC: "Unfortunately, nothing funny has happened to me in terms of wrestling personally. But being a part of the Scottish scene I used to work at a train station. I used to work in a shop that sold pashminas, scarves, that sort of stuff. Nothing interesting happened, but it was a job that paid the bills. But on my day-offs when I was going to University, I would go to the train station to say hello on my way. One day when I was walking by, my friends called me. I went up and he said, ‘Look over there!’ I looked over and there sitting was Rob Van Dam. I walked up to him and got a little photograph with him."
"Another thing that I always talked about, being in Scotland, ICW is the biggest Scottish pro wrestling show. They have been in the light more recently by being on the WWE Network. They always have a show before WrestleMania and pretty much all the big pay-per-views. Afterward, a lot of the clubs in Glasgow tend to show the big pay-per-views of WWE. So you can go watch an intimate show of ICW, and then go watch a WWE pay-per-view. What happens quite often, no matter what matches they’ve been in, no matter if they’ve been through tables and tacks, the ICW wrestlers will come along and watch the same show that we are watching. I think there is nothing cooler than a tiny intimate venue showing WrestleMania on the big screen. The WrestleMania where Seth Rollins cashed in, the crowd inside the nightclub is going insane and so are the ICW wrestlers. I think that particular one – I know he’s been in many – Drew McIntyre was there, just enjoying a beer in this club at Scotland that holds maybe 200 people at the most."
Read on as Gary talks about how he first became a writer, and how his pictures are stolen and used on Tinder.
Gary Cassidy talks about writing and having his pictures used in a fake Tinder profile
AB: How did you end up writing about wrestling?
GC: “I think around about 12 – 13 years ago, I used to do a bit of unpaid work experience for a newspaper in Scotland. That was after I had gotten a degree from my University. Journalism and writing was the one thing that I wanted to do. It was the career that I wanted all my life. One week in, I decided that I do not want to do that. There is too much negativity in the world and it wasn’t my kind of thing. So I moved away from that, and then two things have always gone hand in hand for me – wrestling and music."
"Music… it’s a lot easier to write about music just at a starting point, maybe there’s so much of music out there especially all kinds of rock music. So I managed to get a little gig doing reviews, live gig reviews, album reviews. That lasted a good long while, I did quite a bit of that but it wasn’t really going anywhere. I wasn’t doing many interviews, which wasn’t what I expected either. Then three years ago now, I saw Sportskeeda was looking for writers. I was like, ‘that may be cool. I’ve watched wrestling all my life, I like writing. Put those two together, why not try it?’ I tried it and I feel like I’m quite an ambitious person anyway, but writing about wrestling has lit a fire under me and I really want to keep going with it - Interview as much as possible, write as much as possible. It might never become the one thing I do, because I love my job subtitling as well, but even if this continues as a hobby or as a side gig to the broadcast stuff – writing about wrestling has been one of the most fun things that I do.”
AB: Anyone who follows you know three things. Your pictures are regularly used by fake Tinder profiles, your love for the Download festival, and finally, your lovely cat. Would you like to talk about these three things and elaborate your feelings about them?
GC: "(Laughs) The first one I can say really quickly. It was surprising to me because I’ve never used a dating profile in my life. It’s a little bit of a compliment because someone is using your photos. But every day in my life I go about with a fear that someone could come up to me and punch me in the face right now, not know that I am not that person (laughs). I don’t know what the person using these photos could be saying to these people and that makes me feel like I could get punched in the face at any time! But I try not to think about that. Hopefully it doesn’t happen. (laughs nervously)"
"Download festival for me, well I used to go to a festival in Sweden called Sweden Rock Festival which was incredible. I love music, bands like Kiss, Motley Crew all that playing. Download Festival is a little bit closer to home down in England. I’m in Scotland so that’s 4 hours drive. The festival – not only does it have the music and the bands that you want to see playing every year – they also have wrestling events, like NXT and more recently, NXT UK. I mean, what more could you want? A weekend of music, wrestling, a little bit of beer for me."
"As a kid, I’ve never really had a pet. I’ve had a bird, and I think everyone in the UK has a goldfish – the pets that you have that you don’t really do much with and they don’t really do much, but mind their own business. When I became a teenager, the thing that made me get a cat – WWE was coming to town. They were coming to do a Live Event just outside of Glasgow. We couldn’t get tickets for that. As a trade-off with my parents, we got a cat! It’s funny how things work out! We couldn’t go to the WWE event but I got a cat and we had that cat for close to 20 years – which is a good many years for a cat, but he passed away. So, when I moved out to my own place, I had grown used to living with a cat, so I had to get one. The one that I got is the most affectionate cat – a little bit annoying sometimes as well. I don’t want to insult my cat by saying she’s really annoying (laughs), but a little bit. I would encourage everyone to get a cat."
Continue reading to find out more as Gary talks about Dropkick DiSKussions, talking with some famous wrestlers, and more.
Gary Cassidy talks about Dropkick DiSKussions, Diamond Dallas Page, Chris Jericho and more
AB: So you have been doing an excellent job with Dropkick DiSKussions recently. Would you like to talk about that a bit?
GC: "Thanks for that! For me, I’ll let you in on a secret here. When the people at Sportskeeda asked me for the first time about the Dropkick DiSKussions thing, I felt like I’ll say yes to it, but I asked myself, how long can I go interviewing one wrestler a week? Because there are only so many wrestlers out there. But then it occurred to me, there have been thousands of people who have been involved in wrestling. The list is actually endless! So yeah, that was me being a little naïve at first, thinking maybe I’d get like 3, 4, 5 weeks after this and it will be great. So now, I think it’s been going for maybe nearly 10 weeks now. We have done 9 interviews for Dropkick DiSKussions and interviewed another 5 besides that. We’ve spoken to some great people. I think the first was Lio Rush, who just returned to NXT last week, and it is just so cool having spoken to him 9-10 weeks ago, then seeing him get that pop on NXT was incredible."
"Another favorite was Matt Riddle, just because there’s nothing worse in an interview than having to drag answers out of someone. He was the opposite of that, it was like a machine gun and the guy would fire incredible quote after incredible quote at you. Darren Young and Chris Van Vliet was also a cool one. I’m at the start of my venture of just like interviewing people. He’s done everything, so just like to talk to him… I learnt so much just by him answering my question."
"Other than that, Justin Sysum, Stevie Richards, it’s been great fun doing it, and it’s the kind of thing that never gets old. Even before Dropkick DiSKussions, my first interview was Diamond Dallas Page and when I’d done that, I felt like nothing can beat that. Where can I go from interviewing Diamond Dallas Page? And since then, I’ve had the pleasure of talking to Chris Jericho and even Triple H. For what was only one question, getting to speak to Triple H was insane."
"The most rewarding stuff for me is the Justin Sysum one. Because it’s a UK-based thing, not a lot of people outside of the UK will be really well-versed with his work, but anyone I see on TV, I'm like, "I have so much I want to ask that person.""
"It’s really cool and I’ve been getting quite a good response overall from it. It’s just the kind of thing that I want to keep doing it, and I’ll 100% keep doing it. It’s just a case of finding the wrestlers who are willing to talk to us and I’ll always be there to talk to them."
AB: Do you have a spoiler for us about what we can expect from Dropkick DiSKussions this week?
"The one that’s going to be getting released very soon sometime next week, was someone that I talked to before, well this time blew the last time out of the water, it’s TJP – TJ Perkins. The only ever winner of the Cruiserweight Classic. There’s not been another one. He’s just returned to New Japan. He gave us some news about how long he will be there. Gonna drop an exclusive on Sportskeeda about that. He also talked about his return to Impact Wrestling and expanded on his time in WWE and his relationship with Vince McMahon and Triple H. He was a really cool guy. I know I say this every time, but this might be the best one. He’s done so much great work in representing the Philippines and he is a great wrestler. That one is up there with some of the best that I have done. He gave us a sneak peek into his future there, and I think people will love it."
AB: What’s your favorite part of writing for Sportskeeda?
GC: "That’s one that needs to be a two part thing as there are two parts that run side by side which are amazing about it. Firstly, the people. Working with people like yourself and so many people in Sportskeeda who have a passion for wrestling and a passion for writing whom you can just bounce ideas off of. Wrestling fans are the most opinionated people ever and so are writers. Even the opposite side of that, even if they don’t help, they are helping you by telling you something is a bad idea, which is also great. I get to also talk about wrestling which, I’ve got a couple of friends who watch wrestling, not that many. But in Sportskeeda so many people are always talking about wrestling and you find out news immediately. There will never be a time in wrestling news breaks and you don’t find out about and it everyone wants to write about it, which is just great as everyone is so ambitious."
GC: "Even before that, the interviews we’ve done through WWE! In the past six months, we’ve had Triple H, Toni Storm, WALTER, Kay Lee Ray and Impact Wrestling. So many people have spoken with us. You’ve got to think, I know there have been a lot of interviews, going before all that, but there’s more than ever now. In terms of exclusive content on Sportskeeda, I don’t think there’s ever been more than there is now. For me, being a part of that is mind blowing. The ambition for me goes hand in hand. A lot of people are trying to be a character, but that’s not what we are here for. We can deliver information and make sure that we convey the character that the wrestler is trying to portray. Even just themselves when they are not in character, if we can do that accurately, then we are doing our job well."
"Yesterday, I had an interaction with Noam Dar. That’s just the coolest thing ever… me as a writer buried online by a wrestler from WWE. You try not to mark out for moments like that, but those are just bonuses that come with the job. The reason that came was me writing a piece about someone that I admire in Scotland called Leyton Buzzard. You can just write stuff about what you like about and that will still make you important in the world of wrestling and yes, Sportskeeda is extremely important in the world of wrestling."
Continue as we wrap up and Gary talks about his tattoos and finally the advantage of being a wrestling fan now.
Gary Cassidy talks about his tattoos, WWE, NXT, AEW, and the amazing wrestling content available
AB: You have some of the best looking tattoos I have seen. What are some of your favorites and why are they important to you?
GC: "Thanks again! I’ve not always had good looking ones. Back when I was around 20, I was an idiot and tattooed myself. So it’s been nice moving on from there. A lot of people over exaggerate meanings behind them and stuff, but if I was to get back to why I have them – in primary school, we moved area. Not too far away, around 20 minutes away, but I went to a different primary school. As always, moving to a different school can be tough. I had a tough time at school. When I eventually said to my parents that I was getting bullied a little bit, they moved me back to the school that I was at in the first place. But between primary school and secondary school, it’s a much bigger place. I feel like everyone goes through this… well maybe not everyone, but the majority of people. You go into such a big place like high school and you start to feel invisible. I think that coupled with my love of wrestling and music where a lot of people have tattoos, I think that was my way to stand out and just be me."
"I’ve got everything from reminders of family members who have passed away to Simpsons characters, Disney characters, and even have a Luchador mask tattooed on me to signify my love of wrestling. But if I look back at myself two years ago, man I looked so odd, having less tattoos. I am happy with myself, and writing about wrestling gave me confidence, but having tattoos and stuff that really gives me confidence in myself. It’s not an easy process getting them done by any means. But afterwards it’s really enjoyable to look at and go like, ‘ah, I’ve got stuff I really care about and really enjoy every day on my own skin.’ There’s a lot of wrestlers right now with tattoos like Baron Corbin and Ruby Riott, looking at them on TV you just want to know everything about every tattoo that they have on them. Being a wrestling fan with tattoos, watching Superstar Ink and stuff like that, it’s really cool to get to know their stories. Sadly that sometimes gives it away when they are heel and not talking about that stuff that’s really personal to them. It makes them hard to hate. "
AB: Wrapping up, is there any message you have for any wrestling fans reading this?
"A cheeky one I’d say go to Sportskeeda and read my articles and then go to YouTube and watch Dropkick DiSKussions (laughs)."
"But I think that with every interview with any wrestler that I have, there’s always this one core thing that I speak about is what an exciting time it is to be a wrestling fan right now. The UK Scene is incredible right now. It’s not been this way since at least before I was born. Then you go to America and what a typical week of watching wrestling would follow, it would be RAW, SmackDown, Impact, AEW, NXT, and that’s before you even look at stuff like NJPW, Ring of Honor, MLW, there’s NXT UK, there’s 205 Live."
"There’s so much talk right now of WWE vs AEW, it’s great as a writer. For me, there is no versus. They can compete and they are probably going to compete, but as a viewer and writer, I can enjoy everything if it’s enjoyable. If I did not enjoy it, then I probably would not watch it and not write about it. But for me, if it’s good, then I’m going to watch everything. I would just encourage any wrestling fan, to watch WWE and AEW and everything out there, there’s so much content that there’s something that you are going to enjoy watching. Why would you spend your time talking about something that you don’t enjoy watching? So just enjoy wrestling, because it’s amazing."
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Edited by Lennard Surrao
