Just prior to Christmas, I had the pleasure of sitting down for a chat with Dunkan Disorderly, one of Ireland’s finest talents.

While up here in the North, we’re pretty much deprived of excitement until the WWE roll into town, Dunkan is one of the few to have emerged from the scene. A regular in No Limit Wrestling, as well as their first ever Heavyweight Champion, his career blossomed in 2008. As a part of American Wrestling Rampage, he has competed across Europe, alongside, and against such stars as Test, Gangrel, Scotty 2 Hotty, Sabu, Balls Mahoney, and U-Gene. The growing company has been enjoying much success over the past year, selling out in Ireland in France, and being broadcast on French Television. Needless to say, for a grappler whom I first saw compete in a tiny Hotel Ballroom in Belfast, it’s been quite the Evolution for Disorderly.

Anyhows, enough of the arse-licking, and on with the interview…

You recently completed a tour with American Wrestling Rampage… how did that go?

Unbelievable…it was the best three and a half weeks of my life, probably the most tiring of my life as well, but I’d do it all again in a heart-beat.

Was that much of a change in schedule?

Yeah. I would do a couple of shows a month… with NWA Ireland, No Limit Wrestling, whoever wants to book me, as long as they’re a half-decent promotion. But yeah, this was the biggest so far. I did a tour In March with American Rampage, and that was amazing, but it was just the Irish leg of their tour. It had Sandman, Chris Masters, John Heidenreich, Gangrel and Test, so that was unbelievable, it was huge, but this one was just crazy.

Was it your first time wrestling in, Paris for example?

Yeah, I’ve wrestled in Germany before but I definitely don’t want to go back…

So what happened in Germany?

Joey Cabray, from No Limit Wrestling, said they wanted me to come over for a match. But I had the flu, it was minus five or something like that, and the venue was freezing, horrible. The ring they used was mahogany boards and nobody took a bump. The guy I was working was the shits, and it was just horrible, and then we missed the plane home, and had to stay in a Youth Hostel. Everything that could have gone wrong did, so it was just a bad experience. But France was something else altogether.

The first night in France, was a stadium in Paris and the venue was unbelievable, it was huge. Packed to the rafters, and went live on French TV. Plus it was me and Joey Cabray against Balls Mahoney and Sabu, and that was the first time working with those guys. I was a real big fan of ECW back in the day you know, and watched the tapes of like “Born to be Wired”, so being in the ring with Sabu was crazy, I was still star-struck.

Do you still get star-struck then generally when you work with these guys?

Well, at first I was, yeah on the First tour, but now, not as much, but when I saw Bret Hart, I was awestruck. He was my hero, everyone liked the Ultimate Warrior and those guys, but it was Bret all the way with me. To meet him in the flesh, and be on tour with him, I was a bit of a quivering wreck. Before I went everyone asked me if I’d be worried about meeting Renee Dupree and Eugene and those guys, and I was more nervous about meeting Bret, because I didn’t know what I’d say to him. Where do you start?

Did you get much of a chance to pick his brain?

I spoke to him quite a bit, once we got going and stuff.

Going back to Paris, what where the fans like in France and Germany?

Germany was weird… They didn’t know how to take me. Apparently they’ve only been watching World of Sport and that stuff, and maybe it’s because the rings are so hard and nobody does other stuff…I was working with a guy and wouldn’t say he’s the best worker in the World he’s a nice guy though and means well.

I’ve never worked Germany before, so I went out and did a WWE style match… it was my first time and I wanted to impress. So I did a somersault plancha to the outside… and the crowd laughed. I couldn’t believe it, in any other country it’s a dangerous move – it would get a good response – but here I got a chuckle. I just thought, I don’t know how to work these guys.

In France though it was unbelievable, the fans were hot as hell, and they popped for everything.

Would you say they were knowledgeable or mainly just kids?

Actually, on the first night, there was a bit of a blown hip-toss with me and Balls Mahoney. On camera you wouldn’t really see it, but a small section of the crowd started chanting, “You fucked up”, so yeah there were quite a few smarks out there, but they were pretty easy to work. Over in France I wasn’t Dunkan Disorderly, I was Delicious Dunky D (laughs), I don’t know where they came up with this stuff…

It was me and “Hot Stuff Joey C”, and we were “Team Perfection”, and we came out to “I touch myself”. But it was easy to get the crowd to hate you, pretending you love yourself, plus when you’re in there with Balls and Sabu, you’re going to get heat anyway because those guys are legends.

I was doing the whole Baby face thing for so long, and there’s only so much you can do. So I would try and do some crazy moves to get a pop from the crowd, and win them over. As a heel, you don’t have to do any of that stuff. I was actually talking to Gangrel one time, and it was after my first ever match as a heel. I fought Gangrel, and I did a ‘Rana off the apron to the outside, and I got a standing ovation from the crowd.

So I got backstage, and the guys said… “What did you do that for?” I was like, it’s a big show, I wanted to get the crowd going, and they were like “yeah but after you did that, everybody cheered, and you‘re supposed to be the heel…just do an eye-rake instead!” So as a heel, you don’t have to do all the risky stuff, and it’s so much fun. Plus, you dictate the match, it’s up to you to control it, and call everything. It’s made me a far better worker being a heel.

I love working as a heel. The last time I worked babyface, one night on the tour, was in Dundalk, where all my girlfriend and family and friends came up. So I had to be a face, because they were all supporting me, and I was going to be anyway. I found it hard to get into actually, and then the ‘Ranas and planchas and everything had to come out again, for one night only.

Do you think that it’s something every wrestler should do at some point- work heel?

Yeah…well yeah, definitely. But the only thing is you could probably get a little lazy if you do it all the time and when you work face again get nervous before doing the risky moves again because you haven’t done them in ages! I haven’t worked in Germany as a heel, so maybe I’d have better success there doing that, than last time…

You mentioned Bret Hart being an influence… who were your other influences?

Mmmm…once I came back from wrestling school, and realised what a wrestler actually was, The Hitman was definitely the man. I really idolised him and studied the tapes and I went back to the Stampede era, I got the Best of the Dynamite Kid, and Best of Stampede. Tazz back in the day… because he was “The Suplex Machine”, and he was short like me. I like wrestlers who are tough guys, who look like genuine people. Guys like Shawn Michaels, who wear the earrings, with the sequins; I find it hard to get behind those guys. Chris Benoit, as controversial as that is… once Bret retired, he was the last of that really good, and no nonsense wrestlers who could straight-up have a good match with anybody. Dean Malenko and Rey Mysterio too. There’s not that many people out there today who I idolize really. Kurt Angle maybe, the best wrestler alive today, if you ask me. He gives 110 per cent every time he’s out there.

Is it fair to say then, that your style takes a mixture of those guys you liked, who do the high spots, with those that are more grounded and aggressive on the mat?

Oh yeah, very much so. I pick things up subconsciously, and you don’t really remember exactly where they came from. I thought Dean Malenko’s Leg Lariat was beautiful, so I tried it myself, and I use the Cop Killa as my finishing move. I think I first saw Shane Helms do that in WCW. The thing is to keep on trying to mix it up. Especially as a heel, I took a real look at my style and played about with it, and you have to keep on evolving, you don’t want to do the same match every night. I still look at tapes from shows I did years ago, and I’ll see things I used to do.

It’s a bit like the first time I went to wrestling camp, when I locked up for the first time, I knew exactly what to do, but I don’t how I knew that. I think I subconsciously had been taking it all in when I watched and studied it. I wouldn’t blow my own trumpet or anything like that, but when it came to the first wristlock or hammerlock, I just took it all in.

Online, there’s a lot of discussion and argument amongst fans of the different Irish promotions, especially in regards to Irish Whip, what‘s the story?

There is a bit of bad blood, NWA Ireland and No Limit Wrestling and CPW, there’s no hard feelings with them though, they all use each other’s talent. Nothing personal against Irish Whip, they’ve done nothing to me, but nobody who’s worked for them seems to have a good word to say about them.

Do you think there’s a problem with wrestling here then, not being able to grow?

I think one of the problems here, is that wrestling could be huge here, but certain magazines ignore the stuff that’s going on. I’m a big fan of a British wrestling magazine, I’ve got every issue since issue 11, brilliant magazine, but for a British Magazine they’ve only really endorsed their favourite British promotions. American Rampage Wrestling was huge, selling out 3,000, 4,000 every night and there was not one word about it in the magazine. I think the UK based magazines could do a lot of favours for the Irish and UK promotions if they supported them a little bit more. They could do an article every couple of months on the State of British Wrestling, and it could maybe help out a little bit.

Would you say American Rampage have the younger, home-grown guys as priorities?

Oh yeah, Sometimes promotions seem to lose sight of that, and the home-grown talent. That’s the thing with American Rampage; it was me, in the main event with Renee Dupree, against Joe Legend and U-gene… who’s the odd one out there?

The Irish guys had a lot of hope invested in me, and they wanted to make names of the local talent who work really hard every night. And the established guys should want to elevate the up-and-coming guys, if they think they’re worthy of it.

Is it a different feeling for you backstage as you prepare for bigger shows?

The first couple of nights, truth be told, I wasn’t overly happy. Doing this a couple shows a month, even when I was working with Gangrel and Heidenriech, we talked about stuff we were going to do backstage, you know… shine, cut-offs, finishes, and let the referee know. I like working that way; at least you have an idea of what you’ll do. But on the main events the first few nights, I was just told by the other guys; we’d just work it out when we’re out there. So I then went out to the ring a nervous wreck, just waiting to be told what to do. I felt like a real green-horn… I’ve been doing this a few years, and I can work a decent match, but I would have been felt better knowing a couple things I would have been doing and what they wanted from me.

As it happened, they called everything I should do, and there was nothing fancy, up to the bits I knew what was coming, and all I could do was sell. So I took the best Rock Bottom I could, the best Stunner and I sold like a motherfucker.

Even though the guys backstage said I was doing well, and it was a learning curve for me at the same time, I was thinking though, I’m in the main event, and I know I could do so much better, like if we could plan something, I could do even one half-decent sequence worthy of the main event. So eventually after three nights, something like that, it was me and Joey Cabray in Dublin – he’s my favourite opponent. We’ve fought loads of times, and we went out and stole the show. Joey was the one that got me on the tour, and told me this was the one that we had to nail; it was in front of the French reporters and everybody. It was a blinder, it was so much fun. They announced could everyone stand for the national anthem, and everyone stood up, and then sure enough I came out to…. “God Save the Queen” and I was pelted with everything. Joey came out with a tricolour and got a big pop, and it was the most heated match. Some great pops, near-falls and everything.

He returned the favour to me two nights later, we did a match with the roles reversed Joey heel and me face, and after those matches I felt brilliant again. It was back to the Tags after that, and doing the job. But it was good, because after getting a couple of great matches, you get to learn how all these other guys work, and that was great. Sabu and Balls liked to talk about everything first, and even though they’re way more experienced, they’d be open to suggestions. I enjoyed working that way, and even though I was going out there with them, I wasn’t too nervous, because we had some stuff planned.

Would you say your match with Joey is your favourite career moment so far?

Yeah the re-match in Dundalk, it was my proudest moment, my girlfriend had never seen me wrestle before and even had a Dunkan’s bitch t-shirt made for it and my family all came to support me, and I was the Babyface that night. But yeah those two matches really stand out as the ones that I take as my best matches.

On to something not as good, the December UCW return show, in the Odyssey Belfast that only drew a really poor house…

Well, I used to be part-trainer, booker, owner, but I ended up getting all these offers from other promotions and we all decided to do our own thing. Sensational Sean Scott was part-owner and he was wrestling exclusive to Irish Whip, Frankie Fever was Part-owner, and he was getting engaged and moving in with his girlfriend. The Machine was working for Irish Whip, Bobby Le Harm had nearly broken his back, and I was too busy to think about promoting. So we just ended up deciding to walk away from it.

Then Stevie Shaker, who was a part-owner a few years ago, decided it was time for a re-birth. I told him it was cool if he was using the UCW name and all, but I wasn’t booking it with him, or training or anything I’m an independent worker now. He said okay, but asked me to do the show, and I said of course, because he’s my mate. And I told him I didn’t think it was going to work from day one. He was doing it like a week after the WWE sold out two shows in the Odyssey, so 16,000 wrestling fans were already catered for.

And it was an over-18’s only event…

And that’s another thing; we made most of our money from the kids, from the gimmicks and everything. It’s a nice concept, sounds good, the venue looked the part, and people could go to the show, and get drunk and have a good night out. But I think as well, people can’t afford, with the Credit Crunch going on, to pay £12 in. If people are going out, they usually get a carry-out first, and stay to about 9. This was on at 7, so people would have had to pay at the bar from 7 to 1am. It didn’t make much sense. But then again, nothing ventured, nothing gained. I just don’t think the timing was right. Maybe if nothing else was going on, and a lower price it would have worked. It wasn’t bad and business picked up as the night went on. I think he’ll know next time. I thought they could have got more workers up from Ireland and around the country though.

Do you think up here in the North it’ll be able to get back to the way it was with growing local shows?

Could do, but I think its bad timing, and people are waiting to see the WWE coming over, more and more. I really don’t know, UCW, at this stage, its Stevie’s baby, it’s his project, I’ll come and wrestle for him, If I get paid, I’m happy enough!

Do you see yourself being able to make a full-time living out of wrestling at any point?

I could probably work a lot more than I am, wrestling wise. But to be honest, I don’t think I’d want to. If you asked me ten years ago, I would have given it all up to be a wrestler, travelled anywhere. As years have gone one, I like being able to come back to my normal life, back to my girl friend, family and friends. Those three weeks nearly killed me; literally I nearly broke my back one night in Wexford…

How did that happen?

It was a triple threat match, we had planned U-gene would get Shawn Masters In a headlock, and I’d run at him, and get back-body dropped. So I was running at U-Gene, and he kneeled down, and because he’s a big dude, I was pretty much jumping, and when I went up in the air, I was too far gone to land flat, and too short to land on my back. At the last minute I tucked my neck in, and landed like a Rolling Thunder, right on the top of my shoulders, with my feet over my head. I lost all feeling in my legs. Usually I don’t complain – I don’t feel much because of the adrenalin. But I felt this one right away, and I was in a bad way and started to go into panic mode, but luckily it was a triple threat, and the other guys were able to continue on. But I was panicking. Joey and Jamie got me to the edge of the ring, and on my feet. Eventually I got 40% feeling back in my legs, and wrestled full-throttle for about ten minutes. I don’t know how I did it.

It was nobody’s fault – just one of those things, a freak occurrence. I wrestled to the end of the match, but then just lay there, and the other guys took me to the back. When I got backstage I couldn’t sit down or lay down, when I tried to go to hospital I couldn’t get into the car, so I had to get at a stretcher, and a neck brace to get taken away in the ambulance. In the hospital, I got x-rays, painkillers in the arse, all sorts of shit. I was told it was only torn ligaments, and torn muscles in my back, but I went to my doctor when I came home who had received the x-rays and confirmed it was a compressed disc, It was very painful. The next day was a day off before I went to France, and it was a godsend.

Now I realise why there’s such a pain medicine problem in wrestling, sometimes it’s essential. I didn’t want to miss my spot, and miss being on a live television show, so I banged the painkillers into me.

Well I suppose that’s the positive of you being part-time, and going back to “regular” life, whereas these other guys are stuck in that loop…

Yeah exactly. On the last tour, a former WWE superstar (who I won’t name in case he kicks my ass on the next tour) was in such a bad way. He was really badly wasted on painkillers most of the time because of his neck. I felt so sorry for him, because one day we got him totally clean and sober, and he was such a nice guy. It was amazing to see him this time, because he was totally clean. He came and gave me a hug at the airport, and I was surprised he knew who I was – he’s one of the few success stories when it comes to kicking the addiction. Like, Sabu was wrestling with a broken back on that tour, and he was doing triple jump moonsaults! It’s amazing that these guys do it. I don’t think people sometimes realise with all the drug testing and stuff, a lot of these guys have no choice, and they’re in so much pain all the time…

I don’t think people differentiate when wrestlers are on steroids, or have a painkiller problem…they just hear drugs…

I can understand the painkiller thing. And it’s another thing that soured me on doing it full-time. That’s something else as well, with Chris Benoit, he was my hero for a number of years, and after what happened, and the brain studies…that he had the brain of an eighty-year old man…I’ve had a few concussions in my time, mild ones, nothing serious, but still, even at that, since I’ve heard about that I’ve avoided landing on my head, and taken stuff out of my repertoire.

I do want to be able to live to tell the tale about my wrestling days to my grand-kids. So it’s amazing to go away for three, four weeks, and be a star, and then come home and be normal again.

What’s your opinion on stuff like blading – is that element overdone?

I think there are a lot of things that are overdone in wrestling to be honest. I’ve been guilty of it too. But once you start to work more shows, on more regular nights, you see that you can’t do that every night, you can’t do it on every show, if you do it, and it means nothing. If you save the blading for a special night, or special occasion, it can make sense.

Some guys from the old ECW days feel they have to bleed in every match, it’s as big a part of their acts as anything, and when they don’t do it now, fans feel short changed. I’m cutting it out now, unless it’s for a big show or something that makes sense. Now I did blade, back in January, but that was the night when I lost the No Limit title, and I thought if I was going down, I’d make it look like I went down with a fight – and it was part of an ongoing storyline. But it’s a short-cut, it’s a way to get a cheap pop, but if you can get them on the edge of their seats without that, it’s better.

What type of wrestling that’s out there at the minute, do you enjoy?

I really enjoy Kurt Angle matches, I really do. And I actually enjoy the WWE’s PPV’s. I like that they’ve gone back to a simpler style. They were doing a break-neck pace, in the day of the Dudleys, and Hardys, with the TLC matches and stuff, and everybody was coming down with neck injuries, because the style was so frantic. I like watching a simpler style – Randy Orton, everything he does, he does it beautifully, his facials and everything are there. I like watching workers who don’t really have to do an awful lot, but stand out. I used to go and do crazy sequences, but the more you do it, you learn that the simple stuff can be just as effective. Being a heel now and working with the established guys makes me appreciate that more. Jake the Snake didn’t really do an awful lot…no real high-flying…but he could make a knee-lift mean as much if not more as a top-rope ‘Rana.

One of the best matches I’ve seen in a long time was The Undertaker versus Edge at WrestleMania, and I really liked the story of Shawn Michaels and Ric Flair, even though I’ve never really idolized either of them. It was a straight-up wrestling match, but it was told beautifully.

I enjoy Triple H matches and Shawn Michaels as well. I think they can tell great stories in a hell of a match. Triple H I don’t think has gone to the top rope in his life, but again, he can make a spinebuster mean as much as an Asai moonsault.

The thing with the WWE though, I think, is that the balance is messed up. The young guys aren’t always given the chance to show great storytelling, because they’re told certain things to do, and can only really add in spots…

Yeah, and I’ve had the same thing…

Do you feel pressure from companies to do certain things then?

You kind of do, on the smaller shows and stuff, I would have went out, and thought I had to try and have the match of the night, no matter what. But when you’re with established guys, you have to realise that you have to do things for the better of the show. If you’re opening, you have to warm the crowd up, but if you go out and open with a 45 minute scorcher, with near-falls, or chair shots, fans are going to be dead for the next one. What I’m starting to realise is that each match has its own importance. Sometimes you don’t have to go out and bust your balls, to keep the fans happy, but you will get your chance to do that. You have to work as a part of the team, and work as a team, you can’t go out and steal the show on your own. You could end up affecting someone else’s match.

Is there anyone around you’d really love to work with?

Umm, yeah – Kurt Angle. Randy Orton…yeah…these things will never happen probably. It’s dream world. But yeah, the guys I can just switch off with, and just watch them anytime.

Is there anyone out there in Ireland, you’d recommend to the fans to check out?

Suicide Machine Paddy Morrow. The guy can do anything. He’s light but he’s ripped. He’s unbelievable, he’s so flexible, and he can take anything in the ring. Sean “Maxer” Brennan – he’s got a good look, great talent, great physique, he’s born for it. Joey Cabray, Hotstuff Joey C…he’s a big muscle-bound dude, but he has the agility, amazing repertoire of moves, and anyone can have a good match with him. He’s great to work with. Paul Treacy as well, he’s a great worker. Those would be the one’s I’d say to look out for…and of course myself!

When I went to the UCW shows back in the day, that’s what I noticed – you, and Joey, and Sean Scot stood out from everyone else – you guys were the few that looked the part…

Yeah this is what I kept telling those boys when I was training them. Nobody gives a fuck if you go out there, looking scrawny, wearing shitty gear, and you look like your next door neighbour in Lycra, and nobody will give a shit. You’ll give a bad impression right off the bat, you’re judged off first impressions, and you have to work ten times harder. I think that’s part of the reason why I got booked a wee bit more, because I looked a bit more dedicated. Since fifteen, I hit the gym every day, I really go for it, became a fitness instructor and everything. I watch my diet, and I’m dedicated, and it pays off.

The promoters want to be able to put you on the posters, and not have you look out of place with the big boys. It’s a big part of it, and any upcoming wrestlers out there, I’d say hit the gym, hit it hard, and eat right. Don’t go down the road of steroids; give your body a chance. You don’t get results overnight. It’s far harder to be a natural guy and stick with it, but it’s far more rewarding. There are too many jacked up guys, and you can tell the natural guys apart from the jacked-up workers. You have to get the right gear, again you have to look the part, you need to get a tan and get the body. It’s always been beaten into me since I was young, that you have to look the part. Even on tour, there, you had a work-out before the show, because you were going out there in front of 3,000 people in Lycra. It’s hard to do…but it’s worth it…

What’s next for you?

Next thing is American Rampage Wrestling’s tour of France, Belgium, Switzerland and Germany in March. We’ve got some superstars for this one, not sure if I can drop any names yet cause they may not be 100% confirmed but let’s just say we’ve got a rocker and a one of a kind! Check out americanrampagewrestling.com and you’ll get more details.

Wrestling with U-Gene, Sabu, and travelling with Bret Hart and everyone was such a trip, American Rampage and No Limits have made my dreams come true. These are memories that I’ll take to the grave. 2008 was the best year of my life, because ever since I was a kid I wanted to do this, plus I met the girl of my dreams and she supports my wrestling 100%. I want to thank all the guys, Joey Cabray, Jamie Coleman for giving me the chance to do this. I’m loyal to them. That’s as far as I need to go. I could retire from wrestling tomorrow and look at my pictures of me with Bret and Sunny and Sabu and that’s far beyond what I dreamed I could get to.

It’s amazing to work with all these guys, and rub shoulders with my heroes. So American Rampage Wrestling comes first, I’m loyal to them. But I like being a weekend warrior!

Big thanks to Dunkan for his participation in this Interview, and to Eva for setting it up!

You can find out more information about American Wrestling Rampage, and their upcoming tours at www.rampageamericanwrestling.co.uk. Also, check out www.nolimitwrestling.com for details on No Limit Wrestling.

Thanks for taking the time to check this out. I welcome any and all feedback and I can be contacted at www.myspace.com/michaelwrestlingetc or simply by emailing me at michael@ifight365.com. I look forward to hearing from you, and will be back soon!