(Butch): Guys, can you give me a few minutes to see my wife and daughter first, and then I’ll do the interviews and photos. We’ve invited you into our home so I’d appreciate some courtesy before you start ramming questions and schedule times down my throat like tequila shots on a Stag Night.
The throng of people immediately disperse, getting the odd glare from Wisdom who warms up to Butch straightaway, her glare melting into a loving smile as she plants a quick but passionate kiss on Butch’s mouth.
(Butch): Sorry I’m late hun, missed my exit on the freeway so I had to double-back on myself and then the traffic was a damn nightmare.
(Wisdom): I told you, it’s fine babe, these guys are on our time remember. Now give your daughter a cuddle.
Butch grins and holds his baby girl under her armpits before cradling her in his massive bicep, planting numerous kisses on her soft cheeks.
(Butch): Hello darling! How’s daddy’s gorgeous little angel doing today? Have you been behaving for mummy? Daddy missed you, yes he did!
Wisdom smiles and giggles at the site of Butch cooing with their daughter.
(Wisdom): You were away for 2 hours…
(Butch): So? I miss her when I go to the bathroom!
Butch turns back to his baby girl and blows a big raspberry on her chubby baby cheeks which draws a smile from her. He gives her one final big kiss on her baby button nose before he hands her back to Wisdom.
(Butch): Right, I suppose I better get on with these questions then. You back to mummy sweetheart.
15 minutes later…
Butch is sat in the living room, sitting across from a young man, mid-to-late twenties, short, cropped blonde hair and a well-built physique – not the stature of Butch’s but still fairly impressive. He had the look of what Butch’s dad often referred to as a “carpet carrier”, someone who did so much weights and drank so much protein shakes that the way they walked, they looked like they should have two rolls of carpet held under their arms. Thinking of it in his head, Butch fights the urge to laugh; instead he covers his tracks by clearing his throat.
(Interviewer): Well, Mr Parker, I-
(Butch): Butch.
(Interviewer): I beg your pardon?
(Butch): Butch, call me Butch.
(Interviewer): Ah, thank you, very well then. Butch, we’re just going to start off with some questions regarding the way you keep yourself in shape, how you’ve found life since re-joining HWA and what it was like coming back after a long hiatus and to the current goings-on in HWA at the moment. Are any of those topics uncomfortable for you to talk about?
(Butch): No, that’s fine, bash on.
(Interviewer): Great. Well, for starters, it’s obvious from your near decade-long tenure in HWA, you’re in fantastic shape. We’ve all seen over the years you working out in your personal gym for hours, even days on end to prepare for your matches. But I have a feeling what we’ve seen only scratches the surface. What exactly is it that you do that allows maintaining such a massive size but still staying so lean and fit?
Butch takes a brief moment to take in all aspects of the question before he answers.
(Butch): It’s pretty much what you see in the video clips to be honest, except on a larger scale. I always start off with a four-mile run along the beach in the morning. Before, I used to run around my hometown of Dunfermline which was roughly the same distance. I do what I call ton-up which is one hundred exercises, consisting of twenty push-ups, twenty crunches, twenty squat thrusts, twenty tuck jumps and twenty star jumps and I do five repetitions of that.
(Interviewer): And that’s just a warm-up?
(Butch): Yeah. It’s a good way to get your cardio going and the blood pumping around the body before you actually start your exercise routine. I’ll normally switch between weights, working on my punch and kick combinations on my heavy bag. Depending on if Wisdom is home or not, I’ll work on my jiu-jitsu and my suplexes, repeating over and over again the moves which I’ve not done in a while or that need tweaked.
(Interviewer): Now, you mentioned jiu-jitsu and kicks there. We’re all aware you’ve got a background in some aspects of mixed martial arts but what exactly is that background?
(Butch): I’ve trained with several famous MMA fighters in my time. Sometimes it’s to prepare me for my own matches or specific opponents, other times it’s helping them prepare for their own fights. For example, I helped George St-Pierre prepare for his latest title fight with Nick Diaz; more specifically his wrestling and striking. I train with Frank Mir; he helped me earn my brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and he actually helped me prepare for my last match with Talon Wilkinson.
(Interviewer): Wow, is it true Ronda Rousey has approached you to assist her in coaching on the next season of The Ultimate Fighter?
(Butch): Yeah, but I’m afraid I had to decline. As you’re probably aware, Wisdom is in two minds as to whether to take Dana up on his offer to join the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Division. I don’t think it’d be appropriate, because if that does happen, it would involve me assisting a fighter who could end up fighting my wife. But I wish Ronda the best for the season, I’m sure she’ll do great.
(Interviewer): And you do Kickboxing as well, don’t you?
(Butch): I earned my second Dan black belt in Freestyle Kickboxing in 2011. I’ve been training with a variety of different clubs in Scotland since 2004 from my hometown club of Fife Kickboxing and Self Defence Academy, the Wolf Pack Martial Academy in Edinburgh and the most prestigious being the Sansum Black Belt Academy in Elgin. There I trained under Grand Master Lee Sansum, a former SAS soldier and bodyguard for Jean-Claude Van Damme.
(Interviewer): So it seems you’re pretty regimented in your exercise and fitness regimes and martial arts has had a major influence on that.
(Butch): Absolutely. The principle fundamental for any martial art is discipline so having studied kickboxing and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for near enough fifteen years altogether, I’ve been pretty much indoctrinated with all those values. Don’t get me wrong, wrestling will always be my first love and I always had that confidence in my abilities in the ring; I always knew I could hold my own in the ring with anyone on any day. But when you multiple dimensions to your game, it’s like adding a laser scope to a sniper rifle or a coat of poison to a sword; you feel like nigh-on invincible and your confidence skyrockets.
(Interviewer): So from a fitness perspective, you would recommend martial arts to anyone looking to get in shape?
(Butch): Most definitely, it’s a great alternative to the gym and can be much more rewarding too instead of spending half an hour on a treadmill.
(Interviewer): And do you think you’d be the professional wrestler you are today if not for these other parts of your repertoire you’ve added.
Butch shakes his head emphatically.
(Butch): Definitely not! When I first entered HWA, I was just beginning my kickboxing training and I would never have dreamed of incorporating roundhouse or spinning kicks into my arsenal. I mean, yeah I did basic MMA training when I came over to the States from Scotland when I was sixteen but I was already quite a proficient striker anyway so I didn’t really feel the need to better that aspect of my game at that time. I practiced basic submissions like sleeper holds, sharpshooters, figure fours and the like but it wasn’t until Frank Mir started teaching me BJJ that I started to implement rear-naked chokes, armbars, Omaplatas, even the Gogoplata which I modified into the “Suffocating Sight. I mean I even used my refined submission skills to give Talon Wilkinson his only submission loss which, for me, speaks volume.
(Interviewer): Indeed. Moving on, you touched on when you first entered HWA back in 2004 which seems like an eternity ago now. You’ve had your fair share of ups and downs it has to be said; you’ve left, you’ve come back and left again but how did it feel coming back after what you and Wisdom felt like was going to be the last time you’d step foot in a wrestling. Has it been the same as it was before? What’s changed?
(Butch): Before was different. When I left before there were contract disputes and the psychological issues after the messy business Wisdom and I had with Dredge. The last time really was meant to be the last time. I wanted to retire, Wisdom wanted to retire. We’d gotten married and found out she was pregnant, we were set and of course, the rest is history and here I am. As for what’s changed, some things have, some definitely haven’t.
(Interviewer): Such as?
(Butch): Senester’s still psychotic; Bryan Deas is still demanding title shots left, right and centre, the sodas in the vending machines are still ridiculously overpriced in every arena we go to….
There is a shared laughter between the interviewer and Butch before the latter adopts a more serious tone, his smile not fading entirely.
(Butch): Seriously though, some things really haven’t changed. The fans are just as noisy; the atmospheres are just as electric, going from arena to arena, things like that.
(Interviewer): And things that have changed?
(Butch): Well, the first obvious thing in my eyes was the roster, it’s changed dramatically.
(Interviewer): How so?
(Butch): Well, if you think how large it was and how competitive the divisions were even just a couple of years ago and compare that to now, there’s only a handful of what would you call “Originals” left. Before I moved on and decided to retire, we had the likes of me, Hans, Dragon, Ronnie, Eddie, Talon, AC James, DNA, Logan, Heinrich, Buff, The Archangels, Dante’s Inferno and loads more all vying for the spotlight. You look at what we’re down to now and there’s only a select few that remain. It certainly makes the divisions more interesting don’t get me wrong and there are newer faces that have come along that have given the HWA a new lease of life.
(Interviewer): And would you place Michael James in that bracket?
Butch bears an ironic smile and snickers ever so slightly.
(Butch): Professionally, yes. As I pointed out a few weeks ago, he’s started out on a similar path to me when I arrived on the scene in HWA. He made a big impact on his debut, he’s grabbed people’s attention, he’s got a little undefeated streak going and he’s won a title in his first couple of months being here.
(Interviewer): You sound a lot more respectful of him than you’ve been the past couple of weeks, Butch and a lot more respectful than he’s been towards you.
Butch sighs and gives an indifferent shrug of his shoulders.
(Butch): I do not doubt his in-ring abilities; I never called them into the question. He’s obviously a very talented guy; otherwise Senester wouldn’t have signed him but don’t mistake my admiration for me liking him. Make no mistake, I don’t like Michael James. I’ve been around the professional wrestling industry nearly twenty years; half of that spent in the HWA so I’ve come across my fair share of enemies who’ve maybe taken things to a personal level but there’s always been that respect. Michael Dredge and I probably had one of the most personal and bitter rivalries in HWA history. I won’t go into detail about what he put Wisdom and I through because its common knowledge and it’s in the past but throughout all the heinous acts he carried out, there was respect. You may have had to dig quite deep to find out but it was there. Look at AC James, the man who tried to murder my nephew and usurped my second reign as HWA World Champion. He took our rivalry to a whole new level but we always respected what each other was capable and I still maintain to this day that he was the most worthy opponent to defeat me for a title. I mean come on, even after everything Senester and I have been through over the few years. He may like to shine his magnifying glass down me and watch me squirm but even he has respect and knows more about it than anyone.
Michael James is a disrespectful, sanctimonious, bottom-feeding piece of shit that isn’t fit to lace the boots of anyone on this roster. He came in as a nobody and I mean a nobody; you’d have to go on YouTube to find a clip of one of his last matches and even if you looked hard enough, it would end up being some crappy pixelated farce recorded on someone’s cell phone. He beat a couple of guys that Senester knew he could beat to give him a little confidence boost and make him look good. He then pulled a Dolph Ziggler on Judas Mercury and somehow thinks he’s on top of the pile.
Not only is he disrespectful but he’s disillusioned. He says my name in passing and dismisses my accomplishments like I’m an old man sitting in a nursing home, waiting to die whilst trying to recall the glory days of World War Two. And then he starts making stuff up about what I’ve done in a bid to make himself look cultured, like he’s a HWA superfan who could probably name you every single titleholder of each belt since before even Buff arrived on the scene. But the biggest mistake he made was insulting both my wife and my daughter. That’s a line you do not cross and that’s what sticks in my craw the most, more than his pathetic jibes and attempts to interfere in my matches, more pathetic than his disillusioned fantasy of being friends with Senester.
(Interviewer): So do you foresee yourself challenging him to a match eventually?
(Butch): I have nothing to prove to Michael James; the only personal gain I’d get from beating him would be personal gratification from shutting his mouth but there are plenty other ways of doing that. Whether I face him in a match is entirely up to Senester and Ms Shevington. If they decide that James and I facing each other is a good enough draw then so be it, if not then it doesn’t matter.
(Interviewer): So you’re saying there's not a small part of you that wants to get Michael James in the ring?
(Butch): Despite what Michael James thinks and irrespective of my comments on him today, he is not the centre of my universe. I have a match at Havoc which I’ve been preparing for amongst other things.
(Interviewer): Speaking of which, we’ve just received word that your Havoc opponent, Steven “Fallen” Angel, has just addressed you quite vehemently. Let’s roll the footage.
The two turn their attention to the widescreen television in Butch’s living room which has been synced to HWA dot com. Fallen shortly appears on the screen and makes his speech. As the scene fades to black, the interviewer for Men’s Health turns back to Butch.
(Interviewer): I know it doesn’t pertain much to the topic of our magazine but my editor would kill me if I didn’t get your thoughts on what Fallen had to say there.
(Butch): Fair enough. To be honest, there’s no change to Fallen’s banter and the way he conducts his promos. There’re always promises to inflict incomprehensible amounts of pain and punishment on his opponent; he’ll be in some crypt with smoke around him or he’ll be making out with a gravestone; he’ll find some way of bringing up Michael Dredge for some reason. Apart from that, there were a couple of interesting points made that grabbed my attention.
(Interviewer): Care to elaborate more?
(Butch): Well he wants me to make sure he has my undivided attention and stop messing with Michael James….pretty rich for someone who’s spent the last three days engaging in a verbal sparring match with that same person, don’t you think?
The interviewer accepts the point with a nod of the head as Butch continues.
(Butch): He also remembers what I did to his stablemate Legion back at Ring Master a couple of years ago and seems to have revenge on his mind. I mean I did nearly end the man’s career in a blood-drunk-fuelled demolition and normally I couldn’t blame a man for harbouring vengeful feelings. But what Fallen seems to have forgotten is that my attack on Legion was instigated thanks to Legion being the man responsible for paralysing my nephew Sean Parker right when his career was just starting. But hey, if Fallen wants to use my attack on Legion as motivation for our match, I say go for it.
Make no mistake though, I’m not underestimating him, there isn’t an opponent on the planet I’d underestimate and considering he just beat Buff Bridges last week, Fallen is probably the last man I’d place in the category of underestimation. However if he wants to make him believe he’s serious, I’m afraid he needs to do a lot better. If he thinks promising to push me to my limits and to inflict endless amounts of pain on me is going to instil any sort of fear in me, he’s gravely mistaken. Fallen is a crazy competitor I’ll give him that and he isn’t scared of anyone and has a drive to succeed that takes some topping but he’s never faced me before. David Willyard was right to warn him that beating me will be no easy task. My advice to him is to stop telling me what I should be preparing for and start listening to some of his own advice and maybe, just maybe he might have a chance of lasting in the ring with me.
(Interviewer): We’ll wrap it up there if you don’t mind, Butch? We’ll let you see the full recording later on after your photo shoot and if there’s anything you don’t like the sound of, we can edit it or take it out completely.
(Butch): No problem, thanks very much.
The interviewer and Butch both climb to their feet and shake hands briefly as Butch heads over to see Wisdom, their daughter still in tow. Wisdom smiles and gives Butch a quick peck.
(Butch): How was that then?
(Wisdom): Great, babe, really great.
(Butch): Honestly? I didn’t prattle on about that dickhead James did I?
(Wisdom): With all the smack he’s been talking about you, I think it’s more than he deserved. Anyway, that’s enough breath wasted on that scumbag, you’re due your photo shoot now.
The two make their way towards a cleared area of the living room where a camera crew await Butch’s arrival for the Men’s Health photo shoot and the scene fades to black.
Message Thread
« Back to index