SMOKE SIGNALS
An Interview With Johnny The Bull

Smokey: I remember Page and I talking about how you looked like Robert DeNiro and he approached you. How long had you been in wrestling at that time?

Johnny The Bull: Not very long really, I had been working as a personal trainer for a while but was training in the ring for the first time.

Smokey: Which leads us to one of the most asked questions…where did you come from?

Johnny The Bull: (laughs) I was raised here in Atlanta, and really had bounced around, and was heading in the wrong direction when I made the decision to get into wrestling.

Smokey: Were you an athlete in high school?

Johnny The Bull: I played football, but never wrestled. I got a little screwed up and left my house at 17 and was on my own. The streets are tough and I got mixed up with the wrong people.

Smokey: A Piasan on the streets of Atlanta? What's that like?

Johnny The Bull: It's a big city and all big city have the same things going on in the streets, it doesn't matter where you came from. I grew up fast, too fast. I got jumped and stabbed when I was 19 and that was enough of a reality check to make me look at changing the direction I was in.

Smokey: Is that when you got into wrestling?

Johnny The Bull: No that was a little later, I worked as a personal trainer and picked up nights at a bar as a bouncer before I made the decision to go to the tryout at the Power Plant.

Smokey: Were you a wrestling fan that had the dream to someday get into it?

Johnny The Bull: I was a wrestling fan but never really thought about being in the ring when I was watching as a kid. My favorites were Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior. I really liked the Warrior's energy and charisma, but once I got into high school I was into other things…music…girls. I started watching again when I got back into training. Some of the guys thought I should look into going to the Plant.