Q&A: North Adams Pro Wrestler Reflects on Career as Last Match Nears
After about 18 years in the sport and the last six or so with Truly Independent Wrestling, Justin Kase will participate in his last pro wrestling match on Aug. 19.
No professional athlete could ask for more.
Day, who performs under the professional name Justin Kase, will climb into a wrestling ring for a final time on Saturday, Aug. 19, when participates in Truly Independent Wrestling's Beat the Heat event at the Berkshire Family YMCA's Northern Berkshire Branch.
Kase made his name in the Boston area in World Wrestling Entertainment's equivalent of the minor leagues and traveled around the Northeast — sometimes sleeping in his car — chasing bouts and honing his skills. He has been thrilling fans in the Berkshires for the last several years with Truly Independent Wrestling, which was founded in 2016.
Kase, or Day, has acquired a few bumps and bruises but has zero regrets as he looks back on a career framed by the squared circle.
Wrestling has given a lot to Justin Day, and he knows the sport has a lot to offer Berkshire County.
"The biggest and most important thing has been helping to get pro wrestling in North Adams," Day said when looking back on what the sport has meant to him. "I was glad when we were at the Berkshire Mall. That's where I met [TIW] and where I was invited to perform."
And when the mall shut down and the wrestling company was in limbo, Day pushed hard to bring TIW's brand of family-friendly entertainment to the Steeple City.
"I grew up at Brayton Hill," he said. "I know what it's like for those kids on a Saturday night. I know the kind of trouble I could get into versus having some entertainment. I went to Greylock School, went to Conte Middle School. Now, having pro wrestling literally two streets away from where I grew up … "
When he was a kid, pro wrestling was something you watched on television or occasionally when a barnstorming group of pros passed through town.
"We would have some WWE people come to North Adams State College for shows," Day said, referencing the college now known as Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. "But it was never anything consistent.
"For a small town like North Adams, having people entertain you who are from the area is more tangible. You say, 'I know that guy. I know that girl.' And they're doing these amazing things. Sometimes, that's more special than seeing larger than life figures you see on TV."
Justin Day shared some of his thoughts with iBerkshires.com as he nears the end of a long and successful road for his alter ego.
Question: I guess the first thing that always comes up in these situations is why now? Why is this the right time to walk away?
Day: Like a lot of other things, if you don't pick the time, the time chooses you, especially with something very physical. I just turned 40, and I just want to try to get out unscathed.
Q: That raises the question: Have you been 'scathed?' Have you had to deal with any big injuries along the way?
Day: I've had some minor injuries over the years. I had a concussion early on, around 2006. Back pain — I chronically displace my back.
And, nothing to do with wrestling, I had a pulmonary embolism in April. I found out that I have a genetic clotting disorder. Even before that, the plan as early as December of last year was to retire in August. That might have been the, 'Yeah, you're doing the right thing by retiring,' moment.
Q: Is it harder for folks like you, who do this part time, to safely train to do the moves it takes to perform than it is for a big-time wrestler?
Day: Those guys are getting paid a significant amount of money — paid full time, travel together from city to city. For us, sometimes you have to make your own way. I have to work a full-time job and find a time to train and keep myself in shape.
My alarm hits at 3:55 in the morning. I'm at the gym at 4:30. Then I got to my 9-5. If time allows, I might go to New York or Worcester or wherever the closest training facility is.
Q: I would think that makes it harder to coordinate moves with an opponent that you're going to face in the ring on a Saturday night?
Day: It's its own skill set. Sometimes, you're even being put in a situation with someone you don't know that you haven't trained with before. You have to think about, 'What is my partner physically capable of? What am I physically capable of?' And you have to put that all together really quickly.
In the big leagues, you get time in the ring to make sure they're good with it. Here, it can be, 'Let's get to know each other really quick so we're probably going on stage in an hour.'
Q: Do you get to communicate with an opponent in the days leading up to a match to talk things through?
Day: The promoter can message me a month before the show and say, 'I want you to work with this person.' I might say, 'Oh, yeah, I know this guy,' or maybe this is someone new. Then you go to YouTube to see if you can find videos of them. Then you reach out to them and say, 'What are you thinking? What do you think this match is going to be like?'
I've had people with way more experience than me who I've reached out to, and I've had kids who have been doing it for eight months reach out to me and say, 'I'm scared.' I say, 'Don't worry, kid. We'll figure this out.'
Q: Have you become an elder statesman in the sport?
Day: It's not something I talk about. But it does get bestowed on you. You don't look for it. But people do look to practice with you before a show and say, 'Can I work on some things?' That's very humbling.
Q: So do you see yourself teaching or training the next generation after Aug. 19?
Day: I'd hate to jinx myself and give away all my plans, but I definitely want to be involved down the road. I think I want to take some time, first, probably into the new year. But I still want to be involved. I don't know how not to be. It's consumed such a huge part of my life.
I've wanted to do this since I was in grade school. Everything I have in my life that is good is a byproduct — whether moving to Boston, starting a career as an EMT, moving into nursing — it was all in the chase of professional wrestling. I'll definitely be involved.
I'm a nurse educator. I teach. I'd love to bring that [skill] into wrestling, especially in the Berkshires, in North Adams.
Q: Do you sense a desire among young people in the area for the sport?
Day: Social media is funny. You always have maybe teens or even late teens who are like, 'I want to do this. I can do this.'
Truly Independent Wrestling had a professional wrestling school at the Berkshire Mall. Part of what you'll see on Aug. 19 is there are five or six of them who went to that school, trained and now are doing professional wrestling. Unfortunately, Berkshire Mall had to shutter its doors, but I'd like to bring that back, to bring the school back. I think there was a group of seven or eight [students] at one point. Now some of these kids are wrestling professionally and probably more successful than I've been in 18 years.
I think there's room for it. Any time there's, 'nothing to do,' there's always something to do. So let's give them an activity.
Q: What has the sport given you?
Day: I'm probably different from most people — having that dream of pursuing wrestling and knowing I couldn't be a starving artist but had to have a backup plan. I got a security job that required me to get an EMT license, all just so I could stay with wrestling.
Q: And you have had your share of success.
Day: I've been on pay-per-view. I got to share the stage with some of the guys I watched growing up in the '90s. I remember messaging a friend of mine a while back and saying, 'Imagine telling 12-year-old Justin that you're going to be in the ring with Bubby Ray Dudley.' I think he replied with the head exploding emoji.
Q: How much of a part of the sport is the interaction with the fans?
Day: That's what you live for. That's the whole reason why you do what you do. There's a unique ability and one that makes a good, quality pro wrestler, being able to extract an emotion from someone without talking and only using your physicality to get them to cheer you or boo you.
For the bad guy, you've got to be the bad guy and make sure the crowd hates you and make the good guy look good.
Q: Have you ever been the villain?
Day: I spent my first four years being what they call a heel, and it's very hard. Because wrestling is a character of you. It's projecting yourself bigger than what you are.
I don't want people to boo me. I've made kids cry, and I went into the locker room and probably cried myself. But that was the job.
Since I started with Truly Independent Wrestling, around 2017, I've always been the hometown hero, the hometown favorite. It's fortunate for me. I've enjoyed it so much.
Q: How many bouts are going to be on the card on the 19th?
Day: I don't know. Usually probably a minimum of six and a maximum of eight.
I did cut a video promo about two weeks ago in character saying it was my last match. The promoter has to put it out there strategically, but it just went live [Thursday, July 27]. The public knows I'm retiring. There's no turning back.
Q: Well, you wouldn't be the first athlete to 'unretire.'
Day: I'm not Michael Jordan, man. There's not many who can do it and do it well.
Tickets for Truly Independent Wrestling's Beat the Heat event on Aug. 19 in North Adams are $15 for adults, $5 for children 6 to 12, free for children 5 and under. They can be purchased in advance here.
Tags: wrestling,
