KEVIN KNIGHT Interviews
Show: The Sports Junkies
Guest: Kevin Knight of Independent Wrestling Federation
Hosts: Matt Sommo and Tom Kress
Station: WPSC 88.7 FM Radio, Wayne, New Jersey
Date: November 10, 2006
By: Matthew Sommo, The Pioneer Times
Issue date: 3/22/06, Section: Features
Never in Kevin Knight's five years at William Paterson University did he ever imagine that he would be where he is today.
Knight, who attended WPU from 1991-1996, was a communication major, and involved in the department as a volunteer.
Knight is now associated with the IWF (Independent Wrestling Federation), based out of West Paterson. Knight runs the wrestling school and also wrestles for the company where he has held the IWF Championship title.
Before getting involved in the wrestling business, Knight worked as its sports director from 1991-1993, then as operations manager from 1993 to 1994 for WPSC-FM, the university radio station. These jobs entailed doing sports and news updates, play-by-play for WPU football, baseball and basketball games, and also DJ work.
Knight also worked for the university television station as the sports director from 1994-1995, and a news and sports anchor on "Newsline". He did play-by-play for WPU football, baseball, basketball, soccer and volleyball games for the station.
Knight learned a lot from his time with the university stations. "I learned more during my hands on training at WPSC-FM and WPC-TV than I did in the classroom, as there is no better learning experience than on-the-job training," stated Knight. "It's tough to learn about radio and TV broadcasting on a blackboard…you need to be on the air!"
Being on the air is what led to Knight being where he is today. "With running the Camp IWF Wrestling School in West Paterson, having the communication background comes in handy with having to also market and promote the school," added Knight.
Knight didn't pick wrestling; it picked him. Knight interned at WGHT 1500 AM in Pompton Lakes doing news and sports updates, and eventually worked there full time in 1995 and 1996. When the local wrestling shows came to town, WGHT received tickets to give away and Knight went to the shows to hype up the crowd and give away freebies. "I made friends with some of the wrestlers and promoters who liked my personality and who saw I was tall (6'4") so they persuaded me to give it a try, so here I am 10 years later!"
Knights career in wrestling has taken him beyond the IWF ring. He has been involved with the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) and lists his greatest moment in wrestling as competing on the "WWE Velocity" television show in Spike TV from Madison Square Garden against A-Train in June 2003. He also served as a druid for the Undertaker from MSG during "Wrestlemania XX" in March 2004. His favorite opponents include WWE Hall-of-Famer Tito Santana, and former WWE and WCW superstar the Patriot.
Knight's future goals are to continue to make the IWF the best it can be. This includes Camp IWF. The school, which has been open for seven years, is where more than 250 wrestlers and managers have been trained by Knight to compete across the world.
Besides the radio and TV stations, Knight gives credit for his success at WPU to two other big figures on campus. "President Arnold Speert and Baseball Coach Jeff Albies were very helpful to me when I was at WPU and involved with WPSC-FM and WPC-TV, they gave me unlimited access, interviews, and I learned a lot from them."
Knight still keeps close ties to WPU. His camp is only five minutes from campus and he brings his students who are in training to the track to do running exercises.
As far as advice to the students at WPU, he says to "learn as much as you can in the classroom, and take advantage of all the extracurricular activities, no matter what your major is. Get involved in the radio and TV stations, the newspaper, athletics, student clubs and organizations. Get involved."
The next big IWF events are Saturday, March 25 and Sunday, March 26 at the IWF Center in West Paterson. For more information, you can check out www.CampIWF.com.
To read the original article, visit: http://www.pioneertimeswpu.com/media/paper756/news/2006/03/22/Features/William.Paterson.Alumnus.Wrestles.With.New.Career-1715120.shtml
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Wrestler Stars in Burger King Commercial
The Observer Newspaper, National News at a Community Level
March 15, 2006
IWF Wrestling Champion Kevin Knight appears in the new Burger King TenderCrisp Chicken commercial airing nationwide.
Life-long Nutley resident and Independent Wrestling Federation Champion Kevin Knight recently participated in the filming of a new Burger King television commercial, which began airing nationwide the week of March 6.
Filmed in February in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Knight plays Burger King’s new TenderCrisp Chicken mascot. Knight is a Nutley High School graduate, attended William Paterson University, operates the Camp IWF Wrestling School in West Paterson, and performs periodically for World Wrestling Entertainment.
Knight auditioned for the part in New York in January, as the Hungryman Production Company sought a 6-foot 4-inch, 240-pound wrestler to don the chicken suit.
Knight won the part and was flown to the legendary Stan Winston Studio in Los Angeles for a costume fitting, then traveled to Brazil for a week of shooting.
“It was 104-degrees the first day of shooting, we were in the middle of a sweltering valley in Rio and I was in a chicken suit that weighed 20 pounds and had a 4-foot 5-inch, 80-pound midget stuntman strapped on my back ... now that’s entertainment,” Knight said.
Here’s the commercial premise: On a chicken ranch, a group of cowboys are crowded around the fence of a rustic coral excitedly taking in some serious dust kicking action.
Suddenly we see the commotion.
A rider flies out of the bucking chute, but he’s not aboard a bronco or a bull. The rider is struggling to stay on something with feathers. The baddest chicken anybody has ever seen. The TenderCrisp Chicken leaps into the air and the action is wild as he attempts to shake his rider with a series of hilarious moves until finally the rider is thrown and lands on the cowboys. That’s one big buckin’ chicken! The only way to beat it, is to eat it!
“Working three, 12-hour days in a row in brutal heat, plus the rehearsal day, was grueling but the commercial is hysterical, I hope it will long be remembered,” Knight said.
Knight has appeared in several other television commercials, most notably the WWE’s Survivor Series wrestling commercial in 2003 and Bubba’s Place commercial in 2001.
Knight has owned the Camp IWF Wrestling School in West Paterson since 1999, training WWE hopefuls ages 16 and older four-days a week. Knight also instructs a fun-filled youth summer wrestling clinic for kids 12 to 17 for three sessions this June, July and August.
For more information about Kevin Knight or the Independent Wrestling Federation, visit www.CampIWF.com.
Copyright 2006 [TheObserver.com]. All rights reserved.
To read the original article, visit: http://www.theobserver.com/archives/2006/03-15-06/star.shtml
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Part-time Job Leads to Career as Wrestler, Wrestling School Founder for Nutleyite
By Brian Smith, Nutley Sun Newspaper, Thursday, July 7, 2005
(NUTLEY, NJ)- While the moves in wrestling leagues such as the WWE are staged and the outcomes predetermined, the effort and training a wrestler must put in to arrive on wrestling's biggest stage are anything but easy.
With approximately 100 wrestlers on the WWE's roster, professional wrestling is one of the hardest "sports" to break into, real or fake. One place a wrestler can cut his teeth with the hopes of making it to the big-time is Nutley native Kevin Knight's Camp IWF Wrestling Training Program in West Paterson, NJ.
Knight has operated the program for six years and in addition to training wrestlers, he is also the owner of the Independent Wrestling Federation that has events in its home center in West Paterson and other high schools and recreation centers in the state. The IWF has belt holders within its federation and holds from 28 to 30 events each year.
Knight got into wrestling 10 years ago and like many people, used one job as a springboard into another. Knight was a radio and television major at William Paterson University and while there he did sports and news for WGHT 1500 AM in the mornings. The station was given tickets to wrestling events similar to the ones his IWF now holds and it was Knight's job to "hype up the crowd" before the events. While Knight enjoyed watching wrestling, he never thought it would lead to a career in it.
"The promoters saw the enthusiasm I had in getting the crowd involved, saw I was relatively tall and asked me if I wanted to get involved," Knight said. "I said 'sure' and there is where it all started."
Knight trained briefly and started organizing and wrestling in several events at Nutley High School and the Nutley Recreation Center. While signing autographs after the matches, children, young adults and even adults would ask Knight how to get involved in wrestling. Knight was intrigued by the numbers of inquiries and began planning and saving.
"People would ask me how to get started and most of the schools I knew of were dirty and run by sleazy characters so I started planning to open up a school," Knight said. "It took about four years of saving money but wrestling was popular when we opened and we are still doing well now."
Wrestlers are enrolled in a 10-month program with four session each week and aren't required to attend each session but the ones that are serious will take full advantage. The first stage of training includes basic moves and falls but after that, Knight and his students focus on building characters and their personalities.
"Wrestling is 50 percent athleticism and 50 percent personality and character development," Knight said. "You also have to have a positive attitude towards what you are doing or you aren't going to go anywhere."
The characters in wrestling today area based more in reality because of the boom of reality television shows on the air today. In the past, larger-than-life figures like Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant in the 80s were the lifeblood in the WWE and the trend continued into the 90s with wrestlers like Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock.
While wrestlers today are still immense in physique, their names and personalties appeal more to the reality-based viewing audience with names like John Cena and Shawn Michaels. The WWE itself is down in popularity but Knight knows wrestling follows trends like any other sport.
"There is no new big star like The Rock or Hulk in wrestling right now but it is cyclical," Knight said. "The NBA is going through the same thing with Shaq (O'Neal) getting older and Kobe Bryant running into legal problems, but all it takes is someone like LeBron James to become the next superstar and basketball will be fine. Wrestling is looking for that new star too."
Even with the WWE's popularity down, Knight's training programs are still flourishing. He runs clinics for teenagers, and has events at the IWF's home arena this summer and will have two on the road at towns like Aberdeen and Medford in New Jersey next month. The IWF's motto is "Quality Entertainment in a Family Atmosphere" and a lot of what goes into the word family is keeping down the costs.
"We are going to make sure a family will have a good time at our events but also be able to afford it," Knight said. "That is a big draw for us and what makes what we do appealing."
A big appeal for prospective wrestlers to enter the IWF training program is a chance to wrestle in the WWE. Of the 250 wrestlers that have trained in the program, 14 including Knight himself (and Roman, Fred Sampson, Biggie Biggs, Hadrian, Dawn Marie, Shawn Donavan, Travis Blake, Aaron Stride, Shane O'Brien, Damian Adams, Josh Daniels, Rob Eckos and Brandon Young) have appeared in some capacity in the WWE. Knight wrestled in a six minute bout at Madison Square Garden with A-Train in 2003 and other wrestlers from IWF have appeared in WrestleMania XX and events like Raw and SmackDown!
"Any time the WWE is filming on the East Coast they contact us for wrestlers to wrestle or use us as actors in skits," Knight said. "They know the product they are getting when they call one of our wrestlers and it's also great for my training program because it gives us the publicity of wrestling or performing at the highest level of professional wrestling."
With six years under his belt (currently the IWF Tag Team Champion), Knight will continue the program as long as it is successful.
"I never would have thought I'd be doing this 10 or 11 years ago," Knight said. "But I'm always excited to see which direction wrestling will take me and it's been great so far!
For more Independent Wrestling Federation or Camp IWF wrestling school information, call 973-345-7745 or visit www.WrestlingIWF.com.
By Michael McDonnell for the Observer Newspaper, May 18, 2005
(Bloomfield, NJ) - Aspiring grapplers got a chance to watch professional wrestling superstars in action at the Essex Manor in Bloomfield, NJ, on May 14.
Local wrestler Kevin Knight, a Nutley High School graduate who still resides in town, faced off against such fan-favorites as TNT and the “evil”, 400-pound, Saddam Insane. Odds makers gave the line to Insane, who along with his wrestling cohort TNT make up the Baghdad Bullies tag team.
Knight paired up with wrestler Damian Adams plus other locals.
“There are good guys and bad guys, and I'm one of the good guys,” said Knight, who runs a wrestling clinic with the Independent Wrestling Federation out of West Paterson, NJ.
While there are a number of technical skills Knight teaches to aspiring wrestlers, he admitted about half of the training involves creating an image.
“About 50-percent of professional wrestling is the theatrical side,” Knight said. “We actually work to formulate that good guy or bad guy image depending on what wrestler is trying to achieve.”
With such pro wrestling personalities as Hulk Hogan, and The Rock segueing into the movies, wrestlers are becoming a “hot commodity” Knight said.
Knight is also running a special summer clinic that encourages youngsters, both boys and girls ranging in age from 12 to 17-years-old to get involved in wrestling.
“It’s a great way to get active this summer instead of falling into the current trend of lounging around the house playing video games and surfing the net,” Knight added.
For more information on the clinic and the wrestling camp interested parties can contact Camp IWF at 973-345-7745 or visit www.wrestlingiwf.com.
Original Article: http://www.theobserver.com/currentissue/ent-wrestler.shtml
Copyright 2005 [TheObserver.com]. All rights reserved.
Twist and Yell:
Friday, February 18, 2005
BY CAROLINA GONZALEZ FOR THE STAR-LEDGER
Would-be grapplers longing to piledrive, bulldog and body slam can make their ring fantasies come true at schools like the Camp IWF Pro Wrestling Training School in West Paterson.
Kevin Knight opened the school in 1999 after a career in public relations and several years knocking around as a wrestler in leagues around the Northeast. Knight has retired from the ring, but still gets a thrill tagging others in. "People enjoy being involved in an activity they enjoyed watching as a child," he said of his students.
IWF students -- there are currently about 35 active, and 200 have hit the mats since it opened -- tend to have the mild-mannered professions of superhero alter egos: college students, teachers, social workers, Knight says. The same goes for the teachers. When instructor Nick Podsvirow, who uses the nom de guerre Biggie Biggs, is not teaching how to head butt without inducing a concussion, he works as a park ranger in Monmouth County.
Half of IWF's 10-month course is spent on the technical aspect of wrestling, learning how to perform hair-raising stunts safely, and lots of cardiovascular and aerobic training. The other half is spent on showmanship, developing a ring persona, learning to pace performances, being able to yell without straining your voice. "Someone who isn't the best athlete but has a good personality can do well," Knight says.
Students can take classes as many as four times a week. Some train simply to keep in shape, but others hope to become the next Stone Cold Steve Austin. Roman Zacharko, 24, of Manville, was in Knight's first class and has performed in WWE shows. Pro hopefuls get instruction in "scientific" holds and moves like body slams (throwing yourself on your opponent to knock him on his back onto the mat), bulldogs (grabbing your opponent around the neck and leaping onto the canvas head first) and supplexes (lifting your opponent over your head and dropping him on the mat).
Podsvirow said wrestling before an audience is a dream come true for him, and he expects to live the dream for years to come. "If I'm not wrestling, something's missing."
The Camp IWF Pro Wrestling Training School is at 32 Willow Way, West Paterson. Call (973) 345-7745 or visit www.wrestlingiwf.com.
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| 12/16/2004 10:15:01 PM |
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WEST PATERSON, NJ - Tucked behind McBride Avenue at 32 Willow Way stands a cream-colored building that looks like an average warehouse. But don't be fooled by the bland exterior. Four times a week, the building comes alive with the body slams and faux punches of the Independent Wrestling Federation.
Copyright (C) 2004 North Jersey Media Group Inc.
Published in the Asbury Park Press 5/05/04
THE JERSEY SHORE'S LARGEST NEWS SOURCE
By MICHELLE GLADDEN, STAFF WRITER
Webelos Scout leader Patricia Gunther placed her index and middle fingers in the air to signal stillness from Scouts. She welcomed the 50-plus crowd of children and parents who came to ask questions of, get autographs from, and get pictures with the members of the Independent Wrestling Federation. As part of its Community Outreach Program, the IWF of West Paterson met Cub Scout Pack 209 at Middletown Firehouse on April 23.
Following The Pledge of Allegiance, IWF co-owner Kevin Knight asked, "How's everybody doing?"
"Good," answered the group in a muttered effort, seemingly taken back by his 6-foot, 4-inch, 240-pound stature.
"How's everybody doing?" Knight asked again, much louder.
"Good!" the children screamed.
"Are you ready to have fun?" he asked.
"Yes," they answered, back to their muttered tone.
"Is this the Girl Scouts?" Knight shouted.
"No!" the children screamed.
After introducing the five other attending wrestlers, Knight instructed the troop to give latecomer Travis Blake of Point Pleasant a loud boo when he arrived.
Splitting off into three sections the Tigers, Bobcats, Bears and Webelos (dens within the troop or pack) scattered to the designated stations ready to fire away their questions and comments at the unsuspecting wrestlers.
"I want to wrestle with them," said Webelos member 10-year-old Christopher Gunther. "I'd probably win."
The wrestlers included "A.J. Sparxx," co-owner of the IWF, "Biggie Biggs," the organizations only Triple Crown Winner, having held the IWF Heavyweight, American and Tag Team titles. "Fred Sampson," known for his unique bone-crusher power-slam technique, the 'ornery and reckless' "Shane O'Brien" and current IWF Heavyweight Champion "Roman."
While some of the cub members were new to the sport, most were ardent fans.
"I saw Shane wrestle in Hazlet," said Sean Smith, a 9-year-old friend of cub member Nicholas Alaia.
"I like the action of wrestling," added 7-year-old Carlos Zamor.
Ashley Belke, 13-year-old event crasher whose brother Billy is a member of the Webelos den, proudly admitted, "I'm getting pictures autographed pictures for my friend's confirmation party tonight."
And the shy but quite serious Kyle Gomez made the rounds with his Disney autograph book in hand. After obtaining an autographed photo from each wrestler, the 10-year-old asked each to then sign his book using his Disney pen.
"I watch a lot of wrestling," he confessed.
Soon the room filled with the slow elevation of "boos" as Travis Blake entered and walked through the crowd. Christopher Gunther later confessed, "We were just kidding; we were booing you because you were late."
"I figured," Blake answered.
Even den leader Carlos Rivera of Middletown was excited to be there.
"I've been a fan of wrestling since I was a kid," he said. "I even did it as a hobby for six months as a teenager in Hoboken. "It's fun for the boys, and they get to learn social skills through a different atmosphere," he added.
Ascone has been involved with the Scouts for seven years and says that the children need to get recognition not only from their parents but also from other adults within the community.
Meanwhile, the IWF continues their busy schedule of tournaments, workshops, charity shows and events. Next up of the wrestlers is the Mayhem Weekend, May 15 and 16. For times and other event schedules, visit www.wrestlingiwf.com or call (973) 345-7745.
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IWF Wrestlers to Appear in Upcoming WWE "Survivor Series" TV Commercial (September 2003):
(Mount Vernon, NY) - Picture it, a struggling football team needs to be toughened up, so their coach surprises them with a scrimmage against a menacing practice squad made up of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) superstars.
That's the premise of the upcoming television commercial to promote the WWE "Survivor Series" pay-per-view, slated for November.
On September 10, Independent Wrestling Federation (IWF) wrestlers Kevin Knight, Roman, BoneCrusher Fred Sampson, Shawn Donavan and Brandon Young participated as members of that struggling football team in the film shoot to create the commercial at Memorial Stadium in Mount Vernon, NY.
WWE superstars who took to the gridiron opposite the IWF'ers were Kurt Angle, The Big Show, Chris Benoit, The Dudley Boyz, The APA, John Cena, The Hurricane and Rey Mysterio.
"This commercial shoot was definitely a tremendous learning experience for me and a very enjoyable one at that," said Roman. "I was overly impressed at the attention given to every detail of the production and when a scene was not quite good enough, there was an effort to immediately shoot a better scene."
Back to the commercial. After the coaches' locker-room pep talk falls on deaf ears, the struggling football squad hits the field only to see the larger-than-life WWE grapplers salivating at the chance of dishing out some unnecessary roughness. At kickoff, all hell breaks loose.
The carnage sees Roman fall victim to Kurt Angle's ankle-lock. Sampson and Young receive a double choke-slam courtesy of The Big Show. Roman gets caught in Chris Benoit's crippler cross-face while John Cena hits the FU on Donavan. Faarooq blindsides Sampson with a shoulder tackle at the water-cooler, while Rey Mysterio takes out Roman with a head-scissors. Last but not least, Knight feels the wrath of The Hurricane's reverse neck-breaker.
"Having the opportunity to work with Ron Simmons (Faarooq) during the scene where I was getting water on the sidelines and received his patented football tackle was great," said Sampson. Of course, Simmons is a former collegiate all-American football star from Florida State.
However, the most devastating scenes saw Brandon Young receive the clothesline-from-hell by Bradshaw, and a 3-D through a table from The Dudley Boyz at the 50-year-line.
Making all the stunts difficult was the fact that the IWF performers were dressed in full football gear and had to receive the moves on a grass field that was slightly softer than concrete. But the production crew and WWE superstars made sure that safety was a top priority.
"These guys always present themselves in a professional manner in everything they do," Shawn Donavan commented. "Getting to do this was incredible because you get to learn how things work behind the camera."
A production crew and support staff of about 35 individuals spearheaded the 12-hour day of filming, and the footage will be edited down into a thirty-second commercial that airs world-wide starting in mid-October.
"Everything WWE does is first-rate," said Knight, who plays the role of the quarterback in the commercial. "From their wrestling product to their television production, the WWE is arguably the best entertainment company in the business."
Brandon Young offered a similar observation after the shoot, saying "I'm that much smarter about the business as a whole because in a way, I saw why WWE is so successful, and that's because they go the extra mile to make all the little things count in everything they do."
As far as using this experience as a learning tool to make it to the next level, Sampson added, "All of the WWE superstars are in phenomenal shape and witnessing that first-hand gives me more motivation to train harder in the hopes that I get to work with WWE again soon."
Behind-the-scenes footage of the commercial as well as interviews with WWE and IWF wrestlers will air on an upcoming episode of "WWE Confidential" on Spike TV.
The IWF is pleased to continue its working relationship with WWE. In June, Knight and Roman wrestled at the Raw and Smackdown TV tapings at Madison Square Garden. In early October, Knight and Roman will attend the Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) School in Louisville, KY, to train with competitors in the WWE developmental program. Lastly, Knight and Roman are slated to compete at the Raw TV taping October 21st in Wilkes-Barre, PA, and at the Smackdown TV taping October 22nd in Albany, NY.
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Knight & Roman Represent IWF at the Garden for World Wrestling Entertainment (June 2003):
(New York City) - Exactly three-and-a-half years after the doors opened to the CAMP IWF Pro Wrestling Training Centre, the Independent Wrestling Federation's first student received an opportunity to compete for World Wrestling Entertainment. Roman, along with CAMP IWF head trainer Kevin Knight, wrestled for WWE at two recent television tapings held in New York City's Madison Square Garden in June 2003.
Adding to the magnitude of the historic extravaganzas at the Garden was the fact that WWE loaded the events with a virtual who's who of past, present and future WWE superstars.
Roman and Knight found themselves rubbing shoulders and performing in the same ring as Triple H, Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash, Sergeant Slaughter, Kurt Angle, Brock Lesner, Hulk Hogan, Rowdy Roddy Piper and The Undertaker, all of whom wrestled on the cards. Steve Austin, Mr. McMahon and Mick Foley also appeared on the program.
Roman's match against Val Venis from the Raw television taping on June 23rd was broadcast on the June 29th edition of WWE Sunday Night Heat on TNN. Roman also participated in a non-televised dark match against WWE developmental wrestler Aaron Stevens prior to the Smackdown taping on June 24th.
"Having the opportunity to wrestle for the WWE was one of the major goals I've had since I began my wrestling training," said Roman. "I am happy to say that I have reached that goal, and what better place to wrestle than Madison Square Garden."
Knight's bout against the mighty A-Train from the Smackdown television taping on June 24th aired on the June 28th edition of WWE Velocity on TNN.
"I was much more nervous watching Roman wrestle," Knight commented. "I was as calm as could be when the time came for my match against A-Train, but just seeing Roman out there had my stomach in knots. It was quite a sight watching CAMP IWF's first student and first graduate get a shot at the big time in the world's most famous arena."
Immediately following Roman's matches, he received valuable critiques from Shane McMahon, Val Venis, Gerald Brisco, Dr. Tom Prichard and Al Snow. After Knight's performance, he got feedback from The Undertaker, A-Train, Prichard, Mike Chiota and Chris Kanyon.
In the afternoons preceding both television tapings, Roman and Knight attended pre-show workout sessions conducted by WWE agents Fit Finley, Dean Malenko and William Regal. The experienced ring veterans provided pointers on the finer aspects of basic mat wrestling and chain wrestling techniques.
"Class was definitely in session," Knight said. "What a tremendous opportunity to learn from the very best technicians pro wrestling has ever seen. In addition to incorporating those newly developed skills, I will certainly try my best to translate what Roman and I learned to those now training at CAMP IWF."
Partaking in the practice session prior to Raw on June 23rd along with Roman and Knight were Sylvan Grenier, Mark Jindrak, Rodney Mack, Garrison Cade, Aaron Stevens and other young talents. The workouts prior to Smackdown on June 24th saw Eddie Guerrero, Charlie Haas, Sheldon Benjamin and Ultimo Dragon among others hit the ring.
Roman added, "Words cannot describe the roller coaster of emotions I felt during those two days, but I know that I want the chance to do it all again and I would not trade the MSG experience for anything in the world."
Roman joined CAMP IWF along with his brother Hadrian on December 18, 1999, which was the day the facility opened. Roman completed his training and received his graduation certificate on November 3, 2000. During his three-plus year career, Roman has competed for virtually every independent wrestling organization throughout the Northeast. Roman now serves as assistant trainer at CAMP IWF.
Knight, who began his pro wrestling career in May 1996, has also logged countless miles across the independent circuit, but this wasn't his first WWE appearance. In May 1999, Knight, along with several others from NWA Jersey, appeared as extras on an episode of Raw from the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, NY. Knight also wrestled on two WWF fundraising shows in December 1999 and January 2000 in New London, CT.
(Below) Ryan Shamrock & Kevin Knight, NWA Wrestling, Point Pleasant, NJ, November 1999
Mailing Address
Kevin Knight E-mail Address:
c/o Independent Wrestling Federation LLC.
32 Willow Way
West Paterson, NJ 07424
Independent Wrestling Federation Web Site:
