The career of Brain Anthony

"Hold On" by Wilson Phillips was at the top of the charts, gas was $1.16 a gallon, Home Alone was a smash hit at the box office, and George H.W. Bush was in the White House.

The year was 1990, and a 17-year-old kid was thrown into the deep waters of the professional wrestling business, which was at the tail end of the era when the methods of the in-ring mayhem were still protected to some degree through a veil of secrecy to present the narrative of the sport as legitimate as possible. In short, professional wrestling schools were a relatively new concept, and outside of Larry Sharpe's Monster Factory, known for breaking in a young Bam Bam Bigelow a few years earlier, it simply wasn't something that was widely advertised. True to its secret heritage, you had to know someone that knew someone to be able to find a ring set up somewhere to literally learn the ropes.

Today, the majority of training schools have a "if your check clears, you can be a pro wrestler, too" mentality because trainers, reputable and otherwise, need students through the door to keep the lights on. That simply wasn't the case more than three decades ago, a time when sending a VHS tape and some photos in the mail was the primary way to try to get an opportunity somewhere.

Thankfully, that sheepish 17-year-old that was just trying to stay out of the way as a manager at the time has tried to stay ahead of the curve in the modern age of technology. But, still, all these years later as a 35-year veteran of the sport, Brain Anthony remains a throwback.

"I graduated in June 1990 and had my first match in September. My original trainer was Shawn Patrick. At the time, I had been already been working when I was discovered by Dominic. I had gotten booked on a show by Dr. Sam Siegel. The match was myself and TC Reynolds against Lord Zoltan and Sabu. Dominic happened to be on the show. After the match, he approached Dr. Seigel and asked if it would be okay if he trained me. 'I can do something with that kid' were his words. Of course, I was super pumped, it was truly an honor," Brian commented.

TC Reynolds, the late Tom Buzanoski outside of the ring, was a staple of the tri-state area for decades. Lord Zoltan's tenure stretches back to the mid-70s and he shared a ring with names like Andre The Giant and Paul Orndorff at the WWF's famous Allentown TV tapings. Sabu's wild and revolutionary career speaks for itself. Clearly, the rookie was going to standout in this tag team contest, but he didn't look out of place. In fact, it was his potential that caught the eye of the previously mentioned Dominic.

The place that the youngster was invited to hone his craft was a training location that you might've read about before. That publication happened to be Mick Foley's 1999 New York Times #1 Best-Seller, Have A Nice Day, and the Dominic that spotted a young Brian Anthony was Dominic Denucci, a former WWWF Tag Team champion in the 1970s, as well as an international star for Jim Barrett's Australia-based World Championship Wrestling group as far back as the early-60s. Almost a decade before millions of fans read about Mick Foley's six-hour drives from Cortland, New York to the Freedom, Pennsylvania, a small town about 25 miles north of Pittsburgh, to train with Denucci each weekend, Brain Anthony found himself standing outside the small building where Foley slept in his car to be able to attend lessons five years earlier.

"Breaking in at that time was way different. They put you through the ringers. I remember Dom’s place was in the basement of an old church. The was ceiling was so low that you couldn’t do anything off the top rope, and three sides of the ring touched the wall. So, there was not much we could do except wrestle.   Dom would put us in there and say, 'You got five minutes. No punches, no kicks, and stay in the middle of the ring.' If we started to put a match together, he would immediately stop us and tell us to call it in the ring, which is unheard of today. Guys just can’t do it now and even if they do try , it still never makes sense," Brian explained.

Before cell phones, the internet, or DVDs, opportunities could be difficult to find, especially because the fresh-faced Brian Anthony began his career at a time when the concept of the independents still wasn't fully-formed. When snail mail was still the standard of how to get a highlight tape into the right hands, it wasn't uncommon for Brian to jump into a car to travel several states away just for the chance to get to perform in front of a paying audience, gaining valuable experience that would benefit him greatly later on.

"The indies have changed so much over the years. When I broke in, you were jumping in cars with four or five people that you may or may not have even known and driving for hours across states to work a show. There wasn’t much consistency in work, gimmicks, or anything. As the years passed, I feel the car rides have diminished a lot. Everyone seems to want to just travel alone or just with a few friends.  Man, that is a shame because these car rides were where you learned the craft. Again, I was a young kid so I had the opportunity to learn from some true vets. While it was a business back then it has evolved into such a business now. You are pretty much a brand now," Anthony said.

The late-night drives and the willingness to put in the time for those key reps for a crowd paid off. By the mid-1990s, "Bad Boy" Brian Anthony was one of the polished prime athletes of the western Pennsylvania scene. He checked all the boxes for the look and in-ring skills of a worthy pro, and his position within Pittsburgh circles reflected that. At a time when television was the only major distribution channel for professional Wrestling, Anthony was a featured star for the now-defunct Pro Wrestling Express group. PWX had wild popularity for a handful of years in the late-90s because their television show aired on the same channel that broadcasted WWF's Shotgun Saturday Night and ECW's Hardcore TV during a weekend block of programming. PWX was known at the time for drawing hundreds of fans to the now-demolished Eastland Mall in North Versailles, and Brian Anthony was a stable of that era.

Taking into account not only lessons from the previously mentioned Denucci, but also his position as a drawing card for the promotion, Anthony became one of the trainers at PWX's wrestling school, where he instilled knowledge to some of the most important and influential grapplers of the Pittsburgh circuit that went on to have stellar careers of their own. In some respects, you could say that Anthony was one of the trainers of the trainers of the stars that eventually broke out from the area onto the national level.

"As a trainer, I have a pretty good list. I was instrumental in training Brandon K, Quinn Magnum, Todd Thompson, and helped a lot of other guys develop just by working with them consistently. whether in matches or at training. I think the most important thing as a trainer is teaching students to respect the business and those that came before, as well as teaching the fundamentals. I don’t feel there are a lot of schools teaching psychology and calling it in the ring anymore, everything looks like a choreographed match," Brian remarked.

Over the course of the next decade, Brian Anthony excelled both inside and outside of his home turf. It wasn't uncommon for Anthony to be one of those chosen to represent the area at various National Wrestling Alliance events, or working with the famous Samoan wrestling dynasty that had connections locally through their promotion in Allentown. Anthony found himself on the radar of the national promotions as well, working a dark match at a WWF television taping in Buffalo New York in 1999, working with ECW, and was even offered a WCW developmental deal by Les Thatcher, which Anthony cites family reasons for declining.

 "The NWA World’s title angle I did was fun, I got to be the "real “ NWA World’s Heavyweight champion for a bit. It's too bad politics soured that. I would say becoming a regular member of the Samoan family and an active member of Afa's roster since I got to work with guys like Batista, Snitsky, Samu, and so many others. Being an active member of the ECW locker room,  I made so many friends there. So, I guess I’ve been a Paul Heyman guy," Brian said.

Despite all of those accomplishments, Brian Anthony is arguably most well-known in the steel city history books for his time as a part of the villainous tag team, The Wrong Crowd. Alongside Paul Atlas, the duo were edgy, controversial, and had veteran experience that allowed them to work with several different teams over the course of several years during different stints as a unit. The initial run of The Wrong Crowd in the late-90s brought a spotlight to the two grapplers around Pittsburgh, whereas their work as a team in later years was within the national scope. Atlas, who is a former NWA National champion, was known for his ability to push the envelope on the mic, and did so when he and Anthony won the NWA North American Tag Team championship in the mid-2000s. With their manager Curtis Stevenson at ringside, The Wrong Crowd, true to their old school nature, wanted to defend the championships against any team that the NWA wanted to put in front of them. Anthony and Atlas went as far as to call out then-NWA president Bob Trobich for lack of competition.

"The Wrong Crowd meant a lot to my career. It was something I came up with to reinvent our career.  Paul and I had been in PWX for awhile as singles and then as a tag team, but with completely different gimmicks. At one point, we had some new bookers come in and basically said they didn’t know what to do with us. One night, I was reading the autobiography of Brian Bosworth of Oklahoma and he was talking about the Sooners linebackers. He went on to describe them as 'the ones your mother warned you about,The Wrong Crowd.' It really was the gimmick that put me on another level,  we started to get national attention. We were doing things no one on the indies were doing as far as entrances and stuff," Anthony explained.

Eventually, Brain Anthony slowed down his wrestling schedule, as he balanced a career outside of wrestling and a family with his pursuit of the sport. However, in more recent years, Brian returned to his role as a trainer and looks to take the next step through modern technology, offering online coaching for rookie grapplers that just started their path in the squared circle.

"This is why I am opening this coaching. I think the indy scene in general lacks honest, old school coaching. Psychology was drilled into me from some of the best. The likes of Joey Mercury, Nova, Afa, and so many others. I think the Indy scene needs to get back to this, Anthony concluded.

Brian Anthony looks to take aspiring grapplers under his wing, the same way that Dominic Denucci did all those years ago. Despite using modern technology for these latest venture, there's no doubt that Brain Anthony remains a throwback.

What's next for Big Bill?

One of the many reasons that competition and options are so important in business, especially the pro wrestling business, is that opportunity is provided. The fans get variety, and a way that becomes possible is that performers get the chance to develop their careers across the spectrum of the industry, and in the process, have the chance to work to their fullest potential. It's a drastic example, but keep in mind, there was a time that the WWE office only saw Cody Rhodes as a secondary comedy character with a spinoff gimmick of his brother's more successful persona. Cody could've coasted on his last name and made a decent living as a lower mid-carder in WWE for the rest of his career, but he opted to leave the company in 2016. At the time, the indies had a level of buzz, but that was partially because Impact Wrestling, where Cody had a cup of coffee, was so under the radar on Pop TV. Sure, Cody made the leap to Ring Of Honor and drew the biggest crowds for the Sinclair-owned organization of that era, and used New Japan as a platform to fully expand the next chapter of his career, but it was ultimately the launch of All Elite Wrestling, the biggest potential competition to WWE since the closure of WCW two decades earlier, that allowed him to completely rejuvenate his career.

The bottom line is, without the existence of All Elite Wrestling as a platform for Rhodes, he wouldn't have developed the American Nightmare persona that eventually made him the top guy in the WWE that he is today.

Those goals are lofty, and only a rare tier of worker is going to reach that level, but the point is, the chance to reinvent yourself on a smaller scale can lead to the ability to present the best version of the performer on a bigger stage.

According to Fightful Select, another former WWE wrestler is on their way back to the company after years of rebuilding their career outside of the scope of the publicly-traded, global corporation.

Big Bill, once known for his run as a tag team with Enzo Amore, is said to be slated for a return to the WWE eight years after his rocky exit. The real-life William Morrissey was only in the sport for two years before he signed a developmental deal in 2011 so for all intents and purposes, he was almost a total product of that early developmental system of Florida Championship Wrestling, the predecessor to the Performance Center. After spending about three years in NXT, which was put in place of FCW by that time, the act of Enzo and Cass was called up to Raw in 2016.

In short, the presentation was extremely popular for a relatively short amount of time. Despite being under the WWE umbrella for five years, Big Cass still looked to be a puppy with big paws so to speak. Sure, he could do the basic move set that was asked of him, but it looked very robotic and rehearsed. If I had to guess, I'd say that's one of the unintended possible pitfalls when a talent only works within the WWE system, they aren't quite as adaptable since they don't have a variety of experience. Big Cass could do the Enzo and Cass routine, but hadn't developed as an overall performer. When Enzo was quite literally all talk and so clumsy in the ring that Pac decided he'd rather quit his job than work with him a few years later, the original package of Enzo and Cass was all sizzle and no substance so it ran its course rather quickly.

In 2018, Morrissey was fired for behavior issues after an intoxication incident while on tour with the company. At the time, things looked bleak and he could've been on his way to becoming another precautionary tale of the pro wrestling business. There was also a bizarre incident at an independent show a few years later where he was intoxicated and got into some type of altercation, but details weren't fully reported. Again, things didn't look good for the career prospects of Morrissey, and his stock in the business was minimal at best.

When he reemerged in Impact Wrestling in 2021, it was reported that he dealt with addiction and mental health issues within the previous few years, but looked to rebound with fresh start as a healthy performer. That notion was reflected in the fact that he was in the best shape of his career when he showed up at the closed set tapings of Impact during the pandemic. He looked solid during his stint in promotion, as he wasn't asked to do too much, but was given enough to showcase himself. In truth, the year that he spent in Impact was probably just a trial run to see if he had made enough progress to turn his life around for either of the bigger promotions to offer him a contract.

Despite Tony Khan signing such a bloated roster for the vast majority of the existence of All Elite Wrestling, I was still somewhat surprised when Big Bill showed up there in mid-2022, mostly because the promotion isn't tailored to a big man style. That being said, Big Bill did well there and had clearly progressed in the ring, as his performances looked more natural and crisp. His tag team title run with Ricky Starks is probably what he was most known for within the past four years.

I understand that the Chris Jericho association had helped spotlight other talent prior, including the original Inner Circle faction after the launch of the promotion, but by the time "The Learning Tree" gimmick was used, Jericho himself was struggling to find traction so it just didn't truly do anything for Bill or Bryan Keith. In fact, Jericho had to take a year away from the company to allow himself to return with a fresh start, but during that time the team of Bill and Keith were left rather directionless.

For most of the past year, Big Bill has been off the radar of All Elite Wrestling so it definitely makes sense for him to make the jump to WWE if a deal was offered. It's a somewhat odd dynamic because after four years on the roster, I'm not sure Big Bill meant all that much within the landscape of AEW, and to be fair, very few are given the chance to be on an individual basis, but his tenure in the company certainly benefited his career since it allowed him to showcase that he became a more well-rounded performer.

That could ultimately set the stage for the real-life Morrissey to be yet another guy that left AEW as potentially underutilized to became a bigger star in the WWE. Granted, Alister Black ended up being a flop when he went back to WWE, and Andrade more or less wasn't given much to do before he exited so there are exceptions, but if  Morrissey is going to get over to a bigger level in WWE, this would probably be his best chance to do it. At 39, he's at the latter stage of his career, but it wouldn't be unrealistic for him to have a five or six year run if he gets over.

There has been some chatter online that Enzo might also be on his way back to the WWE to reform a team with Cass. I have to be honest, if  Morrissey has any chance of getting over at this point in his career, he should be kept as far away from Enzo as possible. Aside from Enzo being aloof and insufferable in interviews, putting Cass back in the same scenario where he was before he left WWE would basically neutralize the progress that he made as a performer outside of the company. It remains to be see if Morrissey will be successful in the WWE if he returns, but it would undoubtedly be a tremendous comeback story for his career.