by The Smart Marks

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An Exclusive Interview with "Your Rolemodel" Ric Lieb
by The Smart Marks

Recently, Jared "JHawk" Hawkins had an opportunity to sit down with Ohio independent wrestler Ric Lieb to discuss working the indy circuit and the state of the business.

How did you first become interested in professional wrestling?

I'd have to say the mid to late 70's, back when Ric Flair was just becoming the big name wrestler that he is today was the time I started getting really interested... I loved old school NWA wrestling, and other smaller promotions as well like Texas All-Star Wrestling and Memphis Championship Wrestling and would watch these shows religeously every weekend...

How did you get into the business?

In the early 80's, I had my own Backyard federation, though it was real... I later found out wrestling was scripted and like the true professional that I am, I adjusted and learned the ropes...

What was your training like?

Training wasn't too hard because I somewhat already knew what I was doing thanks to the backyard fed and stuff, but learning how to do things correctly, and in order to keep my opponent safe made a huge difference and was pretty cool to me... I enjoyed it...

Who trained you?

OK, since I don't really care to give free publicity to lying promoters who promise you the world and then give you nothing for all your hard work, I won't mention his name... But I will tell you that since my return to the
ring after a 10 year retirement, I've learned more in the ring then I ever did while training at his school...

Where were you trained?

Back when I started, it was in Barberton, Ohio, again I wont mention any names for good reasons... Now I have my own wrestling school in Akron, Ohio and from it I've been a teacher and a student of the game by bringing in local talent and having them teach different their styles and in part it helps me to adjust if I like something better then the way I was taught or teaching it...

Did you have any sort of athletic background prior to getting into the business?

Well, I've always been an athlete... I played PeeWee Football, and Volleyball when I got older... I was also in Kickboxing for almost a year but after getting my nose broke in practice, I figured it was either hurt my
meal ticket (My Pretty Face), or quit before something bad happened, HAHAHA!!!

How long have you been in wrestling?

If you count from the beginning, I've been in wrestling for 15 years... But, if you subtract the 10 years I was out, it's only 5 years... I guess you could just say 15 years total, but 5 years as an active wrestler...

What do you remember about your first match?

The butterflies at the beginning and the thrill at the end, HAHAHA!!! When you step in the ring for the first time, you are a nervous wreck!!! But, after the match, I wanted to get back in there and wrestle every match remaining... The thrill of doing it overshadowed the nerves by a long
shot...

How did the "Your Rolemodel" gimmick come about?

OK, when I first wrestled, I was such a mark for Ric Flair that I used the name "Nature Boy" Ric Lieb... When I knew I was coming back, I was older and more mature and new if I wanted to get over this time around, I needed originality... What I did was I handed out a list of nicknames to a bunch of people I worked with (at that titme I was working in a factory job) and asked them to choose which one they liked the best, and every single person,
out of at least 30 responses, chose "Your RoleModel" Ric Lieb as the best name for me to use...

Where did the idea for the Four Henchmen come from?

Like I've mentioned before, I've always been a Flair fan, and that would also make me a huge Four Horsemen fan... Now I obviously didn't want to bite off of them too much, but at the same time, I wanted to have a faction somewhat
like The Horsemen, yet would allow people to know we are our own group, and at the same time, have a catchy name some of the old school fans of pro wrestling could relate to...

Why did you get out of the business?

At that time, 1990, wrestling consisted of giants of men, and me being 5'9" 160lbs at the time knew I wasn't ever going to be that... Who knew the Rey Mysterios and Spike Dudleys of the world would be as over as they are... I
also didn't like the promoter I was working for, not really as a person, but as a business man because he would fill our heads with one thing, and never come through with his promises...

What brought you back into the business?

In 1999, I was on a TV show called Pro Wrestling Weekly, and as you can imagine, a lot of local indy feds were constantly trying to gain recognition by asking us to put them on TV... We allowed one federation a chance to put
their wrestlers on the air for interviews etc... One day, they asked us if we'd do a match on one of their shows, and we did (we being myself and John Potok) and that's when we realized we needed this for us... John and I talked about it for a while, and UWC was reborn...

What areas do you wrestle in?

We work shows in Akron, Stow, Cuyahoga Falls, Hudson so far... Pretty much anywhere in the Northeast Ohio area as of now, but who knows where we'll be in the future...

Who have been your favorite wrestlers to work with?

I love working shows with John Potok, we just have a way of reading each other's minds in the ring... I hate that he's retired because I feel we've got a lot of un-solved issues to take care of in the wrestling ring...

Is there anybody you'd like to work with but haven't?

I really would like to work with my former Stud Stable partner Justin Dreams because he's by far the best indy wrestler out there today, other then myself of course, HAHAHA!!!

What are the advantages of working independents?

I get to stay close to home... I have two sons, one by my ex-wife and one by my fiance'... I have costody of both of them and would rather be home with them then on the road with a major promotion... Truth be told, no money in
the world is more important then being with my family so I won't ever stop working independents, not even if Vince offered me millions...

What are the disadvantages of working the indy circuit?

The biggest disadvantage of working indy's is the quality of your opponents... Some matches you have guys who are great to work with, but a lot of times you have guys who are too nervous to remember spots, or too full of themselves to worry about how the match looks or the safety of their opponent... A lot of times you'll run across guys who think they're bigger stars than they really are, and they feel they don't have to train, or practice or anything... These are the worst people to work with because they cause injuries...

What injuries have you suffered over your career?

Let's see, I've broken my wrist and also pulled ligaments in it, I've had many gig jobs, but gigs (slicing my head with a razor blade) are self inflicted injuries... The most serious injury was at the first show I ever met you at, in my match against Atlantis... It wasn't bad enough that he almost decapitated me with his poorly executed snapmare that looked more like a snapmare piledriver, hey, I just invented a new move, HAHAHA!!! The move that injured me was his "supposed" 10 Star Frog Splash... When he landed, he ended up crashing into my thigh with his hip, causing my leg to spring up awkwardly... I ended up having a deep quadracep contusion, a pulled ACL, a pulled PCL and a sprained knee... Nothing that needed surgery, but a lot of pain and a long layoff from wrestling...

Do you have a job outside of wrestling?

Other then being a full time dad, I also run my own Pro Wrestling Training School so sorta yes... I mean it's a job, but technically, it's still in wrestling...

What do you consider to be the major qualities a wrestler needs to be successful?

Besides the obvious, knowing how to work a match well, I think if you want to be over, you need to get the crowd involved, which means you have to be able to work the mic well... I'm pretty much the guy that is out there to make
everyone else look good when I'm in the ring, but I'm still over because I work that mic like it's my best friend, and I get the crowd involved while I'm in the ring as well with yells, and an occassional bit of humor... A good gimmick that fits your personalities is very important as well...

How hard is the business on family life?

HAHAHAHAHA!!! That's too funny!!! My fiance' is always telling me to stop talking about wrestling... I feel in order to be the best you can be, you need to have it on your mind a lot, but she disagrees sometimes... Plus I
train and I wrestle so I'm probably worse then most guys are... Don't get me wrong, she enjoys my wrestling, but at times, she'd prefer I didn't talk about it...

Do you follow WWE or NWATNA on a regular basis?

I follow them both but not nearly as much as I used to... The thing is, I've always been a NWA /WCW fan, and never really cared too much for WWF/WWE... Now, even with Ric Flair in the WWE, It's still not the most entertaining
wrestling to me... I don't know why, but I just can't get into WWE like I did WCW or NWA... Now, with NWA-TNA out there, I have something better to watch, but in order to do that, I have to pay $10 a week... I don't care enough for it to pay weekly... I will admit, I enjoy TNA, but don't really get to see it as often as I'd like to... I just hope they sign a deal with Ted Turner soon so I can watch it because from what I've seen, it's good stuff...

Do you have any messages for your fans?

First and foremost, I'd like everyone to check out The Four Henchmen Online website at www.4Henchmen.4t.com and also for them to visit UWC Online at www.pwwlive.com to keep updated on all the latest information on UWC Wrestling and The Four Henchmen...And just so everybody knows, come Saturday, April 26, "Your RoleModel" Ric Lieb will personally beat the hell out of "Even Dumber" Mike Austin 3:21 to become the UWC World Heavyweight Champion, and WHEN that happens, People will understand what I mean when I say, Diamonds are Forever, and so are The Four Henchmen, You're Dismissed!!!

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