Chase Stevens is one busy man. He currently works for three different organizations. On Thursdays, he is usually in Evansville, IN with Coliseum Championship Wrestling where he not only wrestles but runs the CCW training school. On the weekends, you can catch him at either on the road with USA Championship Wrestling or in Memphis working for Memphis Wrestling run by the legends Jimmy Hart and Jerry the King Lawler. I sat down with this interesting star to talk about his role in wrestling, his new tag team partner and being a heel.

Alan Wojcik: Did you watch wrestling when you were growing up?

Chase Stevens: Not as much as some wrestlers did. Growing up I was a golden gloves boxing champion. I did that from about the fifth grade until high school graduation. From there I joined the military.

AW: How did you first get involved in wrestling?

CS: In 1997, I came home and was working in a movie store, (which we wont plug here.) My best friend came in one day and he was wearing a wrestling t-shirt. He told me he was in training to be a wrestler. I laughed and said, Oh youre doing that fake shit. He told me its not what you think and invited me to come out to see him in a training match in Evansville, Indiana. He did real well and I like what I saw. I talked to the promoter of the show to see what steps I needed to take to get into wrestling. He wanted to make sure I was athletic, which I was. So I put some money down and started the very next week and they kicked the holy hell out of me. For those readers of this interview who think wrestling is fake, youre full of crap. My chiropractor knows me on a first name basis. Ive had broken bones and muscle bruises. We drive ourselves to and from shows. After a bad night the drive home can be a killer. I thought the ring was a trampoline until I landed on it. Its the worst feeling your body will ever have.

AW: What can you tell me about the training experience?

CS: Fifteen weeks was how long it was supposed to last. Tracy Smothers and Mike Samples were the schools trainers along with veterans like Curt Henning, Barry Windham and Marcus Buff Bagwell. I took a little from all those men and molded it into Chase Stevens. My fifth week of training, they were short handed on a show so I made my debut and it was the worst match that anyone has ever seen. I took a butt kicking from a fellow trainee named Johnny B. Dazzled who had been there the whole fifteen weeks. I worked under a mask as Glacius. I watched that tape recently and realize I wasnt as good as I thought. But Im a better wrestler now and am looking for a rematch with you Johnny B. Dazzled wherever you are (laughs.)

AW: Can you list what companies youve worked for?

CS: Its a pretty long list to be honest. Ive done shows and didnt know the name of the promotion. A worker might have sent his tape in and one of my matches is on there with his.  Being independent wrestlers, we make all our own bookings and have set prices. You get a phone call, get road directions and off you go. Ive been in just about every state in the USA. Tracy Smothers is responsible for where I am. He took me practically around the world and back.

AW: Has there ever been an opponent you got in there with and thought, Wow Im in the ring with

CS: Terry Taylor. He is the smartest worker Ive ever been around. Ill get heat from people by saying this. Terry is an outstanding technical wrestler and true professional. I wrestled him about a month ago and got the win. I will cherish that night for a long time. Most recently (Naturals and Alternative Express partner) Andy Douglas and I got to wrestle Jerry Lawler, Koko B. Ware and the Rock n Roll Express. The veterans are great because they know their prime has passed and they have made it as far as they can go. There out there to please the fans. When I met the Rock n Roll Express I underestimated them. I thought they would give us a good fast paced match and they took it to us and gave a better match than most indy teams that are my age. We went toe to toe and tore the house down.

AW: What was your favorite program to have worked?

CS: I wrestled in the Pennsylvania/Ohio/Indiana loop as a part of a tag team called High Velocity. My partner Blaze turned on me. We had a four-month long feud. He thought he could get more money without me and I took that to heart. We had good physical matches that took me to the limit. In our last match, he broke his back and had to retire from the ring.

AW: You were in a tag team called the Hotshots with Cassidy OReilly. How did the two of you become part of NWA: TNA at the beginning of the company?

CS: They called us and we had full time contracts with them. We waited for weeks and then TNA did their first show in Huntsville. They called us the first day they ran in the (Nashville) Municipal Auditorium to do a dark match against two Canadians where we put them over as we were babyfaces. We did an old school match and not do any high flying spots. Jerry Jarrett liked us. Then I think Vince Russo came up with an idea of tweaking us and putting fake peckers in our tights which was stupid. They told us that the entertainment part would come out and have the TNA dancers following us around and that never came to be. Then they turned us heel and I have been one ever since. Cassidy moved on, left TNA and is a solo worker now. I think we had about six PPV matches as the Hotshots.

AW: What did you think when they told you that you guys were going to be the team that attacked Americas Most Wanted after their match with the Johnsons on the night of the NWA world tag title tournament. Also what did you think when you were told you would become a heel since you had been a babyface for most of your career?

CS: I was excited to be a heel. TNA talked to Cassidy and I and they laid it out step by step. It looked to be that it would be drawn out over several weeks but TNA was just getting their feet wet. They were bringing several people in for tryouts and putting them on the PPV. We didnt come back with AMW after one match. They thought they needed to get us out of the fans mind for the whole angle with AMW.

AW: What led you to becoming the Natural Chase Stevens?

CS: What led to the Natural was TNA wanting to get rid of the Hotshot name; they felt it didnt have a ring to it. Cassidy moved onto being a singles wrestler plus he lives in Louisiana. At the time we began with TNA they werent flying anyone into Nashville. Bob Ryder put me with Andy Douglas thinking we had a similar look. He put us out on USA Championship Wrestling to see what kind of heat we could draw. We needed a team name. Bob took us on a deep sea fishing trip and on the way down to the location we began shooting off names. The Naturals came up and we felt we could go place with it.

AW: What was the WWE dark match experience like?

CS: Cassidy and I were supposed to be a team but they realized we were TNA talent and didnt want to put over TNA. So Cassidy worked with Raven. I was in a tag match with Ron Simmons and Devon Dudley. Ron is a great veteran and Devon is one of the nicest guys I have met in the business. Both of them gave me so much stuff that night.

AW: What led to the Goddess Athena becoming the manager of the Naturals?

CS: That was a right place right time thing. We were in the locker room at USA right after Bob had become the booker. Athena was managing Hot Rod Biggs and was all dressed for his match. Well Rod didnt make it to the show. She asked Andy and me if she could come out with us for our match and she did. We have been together since.

AW: You were recently the heavyweight champion of USA championship Wrestling. What did you then Bert Prentice and Bob Ryder told you that they were giving you the belt?

CS: Since this is a shoot interview. I didnt want the belt. I am not a mark for belts. I am in a tag team and its hard to put the belt on a non-singles wrestler and give the belt the respect it deserves. I was trying to evolve as a tag team wrestler and work for other promotions including trying to get on TNA. I am grateful that they thought I deserved the belt when they created the title but I didnt think I should be the first to get it.

AW: Who came up with the idea of the Alternative Express which is your gimmick in Memphis Wrestling?

CS: That was Jimmy Hart and Jerry Lawler. Jimmy called me one day with a new gimmick. He wanted us to become hard rock, gothic club people. Many people reading this dont know but Andy is a laid back guy who wears a cowboy hat. We went to Memphis and found out we were going to be wearing baggy pants, coloring our hair many colors, painting our fingernails. I took it as an insult because I thought it was a big rib. We own our own wrestling gear and I felt that they were trying to turn us into backyarders. Jerry Lawler bought all of our costuming and is giving us a push. I still dont like the name but it seems to have caught on with the fans. It might get us noticed by the WWE or TNA.

AW: You were recently brought back into TNA as Glen Gilbretis mystery team to take out AMW in their feud with Simon Diamond and Johnny Swinger. What is different about wrestling AMW with Cassidy as opposed to Andy?

CS: Cassidy is a big high flyer like me. You can put either of us in with a veteran or a young x-division guy and we can go at it. Andy might be young but he works like a veteran. He is stiff and has the slow style that looks good on camera. If you watch us on TV we dont do many tag team spots but what we do is crisp and fast switches. We look like Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard. They made their opponents look like a million dollars and that what we want to do every time in the ring.

AW: Where do you hope the future will take Chase Stevens?

CS: I hopefully will have a full time contract with TNA, which is in the works as we speak. Andy is in Hawaii right now so we were off the PPV. Hopefully you can see us on every Wednesday night.

Thanks to Chase for his time. Log onto www.chase-stevens.com to see where you can catch Chase in action. CCW has a website, www.coliseumwrestling.com