NAPHTALI and HAVOC are two of the most bizarre
competitors in IPW, as Havok now hails from Gorky Park, Russia, and demands that his weight be determined in kilograms, while Naphtali is
wellNaphtali. The duo is currently known as the MIDNIGHT FREEBIRDS, but they have also been known as the Anarchy Suicide Squad and Wrongful Death, under which
they had multi-IPW World and NWA Florida tag titles reigns. Both men have had alter-egos as well as successful singles careers.
Naphtali was formerly known as AL BINO while Havoc was at one time PRIME EVIL, but he was unmasked after losing the IPW Hardcore
Title in a fatal 4 way at The Aftermath this past January. Naphtali was the longest reigning Florida Unified Cruiserweight
champion (IPW Cruiserweight/NWA Florida X title) winning them from Justice on August 2, 2002 and losing them back to Justice
at Rage in the Cage 5 on April 18, 2003. Both men have a love for wrestling and have a friendship that has lasted since they
met in 1997. This interview was conducted at the IPW/NWA Florida show, 7th Avenue Slaughter on September
27, 2003.
Alan Wojcik: When did the two of you first meet,
was it at the Chaotic Camp Wrestling school?
Havok: I had been training with Brett Sawyer
and he is a piece of sh#$. He opened a wrestling school just to jip people out of money. I left there and began to hit the
local wrestling shows including IPW Hardcore. Thats where I first met Naph through a mutual friend. At first I didnt get along
with him, in fact I wanted to kill him. So we began to travel to the shows together. Naph had run into Chaos who ran the Chaotic
Camp and he began training, what was it a week before me?
Naphtali: It was a few days afterwards. I told
a friend to get in touch with Havok and have him come down and check out the school. But he came down on a day I wasnt there.
The next day I was in the camp, he was there. We have been training, traveling and wrestling together ever since.
AW: How did training at the Chaotic Camp differ
then what you see the students at the Florida Wrestleplex go through?
Naphtali: It was hell of a lot harder. At the
Plex their ring is set up for them everyday. At the Camp, we had to build our ring and take it down everyday we wanted to
practice and take it down at the end of practice. We wrestled in a produce warehouse. We didnt get the chance to practice
and workout in a facility like the Wrestleplex, we were in a PRODUCE WAREHOUSE, but it had a walk-in cooler which was nice.
On a weekend we were usually up the entire weekend, taking the ring to shows, putting it up, taking it down and bringing it
back.
Havok: You were luck to get some sleep in the
car if we were lucky.
AW: Who did each of you debut against?
Naphtali: I debuted against Haystacks Calhoun
Jr. in an impromptu match which I lost.
Havok: I teamed with Gentleman Rick Thames against
Sonny T and Chaos in a 35 minute long match that was them just kicking my ass.
Naphtali: At the end of that night we were involved
in an old school locker room clearing brawl. We got power bombed on top of each other. Then they dropped Jeff Peterson on
top of us. I looked over to see Havok with the biggest f#$king grin on his face.
Havok: I was busy looking at tits (laughs.)
Naphtali: Yeah but they were Pinellas Park redneck trailer park trash
tits.
AW: Havok, you wrestled against Chaos at Rage
in the Cage 1999. What was it like to wrestle your trainer on a show that is the Wrestlemania of IPW?
Havok: Wow. That was a great match. But the one
thing I clearly remember was being in the back with Naphtali marking out to the new IPW tag title belts.
AW: Naphtali, you had a match early in your career
with former IPW Cruiserweight champion Jet Jaguar.
Naphtali: That was great. I had looked up to
him when I was just a spectator. When I got to wrestle him it was amazing. He allowed me to do things I hadnt done in a match
until then. He put me over that night which was amazing.
AW: Is it true you guys beat each other up in
a match at an Ybor City show where someone jumped off a 20 foot platform and then fought onto 7th Avenue?
Havok: It wasnt me doing the jumping; I was too
heavy to be climbing.
Naphtali: We wrestled that night in the second
match. I did the balcony jump and he ht me with a piledriver onto the top of a bar. They had hot waitresses.
Havok: Nice waitresses with big tits in that
place. Sorry I am mark for big tits, as long as they are of legal age.
Naphtali: Anyway, we were in the back changing
when someone came up to me and asked if we could go at it again. Sure. So I went to Havok and asked him lets go again.
Havok: I was fully dressed but I said what the
f$%k.
Naphtali: We made history when we fought onto
7th Avenue where I was hit with a tombstone piledriver and then he pinned me.
Havok: Even the cops popped out to that.
(Jet Jaguar walks by with a refreshing beverage.)
Jet Jaguar: You momma wears combat boots.
Havok: Actually she does.
AW: Havok, is it true you had a feud with a guy
named Angry Amish Warrior??
Havok: Big wow because I havent heard that name
in years. All I can say is he is still fat.
AW: Naphtali, you had some memorable matches
with the late Jeff Peterson.
Naphtali: I wanted to add that Amish Warrior
was another member of our little clique when we were in training. Jeff was one of my best friends in wrestling, for those
that dont know he passed away last November. He came to the camp shortly after we had begun our training. We had a great program
that ran on and off for about two years. I am fortunate that he came into my life.
AW: Which one of you joined the Chaotic Cult?
Havok: It was me. I think it was in Seffner during
a match with Amish. At the end of the match, the Chaotic Cult hit the ring and beat on Amish. I joined them in the beating
and into the Cult I went.
Naphtali: That same night it appeared I might
get a tryout with the Cult in a tag match with Chaos taking on Gentleman Rick Thames and Sonny T, the Southern Posse. That
was the one of the worst ass beating I ever took and after the match, these clowns beat me down.
AW: Havok is a multi-time IPW Hardcore champion.
Your first reign began by beating Hack Myers on April
24, 1999.
Havok: His manager had big tits. I saw stars
that night as that was the night of my first concussion. I think knew I was green so he stiffed the sh$% out of me. It was
all fun and tits.
AW: How did the Anarchy Suicide Squad come to
being?
Havok: Its all about the ASS man.
Naphtali: It was actually an inside joke. We
were driving to Crystal River with the ring in a U-Haul with Amish Warrior. We were coming up with names for our group and I said why dont we call
ourselves the Anarchy Squad with another s in there to be ASS. We laughed about it but Ron decided to put us in a tag match
and when he asked us what we wanted to be called and without hesitation we told him Anarchy Suicide Squad.
Havok: Dont forget when he brought it up he said
he would never stick three green guys together, which is funny in itself.
AW: Not long after the team was formed, you won
the IPW World tag titles from Drunk n Disorderly (Former NWA world tag team champion the New Heavenly Bodies) and Inner Aggression
(according to Naphtali, Bill Long and Butch Pain.)
Naphtali: I remember re-arraigning the letter
on the VFW dining menu from free pasta to ass is the sh$% (laughs.)
Havok: Consequently they locked that thing up
so we couldnt do that again.
AW: You lost them back to Inner Aggression.
Havok: I have no comment on that at this time.
Naphtali: They were two guys that could wrestle
any style you wanted to. I had to team with Scotty the STD and he got his ass beat. That was one night my ass didnt get beaten
on.
Havok: I wasnt able to attend the show so they
lost the belts.
AW: How did a match between the two of you happen
at Halloween Hell 2000?
Havok: There comes a time when you grow apart.
He was into hillbilly family reunion stuff. I came out one night and ended the team so I could win some singles titles. I
beat on Dagon Briggs that night then Naph came out for our match.
Naphtali: That was pretty much it.
AW: Naphtali, during the beginning of your solo
career you hooked up with a young man named Seijin Akki, now known as Mikey Tenderfoot. What was he like then compared to
now?
Havok: I would like to say that Seijin in Japanese
means cheese.
Naphtali: Seijin wrestled under a hood due to
his cute little babyface. He was also known as Someyoungguy as well as Mefuggemyoung.
Havok: I personally liked Barry McCockenher.
Naphtali: That wasnt him dummy.
Havok: Sorry that was me.
Naphtali: Now back to Seijin. As a green boy
he was talented and Mikey has developed into quite the athlete who has bright future ahead of him.
Havok: I heard there was going to beer here tonight.
Thats the only reason Im here.
AW: Im just the interviewer man; I didnt know
to bring beer for you. Im straight edge.
Havok: Thats not what Ive heard.
(Havok leaves for a moment to look for beer.)
AW: Not long after that you went against Scoot
Andrews when he was in the cruiserweight division.
Naphtali: Scoot surprisingly let me do what I
want. He said, Hey kid call the match and let me now what were going to do. I did that and took what I had to him and he said
no lets do this instead. Seijin interjected himself in our match. The three of us had a great match. I would wrestle scoot
any day of the week, any night of the day, any hour of the minute, you better cut me off Alan.
(Havok returns with two beers for the duo to
drink.)
AW: What
was it like to be in a four tables of death match with the Hardcore Monster Kubiak at Hardcore Hell 2001?
Havok: That was the first time we wrestled each
other. When I first saw him I thought, OH SH#$ hes going to kill me. I consider Kubiak a brother. After that night he left
an impression on me. I will leave it at that.
AW: For
most of the matches we have spoken of tonight you were known as AL Bino. When did you become Naphtali?
Naphtali: I changed my underwear and it didnt
have my name in it anymore so I needed a new name. Im just kidding. I had bleached blonde hair and I dyed it back to my normal
color. I wasnt an albino anymore so I needed a new name. I told Ron I had new name, he approved it and the rest as they say
is geography.
AW: Speaking of geography, you have wrestled
some NWA Wildside wrestlers, one in particular Jimmy Rave.
Naphtali: Jimmy is a very cool guy and fun to
be in the ring with. He had a bad rep due to an incident with Reckless Youth which I dont hold against him.
AW: How did the formation of Wrongful Death with
Dagon Briggs come about?
Havok: I think it was Naph throwing the idea
around and Naph asked me to be part of it and I said yes. We were a great team and I thought we could have success again.
Dagon was a natural fit being the little freak he is. Hi Mom.
AW: The trio of Wrongful death won the IPW World
and NWA Florida titles from Quickiemart (Agent Steele and Yassar Arafat Jr.) and Badstreet Boys members Joey Matthews and
Christian York.
Naphtali: York and Matthews had deals with ECW
and you can still catch the sometimes with the WWE under hoods. They are two great guys to work with. They gave us pointers
after the match. Some Mexicans just walked in here.
Havok: Theyre not carrying fruit so we know they
are legal.
AW: During one of your title matches you wrestled
the Backseat Boys, Tent Acid and Johnny Kashmere. What was it like to wrestle have that have worked for CZW?
Naphtali: No different than the guys we have
wrestled in IPW. The IPW guys are no different than guys that work for CZW; they just get a bigger name from the internet.
They wrestled in Big Japan so have I. They were good to wrestle. They come out to the Midnight Express theme which is cool to me.
AW: You lost the IPW belts but kept the NWA Florida
titles in match with Big n Sexy (Python & Uptown Frankie Capone.) Any memories from that match?
Naphtali: Dagon puked in the ring (Havok laughs.)
Frankie and I were fighting on the outside and we said what the fu$% is going on in there!! After the match (NWA FL President)
Joe Price came out to do an angle where we kept the NWA Florida belts. He pretty much handed me my belt and dropped the other
one on Dagon avoiding the puke. That is the only memory I have from that match.
Havok: I probably was drunk somewhere in the
back looking for my shoes.
AW: You won the IPW belts back but lost them
to Roderick and Sedrick Strong at Declaration of Independents. Any memories of them as a team and any opinion on them as solo
wrestlers?
Naphtali: We had beaten the hell out of Short
Bus that night.
Havok: I miss those guys.
Naphtali: The Strongs came out and wrestled us
impromptu even though we had wrestled the one match. They were a good tag team. I had some problems with Sedrick before he
began IPW, but we became cool later on. I had liked Roderick before he worked for IPW when he worked under a hood because
he was too green. We had wrestled each other at a rodeo style building in Kissimmee and you better shut up!!
Havok: I remember that night as I was in the
crowd that was full of rednecks chanting Al is on crack!! He was at that time.
Naphtali: Yes I was (laughs.)
AW: What led you to go from being known as Havoc
and becoming Prime Evil?
Havok: I broke my neck; actually I was working
out at the Plex and I took a moonsault wrong and was out for about seven moths hurt. I didnt want to come back as the Havoc
gimmick.
(A rock band begins to play outside the building.)
Havok: Yes I come with my own band to certain
gigs. Anyway Ron asked me what I wanted to do. I told him I had this mask and showed him the whole gimmick. He liked it but
we needed to see if the fans liked it and they did.
AW: What led you to bring stuffed animals filled
with thumbtacks to the ring?
Havok: It beats a ham sandwich with thumbtacks.
Naphtali: I remember this one. We were at the
Plex and there used to be a crane machine filled with toys. We won an elephant. We began to toss it around and Havoc ripped
the head off of it. He took it home and the next show he brought it back sewed together. I asked him what the hell was he
doing?? Prime Evil in a non-Russian accent told me, Watch this!! I watched the match, he ripped it open and there thumbtacks
went all over the place, many of which I stepped on in my bare feet.
Havok: Want a tissue for your issue??
AW: While he was being Prime Evil, you became
the longest reigning Florida Unified Cruiserweight champion by defeating Justice on August 2, 2002 at the New Agenda show. (Havok claps
as I speak.)
Naphtali: Thats right I had the longest reign
as champion. That match with Justice is one of my favorites. I watch it a lot. It was so good plus I try to see if there was
anything I could improve on and there isnt anything. That match and our subsequent matches and you will see lots of psychology
involved. It is not just a wrestling match.
AW: You have a long list of opponents you defended
against. One being the winner of the 2003 Jeff Peterson Memorial Cup, Reckless Youth.
Naphtali: He is my favorite wrestler out there
right now. Everyone has one favorite. After working him twice he is the greatest and I love him for that.
AW: You became hardcore champion once more by
beating Kubiak, Concession Boy and Chaos.
Havok: That wasnt me dumb ass that was Prime
Evil. Ill give you his phone number and you can ask him, if you can understand retard.
AW: Alrighty then. Naphtali, how the heck did
you end up in a Living Room of Death match against Cynic??
Naphtali: That was Dagons idea and I stole it.
I will give him all the credit in the world. Ron liked it, but Dagon left IPW before he could use it. We decided to use it
anyways and I wrestled Cynic who hated the idea, but I got him through the match.
Havok: Just so you know Cynic also hates diets
as well.
AW: Somehow you were under the Prime Evil mask
at The Aftermath by Bobby Rogers and Maximum Capacity when Bobby won the IPW Hardcore title Prime Evil held. How did you end
up under the mask?
Havok: Just to clarify something, that is not
me on that video. What happened was Prime Evil had the flu and he asked me to step in for him. Those guys took advantage of
me in a non-homoerotic way.
AW: At the same show you wrestled in a four way
dance with Justice, Tony Mamaluke and the Bug. Is it your preference to be in a one-on-one match or do you like the multi-opponent
matches?
Naphtali: A little bit of both. I prefer the
one on one because it is less of a clusterf$%k. I like to consider myself a genius and when I can have three or four way matches
and I can prove to the fans my wrestling proficiency, hope you can spell that. (Yes thanks to the wonderful tool known as
spell check I can spell it.)
AW: How did you come to be managed by Abudadein?
Havok: I think that had something to do with
big snakes.
Naphtali: Honestly I dont remember. I think (IPW
Writer) Aaron Royal came up to me and said we are putting Abudadein with you.
AW: What led to you becoming an old-school style
wrestler by using the heart punch and the Bino Driver 98
Havok: You make it sound like he is coming up
with these things. Those moves have been around for years and I think you are insulting him with where you are going with
this question.
AW: I humbly apologize to you Naphtali.
Naphtali: To be honest my body hurts. I can barely
walk. I woke up and I thought I had been shot in my knee. If I want a longer career I need to change my style and slow things
down. Everyone wants to do these big flashy moves and everyone accuses everyone of stealing their finishing moves. I said
screw all of them. No one does a heart punch or an abdominal stretch. The school boy has been used to end matches but no one
really put it over. I incorporated all of these moves plus the chicken wing and most masterfully the headlock, of which I
have about a hundred variations. Originally I did it to piss off the fans because they want to see planchas and other flashy
stuff. After a while it got over.
AW: Some how during your reign you began to cheat.
For example using baby powder on yourself and then tossing the bottle into your opponents hands.
Naphtali: Go look at the IPW website and you
will see that I am the longest reigning cruiserweight champion. Keeping my title was all I wanted to do. Hey it worked.
AW: Actually it worked until Rage in the Cage
5 when you lost the belts to Justice with another rival named Jerrelle Clark as the special referee.
Naphtali: Exactly look who was the freaking referee.
He can barely see over my waist let alone count to three. Jerrelle was the referee and his growth was stunted, ah Im just
making excuses you better cut me off again.
AW: You kidnapped the title belts and took them
on a trip to Mexico??
Naphtali: Everyone was complaining I was too
small. The belts told me to go to Mexico where all the tomfoolery takes place. Thats right I said tomfoolery. So the three of us went to Mexico and as you can see I
am jacked.
Havok: Obviously.
AW: Havok, what is it like to be in the ring
with one of the hardest chest choppers in the business, Pat Powers?
Havok: He chopped off one of my nipples. I got
it back from a fan later on, slight gnawed on but Beverly gave it back to me.
AW: We brought up Jeff Peterson earlier on. This
past May IPW and NWA Florida hosted the 1st Jeff Peterson Memorial Cup. You went through Seijin Akki and B-Boy
before losing to Reckless Youth. What was it like to wrestle B-Boy?
Naphtali: B-Boy is for a lack of a better term
my boy. I had a great time wrestling him and we recently caught up with each
other at a recent MLW show in St Petersburg. We talk on-line all of the time. I hope to see him on future shows.
Havok: When you hear B-Boy you think B, does
it stand for breast?? And I look around I see big breasts, hooters.
Naphtali: Breast Boy?? (laughs)
AW: You gave a heartfelt speech at the show.
Can you summarize it for those that werent able to hear it?
Naphtali: Basically I said without people like
Jeff there would be no IPW. Guys that had the determination and desire for the company to succeed ahead of themselves. We
wouldnt have had a Peterson cup or a 5th anniversary show. We wouldnt be sitting here listening to a god awful cover band.
AW: Havok you had a falls count anywhere and
I do mean anywhere match, including the back of a pickup truck that drove away from the Wrestleplex. Memories of fighting
Bruce dont call me Agent Steele?
Havok: He hurt me bad that night. He brought
it to me and I didnt take him seriously. I didnt think he was as tough he turned out to be. We ended up in the back of a pick
up truck, drove onto US-19. Ended up at a titty bar had some beers and looked at some great looking breasts. We beat each
other some more.
Naphtali: I wish to clarify the bar was in Pinellas
county and the dancers were all of legal age.
Havok: Actually one of them was nineteen but
thanks for telling the people that.
AW: At Payback are Hell 2003, the two of you
teamed up with Kubiak to take on Suicidal Tendencies and the debuting New Jack. Naphtali was tossed of the top of a U-haul,
do either of you have any memories of that match?
Naphtali: I dont remember any of it.
Havok: New Jack kicked his ass, I can vouch for
that.
Naphtali: Thanks for backing me up pal.
AW: As we sit here somehow you moved to St. Petersburg, Russia and became Havok. What happened to cause
this change of personality and going from H-A-V-O-C to H-A-V-O-K?
Naphtali: Are you a comic book character?
(Havok now has a Russian accent)
Havok: Yes I am the brother of Cyclops from the
X-Men. I ran down my family tree and saw my descendants were. Nikolai Volkoff is my great uncle. Boris Zukhof is my third
uncle of my moms fourth side. Ivan and Nikita Koloff as well as Danny Zuko are relatives.
Naphtali: Danny Zuko isnt related to you, hes
from Grease.
Havok: I like Grease 2, even though Michelle
Pfiffer has small breasts. She can get a 2000 dollar job done.
Naphtali: What was the original question Alan?
AW: Hell if I know. What led you to becoming
the Midnight Freebirds?
Havok: Its all about the groupies and big tits.
Naphtali: You brought up my love for the old
school style of wrestling. I can watch 80s tapes all night long, so if its not broke why fix it?? The old school style isnt
broke. I can have a great match and still get the fans right where they need to be without killing my body, even though I
might do it once in a while.
Havok: You know Naphtali showed me the light.
After hardcore matches I would wake up the next day and not be able to move my arms. Now after an old school style match I
get up with little or no pain in my body.
AW: As we sit here tonight you guys have an old
school flag match with two veterans Navy Seal and the Cuban Assassin.
Havok: Veterans?? Come on Cuban was in the Spanish
American war.
Naphtali: When we started with this old school
crusade, we realized Cuban and Seal are veterans. Seal helped trained us. I think it is time for a new generation of old school
wrestlers. I like all kinds of styles of wrestling but we will bring it to you like it is 1984.
Havok: For Cuban thats 1784.
AW: On a closing note, where do the two of you
hope to be in the coming years?
Naphtali: I hope to finally reach 1990. When
we reach the 90s it will be.
Havok: Hey bro, I think New Jack messed up your
head its 2003.
Naphtali: We hope to keep this going but on a
bigger level. With our style we will be around for a few more years. Old school is back with a vengeance baby.
Havok: If that doesnt work out I want to die
with a greasy piece of pizza in one hand and a greasy hooter on the other.
My thanks to Naphtali and Havok for their time for this interesting interview.