Interview with Derek Cornell

Derek Cornell is ready for war.

In a first for The Spinning Backfist, we were able to secure an interview with a veteran of the Iowa independent wrestling scene, Derek Cornell. Derek Cornell has made his mark known in such promotions as Magnum Pro Wrestling, Adrenaline Pro Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Phoenix, and countless others. I ask him some basic questions but never the less we are proud to bring you this interview.



How did you get your start in wrestling?

- I thought I started a lot sooner than I did, but it turned out to be a glorified yarding scene, so I say I truly started in 2008. I started over with a company in Wellman, Iowa, where I learned the basics, got my foot in the door and had gotten some good exposure, then I found myself under the wing of Jaysin Strife in late 2009 and he's who I mostly credit for my knowledge.

Who are your biggest influences towards your in-ring style of wrestling?

- There's a laundry list of who influenced my style, such guys like Josh Prohibition, Jerry Lynn, Chris Candido-- but anyone who watches can really see my major influence has been Chris Hero/Kassius Ohno over the years. His look, his style for a guy who isn't absolutely jacked out of his mind, it really jumped out to me because my body type's the same. That and he was entertaining just wrestling.

Favorite Roadtrip?

- That one's a toss up: the trip to Wisconsin for Brew City Wrestling was one for the ages and full of great stories, and then so were both my trips to Texas, and Ohio was pretty epic as well. But truly, I love every roadtrip. I've always enjoyed traveling, and now that I get to travel with guys I consider family to do something that we all love and never get tired of talking about? It's the complete package. One that really sticks out is the trip to Gathering of the Juggalos with Strife and Donnie Peppercricket. For those of you who aren't familiar with this event, it's where drug dealers, confused teenagers and every other person go to get painted up, walk around naked, and take drugs for a week. It was us three walking around with the Daivari brothers, Chris Hero and Colt Cabana, and I just remember being in awe because these were the guys that made me want to do this. Of course, shortly thereafter is when everyone started throwing poop at Tila Tequila, and I missed it.

Favorite Matches?

- There's a fist full of those. Any time I get in the ring with Strife, local guys like Supafli, Brian Gott, Team Lariat, I always love the outcome. Little known fact, I don't think even he knows it, but my match with Joey Anderson at the WWE try out was probably one of my most favorite, because everything felt just right. Team Lariat, I love every time I get in there with those guys. Markus Crane, say what you may about him, but the couple matches we've had I've really enjoyed and the crowd did too from what I remember. I love wrestling with Gunner Franks, Truth Martini should be very proud of the student he produced with him, phenomenal wrestler. I could go on about matches with guys like Jason Jones, Joey Ryan, but it seems like the one match that I had with Arik Cannon is the defining match for me. A year and a half later, and people are still talking about it. Not that it's dominating any form of media or whatever, but it still will come up and people will go out of their way to talk about the match after they've seen it, even if it's to say, "Holy shit, Derek got his ass whooped!" They're still taking notice.

Worst Matches?

- December 2008, worst tag match of my career. Myself and a guy named The Freak versus Stephen Stonebraker and El Latino. That match fell straight outta the bottom. I won't say much other than that, but that was sadder than an ASPCA commercial.

Would you work in Japan/Mexico/Europe if given the chance. If not then why?

- I would love to, if not for the wrestling for the sake of traveling. I think every wrestler who is serious about this business should want to go to any of those places.

What non Midwest Indy fed would you most like to work for and why?

- Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, that would be an amazing learning experience.

Who is really the Best in the World?

- Depends, who's the booker?

Who would you like to work with in the future?

- Too many to even begin to list, but I would love to wrestle Sami Callihan, Adam Cole, Irish Airborne, Silas Young, and a rematch with Arik Cannon.

Is the ultimate goal WWE or TNA or just stick in the independent scene?

- My ultimate goal in wrestling is to inspire someone to wrestle. Be it when I'm in WWE, TNA, ROH or whatever company, the day that someone leaves a show and says that I'm the person who made them believe that this is what they want to do, if only for one match, then I gave back to wrestling more than I thought I ever would.

Anything you'd like to shill?

- Of course! Check out my Facebook page at Facebook.com/derekcornellscs and check it for updates, merchandise that I will soon have, videos of matches, and whatever else. It's kinda dead on there, so if you wanna go to post and tell me I'm a fuck, please do. I get lonely.


I certainly thank Mr. Cornell for his time. Be sure to check him out along with the promotions I listed above to see all the wrestlers that put in hard time to entertain us fans.