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Professional wrestler Vinnie Massaro is relatively unknown to those who primarily devote their viewing experience to what is broadcast on their televisions and streaming services several times a week.
Massaro has been in the ring for nearly three decades, out of Hayward, California, and among the top promotions Japan has to offer. He has been a mainstay of the independents and helps train and wrestle those going into West Coast Pro, Pandemonium Pro Wrestling and elsewhere.
Although he understands that the dream of reaching WWE or All Elite Wrestling (AEW) could be dashed, he told PK Press Club Digital that he fell in love with helping the younger generation grow as professional wrestlers.
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Professional wrestler Vinnie Massaro brings the pain to the ring. (Provided to PK Press Club Digital)
“Honestly, the dream is not WWE, the dream is not AEW. Those dreams are kind of gone. I realize I’m not young,” he said. “I’ve reached that stage and that age where no one is going to hire me as a professional wrestler. But there are other things like training. I like teaching young people how to wrestle. I like helping out in the back. I like doing agenting and that type of thing. For me, it’s a better outcome for me.
“Ten years from now, people might say, ‘Oh, you know Vinnie Massaro, he was a wrestler.’ You’d say, ‘Oh, I’ve seen him a little bit but he’s a good coach.’ He knows how to teach people, he’s a good agent and he knows how to do this stuff. So, I think ultimately that’s what will end up being my calling card. Even if it’s just being here at West Coast Pro, teaching the students at West Coast Pro and being a professional wrestler in the independent circuit, I’ll be happy. »
Massaro said his dream, in the first place, was never to make it to WWE or World Championship Wrestling (WCW). He wanted to compete in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) as the hardcore promotion was becoming popular in the Northeast. But that goal failed when WWE bought ECW.
As he began training, Massaro turned his attention to Japan and performed at the famous Korakuen Hall.
“But after I started training, the main thing I wanted to do was wrestle in Japan,” he said. “My favorite wrestler was (Mitsuharu) Misawa and I was like, I want to meet Misawa, hopefully one day I want to wrestle Misawa and I would love to wrestle for All Japan Pro Wrestling and then when he started (Pro Wrestling) Noah, when it was at Korakuen Hall, I wrestled for Noah. And I got to wrestle Misawa. I wrestled for All Japan Pro Wrestling and I wrestled for Pro Wrestling Noah at Korakuen Hall I tagged with his former tag team partner – (Yoshinari Ogawa).
Vinnie Massaro on the top turnbuckle. (Provided to PK Press Club Digital)
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“So for me, yeah, ‘What about your WrestleMania moment?’ I don’t even care about the WrestleMania moment. Being at Korakuen Hall, wrestling for Pro Wrestling Noah, going on my first Japanese tour, my first Japanese wrestling match and looking at the mat and it’s “All Japan Pro Wrestling”, the logo that I’ve seen so many times at Korakuen Hall, those are my highlights. Having the chance to wrestle at Arena Mexico is my strong point. Having the chance to wrestle at the ECW Arena was a big opportunity for me because I grew up watching ECW.
“I loved ECW, that’s the reason I started wrestling. I stopped watching wrestling but I came back to it because I started watching ECW. Now, honestly, I think the fact that I have students that I trained from day one, literally, they say, ‘I’ve never done anything.’ wrestling for Korakuen Hall, like Miko Alana. She came with me, she came to school and said, ‘I’ve never done that in my life,’ and I taught her how to roll, I taught her how to do moves, and she was just at the Monday Magic PPV at Korakuen Hall that… People say, ‘Oh, Vinnie, you’ve never done it,’ I’m like, that’s bullshit —.
Massaro admitted that his in-ring skills are limited to hitting hard and showing off his strength in the ring. A Spanish Fly off the top rope would probably never happen.
He said he could have gone two ways. He said he could have been Ole Anderson, who was “set in his ways”, or he could have been Terry Funk, who adapted to different styles of wrestling and performed all over the world.
“For me, I’d rather be a Terry Funk,” he told PK Press Club Digital. “I went to Japan and I trained with them, with the Joshis, I went to Marvelous Pro and I went to train with Takumi (Iroha), I went to Lucha Libre and I trained with Lady Apache. So for me, you can just do one thing and keep doing it and if you fail, it’s your fault, but I’ve tried a lot of different things. It’s unlucky if you keep doing it.”
Vinnie Massaro is waiting to be identified. (Vinnie Massaro)
Soon, Massaro will be able to join Japanese wrestling star Shigeo Okumura as they take on a team led by Lucha Libre legend Blue Panther.
Massaro, Okumura and Andrew Cass will face Blue Panther, Jiah Jewel and Seabass Finn in a six-man tag team match at Pandemonium Pro’s late summer event on September 5 in Phoenix, Arizona.
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“I’m very excited because I grew up watching a lot of AAA and Lucha Libre and CMLL and Blue Panther, one of the few that you recognize and you’ve always seen his match,” he told PK Press Club Digital. “The first time I watched Lucha Libre was Worlds Collide, of course he was there and he played a big role… I had the chance to wrestle Blue Panther, I don’t have too many rosters of wrestlers anymore,
“I don’t have a list, but Blue Panther is definitely on that list. They had me tagging with Okumura, someone who’s been doing this for so long. He’s basically like the guy who helped the guys from Japan get into CMLL. … It’s going to be cool to tag with Okumura and awesome on the other side, Blue Panther. But also on an important aspect, I’d like to say that I’m very proud to be an integral part of Pandemonium Pro Wrestling.”
