Interview: The Rogue General Leading The Charge For Local Talent
The Rogue General leading the charge for local talent
Interview by Karina Johnson
The Rogue General Toks Fale, aka Bad Luck Fale, spoke with PW Downunder about how he was an accidental wrestler who is now leading the charge to bring Australian and New Zealand talent to the world stage.
Fale stumbled on a wrestling career by accident while playing rugby in Japan. ‘Someone said there is a wrestling company, go and try out. I tried out now knowing what New Japan was. All I knew was WWE.’
The training at New Japan Pro Wrestling was a shock. ‘I used to have dreadlocks. It was a tradition for anyone coming new into the Dojo to shave their head. I shaved my head and the training was so hard and tough that my hair never grew back.’
Fale’s rugby training helped him make the transition to wrestling. ‘Being a pro rugby player, you’re already accustomed to hard training. I took my experience as an athlete and applied that to training, becoming the first foreigner to graduate from the NJPW Young Lions training in 45 years.’
Becoming a founding member of the Bullet Club catapulted Fale’s career to a new level. ‘I was still a green boy back then. One day they brought me together with Finn Baylor. Once we established the Bullet Club, that’s when I noticed people wanted to book me all over the place and the fans were increasing.’
He credits the success of the Bullet Club to having the right people in the club at the right time and a bit of clever marketing. ‘We got the same merch and everywhere we went, we took photos together wearing that merch. Then fans wanted to be a part of that.’
While he would like to team up with the original Bullet Club members for another match, Fale is focussed on bringing up the next generation of wrestlers. ‘I enjoy helping others get to their goals in wrestling, get contracts and find their pathways to become better wrestlers.’
He started the Fale Dojo in Auckland with a vision to make Australia and New Zealand one of the top wrestling territories in the world again, just as the region was in the 70s and 80s. ‘I had this crazy idea of rekindling the excitement and bringing the big platforms over here. I want to build home-grown talent with my knowledge of the training and discipline in Japan.’
Fale is in Australia for the NJPW Tamashii shows, with the Melbourne Oceania Cup held on 13 September and the Sydney show happening on 15 September. ‘Melbourne was absolutely amazing, the excitement has just exploded. We are starting to have matches that mean something. The next stage will be championship belts.’
He thinks Sydney will be a huge night. ‘Fans have had a taste in the first round. The excitement is going to be bigger, the word has gone out and people are going to be happy.’
There is a final stop for Fale while in Australia, with tryouts for future Tamashii and New Japan Pro Wrestling shows being held in Brisbane. ‘A lot of fans are asking us to come to Queensland. We are already established in Melbourne and Sydney but are looking for wrestlers for future Queensland shows.’
He wants to bring big platforms to Queensland. ‘Of course AEW is coming next year and hopefully there is a chance to work with the locals.’
Tickets for the Sydney NJPW Tamashii show are available here. Brisbane tryouts will be held in conjunction with Venom Pro Wrestling on Saturday 21 September in Beenleigh. To find out more email info@njtqld.com
Interview by Karina Johnson, Publicist and Head of Communications at RedCastle Entertainment
