Jimmo's Angle Special: Interview: The Trainee Wrestler - Jay Cobain

For wrestling to continue, grow and survive, there must be new blood. The next generation has got to be continuously learning and improving in order to carry on this great sport/entertainment product that has been around for over 100 years. The need to find the 'next big thing' is a never-ending journey.

At the beginning, if you want to get to the top you normally have to start at the bottom. With a dream. To make that dream become a reality you need to work hard and show dedication and if you show enough of this, along with perseverance, you should be on the right path towards succeeding in your chosen field.

In February of this year, I met a friend of a friend - Jay Cobain - at a wrestling show in Wolverhampton (AWW) who impressed me instantly. At first we talked about our shared love of wrestling and it's history. Jay would then go onto state his ambition to become a wrestler. I'm not sure what it was about his story that convinced me, but I completely believed Jay and in that brief meeting I couldn't doubt his determination to achieve his goal.

Jay Cobain; Musician, aspiring Wrestler

 I caught up with Jay to ask him about his aims, how he intends to achieve them, and how he's getting along since our meeting a few months ago. 

Jimmo's Angle: Hi Jay, let's start with a little background about yourself

Jay: My name is Jay Cobain, but I am also known under my stage name or pseudonym, Jay Taylor; mainly within my band/musical projects.

I was born in the UK in June 1985. At 17 I developed a rare condition known as Foreign Accent Syndrome (FAS) which causes me to speak with a Canadian/American accent. It is more common with individuals who have suffered from some form of trauma to the head that affects the part of the brain that controls speech/accents. My story is slightly different as mine is the psychological form of FAS. In short, my up-bringing was not very nice and as a result, in order to distance myself from a troubled and dark past, I essentially reinvented myself. I began speaking with a new accent and changed my surname to 'Cobain' in order to have nothing to do with my past or family any longer. I had no control over this (apart from the changing of my surname) and it wasn’t until I saw a professional that this was then explained to me. It’s easier for me, when I am meeting new people for the first time just to tell them that I come from Canada or America to save the long explanation.

I am a musician and first picked up the guitar at age 3. I started writing music and creating bands in my early teens. Music was very much my first love outside of wrestling. I am currently in a band known as Serotonin where I am the vocalist and lead guitarist, but I am also working on my solo project. Music is a big part of my life. You can find my music on iTunes and other places across the globe.

JA: What made you want to become a wrestler?

Jay: I first started watching wrestling when I was about three years old. I was all about the WWE (or WWF as it was known back then) and one of the first events I remember watching was SummerSlam 1989. As you can imagine, being so young and watching these giants competing in the ring, I was easily influenced and completely fell in love with it. I would sit for hours playing with my wrestling figures whilst staring at the TV. When WWE wasn’t showing, I would make the substitute and watch WCW; anything to curb my hunger for it.

As a young boy, I would say that one day I wanted to be like Bret Hart or Shawn Michaels, but it wasn’t until I was about 11 years old when I really started to think about doing it for real. I remember telling my family members about it, but they didn’t really take me seriously. I was always very skinny as a child. I had literally no muscle mass at all, so it was hard to take a kid like that seriously when they say they want to be a wrestler. I knew I had a long road ahead of me to gain weight and muscle, but it seemed like an impossible road at the time. I didn’t know of any wrestling schools and I didn’t have the resources to research it either. That combined with many people telling me it was nothing but a pipe dream quickly killed my eagerness to do it. I continued watching wrestling and continued to love it more and more. I just kept the wanting to do it to myself.

Referee Marc 'Paz' Parry

I befriended independent referee, Marc “Paz” Parry, over a year ago. We actually went to school together and kind of knew of each other, but somehow managed to be blind in the fact that we both loved professional wrestling.

I found out about a local wrestling promotion called BAWA [defunct Banbury based promotion] when I was about 26. I noticed that they had training facilities available for people wanting to try their hand at wrestling. This was really the first time I had ever had the opportunity to do anything about it, so I decided that I didn’t want to keep wondering “what if…” and I went for it. I messaged the guys at BAWA and no one got back to me. A couple weeks passed and I had a message from Paz informing me of some changes. From that point on we became really good friends. He basically brought me into the independent scene; taking me under his wing, if you will. He introduced me to fellow wrestlers, promoters and let me join him on the road to see what’s like from the other side. It just made me want to do it more, so I took the next step; I started training.

JA: Who are your influences? Why?
Jay: When it comes to wrestling, I have so many influences. It’s difficult to just name a few. I grew up loving Shawn Michaels at an early age. His in-ring ability was incredible to watch and he always told such amazing stories in every ring he entered. I loved Bret Hart, too, for his dedication to the business and his outstanding technical attributes. The Undertaker is another all-time favourite of mine too – I just love how he works.

As the years went on though, one guy always stood out to me since I saw his debut match. This guy is the reason I decided to go for it and start wrestling. That man is Adam Copeland (Edge). I read his book and this one thing he said really stood out to me and I believe it to be true; “If you’re afraid to go out on a limb, how can you get the fruit?” That was enough for me. I suppose when it comes to a real influence on my wrestling, he is really high up there.

Raven; one of Jay's influences

Other guys I love are Chris Jericho, Jeff Hardy, Dolph Ziggler and Raven. Like I said, there are many.

JA: What training and preparation have you done/feel you need to do? 

Jay: My training has been a mixture of different things. I didn’t want to do “standard” gym training for my overall fitness, so I started the P90X program. I did this for a short while last year and loved it, but had to stop after about 34 days as I tore my scapula in an unrelated accident. I started this again once I was fully healed in February this year and completed 60 days. I wanted to go the full 90 days, but decided against it as I started to find it so demanding. I have since started DDPYoga, which I absolutely swear by, and still continue do my favourite P90X workouts to keep some weight training involved.
I was pretty nervous for my first training session. I didn’t really know what I was letting myself in for. I felt mentally prepared, but I was no way physically prepared. It’s been a learning curve for me thus far and I learn more and more with each session. Learning to fall, the moves, you name it.

JA: Where have you trained? How have you found it so far?

Jay: I started my training at Total Action Wrestling (TAW) in Milton Keynes. My first session was intense, but I loved every second of it. At first it was daunting, but this was the first time I had done it and I didn’t know what to expect, but once I got started it was great. I found myself learning so much; taking bumps, snap-suplexes and applying some submission holds. I try to absorb as much information as I can and simply enjoy it. I’ve been fortunate to meet a lot of great guys in the business already and this includes TAW wrestler, Samson, who I’ve trained with. He is a great wrestler and learning from him was a great experience. I can’t wait to go back again.

I’ve also been attending a few NBWA events and I am planning to head up to their training facilities too. I want to gain as much experience as I can. When I first started talking to Paz about training, he mentioned 4FW as a good place to go and one day I would like to train there. I did plan on this being my first place to train, but at the time I couldn’t commute to Swindon every weekend.

JA: Has anyone helped you in particular?

Jay: I’ve had a lot of great support from Paz and Samson from TAW. It’s been awesome meeting so many great guys who I’ve been fortunate enough to speak to about wrestling and my training. Another guy who has given me tips and support is Rik Van Damage, he’s a great athlete and overall great guy to talk to. A few months ago, I was able to meet and talk to Brian Kendrick and he gave me great advice too.

Jay met Brian Kendrick back in February (AWW)

JA:What are your ambitions?

Jay: I have so many ambitions, but when it comes to wrestling, I just want to be as good as I possibly can be and have fun. I have so much respect for every man and woman that step between those ropes. Even the guys behind the curtains that help organise and run everything. In short, I just want to be able to do something that I love outside of my music and put on a performance that keeps everybody engaged and wanting more. I’ve seen and met so many great wrestlers on the independent scene and they all inspire me more and more. I want to work with these guys and tell a story. I’d love to work with Van Damage or T-Bone and so many other great guys. When I am ready, it’ll be a ride like no other.

JA: Brilliant Jay! Thank you very much for taking time out to talk to me and get your story across. I hope you continue to enjoy your wrestling, train hard and get to where you want to get!

Support British Wrestling

@jimmosangle