The collective jaws of viewers watching “Tough Enough” on USA Network dropped this week when Patrick Clark Jr.’s name was called for elimination. The competitor’s passion and knowledge for the product, combined with his athletic ability, made him a front-runner to win the reality show competition. However, Clark received the lowest amount of votes compared to Josh and ZZ.
Patrick was more than happy to share his feelings and story recently as a guest on the Pro Wrestling Experience. He was willing to discuss some of his thoughts on Tough Enough and recent wrestling news. The highlights and his insights are listed below.
Who is Patrick Clark?
“As most people know when I was two years old my father was taken from me. Growing up I went to professional wrestling as a coping mechanism. Since I was 12 years old I knew which side of guard rail I wanted to be on. I’ve been relentlessly pursuing professional wrestling as my career. In February 2015 I had my very first professional wrestling match with Maryland Championship Wrestling.”
Who inspired you to get in the ring?
“Kurt Angle and The Undertaker both equally inspired me to get into professional wrestling.”
What’ have you been up to since leaving the Tough Enough show?
“I had a few Indy matches so far. I got to get back on the grind. I believe you got strike when the iron’s hot. I’ve been off of TV for two weeks now, so I needed to take advantage of every opportunity that’s given to me right now. I just went back to training after I came back home and have been preparing for more bookings. Anything I can do to stay relevant. This Tough Enough thing will wear off.”
What were the competitors told before this season of Tough Enough began?
“We were told the season wasn’t going to have the same format. In any case your coming into the WWE for Tough Enough and you would assume there would be more an emphasis on wrestling which it didn’t and it had more of a reality aspect to it and that troubled me.”
What’s the biggest thing positively or negatively you are taking away from his experience on Tough Enough?
“Positively it was a foot in the door for me. I found myself very blessed to be put into this situation because over hundreds to thousands of guys in the Indy Circuit right now that can’t even get a WWE tryout and for me to be in WWE’s face for 5-7 weeks I mean it’s a blessing.”
Does you upbringing and/or values help you stay focus on your goal unlike the modern day independent wrestler?
“I had a interview about a year ago for the Maryland Gazette. One of the things I harped to the Gazette was that you have independent wrestlers who don’t take this seriously. They think you can just make it to the WWE. There’s alot of facets that come with becoming a WWE Superstar or Diva. I learned that first hand being down there. First you got to look the part. So if you’re going to walk around and eat 711 and stuff like that and you think that’s going to cut it your dead wrong. You have to be conditioned like the late great Dusty Rhodes who would have hour broadways with Ric Flair everyday for a week. That’s 7 hours in a wrestling ring and you got to be able to go without getting tired. It’s not always about the moves, but if you can’t connect with the fans or have a personality what are you doing?”
Is it easier in today’s society for wrestlers in your position to get your name out there on social media and promote what your brand is?
“Oh yeah they’re still talking about me. They still want me back on the show and it’s been two weeks.”
Are you jaded? Do you have any bitter feelings towards the business? Or are you just having as much fun right now as a fan and as a wrestler?
“To be honest I don’t have any jaded feelings towards the wrestling business. I would say that I have a chip on my shoulder because I care about this business and I find it disrespectful when anybody thinks they can just get in. I’ve always love the old school way of wrestling back in the day where they would hurt you before you got into the business. You couldn’t just let anybody into the business. So I have a chip on my shoulder towards people who think they can buy boots and think they call themselves a professional wrestler. If you’re in the Indys you need to be in a ring at least twice a week learning your craft. You need to be setting up the chairs and tearing down the rings. I bet you when you go down to NXT you will see those guys doing the same exact thing. They’re in the Performance Center about four times a week and working on their craft, so if you’re an independent wrestler and you think this comes naturally you’re wrong.”
Obviously, you thrive off that competition and the dedication for the business. Are your interested down the road being a producer or a writer?
“I’m definitely interested because as JR pointed out to me last week you need a backup plan. You need to be able to know all the facts about the business. There are so many road agents like Joey Mathews, Jamie Noble and Billy Kidman and those guys were great performers when they were in the middle of that ring and selling tickets, but now they’re helping out the younger guys. So you need to learn about all of it the lighting, booking, etc because you never know when you’re going to be able the one that’s responsible for putting a show together. That creates longevity in your career.”
Tell us about your current stint in MCW Wrestling and your tag team Sudden Impact.
“My tag team partner is Leo Rush and actually just won the 2015 Shane Shamrock Memorial Cup. We’ve been tagging for the past couple of months. Of course we had the split when I went down to Tough Enough. I believe he just did a Ring of Honor Tryout Camp. I feel we work well with each other and we have that big men little men dynamic and people seem to like us.”
Were there any wrestling legends that surprised you with their feedback and their advice for you when you were eliminated on Tough Enough?
“You don’t realize how many people I have talked to. It would be unfair for me to point any one out over another. If I had to give anyone wrestling legend credit as to how much they helped me besides my coaches who are obviously always with me that would be Chris Jericho. He didn’t have to do that he has so many things on his plate he’s a bestselling author, he’s a rockstar and professional wrestler and hosting Tough Enough. He did Beast in the East in Japan on a Saturday came all the way back on a Tuesday to host the following week’s Tough Enough. He’s got his Fozzy Tours and still does WWE Live Events on the weekends. He didn’t have to take time out of his schedule, but he always made time for me when I was down there. I’ve also had help from Hardcore Holly, Joey Styles, Bully Ray, Jim Ross you name them Booker T, Billy Gunn, Lita. I feel really good because I feel like the entire wrestling community is behind me.”
Since you’ve been eliminated. Who would say has stepped up the most in the competition?
“I think Josh he’s always improving. Josh is my pick to win it all for the guys because he has charisma, he has the talent and athleticism, he’s definitely has the look. His talking we all need a improvement in something. Josh is setting up however in every single step of the way. Gigi was my pick for the girls after hearing how the results came down to when it come to this week’s show and with the fact that she was saved and had the least amount of votes. Like I said in the past Gigi she’s been on it she can’t be touched by any of the girls as far as challenges goes and as far as how fast she’s learning things, but the people don’t want her there and that was evident this week and if she’s in the bottom three again she’s definitely going home.”
What are your thoughts on the voting element in this year’s Tough Enough show?
“I’m not going to say that the voting system is flawed because that would be the same thing as me watching Monday Night Raw and critiquing things. I feel like Vince McMahon who has run WWE for years and decades he does a very good job and if he wasn’t he wouldn’t been able to beat WCW, he wouldn’t have been able to outlast all of his competition. He still wouldn’t been here today.
Personally I feel that we have a mixed audience for Tough Enough. You have the WWE Universe and you have the reality show watchers who just want to see the drama. When we’re doing live voting we’re the first ever live reality show who does live voting and at the same time having portions of the show produced and edited by Tuesday and we’re the first show to do something like that. You give people a few minutes the opportunity to vote and digest what they saw and make a split second judgment on everybody they just saw and you have the bottom three and you have to judge them off of what they did on that particular episode, so it’s a hard thing to do. I’m not going to say that I was painted in any certain light because what you saw is what you got. I was giving ZZ tough love on episode five, but when you put me in with someone like Josh who’s had a segment where he was talking to his daughter, then you got loveable ZZ who’s popular as can be and then you put Patrick in there who’s just in there and like I hate everybody and anything and I’m just so passionate about the WWE, so who are you going to vote for? You have to be conscious of how you are presented. I wasn’t going to dialed back I am who I am whether you like me or not.”
His thoughts on the Undertaker/Brock Lesnar Program?
“I always look forward to any Undertaker match. Undertaker and Brock Lesnar are competitors that you don’t get to see every single day, so when you do get to see them it’s a special occasion. You’re seeing the return match of Taker/Brock from WrestleMania 30 and it’s interesting because you want to see Taker get his revenge. Brock Lesnar has been a monster he’s been in a strongest position of his career right now and he’s been unstoppable, so to see what story they tell during the match I just can’t wait.”
***Hopefully you enjoyed this interview and learned some new and interesting things about Patrick Clark Jr. I would like to personally thank Josh Lopez for sharing this interview. His show, The Pro Wrestling Experience airs on ChicagoLand Sports Radio and is live every Wednesday 10am-1pm CT.
***You can follow the link here to hear the interview: www.spreaker.com/patrickclark
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