Marty Scurll is one of the top, most sought after wrestlers on the UK Independent scene. A near-winner of TNA’s British Boot Camp Season one he remains a wrestling champion for many UK fans. Having won hearts and minds as ‘Party’ Marty he has recently transformed into ‘The Villain’ and is once again building respect amongst fans for his versatility and depth of character. Working cards at IPW:UK, Revolution Pro-Wrestling and across the UK, Scurll is a must see talent.
Do you think the British scene is at a high point?
Absolutely, without a doubt. There are so many good companies out there and good wrestlers and the talent is stepping up. It’s reflected in the audiences as well. I worked with Discovery wrestling in Scotland and that was a really good show, with 4-500 people in there and good production value. I worked in Newcastle for ICW and that was a rammed, quality show. There used to be a time where we’d do shows and you’d be happy if there was over 100 or 150 people but now you’d be very disappointed with that. I just hope it continues to grow and it doesn’t burn itself out. I think we have one of the best independent wrestling circuits in the world. Maybe the wrestling is becoming cooler, people are not feeling so ashamed to say they like it. I think social media helps too – there seems to be a lot less negativity these days. The crowd are there to have a good, so we’re having a good time. I’m proud of the British wrestling circuit at the moment and I’m proud to be a British wrestler.
You were in the first Boot Camp, what’s your view on the second?
I don’t know if this is a fair comment but we probably had more pressure on us when we did it because it was the first of its kind. Also, there was essentially just three characters on our series. If you count the Blossoms as one, then there was myself and spud and so the show was all on our backs whereas in this one, there was a lot more people, so I guess there is less pressure. Of course, it’s hard to show people your character on an indie wrestling show with no talk time but when you’ve got a TV show to do it then that’s going to be a good chance for you, so I think it’s only a positive thing. It’s proven how well British wrestling’s going. The fact that TNA have taken an interest and want to get involved and make a show involving British wrestlers – they want to jump on the bandwagon because good things are happening over here.
What did British Boot Camp do for your career?
It certainly helped me open my eyes to the bigger companies and it was six weeks of television where I got to develop and show my character to an audience on TV. I think it was probably cooler for me, not so much in the wrestling world but with my friends from a non-wrestling environment and my family. It was a really enjoyable experience – and it helped me position and establish myself as a talent not just in the UK but the world over really because lots of people saw the show.
Do you have any bad feelings towards Rockstar Spud and are you still in contact?
No not really, I don’t really talk to spud anymore. I spoke to him at the last Boot Camp Training but he’s doing his thing and so far as I know he’s doing pretty well. It’s funny, I get a lot of fans coming up to me who say “I bet you’re glad you’re not doing what spuds doing on that show, it’s so embarrassing!”- but I think the role that he plays on TV is really good, it works for him, it’s pretty close to his character and I think it’s a good role for him. I hope he does well and TNA do too.
Your Wikipedia page says you were injured doing a suicide dive on Impact! How’s your body bearing up these days and what’s the worst injury you’ve had?
That’s not actually true at all, I didn’t injure myself at all doing the suicide dive. I wrestled the very next day, I was fine! I just had a few grazes and a bit of a headache. I had probably my first real major injury in maybe ten years in April. I separated my AC joint. I landed funny in a match in Leeds and part of my shoulder kind of came out. I was side-lined for maybe two and a half months and I was wearing a shoulder strap for a while when I returned. Now it seems to be much, much better. There’s been a lot of wrestlers that have done the same thing, Nakamura from New Japan has done it on either side. Chris Daniels has done it and funnily enough Spud has done it as well but maybe not to the same extent as mine. It’s a pain but it is part of the job and at the moment I feel pretty good and healthy. I’ve just started doing that DDP Yoga which I think is pretty bad ass. It’s quite a test, when I did it I thought I was going to be sick! Now I really take very minimal risks in the ring, that’s not saying I don’t work hard because I honestly feel like I do and I put in the most entertaining performance possible but you know you forget how dangerous it is. I’m pretty safe now, I’ve been wrestling 10 years and I’m still good, so hopefully it can stay that way.
What’s the best rib [practical joke] story you have?
Well it’s not the best rib of all time and it’s actually kind of gross but there is something that sticks out in my mind. Years and years ago, I was wrestling on tour and travelling in the back of a van on top of the ring mats. I was dying to go for a wee and asked the driver to stop but he said there wasn’t enough time and so gave me a milk bottle to urinate in. Obviously you can’t do it sat down, so I was trying to stand on my knees in the back of the van and (you can see what’s coming a mile off but I couldn’t because I was inexperienced!) they’re breaking vigorously. So next thing you know I’ve not so much got any wee in the bottle but all over myself and the ring itself, so that wasn’t too nice.
We were told you know Jeff Jarrett whom we just interviewed. Have you been in touch with him or Doug Williams out GFW?
I’m friends with Jeff and I’m very good friends with Doug. I’ve spent a lot of time over the years with Doug, travelling and wrestling and I have a great amount of respect for him. Jeff I’ve spoken to on quite a few accounts but I’m not too sure what’s going on with GFW. Competition is so important for wrestling. That’s probably why the British wrestling scene is going really well at the moment because there’s so much competition. I think WWE is fantastic but for there to be a monopoly on anything I think is a sad case so I’d love for Global Force Wrestling to take off and if it does, I’d certainly like to be a part of it.
For our part, we hope to see more of Scurll on TV. He deserves the platform. Whether “The Villain” or not, Marty Scurll is a wrestling hero.
