On Friday night, the pride of Murray, Kentucky, the Kentucky Gentleman Chuck Taylor, will be making a relatively short trip from his childhood environs to wrestle for Ring of Honor wrestling at the company’s Honor for All event.

Taylor began wrestling when he was just 15 years old, trained by Brandon Walker. He was unable to wrestle in his home state due to the guidelines of the athletic commision, that prohibit anyone under the age of 18 from doing so.

At the same time that Taylor began to pursue his passion, Ring of Honor began its own trajectory that would eventually lead to Taylor wrestling just minutes from one of the very first venues that he ever wrestled in, the Nashville Fairgrounds. On that night, August 12th, 2006, Taylor defeated Shane Smalls at a USWO event and he is looking to win again this Friday, as he takes on Bully Ray during ROH’s Honor for all event.

Bully Ray, a current WWE Hall of Famer, has been throwing his weight around ROH as of late, specifically since Supercard of Honor. At the event, Ray became enraged that Cheeseburger, a slender fan favorite, asked Ray to be his partner. Since then, he has fallen out of the good graces of the fans by bullying nascent wrestlers, claiming that they are what is ruining the “business”.

While Taylor’s nonchalant attitude is what has ingratiated him to fans since he’s begun wrestling, he is prepared to take a more serious approach in his battle with the former ECW and WWE grappler, who he admits he was a fan of growing up. Now, he finds himself facing off against one of his childhood favorites.

“I’m pretty happy go lucky. Coming in with Trent as the Best Friends, I have been a little bit more lighthearted but I don’t if you’ve seen my stuff from Pro Wrestling Guerilla. That wasn’t all fun and games- I went out there and tried to kill a dude. I have definitely been able to turn it up and be serious. During the New Japan Cup against Sanada I also threw down there-so I am not always so happy-go-lucky.”

For years, the Kentucky Gentleman was a name fans expected to see wrestle for companies like Ring of Honor, but it took 15 years before he made his debut for the company. He can now boast that he wrestles for one of the most well-known companies in the United States, as well as Japan.

“I mean I love going to Japan it’s always everyone’s dream you know to go to Japan and actually catch on there. I started wrestling in 2001 and Ring of Honor started in 2002. So ever since I’ve been wrestling, Ring of Honor was always a goal and I kept wrestling you know fifteen-sixteen years and it didn’t seem like it was ever going to happen. It actually did it’s definitely it’s been fun-It’s great.”

Along the way, Taylor has had success in a variety of companies, ranging from Chikara Pro in Philadelphia to Pro Wrestling Guerrilla in Los Angeles. In PWG, Taylor was far from a gentleman, as he did everything he needed to become a two-time champion for the company.

“I’ve never really been proud of anything I’ve done in wrestling-I guess I am my own biggest critic. But I am really proud of what we did in PWG. I like the string of the matches that we had and the story that we told-I think that’s the thing I am most proud of.

When he’s not in the ring, Taylor devotes time to his High Spots network show, “Popping Dogs and Talking Hogs”. The show features Taylor hosting alongside Trent Beretta welcoming a guest to hang out and have a conversation.

The self-deprecating Taylor would say that it isn’t much- but admitted that when he asked a producer to compare the show to an HBO series, he was taken back by the response: Game of Thrones.

Look ahead to his match on Friday, Taylor hopes to get the win over Bully Ray because simply put, “because he seems like a real jerk.”

The show will be featured on ROH’s streaming service, HonorClub and will stream live at 8:30pm EST.

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