Colt Cabana

Wrestler Colt Cabana will bring his new comedy show to Cleveland on Dec. 26.

(Colt Cabana)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Colt Cabana has been wrestling on the biggest stages in the world for more than a decade. Yet, the biggest moment of his career came two years ago when his best friend endorsed him on live television.

In 2011, during an episode of "WWE Raw," superstar CM Punk gave a memorable speech, known as the "Pipe Bomb," criticizing the WWE as a corporation. During the more than five-minute speech, CM Punk looked at the camera and said the words, "Hey Colt Cabana. How you doing?"





CM Punk and Cabana came up together in independent wrestling circuits. Punk's speech brought long overdue attention to Cabana. Things got even crazier once the documentary "CM Punk: Best in the World," which featured Cabana, hit shelves in 2012.

Cabana has used the exposure to boost his wrestling stock all over the world and develop a thriving comedy career.

Cabana's show "Colt Cabana & Friends Hang out and Provide Commentary on Bad Wrestling Matches" arrives at Paddy Rock Super Pub on Thursday, Dec. 26. Cabana will also wrestle for local Absolute Intense Wrestling the following night at Turner's Hall. Tickets for both events are available here.



Cabana recently phoned in to talk about the comedy show and the future of his career.

So how did the comedy show start?

In 2009 myself and Highspots.com started a project called "$5 Wrestling" where we would do commentary over wrestling that wasn't on the same level as WWE, if you catch my drift. It gained a real cult following. I was asked to do it and suggest another wrestler to do it with. Instead of a wrestler, I choose a Chicago stand-up comedian named Marty DeRosa. Marty and I were great and it gelled very well. We started doing the shows live every single WrestleMania weekend. For the past three years we've had standing room only. Then a comedian friend of mine in the UK, Brendon Burns, asked me if I wanted to do the show with him for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this year. I couldn't pass up the opportunity. We changed the show around a lot and then did it for 26 straight days this past August.



How much planning goes into it?

I have about 100 clips to pick from. I'm kind of the gatekeeper. I'll play a video and then the comedians and myself will just improv and riff on what's happening. The clips are always hilarious in themselves so the commentary just adds to the comedy.

Where do you find the videos?

Years and years of being a wrestling fan and 15 years in the wrestling industry leads you to know some of the most bizarre moments in pro wrestling.





What's the reaction been like overseas?

The show itself kind of started and got perfected at the 2013 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, which is in Scotland. So it basically started overseas. I think the fun of my character really played off well when I would use terminology or people that weren't really relevant overseas. I would quickly see that no one had any clue what I was talking about and then just use some good old fashioned self-deprecating humor and everyone would have a laugh. In saying that, it might make it a little harder in the states.

How does performing as a comedian differ from wrestling?

For one, I don't have to dress in spandex and oil myself up.

Have you noticed non-hardcore wrestling fans coming out and getting into the comedy show?

The hardcore fans are the ones that obviously come out first. The show truly is for the casual wrestling fan though. It's almost like a live stage show of "The Soup." We did the show in Leeds, in England, in October and we surveyed the room to see if there were any non-wrestling fans. This guy had brought his girlfriend. At the end of the show she was in tears and came up and hugged me. I saw her a month later at an actual wrestling show. Our comedy show had converted her into an actual wrestling fan!

I've been wondering what life has been like since the "Pipe Bomb" and the CM Punk documentary.

CM Punk did the most memorable promo in the past 20 years of wrestling to 4 million people watching at home and I'm sure millions more who watched it online. If even 10 percent of the people who watched it scratched their heads and looked me, that's a whole lot of people. At the time he did that promo I had a lot of different projects going and things that I was very proud of including my podcast. I always say you can lead a horse to water but you can't make the horse drink s***** water. I like to think I had some great tasting water. Since that time a lot of people have come to check me out and stayed on for the ride. It's been great having those people as fans.

What does the future hold for you? There's been some talk of you doing commentary for the WWE.

I'm just riding the wave of fun right now. The WWE has been weirdly talking with me for over a year now. I can't rely on them though. I do my own thing until stuff gets concrete. Right now, I can't worry if I'll be doing announcing or anything else. I know I want to concentrate on continuing to wrestle around the world and growing my comedy stuff. All I can say about the future is that I'm going to be having fun with wrestling. That's a guarantee.