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by
Les Honig
If one’s physical package can impact success in the pro game, then three-month Ultimate U trainee Mark Wertzberger begins his ascent into the world of sports entertainment with a significant advantage.
“From my earliest years,” the 28 year-old Lawrence, Kansas native recalls, “I was totally into weightlifting. My older brother had been doing it first and we always had lots of equipment in our house. By the time I was in high school I not only was taking a physical training class but then would hit the gym for several hours after school each day.”
As a result, the 5’10” 230-pound newcomer enters UU with tools that will no doubt serve to push him far, as he also learns the skills needed to execute successful wrestling moves. Still, there is much more to this thinking man than mere on-the-surface development. He is also a college grad with many varied interests while also proving himself an outstanding athlete in a number of other areas.
Remembering his passion for sports entertainment developing as a youngster when his dad, (who practices orthopedics), and a family friend took him to a closed circuit venue to see the very first Wrestlemania, in the days before pay-per-view, he goes on further to explain that, “I really got into it when I saw the WM match two years later between Andre and Hulk. Soon I was religiously watching all the many Saturday afternoon feds on TV.” (His childhood favorites included Rowdy Roddy Piper, the Killer Bees and the Hart Foundation).
While excelling both in baseball, tennis and later in rugby and football, (he was a linebacker on his Lawrence H.S. team and later played at University of Kansas), Mark’s interest in following the pro wrestling wars began to wane in his mid-teen years, “as my life became full of so many activities and distractions.”
Plagued by numerous college gridiron injuries, Mark focused more and more on his theatre major and appeared in a few plays although, “becoming an actor kind of intimidated me because, with my appearance, you sometimes get stereotyped into roles like the doorman at a club whose only role is beating up rowdy patrons.” Instead he opted for behind-the-scenes areas, preferring to concentrate on writing and script development.
First moving from the Midwest to New York City, Wertzberger worked briefly for a small production company, not fully enjoying the job but digging very much his big-city environment. When he was able to land a job out in L.A. at a leading movie production company doing script coverage (critiquing screenplays and writing synopses of them), he jumped at the chance, but soon grew to dislike that work as well. “It was horrible; one of the most boring positions I ever held. I said to myself, ‘If this is what you have to do to make it in the film industry, then it just isn’t worth it.’”
This spate of unfortunate job choices was soon to end, however, when a friend who owned a Hollywood bar called The Good Luck Club hired Mark as its manager. This position proved much more to his liking and he has continued on while weighing his future options but definitely including in those plans his decision to become a mat performer.
“The possibility really started taking shape when I ran into an old buddy of mine who works for WWE as a carpenter. We started talking and he encouraged me to learn the ropes,saying I looked like a lot of the guys in the federation and might have a future if I just enrolled in a training school and could master the skill of wrestling too.”
Having really stopped following the pro mat world, his interest was rekindled, however, after turning on the tube and catching the latest Raw and Smackdown sessions. “I kept watching for about four months with more and more interest and finally realized that “this is truly awesome and I gotta try wrestling out before I get too old.”
Not really knowing exactly how to approach the school-search process, Wertzberger hit the internet, and was surprised to see one of the first listings to be that of 70s L.A. classic Olympic Auditorium talent, Ric Drasin.
“Ric really wasn’t a full-time full-blown trainer but rather had a ring in his backyard and he was glad to take me on.,” explains the dynamic rookie. After only a few months learning moves, which Mark describes now as mostly “high spots”, Drasin paid him the ultimate compliment, telling him he had become too advanced to stay with him and that he needed to go on to a larger school.
A friend and supporter of UPW promoter, Rick Bassman, Drasin recommended Ultimate U highly and before long Mark was heading off to El Segundo for his first sessions. Feeling he had much to learn yet, but tremendously impressed by his earliest sessions with the Ballards, calling them “phenomenal people as well as talents whose presence I am in awe to be in,” the gifted pro aspirant feels he has come a considerable way already but admits he needs to continue to grow in his technical skills.
Attending regularly the Tuesday through Thursday sessions, Wertzberger not only appreciates the patience and tireless efforts of the Ballards but also the hard-nosed, hard-edged approach of instructor Aaron Aguilera as well. “I love the kind of rough training that Aaron provides, even the intense stuff like being rammed down to the mat,” he admits.
Working now, too, on creating an appropriate ring personality to match his awesome looks, (a character which he feels his years in theatre will help him develop), Mark Wertzberger stands poised to make considerable noise within the UPW ranks as well as way beyond our borders. (He hopes to someday meet the high standards needed to actually find a place in America’s leading promotion: WWE).
To that end, we wish him all the best and are confident that this fantastic new student is sure to achieve his even more impressive goals.
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