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By Les Honig He was here dominating the
early days of UPW and he’s back once again with vengeance; but
this time turning his main focus and assets onto a whole new
Ultimate Pro Arena: Valor Fighting. For the intimidating and
monstrous 6’7” 335 lb. rock-solid Stefan Gamlin, his first run
with pro wrestling success ended several years ago but now, thanks
to the efforts of promoter/artist manager extraordinaire, Rick
Bassman, it has all begun again, as he has just been signed to a mega impressive 4-match mixed martial
arts fighting contract with K-1 and is packing his bags to head
off for another amazing challenge. The guy who will be remembered
here for his unforgettable victory in FX’s Toughman Wrestler vs.
Football player competition three years ago has already met
another gargantuan shootfighting superstar Bob Sapp in Gamlin’s
first K-1 Japanese encounter and now he has been tapped to work
with Sapp’s next opponent, huge sumo sensation Akebono as his
sparring partner. “I think K-1 really loved my
crazy, wild personality and how I just go for broke,” explains
Stefan. “It’s
just how I’ve been all my life and how I am now.” True, because if you go back
into the pages of his biography, you will discover that Stefan has
always been an extreme person and later an extreme athlete.
Growing up as an air force brat, he was born in Germany and
spent much of his high school years going to school in England
where he was “lucky to graduate.
I was always in trouble; in lots of fights, most of which I
won.” Moving to the states as a
teenager, he first attended prep school where he began playing
football and after a lackluster year at a New England division one
school, was recruited for division one; as he went to University
of Arkansas where he excelled as a defensive tackle for three
years. Noticed by NFL Europe, it
wasn’t too long before Gamlin was signed to a deal with the
Frankfurt Galaxy where he spent another three years as a standout
member of the team. And it was there that he was to meet a future
wrestling colleague, Big Russ McCullough; then a fellow player and
soon to be one of UPW’s earliest wrestling stars. Things were definitely going
his way, when with a third season starting and already being
actively scouted by the 49’ers, Stefan suffered a major knee
injury which was to sideline him and his football dreams forever.
This during only the second preseason game; and with such
misfortune he packed his bags finally and headed home to the U.S. Moving out to the West Coast
where he decided that pro wrestling might be a new and lucrative
path to pursue, (“My teammates said I was crazy on the field and
that my personality perfectly fit this sport”), he at first was
going to seek out WCW’s Power Plant until a new workout buddy,
action star Andrew Bryanarski turned him onto our federation.
“It was in the early days of UPW when we were located in
Mission Viejo. Rick had already developed a contact with WWF and I
thought this would be a great opportunity for me to break into the
business.” Showing up to train his first
day with Sylvester “Predator” Terkay, (then known as Bear), it
wasn’t long before the new recruit was being noticed and along
with former football friend, Big Russ McCullough, given a
dreamed-of World Wrestling Federation development deal which sent
the pair off to OVW to be groomed for eventual TV appearances. After six months, however, a
parting of the ways occurred and he was on his way back to
California but as he puts it, “one door closed but another
opened.” Securing
an agent, he soon was doing numerous commercials, returning to UPW
briefly where he appeared on and won the Toughman Wrestler vs.
Football competiton, and then, partially as a result of that
event, was signed to a contract to the hit TV “Battledome”
show. Once again, however, many of
his earlier football and wrestling injuries began to plague him
and when he injured his neck seriously, he was forced to the
“Battledome” sidelines. Finally healing and returning
to his now great shape, the superathlete returned to the acting
arena, securing a number of new ads, including a Japanese Kieren
Beer spot and most recently a place as a contestant in the
Canadian-based ESPN reality series, “Wild Rules.” Already considering an active
return to the pro wrestling ranks, it was Rick Bassman who once
again summoned this German superman to action after K-1 contacted
him when they sought a suitable opponent to meet Bob Sapp.
As a result he is now once again ready to butt heads with
shootfighting’s most feared talents. “I really love brawling. I
know without doubt that this is tailor made for my skills,” he
says with confidence and determination. And based on Stefan Gamlin’s already awesome personal portfolio of amazing achievements, one can only imagine how our November “Wrestler of the Month” will be able to master and someday dominate this exploding new arena of smash-mouth fighting competition. |
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