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by Les
Honig
By birth he is known to friends and family as Kevin Zakaula; but to his growing cadres of fan followers and mat foes he has chosen the name of Antonio Mestre….Antonio because, as the 27 year-old martial arts star-turned-wrestler has explained, “I am often mistaken for being Italian”…and Mestre, from the Portuguese word “master” which is the name he respectfully called his own capoeira teacher back in Brazil.
Readily admitting that he still has a long way to go to actually becoming a pro wrestling “master”, this nearly two year veteran of the Ultimate University training ring, displays the same discipline and ever present thirst to succeed and learn that brought him at an early age to compete successfully on the martial arts circuit and now has vaulted him to a very respected position among classmates and top UPW talent as well.
Entering training at an early age, as he shifted residences back and forth from the States to Brazil, and having to defend himself at the various high schools he later attended from challengers who would try and test his superior self-defense and offensive techniques, Zakaula would often face suspension and even expulsion, while at the same time beginning to make a name for himself in the “real world” by entering and winning many outside fighting tournaments.
Having been a lifelong devotee as well of the pro mat game from the time he first witnessed Wrestlemania 4 as a pre-teen, Kevin decided to try out amateur grappling in high school but found it quite a bit different than what he witnessed on WWE-TV and instead decided this was not the path he wished to follow as an athlete. “You always had to battle for one spot open in your weight class whereas success in martial arts was determined by your own personal talent.” In addition, he definitely did not savor the typical mat daily workouts where “you had to be boxed into a room doing alligator crawls and duck walks with the vents closed and the temperature turned up to 100 degrees.”
After graduating, Kevin decided to stop competing, when “those butterflies of excitement you feel before a match just weren’t there anymore” and instead try his hand at the business world; opening a fragrance sales and marketing company. Still career happiness was eluding him as he preferred his earlier non-corporate free spirit lifestyle. “I’d wear three piece suits, ties and be shaven and I was prim and proper which was the total alter ego of what I was before; a guy with a scruffy beard; tattoos, piercings and an earring.”
Harkening back to a pro wrestling interest that persisted despite prior forays into other sports disciplines, the talented athlete now began searching for a means to enter the field, but really unsure as to the precise facility which would best develop his skills. (He first planned an audition for Tough Enough but found he was too late to really be considered seriously). This lack of clarity was soon to disappear, however, when Zacaula came upon a cable tv program focusing on So Cal mat sensation, Joey Ryan, and his association with a lucha libre promotion. “I realized at once he trained at my gym so as soon as I saw him there again I asked him all about the options available for breaking into the sport.”
Told by Ryan that UPW was an outstanding place to learn and eventually be seen he arranged for a visit to a Tuesday session run by the Ballards and before long he was “learning how to run the ropes and take a bump.”
Entering Ultimate U at a crucial moment in its history where many outstanding new recruits had coincidentally come together, notably including Sam Culver (Andrew Hellman), Van Ayasit (Shaolin Punk), Lamar Timmins (Sabbath), Shane Roberts (Makoa), Mike Mizanin (The Miz) and Erika Porter, he soon was becoming one of the most talented and promising of the lot; and as the months came and went, continued to develop his unique talents and skills; blending some of his martial arts expertise along with good, sound basic ring knowledge.
“I developed a different style that incorporated the discipline of capoeira, which has never really been used in any pro wrestling situation. Now when I compete you have that whole surprise thing that results: you just never know if I’m gonna throw a kick from behind or a spin kick; if it’s gonna come from the ground; if I’m gonna do a cartwheel or a backflip. You don’t know if I’m gonna lead in for an arm drag or turn it into a drop kick or a leg lariat. That’s why I always say to expect the unexpected.”
Part of the learning process has come from the knowledge imparted from teachers like the Ballards, Frankie Kazarian, Ryan Sakoda and Oliver John, whose guidance he greatly values along with the input and observations of fellow students who observe his various moves. Also high on Kevin’s list as a source of growth is the chance to pick the brains of the many talents who have passed through Raw Center doors ever since he first entered himself.
“I learned you’re gonna end up meeting everybody who has to do with wrestling past, present and future,” he explains. “And when these people pass through here you’ll usually find Tony Stradland, L’il Nate and Antonio Mestre sitting down with them and asking all about the business.
“When we got a chance to talk to people like Nova or Ryan Sakoda or Jerry Lynn or Chris Daniels, you want to chat not just for five minutes but if we could, for five hours. You want to hear everything they have to say because we all want to be where they are now. We want to succeed in the business. We want to get to that level.”
Looking back at the chance to play a security guard in a Kane-related skit on Raw last year as well as to his Mat Wars “I-Quit” match with Lionheart this past spring, (part of an ongoing and well-known current feud), as highlights for him during his time in the federation, Zakaula remains totally fired up about his future possibilities.
“I really enjoy portraying a heel,” he reveals. “In this business there are several kinds of heels and I play an arrogant one. Friends who have come to shows tell me that in these moments I completely change my personality into someone totally different and not at all likeable, even to them and that must prove that I am doing a good job.”
Predicting that Stradland and L’il Nate are naturals to make it very soon to the big leagues, Zakaula also sees great promise in another relatively new recruit who goes by the ring name of Mario Quevas. As far as his own future plans, this fiery squared circle tiger looks to competing as part of future Zero-One Japanese tours, as well as to a chance to compete against a whole host of great indy talents from Low Ki to Spanky to American Dragon to Joey Ryan to Chris Daniels.
“I also would really love to get a WWE workout too,” Kevin “Antonio Mestre” Zakaula adds, “as well as an opportunity to vie for the Ultimate Pro Wrestling cruiserweight championship and of course the chance just to develop and expand my character even more.”
A whole suitcase full of ambitious plans for our July Wrestler of the Month as he continues to build on his already impressive ring repertoire, but necessary ones as he soon embarks on his own journey to ultimate pro stardom.
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