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by Les
Honig
Such an abundance of riches for this 28 year-old UPW alumni phenom! A sparkling charismatic talent from the earliest moments of our federation, this multi-time co-holder of the UPW tag crown with partner Hardkore Kidd (aka Jesus Aguilera) has had to balance the opportunities of fame in the squared circle with a family proclivity to participate in the world of mixed martial arts. And actually, as he shifts from one to the other and back again, Justin McCully continues to makes his mark definitively in both fields.
With older brother Sean entering the world of shootfighting at the young age of 22 and with a dad who himself was a successful boxer, a secret service agent as well as a member of an elite strike force, Justin was poised to make the entrée into fighting himself; and this actually happened with ease until as fate would have it; he crossed paths with another man on the rise; Rick Bassman.
The year was 1998 and his enterprising and already successful sibling Sean had just gone into a partnership with Bassman to purchase a shootfighting gym in Mission Viejo which they were to dub Extreme University. Here is where Justin was soon hired on as a jiu jitsu instructor and would become friends as well with Rick and martial arts trainee and pro wrestler extraordinaire Tom Howard. These were the earliest roots of what was to become the mega-successful Ultimate Pro Wrestling as McCully would “teach Tom the ropes and then we would roll around doing moves in the wrestling ring after.” Considering Howard and Bassman to be close friends to this day, it wasn’t long before the trio dreamed up the idea of starting a federation as well as a training school and UPW and Ultimate U were soon born.
Still the passion for wrestling did not begin in early adulthood for the guy who later was to become known as Justin Sane to our federation fans. Instead he dates back his first interest to when he was just 5 years old and his brother would tune in to Kung Fu Theater on a local TV station and they would catch pro wrestling before and after as well. With parents disapproving of the sport because of its show business elements the young McCully would even do extra chores around the house to receive permission to watch the weekly shows. “Hogan was an icon for sure and I hated Piper with a passion,” Justin recalls now. “I loved Superfly Snuka too and when Roddy hit him with a coconut I actually cried. My mom said, ‘That’s enough of that!’ and turned off the TV.”
Blending this love of wrestling with an early involvement in fighting and martial arts as well as a variety of sports including soccer, track, swimming, gymnastics, baseball and football, (he led his county in sacks in high school), he recalls his dad buying boxing gloves and letting the two brothers get it on at home.
“He was always into self defense, judo and western boxing so he taught us to defend ourselves at an early age. He’d teach us little combos and how to beat each other up and would let me and my bro put the gloves on and actually duke it out. It was a lot of fun and as a result we learned from an early age to defend ourselves. That love for competitive combat became part of us. I think that’s why I later gravitated towards fighting and wrestling.”
With both brothers getting into physical confrontations often at school while partying just a little too often for Justin’s current tastes, the teen was eventually able to channel that aggression into positive directions when his brother made his own debut in Japan and before long the younger bro was also testing himself out in the mixed martial arts arena.
With shootfighting gaining ever more acceptance McCully was beginning to build a real name for himself as a fighter and would have definitely moved totally in that direction had he not run into his pair of pro wrestling mentors, Bassman and Howard. They would share their stories about the business with a guy already fascinated with the world of sports entertainment and soon he was expressing a real interest in becoming his own mat personality. With the entrance of new student Aaron Aguilera, (one of the original Extreme University rookies), the pair, who knew each other from rival Orange County high schools, began to hit it off and before long were expressing considerable interest in teaming up for shows.
With the formation of Hardkore Inc., bolstered by the support of Aguilera family friend, El Jefe, the team was featured soon in some of the early classic UPW encounters, meeting the top names that the new fed had to offer as they traveled from the Roxy in Hollywood to Santa Ana’s Galaxy Theatre to
Cane’s in San Diego. As their notoriety grew, and Bassman’s connections to WWF strengthened, a number of hot talents were given the chance to perform in front of top Titan brass, as was the case with Aguilera and McCully, when they faced Tom Howard and Damian Steele for the UPW tag title in Justin’s favorite encounter, one that was filmed and shown later on Discovery Channel’s famed documentary, Wrestling School.
What followed were a number of impressive development deals including a nod for the heart-stoppingly exciting Hardkore Inc. Surprisingly to some observers, however, McCully was not smitten with the immediate prospect of heading off for Titan’s training territory, preferring instead alternative options.
“I already had feelers out with other federations like ECW and they were expressing active interest in me. Also my shootfighting career was starting to take off and I was reluctant to abandon that. The whole offer just didn’t feel right at the time.”
Deciding to forego the opportunity, Justin’s other chance for pro wrestling stardom took a serious hit when Extreme Championship Wrestling lost its nationwide TV slot; compelling him instead to focus totally on his shootfighting efforts. Working under famed wrestler and promoter Antonio Inoki, McCully was soon to open an American dojo for New Japan in Los Angeles; recruiting young talent and even holding some local shows while he continued to extensively and successfully compete on the mixed martial arts circuit.
His in-the-ring involvement has continued and increased after he left his responsibilities with the dojo to pursue his own shootfighting and wrestling careers; with the active assistance of Rick Bassman, as he works with both Valor Fighting and reenters UPW as a member of the West Coast Cartel; teaming with Oliver John and Alcatraz. One goal he definitely sees as central is the blending of his two mastered disciplines into one successful mix. “I am continuing to work on new moves that will combine both the Japanese fighting disciplines with American pro wrestling styles in a way that has never been showcased before,” he enthusiastically explains.
Featured prominently in our most recent Galaxy Theatre extravaganza and reunited with now manager Hardkore Kid who visited our fed while recuperating from an injury that has temporarily sidelined him from WWE, it must seem like old times indeed for this still young lion of the mat world.
Continuing to produce the very best in both the fighting and pro wrestling fields, UPW devotees are delighted and excited to see one of our fed’s first founders and most beloved stars reemerging as a now updated, refurbished super fan favorite.
As Justin McCully moves on to ever new personal triumphs, may his rampant insanity and contagious squared circle frenzy run uncontrollably wild here in So Cal’s leading indy federation!
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