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by Les Honig It was a different time; a different era; but you can just close your eyes now and savor those memories as if it was yesterday.. Two scruffy kids dressed in cutoffs and ragged tee shirts bounding into the Galaxy arena to create havoc and excitement rare for rookies then or now as they executed their seldom seen high-flying moves to the wild cheers of the thrilled and impressed assembled crowd. They were called the Lost Boys and their UPW future seemed without bounds. How things can change, yet in some senses stay the same! Scott Lost, the remaining wrestling remnant of this formerly heralded twosome, continues the fight for mat supremacy and quality that he began as a fledgling but gifted rookie back in early 2001 with partner Ryan Rufio; yet over the ensuing four years this charismatic, ring-wise and gifted talent has grown so enormously that he now forges a much more mature path throughout all of Southern California, becoming a household name to both Ultimate Pro and other devoted indy followers alike. The story of this amazing 24 year-old, who by the way, shares the honor with his earliest tag partner of being UPWs very first Students of the Month, began innocently enough as a tiny kid became an instant wrestling fan. Then it was people like Hacksaw Duggan and Brett Hart who delighted his late 80s and early 90s interests, but before long he was performing these very moves with his buddies on a trampoline put up in the back of his San Diego home. “Ever since I can remember I was a fan,” comments Lost, “since my family were all following WWE. They would order each and every pay per view and it wasn’t a Thanksgiving without having Survivor Series as part of the holiday ritual.” Later, and without any inkling that he would someday become a pro himself; Scott, who otherwise describes himself as a normal kid who avoided team sports and “would rather go home and watch cartoons than play in a pony league” began nonetheless putting on mat moves at home with his buddies just for fun. Not at all like your typical backyarder, however, (he shuns the violent aspects of that kind of youthful activity), Scott was early on a ring visionary as he would actually script the matches that his friends would create on the trampoline and “insist they do them over and over until they were done right.” Later, the group of friends would go into Scott’s home and watch tapes of these well-planned encounters not only for pure enjoyment but also as a learning experience. “Now when I go back and play them again, it is amazing how I was actually employing ring psychology but at the time I would never have known it. I guess after watching the weekly shows for so long knowing how to create a match becomes instinctive.” Instinctive or not, Lost began developing more and more bold and creative moves as he even built stairs to place near to the “ring” to simulate a top turnbuckle that he and his friends could dive off of, as well as doing other mat moves like flips and rolls. His relentless shift to something bigger, however, began surprisingly when one of his good pals brought Rufio down to one of their backyard sessions and the two immediately hit it off. Then, shortly after joining their fledgling wrestling group, the big moment came as Ryan’s girlfriend found a flier on the ground near where they lived advertising practices up at L.A. Boxing’s Ultimate University. Ready to start his own training Ryan convinced Scott to come along with him to a Saturday session to decide if this particular facility would be right for them and immediately upon arrival the pair was smitten with the sports entertainment bug. “When we were wrestling at my house on the trampoline we always kept saying that we needed to make ropes so there would be something we could hit and bounce off of, so just to be next to a real ring was an incredible feeling. I thought, ‘Man, I really want to get in there.’ At that moment I had the realization that this was something I at least had to try.” Being “blown away” by the fact that a neighborhood acquaintance, B-Boy, was actually there training that initial day, along with Pure Talent and L’il Nate, guys who weren’t that large themselves and in some cases even younger than the two novices, Scott and Ryan both were back several weeks later to attend a much bigger orientation session where they had their first actual ring training. Looking back now with great nostalgia to his days learning under Tom Howard, Scott says he owes most of his first steps toward excellence to this veteran of ring campaigns. “Tom is definitely one of my favorite people,” says Scott with admiration. “I just love that guy. Every time I see him I just want to give him a big hug because he was such an important element in my ring development. For one year straight I would see him every weekend and he was such a funny and likeable guy as well as a fantastic instructor. He used exactly the right approach for me and Ryan, because he gave us free reign to experiment while also helping us master the moves we needed to know.” Soon the pair came up with the concept of the new tag tandem using the concept of Peter Pan’s Lost Boys as a model. “I loved the idea of two fictional characters like the Hardy Boys but that had already been taken. So we came up with this one, and I modeled much of my earliest image after one of my own mat icons, Raven.” Highlighting some of UPW’s classic light shows at the Boxing Club in the ensuing months, promoter Rick Bassman soon let the hot team debut at the Galaxy Theater and several matches there remain all-time personal favorites, particularly one against The Manila Thrillas, (Blazin’Benny Chong and Funky Billy Kim) and another versus the Ballards. With a strong chemistry that seemed to promise only great things for the two, success was to prove short-lived for the Boys, as Rufio made a surprise decision to leave the team and the school to pursue private interests. While this turn of events came as a total shock to Scott, his goal to survive and prosper in the ring remained intact, and he soon was teaming with other super-impressive rookies, first Paul London to form Lost in London and then with future business partner and later friend Joey Ryan to create Lost Boys 3.0 Thrown together originally by Bassman to form a tag duo for a Galaxy show, Ryan and Lost’s work seemed mutually complementary and with the need for a fresh image the pair became the X Foundation, a super successful pairing that continued for nearly two years here and through the SoCal territories. Now having attained the prestigious Mat Wars title here in UPW, a belt he has successfully defended already on several occasions, and now teaming elsewhere with Chris Bosh to form Arrogance where he displays a very convincing heel persona, Scott Lost recently began a new chapter in his wrestling autobiography as he, Joey Ryan and four other hot local performers, Top Gun Talwar, Excalibur, Disco Machine and Super Dragon began their own company, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla; which now regularly puts on shows throughout the Southland to large and enthusiastic crowds. “With many local promotions folding around us, we felt the need to create something that would allow us to wrestle often in front of crowds,” explains Lost. “That’s the only way you improve as a talent; by repeatedly practicing your moves and most importantly by getting the constant feedback from the people who attend your shows.” Having already spent a month in Japan wrestling for a leading fed and with the real promise of returning, Scott hopes to make frequent visits back to the Orient a regular part of his sports entertainment resume. He loves the intelligence of Japanese fans and the seriousness with which they treat their favorite sport. Still, with all that he has done, our new Wrestler of the Month realizes and covets his original UPW roots. “This is my home. This is where I started out,” he says. “I am proud of that fact and will tell anyone who asks. I will always enjoy returning here and performing for the great fans who were with me all the way back then and who remain with me today.” Forever loving and respecting the sport he grew up adoring as a youngster, we feel confident that this San Diego super talent will continue to carve out for himself a path to mat glory in the months and years to follow. |
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