Where did the idea for the original Pastor William Eaver character come from?
It was more based on my look, my long hair: everywhere I go people would look at me and they wouldn’t say it directly to me, but it was just like “oh look, there’s Jesus.” I looked like loads of people: anyone with a long hair and a beard, but the one I got most was Jesus. We were training under Jimmy Havoc, doing a class about characters and Jimmy suggested I watched a film, Red State. There was a character in it, a mad pastor. I didn’t really get into the film as such, but I took away the pastor character.
How did you develop the character to stop it being a one-note gimmick?
I just kind of went with it, you know. I just started to believe [in the ring] that I was William Eaver. The more matches I wrestled as William Eaver, the more the character of the pastor [developed]. I started wearing robes and stuff and had this kind of genuine belief that I was the character.
How did you avoid the character being offensive to anyone who was religious?
I tried to stay away from anything that was [explicitly] mentioned, a Jesus or anything like that. I did use religious symbology, but I never, really kind of aligned with any sort of religion or sect or denomination. There were quotes from the Bible and stuff I used, but it was nothing overtly religious if that makes sense… It’s kind of for [the audience] to make their assumptions or have their opinions on it.
You wrestled at least one match for Pro Wrestling Chaos as a heel. Were you worried about giving the impression of using being religious as a heel characteristic?
Originally the character as I perceived it to be, I wanted it to be the villain. It’s just when I came out in [PROGRESS developmental group] ENDVR, it got a good reaction. In Chaos, I never went too religious, I’d just spout things like “I’m the blessed in the world”. It was more the tactics I would use in the match, the mannerisms I would use: I would try and get heat through that. I never thought “I’ll be getting the cheap heat because I’m a religious man as a villain.”
Were there any ideas with the character that you decided would go too far?
Oh yeah. There was one that was floated around was having an altar boy as a sort of… yeah, you can see where that’s going! An altar boy leading me to the ring and that would have been tremendous. The character was never in your face as it were. It’s all to do with the individual to kind of makeup their own mind, have their perception of it. It never kind of took off because it never really got pushed. But that could have been very controversial depending on how you look at it
You wrestled in for OTT in Ireland where there’s arguably more elements and angles to doing a religious character. Was that something that you had to take into account?
Well, when I went to OTT I was going through a sort of a change in my character. Originally, it was quite serious, a mystical sort of character. I saw a clip on YouTube, some sort of viral video of a pastor on stage. He was very passionate in his speech and it was like “the power of the holy ghost” and all the crowd would start being overcome with this power of the pastor. So I saw that and I mean, that’s wrestling. You don’t look within wrestling [for character ideas], you look outside of wrestling. And I saw that, and I thought that would be tremendous if you could get that sort of thing over, get that sort of a reaction where you get the crowd to interact, because that’s the main thing, being connected with the crowd.
So I was going then for almost a tongue in cheek character with the Pastor. When I went to OTT, the backstage was incredible. They were really welcoming and were very suggestive of ideas. They had a guy who had a disability, but he was able to get out of his chair and walk and he suggested that my character had the power to possess people. They said he’d be up for it if I was to go with him and he would stand up in his chair and he would walk. We did that and got a great reaction. It was just very fun. It was a fun atmosphere. Like, yes, you’ve got that strong Protestant/Catholic vibe in Ireland, but the OTT crowd was completely different. If anything I’d imagine they are more openminded crowd.
To take a storyline example, you won the title in PROGRESS and then lost it back the next month. How did you take that sporting storyline – reaching the high and then crashing down again – and applying it specifically to your character?
I suppose it was more trying to humanize the Pastor character. Like I say, it originally was a sort of mystical undertaker character. We were trying to humanize it, trying to connect the actual me as a human other than the character, the Pastor. I think at the time we were trying to move slightly away from the Pastor gimmick and get more of a connection with the crowd, a more organic feel.
You’ve recently dropped the Pastor element of the character and are performing as “Present” William Eaver, more of a street preacher. How did that change come about?
To be honest with you, the Present William Eaver is who I am, if anything. I don’t know if you’ve seen the viral video of Mark Mero where he’s talking about his mother. It’s a very, very touching story. He is an inspirational and motivational speaker. I just started following his Facebook page and assessing quotes from him and I read his book and I’ve always kind of seen myself as having that sort of philosophy, a way of been openminded. It was ne, it more me. I wouldn’t say the Pastor character ran its course because there’s so much scope for the Pastor, it depends how deep you want to go. But I want [my wrestling character] to be something that’s more me so it feels more natural, you know, just “I’m living the moment.” I genuinely feel “today is the greatest day of my life.” It is literally me. I like to say it’s me turned down if anything!
Does the change of character make it harder to keep that clear line between the you in wrestling and the you in “real life”?
Right now it is bringing me into the wrestling as before there was a distinction: I wasn’t going around quoting scriptures outside of wrestling or at work or what have you. Now I’m more… I like to say I know where I am: 30 years it’s taken to find out where I am in life, you know, and it’s [being] present as weird as it sounds. I feel like this character for me – why am I even calling it a character? — this way in which I’m going is tremendous. When I was speaking to the crowd at PROGRESS I’ve never felt so more so comfortable in my life. It was me and I was it.
Does that create the risk that if the crowd turns against your character for whatever reason or doesn’t go with it, you take it more personally than you would with a more traditionally fictional wrestling character?
If someone was to go against the way I was, I’d totally go with it. Wherever it goes, I will go with it. I won’t feel offended. If f I was to go out there and I’m aiming for a good reaction, but I get a bad reaction, I’m going to go with it no matter what. Am I going to get offended? No, because you never know what you’re going to get when you go out in front of a crowd. You’re given this direction when you go out, you’re trying to get a reaction; if you don’t get it, so be it, go with it, but it’s not going to upset me and I’m going to lose any sleep about it.
How much thought have you given to how the character could develop?
Right now I’m just, I’m having fun. The most fun I’ve ever had within wrestling. I’m enjoying myself. Not to say that I never enjoyed myself as the Pastor. I really loved in it and I’ve not closed the door completely on it. But right now I’m, I’ve got a few ideas in place and it’s just how far I’m willing to say how far to take it. I’m just seeing how it pans out, you know, I think at the moment it’s very early days and it’s getting a great reaction, it’s creating intrigue and I genuinely feel it’s a positive character. You know, wrestling now is so different from what it was in the eighties, the nineties: the fans and wrestling have such a connection now. We are superheroes, but we’ve also got the power to convey such strong messages, whether it’s good or bad, right? Where I am now is in a good place. Tomorrow is unknown. What do they say? “Yesterday is history, tomorrow’s a mystery. Today is a gift, that’s why they call it the present.”
