[WWW] Alex Marvez 11.6.03 column

http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/sports/article/0,1651,TCP_1154_2407643,00.html

By ALEX MARVEZ
November 6, 2003

Sonny Siaki is all too aware of what The Rock is cooking.

Siaki admits he still is razzed about how much he looks like Dwayne
"The Rock" Johnson even after spending the past 17 months trying to
establish his own character in National Wrestling Alliance/Total
Nonstop Action. Like Johnson, Siaki has Polynesian roots, tattoos,
short dark hair and an impressive physique.

"Everywhere I go, in the middle of a match people start chanting,
'Rocky,' or 'You're not The Rock,' or, 'Rocky sucks,'" Siaki said. "I
can't help way it. I've tried growing my hair out and it doesn't work.
I've worn long baggy pants and that doesn't work. Everything The Rock
does in the ring, I stay away from and don't do.

"I've kind of given up. I want to be the first Sonny Siaki and have my
own character."

Ironically, the similarities between The Rock and Siaki don't end with
their appearances, as Johnson's father Rocky has spent time training
both performers. Siaki worked with Rocky Johnson when both were with
the Urban Wrestling Alliance, which folded in late 2001 after failing
to make an impact in the marketplace.

Siaki admits his physical similarity to The Rock may have cost him a
spot in World Wrestling Entertainment after what he thought was a
successful tryout.

"I've heard that they said, 'He looks too much like The Rock. We don't
want that,'" said Siaki, who first captured WWE's attention while
working in World Championship Wrestling from 1999 to 2001. "They said
I had the working ability and the build, but I don't know if they were
telling me the truth. I really couldn't tell you why."

Rather than mope, Siaki continued trying to hone his grappling skills
while working odd jobs in security and as a blackjack dealer for
private parties in the Atlanta area. Siaki trained under Dusty Rhodes
and Chris Benoit and received words of encouragement from ex-WWE star
Diamond Dallas Page, who he met while both were in WCW.

"I knew wrestling was for me," said Siaki, who became interested in
the grappling game after his football career at East Carolina
University ended because of a neck injury. "Even though there were
times when I wanted to give it all up, Page and Dusty got on me. They
said, 'This is wrestling. It's for you. But you've got to keep your
head up.'"

Siaki's big break has come with NWA/TNA, although things haven't
always gone smoothly there either. While he has worked on each of the
group's weekly Wednesday night pay-per-view telecasts since its debut
in June 2002, Siaki was initially miscast as a member of the Flying
Elvises with partners Jimmy Yang and Jorge Estrada. And after
splitting from Yang and Estrada, Siaki was placed in the promotion's X
Division (cq) even though he didn't perform the same kinds of
high-flying maneuvers as his light-heavyweight opponents.

"When I first started and got the call that I was going to be part of
the Flying Elvises, I was kind of nervous," said Siaki, 29. "I was not
a big fan of Elvis and I didn't know too much about the whole deal.
They saw the character didn't fit me and I became X division champion.
But I was 250 pounds and really not an X division type of wrestler."

Siaki may finally have found the right gimmick as the tag-team partner
of Ekmo Fatu, who teamed with Jamal as Three Minute Warning in WWE
before getting fired. The pairing emphasizes both of their Samoan
backgrounds, as Siaki was born in Pago Pago and moved to Wilmington,
N.C. when he was four years old.

"They've got the Samoan guys teaming together and it fits me
perfectly," Siaki said. "I couldn't be happier."


QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS:

Q: How did Zach Gowan get to WWE? - Steve Seremack, Essex, Ontario,
Canada.

A: WWE executive Paul Heyman saw the one-legged Gowan wrestle on an
NWA/TNA telecast last spring and recommended the promotion go after
him. WWE initially erred by signing another wrestler with a similar
disability before inking Gowan, who has inexplicably gone from being
one of the most inspiring characters in wrestling history to a
perennial television loser following his high-profile match against
promotion owner Vince McMahon on the Vengeance pay-per-view show in
July.

More of the Sonny Siaki interview can be found at
www.wrestlingobserver.com.

Questions can be sent to Alex Marvez c/o the South Florida
Sun-Sentinel, 200 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301, or
e-mailed to amarvez(at)sun-sentinel.com. Please include your full name
and city of residence. Because of volume, no phone calls will be
accepted and letters will not receive a written reply.

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.shns.com)