For more than two decades, 2 Tuff Tony has built a reputation as one of the toughest, wildest, and most unpredictable competitors in professional wrestling. From the streets of Louisville to the ring wars of JCW, Tony has never been afraid to put his body on the line. In Part 1 of our exclusive interview, he talks fireballs, friendship, hard lessons, and the fights that helped make him who he is today.
2 Tuff Tony:
"Make sure my fire is nice and big on my hand. Make sure I can see their head… and set it on fire."
2 Tuff Tony:
"People gonna think I'm crazy, but that's my brother. We're the same."
2 Tuff Tony:
"It's my home, right? I went to Japan, that was my home away from home. In the States, JCW is my home."
2 Tuff Tony:
"I grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, in an area called Crescent Hill. I ran the streets a lot and made a name for myself there. Toughness comes from there."
2 Tuff Tony:
"I've had a lot of run-ins with Bull Pain. He's the one that set me on my way. Any match with Bull Pain… I'm fighting for my life in there, guys."
2 Tuff Tony:
"Stay humble on the way up. Be kind, because on the way down… you don't know who's gonna be your boss. Think about that."
Coming Soon: Part 2 of our exclusive conversation with 2 Tuff Tony, only on Dark Neon Sports.
Mysterious. Unpredictable. Disturbing. Red Bat has become one of Southern California's most unique wrestling attractions, blending superhero mythology, horror influences, lucha libre, and deathmatch culture into something entirely his own. In Part 1 of our exclusive conversation, Red Bat discusses the origins of his character, the evolution of Devil Bat, Southern California wrestling, horror films, deathmatches, and his growing podcast.
Red Bat:
"well the Red Bat character is loosely based on Adam West Batman. He’s a vigilante super hero. The Devil Bat is the alter ego of the Red Bat. He’s from a different dimension. A few years ago, Eddie Carnage and Michael Rummers came up to me with an idea. He was gonna create a stable with Deathmatch wrestlers, and me. He said there was an open spot not for the Red Bat, but for the Devil Bat. The Character slowly evolved since then."
Red Bat:
"So Cal wrestling is Unique because Los Angeles is a melting pot of different races and cultures. In SoCal you can watch all the different styles of wrestling. There’s Lucha, American Style, Death Match, Comedy, LGBT, and whatever you can think of really. We also have a lot of influence from XPW in the 90s."
Red Bat:
"I grew up watching American Wrestlers. WWF, WCW, and ECW. I saw a little bit of Japanese and Mexican Wrestling. Like everyone else I always wanted to be a wrestler, but I happened to stumble upon a Luchador doing an episode of the El Gordo y la flaca. I was there when they were filming at a boxing gym. I approached the wrestler right after and he became my first trainer. It was Latigo Blanco and Joe Medina from NTLL. They taught me Lucha Libra so that’s how I got my start. I was like I guess ima be a Luchador. It makes sense cause I am Mexican American, and I think Lucha has the best moves in wrestling."
Devil Bat:
"that’s a great question. My favorite Horror Movie would have to be Night of the living Dead the remake. The one that came out in 1990. That one would give me nightmares as a kid. In my mind it was the most realistic horror movie. Like it is probably possible that the Dead will rise one day vs a Unkillable Cereal Killer. Return of the living dead and Return of the living dead part 2 were also good in my eyes. They all gave me the chills as a kid."
Red Bat:
"the craziest thing I ever saw in a death match was Mosh Pit Mike take a scissors through his tongue. I couldn’t believe that when I saw it. Also some of these Mexican Death Match wrestlers that get slammed on top of cars and they go through the glass. That can’t be good on your spine. That’s brutal. Also behind the scenes I would help clean of some of these wrestlers. I provide first aid when I’m not wrestling. Some of these guys had thumbtacks in their skull. It’s crazy."
Red Bat:
"We film it in the Caves of Pacoima. Eventually when I stop wrestling I’ll put more time and effort in to the podcast to make it more professional. It’s a work in progress that’s a lot of fun to do. I put all the episodes on YouTube, and I put small clips on Facebook and Instagram. We don’t get a lot of views on YouTube The channel is growing. Space Ghost was my influence for the podcast. I want listeners to know that wrestlers go through the same struggles as everyone else. We’re not untouchable. We have a lot of flaws and I want to bring out the humanity in people. We joke a lot too. So I don’t worry about getting cancelled for saying something out of pocket. What you see on the podcast your gonna see it in real life too when your around us."
Red Bat discusses his future goals, the evolution of the Devil Bat persona, Southern California independent wrestling, and much more in Part 2 of this exclusive Dark Neon Sports interview.