I’m a Luigi Primo
Wrestling has no owner. It is a sport that welcomes all kinds of fans and all kinds of performers. It is a sport where you can dazzle the crowd as a freak of nature like Andre The Giant, by moving your body in impossible ways like Rey Mysterio Jr., or even with just your words like Jimmy Hart. Wrestling is all about telling stories, and if you can do that then you can be successful.
Luigi Primo, pizzaman from Austin, Texas via Italy, has carved his own unique path the way a lot of indie wrestlers have to do. With so many promotions around the world filled with so many talented wrestlers, performers have to find ways to stand out. Luigi has done that by bringing his passions for pizza and wrestling together. He spoke with me here at Wrestle Inn about those things in his own words (and his own accent).
How long have you been wrestling?
Since I a was a bambino. I’ve only a done it a professionally since a 2014.
Who were you trained by?
I was a trained in the a pro style by a Jay Serious, aka Jojo Bravo.
What got you into wrestling? Did you grow up watching? Any favorite acts or promotions growing up?
I was a drawn to the a energy and passion of a Hulk Hogan and his monumental a feud with a Roddy Piper. Mainly I was into the a WWF. Shortly after I a learned of the a great Italian stars like a Bruno Sammartino, Antonino Rocca, etc.
You’re based out of Austin, right? How did you end up there?
I am a moved to a Austin from the a Old Country in a 2011 to a work in a restaurants. I a wanted to a bring my a own style to the pizza here. I pretty quickly got involved in a wrestling and a powerlifting. I didn’t have a lot of a money so my entire life was a built around a eating pizza and a training.
Did you play any sports growing up or has it only been wrestling?
I played a lot of a sports (football, soccer, baseball) as a child but was a absolutely not good at them. I was a ok at a Tai kwon Do and a Judo. Wrestling is the a only sport I have a excelled at.
A lot of people have caught your training video online this year, where you’re hitting the mat and kipping up while spinning dough. Do you bring real pizza dough to the ring?
A yes. After my a matches I a bake it into a pizza, which I either a serve or a eat my a self. Every a time. I’m a Luigi Primo.
What’s the key to a good pizza crust?
You need to start with a good a recipe with a quality flour, yeast, sugar, and salt. Then, you have to create round, well-formed-a dough balls. Next, it’s a important the dough a proof for the right amount of time — not to long, not to short. You then need to a stretch the a dough properly, as a well. Finally, over temperature and cooking time must be a dialed-in perfectly. If all these elements a come together, the internal structure of the a crust will be delightful and compliment every topping you could a want.
What is your favorite pizza topping?
No topping at all — a regular pizza of a cheese.
I spent a few years working in a pizzeria: serving, taking orders, doing deliveries, folding boxes, etc., and I thought it was great. Do you like it? What’s the best part?
Those are great aspects of working in a pizzeria. My favorite part is the a weird a people who a work in those places. I love to a get to know the a workers. Everyone in the a pizza industry has a story. Sometimes it’s a a victorious story, sometimes a sad a story. Usually it’s a at least a little tragic, but then a again, isn’t that everybody’s a story?
Which was your first love: pizza or wrestling?
For a me, you can’t a have one without the other. I a strive to combine my a pizza-making skills with my wrestling a matches. I a think this is what I a really bring to the a table as a wrestler, since I a make the best pizza. For example, one of my a favorite techniques is to a squeeze my opponent’s a trapezius a muscles in the manner of a raw pizza dough. This weakens their a nerve control and allows me to a leverage my finishing move, the a Pizza Cutter.
How do you divide your time between the two?
I a work for a 8 a hours a day at a non-wrestling, and then I a train, record a videos, promote a shows, wrestle if I’m a booked and a take some a leisure with whatever time I have a left. In the beginning it a did not seem like it would a be this way, but my a whole life has become a pizza and a wrestling. I’m a Luigi Primo.
I’m going to show my a power, my a weakness, and my a spirit
One of the endless challenges for indie wrestling is building a loyal fanbase. You need people who will cheer or boo, and who want to see your promotion or your talent. They’ll help draw new fans in, wear your merch to promote you, and expand your reach as a performer. Some companies have even become impossible to disconnect from the places known for their success, like PWG in Reseda, California; Full Sail University in Orlando with NXT; Philadelphia with ECW; or, even Daily’s Place in Jacksonville with AEW as of late. Austin is a place with a burgeoning wrestling scene where Luigi has been connected and involved, and is a city worth paying attention to for wrestling fans.
What is the indie scene like in Austin? Have you been able to wrestle in front of a crowd lately?
Austin has a great, enthusiastic fans who love to a see people destroy each a other in a wrestling ring (who a doesn’t?). I have been working a back up to a full schedule since a February. From a March 2020 through January 2021, the only a regular activity I a did was monthly “TV Tapings” for a Party World Rasslin’.
So you’re best known for Party World Rasslin’ (PWR). What kind of involvement do you have there? Do you do anything for the promotion beyond wrestling?
Generally just a talent. At a one point me and my a son Pastaman were the BFF Champions! In addition to wrestling, I try and a keep PWR’s distractible, nearly-useless a Commissioner Chris Monica in a check. I also, occasionally, will a make them pizza.
What other promotions do you wrestle for?
In the last 2 years I have a wrestled for Heavy Metal Wrestling (San Antonio), Inspire Pro (of which I was a its longest reigning a champion, in Austin), RCW (Former international Champion, in San Antonio), Victory Pro (Corpus Christi), Martinez Entertainment (Fort Worth), MPX (Dallas), AWR (Austin), WCWA (Fayetteville, Arkansas).
What’s the biggest crowd you’ve ever been in front of?
Probably around a 1000 a people. It’s extremely a surreal.
Do you follow any promotions that you’re not involved in? Watch wrestling on tv or streaming? If so, who are you a fan of?
I am a mostly a fan of a wrestling from the last a 30 a years. Sometimes my friends and a I watch GCW shows.
Want to shout out any particularly talented wrestlers? What makes them special?
Jay Serious is the a best technical a wrestler in a Texas. I am very fortunate to a learn from a him. We have a been on a opposite sides of the ring many times, but he is a head-and-shoulders above almost a everyone in terms of both his a physical wrestling and his a intelligence. His a brain is a so sharp and fast that it is a shocking.
I also want to a give a shout-out to a few a wrestlers from my a region who I have a followed and a battled for a several years – Great Scott, T-Ray, Prince Adam, Mark Champion, Roumel 5kkkk, King Rob Love, Jaime Holly. There are many a incredible, hungry a talent around where I a live. In general I am a very fortunate to be involved with people who a want me to a succeed and a push me to a do my a best.
Who do you see as a breakout name in the next year or so?
Prince Adam. Keep your a eye on a him!
The crowds in your matches are incredibly receptive to you: Where does that come from? How do you form an attachment with a group of people you don’t know?
I think it’s because people like to a eat pizza. I also think it may have to do with me being an insane looking a man who a prances around. I just try to a show my a heart to the people I a wrestle for. I think when people see my a transparent a soul its easy to a make a decision about whether they want me to get a beaten up or to a be victorious. Even if you a really don’t a like me, I’m going to show my a power, my a weakness, and my a spirit. I don’t a compromise my a pizza, even if people don’t a like it.
I am a happy in this a moment
The next few months will be huge for indie wrestling. Venues have been welcoming crowds back. As people return they will not have forgotten the wrestlers with whom they’ve connected, or how they came to love those performers. The fire that talent can bring to the ring, the heat that only comes from interfacing with a live crowd, is burning again.
Can you tell me what your catchphrase “I make a best pizza, I’m a best wrestler” means to you? How does it help define your character?
This is my a mission statement — No matter how big my opponent is, no matter how strong they are, no matter how technically-proficient they are, no matter how much they a hurt me — I won’t compromise or give up. I will not a back down. My soul is larger and stronger than all opposition. I’m a Luigi Primo.
Are there any other promotions you would like to work with in the future?
To name a few: GCW, Hoodslam, MLW, Glory Pro and of course, Pizza Party Wrestling.
The indie landscape has shifted a lot over the past year. How do you feel about the state of it now? What about in six months, or a year?
It’s a fine. Wrestling is always a evolving — getting worse in a some ways and a better than others. I’m thankful I have a come in when I have, and I have eternal gratitude for those who a came before me and a set the stage for our scene.
And, finally: You have a table at Wrestle Inn. What meal are you eating, what drink are you drinking, and which two wrestlers are you bringing for company?
I’m eating a good a pizza (mozzarella and ricotta) and drinking a diet coke. Jay Serious and a Prince Adam are a with me. They are a arguing. I am a happy in this a moment.
Wrestle Inn 