Josh Briggs doesn’t like you. If you don’t believe it, you can ask him yourself. The New England native has been making a name for himself. He’s achieved this since beginning active competition over a year and a half ago. With a persona that originated in a bad moment in time, Briggs developed a character that fans have come to enjoy. One of the most notable in-ring qualities that Briggs possess is his versatility. His ability to move around with the greatest of ease. He enlightened me when he said that it was important to know your audience. Briggs certainly does just that. As arguably one of the fastest rising talents in the northeast, Briggs has continued to hone his craft.
Possessing an array of technical moves and the ability to perform high flying maneuvers, Briggs aspires to personal greatness. Standing 6’7 and weighing 270 lbs, those aspirations aren’t limited to competing in the United States either. He demonstrates a passion for what he does and does it the right way. It is only a matter of time before the rest of the world finds out what the North Eastern United States has known for nearly two years. Josh Briggs is coming, and when you see him you certainly won’t forget the impact he will make.
Fans can communicate with him on various social media, such as Twitter and Instagram, where he can be reached @thejoshbriggs
Where did your early exposure to wrestling come about? Was there a moment where Josh Briggs felt you were going to make this a commitment?
Josh Briggs: From where I am from, where I am based out of and where I started making my name, the Northeast in the United States of America. Early on I was with Chaotic Wrestling. Then I started to branch out to Limitless Wrestling. That is where I am trying to make my name right now. As for when I really realized this was what I wanted to do. It is where I wanted to make my money. I think it was really early on before I even had a match. I knew this was something I wanted to do was a Division 1 football player, and I was fairly good at it.
But I chose not to pursue any dreams of the NFL because I was completely miserable. It wasn’t like I was great by any means, so I wasn’t going to get drafted. So, I forsook the entire NFL process and I jumped into professional wrestling. Early on, maybe two or three months in, I realized I had a knack for it. I played football for 11 years and I was completely miserable. To go from something that made you completely miserable and depressed to something you enjoy automatically was refreshing. It was how I knew it was something I wanted to do.
I stuck with football for as long as I did because of the free education.
At one of the best schools in America. I realized as I got older and more mature that the only reason I played football was to get things that I wanted. It was about money or free education. Once I got into wrestling, I realized I didn’t care about money. I cared about being happy, and wrestling made me happy. That is how my thought process is right now.
Traveling the independents has its share of highs and lows. Share with us if you could what Josh Briggs has found to be some of the biggest challenges. What are some of the biggest rewards of competing all over North America?
Josh Briggs: I have only been a professional wrestler for just over a year and a half. In that time luckily I have been able to get a good amount of matches under my belt. I have had over 200 matches since January (of 2017).
Once you get up there in matches in a row, five or six, for example, it’s really hard on your body. It’s a real challenge when I am driving 4 to 7 hours back-to-back. To just go back home to sleep, and do it all over again. That’s where you really realize wrestling isn’t what you really think it is. You really have to love what you do and enjoy what you do. To get out of bed when you are sore and you can’t move. So that’s one of the biggest challenges. Early on, trying to find out who you are is one of the biggest challenges.
Your brain is so scattered from everything you did in the match that you don’t really know who you are portraying once you are in the match, and that was something I had a tough time with. I am finally getting over that, and now I am more comfortable with knowing who I am, to an extent.
Josh Briggs: One of the biggest rewards was wrestling Donovan Dijak.
He was a guy that trained at the same school as me and was pretty much a mentor to me outside my training with Brian Fury. Without him, I wouldn’t be as good as I am. So, I owe him. To throw ideas at the wall and see them stick and see him light up with excitement about what I was asking him to do or what I am doing for him, that’s probably the biggest reward I’ve had so far. I was getting a really good match against him most of the time.
Championships are cool and everything, but you are making a name for yourself. Once you have those championships, it means you are starting to rise in the ranks and everything. All that will come with time. I think the memories will last a lifetime. With this last Limitless show, Question the Answers, Teddy Hart had a match against one of my good friends Maxwell Jacob Friedman, and afterward, he called someone out and I was lucky enough to be chosen to go out there and meet him in the ring. So it laid the breadcrumbs for a future match against me and him. That is a big honor to me. Things like that are rewards to me. It isn’t the money or the titles or winning matches or things like that.
If you can highlight one match where Josh Briggs felt that it all came together. Whether in singles or tag team action, when would that be? Who was involved, and share what was going through your head at the time?
Josh Briggs: I touched upon it a little bit. But probably my crowning match where I realized I had something going here was against Donovan Dijak Limitless. That was my first match against him. He is someone I looked up to and aspired to be like. To be able to have him explain the way he was putting together the match made me a completely different and better wrestler for it. I was able to throw ideas out there and he enjoyed them. It boosted my confidence to know that one of the best wrestlers in the world appreciated my ideas. He understood them and believed in how good they were. When he was placing all the ideas into spots, I started to realize, yeah, that’s where I would have put it too.
That was another boost of confidence as well. Mentally we were from the same learning tree from Brian Fury all the way down to Killer Kowalski and Steve Bradley, and to be able to fall back on that and know that, okay, I have a similar mindset to Donovan Dijak, it’s a very comforting thing. That boosted my confidence a lot. In the match itself, right from the get-go, I didn’t want to mess anything up. Luckily enough, I haven’t messed anything up so far in my career. That was my biggest match and an important point in my career. So, I didn’t want to screw the pooch, especially with someone who was my friend that I see all the time, and someone I wanted to know that I was a good wrestler.
Midway through the match, I realized that he knew I could bring it, and I knew that he knew what I am all about.
That was more of a boost of confidence. That was one of the biggest things in wrestling, to boost your confidence and to know that you are good.
To me, tag matches are difficult because you have more bodies to work out. I like to take control of everything and be the general in there. To be able to call the match and put everything together in there. To make sure everyone’s positioning is on point so that everyone out there can have everything come out perfectly. Sometimes it’s tough because when it’s singles wrestlers or even a triple threat. For the most part, figure out where everyone is going to be based on your own positioning. But, when you aren’t in the right place, or when three of the four are in the ring and you are not. It is a little difficult.
But, I tag with Mike Ross of the Minderaser. He is an awesome guy and one of my great friends. We are the New Gore Order down in XWA in Rhode Island. We just gelled instantly because we have the same mindset. Together we can put the match together perfectly because we know each other so well. I can rely on him when I am not in the ring, to take control. He is able to move people where they need to be. If I lose where I am at in the match, I can ask him, and vice versa. We can get back on track. It’s really comfortable having someone with the same mindset on your team. That way you don’t have to think about everything.
You can give him some of the worries and you can take some of the worries off of him as well.
How would you say the Josh Briggs character or personality developed from its inception to today, and where do you see it going?
Not a lot of people know, maybe 20 or 30 in professional wrestling know this. I don’t discuss it a lot because it’s a little embarrassing to me. But everyone has growing pains with their first character. Back in college, I had a nickname of Mike Honcho, from the movie ‘TalladegaNights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.’ It’s a little inside joke I have with me and my friends. But I liked that name a lot. Getting into wrestling, I knew I wanted to wrestle, I just didn’t who I wanted to be yet. I pitched that name to my friends and they said that sounds like a relaxed surfer. So, I decided, help me put together this character of Mike Honcho. Let’s see what happens.
Mike Honcho became a surfer and just went out there and had this whole ‘hang ten’ attitude and stuff. It was fun. I didn’t know any better because it was my first character and I just wanted to wrestle.
After a few months, I knew that’s not who I am and that’s not who I wanted to be, so it started getting uncomfortable and almost embarrassing. I came up with the name Josh Briggs after months of deliberating what my name should be. I changed the last three letters of my last name from Brunsto Briggs, and I stumbled upon who that was. It took a long time. That’s one of the hardest things in wrestling that people don’t understand, who you really are, and if your character is completely different from your actual being it is easy to get into because you are just acting at that point.
But, being 23 at the time, I didn’t know who I was as a human being.
I realized one day, I had a horrible day and I was grumpy, I was in my car and I hated everyone, and I hated everything, and I didn’t want to deal with anything. I realized that may be a good character trait for Josh Briggs, so that became who I am, someone who doesn’t like people. It’s basically me on a really bad day. It is still ever-evolving, just like everything in wrestling. Right now, I know who I am that I don’t like being around people. If you are in the ring with me I instantly don’t like you, and I am going to do whatever I can to hurt you. In a nutshell, that’s just Josh Briggs, someone who doesn’t like people.
Limitless Wrestling and Chaotic Wrestling appear to be promotions that are near and dear to your heart. What is it about these promotions that has meant so much to Josh Briggs?
I’d like to throw Beyond (wrestling) in that hat as well. When I first started, those were the three that I wanted to work for, they were promotions that had the buzz at the time, they were promotions that you could make money with. They were promotions that you could wrestle better people at, sometimes; not always the case, but sometimes. I always wanted to get to those three. Chaotic was my first because of where I trained, at the New England Pro Wrestling Academy, it was the feeder for Chaotic Wrestling, the one that I first broke in with.
Chaotic will always be special to me because they gave me my first big platform to actually have good matches with great production value, great professionalism in the locker room, great booking, great ownership. That was the first time I realized that indy wrestling is more than just going out there and doing moves. It’s an actual business and an actual job. Chaotic is special in that sense.
Limitless Wrestling, that was the first big super indy show that I was able to get on. All of my friends got on it. I really wanted to wrestle with my friends and go on road trips with my friends. To get out of the New England, Rhode Island, Connecticut area and compete. To get there was one of the crowning moments of my career. Randy Carver Jr, the guy who runs the place, the owner, gave me one of the most special things on the planet. They just had their two-year anniversary show with Question the Answers. It sold out with about four hundred people.
They need to get a new building because of how quickly the place sells out.
The match quality is next to none. That Question the Answers show was the best show I’d ever been at or have been on. Every match had a place on the card, every match did its job. Every match was perfect for the most part. That’s something special that Randy does, and being so young. To put together that card and bring those people in and draw those people in, in Maine of all places, that’s outstanding.
Beyond, everyone knows Beyond. Everyone wants to get into Beyond, and Beyond is THE platform for Indy wrestling on the East Coast. Everyone that is anyone wants to be in Beyond, that’s how you make that name for yourself. Me being such a big fan of Donovan Dijak, and such a good friend with him, I saw how he made his name, and wanting to follow in his footsteps I chose Beyond as my ultimate destination early on. Drew Cordero, the owner, he runs the most amazing show. If you haven’t seen a Beyond show on-demand or on YouTube, it is something special that you can’t replicate.
He has been nothing but good to me and gives me the matches that he thinks I deserve even if I don’t think I deserve it, and an outstanding platform to build my brand of Josh Briggs. So those three are very near and dear to my heart. There are few more, like Northeast Wrestling where I just started, they treated me so well, and XWA as well in Rhode Island, and the Monster Factory. Places like that have given me opportunities on great platforms, those are the places are special to me.
I can’t thank them enough because without them I would be Joe Schmo, wrestling in front of twenty people not doing this for a living.
Maine for a while didn’t have the wrestling buzz that it does now, and that is all due to Randy Carver and Limitless Wrestling. The way he runs that place, it’s unbelievable. What he does for me and wrestling and all the boys in the back is such a good platform, such good production, and there is such great talent opposing them in the ring. Everything about that place is second to none.
A few months back notable trainer and former wrestler Rip Rogers were very critical of the state of independent wrestling today. What are your thoughts on how programs are worked in an independent wrestling match as opposed to something that is televised?
Josh Briggs: Independent wrestling is a different monster than WWE. There are different fans, and you have to know your fanbase and know how to get over in the fans’ eyes. It doesn’t matter if you do no moves or you do a million moves in my opinion, as long as the crowd enjoys it. I think you need to do the least amount to get over, but get over nonetheless. Some places, in particular, you need to do a little bit more and you have to put your body on the line. People who have grown up and have been cultivated by that major, WWE style, they don’t get to experience independent wrestling, when you don’t do what the crowd expects of you.
If you don’t get that reaction from the independent crowd, it really is, not heartbreaking, but it’s disconcerting. You really go home pretty bummed out, and sometimes that is going to happen. With the WWE style, those guys are making six figures, and I completely understand they can’t put their body on the line the way independent wrestlers do. We’re working to get there, and in our eyes, we have to do those moves. They’re in that safe zone where they don’t have to put their body on the line, and they shouldn’t have to body on the line because they are such big items for WWE and those big companies. They can’t risk their life.
You have to know your crowd, and if there’s a crowd with thirty people in it and you aren’t making that much money, you don’t really need to put your body on the line.
If there is a crowd of 300-400 people standing on their feet, expecting you to do a dive over the top rope, giving them anything less is a disservice to the fans if that makes any sense.
Josh Briggs: In my opinion, I can do really athletic things that my body shouldn’t allow me to do and a lot of the things I can do people haven’t seen on shows from me because I chose to save them for those big moments. I think if you do something huge so many times, so dangerously, it waters down that product that you are giving to the crowd. If I go to the top rope and do a 450 every match everyone is going to expect it, but if I pull it out in those one or two big matches everyone is going to want to see that.
I don’t feel like a guy who is 6’7”, 270 lbs., needs to make his money being on the top rope, but I think for the right crowd you can give them one or two special or unique things to show that you are one of the superior athletes of your size.
Often talent has aspirations to improve. What are your aspirations moving forward, and who can you see involved in helping achieve those aspirations?
Josh Briggs: I think one of the easiest ways and to get better and get farther and build a name is to have matches against some of the best in the world. Be open to those peoples’ eyes to how good you are. You can listen to people tell you how good someone is. But you don’t really understand how good they are until you get into the ring with them. Being really young in the business, that’s the opportunity that I need. To get into the ring with some of the best in the world and show them I am the real deal. To be able to show them I can hang with them and they can see everything that I can do.
As for my aspirations, I want to become the best big man on the planet. I want to become one of the top independent wrestlers on the planet. I want to get out of the country and start becoming an independent household name. Right now, I have only been wrestling for a year and a half. I’ve made a pretty good name for myself in the Northeast and I’m starting to branch out a little bit, but I need to start taking over the country, and other countries as well if that makes any sense. That is going to happen by getting opportunities, capitalizing on those opportunities, and showing everyone what I actually am as a wrestler.
Self-promotion is crucial for success. What would you say it takes for any talent to elevate their stock? What helps increase a following for anyone looking to be seen?
Josh Briggs: You touched upon some of the main things, like going out and getting into a car, meeting other people. Once they see you they can keep you in their mind, and if you have a unique look, which luckily I do, they will remember you. We have this big son of a guy from New England, let’s bring him in and give him a shot. I think what goes a long way is not being a piece of garbage. I think if you are a genuine human being who lets the passion for the business ooze out of you once you meet them, I think you can tell once you meet a few people and look them in the eye how passionate they are, and know instantly that this guy wants what I want. That helps a lot.
I went to college for communications and business and marketing, so I have a good background in marketing. If you can market yourself properly and not make a fool of yourself on the internet (which is hard sometimes), and put over the show and your opponents and everything, it goes a long way. JT Dunn, one of my best friends in the business, and MJF, both do that in a way that I think anyone that doesn’t do it should be jealous of. When they are on the show, they don’t just highlight themselves, they highlight the event.
Go watch everything, and just get the gratification from the gifs by Mr. Lariato on social media that I think is something no one really does.
It’s something that I am trying to do myself. It’s a hidden talent that gets you a lot of respect from promoters, and from me as well. Things like that. Marketing yourself, and of course giving your fans more than what they paid for. Putting your body on the line and letting them know that you did it for them. That’s another one of the big things.
Anyone that follows you on social media can see Josh Briggs has a fairly longstanding friendship with “All Good” Anthony Greene. To what do you attribute that friendship and relationship with one another.
Josh Briggs: “All Good” Anthony Green is my best friend. He is the first genuine person I ever met in pro wrestling, we train at the same school, the New England Pro Wrestling Academy in Massachusetts, and we have the same mindset on a lot of the same things. I know that if I need something I can just talk to him about it. Something that is very scary in professional wrestling is you don’t know a lot of these people. It’s frightening to have to trust someone. Professional wrestling gives you a weird trust issue, but Anthony Greene is a great guy. I hang out with him outside professional wrestling all the time.
I think he’s one of the best wrestlers in New England. To me, the most entertaining guy. He’s a good guy and fun to watch and fun to be around. He gives the crowd what they want, and he knows what to do since he’s been doing it for a long time. Greene is pretty much a grizzled young veteran. I can’t speak highly enough about him. He’s on my list of guys to wrestle, and it’s weird not have ever had a match against him in singles competition, but we’ve had probably had about 50 matches opposing each other in tag matches.
I hope to tick him off of my list pretty soon, within the next few months. If you don’t know who Anthony Greene is, look him up @allgoodag on Twitter and Instagram. He’s a good follow and a great wrestler.
Does Josh Briggs have anything to share, promote, or make fans aware of as it pertains to wrestling? How can fans connect with you if they so wanted to?
Josh Briggs: If you want to, follow me on Instagram and Twitter @TheJoshBriggs and you can friend request me on Facebook and see all my updates through that. If you want to buy a shirt you can do that. You can tell me how much I suck or how awesome I am, and ask me if I don’t like you, which I don’t. That’s Facebook, just search Josh Briggs, I’m the ugly guy with the really good picture from Harry Aaron. That’s pretty much it. As for me being on a show, come to see me, I’m not a horrible wrestler and I think you might like me.
