Gangsta Man

"Who is this Snoop Dog-looking mother..."

This was the statement of a wrestler unfamiliar with wrestling in Tucson when he saw the tall, thin black man with his bandanna and street clothes, ambling to the ring on a promotional video..

Enter Gangsta Man.

Active approximately 1995-1999, he saw most of his work in Tucson and though far too small and skinny to make it in the big time, he had his  moment on Indy cards. Though not the most skilled or built of wrestlers, he had an ability for doing the most with what he had. He was also good on the mike, which covered some of his inexperience in other facets of wrestling.

And he did kind of resemble Snoop Dog.

To see this guy was to dislike him, for a multitude of reasons. Some fans really hated the "bopper" image he gave off, while others loathed his audacity for not really being built like or looking like a wrestler, but going out there to do it anyway.  He just oozed slime and many fans flat did not like his appearance or his tirades on  the microphone. This of course had the people yelling for his scalp whenever he was in front of them.

Had he just been more muscular or heavier, he might have gone someplace.

For whatever reason, he never really looked into doing Mexico, as did many of the smaller wrestlers from Arizona, finding success in places like San Luis Rio Colorado, Nogales or Mexicali.

Maybe he was happy just doing his own thing in his native Tucson?

In any case, Gangsta Man became a big part of Arizona wrestling for a while, then called it quits as quickly and  mysteriously as he arrived.

For a while there was talk of teaming him with The Black Mamba, another drawing card in Arizona, but this never came to be.

Some of the people he faced in Tucson included Ron Sutherland, The Death Dealer, Billy Scream   and Super Serial Killer.