When the professional wrestlers and crew of AEW return to San Diego County Saturday, one of them will just have to hop in his car to make the drive home after the show.
His name is Excalibur, and as an AEW broadcast commentator, the retired wrestler has become one of the leading voices of the upstart wrestling promotion.
“Over the last seven years, we’ve done a great job of differentiating ourselves from, I think, any other wrestling product,” he said, in an interview with Times of San Diego.
Saturday’s show, “Collision,” set for national broadcast, is the third in San Diego in the last three years, including events at Viejas Arena, on the campus of San Diego State University, and at Frontwave Arena in Oceanside.
For Excalibur, the drive from Frontwave, where the show is being held this weekend, to his home in central San Diego, should take about 45 minutes.
That’s a blessing for Excalibur, who asked that he be referred to only by his professional name, not his real name. He is constantly on the road for his job, having just taken a 15-hour flight to return home from an AEW tour of Australia.
“You know, we’re going all over the place,” he said.
He was born in Detroit, but moved to California as his wrestling career took off. He has lived in San Diego for nearly two decades.
He and his wife like to hang out in Balboa Park and Bankers Hill. He lists The Friendly, a pizza and burger joint in North Park, as one of his favorite places.
Excalibur cites the region’s diversity, including its mix of a being a military town that is located on the border with Mexico, for making San Diego a great spot for professional wrestling.
“The culture here is so unique and so different than, you know, any other place in California, or even border towns, you know, elsewhere in the country.” he said. He added: “It’s a melting pot in so many ways, but in the professional wrestling world, it’s a place where you get such a unique crowd.”
Although he started his career in the ring, Excalibur limits himself nowadays to broadcasting.
“This is the best job I’ve ever had,” he said. “Only a handful of people in the world have a job like mine and so I feel very, very honored and very proud to have this job.”
He does admit to occasionally getting the itch to get back in the ring and said his dream opponents would be current AEW wrestlers Kyle Fletcher and Daniel Garcia.
“But then I’ll stand up and my knees will crack and my lower back will twinge and I’ll say, ‘Oh, you know what? Maybe that itch is better left unscratched,” he added.
As for Saturday’s show, Excalibur said, “It’s just go, go, go. It’s nonstop action. And if you’ve never seen a professional wrestling show before, you will, I would almost guarantee, that you will walk away a fan, or at the very least have a newfound appreciation for what professional wrestling means.”
Tickets start at $33 for Saturday’s show; gates open an hour ahead of the 4:30 p.m. event.
