Former WCW wrestler The Stro, Rob Kellum recently took some time to participate in an interview with Marc Madison of The News Hub. Kellum reveals about his time with WCW, his current film career, how faith has a place in wrestling and his family lineage to legendary wrestler Gorgeous George. Check out excerpts of the interview below and the complete interview here:
About his training under Gene Anderson and Ivan Koloff:
So much knowledge. Gene and Ole Anderson were the original Minnesota Wrecking Crew. Gene Anderson is one of the hookers of the business. He is just like Danny Hodge and the Gotch’s, William Regal’s that just have that tendency the Bob Orton Jr. who have that tendon strength that are just like those mountain climbers that ability to balance themselves on ledges because they are deceptively strong and when they grab you, you just want to cry (chuckles) it’s just amazing. Nelson Royal was just one of the greatest junior heavyweight champions or what they call cruiserweights of all time. He’s teamed with the very best. He and Sweet Hansen wrestled the very best.
Then you have ‘The Russian Bear’ Ivan Koloff who believe it or not is an ordain ed minister, God bless him that’s great. He was a machine in his time, let me tell you. He’s been world tag team champions with guys like Don Kernoddle and Nikita Koloff and he’s just been one of the very best and we know his accomplishments back in the WWWF when he won the World Heavyweight championship from Bruno Sammartino. In my eyes he’s hall of fame up and down and just a matter of time before he gets inducted. To have the knowledge that I learned from those gentlemen and by watching video tapes. One of the first tapes I watched was Chief Wahoo McDaniel and Johnny Valentine. What a thrill that was and ironically one of my first matches was with Chief Wahoo McDaniel and Ivan Koloff.
It was a thrill for me to be on the learning tree from those guys and ironically I was still training collegiately while I was training to be a professional. So I was keeping both very separate at the time. For a time it was hard to put weight on because any amateur wrestler knows it was like training for track and field. I mean you’re constantly running you’re constantly doing cardio. I was pretty lean at the time and a lot of guys would take advantage of me until I started being dedicated to power lifting and getting strength and doing what I needed to do to get the size and the know how to become professional wrestler.
About his relationship to a wrestling legend unbeknownst to him.
What a journey that was. I grew up admiring Gorgeous George. He was a pioneer for all professional wrestlers. If it weren’t for him we wouldn’t have the TV and the drama that we have today, I have no doubt. He was pretty much the guy that started it all for pro wrestling on television in its popularity. For me it was a crazy journey. He was one of the guys I always grew up admiring and I’ve always had the love of professional wrestling since I was little. During my career, what really got the ball rolling with the whole Gorgeous George thing was, I was doing some WCW TV tapings and William Regal, a good friend of mine and Dusty Rhodes were comparing my style to that of the original Gorgeous George and it just started this chain reaction. Just more and more people started comparing me to the original Gorgeous George and the more I kept hearing about it the more it kept rattling in my brain.
I went to my grandpa one day who was out in Oklahoma in a horse ranch and I told my grandpa of what was going down and he just looked at me, right and said, ‘You didn’t know?’. I look back at him and said, ‘Didn’t know what?’ (chuckles) and my grandpa was the one that smartened me up and that Gorgeous George was my grand uncle and that he and my grand uncle were amateur boxing buddies back in the day before he broke into pro wrestling and it just ironic how life takes its twists and turns and you find out your relation to one of the all-time greats, so that inspired me to carry on the name Gorgeous George, later on in my career in honor and retrospect of him which I was known as Gorgeous George the 3rd for a long time before my entrance into WCW.
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
