Violent J wants the pro wrestling world to see what JCW has to offer.
Insane Clown Posse’s Violent J recently spoke with WrestleZone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard while promoting his new pro wrestling series, JCW Lunacy. Juggalo Championship Wrestling was established by ICP in 1999, and Lunacy is the next step in bringing JCW’s brand of wrestling to a bigger stage.
Violent J says the goal is simple; they want to entertain fans, but they also want to earn respect for what they bring to pro wrestling.
“Just in the beginning, our goal is to receive respect and entertain wrestling fans, not just Juggalos,” Violent J explained. “The word ‘juggalo’ is just a term that some people choose to call themselves. It’s no different than if we were to call our sh*t ‘Generation X Wrestling’ or ‘Rebellion Wrestling’ or ‘Deep South Wrestling’ or anything. It’s just a type of person that chooses to call themselves that. But it’s definitely not just for Juggalos; it’s for wrestling fans first and foremost.
“We want our to respect man, because I care about wrestling fans. ICP were wrestlers before we made music,” he added. “We were both independent wrestlers from the Midwest. Before we ever painted our faces like clowns, we were professional wrestlers first. It’s where our love is.”
“I wish we had a little more notoriety in wrestling”
Violent J noted how JCW often attracts large crowds at its events, but receives a fraction of the attention that other companies would get. Despite being around as long as they have, Violent J feels slighted by the lack of coverage JCW gets. He pointed to drawing a house of 4,500 people in Milwaukee, roughly the same size crowd as an ECW in the same timeframe. ECW was on the rise and drew praise for its drawing power, yet JCW didn’t get attention for the same numbers.
“We had just done it two weeks earlier, for a wrestling show, not a concert. We didn’t get a blip of noise or coverage or anything. Four of our guys went to the hospital that night. We just really turned up for that crowd, man,” Violent J explained. “And I just think that for a promotion that’s been around as long as we have and done the things we have, I wish we had a little more notoriety in wrestling than we do. It’s not fair to the guys. It’s not fair to the hard workers, wrestlers, that have been putting out for us for years. We’ve had great world champions. Guys like Terry Funk, Sabu, Trent Acid, just countless guys.”
JCW joins the Train of Terror tour
Lunacy’s first run of shows consists of eight 45-minute episodes on YouTube. The plan is to host weekly live streams, and continue to make JCW part of ICP concerts. ICP also has a nine-city “Train Of Terror” tour planned for October, giving fans more opportunities to see JCW live.
“Each one of those shows are being live streamed, the whole card, right up until October 30th. We have a pay-per-view coming from Detroit called Devil’s Night. We’ve got some really big names on that pay-per-view. We’re hoping that the live streams leading up to it will help the pay-per-view do good and get people involved in the storylines and everything,” Violent J said.
“If you watch the Lunacy episodes, they’ll all be out by then. And then you’re going to watch the live streams every day if you’re interested in it. The live streams will keep you going up until the pay-per-view. Then after that, we’ll be doing our weekly show every week, a whole card. Lunacy then becomes instead of a 45-minute show, it becomes a whole card every week,” he added. “We’re giving this everything we got, man.”
Full steam ahead for JCW
Violent J said ICP’s musical interests have gotten in the way of JCW in the past, but they have a new focus on the wrestling side of things. The goal, he says, is to have JCW running as a full-time wrestling promotion, even after he or ICP bandmate Shaggy 2 Dope step away.
“There’d be times when JCW was really hot, but then we’d have to dial down because it would be trying to do another album or another tour or whatever,” he said. “We’d have to kind of pull back from wrestling and focus on music again. There’s been times where we’ve been a lot stronger with JCW than we have in the past, but the goal this time is to never go away.
“Like when ICP has to leave, JCW will still be up and running,” he continued. “We’ve got guys now in the office full time that are helping us. The plan is to keep things running full time now. We’re not going away this time. No matter what ICP is tied up in, JCW will still be there. We’re going to do this thing for real, man.”
New episodes of JCW Lunacy premiere on the Psychopathic Records YouTube channel on Thursdays. Watch our full interview with Violent J below:
