My Monday column for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review is a column on Sam Adonis, a rising star in pro wrestling. Here’s an excerpt:
Sam Adonis is a rising star in pro wrestling who has spent the past eight years under the radar.
Growing up in Monroeville as Sam Polinsky, he has been a long way from home for his career, residing in Tampa, Fla., then Liverpool, England, and now in Mexico City. He’s one of the main-event stars for CMLL, a top promotion in Mexico with more than 80 years of history.
He was signed in 2011 to Florida Championship Wrestling, the developmental territory at the time for WWE. It was the first big point of his career that he admits he wasn’t ready for as a 21-year-old. He left FCW that same year.
Luck was on his side with the assistance of WWE wrestler and trainer William Regal, who helped get him a job for All Star Wrestling in Liverpool. It was there he got to grow as a performer in an organization that has some of the best in the world but doesn’t get the worldwide coverage.
“It’s a hidden gem,” Adonis said. “It’s far and away the No. 1 promotion in Europe by volume of shows and money generated, but because they don’t do Twitter or Facebook and YouTube, it’s almost like we didn’t exist.”
Adonis has just moved to Mexico, where he’s immediately being noticed. His 6-foot-4, 237-pound brash American character with platinum blond hair is hard to miss in a wrestling culture known for smaller, more agile performers wearing masks.
He has coined nicknames for himself such as El Rubio Fantastico, which translates to “the fantastic blond,” or El Rudo De La Chicas, meaning “the villain for the women.”
CLICK HERE for more on Adonis, his family and his rise to the main event in Mexico.
