Brady Pierce is making a name for himself in professional wrestling, as well as in the movies. He was recently playing Michael P.S. Hayes in the biopic, The Iron Claw, but it can get confusing when you try to look up his credits on IMDB.com. Previously, he was listed by his ring name Pierce as well as his shoot name, Michael Proctor, and the picture of Proctor looked nothing like the 32-year-old Pierce.
“I saw that too,” Pierce laughed. “I went to Chavo [Guerrero Jr.] about that and Chavo was like, ‘As long as you got your credit, don’t worry about it.’”
No doubt the six-foot-four, 235-pound Pierce is having a moment in Hollywood circles when SlamWrestling.net caught up with him before the theatrical release of The Iron Claw, but that wasn’t always the case. He just wanted to pursue wrestling.
“I grew up watching it. I know it’s very cliche to say,” he said. “But I grew up watching it. My dad actually competed in the independent scene around South Carolina, North Carolina regions. When I was born, he was still doing it and he continued to do it for the next seven years, and I remember going to the independent shows with him and just living that lifestyle.”
His father wrestled as “Superfly” Donnie Lane. “I think he quit wrestling in like ’95 or ’96,” Pierce recalled. “My dad’s been a huge supporter of me chasing this dream and he kind of gave me the [advice], just like If you’re gonna do it, do it. Don’t beat your body up over nothing.”
Pierce has been going at it for over 12 years in the sport of professional wrestling, training at the Highspots facility in North Carolina under Lodi (Brad Cain).
That’s right, Pierce was under the tutelage of the WCW star and member of Raven’s flock. So, what was it like to learn from Lodi? “I really consider Lodi like a wrestling father figure to me. If it wasn’t for him, I don’t think I would have made it as far as I did early on because Lodi saw something in me early on and he started to take me along with him on the road.”
That could be Pittsburgh or Georgia or more locally in North Carolina. “He got me a lot of experience in the realm of traveling the roads and getting booked for the experience and the learning lessons of traveling in the car with a veteran that’s been around the block for a bit and learning from his mistakes and things that he would pass along to me. He was very generous and into everything he provided for me. I do owe a huge part of my career to him.”
Pierce made a name for himself in the Carolinas as well as in Chicago. “I think what got me a lot of notoriety early on was Resistance Pro Wrestling, which was held in Chicago,” Pierce said. “I don’t know if you know this, but Billy Corgan was a part of that company as well back in the day.”
Yep, that Billy Corgan, who is the owner of the National Wrestling Alliance. “I’ve known Billy for a long time and I’ve been fortunate enough to call him a friend for the past 10 years,” he said. “So we’ve always stayed in contact.”
That is how Pierce ended up in the NWA.
Pierce was on the roster for about two years. “I started when we were filming season two of Heels. So that’s about a year and a half now, somewhere around in there.” He formed a tag team with Rush Freeman, and then Rolando Freeman was added to the mix as they became The Spectaculars, a throwback to the style of The Fantastics, bowties and all. “It was a great opportunity to go in and do a character that is your classical ’80s style character,” Pierce recalled. “Anyone who has seen my work, for me it was a challenge because in wrestling you have to believe it in order to make other people believe it.
“And I will say that was a challenge for me because that character was nothing like who I really am as a person if that makes sense,” he explained. “I found it very challenging to become that character when I was on the camera. But as far as opportunity-wise, we got to do numerous of things as a Spectacular that you could only dream of like us tag title opportunities and things like working with guys like Trevor Murdoch, Aron Stevens, and the list [goes on] of Tyrus, EC3; all those guys are top caliber athletes.”
Pierce has since moved on, after getting pinned in a Loser Leaves Town match by Rush Freeman, but not without an assist. “Yeah, thanks a lot [Matt] Cardona,” Pierce deadpanned.
All kidding aside, is this just for storyline purposes or is it official? “As of right now, I am done with the NWA. There are no bridges burned there. The opportunity to always go back is there,” he elaborated. “But honestly, as of right now, I don’t have anything planned as far as wrestling-wise, as far as like a major company coming up.
“It’s nothing bad against the NWA or there was nothing like they had against me. It was just a mutual agreement that we decided to go separate ways,” Pierce said, adding that Corgan offered him an open door to return. , “I just kind of want to get back out there and re-invent myself.”
Pierce has done very well in stunt work and acting for the last three years for Heels and The Iron Claw, which was covered last month as SlamWrestling.net spoke to all three men about their portrayals as The Fabulous Freebirds. Pierce’s dance card is full of Hollywood projects, but he’s not done with the squared circle.
“I still want to continue my wrestling stuff because I honestly… I love wrestling and I can’t give it up, but also, I want to put a lot more focus on where I’m going in the film industry and try to catapult [into an] even better wrestling career,” he said. “Things are looking really good within the film industry for me, getting opportunities and things. So, I think if I put a lot more focus into that side of it, I think it’ll be [a] bigger reward for me all the way around seeing how things have just kind of kept on happening for me the past three years.”
Right now Pierce is working for Wildkat Sport and is currently the promotion’s heavyweight champion. “I’ve been working for Wildkat for the past two and a half years now,” he said. “I was their tag team champion with Damian Wayne out of North Carolina first and we ended up dropping those belts to Hawx Aerie, and then it was a couple months later, I ended up beating Trevor Murdoch for their Wildkat Heavyweight championship. I count that as my biggest win to date because it is Trevor Murdoch. He was the NWA’s World Heavyweight Champion.
“That’s probably my biggest win for a big title, as far as my wrestling history goes,” Pierce continued. “But that was a very special match for me and the opportunity they instilled in me that I could be the leader of the company going forward.”
It’s a responsibility Pierce takes to heart. “Instilling such trust in me to go out there with the likes of someone like Trevor Murdoch,” he said, “and then telling the story that we told of me taking the belt and me going on to have great story matches with Danny Flamingo. And then after that PJ Hawx; me and him did two matches so far. So [this] year we’ll have to see where the direction goes.”
And that direction will be when Pierce will be facing Zuka King on Saturday, January 13th as part of the Kayfabe Fest Meet and Greet wrestling show at the Neshoba County Coliseum in Philadelphia, MS.
But Pierce has his resolution heading into 2024. “I’m hoping to get a few international tours under my belt. The Iron Claw comes out in the UK in January and then Australia in February. When they come out of there, I would like to get a tour of a couple of shows out that way.” Pierce said. “I want to focus on that and then obviously my film career gaining more traction with that and hopefully all that will lead to even bigger opportunities within the wrestling world.”
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