There are a lot of imposing tag teams in the National Wrestling Alliance, but none stand out quite like the pairing of Daisy Kill and Talos. One plays the ukulele, and the other is a seven-foot giant, but they have managed to capture gold with the NWA US Tag titles, and now want to go further in the Crockett Cup.
“Collectively, we are the biggest team in the Crockett Cup [in terms of] height and weight,” said the 6-foot-2225-pound Kill (real name Joshua Johnson). “We got The Fixers, we got Knox and Murdock, BFT, Max The Impaler and Judais, The Country Gentlemen; it’s a big division. I think we got the biggest roster, not just in the tag teams but the biggest roster and size in the world, and I challenge anybody to show us otherwise.”
Both men have been wrestling for a short time and had different experiences. “It’s going on about six years,” explained Kill. “I got done with the Golden Gloves in Chicago. ‘Superstar’ Steve Boz got ahold of me and said, ‘Hey kid, you got a look,’ and I said, ‘Okay.’ And after some talking with a buddy who knew about it, I gave it a try and put on a good bit of weight and it’s been going smooth sailing since then. Especially since getting ahold of Dr. Tom Prichard and Bryan Idol and Natalia Markova. The three of them collectively really brought me along places and it’s been going good.”
Talos (real name Zechariah Smith) came into wrestling another way. “I started at the very beginning of 2020. So, I’m onto my fourth year now,” said the 7-foot, 320-pound Talos. “I used to work with the Harlem Globetrotters and AJ Styles happened to bring his children to a game and… you know the universe is funny, man, cause I was actually looking at the wrestling schools at the time.”
Talos was on the Washington Generals team with the touring Globetrotters show. “I was the team captain of the Washington Generals, man,” Talos said with a smile. “Every night of my life I got to hit them with elbows, dunk on them, do whatever I want to make them kids cry.”
One of the Globetrotters’ managers knew Styles and The Phenomenal One asked for an introduction to Talos and then if he wanted to wrestle. “We met about four months later,” Talos recalled. “I was at my private trial with WWE and four months after that I had a group tryout, and four months after that, and I let my contract finish with the Globetrotters [and] started in January of 2020.”
Both men had various successes in the squared circle but solidified as a tag unit in Florida. “We were wrestling in Florida at Boca Raton Championship Wrestling, which is associated with Coastal Championship Wrestling. They run a really good outfit,” Kill said. “But we’re hanging out back in the alley, talking some smack about Frank the Clown and who knows else. And I heard NWA was coming into town soon, and Bryan Idol kind of invited me to come meet some people, say hello, maybe do something.
“Talos and I have been buddies for a little bit. We just started riffing about how neat it would be to tag together,” Kill continued. “We thought we had a cool dynamic that could kind of match, especially looking back at those Shawn [Michaels] and Diesel days in a way and we kind of manifested it into existence.”
Kill was starting to get in a program against former NWA Heavyweight champion Trevor Murdoch. “We came out there, man, the other giant [Beast Mode] and we had a good match and some things went down both in the match and backstage and that is a story for another day,” Kill deadpanned. “The next morning, I walk in and who do I see but my best big giant buddy Talos and you know, they stuck us together.
“I remember Billy telling me — [NWA Owner] Mr. Billy Corgan — and he said at the time that the idea was kind of have me be a giant whisperer, ” Kill explained, “bringing in different giants to kind of do my dirty work and while I wasn’t opposed, the way it clicked with Talos not just in the ring, not just professionally backstage, but in promos and everything. They liked it. We liked it. And we’ve just been running it ever since.”
“There are some things that I have to do and other people maybe don’t and I gotta say, Daisy does a great job of helping me with that,” Talos chimed in. “I always think of this as like everyone has a role to play, and my role is the biggest, baddest man in this industry. I mean, I’m not 220 pounds. I’m not trying to fly from the top rope. I’m not trying to do any of that stuff. I’m trying to kick it down your throat, you know? So, do I operate differently? Absolutely. Because you know, I’m a different animal than most other people, but that’s what I think me and Daisy do so well together and then we complement each other.”
As for the signature ukulele, there is an element of Daisy Kill’s real life that comes into the squared circle. “Yeah, I’m a lifelong musician. I’ve played with a lot of different acts and toured and stuff and recorded things and I’ve always been active in music,” Kill said. He even has a band named Daisy Kill.
But back to the ukulele.
“It was Cha Cha Charlie, who is a Miami hero in the wrestling ring and a scumbag outside of it, he saw a ukulele in the backseat of my car and I had a few instruments in the back,” Kill remembered. “I was giving him a ride somewhere. He said, ‘What’s that little guitar you got?’ and I said, ‘It’s a ukulele,’ and he said ‘Man, you should do some song, a little promo on it. I said alright, so I got one on him later that night, and man, it really stuck. People really liked it. Billy specifically, [he] really enjoyed the ukulele bits, and it’s kind of just been something I’ve been letting run since.”
Daisy Kill serenades the fans at NWA 75 as Talos looks on. Credit: Tommy “Milagro” Martinez
Their success translated to gold as they won the NWA US Tag Team Championship from The Country Gentlemen of AJ Cazana and Anthony Andrews on night two of the NWA 75 pay-per-view. “We were really lucky coming out of that feud with Trevor Murdoch,” Kill said, “and you know, going into the Crockett Cup last year in North Carolina we were able to come up against a lot of good teams that kind of prepared us for that style that The Gentleman had.
“I think Billy and the NWA, the people there have had faith in us pretty early on and we’re appreciative of him to have that faith and competence in us early on, to get those titles and to represent the company,” Kill continued, “and I know we’re going to work back towards not only those titles but the Crockett Cup this year and bigger and better things and see what we can do our part to help move the company forward.”
While the Crockett Cup took place in Texas last May, the matches are taped for The CW, and in the second round, Kill and Talos have stiff competition in The Immortals, Kratos and Odinson. “Those guys, The Immortals, they’re a constant thorn in our side lately. It’s a story that we need to resolve and I don’t know how long it’s gonna take to do it. But it is something that’s going to get resolved,” Kill said.
The Immortals, Kratos and Odinson (from left) get in the grill of Daisy Kill and Talos after they won the NWA US Tag Team belts at NWA 75. Credit: Tommy “Milagro” Martinez
“I think they are two of the best competitors not just in the NWA, but in the business as a whole. You look at them individually,” Kill continued. “With Odinson he has absolutely nothing but pure muscle, explosiveness, and ability. He’s a great fusion of both power and speed and athleticism. And then you look at Kratos, he’s just got some of the hardest-hitting strikes around, and there’s a presence to both of them that they bring to the ring. When we competed with them at Samhain in October in Cleveland. Just being in the ring, there was already a buzz and a rumble with the crowd, and every little thing we do and everything we didn’t do, the crowd would bear the crowd is with us and immersed. So, we’re looking forward to continuing to come against The Immortals.”
TOP PHOTO: Daisy Kill, right, gives May Valentine a serenade as Talos listens on. Courtesy: YouTube
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