TARIK is an accomplished veteran of the Canadian indie wrestling scene. Having made his professional debut in 2009, he’s come a long way with his style and his opponent this Sunday at the Rec Room is someone he’s known for over a decade.
On May 25, Smash Wrestling hosts The Northern Tournament in downtown Toronto. Ajax native TARIK will be squaring off against Mike Rollins, better known as “Psycho Mike”.
“Psycho Mike has done a great job of getting his himself over with his whole Body Slam character”, said TARIK in an interview with SlamWrestling.net. “He’s a very talented wrestler, and he can give you that that go-hard match, he can give you that fast-paced match. He can draw emotion out of you. He looks like a million bucks. He cuts an amazing promo. Just an overall very fantastic wrestler.”
As for his own wrestling style, TARIK draws from many influences and varying techniques. He’s trained in both Japanese style wrestling and lucha libre.
“You know, I’ve always admired the guys that are really, really good at from the athletic parts, athletic side of things … Guys like Brett Hart, Eddie Guerrero, a lot of the Cruiserweight guys from WCW, you name it, like Shawn Michaels.” That’s a concise laundry list of wrestlers who inspired multiple generations.
Some newer fans of TARIK’s may not know that he initially went by the name “Rock Steady” Alex Vega. He cites Alex Shelley as another who influenced him.
“I didn’t really take wrestling serious, man, for like, the first three years of my life in wrestling. 2011 to 2014, I didn’t really take it as serious as I should have, really, but [I was] super young in the business, just trying to ride the knowledge train of a lot of my peers around me and trying to pick up as much as I could. I didn’t really figure out what worked for me.”
Especially early in any career, soaking up knowledge from those more experienced around you will always pay dividends. But TARIK stuck with wrestling and had a change in his mindset in 2015.
“Some people hit quick. Some people don’t hit quick. Takes some 10 years for they find themselves. It takes people some time before they find themselves as a wrestler. So for me, it was changing my name to TARIK. 2015, I always remember, that was a monumental year for my career as a human being, as a wrestler. A lot of things changed for me. I just I saw the light of like, ‘this is how I want to do things’.”
When he started taking his wrestling more seriously, TARIK’s approach to wrestling shifted. “I wasn’t playing around anymore. I was traveling much more for wrestling at a time where I could, having the best match I could. Learning to shut up and listen to the people that came before me and understand that there were a few guys that were definitely there in my corner.”
TARIK also holds Sebastian Suave in high regard as someone who helped him immensely early in his career. Having hung up his own boots now, Suave runs Smash shows.
“You still have to go out there and perform these matches, and you still have to present yourself as a total package. So Sebastian Suave, [I will] definitely always be in debt to him because he saw something in me that you know a lot of people after took a look at”, he reflected.
“But it all has to start somewhere. You can be very good but you need somebody to give you a chance.”
There were a number of peers that TARIK cannot credit enough for his own development when he got started, names like Josh Alexander, Ethan Page, and Brent Banks. Johnny Gargano and Drew Gulak are also among his peer influences, having been in the Fourth Gunn stable from 2015 to 2016 with Gargano, Gulak, and Biff Busick.
Of course, it doesn’t hurt to get confidence boosts from opponents after matches. Roderick Strong and Ultimo Dragon are some opponents who took time out after their matches with TARIK to commend him on a great performance. That goes a long way.
“I belong amongst these top tier wrestlers. Whenever we ever we see each other again or catch up, it’s nice to know there’s still a bit of a rapport there that that does go a long ways.”
Smash Wrestling hosts The Northern Tournament at the Toronto Rec Room Sunday, May 25. Following the card will be a viewing of AEW’s Doule or Nothing PPV.
RELATED LINKS
- TARIK socials: Facebook * Instagram * X
- Smash Wrestling
