Many people think of pro wrestling and they immediately think of people like Hulk Hogan or Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. But what about the up and coming stars of tomorrow? Prince George’s County is currently home to one of those stars by the name of Patrick Clark, Jr. and I was able to catch up with him recently after his departure from the WWE reality television show Tough Enough.
Tough Enough is a show where WWE hopefuls compete in a series of challenges in hopes of winning a WWE contract. Although, Clark Jr. didn’t win the competition he most definitely has a very bright future in the professional wrestling business.
At only nineteen years of age, Clark Jr. is mature beyond his years. After a decade of participation in JROTC, Clark Jr. started to wrestle for Forestville Military Academy from 2011 to 2013. From there Clark Jr. found refuge in professional wrestling after refusing to become a product of his environment. His father was murdered when Patrick was just two years old and professional wrestling was going to be his outlet to not become a victim himself. At the age of eight Patrick fell in love with wrestlers like The Undertaker, Triple H and Kurt Angle. By the age of 12 he knew he wanted to give back and was going to be a WWE Superstar to save someone else’s life the way the WWE saved his.
His drive and determination has started to make that dream a reality as Clark Jr. has become quite good in the independent circuit. Following his elimination from the show, he went back to Maryland Championship Wrestling the very next day to resume training at their academy in Joppa, Maryland. “On June 3, 2014, I joined Maryland Championship Wrestling’s(MCW) training academy…I trained there for about six to seven months, and I had my first match in February of this year.” he stated. When I asked about his matches since his first professional match, Clark Jr. has been extremely busy as he said “I’ve wrestled for Maryland Championship Wrestling, World Xtreme Wrestling C4 with the Wild Samoans up in Pennsylvania…That’s probably the biggest so far. I’ve pretty much been all over already and that has given me the opportunity to improve.”
As far as his character goes(or gimmick as they call it in wrestling) Patrick said he doesn’t have one. The man you saw on the reality show is who he is. “I wasn’t playing a character at all. This is who I am; I just dialed it up 100 percent because I knew the world was watching.” Clark Jr. said when I asked him if he has a particular gimmick.
Just how good is he in the ring? I’ve personally seen a few of his matches now and to be only nineteen he is further along than most people who are older already.
His finisher is also one of a kind, one in which he “drew inspiration from Bray Wyatt and Jake Roberts to come up with.” He calls it ‘The Patrick Clark’ most fans call it the ‘TPC’ ( I personally call it ‘the Pat Trick’).
Here is a video of his unique finisher.
https://twitter.com/ConnorJA_/status/630569826646401024/photo/1
But don’t take my word for it, you can go see him live very soon in the Maryland area. “The next event I have coming up in Maryland will be September 19th. For Maryland Championship Wrestling in Hollywood, Maryland which is in St. Mary’s County. I don’t know what I’ll be doing yet, but I know that is the next time I will be wrestling in Maryland. Jake “the Snake” Roberts, “Road Warrior” Animal, and Mickie James will also be at that show, it is part of our Autumn Armageddon Tour. With an independent promotion it’s a lot more down to earth. You get to walk up and meet the guys, unlike the corporate companies who have a full schedule of events and things going on behind the scenes that many people don’t know about. You gotta stick to a strict schedule and you don’t have as much time to meet with the fans because you have so much that goes on behind the scenes.” So come on out to meet and support your hometown talent, Patrick Clark, Jr. and also enjoy the fantastic atmosphere that only professional wrestling can provide.
