Headlocked’s Michael Kingston Calls Thunder Rosa A ‘Good Magneto,’ Wants To Spotlight Her Work With Mission Pro
Michael Kingston, the creator of Headlocked and Headlocked: Tales From The Road, stands in between two fields that are dominated by giants, as he continues to create wild wrestling stories within the comic book format.
The Kickstarter for the second volume of Tales From The Road Volume 2 will run until 8 p.m. EST on Thursday night, so fans still have a chance to invest in the anthology that includes contributing wrestlers like Danhausen, Effy, AJ Styles, John Morrison, Matt Cardona & Brian Myers and Thunder Rosa.
In a recent interview with WrestleZone, Kingston discussed the project and highlighted his friendship with Rosa, which stretches back to her days in Lucha Underground. He noted that she looks like a real-life superhero, and when they decided to collaborate on a story, he leaned on her X-Men fandom because she reminds him of a “good Magneto” through her work with Mission Pro Wrestling.
“I’ve known Thunder Rosa for years,” said Kingston. “She was at my Comic-Con booth one year when Lucha Underground first started, and like it always amazed me how many young girls gravitated to her that had no idea about wrestling or Lucha Underground or anything that she did, like she just looks like a superhero. And so I’ve always been one of her biggest fans for the longest time, and I mean she’s a great human on top of that. And so the opportunity came up to collab, and I know she’s a big X-Men fan.
“So thinking about it and I’m like, you know, she just opened Mission Pro, and it’s all women and whatever, and ultimately, you know, when you think about it in an X-Men way, she’s kind of Magneto. But a good Magneto. You know what I mean? So we built a story sort of around that.”
Kingston went on to explain that Rosa is an example of the kind of person he wants to shine a light on because she’s building her own thing. Though most fans know her for her status as an in-ring competitor in AEW, Kingston noted that he’d like to give her the recognition she deserves for her responsibilities with Mission Pro.
“Generally I look for the guys that sort of build their own things,” said Kingston. “Like what Thunder Rosa is doing right now is amazing to me, you know what I mean? And those are also the people I want to spotlight. I mean everybody knows what’s she’s done in AEW, but I mean probably not as many people know what she’s doing with Mission Pro, which I think is really cool. So you know, if I can put a spotlight on that sort of thing and they can put a spotlight on me, it’s a little, the rising tide raises all ships kind of deal.”
The Headlocked Kickstarter for Volume 2 of Tales From The Road is LIVE!
The campaign runs until 11/11 at 8PM.
This pinned thread will contain all the pertinent information you need. https://t.co/5VgTY0DuAV pic.twitter.com/0XfqevzqYv
— Headlocked – LAST DAY ON KICKSTARTER! (@HeadlockedComic) October 14, 2021
As a passionate long-time fan of wrestling, Kingston has plenty of observations about the current state of the business. He criticized the general lack of larger-than-life characters, aside from a few exceptions, as he stated that these compelling personalities can convince new viewers to stop flipping the channel and start checking your show out. He named Orange Cassidy and Danhausen as two of the most “fascinating” characters in wrestling today.
“In terms of, how do you get people to sort of stop flipping the channel, and to me, like big, bold [and] bright characters are the way to do it,” said Kingston. “And you know, like Orange Cassidy to me is amazing. And I’ve known him forever, like pre-Orange Cassidy, 2009 I think, we did a Comic-Con together in Philadelphia when he was with Chikara. So it’s really cool to find people who do different, out-of-the-box things.
“I think Orange Cassidy definitely has a comic book feel to him, and obviously Danhausen definitely has a comic book feel to him. You know, Nikki [A.S.H.] I think, to me, Nikki’s still like working out her gimmick. And obviously, Shane Helms is like one of my best friends, so I have a lot of love for the superhero gimmick. And I think she’s got potential there. I don’t think she’s there yet but I think it’s the type of thing that again, that’s the thing that makes people stop and look and be like, ‘Woah’, just the sort of unique look or somebody that’s doing something that no one else has ever done or nobody else has ever seen. So those are the things that I guess are fascinating to me, that make me watch.”
More information about the campaign is available on the Headlocked Kickstarter page, or on the brand’s Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts.
The Kickstarter for Headlocked: Tales From The Road Volume 2 ends at 8 p.m. EST on November 11. If you’re interested, make sure to support it in order to help Kingston and the all-star team of contributing wrestlers continue to tell a variety of wonderfully wacky wrestling stories.