Corrigan’s Corner: Life On The Indies With Sigmon

He was C.M. before Punk was cool.

As one-half of the NWA United States Tag Team Champions, Sigmon has been building his reputation on the indy scene while simultaneously rebuilding the NWA back to the prominence it had when he was a young fan in Knoxville, Tennessee.

For more than 10 years, Sigmon (First and middle name: Charles Matthew) has toured cross-country, pissing off crowds and winning titles, displaying his quick, technical prowess. A tag team veteran, Sigmon currently partners with Elliott Russell as the Heatseekers. They’re looking to add another pair of gold belts around their waists in October when they challenge the Killer Elite Squad (Lance Hoyt and Davey Boy Smith Jr.) for the NWA World Tag Team Championships.

A self-professed “social media whore,” Sigmon is constantly updating his Twitter () and Instagram @sigmonwrestling.

Here’s Part I of our interview.

So you used to wrestle as C.M. Sigmon?

Sigmon: “Yeah, when I broke in around 2005, I went by C.M. Sigmon because that’s my name: Charles Matthew Sigmon. I had a neighbor who always called me C.M. so I thought it would be a cool name. Then Punk got hot and I figured I should drop the initials.”

Yeah but wait a minute, you’re the real C.M.! If anything, he should have changed names and you should have kept the initials.

Sigmon: “(laughs) Yeah, I should have. That’s how wrestling works though. If I kept the name, people would have compared me to him and that’s not something I want.”

How did you break into the business?

Sigmon: “I grew up watching everything I could get my hands on: WCW, NWA, Smoky Mountain Wrestling. After high school, I decided I wanted to get in. Killer Kowalski had the Chaotic Wrestling up in Boston so I did a week-long training deal just to see if I would like it. They beat me up pretty good so I came back here and met up with Tom Pritchard, who had just left WWE. I worked with him for several months at a small school he opened up and from there on it was just traveling with anybody I could travel with: Ricky Morton, Bobby Eaton, Tracy Smothers.”

Was Kowalski hands-on at his school?

Sigmon: “He was older at the time, but he still took the time to talk and teach the guys. I had no clue about the business at the time so I just sat back and kept my mouth shut. From the brief chance I got to be around him, he was pretty cool, pretty nice. He had a great mind for wrestling. And all of his students when I was there did, too. They took it very serious and had a good time. It was a good experience to test my body—I was able to pick up on a lot for the week that I was there.”

Who were some of your favorites as a kid?

Sigmon: “I loved Sting because he had the charisma and was able to connect with people. Growing up I loved watching tag team wrestling. I watched a lot of Midnight Express, Heavenly Bodies. I loved watching William Regal, Benoit. Anybody that could really pull you out and make you believe in wrestling for a moment. Bobby Eaton was always able to connect with me. Those guys could pull me out of the world for a bit and make me think ‘wow, those guys are tough. What are they gonna do next?’ Guys that took it serious and didn’t have any crazy gimmicks. You know, I liked the actual wrestlers. Nothing wrong with gimmicks or anything like that, but guys that held themselves serious always connected with me.”

It’s funny you mention Sting because when I lived down in Alabama, everybody I talked to said Sting was their hero growing up. But up north, Hulk Hogan was everybody’s childhood favorite.

Sigmon: “Oh, I was a big Hogan fan, too. But Sting, man, there was something about him. And still today, you go on the Network or Youtube and watch old Sting stuff, he was just great.”

What was it like training with Dr. Tom?

Sigmon: “Oh, Tom’s great. He honestly has one of the best minds overall for the wrestling business. As far as people I’ve trained under, he’s probably the best. Close second would be Les Thatcher. Tom is able to break it down and teach you excellent ways to work and psychology.

We were in a nasty, hot building, about the size of a two-car garage, no air conditioning. We’d meet up every day with a guy named Devin Driscoll, he had a short run in OVW. We’d sweat like crazy and beat each other up. It was a fun time. (laughs)”

How long did it take until you were ready for your first match?

Sigmon: “You know, when I came back from Kowalski’s thing for a week, I thought I was on top of the world already and knew everything there was to know. (laughs) So I started having matches throughout Kentucky and Tennessee. Then I met up with Tom. I was having terrible matches, but I was trying to get my name out there.”

Were you wrestling for the NWA or indy promotions?

Sigmon: “Different promotions. Anywhere I could get on is where I would travel to. You know, back then, from like 2005 to 2007, finding work was not hard because there were weekly promotions all around. My typical week would be like Tuesday in Alcoa, Tennessee, Wednesday I’d be in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, Thursday I’d be in Morristown, Tennessee, Fridays we did TV for Showtime All-Star Wrestling in Nashville, Saturdays I’d be in the Carolinas or Georgia or Kentucky or Ohio, and then every Sunday we were in Warner Robins, Georgia for Rampage Pro Wrestling. The only day people typically wouldn’t run shows would be Monday. So you could get a lot of ring time back then.

You don’t see that much anymore because companies tend to run once a month, usually on a Saturday or Friday. I mean, the economy is tough, especially on pro wrestling. A lot of places that used to run those weekday shows quit putting good money into it. Cutting the money gave less quality of a product which meant people stopped coming. Oversaturation with anybody buying a ring and running free shows with their buddies has killed a lot of towns, too.

Unless you’re at a full-time wrestling school like NXT, guys don’t have the chance to get in the ring every day. Now guys are scraping to get in the ring maybe one, two, three times a month. I had it very good starting out and I’m grateful for that.”

What about NXT? Have you tried to get down there?

Sigmon: “No, I’ve got a lot of friends down there. I mean, I’d love to, if anybody ever tells you they don’t want to go to NXT, they’re lying. (laughs) But I’ve done a couple extra spots for WWE, but it’s not quite worked out for there yet.

In ’07 and ’08, I decided I needed to learn a little bit more so I did the Harley Race camps that he does with NOAH in Missouri. Those were great. I met a lot of people and made a lot of contacts across the world.

I also did a seminar at the Inoki Dojo out in Los Angeles. That was really cool, too. Learning all these different styles and building up contacts has been key over the years. I’ve been very blessed in terms of who I’ve been able to associate myself with. You know, there have been times when I had a little too big of a head on my shoulders, thinking I was better than others, but I had to humble myself quickly from that. But picking the brains of those guys has been amazing.

Would I take an NXT job? Oh, you bet. I’d work my ass off and do whatever it took to get that spot, but at the moment, I’ve got a lot of good things going and I’m pretty happy.”

Check back tomorrow for Part II as Sigmon discusses New Japan, China, and what it’s really like working in the indies.