Stacy Clark with an OCW EXCLUSIVE.
Stacy Clark: Welcome Online Championship Wrestling fans...
She casts a glance to the young man sitting in the hot seat, waiting for an interview.
Stacy Clark: And possibly the haters... Today we decided to do a preemptive strike on one of OCW's latest developmental acquisitions, The Wonderman, no not Smythe for a change. With me is the very well dressed, Ashley Barker. It's a pleasure to meet you Ashley.
Ashley smiles, before raiding a hand as if beating off her formality.
Ashley Barker: Miss Clark, the pleasure is all mine. To be honest I was expecting to be hounded by your infamous, fact finding manner.
Stacy Clark: I'll get to that shortly Mr. Barker, first off, where are you from, who are you, tell me a little bit about yourself.
Ashley rubs his palms together, leaning forward, his head slightly bowed.
Ashley Barker: First off, I was born in London to a large family, I had six other siblings living in the house, supported simply by my mother.
Ashley Barker: My father, whoever he may be ran out when my older sister was born and my mum fell pregnant with me, then since then it's been something of a downward spiral for us.
Ashley Barker:My mum, bless her heart done the best she could to raise us, keep us all on the straight and narrow.
Ashley Barker: When you're from London, you got to grow up fast, especially in the tenements.
Ashley Barker:You could say it's similar to your Bronx, but our police, they're not allowed to carry fire arms.
Ashley Barker:That's how I lost the closes thing I had to a father, since then I dedicated myself to helping out kids who lost family to drugs, alcohol and gang violence.
Ashley Barker:I ran a youth group, almost a movement that preached hard work and personal improvement over the quick fix.
Stacy Clark nods, making notes in her journal.
Stacy Clark: So how did you come into wrestling as a profession, was it a natural step from helping the less fortunate?
Ashley Barker: Don't get me wrong Stacy, sure, we don't have as much money as the so called better off.
Ashley Barker:There were times when I couldn't sleep as I hadn't eaten for days, I remember giving a little girl my new trainers as she couldn't afford her own.
Ashley Barker:We were not less fortunate, we merely had to work harder to get somewhere, when you're born in the gutter everything tries to hold you down here.
Ashley Barker: But back to the original question, yeah, it was a rough step up for me. Here was the guy campaigning against gang violence, joining a profession based on glorifying supposed violence.
Ashley Barker:Then it dawned on me, if I worked hard enough I could spread my message, I went from being a nobody, performing in front of twenty to forty people in a local gym, to being able to get kids off the street and into wrestling.
Ashley Barker: Sure, it's violent, but there is a code of honor and respect. It preaches teamwork, hard work and dedication. It was those three things that attracted me to wrestling.
Stacy Clark: Brilliant answers, but how did the term Wonderman come to be bestowed on you?
Ashley laughs, leaning back, his hands now wresting on his thighs.
Ashley Barker: That's a good one, it just started getting tossed around the neighborhood, I guess you could say I was performing minor miracles, getting kids off the street and back into school.
Ashley Barker: Showing them that it doesn't matter if you're born with a silver spoon in your mouth or not, that the past is behind us, and our future, whilst waiting ahead, is irrelevant.
Ashley Barker:What matters is what is inside us, and when that comes out into the world, miracles happen. That's who I am, the miracle maker, the Wonderman.
Stacy Clark: So you see yourself as a visionary?
Ashley Barker: I wouldn't go that far, I'm just someone who cares, someone who tries to help people out. I'm not Mother Theresa, I'm not Ghandi. I'm just a normal guy who dares to do extraordinary things.
Stacy Cark: Do you think you're cut out for OCW? It eats up nice guys, and spits out the remains.
Ashley Barker: As I said, the future lies ahead of us, but it doesn't matter. It's what is inside of us, and I'm working on bringing that out, even being told that I might have a chance at Ambition if I work hard.
Ashley Barker:That's enough, that's a goal, a target to strive for. It's a brilliant name for a project, Ambition, it's what you need, it's what you have to have if you want to believe.
Stacy Clark: And do you believe?
Ashley Barker: Above all else, I believe.
Stacy writes a couple of more notes in her journal before rising, offering her hand to Ashley who shakes it, smiling.
Stacy Clark: Thank you for your time Mr. Barker, I'm sure we'll be catching up in the future.
Ashley Barker: No, thank you, Miss Clark. And thank you for having me.
The camera fades off, before being filled with the OCW logo.