WWE
KRASH:Howhas
martialartsinfluenced
yourwrestlingstyle?
TRAVIS:Martialarts
hasbeensuchahuge
influenceinmylife.I
didkaratewhenIwas
16 to 19 anditgaveme
alotofself-confidence.
FromthereIdidsumo
wrestlingwhenI
startedmyprofessional
wrestlingcareer—the
coachwhowasmypro
wrestlingcoachalso
didsumo.Iwongoldin
theOceaniaGamesfor
lightweightsumoand
teamsumowhichsent
metoBeijing,China,
fortheWorldCombat
Gamesforsixdays.
ThenIdidBrazilian
jiu-jitsuaswell.Itry
andmixallofthe
thingsI’vedoneintomy
professionalwrestling
styleandI’vebecome
thishybridninjaof
everything.WhenIwent
toJapanandtrained,
itallkindofcame
togetherandIstartedto
reallymouldmystyle
intosomethingunique.KRASH:Wheredidyou
growup?
TRAVIS: In a little
town called Bulls, in
New Zealand, with a
population of around5000.Allofmyaunties
and uncles live there
and most people in
Bulls work in jobs
like the meatworks or
farming, so there was
a lot of pressure on
me to get into these
same jobs. It was hard
to break the mould
and pursue something
different but, since I
was nine years old, I’ve
dreamed about being a
professional wrestler.
Just being a massive
fan throughout the
years and then, when
I actually started my
career, like every young
wrestler I dreamt of
being in the WWE. Even
though I never really
knew how I was going
to get there, I just kept
working and hoping the
path would show itself
andithas.KRASH: Tell us
aboutyourjourneyto
becominganNXTstar?
TRAVIS: It’s been 10
years of hard work.
I started in front of
crowds of like 100
people in sports or
school halls. From
there I went to Japan
and trained for three
months, living in Tokyo,
which was wild. I thenTHE
KIWI
BUZZSAW
Bringing karate,
Brazilianjiu-jitsu
andsumotrainingto
his prowrestling
style,
New Zealandexport
Travis Banks is
mixing things up at UK NXT.