  Farzad Mirza as "The Last Persian Warrior" Rahim Ali. Photo by Peter Maur, petermaur@yahoo.ca |
Farzad Mirza is not afraid to rework a stereotype in order to draw heat. Given the current political climate, it would be easy to play an Islamic extremist who hated Western culture. Instead, Mirza's gimmick is "The Last Persian Warrior" Rahim Ali, who loves fancy cars, lots of women and a pile of money.
The 26-year-old Mirza became a wrestling fan at a young age. "I remember watching wrestling with my mom and grandmother ever since I was three. I would write to my favourite wrestlers to let them know I wanted them to win. I remained a die-hard fan throughout my life and in high school, a friend informed me of a promotion called ECW. I started tape trading for as many ECW tapes as I could and the best was for the Super J Cup '94. That was when I knew I would be a wrestling fan for life."
Mirza's passion for wrestling led him to want to try and become a wrestler. "Once I moved to Ottawa [from Toronto], I met some local fans who told me about a promotion called CPW. I met Wayne 'Crusher Kline' Cryderman (the head trainer) and 'MVP' Michael Von Payton (assistant trainer) and began my journey of training. I owe my career to Crusher Kline and MVP."
It was an evolving process for the 6-foot, 205-pound Mirza to embrace the "Rahim Ali" gimmick. "When I started training, I developed a character I wanted. Like most guys just starting out, you think of what cool character you can be without considering what would make sense to fans. After watching many live shows, I realized I was sitting on a gold mine being a minority. I didn't want to use a 'sheik' character because that has been done to death. I thought if I was foreign royalty, I would piss everyone off even more! In a time where the stereotype of the Middle East is that of extremists, I'll be the polar opposite."
The Rahim Ali character certainly draws a strong reaction from fans. "There have been many instances where fans go too far and get personal, and I take pride in accomplishing that. It means I've done my part of suspending their disbelief to the point where they genuinely hate me.
"My best story regarding that is when I ran down to the ring at a show in Carleton Place and beat the hell out of Michael Von Payton for betraying me. After the show I got a call from MVP."
"You'll never believe what just happened! Some lady offered me $200 to injure you and put you in the hospital -- I think she was serious!"
"That's awesome! Did you take her up on the offer?" I asked, not caring about the actual threat.
"No!"
"Why not? I would've! If we could get her hooked into thinking I'm legitimately evil, she'd also believe you injured me. We could've each got $100 out of her!"
Besides collecting bounty money from extreme fans in Carleton Place, Mirza is realistic about the economic prospects of an independent wrestler. "I went to university and finished in statistics. As for wrestling full-time, I would be shocked if there was a wrestler out there who said no to that question. I would love to wrestle full-time but with a wife and bills, I also have to view reality. I've said to my wife if I can get a shot I will take it."
Mirza has had the opportunity to wrestle for a number of promotions across Ontario, Quebec and for Chikara in the United States.
Ottawa wrestling promoter, Mark Pollesel, feels Mirza is an invaluable part of his promotion. "Farzad is dedicated to helping C*4 Wrestling grow," said Pollesel. "He's one of the first people at the venue helping set up the ring and one of the last to leave at the end of the night. He's continually adding new moves and styles into his repertoire."
Mirza can be contacted at the uniquely named Myspace site www.myspace.com/the_prince_of_moo or via email at the_jinn@hotmail.com.
Stephen Dean Johnson somehow managed to do this story with a two-month-old baby in the house.
