Brimstone

William M. Kucmierowski (born in Mineola, New York) is an American professional wrestler of the Jewish religion, better known by his shortened name Will Kaye or his ring name, Brimstone. Brimstone is currently working for PWR Wrestling (Pro Wrestling Revolution) and Unified Wrestling Federation.

Brimstone is one of the four members of Critical Mass along with partners, Maniac Mike Mayhem, Chris Hostile, and manager Chavez Raoul. Brimstone, Mayhem, and Hostile were the founders of Critical Mass Pro Wrestling, Corp. and NYWC (New York Wrestling Connection). Brimstone is a founder and current member of Carnival of Destruction (C.o.D.) with Demolition Blast, Lou Valentino, Queen Yasmine, and manager Rayna Fyre. Brimstone also currently appears in the upcoming comic book based on his character, “The Borderhounds”.

Early career
As a kid growing up in Uniondale, New York, Brimstone was never into sports. He attended Smith Street Elementary School, American Jewish Academy for middle school, and returned to Uniondale for High School. He went to school with rappers Busta Rhymes and Charlie Brown, both formally of the hip-hop group, "Leaders of the New School", and Brown's sisters who were a popular pair of the Doublemint Twins. Brimstone graduated from Uniondale High School in 1992 and attended Nassau Community College as a music major. Prior to beginning his career in professional wrestling, Brimstone had a career in music performing as the drummer in bands such as Image, Who’s Laughing Now, and Bugsy. Bugsy received a nomination for Best Ska-Punk Act at the Long Island Music Awards in 1998, where Will was also a presenter.

Brimstone had been a fan of wrestling at a very young age and decided that he wanted to become a wrestler at twenty-one. Brimstone’s wrestling career began in 1996 when he, and long time friend Chris Hostile decided to follow a life long dream. While looking through a professional wrestling publication, he came across an ad about a new wrestling school out of Queens, New York called “The Doghouse.” They had just freshly come off of a benefit show dedicated to ring veteran Junkyard Dog, and decided to go beyond their federation (Long Island Wrestling Federation - LIWF) and create a pro-wrestling facility. Former wrestler Bobby Lombardi owned the company, and the trainers were some of the best guys on the independent circuit at the time and are currently working for major companies in the business. They consisted of Homicide (a member of LAX in TNA), Low Ki (Senshi in TNA), Monsta Mack, Low Life Louie, Magic, and Laithon (The Tower of Torture).

The roster of students consisted of wrestlers such as Lord Clarence MacDougal, Grim Reefer, Maniac Mike Mayhem, Justin Cage, Papadon, Havok (fresh from the Wild Samoans), El Diabolico, G.I.Joe, Mike Kruel, Fat Boy Rob, One Man Riot Squad, Psycho Tony, Major Intensity, and others.

The Doghouse grew rapidly and moved from its original quarters into a large warehouse. It was there that Brimstone met his current trainer ‘The Original’ Gino Carusso of Unified Wrestling Federation. Gino was a pro who had worked in WCW and many other federations across the country. Brimstone also learned from guests who came down to the school on a regular basis taking the training reigns such as Crazy Clown, Sir Christopher Michaels, and Dances With Dudley.

As Brimstone, his wrestling style and gimmick has led to frequent comparisons to The Undertaker.

Wrestling World Wide
Brimstone joined Wrestling World Wide in 1997 and quickly became a mainstay of the federation. Although he wrestled many tag matches for the company, Brimstone remained a singles competitor for the larger part of his tenure there. He was brought into the company by Rocky Shore and T.N.T., known as “The Bad Boys.”

Brimstone became the Wrestling World Wide "Heavyweight Champion" in Manhattan, New York on August 5, 2000 after defeating One Man Riot Squad.

Critical Mass
Brimstone and Hostile became fast friends with Mayhem, and the three thought it would be interesting to become a “clique” considering the success of then-cliques such as WWE’s DX, and WCW’s nWo. At the time of formation, they were still students. Soon after, Brimstone brought another close friend into the business, Chavez Raoul, who became the manager/wrestler for the tight knit group. They came up with a thousand names, until Hostile and Brimstone came up with the name “Critical Mass.” Bobby Lombardi liked the idea, so Critical Mass was born.

Critical Mass was a collection of some of the darker characters, which made them different in a federation of gangsta and thug gimmicks. As with many cliques of then and now, Critical Mass could break up into any version of a tag team utilizing any of its members to face their opponents. Normally, Brimstone tagged with Hostile or with Mayhem. Most of Brimstone’s career as a tag team competitor has been with Mayhem.

At a few points in Critical Mass history, the members were forced to work against each other. The most notorious of these times was an angle used by Bobby Lombardi to turn Hostile and Mayhem against Brimstone, noting two of Brimstone’s most memorable feuds. George Espada of Wrestling World Wide loved the idea and ran with it, pitting Brimstone against Mayhem in one on one matches. This was known as the “Dysfunctional Family” era of Critical Mass. Chavez was eventually able to reunite the full team. As time went by, there were also a few additions to the Critical Mass clique. For example, Brimstone and Hostile recruited Rexx Rockwell for a brief stint with Critical Mass. Later, in the absence of Hostile and Chavez, Brimstone and Mayhem recruited temporary members Storm Sasake (Larry McKenny) and John Curse. Closer to the end of Brimstone’s days with the NYWC, the last official member initiated into the group was Tyler Payne.

NYWC (New York Wrestling Connection)
Critical Mass began branching out and promoting themselves on the independent circuit in order to gain speed and a larger name in the industry. Brimstone wanted to open a school and federation within his own childhood stomping grounds, since it would be beneficial for many wrestlers on Long Island considering there was no such place at the time.

Money was tight, and, although Critical Mass wanted to open a training facility, the chances were slim to none. At that point, the school was still just a dream. In the meantime, Brimstone figured that they could start running some shows by booking their friends and trainers from The Doghouse. Brimstone scouted locations for events.

The first official event was to be held at the Hooters in East Meadow, New York. The show was put together and manned by Lord Clarence MacDougal, Hostile, Mayhem, and Brimstone. Hostile came up with the name N.Y.W.C. (New York Wrestling Connection), considering it was a way for all the New York workers to ‘connect’ on Long Island. The NYWC debuted on Sunday, August 15, 1999 in an event entitled “Hotter Than Hell”, that was sponsored by Coors/Labatt. Hooters paid for the advertising, ring rental, and fed all the wrestlers. They rented the ring from local wrestler Rocky Shore, who at the time was tagging up with another local wrestler T.N.T.

The second official event was held at an amusement park in Farmingdale, New York called, “Funzone.” This event was entitled, “Thanksgiving Wrestlefest ‘99” and ran on Sunday, November 28, 1999.

Critical Mass Pro Wrestling, Corp.
Thoughts about creating a fully functional pro-wrestling facility had still been running through Brimstone’s mind. While looking through the Pennysaver, he noticed a classified ad for a newly sprouting Martial Arts School over in Hicksville, New York. They were looking for trainers for various forms of martial arts. Brimstone told him that yes; they would eventually need a ring, however, anyone who came through those doors would learn their level bumps like men on the hard mats. He stated that the students could perfect their chain wrestling, takedowns, monkey flips, and rolls prior to entering a professional ring. He convinced Sloan that he was determined to make a success out of the school, and they eventually grew large enough to leave the martial arts academy.

Brimstone enlisted his partners Hostile and Mayhem to help, as well, considering they would be co-owners in the school. Brimstone named the school, “Critical Mass Pro Wrestling” after the long time clique. Brimstone contacted Bobby Lombardi out of respect to let him know he wanted to be considered the Long Island extension of The Doghouse. Brimstone requested Gino’s personal and professional advice and a break down of his normal training regimen.

Brimstone figured that they needed a fourth person to assist in the training process, and they were coming to a point where they needed to make decisions. Brimstone suggested another local wrestler John Curse who had been involved with ECW’s "House of Hardcore" and was also a member of Team Taz. Mayhem was adamantly against Curse coming in. Hostile was indifferent, but he was in the middle of making some life changing decisions himself. Mayhem thought that the three of them could handle it themselves, but then Hostile dropped the bad news that he was moving away to California with his then-wife. She was in the Navy and stationed there, and he needed to be with her. Needless to say, Brimstone and Mayhem were crushed. Seeing that their three was down to two, Mayhem agreed to bring John into CMPW.

While Critical Mass was still building, Brimstone came up with and printed out mini flyers in order to start gaining some interest in the school. He personally went to malls, WWF and WCW events at the Nassau Coliseum, Gyms, etc. to hand out these flyers and paper them on cars. Brimstone recruited his first two students at Broadway Mall in Hicksville, New York. They were two Roberts, one who later went by the name of “Tek” and the other who is now well known as “Dickie Rodz”. Not more than a few days went by and he had another two students join, “Tyler Payne” and “Brock Vendetta.” A few days more produced “Nuke” and “Black Dawg Mack”. A few more days went by, and in walked “Maxmilyin” and “Suicyco”. This was the first class of CMPW.

CMPW purchased an old 20 x 20 ring and Brimstone thought it would be great to hold a mini exhibition and have the students run a gambit of mini-matches in order to interest potential students. Politician Tom Gulotta attended the Grand Opening. Brimstone contacted News 12, the local news station for all of Long Island and had reporter Bonnie Schneider do the morning show live from the school. Brimstone did a large part of the interviews as the students trained in the background. They were on and off in between the regular news all morning.

As CMPW grew, they decided it was time to get a bigger location. They found a building located in the Delco Plaza Shopping Center in Hicksville. The school also bought a second ring, which was an ECW ring (trap door and all) used in a pay-per-view.

After several years, tensions within the company boiled over, and in April 2002, Brimstone took a leave of absence from CMPW/NYWC. Brimstone utilized his time away from wrestling by focusing on his personal endeavors.

Wrestlers trained at CMPW
Brimstone trained the following wrestlers at CMPW:


 * Armand DeMuerto (PWR)
 * “The Aussie” Kris Kildaire
 * Black Dawg
 * Brock Vendetta
 * Cynosura
 * Dan Barry (NYWC)
 * Dean Angel


 * Dickie Rodz (NYWC)
 * “Fly Guy” Evan Spade
 * Hazel
 * JD Lishus
 * John Doe
 * Johnny Ova (PWR)
 * J-Silva


 * Justin Sane
 * Juvenile Delinquent
 * Kristos
 * Lamar Braxton Porter (PWR)
 * Li Kamea/Menace (PWR)
 * Livewyre/Mike Mondo/Mikey (OVW, WWE)


 * Maxmilyin
 * Ms. Hellfire
 * Nuke
 * "Playgirl" Heather Grey
 * Ru Star/ Pat Buck (OVW)
 * Satana


 * Southern Vinnie Stylin’
 * Spyder (NYWC)
 * Suicyco
 * Superstar
 * SWAT
 * Tank


 * Tek
 * TJ King / Nightmare
 * Trinity Payne
 * Tusk
 * Tyler Payne
 * Tommy King

PWR (Pro Wrestling Revolution)
Brimstone came to Pro Wrestling Revolution in January 2007 after a brief hiatus from the wrestling business. Brimstone soon became an assistant trainer by lending his experience to the established team of Johnny Ova, Bobby Riedel, and Demolition Blast. He was shown training and working with the students of PWR on episode two of “For Your Island” in their pro-wrestling feature launched on Thursday, March 29, 2007. His debut match with the federation was against Jesta on February 24, 2007 at Battlezone. He defeated Jesta to begin an undefeated streak that would last until July. Brimstone is now tagging up with Lou "Hot Bod" Valentino.

Wrestlers trained at PWR
The following wrestlers were trained with Brimstone's assistance at PWR:


 * BJ Lawton
 * Busta Uppa
 * Chris Forza
 * Draven
 * Fez


 * Flames
 * Jesta
 * Luscious Joe Sloan
 * Mike Magnum


 * Nick Saint
 * Queen Yasmine
 * Samir Ahmed ll
 * TJ Crunk

Carnival of Destruction
"Called Out" on July 21 2007 was a monumental event in PWR history due to the unveiling of the Carnival of Destruction (C.o.D.). It was initially announced during a segment of the Demolition Derby with Blast that he, along with Brimstone, Lou Valentino, Armand DeMuerto, and manager Rayna Fyre would be uniting to form C.o.D. with intentions of destroying everything and everyone that is PWR. Later that night, Brimstone was scheduled to face Johnny Ova in the third match of Ova's quest for the PWR Heavyweight Championship. Towards the end of the match-up, Brimstone attempted to hit XiBalba, however Ova managed to kick and stomp his way out and then rolled over Brimstone's back into a superkick. Valentino rushed the ring taking out Johnny and inciting a DQ decision on Brimstone by the referee. The Carnival of Destruction proceeded to take turns crushing Ova, who is the federation's most beloved face. Brimstone violently hit Johnny Ova with XiBalba, while Blast followed up with a crushing chokeslam. Queen Yasmine rushed the ring as if to protect Johnny, she attacked Ova by hitting him with the Gravedigger. It is then revealed that Yasmine is a member of C.o.D., and Blast calls for the recruits from the locker room. Immediately, out came Draven and Vito Bari of the LI Wrecking Crew, Armand DeMuerto, and Donnie Bon Jovi looking eager to destroy Ova. As the Carnival of Destruction laughed at the carnage, Manager Rayna Fyre got in the face of Johnny and told him, "How does it feel to be slapped by C.o.D.?"

In a vignette, C.o.D. was seen leaving the arena while the recruits were reminded that the foundation of the Carnival is and always will be Brimstone, Blast, Valentino, Yasmine, and Rayna Fyre. The members collectively agreed, and Brimstone stated, "At Lethal Lottery, PWR will never be the same again!" On August 11, 2007 at PWR "Lethal Lottery", Brimstone won a 16-person Battle Royal earning himself a shot at the PWR World Heavyweight Championship. He will get this title match at the next PWR show against the reigning champion Samir Ahmed II.

At "Collision Course" on September 15, 2007, Samir Ahmed II retained the title against Brimstone. Rayna Fyre interfered allowing Brimstone to hit Samir with the Attitude Adjustment. As Brimstone set up for XiBalba, Samir countered into a surprise victory roll for the pin. Brimstone attacked the celebrating Champion, and the locker room cleared to try and restrain him. He attacked his own C.o.D. stablemates just to get his hands on Samir.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Brimstone was reported to be backstage at the live TNA Wrestling pay-per-view "No Surrender" on September 9, 2007, as well as the September 10, 2007 tapings of TNA iMPACT! with Justin Cage, and Lamar Braxton Porter. At this time, there are no reports that state whether or not Brimstone will be signing a contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. He was seen casually speaking with TNA president Dixie Carter, among other people. He also assisted in the construction of the 6 sides of steel on September 10, 2007 for the episode of TNA iMPACT! that aired on September 13, 2007.

Gimmick
The Brimstone gimmick has evolved over the years. Brimstone credits his favorite wrestling icons, "Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, and Ultimate Warrior," as the inspiration for the backbone of the character. In the beginning, he states that the evolution of Brimstone came from a mixture of all three unique qualities in what he claims are, “darkness, charisma, and pure insanity.” Aside from looking for a name that would be, “memorable and marketable”, he is unsure of the actual reason why he chose the name itself. As he says, “I just loved it and figured I could be a cool demonic character!” The gimmick began simply as Brimstone played the big man role. He felt that his original look was far less than intimidating than his current image. Brimstone was originally clean-shaven and wore wrestling sneakers and a black singlet adorned with airbrushed flames. Brimstone says, “I was no more than a wrestler that claimed to be from Hell.”

As Brimstone grew into the character, the persona began to develop along with the look. He took on more of a gothic look and incorporated his custom boots. He modeled his character to become fiercer and his attitude to become rougher. Brimstone became less of a man and more of a monster in the ring, and in his interviews he became grittier and raw. Aside from his size, his look made Brimstone a focal point in a match and solidified him as a fan favorite in different promotions, which promoters loved. Although Brimstone is a “heel”, he claims to be a “tweener” or “anti-hero” and is normally made into a “face” by the fans (similar to Demolition, Road Warriors, Steve Austin). In the ring, Brimstone the character is a, "dark entity that embodies destruction. Brimstone is a no nonsense character who will normally go out and dominate a match." Brimstone states, "I'm the kind of character now who is an unstoppable force in the ring where I'll go in and I'll clean house."

Finishing and signature moves

 * Xibalba-The Entrance To Hell (Cross-armed iconoclasm)
 * Hell's Bells (Wheelbarrow suplex)
 * Smoke Bomb (Chokebomb)
 * Depths of Hell Driver (Michinoku driver II)
 * Gone with the Wind (Diving elbow drop)
 * Attitude Adjustment (Spear)
 * Berzerker Bomb (Falling slam)
 * Big back elbow in corner
 * Russian legsweep
 * Pumphandle powerbomb
 * Snap suplex
 * Fisherman's suplex
 * DDT
 * Death Valley driver
 * Bulldog
 * Flying hangman clothesline
 * Multiple powerbomb variations


 * Tag team finishing and signature moves
 * Critical Massacre (with Hostile) (Sitout powerbomb, diving clothesline combination)
 * Critical Massacre (with Mayhem) (Stack-superplex)
 * Double Critical Massacre (with Mayhem) (Double stack-superplex)
 * The Abortion (with Mayhem) (Powerbomb, reverse DDT combination)
 * The Last Bulldog (with Mayhem) (Aided powerbomb)
 * Clothesline, legsweep combination
 * Leg drop, splash combination
 * Double suplex


 * Managers and valets
 * Chavez Raoul
 * Ms. Hellfire
 * Bobby Reidel
 * Rayna Fyre

Championships and accomplishments

 * Long Island Wrestling Federation
 * LIWF Tag Team Champion (1 time) - with Hostile


 * New York Wrestling Connection
 * NYWC Heavyweight Champion (1 time)
 * NYWC Hardcore Champion (1 time)
 * NYWC Tag Team Champion (3 times) - with Hostile(1) and Mayhem(2)


 * Wrestling World Wide
 * WWW Heavyweight Champion (1 time)


 * NWA Michigan
 * NWA Michigan Heavyweight Championship (1 time)


 * Brimstone has shared teaching duties in the ring with legends in the wrestling business such as “The Original” Gino Carusso, Prince Iaukea, Chris Chetti, Danny Doring, The Iron Sheik, Blast, Dances With Dudley, Sir Christopher Michaels, and John ‘Earthquake’ Tenta (who formally requested Brimstone be his partner in The Natural Disasters in 2001 for an event in Florida)., amongst others.


 * Brimstone was voted by the fans as #1 choice to claim the FWA Virginia Heavyweight Title.


 * In 2005, Brimstone served as a special guest at the New York Erotic Expo. The two-day event was held on May 20-21 at the Penn Plaza Pavilion in New York City. He caught up with old acquaintance Evan Seinfeld of Biohazard and his wife Tera Patrick. Other guests at the event were Britney Rears, Taylor Wayne, Vanessa Del Rio, Lisa Sparxxx, Melissa Lauren, Tyler Faith, Carmen Luvana, along with High Pitch Eric, Richard Christy, and Benjy of The Howard Stern Show.


 * Brimstone has made several appearances at schools for Pro Wrestling Appreciation elective and Career Forum Day.


 * As a child he appeared on an episode of Children's Television Workshop's Sesame Street. The episode aired on PBS on December 11, 1979. He also appeared on an episode of Romper Room.


 * Brimstone invented his signature finishing move XiBalba (The Entrance to Hell) early on in his career. He named the move after Maya mythology. XiBalba is known as another name for the underworld, sometimes translated as "place of fear." It is also considered one of the six houses of hell.


 * Brimstone was interviewed at length for the up and coming documentary tentatively titled, "Wrestling Then & Now" directed by Dwayne Walker. The interview discussed his thoughts of the wrestling industry of today, compared to its yester-years.


 * Brimstone marched alongside esteemed politicians Kate Murray (Town of Hempstead Supervisor), Deputy Commissioner Kevin Regan, Councilman Gary Hudes, and Legislator Dennis Dunne in the annual Levittown Memorial Day Parade on May 28, 2007.


 * Brimstone and Demolition Blast are featured in the August 2007 edition of New York Sportscene Magazine. They are prominently shown in the Shooting Stars section of the publication with a portion of the tag line being, "more than just two pretty faces."


 * Brimstone represented Pro Wrestling Revolution in an article featured in Newsday concerning the potential pro wrestling slump in the wake of the Benoit scandal. Brimstone was featured alongside Gabe Sapolski and Roderick Strong, representing Ring of Honor and John Cursie of NYWC. Brimstone stated, "There's obviously a buzz. Everybody's asking about it.  But as far as a drop-off [of fans attending events], I haven't seen anything different."


 * Brimstone was featured in the October 2007 issue of New York Sportscene Magazine in an article entitled, “Chris Benoit: Were Steroids Just The Tip Of The Iceberg?” The story also included Ted DiBiase, Demolition Blast, Gary Reno, and Bobby Riedel.  In the article, Brimstone stated that he feels that, “you can’t blame an industry on what one person decides to do,” and he has “never used performance enhancing drugs.”

Television

 * WWF / MTV-TRL
 * Brimstone was a semi-finalist on the original "Wanna Be A WWF Superstar" on the MTV Network (1999), hosted by Mick Foley and Carson Daly. Brimstone's mini shoot interview was featured as a part of the WWF Superstars Sunday morning television show on the USA Network. Finalists for the show were Boogalou (now Boog Washington), Kid USA, Lord Clarence MacDougal, and Mad Whipper Whip.


 * The Ricki Lake Show
 * Brimstone represented Critical Mass Pro Wrestling at the August 16, 2001 taping of "The Ricki Lake Show" entitled "Backyard Bloodbath!" Also appearing on the show was former WCW performer Stevie Ray of Harlem Heat.


 * Channel 12 News
 * Brimstone was interviewed during an all morning taping live via satellite at the original location of Critical Mass Pro Wrestling in Hicksville, New York. Reporter Bonnie Schneider conducted various interviews with Brimstone, Dickie Rodz, and Tek throughout the morning news broadcast. Other students involved in taped training were Maxmilyin, Tyler Payne, Brock Vendetta, Suicyco, Nuke, and Black Dawg.

The Borderhounds
The Borderhounds is a comic book based heavily on Brimstone’s character. The Borderhounds is the brainchild of Brimstone himself and close friend Marcello Carnevali (a.k.a. Lord Clarence MacDougal). Carnevali is the main writer, with the duo continuously trading notes on the creative content. Creating the Brimstone character in “comic book” form had been a plan of Kucmierowski’s for a long time. The character was supposed to be a part of the Master Comics series “Masters of the Ring,” however, due to lack of sales, it never gained the adequate speed needed. Later, Kucmierowski received the first official comic version of Brimstone by Dark Horse Comics comic artist Jacob Chabot. The result launched the search for a team to create The Borderhounds. Brimstone recruited penciler Sajad J. Shah, whom he credits as one of the best comic artists in the world. Soon after, Al “Vandal” Chickering signed up as the inker for the project. Currently, Jasen Smith of Blue Water Entertainment has taken over the colorist duties.

Although the comic is based on Brimstone the professional wrestler, it has nothing to do with wrestling. The only similarity is the fact that almost every character in the book itself is a real wrestler in comic form. For example, The Borderhounds characters are the founding members of the clique Critical Mass: Chris Hostile, Chavez Raoul (Jacob Dixon), and Mayhem (Michael Leon). Brimstone is flanked by his true to life sidekicks Dawg (Jose Castillo) and Luscious (Ed Castillo).

Brimstone has incorporated The Borderhounds more into his wrestling gimmick by updating his theme music to give a shout out to, “all the Borderhounds out there…”.