The Joint Connection’s “Cam Pain” (left) and “Bravo Sanchez” (right) put the “Bayou Brawler,” aka Joshua Reid, in their submission move, the Sticky Predicament.
There are plenty of hard-hitting high flyers in the world of professional wrestling, but there are markedly fewer high flyers who hit it hard.
Thankfully, Spokane’s own tag team of “The King of Cannabis” Cam Pain and “The Dabbin’ Daddy” Bravo Sanchez — aka the Joint Connection — are here to fill that stoner wrestler role.
The pair began training to be pro wrestlers in 2023 when Chase James, the booker and in-ring talent behind the local independent promotion Relentless Wrestling, started the Relentless Athletics wrestling school. The following spring, “Cam” (35-year-old Channing Miles) and “Bravo” (27-year-old Bailey Alvarez) started tagging together at indie shows around the region.
Playing into their personas of being IRL stoners, as the Joint Connection the guys don marijuana-themed ring attire and sport an offensive arsenal that includes moves like the Roll ’em & Smoke ’em (a snapmare/kick/crossbody combo), Let’s Get High (a spinebuster or blue thunder bomb into a frog splash), and the Hash Attack (a variation on the Hart Attack). They are billed as weighing a combined 420 pounds, have a signature Joints Up taunt, and (naturally) come to the ring to Afroman’s “Because I Got High.”
In addition to being regulars at Relentless Wrestling shows (the next of which takes place at Players & Spectators Event Center in Spokane Valley on May 9), the Joint Connection are the current Tag Team Champions for Tri-Cities promotion Reactivate Wrestling (next show April 26) and will be headed to Las Vegas this week to take part in Hoodslam’s indie wrestling show during WrestleMania week.
To get a sense of how to properly mix weed and wrestling, we sat down with the Joint Connection at Bravo’s abode where the pair, expectedly, lit up during the interview.
INLANDER: So how did you two link up and become a tag team?
CAM PAIN: The first time I met him, I thought he was the nerdiest guy I’ve ever seen. [laughs] Now he’s like my best friend.
I’d had this idea for this tag team, the gimmick and everything. And me and Bravo, we traveled to a couple shows as singles wrestlers, just getting our feet wet and everything. And we were forced to tag team one show, and our gimmicks were totally different than what we’ve got going on now. I was like a cult leader.
BRAVO SANCHEZ: I was like a party dancer kind of guy.
CAM: We clashed so bad as singles competitors being forced together. And then Chase came up to us while we were going over our match, and he looked at us, and he was like, “You know, you guys should probably just be yourselves — two stupid stoner guys.”
BRAVO: Yeah, that’s exactly what he said. [laughs]
CAM: And it was just like, “Man, I’ve had this in my head!” And it’s worked out so far.
BRAVO: He sent me two papers full of lists of names that he had come up with for stoner tag teams over the years, and names for moves and all these cool spots that he had thought of. And I think we took one name and we mixed it with the other, and that’s how we came up with the Joint Connection.
Bravo Sanchez gets high for a frog splash off the top rope.
It’s often said that the best wrestling personas are when a wrestler’s real life persona is just dialed up to 11, so what do you enjoy about having a weed gimmick?
CAM: I think for me, it’s exactly that. Of course, it is a gimmick. And when you go out there and in front of the fans you do have to turn it up, but you know…
BRAVO: …it’s really just us.
CAM: Yeah, we’re two funny, goofy guys, and we don’t take a lot too, too seriously.
BRAVO: It’s a lot harder to force yourself to be something you’re not, than to just lean into what you have. And I think people connect with that — when they can tell that you’re being your genuine self. I also think that everybody’s got that stoner brother or uncle, so it’s easy to connect to that guy and be like, “You know, I see something in him.”
CAM: There’s not a show that goes by where somebody doesn’t bring us some goodies or something. And that alone says that people are connecting, that they like it and like what we do.
What are some of the weed-themed moves that y’all have in your arsenal?
BRAVO: We have the Roll ’em & Smoke ’em — that’s a snapmare, Cam kicks them in the back, and then while they’re sitting down I come off the ropes with a cross body.
There’s the Hash Attack — which is the Hart Attack, except I give them the Manhattan Drop and then he gives them a Neckbreaker.
CAM: Let’s Get High. That’s a big one.
BRAVO: That’s either a Spinebuster into a Frog Splash, or the Blue Thunder Bomb into a Frog Splash.
CAM: For our taunt, we do the big Joints Up. [They mime smoking a joint and then lift their imaginary-joint-holding hands to the sky.]
BRAVO: We tap Joints Up with fans when coming out. It’s kind of like our own little Too Sweet thing. It’s also a little bit more age appropriate than just being like, “Bong rips, kids!”
What are your personal weed go-tos?
BRAVO: I’m a big dabber. I smoke purely just oil, because flower can kind of gunk up my lungs sometimes, and I like to run. So having that gunk in my lungs kind of slows me down. This is just vapor. I like Root Down brand dabs — they’re pretty inexpensive, and they get the job done.
CAM: I’m much more of a flower guy. I smoke joints. I usually roll my own. I’m not a big indica or sativa guy, I’m kind of a guy who just likes to get high, so whatever is in front of me. [Laughs] I’m not a picky guy. I came up when getting weed was very hard.
How has using marijuana helped with the pain management that’s inherent with pro wrestling?
CAM: It’s the after-match ritual. I feel like I couldn’t do it without it. I’d probably go crazy. I mean, it helps with not only pain, but the anxiety of trying to perform.
BRAVO: I think the best part is after every match, we go out and share a joint. Or we’ll have some fans that bring us edibles, and we’ll eat a brownie together. We always have our, like, unwind time with it, you know what I mean? It kind of helps bring us back down from the adrenaline spike of being in the ring.
What are your early pro wrestling memories that shaped you wanting to try doing it yourself?
BRAVO: I can remember getting into wrestling as early as like 5. My dad always watched it on TV. He took me to see Monday Night Raw one time, and I think the dark match was Kane versus Big Show. And ever since then, I’ve been enthralled with it. I’ve always come back to it because it’s my passion.
I think some of my early influences would probably be like Mankind and Kane. I’ve always loved Shawn Michaels, and then Bret Hart was kind of like a throwback that I found when I got a little bit older.
CAM: For me, I was probably 6 or 7 years old. The NWO was huge. I was really into Macho Man, Hulk Hogan and The Outsiders. My very first memory of wrestling was watching Kevin Nash get arrested for using the jackknife power bomb, and I thought it was just the craziest thing I could ever watch on TV. I’ve watched it ever since, and I just knew that wrestling was always something I wanted to try. So coming out here and Relentless starting a school, just gave us the opportunity to give it a shot.
BRAVO: I moved out here to Spokane in 2019 from Idaho, and I’d always wanted to wrestle. And during the pandemic, I was kind of getting back into it. And I saw that we had local wrestling in Spokane. And so I went and saw wrestlers like Dark Sheik, Brooke Havok, Keita and TJP. And I eventually started messaging Chase and messaging Relentless and was like, “Hey, when are you guys starting a school? Can I sign up? I want to come out. I want to do this.” And ever since then, it’s kind of like all fallen into place.
What was it like starting wrestling training as an adult?
CAM: I started at 33 years old, so I knew it was like now or never. I didn’t think I had that much time, and I don’t have any expectations of ever making WWE, but I think the idea of being able to go out and perform a few times a month and taking it as far as I can possibly take it is the goal. I’ve got two boys at home that are wrestling obsessed, and I think the idea of taking the tag team championship home and letting both of them hold it or taking them to my matches where they get to tag all the wrestlers and Oh, here comes dad and he gets a high-five, too, you know, stuff like that is kind of where my mindset is with it now. But it’s harder, it’s harder to take the bumps and get back up at my age.
BRAVO: I was 24, and so I feel like it’s kind of a sweet spot. Because a lot of them start around my age. For me, I kind of have bigger dreams and hopes. I do think of getting to WWE or TNA and something like that.
What’s it been like going from fans watching Relentless shows to being sort of the first class of Relentless trainees that have become regulars in the promotion?
BRAVO: I think the coolest part is just that we were guys in the crowd, and we were able to train hard, get the reps in, and be able to be on these shows with super talented people that come from all over the world. It’s also awesome just knowing that we’re the first class, and we kind of set the standard for other classes to follow.
CAM: To go from fans to homegrown talent is pretty cool. Our coaches are really good. Chase brings in world class wrestlers to give us seminars and everything. So the training that we get is above par, you know? And we’re pretty blessed to be in the situation we are. Spokane doesn’t have a huge wrestling history, and to be kind of part of that history in a way. It’s pretty dope.
Good phrasing. [Laughs] What’s been the highlight for the Joint Connection as a tag team?
BRAVO: [grabs the Reactivate Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship title belt sitting on the living room table]
We won these about two months ago. This is from a company in the Tri-Cities, which is actually the company that we started tagging at. They unveiled these belts about the next month after we had tagged with each other the first time. And I was like, “Damn, I think that’s our first goal.” And it took us over a year and a half to achieve it, but on Feb. 15, we got to it.
What are your goals for the Joint Connection?
CAM: We want to push the limit further than any stoner character wrestler has ever pushed it.
BRAVO: I agree. I think that my main goal with the Joint Connection is to kind of bring stoners to the forefront in the mainstream of wrestling. Because I think that while there are some tag teams or there are some wrestlers that are obvious stoners, I think that it’s always kind of been like, “Hey, they are, but we don’t talk about it.” I think it’s important for the representation of like — marijuana isn’t what it used to be. I don’t think it should be demonized. It’s a very helpful medicine that lots of people have used throughout the years, and I think that it just needs to be kind of highlighted more as a tool instead of a drug.
I know that lots of wrestlers who don’t put it at the forefront but use it for pain management. I go to the gym six days a week, and every day before I leave, I’m smoking weed because it helps my mind and muscle connection, and it just helps me get through my workout.
CAM: I feel the same way. I’d much rather see a wrestler smoke a joint after a match to deal with their pain as opposed to pull out a prescription bottle and take a couple pills to deal with it that way, right?
