Meet Wesly Avendano of Flashback Wrestling in Rosamond

Today we’d like to introduce you to Wesly Avendano.

Wesly, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
One day, I took the day off from working construction and stumbled across a Craigslist ad looking for writers to rite about pro wrestling. I sent an email and eventually ended up writing for a site called wrestlingexaminer.com. I started off writing about current topics but quickly found my niche writing retro articles. I got such good response that I eventually decided to do a podcast, and Flashback Wrestling was born. A lot has changed since I originally came up with the idea for the show. I had another name in mind at first, but luckily fate intervened. I also co-hosted it with my younger brother for a bit, but after he decided to leave the show, I changed the format and started having a different guest every week. I wouldn’t be able to do the show without my incredibly supportive wife. Hse helps me brainstorm ideas, helps me identify and correct some of my shortcomings as rookie podcast host, and does all my editing. I’m very lucky to have her. I was also lucky enough to gain a pretty big following on social media, with over 23k combined followers.

Some of my more famous followers include David Arquette, Sean Waltman AKA X-Pac, Ken Shamrock, The Hurricane, Elijah Burke, LAX Members Homicide, Ortiz, and Diamante. Even some current WWE performers have become “Flashbackers.” Including Scott Dawson. Lince Dorado, Steve Cutler, Sarah Logan, Liv Morgan, and Erik (one half of the Viking Raiders). I even had the honor of interviewing Homicide from LAX for an episode of my show. My podcast is hosted on the same website that gave me my first opportunity, wrestlingexaminer.com, and is available on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, and Soundcloud. I recently celebrated my one year anniversary, and have even bigger things in store for year two.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The road was definitely not smooth. At first, I struggled to gain a following, which was bad for me since I always wanted to have some listener interaction. Luckily, after a lot of persistence, I was finally able to carve out an audience. I’m still learning how to produce a podcast so new obstacles always pop up, but every obstacle is just a learning experience. For the first nine months, I worked two jobs while still recording, and posting an episode every week. It was a struggle to come up with content for my social media, work two jobs, and produce a podcast. Did I mention I still write articles for wrestlingexaminer.com? Let’s just say I wish there were more hours in a day.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Flashback Wrestling – what should we know?
My company is more of a brand, My main purpose, and objective is to bring awesome childhood memories flooding back. Whether it’s in the form of an article, a social media post, or an episode of the podcast, I want my followers to be lost in nostalgia. I’m proud of the following I was able to amass in only a year. There’s social media accounts that have been around for years, and still, don’t have 20k followers. I did it in well under a year. What sets me apart from other wrestling brands is authenticity, I’m odd, I’m neurotic, but I’m genuine, and I think my followers appreciate and relate to that.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Jaime Michel over at wrestlingexaminer.com changed my life when he gave me a shot to write for his site, I’ll always be grateful. Most importantly, My wife Brianne. She has been there with me every single step of the way and has helped me through every single obstacle I’ve encountered, If it wasn’t for her, I would’ve messed this up a long time ago lol.

Contact Info:

• Email: flashbackwrestlingpodcast@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flashbackwrestling/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/FBWPodcast

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