The Lion
of the Lou.

The kid who wouldn’t stay down

Curtis was raised by a strong single mother, in a childhood marked by poverty, constant relocation and trauma. He witnessed domestic abuse before he was old enough to understand it — and learned early to stand between it and anyone smaller than him.

Every new town meant a new school. Every new school meant new bullies. He never backed down from a single one. That instinct — get hit, get up, plant your feet — is the whole blueprint. Everything after this chapter is just a bigger room.

December 1999

He debuted as a professional wrestler in December of 1999 and never walked away from it. Not for politics. Not for business. Not for the injuries. Twenty-five years later he is still lacing boots — one of the genuine iron men of Midwest independent wrestling.

A decade at the Chase’s heir

For the past ten years Curtis has been a featured star of Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling — one of America’s premier independent promotions and the spiritual successor to the iconic Wrestling at the Chase, the show that made St. Louis a wrestling capital.

He has shared the ring with legends and with top international talent, and he brings the same thing every single night: fire, grit and Wylde charisma.

The ballot and the belt

Curtis ran for Missouri State Representative in the 107th District — twice. He was elected to the Democratic National Committee and served as a 2020 superdelegate. National press could not resist the collision: a wrestling villain by night, a progressive candidate by day.

Same instinct as the schoolyard, scaled up. Stand up. Speak. Refuse to be talked over.

Ink and enterprise

He is a published author four times over — Fit in Your 40’s & Beyond, Fit AF: A Fit in Your 40’s Journal, Sustainable AF, and the Leo & The Brainstormin’ Buddies children’s series. He has been a DJ and a master of ceremonies.

Today he is Chief Visionary Officer of WyldeVision, LLC, a digital marketing company building websites, content and campaigns for people trying to get their own thing off the ground.

The corner he fights for

He is a father to Phoenix Rayne and Gryffin Orion, and husband to his tag-team partner in life — the fierce “Number 1 Ginja” Chrissi Wylde, model, manager and muse. Their house is also run by two cats named Smokey and The Bandit.

Both of Curtis’s parents passed away before he turned forty. He did not let that become the end of the sentence. He turned it into the reason for the next one.

What he does with it now

Curtis is stepping into the next chapter — not just as an entertainer, but as a speaker. He takes decades of adversity, resilience and real-life mileage and turns it into something a room can actually use: courage, momentum, and permission to get back up one more time.

Center ring, behind a mic, or building the next venture — he is all in.