In a world where life many times imitates art, no one brings more class and
sophistication to the National Wrasslin League than Niles Plonk.
Plonk, (Kraig Keesaman) is a wine connoisseur who hails from Napa Valley, California.
Often accompanied by his man servant Belvedere, and most frequently
by the Lakota Warrior; Red Cloud, his servant for past 30 days.
Although Plonk claims to be from Napa Valley, he actually is from Osborn, Missouri and
returned to the family farm after graduating from college and started his own winery, the
Windy Wine Company in Osborn, Missouri.
Plonk first started wrestling at age 17 in 1999 in St. Joseph, Missouri after being trained
by Sonny Myers. Plonk was training martial arts at the time and his instructor got him in
touch with Myers.
Sonny Myers won the NWA World Heavyweight Champion having defeated Orville Brown in November 1947.
“We would work out 4-5 days a week, usually evenings for several
hours each day”, Plonk explained. “The ring was in a garage and both were owned by
Lord Little Brook. It was a great “old school” environment.”
Plonk has wrestled all over the Midwest over the last 18 years, including 3XW in Iowa,
Metro Pro Wrestling in Kansas City and Harley Race’s World League of Wrestling
promotion in Missouri. Plonk has also wrestled in Nebraska, Texas, Oklahoma,
Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Florida and Colorado.
Plonk, who is not under an exclusive NWL contract, feels he has found a home in the
NWL. “It is very exciting! There has never been a promotion around that is doing the
things in the Midwest the NWL is doing. The NWL will probably be the only place I will
be with, with the expanded scheduled dates they have.”
“Major Baisden (owner of NWL) is a great guy and doing all the right things to draw and
gain true wrestling fans, it’s very refreshing and exciting,” Plonk explained.
Growing up a wrestling fan in the 1990’s in Missouri, Plonk was was a big fan of Mick
Foley, who was an inspiration as a wrestler, and enjoys watching matches from Curt
Hennig, Ricky Steamboat and Vader. Watching Plonk wrestle, his mannerisms in the
ring reminds me of a 1993 and 1994 Lord Steven Regal from WCW. “I am a huge fan of
Regal also”, Plonk said.
Plonk is a fan of old school wrestling, using wrestling holds and selling to tell a story in
the match. Plonk uses such holds as the “grape stomp” and the “corkscrew elbow” to
finish off his opponents.
Plonk has been feuding with the Lakota Warrior, Red Cloud; and just recently won a
match that Red Cloud pledged he would win or become Plonk’s man servant for 30
days.
Red Cloud is currently serving as Plonk’s man servant, in a role reminiscent of
the David Von Erich and Jimmy Garvin feud from 1983, only in that feud, Garvin was
Von Erich’s servant.
“I really like the storytelling and character development of the NWL” Plonk explained. “I
think that is something that will always be the best part of wrestling. The modern indy
movement has strong fans, but does not really draw in new fans. Characters are where
it’s at.”
Plonk knew he wanted to come back to the family farm after college, but not in the
standard row crop and livestock trade. Plonk started the Windy Wine Company in 2009
on the family farm in Osborn, Missouri.
9478 MO-J
Photo courtesy of the Windy Wine Company
Osborn, Missouri
@windy.winecompany
Call (816) 675-2002
He has been in the wine industry for about 12
years, winning multiple awards for his Missouri based wines. His wine company sells
wines locally in Missouri as well through their website.
Niles Plonk, in his own words, is a high society elitist. “I am able to draw from my
experiences in the wine industry; with the snobs, the terminology and the atmosphere
and use that for Niles Plonk. I had been playing around with a wine themed gimmick,
putting ‘vintage’ in front of my name before the NWL, but when I got the name Niles
Plonk and saw my gear for the first time, heard my music and entrance video, that was
when it really brought the character out. It was like a switch flipped on in my head, all of
a sudden I knew who Plonk was, how he acted, talked, his moves, etc. It all came very
natural,” explained Plonk.
NWL Superstar Wine – Photo courtesy of the Windy Wine Company
For now, Plonk is enjoying his time in the NWL and seeing where his feud with Red
Cloud takes him. “The NWL is pretty much all I do now, I can work other promotions but
it’s more fun at NWL.”
By: Brian Hoops
brian.hoops44@gmail.com
Brian has been a wrestling fan for over 40 years. His articles on wrestling have
appeared in the Wrestling Observer, Pro Wrestling Torch, Missouri Wrestling Revival
and Lou Thesz National Wrestling Hall of Fame. Brian has interviewed some of the
greatest wrestlers in professional wrestling history. His feature, “Daily Pro Wrestling
History” appears at http://www.f4wonline.com each day. Follow Brian on twitter at
@brianhoops
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