Interview with Alex Megaro, Director of "Krush The Wrestler"

Over the weekend, I watched a copy of "Krush the Wrestler," which the director Alex Megaro generously made available to me. The14-minute film is everything I wanted it to be - a lucid examination of wrestling's eroticism and camaraderie, insight into the mind and upbringing of "Krush" (both the character and the man behind it), flashbacks to 1980s pro wrestling and the seminal nude wrestling scene in 1971's Women in Love, and, above all, an exhilarating montage of Krush's best matches. The film is a smart condensation of the history and philosophy of Krushco - touching on our infatuations, fantasies, and real-life experiences.

"Krush The Wrestler," the movie, premieres on March 5th at the Oxford Film Festival, which opens tomorrow. I gave the event a plug last Friday. Krush The Movie Star arranged for me to ask accomplished film director, producer, and editor Alex Megaro some questions about the project. Thank you, Krush, and thank you, Alex. Here is the conversation:

Joe: How did you discover Krush? 

Alex: I saw a job listing in the filmmaking section of Craigslist titled "Fetish Wrestler Seeks Cameraman." I applied admittedly on a lark, as I figured if this job is terrible, I'd still have a good story. And if it was fun, I'd have a great story. While I was a hardcore pro wrestling fan growing up and to this day respect the athleticism and artistry involved in that oft-maligned entertainment, I was totally ignorant of fetish wrestling as a legit subculture outside of hearing the phrase and thinking "of course that's a thing."

I could sense from Krush's website that he was the real deal, but it was confirmed when we began texting about the upcoming shoot and were having in-depth discussions about classic wrestling and old school wrestlers like Killer Kowalski. On the actual shoot day, I was caught off guard by how warm and kind Krush was before we began. Not that he shouldn't be, but he just radiates this zen aura and is incredibly thoughtful in his approach to everything. The shoot itself went smoothly and I was majorly impressed at the athleticism and stamina on display mixed with Krush and his opponent's abilities to craft something so dramatic and brutal while retaining this unexpected humor. At that moment I knew I had to learn more about Krush and pitched my idea of making a documentary to him later that week. He's the first subject I ever had the urge to do this with.

Joe: How did you decide on the best way to portray Krush and his achievements?

Alex: How do you make a documentary with an interview as its backbone and not make it feel like a "talking head" film? How do you distill a man as complex and fascinating as Krush into a 14-minute movie? It's challenging! I knew from the outset I wanted to tell this story without traditional documentary vérité footage of, say, Krush in his home, walking through the street, working out at the gym etc. I also chose to avoid stylized B-roll. I wanted the film to be Krush's interview mixed with footage from his extensive video library of matches he's created over the past 15+ years. Currently that encompasses about 90% of the film. I wanted an audience to hear Krush's words and see him wrestling, which is his second language. He conveys so much through his physicality during a match and it's often an elaboration of what he discusses in the interview. This is supplemented with a few pre-existing wrestling and movie clips i.e. a language already understood by the viewer. 

Krush has led a multifaceted life where all events and interests are intrinsically tied to each other, even if in an unconscious way. My goal was to weave biographical detail and Krush's thoughts and ideas on wrestling, sexuality, kink, art, religion, and more into a mosaic of the man. Ideas and actions freely flow into each other throughout the film and create a unified portrait tackling numerous topics in a short runtime. It's absolutely a film about fetish wrestling but also a film about many universally relatable concepts. I believe it will please devotees of Krush and fetish wrestling in general but will also surprise wider audiences with how much they can relate to in a film about a "prurient" topic.

Krush The Wrestler (2023) Trailer on Vimeo

Visit the Oxford Film Festival site here.

Visit Alex's IMDb page here.

Visit Krushco here.