Super Maxx

Samuel DeCero (born c. 1959) is a retired American professional wrestler, manager, trainer, and promoter, better known by his ring name, Super Maxx.

He and Mad Maxx also toured Japan several times during the mid-1980s and unsuccessfully challenged IWGP Tag Team Champions Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura in 1986.

DeCero is also the founder of Windy City Wrestling based in Chicago, Illinois, one of the oldest independent promotions in the United States, and is responsible for training hundreds of wrestlers.

One of his former students, Christopher Daniels, started his career in DeCero's promotion and later became an established star on the independent circuit, TNA and AEW.

A native of Chicago, Illinois, Sam DeCero became interested in professional wrestling at an early age and remained a fan throughout his childhood.

He often attended live wrestling events with his parents at the International Amphitheater, where he watched the Vachon Brothers (Mad Dog & Butcher Vachon), Hercules Cortez, The Crusher, Dick the Bruiser, and other stars of the era.

He became interested in music as a teenager and played the kettle drum in his school marching band.

At age 16, while still in high school, DeCero joined a heavy metal band.

Though achieving some limited success, he eventually left the band after six years.

DeCero approached promoter Paul Krusky after attending a local wrestling show and asked about entering professional wrestling.

He was initially turned away by Krusky who told the 22-year-old DeCero he was far too small to compete.

DeCero began training and within three months, he had increased his weight from 165 to 200 lbs.

greatly improving his overall muscle mass.

Krusky agreed to take him into the business and, after paying him a fee, DeCero was introduced to a facility in Louisville, Kentucky where he was trained by Paul Christy and Randy Savage, as well as his brother Lanny and father Angelo Poffo, for eight months before making his debut in 1981.

Throughout his training, he drove 14 hours to and from Louisville each weekend, helped set up the ring and participated in wrestling matches for which he was paid $10.

This story has always been subject to question, especially as DeCero's mom Kay would regale the Windy City roster with stories of how he would come home from training with Angelo Poffo at his home in Downers Grove and demonsrate some new hold or move he learned that night.

From there, he spent his rookie year in Indianapolis for the World Wrestling Association as Slammin' Sammy Darro.

One of his first matches was against one of his childhood heroes Dick the Bruiser.

While wrestling in the WWA, DeCero met his future tag team partner Mad Maxx and, changing his name to Super Maxx, they eventually began teaming together.

He was one-half of the Maxx Brothers, also known as the Wild or World Warriors, with Mad Maxx who together competed in the American Wrestling Association and the World Wrestling Association, winning the WWA World Tag Team Championship in 1984.

After winning the WWA World Tag Team Championship from Dick the Bruiser & Jeff Van Kamp in 1984, they moved on to the American Wrestling Association where they became one of its top tag teams during the mid-1980s.

Some of their highlight matches were against teams such as The Midnight Rockers (Marty Jannetty & Shawn Michaels) and AWA Tag Team Champions Curt Hennig & Scott Hall whom they faced in Hammond, Indiana on March 22, 1986.

He and Mad Maxx also went on several tours of Japan where they earned as much as $3,000 a week and, while in World Japan Pro Wrestling, faced IWGP Tag Team Champions Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura in a no disqualification match for the IWGP Tag Team Championship.

DeCero praised the Japanese and described his experiences overseas in an interview years later.

They train seven days a week out there [in Japan].

They use karate and everything in their matches.

We went out there, and we wouldn't let them intimidate us.

We just started banging heads, and we ended up having good wrestling matches, and they respected us.

He later described his diet and training regimen in a 1991 interview,

I was eating 10,000 calories a day.

My diet was a shake in the morning with protein powder, two eggs, two bananas, and then I'd go out and have breakfast.

Then I'd have a snack, then I'd have lunch, usually two Whoppers, two Big Macs, something like that.

Then I'd have another snack in the afternoon.

Then I'd go train.

Then I'd have another protein shake.

Then I'd come home and have dinner, which was usually a steak, five baked potatoes, a whole can of corn, or beans, or peas, or something like that.

And I'd have a snack before bedtime, like a Sundae or something.

So I was really piling it in.

I got up to 200 pounds, went back to see [Krusky], and he couldn't believe I was the same guy, because I wasn't fat, I was muscular.

I was working out six days a week, real hard.