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[3][1] and unsuccessfully challenged IWGP Tag Team Champions Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura in 1986.
[4][5] DeCero is also the founder of Windy City Wrestling based in Chicago, Illinois,[2][3][6][7][8] one of the oldest independent promotions in the United States,[9] and is responsible for training hundreds of wrestlers.
[1][10][11] 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.
[12][13][14] A native of Chicago, Illinois, Sam DeCero became interested in professional wrestling at an early age and remained a fan throughout his childhood.
[11]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[1] and Randy Savage,[8][10] as well as his brother Lanny and father Angelo Poffo, for eight months before making his debut in 1981.
[11]Throughout his career, he wrestled many of the top stars in the Midwest and Central States territories including Bruiser Brody, Adrian Adonis, Dick Murdoch, Jesse Ventura, Mr. Saito and Nick Bockwinkel.
Many of these wrestlers gained respect for DeCero, who frequently faced them in "stiff" matches, and has credited them for helping him during his early career.
[1] He decided to open his own promotion, Windy City Wrestling, and spent almost a year gathering the necessary capital from family and friends prior to its debut in 1988.
In September 1988, the school was profiled by the Chicago Sun-Times as reporter Larry Weintraub took part in a 3-hour training session under Frank "The Tank" Melson, Tarzan and DeCero.
[2] Windy City Wrestling also ran a weekly half-hour television show on Sportsvision,[7] produced and directed by DeCero, and aired in five markets within three years.
In October 1990, DeCero appeared with head trainer Sonny Rogers and WCW Heavyweight Champion Hurricane Smith as guests on The Doug Buffone Show.
[22] By 1991, DeCero had promoted over 80 shows and helped organize fundraisers for Toys for Tots, Muscular Dystrophy and the Maryville City for Youth.
[11] DeCero and the promotion would also organize fundraisers for local fraternal police orders, booster clubs, and high schools.
He was also able to feature former WWF stars such as Brian Knobs,[8] Bob Backlund, Greg Valentine[6][23] and King Kong Bundy[1][24] as well as younger Extreme Championship Wrestling wrestlers Rob Van Dam and Sabu.
[18] His wrestling school also remained one of the top facilities in the region[11] and whose students included Baltazar, Steve Boz, Terry Allen, Vic Capri, Trevor Blanchard,[25][26] Jayson Reign,[27] Mike Anthony,[1][28] Ace Steel,[29] Sosay,[30] Kevin Quinn[31] and Christopher Daniels.
It was also at this show that he inducted the Windy City Dream Team (Lance Allen and Eddie Strong), Kevin Quinn, Frank "The Tank" Melson, K.C.
Head trainer Sonny Rogers and WCPW alumni Trevor Blanchard, Lips Manson, Zebra Kid, and Christopher Daniels accompanied them to the ring.