M’CHIGEENG—Have you ever had the desire to become a professional wrestler? Over 50% of those in attendance at the She’ndwin Teg Bingo Hall, if asked, would no doubt have said, “Yes, absolutely!”
The Canadian Wrestling Elite (CWE), based out of Winnipeg, kicked off its 15th anniversary tour on January 2 with its first stop in M’Chigeeng. The opportunity to meet and greet the wrestlers brought many to the hall an hour before the event began. The wrestlers were lined up nicely, smiling and chatting with the fans, and giving no indication as to their true personas. The athletes who entered the ring an hour later were different characters entirely.
Paul Wright stood at the end of the meet and greet line, beside his arch nemesis, Odjig Thundercloud. The two were the reason many came out to the event, both are Manitoulin’s own champion wrestlers, joining with other Ontario wrestlers to complete the roster set out by the CWE.
“They (CWE) tour all over Canada,” said wrestler Jimmie Spite, from Sudbury. “They’re in Ontario for one week, they do one-week tours in every province. This is their first stop, from here we go to Sudbury, Elliot Lake, Sault Ste-Marie, Thunder Bay and then six days from now we’ll be in Dryden. They’re off to Winnipeg next. The way it works is all the wrestlers are on contract, so they’ll book in wrestlers from each province they’re touring in.”
Precise Paul Wright, who has only recently returned to the Island after leaving to attend university and to marry, talked about the event and the fact that there are wrestlers from all over – Winnipeg, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and Michigan – “A lot of talent here tonight,” he said. He was especially in awe of American wrestler, Charlie Scaggs, known best as 2 Cold Scorpio, who has competed in WWF, WCW, ECW among a list of many championships in his long, illustrious career. “The stuff people are doing today, he was doing 30 years ago. He’s right up there with The Rock and Hulk Hogan.”
Odjig Thundercloud, from Wiikwemkoong, though lamenting that Paul Wright took away his championship belt, “he broke me, slamming me through a couple of tables…” explained that on this night they would be part of a tag team. “Tonight, we’re going to team up and take on these Canadian Wrestling Elites and we’re going to represent Manitoulin,” which they did with pride and great success.
With the niceties of the meet and greet out of the way, the athletes left the hall to prepare for their matches. The hall filled with a loud, excited crowd, many children, accompanied by adults, sporting wrestling t-shirts and waving banners with words both encouraging and disparaging. It was difficult to glean who was more excited – the kids or their parents. Though, when asked, parents assuredly said their kids love the sport.
In each match, there was clearly a bad guy and a good guy, made apparent by the boos and the cheers of the crowd, also by their introductions: “Sin City Saint, Vinnie DaVinci” versus “Punk Rock Wrestling Star, Jimmie Spite.” Vinnie DaVinci was the favoured one in that match, and with the crowds’ encouragement, he won, though it was not an easy victory.
“Hot Shot” Danny Duggan (aka Danny Warren, owner of the CWE) entered the ring waving an American flag while making derogatory comments about Canadians. His opponent, scrawny little Tommy McCloud, instantly and unanimously, garnered the support of the people. Tommy won the match.
A women’s match brought a change of pace to the event and, in predictable fashion, when it was a choice between sweet, little Zondra Lee and Khaos, the audience, once again, supported the underdog – Zondra Lee. She too won her match.
Then Rusty Blackwell, “The Backwoods Butcher,” fought “Headline,” Shaun Martens. It became clear, early on, that the Backwoods Butcher was the underdog of this match. The Butcher won the match and Headline was such a sore loser, the cheers grew all the louder for the Butcher.
The special attraction match had WWF/WCW/ECW legend 2 Cold Scorpio pitted against Dann Jarris who, on a Facebook page declared 2 Cold Scorpio ‘a fossil’ from the past and vowed to ‘put the past to rest.’ But, in the end, he did not. 2 Cold Scorpio took that match, to the crowd’s delight.
Chaos reigned when six wrestlers entered the ring for a tag team match: Manitoulin Island’s Odjig Thundercloud, Precise Paul Wright and a character known only as Superfan were pitted against The Double D’s – Danny and Derek Diggler, from North Bay, along with their partner, “The Main Man,” Josh Bain. Thankfully, Manitoulin Island’s own won the match, but those two, Odjig Thundercloud and Paul Wright, could not put their differences aside for an entire evening, skirmishing, in the end, out of the ring and onto the floor amidst chairs and fans. No doubt a rematch for these two is in the offing.
The final match of the night was between A J Sanchez, “The Canadian Crusher,” from Winnipeg and the current CWE Heavyweight Champion, Mentallo, “The Zombie Killer,” from parts unknown. Theirs was an intense match, inside and outside the ring, spilling out from time to time, putting those close to the ring on edge, never knowing if a wrestler was about to land in their lap. The Canadian Crusher brought on the ire of the fans, when he demanded silence – no shouting – which would not be respected, in fact the shouts and jeers only grew louder. He lost the match to Mentallo, which greatly satisfied the crowd.
For one new to wrestling, the entire event was impressive. There’s no denying the skill of these athletes; their energy, strength and precision are masterful. In addition, they are interacting with the audience, in either positive or negative ways, but the persona they develop must be kept up through it all. And the pain – there’s got to be a lot of pain, yet they carry on, never ceasing to entertain.
“Yeah, it was good,” admitted one teen, wishing to remain anonymous. Before the show began, he sat, embarrassed to be in the audience. His cousin, a die-hard fan, said he had dragged him there. On his way out, the teen had to admit, he enjoyed it. Everyone did.