Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on Dec 24, 2013 18:03:18 GMT -6
Canadian Wrestling's Elite, a Journey to Superstardom
A Grassroots Beginning to Fulfilling Childhood Dreams
In -35 degree Celsius weather and with Christmas fast approaching a group of young men and women haul cold steel and planks of wood into a large gymnasium. Piece by piece they unload a trailer of equipment in preparation of tonight's live event, taking a short break to warm up every time they get indoors.
Every year, Canadian Wrestling's Elite host the "Rumble to Remember", an event capped off by a 50 man over-the-top-rope battle royal featuring a who's who of local independent wrestling. Even Santa Claus will be stepping through the ropes tonight! This year the rumble features two special entrants (other than Good Old Saint Nick), former CFL Winnipeg Blue Bomber Troy Westwood and former WWE Superstar and ECW World Champion Rhyno. Every year, the "Rumble to Remember" attracts one of the CWE's biggest crowds.
Rhyno is lying down on a gym mat in the corner wearing shorts. He complains about the cold. Near by, promoter Danny Warren is going over tonight's matches with various wrestlers and production team members. Tonight is not just a live event; it's being filmed for their weekly TV series.
Throughout the afternoon more bodies pile into the gym, wrestlers, ring announcers, referees, wives, girlfriends, children…Everyone lends a hand setting up the ring, the entrance way, the lights, the merchandise table, chairs. It's a family affair.
At 6:00 pm the doors will open to the public and wrestling fans from all over Manitoba will take their seats for a night of wrestling action. The grunt and groan business, as it was called so many moons ago, is alive and well tonight. For the CWE crew this is the second show on a 4 show tour throughout Manitoba.
The CWE has been promoting events throughout Central Canada since January 2009. Since late 2012 they've produced a weekly television series on NACTV, a regional station that airs across Manitoba on MTS TV and across Canada on Bell TV. The goal of producing a weekly TV series is to sell merchandise and increase live event attendance.
Independent promotions like Canadian Wrestling's Elite are the grassroots of professional wrestling, this is where young men and women cut their teeth and begin their journey en route to the WWE. In Central Canada, CWE is the top promotion with a weekly TV series, live events in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario and attendances of several hundred people. The promotion is supported by its most valuable resource, an outstanding roster.
CWE's first headliner, Mentallo, has wrestled in Japan and Mexico and recently completed an all expenses paid try-out at the WWE Performance Centre. Inaugural CWE Champion AJ Sanchez competed for Mexico's biggest wrestling promotion, Lucha Libre AAA earlier this year. Both Heavy Metal and Big Jess have been to Mexico as well to train in the Lucha Libre style. Danny Duggan has received several WWE try-outs during Raw/Smackdown tapings in Alberta and recently returned from a 10 day tour of Japan. Cam!!kazee has wrestled for Ring of Honor in the past and was featured on the nationally televised wrestling reality series World of Hurt. Even rookie stand-out Tyler Colton, a trainee of Mentallo, recently competed in Texas during a New Japan Pro Wrestling training camp. These seven men represent only a small portion of the talented roster.
By 7:00 pm 500+ people have taken their seats at ringside, a few hanging out at the merchandise table buying DVDs, pictures and t-shirts and a few others buying food and drinks at the concession stand. With the spotlights shining, music blasting through the speakers and the TV cameras rolling, the ring announcer makes his way to the ring for the opening bell.
By the end of the 50 man Rumble to Remember, the fans have witnessed more than 2 hours of bell to bell wrestling action, more minutes of wrestling that they would witness during a 3 hour episode of WWE Raw. Everyone is leaving with a smile on their face, adrenaline pumping and a feeling that they got their money's worth. Some are already lining up to buy their tickets for CWE's next big event in February.
The gym is now eerily quiet with empty chairs and debris littering the floor. Young wrestlers and production crew members start taking down the ring, the lights, and the cameras. For tonight the action is over but they do it all over again tomorrow night.
A Grassroots Beginning to Fulfilling Childhood Dreams
In -35 degree Celsius weather and with Christmas fast approaching a group of young men and women haul cold steel and planks of wood into a large gymnasium. Piece by piece they unload a trailer of equipment in preparation of tonight's live event, taking a short break to warm up every time they get indoors.
Every year, Canadian Wrestling's Elite host the "Rumble to Remember", an event capped off by a 50 man over-the-top-rope battle royal featuring a who's who of local independent wrestling. Even Santa Claus will be stepping through the ropes tonight! This year the rumble features two special entrants (other than Good Old Saint Nick), former CFL Winnipeg Blue Bomber Troy Westwood and former WWE Superstar and ECW World Champion Rhyno. Every year, the "Rumble to Remember" attracts one of the CWE's biggest crowds.
Rhyno is lying down on a gym mat in the corner wearing shorts. He complains about the cold. Near by, promoter Danny Warren is going over tonight's matches with various wrestlers and production team members. Tonight is not just a live event; it's being filmed for their weekly TV series.
Throughout the afternoon more bodies pile into the gym, wrestlers, ring announcers, referees, wives, girlfriends, children…Everyone lends a hand setting up the ring, the entrance way, the lights, the merchandise table, chairs. It's a family affair.
At 6:00 pm the doors will open to the public and wrestling fans from all over Manitoba will take their seats for a night of wrestling action. The grunt and groan business, as it was called so many moons ago, is alive and well tonight. For the CWE crew this is the second show on a 4 show tour throughout Manitoba.
The CWE has been promoting events throughout Central Canada since January 2009. Since late 2012 they've produced a weekly television series on NACTV, a regional station that airs across Manitoba on MTS TV and across Canada on Bell TV. The goal of producing a weekly TV series is to sell merchandise and increase live event attendance.
Independent promotions like Canadian Wrestling's Elite are the grassroots of professional wrestling, this is where young men and women cut their teeth and begin their journey en route to the WWE. In Central Canada, CWE is the top promotion with a weekly TV series, live events in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario and attendances of several hundred people. The promotion is supported by its most valuable resource, an outstanding roster.
CWE's first headliner, Mentallo, has wrestled in Japan and Mexico and recently completed an all expenses paid try-out at the WWE Performance Centre. Inaugural CWE Champion AJ Sanchez competed for Mexico's biggest wrestling promotion, Lucha Libre AAA earlier this year. Both Heavy Metal and Big Jess have been to Mexico as well to train in the Lucha Libre style. Danny Duggan has received several WWE try-outs during Raw/Smackdown tapings in Alberta and recently returned from a 10 day tour of Japan. Cam!!kazee has wrestled for Ring of Honor in the past and was featured on the nationally televised wrestling reality series World of Hurt. Even rookie stand-out Tyler Colton, a trainee of Mentallo, recently competed in Texas during a New Japan Pro Wrestling training camp. These seven men represent only a small portion of the talented roster.
By 7:00 pm 500+ people have taken their seats at ringside, a few hanging out at the merchandise table buying DVDs, pictures and t-shirts and a few others buying food and drinks at the concession stand. With the spotlights shining, music blasting through the speakers and the TV cameras rolling, the ring announcer makes his way to the ring for the opening bell.
By the end of the 50 man Rumble to Remember, the fans have witnessed more than 2 hours of bell to bell wrestling action, more minutes of wrestling that they would witness during a 3 hour episode of WWE Raw. Everyone is leaving with a smile on their face, adrenaline pumping and a feeling that they got their money's worth. Some are already lining up to buy their tickets for CWE's next big event in February.
The gym is now eerily quiet with empty chairs and debris littering the floor. Young wrestlers and production crew members start taking down the ring, the lights, and the cameras. For tonight the action is over but they do it all over again tomorrow night.