CANORA - Canadian Wrestling’s Elite rumbled and roared into Canora as headliner of Canora in Bloom on July 12, billed as “Pandemonium in the Park.” This was not just a clever play on words, as there was mayhem and all kinds of bad attitude happening all night long at the venue in King George Park.
The wrestlers were definitely the stars of the evening, but it was the enthusiasm of the local youngsters in the audience, jeering at the bad guys and urging the good guys on to victory, that added entertainment to the festivities.
As one mom put it, “The kids are having so much fun.”
‘Cheeks’ vs ‘The Mastermind’
The first match on the evening’s card pitted Josh “Cheeks” Holliday against “The Mastermind’ Kevin Cannon. It didn’t take long for Canora wrestling fans to figure out that Holliday was the good guy and Cannon was the villain, or heel. Cannon actually looked like a mastermind early, catching Holliday in a stifling headlock that eventually resulted in a two-count on a pin attempt. But the mental strength of “The Mastermind” seemed to fail him later in the match, as he was visibly agitated when the fans kept cheering for “Cheeks,” who eventually pinned Cannon for the win.
Martens vs Rockne
Jay Rockne, one half of the CWE Tag Team Champions, went up against Shaun Martens in an evenly-matched singles bout. Before he even made it to the ring, Martens, obviously the heel in this matchup, made plenty of enemies among the fans when, referring to his opponent, yelled, “He’s a sloppy grease rag, just like all of you.”
Wary of his opponent’s reputation, Rockne asked the referee to check if Martens had any hidden illegal foreign objects on him that he might use to give him an unfair advantage in the match. But Martens was clean, and jumped on Rockne with a flurry of moves to start the match, but could only get a one-count when he went for a quick pin.
Rockne gained the advantage with a series of vicious backhands to the throat area of Martens in all four corners of the ring, to the delight of the screaming fans. After Martens was serenaded by the fans with repeated chants of “Overrated” Rockne was able to gain the advantage, rolled his opponent over and pinned him to win the match.
Daniels versus CAM!!ikaze
As soon as fans got a glimpse of “Chiseled” Chad Daniels, it was obvious that he has an extremely high opinion of himself. Granted, the “Chiseled” nickname is appropriate, as he’s obviously spent a lot of time in the gym. But the fans were not particularly impressed, and apparently neither was his opponent, CAM!!ikaze, who has the reputation for being just a little bit crazy anyway, which seems to add to his appeal. Many fans in Canora were already against Daniels, and he made even more enemies with the loud comment, “I’ve never been to a more pathetic town than Canora.”
Daniels proceeded to spend the first part of the match running from CAM!!ikaze outside the ring, leading to chants of “Chicken” from the Canora audience. When Daniels, who has short hair, finally got back in the ring, he resorted to hair pulling on the longer locks of CAM!!ikaze, and even resorted to choking until the referee put a stop to that nonsense.
CAM!!ikaze kept working and turned the tide in his favour, flying off the top rope to take all the fight out of Daniels and win by a pin.
D-Lo Brown
D-Lo Brown, who is known internationally for sharing the wrestling ring with the likes of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, “Macho Man” Randy Savage and The Rock during his memorable career, was in Canora to make a special announcement. But, just as he entered the ring, Brown was interrupted by “The Real American Hotshot” Danny Duggan. Duggan surprised Brown and laid him out with a variety of cheap shots. But just in time to even the odds, “The Real Deal” James Roth came in to save the day. After the mayhem had calmed down a bit, Duggan and Roth agreed to fight for the Central Canadian Heavyweight Championship later in the card, with D-Lo Brown as the “Special Guest Enforcer.”
‘The Audacity’ versus ‘The Boston Bruiser’
“The Audacity” Danni Deeds faced off against an opponent who appeared to be about twice his size, “The Boston Bruiser” Kevin O’Doyle. Being a good villain, as he approached the stage, O’Doyle yelled at a group of kids following him, “I don’t want you around, so beat it.” When Deeds first saw O’Doyle up close and personal in the ring, he admitted to everyone within earshot, “I just hope he doesn’t crush me.”
But even though “The Boston Bruiser” trapped “The Audacity” in a corner at one point and threw all his weight into him, Deeds, aided by Canora chants of “Let’s go Danni, let’s go,” showed plenty of courage and fought back. He brought O’Doyle to his knees with a flying drop kick off the top of the corner ring post. But thanks to inference from a couple of other wrestlers of questionable character, “The Boston Bruiser” was able to earn the victory.
Title Match
Fittingly, the match for the Central Canadian Heavyweight Championship closed out the evening’s mayhem, with “The Real American Hotshot” Danny Duggan hooking up with the defending champion “The Real Deal” James Roth. Due to the underhanded shenanigans earlier in the evening, D-Lo Brown served as “Special Guest Enforcer.”
Duggan looked to be in control early, and it appeared there might be a new champion in the making. Roth managed to escape out of the ring, but Duggan followed him and increased the advantage by repeatedly slamming Roth’s head into the nearest corner ring post.
But, true to his “The Real Deal” nickname, Roth bounced back, repeatedly hammering Duggan in the throat with the back of his hand. “The Real American Hotshot” appeared to be fading, and chants of “Canada’s Better” from the rabid Canora crowd weren’t helping. In his haste to get back in contention, Duggan knocked out the referee. Roth then came off the top rope and took out Duggan with the full force of his body weight.
But with the referee out of commission, who would count out Duggan? Not to worry, “Special Guest Enforcer” D-Lo Brown quickly pulled on a striped shirt, counted out “The Real American Hotshot,” and “The Real Deal” retained the Central Canadian Heavyweight Championship.
Costumes
One of the most popular segments of the fun-filled evening was the costume contest. Everyone was encouraged to show up dressed as their favourite professional wrestler, and many youngsters took up the challenge. Judged by “The Audacity” Danni Deeds, the contest included wrestling icons such as Sting, John Cena, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, the Road Warrior Animal and The Rock. But Deeds decided one entry stood out, and that was the young fan dressed up as Miss Elizabeth, who was declared the winner.
More information on CWE Wrestling is available at www.cwecanada.ca
Don't count on social media to deliver your local news to you. Keep your news a touch away by bookmarking Canora Courier's homepage at this link.
Bookmark SASKTODAY.ca, Saskatchewan's home page, at this link.
