Author: Bill Potts

The Ontario independent wrestling scene is overflowing with talent these days. As a result, there are a number of successful promotions throughout Canada’s most populous province. So strong is the scene that performers who start out and develop there are in demand all over the world. One man who has been a standout on the scene since his debut 13 years ago is the man who calls himself ‘Money,’ Brent Banks. This long, lean performer has accomplished enough and been seen enough that, over the last couple of years, he has found himself in greater demand than ever before. This…

Prior to his passing in February 2024, Anthony Gaines was a young wrestler from Western New York who, under thirty, had a decade of experience under his belt. He primarily performs for Empire State Wrestling, which is based near his home, Smash Wrestling in nearby Ontario, Canada, and Pro Wrestling Rampage, which operates not far away in Pennsylvania. Gaines counts among his trainers a couple of other standouts from the independent scene, Colin Delaney and Pepper Parks. He has already made something of a name for himself, even landing on Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s PWI 500 last year. But he achieved…

This is a character that was intended to be fearsome. But ended up sticking around to scare audiences for only a short time before fading into the shadows. In recent years, if the character has been referenced or popped up again, it is for the purpose of gentle mocking or outright derision rather than terror. The character in question is the ‘voodoo magician,’ Papa Shango. When you cast your eye over the history of wrestling in search of characters designed to be frightening or to in some way engender discomfort or fear in the audience. The examples you will find…

If you reflect upon the history of wrestling and try to recall characters that are intended to frighten or cause discomfort for the audience. The examples you will find are frequently rooted in fearsome creatures from other parts of popular culture. Vampires, the macabre of wrestling. After all, the easiest way to elicit the designed response is to invoke concepts and archetypes. Ones that have been used in other media to foster fear in the fans. And there is one particular creature that has been used in horror fiction for over two centuries. The nocturnal predator that survives on the…

As part of the process of creating a frightening wrestling character, inspiration can come from a variety of sources. It can be based upon characters in other parts of popular culture; the horror genre has been a staple of film, television, and prose for a long, long time. It can be based on monsters of legend and folklore: yetis, mummies, vampires, and zombies, among many others. Sometimes something wholly original can inspire fear by giving the character a disturbing, fiendish appearance. This is a wrestling character that drew its name from one of the most commonplace. Though ill-defined, fear-inducing creatures…

When the spotlight is put on a wrestler on the independent scene, so often the story is about someone who has been on the circuit for a number of years, traveling all over making towns and developing their craft to the point that they are on the cusp of breaking out and moving on to bigger and better things, much like Jody Threat. But in the case of one Canadian woman wrestler, her time in the wrestling business has been comparatively short, but nonetheless, she is in the midst of a rapid rise that suggests her future is as bright…

After six long months, Smash Wrestling is finally returning to their ancestral home of Toronto with Any Given Sunday 8. In mid-August, Smash promoted or co-promoted a staggering seven shows over a five day period in Toronto. Since then, they have been putting on exciting and entertaining cards, but those have taken in place in their home away from home of London, Ontario, as well as debuting in other outposts in southwestern Ontario. But Smash was founded in The Centre of the (Canadian) Universe, and hosting a new show there was long overdue. So on Sunday, February 23rd they will…

In a Pro Wrestling Post article last week, it was noted that Smash Wrestling roster member Idris Abraham appeared on Monday Night Raw as part of a team that opposed the Viking Raiders in the WWE. In an effort to emphasize the imposing size and dominance of the Raiders, WWE has in recent weeks has featured Erik and Ivar in short matches where they have brutalized men categorized as ‘local competitors.’ It is reminiscent of how WWE television was in the 1980s, before the advent of prime time programs like Raw, when featured superstars would have short ‘squash’ matches against…

A couple of weeks ago, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that WWE would be holding tryouts for Canadian wrestlers in Toronto in the days before SummerSlam took place in that city, a news tidbit that we covered here at Pro Wrestling Post. On Friday, August 9th WWE confirmed this, posting an article about the tryouts on their website. The next day they posted a video containing footage from the tryouts, and interviews with some of the participants and coaches, on the WWE Performance Centre’s YouTube channel, which you can see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcNbNVX11cY In the video, head coach Matt Bloom goes…

Oriental Wrestling Entertainment is making its first foray into North America, presenting two shows in Toronto, Canada for OWE Toronto. Both shows will take place at the Mid Town Entertainment Theatre, and present a great opportunity for fans both local and those traveling from out of town in the days before WWE’s SummerSlam to come out and see this exciting new promotion. The second show will take place on the afternoon of Saturday, August 10th. And much like night one, which is taking place at the same venue on August 7th, the event will feature several mainstays from the OWE…