Here we are again, for another round of Gettin’ Heat with Mike the Wrestler. As you all know, I am an Alberta, Canada born professional wrestler, so I hold #AlbertaWrestling very near and dear to my black, icy, heel heart. Since it’s my blog, I am going to use my platform to spotlight what I believe to be one of the most important feuds in recent Alberta Wrestling memory… Jack Pride, or Pride as he prefers these days, versus Dylon Stone. Here we show have Stone vs Pride Chapter One.
Remember at the end of The Dark Knight when The Joker says to Batman, “I think you and I are destined to do this forever.”? Well, the same could be said about Dylon Stone and Pride. These former best friends turned bitter rivals have been at each other’s throats for years.
They were once one of the hottest tag teams on the Alberta wrestling scene! Known as The Neon Knights, they are former Real Canadian Wrestling (RCW) tag team champions, and even before that, they were both standout amateur wrestlers in school, on their high school team. To say these two know each other better than they know themselves is an understatement.
Stone vs Pride Chapter One
After their run as RCW tag team champions, both men stepped away from the Alberta wrestling scene for several years. When they came back, Dylon Stone was a changed man. He only cared about his fancy suits, his custom feathered capes, and of course, being the best. Stone was tagging with another former friend of both his and Pride’s, named Shaun Martens, to form the team of SnM.
Poor Jack Pride was left on the outs with his best friend and even found himself in the line of fire from SnM. Both Jack and Stone were eager to prove to themselves, and to everyone else, that they weren’t “the Jannetty” of The Neon Knights. Along with this path, Stone had become the first Canadian Wrestling Coalition (CWC) champion and Jack was following closely behind, always chomping at Stone’s heels, as the #1 contender.
With the first of many collisions on the horizon, Jack and Stone both stepped up their training. Neither one was willing to give up an inch to the other in their quest for supremacy. With the CWC fans behind him, there was no way Jack was going to lose to Stone that night. The two had a classic match that ended when Martens attempted to cheat on Stone’s behalf but inadvertently wound up tripping Stone giving Jack the opening he needed. Capitalizing on the brief miscue, Jack was able to hit his version of a Codebreaker, which he calls “Swallowed Pride”, on Stone and got the 1-2-3. It was at the expense of Stone that Jack earned his first professional wrestling title and solidified himself as THE GUY in the CWC.
Blood from A Stone
Stone would have none of that, however. Complaining and complaining to the CWC higher-ups until the gave him his rematch against Jack. This time it was going to be 2 out of 3 Falls! Contested a month later in the same venue, Stone had grown more bitter, while Jack had grown more confident and had the entire CWC audience in his corner. It was Stone’s bitterness that drove him to attack Pride’s father in the ring, in the middle of a heartfelt promo from Jack. Stone tossed Jack from the ring and hoisted his father on his shoulders. Jack looked on from the outside, unable to help while Stone slammed his father down to the mat. Witnessing this horrible event only grew the fire in Jack’s belly. Stone had truly made things personal!
With the fire inside of him now a raging inferno, Jack would not be denied his first title defense. Stone won the first pin cleanly but was quickly tapped out when Jack slapped on his version of a dragon sleeper, called “Hitting Bottom”, immediately after. The stage was set, next fall wins. Jack and Dylon held nothing back after that. They beat each other black and blue.
Stone vs Pride Chapter One
They knew each other so well, it was going to take a mistake or that one perfect opening for either man to claim victory. In the end, it was Jack once again capitalizing on a brief opening by Stone. This time, as Stone was on a roll, he went for a springboard forearm that Jack managed to turn into a Super Swallowed Pride! As the ref counted 1-2-3 the crowd erupted and Jack celebrated what he thought was the end of his rivalry with Stone, but it was in fact, just the end to the opening chapter of their tale…
