Time for body slams and full nelsons

All the bravado, hijinks and body slams of professional wrestling are headed back to Yorkton Saturday evening at the Agripavilion.

Canadian Wrestling Elite will hold the card in the city.

"Canadian Wrestling's Elite debuted in Winnipeg, Manitoba on Jan. 23 (2009) with the event being headlined by now CWE champion and Japanese wrestling superstar Mentallo vs. WWE's Daniel Bryan, then known as Bryan Danielson. Since its inception CWE has produced live events in 23 cities across Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Ontario," explained CWE spokesperson 'Hotshot' Danny Duggan.

In Winnipeg CWE holds a monthly card, said Duggan, adding "Our events are not produced for television but select events are produced for DVD distribution."

The CWE is relatively new, but is growing quickly, said Duggan.

"Like mentioned earlier, we produce events throughout three provinces looking to expand into four in 2012," he said. "In 2010 we produced 55 live events.

"This year we have stayed within Manitoba with our first events out of province being in Melfort on Sept 9 and Yorkton Sept 10.

"With new management in place and some company re-structuring CWE looks to surpass its 55 show live event record in 2012."

In terms of talent, Duggan said the CWE draws from a broad area.

"The wrestlers who perform for CWE are independent contractors based throughout Canada and the United States," he said.

"The majority of the talent used on a consistent basis are based throughout Central and Western Canada with guest stars coming in from other regions for periods of time."

Duggan noted some of their stable have enjoyed success worldwide.

"Our current champion Mentallo, born and raised in Winnipeg has gone on to become a huge star in Japan in the last year and a half," adding he too has performed in Japan as well as throughout the continent.

"Many other regulars have since had the opportunity to perform overseas, have WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) evaluations, and be used by top independents in the U.S.."

Duggan said with the varied backgrounds the CWE draws on a lot of experience.

"A majority of the people involved in management or performing for the company have been involved in the industry for many years and have developed a long list of contacts making it possible for big stars to appear on events," he said. "CWE runs one of the more busy schedules on an independent level so a lot of big name stars currently not under contracted are excited to come and perform on a more regular basis. CWE's reputation has grown throughout the industry and it has grown to where a lot of big name stars are actually in contact with us to come in opposed to vice versa."

That is how the CWE is able to have former WWE grappler The Hurricane (Helms) headline an earlier show in Yorkton, and this Saturday Grangrel, who has also performed on the WWE stage will get top billing.

Duggan said it comes down to wrestlers wanting to do what they love, so they go where there are shows.

"Everyone has their own their own drive I suppose. For some it's to make a living, to others it's to gain the experience needed to get to the next level, and for others they do it simply for the love of the game and the opportunity to live out a child hood dream," he said. "Either way we've got one of the most passionate and driven group of guys I've worked with in my 10-years in the business."
Duggan said they will continue to take CWE to the people through shows in smaller centre because people still want to see wrestling live.

"For the markets we currently produce live events in wrestling is as popular as it was a decade ago, most definitely," he said. "A lot of the markets we run got very little to no wrestling in the last 10-years so people are very excited when we do get to town. CWE offers a chance to see stars they grew up watching or stars they just finished watching who are fresh off television as well as the upcoming stars they will be seeing in the years to come."