When We Were Marks: The History of the International Wrestling Syndica

[Llakor 0]

Written largely to be used as the IWS' Wikipedia entry which accounts for the use of wrestler's real names. I fundamentally refuse to break kayfabe for masked wrestlers though. We will see how long the Wikipedia entry lasts before it gets vandalized. My over/under bet is an hour.

 

When We Were Marks

The History of the International Wrestling Syndicate

 

Dawson Wrestling Federation

 

In April of 1998, Eddy Dorozowsky aka Sexxxy Eddy organized the Dawson Wrestling Federation to perform outdoor shows on the grounds of Dawson College in Montreal. He became the promotion’s first champion. After a DWF show, Rumble in the Parc, on April 23rd, 1999, live wrestling was permanently banned from being performed on Dawson College property.

 

World Wrestling Syndicate

 

Eddy joined with Manny Elefthriou aka PCP Crazy F’N Manny and Nick Patterson aka Nixon Stratus to form the World Wrestling Syndicate. Manny had noticed that a local bar called Wally’s had four large concrete pillars arranged in a square approximately eighteen feet apart. He realized that by attaching ropes to the pillars and laying down mats, he could have a make-shift wrestling ring without having to pay to build or rent one. The WWS had their first show, Blood, Sweat & Beers 1999 at Wally’s on June 17th, 1999. Nick Patterson’s brother Mike, later a minor celebrity in Montreal for his kid’s show and his commercials, became the WWS’ first ring announcer: “Iron” Mike Patterson.

 

The WWS quickly gained a reputation in Quebec for putting on fast-paced, entertaining shows. They also developed a reputation for hardcore wrestling inspired by Japanese death matches by promotions like Dai Nippon Puroresu aka Big Japan Pro-Wrestling, and by American hardcore promotions like Extreme Championship Wrestling and Combat Zone Wrestling. Some Quebec wrestling critics nick-named the WWS, “le fed Canadian Tire”, because of the hardware used during the matches.

 

Wally’s closed in 2000. The last WWS show at Wally’s, Praise the Violence 2000, was April 8th 2000.

 

Internet Wrestling Syndicate

 

One after the other, Sexxxy Eddy and Nixon Stratus decided to leave the management of the company to Manny and concentrate on their wrestling. At about the same time, Manny entered into a partnership with Wild Rose Productions, a Montreal-based Internet adult entertainment company owned by Carol Cox. They renamed the company the Internet Wrestling Syndicate.

 

The IWS presented its first show, Change, at the Just For Laughs Cabaret on November 10, 2000. It held the first of its soon to be famous Medley shows, Praise the Violence 2001, in downtown Montreal on March 31st, 2001. David “the Crow” Loiseau of the Ultimate Fighting Championship was the special guest referee of the main event where PCP Crazy F'N Manny beat the then IWS champion Nixon Stratus to win the title. Hardcore Ninja Number Two began an IWS Medley tradition by diving off the second story balcony on to the Green Phantom.

 

May 25, 2001, with Know Your Enemies 2001, the IWS began putting on shows at Le Skratch in Chomedey, Laval. Le Skratch would be the home base of the IWS for the next two years. During this period, the IWS became even more aggressive with its hardcore matches. The IWS is credited, by some, for being the first wrestling promotion in Canada to use light tubes, June 3rd, 2001, during Tournament of the Icons 2 in a match held at the Olympia Arena in Deux Montagnes. This show, organized by then IWS Commissioner and Deux Montagnes resident Joseph FitzMorris, also featured the guest appearances of Aurelian Jake Smith, Jr. aka Jake “the Snake” Roberts and James Henry Neidhart aka Jim “the Anvil” Neidhart.

 

The IWS had its first “Fans Bring the Weapons Match” July 14th, 2001, at Le Skratch, during Un F’N Sanctioned 2001, which became an almost-annual bloody tradition of the promotion. Many wrestling observers believe that the IWS set a North American record here for most light tubes used in a match.

 

During the Summer of 2001, the IWS added to its hardcore reputation in an unexpected way. While presenting an outdoor show on rue St-Laurent, “the Main”, as part of the Montreal Fringe Festival, one of the spectators suffered a heart attack and had to be taken by ambulance to the nearest hospital.

 

The IWS’ second Medley show, Born to Bleed 2001 was held November 10th, 2001. Christopher Wilson aka the then CZW champion, Justice Pain, was the special guest. Notably in attendance were Neil Felzenstein aka Beef Wellington and Dylan Joffre aka Kid Kamikaze. The two young students of Quebec wrestling legend Jacques Rougeau Jr. decided on the spot to leave Rougeau and join the IWS. Continuing the balcony dive tradition, then IWS champion, Sexxxy Eddy defended his title and won the main event by doing a leaping frog splash off the balcony and on to PCP Crazy F’N Manny.

 

On November 24th, 2001, at Payback’s a Bitch 2001 Carl "XL" Leduc was scheduled to face the then IWS champion Sexxxy Eddy for the IWS title. Carl, the son of Quebec wrestling legend Paul Leduc, is most famous for beating John "Bradshaw" Layfield under his Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw gimmick during a WWF dark match in Montreal on August 2, 1996, and for being the screaming wrestling student stretched by Stewart Edward Hart aka Stu Hart, the patriarch of the Hart family in his famous basement Dungeon training space during the documentary Wrestling With Shadows. Backstage, just before the main event, Carl suddenly refused to lose to Eddy, and then went out to the ring, mixing kayfabe with reality in a hysterical rant where he told the fans that he refused to job to a man who was probably sick with AIDS, referring to Eddy’s gimmick as a porn star. Carl menaced the fans at ring side and took several swings at them until Manny came to the ring and paid Carl for the match he had refused to do and had IWS security throw him out of the building..

 

At this point, the IWS had been renting their ring from the Federation de Lutte Quebecoise, the Leduc’s wrestling promotion. (One of Carl Leduc’s nicknames is "La Terroriste" rather tastelessly referring to the fact that the FLQ share their initials with la Front de Libération du Québec, the Quebec seperatist terrorist group of the 1970's who kidnapped British diplomat James Cross and kidnapped and murdered Quebec Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte.) Carl Leduc's melt-down left the IWS without a ring. The IWS reached an agreement with Serge and Ludger Proulx’s Inter Championship Wrestling promotion to rent their ring, but correctly fearing that that relationship would not last long, Manny hired local wrestler Iceberg to build the IWS a ring of its own.

 

In 2002, the IWS announced a tournament to crown the first IWS tag team champions. Anthony Tonin aka TNT of the team “Heavy Explosives” and Hardcore Ninja Number Two were both injured during the tournament, so their partners, Heavy Maxx Fury and Hardcore Ninja Number One formed an alliance of convenience to win the Extreme Dream tournament on March 16th, 2002. At Know Your Enemies 2002, April 20th, 2002, Maxx Fury chose the team of “Green Drugs”, the Green Phantom and PCP Crazy F’N Manny, to defend his half of the IWS tag team titles. The Hardcore Ninjaz won the match and the titles.

 

At Joseph FitzMorris' Tournament of the Icons 3 tournament in Deux Montagnes, June 1st 2002, the IWS set another hardcore record when the Green Phantom defended his IWS title against PCP Crazy F'N Manny in Canada's first ever exploding ring match. The special guest for the tournament was Edward Harrison Leslie Jr. aka Brutus "the Barber" Beefcake.

 

During the second Fans Bring the Weapons match, August 17th, 2002 at Un F’N Sanctioned 2002, Joseph Eubanks aka then CZW owner Lobo made a guest appearance, first teaming with Manny against Steve Royds and the Green Phantom and then turning on Manny to make the match a three on one beat down. The IWS broke the record for most light tubes used in a match that they had set the year before. Also during that show, Rodney Lloyd Anthony Kellman aka Dru Onyx was declared the Number One Contender for the IWS title beginning a long, bloody feud with the Green Phantom for the title. Many IWS fans consider this the best feud in the promotion’s history.

 

A month before Un F’N Sanctioned 2002 at Scarred For Life 2002, July 14th, 2002, the IWS saw the debut of El Generico. Intended as a one-time joke, El Generico became so popular with the fans after one match that he became a permanent fixture, replacing PCP Crazy F’N Manny as the promotion’s most beloved underdog hero. In fact, El Generico beat Manny in a retirement match at Blood, Sweat and Beers 2002, September 21st, 2002. Manny has made sporadic returns to the ring since then, but his time as a full-time wrestler was over.

 

Also changing his role in the company was long-time ring announcer “Iron” Mike Patterson, who became the manager for Hardcore Ninja Number Two after he turned on his brother at Payback’s A Bitch 2002 when the Hardcore Ninjaz lost their tag team titles to Hi-5, Kid Kamikaze and Beef Wellington, in a barbed-wire ladder match. Patterson renamed Hardcore Ninja Number Two: the Evil Ninja. Taking Patterson’s place as ring announcer was Brian Stolovitch aka Brian the Guppie.

 

2003 saw the IWS beginning to build a name for itself over the Internet with its then weekly live Bloodstream broadcasts. A dramatic photo of Ghyslain Campeau aka Viking being put through an exploding, flaming table by Iceberg and FOD at Freedom to Fight 2003, April 12th, 2003, also brought the promotion attention. Viking established his backstage reputation as a tough guy and a passionate wrestling fan that night, when, after being bandaged at the hospital for his burns, he checked himself out against his doctor’s advice so that he could return for the main event of Freedom to Fight 2003, the Ninja vs. Ninja, Brother vs. Brother, Flesh vs. Steel, No Ropes Barbed Wire match.

 

Body Count 2003, May 17th, 2003, saw the formation of the IWS' most famous stable, le Syndicat de Lutte Internet, a group of French Quebec separatists led by Frederique Lauzon aka Fred la Merveille. Maxime L aka Damian and Viking were Fred's first recruits, but he went on to add Quebec wrestling legend and trainer Marc Pilon aka Marc le Grizzly, as well as Beef Wellington's former girlfriend Elsa Bangz. The SLI, inspired in part by the Hart Foundation, were heels to English fans, but heroes to French fans. Their addition greatly increased the IWS' visibility and popularity amongst French Quebec wrestling fans.

 

Quebec wrestling legend Carl Joseph Yvon Ouellet aka Pierre Carl Ouellet or PCO and his student Kevin Steen made their IWS debuts at Born to Bleed 2003, August 16th, 2003, both to help promote their participation in the upcoming Medley show Un F’N Sanctioned 2003, September 20th, 2003. This show is considered by IWS fans to be one of the IWS' very best shows. The record for most light tubes used in match set at Un F’N Sanctioned 2003 still stands to this day. One of those light tubes was used to take out the Hardcore Ninjaz' manager, “Iron” Mike Patterson, who promptly retired from wrestling. Continuing the balcony dive tradition, Derek Arsenault aka the then IWS champion the Arsenal gave El Generico a Death Valley Driver off the balcony and through five tables. This was voted one of the top ten bumps in North America for 2003.

 

Many wrestling fans consider the three-way dance between El Generico, Kevin Steen and PCO at Blood, Sweat and Beers 2003, October 18th, 2003, to be amongst the very best that the IWS has ever done. It is certainly one of the most important. This is the match that caused IWS fans to nickname Kevin Steen "Mr. Wrestling". A fan cam of this match given to Don Callis got PCO a run in NWA-TNA as the masked "X". He won the first X Division Battle Royal. It also got IWS a Canadian pay-per-view deal with Aaron Weiss' Pro-Wrestling Superstars.

 

The last Skratch show was Season's Beatings 2003, held December 13th, 2003. This lead to a period of wandering for the IWS that resulted in the IWS presenting seven consecutive shows in seven different locations. Quebec wrestling observers noted that some Quebec wrestling federations move once and lose half their audience, while the IWS keeps their audience throughout their travels. Nonetheless, it was a relief to settle down at Unison to finish 2004.The first Unison show was Praise the Violence 2004, January 17th, 2004. PCO won the IWS title from the Arsenal and the SLI won the tag team titles from Quebec City's Extreme Revolution, Nightmare Manson and Crazy Crusher. Unfortunately, a conflict with the Saint-Laurent municipality kept the IWS from returning to Unison until September.

 

As 2004 started, IWS' Bloodstream had shifted from a live weekly show to a monthly show taped to be downloaded on the Internet and played before the shows. US interest in the promotion increased dramatically and led to the IWS being invited to send representatives to CZW's annual Tournament of Death. The Arsenal, the Evil Ninja, the Green Phantom and Sexxxy Eddy were chosen to represent the IWS. The Green Phantom was heavily praised for his vicious brawl with Dylan Keith Summers aka Necro Butcher, but it was Sexxxy Eddy who stole the show, qualifying for the finals despite wrestling the entire tournament in his trademark outfit: red bow-tie, wrestling boots, gold lame thong and nothing else. In a famous moment during his match against the Arsenal, Eddy discovered that he was bleeding from his bicep. To the delight of the blood-thirsty CZW fans, Eddy flexed his bicep and squirted blood into his mouth. Unfortunately, Eddy's injuries prevented him from participating in the finals of the Tournament of Death as the on-site doctors sent him to the hospital as soon as his match with the Arsenal was finished, but that was almost to Eddy's benefit as all anyone could talk about after the show was the Crazy Canuck who drunk his own blood.

 

Sexxxy Eddy's notoriety led to increased opportunities for IWS wrestlers to perform in the United States as Eddy offered to fill his car with IWS wrestlers for bookings with American promotions like Jersey All Pro Wrestling and CZW. At a JAPW show, El Generico and Kevin Steen met and befriended California wrestler Super Dragon. This resulted in an invitation to become part of California's top promotion, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.

 

The IWS held its Fifth Anniversary show called V on June 15th, 2004 at Le SPAG, a former swimming pool. The wrestling ring on the bottom of the empty swimming pool, and the fans surrounding the ring both inside and outside the empty swimming pool gave the event a dramatic feel. Many IWS fans consider this venue the best that the IWS has ever had. V featured the surprise dramatic return to wrestling of Sid Eudy aka Sid Vicious who had been sidelined since breaking his leg in a gruesome injury during the 2001 World Championship Wrestling pay-per-view Sin. El Generico won the IWS title, beating PCO, but immediately lost it to Kevin Steen. Earlier in the show, Kevin had beaten his long-time rival EXesS earning the right to challenge for the title any time he wanted. The show was filmed for broadcast for pay-per-view in Canada, airing as the fifth episode of Pro Wrestling Superstars. The IWS became the first Canadian wrestling promotion to have its own pay-per-view. Not shown on the pay per view was Beef Wellington's historic match against a bear.

 

At a spot show called Mid-Summer Madness, July 2nd, 2004, put on by Marc le Grizzly, Kevin Steen defended his IWS title in a twenty minute draw against Nuufolau Joel Seanoa aka the then Ring Of Honor champion Samoa Joe.

 

Smart Mark Video began filming IWS events with Freedom to Fight 2004 on September 25th, 2004 with the IWS' return to Unison. This led to a rupture between Aaron Weiss and the IWS. Weiss demanded exclusivity for the IWS footage to show on PPV. Smart Mark Video did not ask for exclusivity. Since sales of IWS DVDs with Smart Marks Video were so brisk that the IWS made more money in one month with Smart Mark Video than they had in six months on pay-per-view, it was an easy choice to make.

 

The arrival of Mike Burns and Smart Mark Video also inadvertently got the IWS dragged into the middle of a promotional war between John Corso aka John Zandig’s CZW promotion, and Pro Wrestling Unplugged run by the Former Backstreet Boyz Johnny Kashmere and Michael Verde aka Trent Acid. Both promotions are based in Philadelphia. When Sexxxy Eddy was injured during CZW’s Tournament of Death, it was Trent Acid who found Eddy and the other IWS stars traveling with him a place to stay for an extra night. In gratitude, Manny invited Trent Acid to come to Montreal for Body Count 2004, August 21, 2004 to wrestle EXesS. Manny planned to make Trent Acid a regular part of the IWS shows. When the promotional war between CZW and PWU erupted, Manny tried to keep the IWS neutral, but when Johnny Kashmere was attacked outside his home, Trent Acid vowed on his hot-line to attack Mike Burns in Montreal in retaliation. Manny had no choice but to inform Trent Acid that his Montreal privileges had been revoked.

 

Another relationship that fell casualty to the new relationship between the IWS and Smart Mark Video was the one between the Arsenal and PCP Crazy F'N Manny. The Arsenal had been the IWS video editor and objected to the presence of Smart Mark Video, saying that he had never been given the proper support to edit the IWS DVDs in a timely manner. Manny was irritated by these complaints, but outraged that the Arsenal would break kayfabe by making the complaints in public on message boards like CZWfans. Manny fired the Arsenal backstage during Freedom to Fight 2004, but not before collecting the highlight reel that the Arsenal had prepared to play before the show. Word of the Arsenal’s firing soon spread among IWS fans prompting chants for him to appear at IWS shows. Manny decided to announce the Arsenal's firing publicly at Seasons Beatings 2004, December 18th, 2004, turning heel in the process. By the time that Manny admitted that he had fired The Arsenal in public, he had already rehired the Arsenal, although he was described as fired for storyline purposes for some time to come. As part of the storyline, Manny went on a firing frenzy giving pink slips to IWS Commissioner Joseph FitzMorris and IWS President Seska amongst others.

 

In Marc le Grizzly's follow-up show to Mid-Summer Madness called New Year's Madness, January 22nd, 2005, Kevin Steen, no longer the IWS champion, fought and lost to Daniel Solwold aka then ROH champion Austin Aries. Kevin Steen became the first wrestler to fight for the ROH title twice before ever wrestling in an ROH show. Franky the Mobster successfully defended his IWS title against Chris Lindsey aka ROH star Roderick Strong. In an odd coincidence, Roderick Strong became the first wrestler ever to fight for the IWS title twice before ever wrestling in the IWS. His previous attempt to win the IWS belt was during the JAPW show Hallowe'en Hell, October 30th, 2004 in Rahway, New Jersey against Kevin Steen.

 

International Wrestling Syndicate

 

As 2005 began, the IWS found itself looking for a new home, forced to cancel its January show at Unison when the new owners of the bar made outrageous last minute monetary demands of the promotion. The IWS tried to move the event to the downtown bar "Le Dome", but concerns that the IWS ring was too heavy for the floor of the second story bar made that impossible. The IWS found a new home at Bar le Break with Breakout 2005, March 5th, 2005. IWS champion Franky the Mobster defended his IWS title against Claude Marrow aka then CZW champion Ruckus in a rare inter-promotional title fight. During Breakout 2005 the IWS announced that it was changing its name from the Internet Wrestling Syndicate to the International Wrestling Syndicate to better reflect its new international presence with IWS DVDs being sold around the world, IWS stars touring all over the world and the IWS being invited to put on a show in Philadelphia as part of a CZW/IWS doubleheader.

 

The IWS returned to the Medley for Un F'N Sanctioned 2005, March 26th, 2005. Super Dragon and Chris Spradlin aka Chris Hero were featured as guest stars. This became, to this point, the IWS best drawing show and fans immediately began arguing whether this show or Un F'N Sanctioned 2003 was the best IWS show ever. The balcony dive tradition continued as both the Arsenal and the Evil Ninja leaped off the balcony during the Fans Bring the Weapons Match. Manny started a tradition that will probably never be repeated when a TV was dropped on his head during the match. Kevin Steen tried to regain his IWS title against his former bodyguard, Franky the Mobster, but failed when Damian dramatically interfered late in the match. The ensuing feud between Kevin Steen and Damian, sparked by Damian’s jealousy over Kevin Steen’s Japanese tour, was voted the 2005 Quebec feud of the year and their two matches were voted as the two best Quebec matches of 2005.

 

The IWS became the first Canadian promotion invited to perform at the historic ECW Arena, Viking Hall, in Philadelphia putting on Freedom to Fight 2005, July 9th, 2005, an experience that Manny compared to "being like a musician being invited to perform at Carnegie Hall." The IWS took advantage of the facility to put on the very first IWS cage match which saw Sexxxy Eddy beat Franky the Mobster, the Arsenal and the Evil Ninja to become the IWS champion for the fourth time.

 

Upon returning to Montreal, the IWS launched a new Extreme Dream tournament to crown an IWS Canadian champion. Despite only making his IWS debut in May, Ontario high-flyer Chris Bishop, the Aerial Assassin, impressed both IWS fans and management on his way to becoming the first IWS Canadian champion.

 

On September 3rd, 2005, the IWS travelled to Gatineau, Quebec just across the river from Ottawa, Ontario, the capital of Canada to present a double-header, the Syndicate Invitational in the afternoon, which featured the best non-IWS wrestlers from Quebec, Ontario and the Northeastern United States and Hardcore Heat 2005 in the evening, which featured IWS stars. CZW star Sabian had the best match in both shows, wrestling Niles Young to a fifteen minute draw in the afternoon and beating Ontario wrestler Lionel Knight in the evening.

 

As 2005 progressed, it became apparent that one of the promotion's new difficulties was the popularity of its stars. El Generico and Kevin Steen were (and are) both in such high demand that it became difficult to coordinate their schedule with that of the IWS. Their absence did allow other IWS wrestlers to grab the spotlight, dramatically so in the case of Viking and Max Boyer who tore the house down during a match against each other at Season’s Beatings 2005, December 3rd, 2005. During the same show, the team of Damian and Beef Wellington were scheduled to face the fan favourite jobber team of the Rock N’ Cock Express, James McGee aka Twiggy and Michael Daponte aka Pornstar Juan. In storyline terms, it was explained that El Generico and Kevin Steen had accepted a booking in California to avoid the harsh Quebec winter and to avoid the harsh team of Damian and Beef. The two frustrated stars began the match by inviting Juan and Twiggy to hit them as hard as they could. In the ensuing stiff-fest Juan had his jaw broken in two places.

 

Blaming Manny for the injury to Juan, Twiggy and Beef began a feud against Manny that brought the IWS owner temporarily out of retirement for a match against Twiggy at Know Your Enemies 2006, March 11th, 2006. When Beef and a returning Juan helped Twiggy win, an outraged Manny challenged Beef to the annual Fans Bring the Weapons match at the Medley for Un F’N Sanctioned 2006, June 3rd, 2006. Manny chose the IWS champion EXesS as his partner; Beef, after a long and funny selection process on Bloodstream, eventually recruited EXesS’ chief challenger for his title, Viking. The feud between EXesS and Viking was voted Quebec feud of the year for 2005.

 

During the build to Un F’N Sanctioned 2006, the IWS changed venues again, moving to Bogey’s World with Praise the Violence 2006, January 28th, 2006. The split with Le Break was amicable however and the IWS returned to do Breakout 2006 there, July 8th, 2006. At first, the IWS was sharing the Bogey's venue with the Championship Wrestling Association promotion, but when CWA owner Andy Rosetti folded the promotion in the fall of 2006, the IWS became the only promotion to put on shows there.

 

PCO and the Green Phantom’s feud, which had seen the two men butting heads off and on since Season’s Beatings 2004, December 18th, 2004, came to a boiling point during Know Your Enemies 2006, March 11th, 2006, in a match where the Green Phantom and PCO were partners against “Paranoid” Jake Matthews and Tomassino. The Green Phantom and special guest referee Dru Onyx, making his first appearance in the IWS in more than two years, both attacked PCO. He challenged the two heavyweights to a match at Un F’N Sanctioned 2006, June 3rd, 2006, and recruited as his partner, Terry Michael Brunk aka hardcore wrestling legend Sabu. This appearance by Sabu was one of his last appearances on the independent wrestling circuit, happening just two days before his re-debut on Raw for the WWE. During the match at the Medley, PCO continued the Medley balcony dive tradition by throwing the Green Phantom off the balcony. Un F’N Sanctioned 2006 became the IWS' best drawing show in the promotion's history.

 

Freedom to Fight 2006, June 17th, 2006 saw the IWS return to Gatineau. Once again presented as part of a double-header, the afternoon show was put on by the IWS’ retarded step-brother Inter-Species Wrestling, a fed that draws its inspiration from promotions like Japan’s Dramatic Dream Team, and US promotions like Chikara, and Kaiju Big Battle, not to mention the career of the IWS’ most colourful performer, Beef Wellington. For Ottawa fans, the highlight of the day was home-town wrestler Player Uno winning the IWS Canadian title.

 

The Summer of 2006 saw the IWS and ISW combine forces again as the two promotions united to present an outdoor show on Montreal’s Ile Ste-Helene as part of the Vans Warped Tour, August 13th, 2006 which they called Warped Summer Vacation. More than 1600 rock and wrestling fans attended the event. The Summer ended with Hardcore Heat 2006, August 26th, 2006, which saw a rare appearance of Kevin Steen. He fought and lost to the IWS champion, Viking, in a brutal brawl that was voted Quebec match of the year for 2006.

 

Beginning with Hardcore Heat 2006, Mike Burns and Smart Mark Video asked to be replaced as the camera crew for IWS events due to repeated hassles crossing the border from the United States to Canada and back. Matt Fortune of Fortune Video, who already taped the ISW events, filled the void. Smart Mark Video continues to distribute the IWS DVDs in the States and around the world.

 

The fall of 2006 saw the retirement of long-time IWS ring announcer and play-by-play man, Brian the Guppie. He was replaced as ring announcer by Joseph Termine aka Joey Soprano and on play-by-play by the owner of the ISW, Michael Rotch.

 

2007 began with the IWS building towards its annual Medley show, Un F’N Sanctioned 2007, March 24th, 2007. Manny hired William Jason Reso aka the NWA World Heavyweight champion Christian Cage to appear, much to the fans' excitement. To Manny’s disgust however, Christian Cage chose to ignore Manny’s wishes and offer his help to “Canadian Dynamite” Maxime Boyer against Manny’s team of hired thugs, PCO and “Paranoid” Jake Matthews. Also scheduled is IWS champion Viking defending his belt against hardcore wrestling legend Necro Butcher. Many Quebec wrestling fans are already calling Un F’N Sanctioned 2007 the Quebec show of the year, before it even happens.

 

******************************************************

 

The IWS proudly presents: Un F’N Sanctioned 2007, Saturday, March 24th, 2007, at the beautiful downtown Medley, 1170 St-Denis, near the Berri-UQAM Metro. Montreal, Quebec, CANADA. Doors open at 7:30 pm, show starts at 9 pm. VIP tickets are $30, Regular tickets are $25. VIP ticket holders admitted first. VIP tickets are almost sold out so order them today. No reserved seating. Tickets can be purchased online at http://www.ticketpro.ca or in person at the Medley box office. 18+ Card and times subject to change. For more information go to www.syndicatewrestling.com or e-mail [email protected] .

 

The Un F’N Sanctioned Card to date:

 

Dan Paysan will defend his IWS Canadian title

Battle of 2.0: Jagged vs Shane Matthews

Quebec Rules Match: Fred la Merveille vs. Shayne Hawke

IWS Tag Team Title match: Mean and Green (Dru Onyx and the Green Phantom) vs. the Hardcore Ninjaz

IWS Title match: Viking vs. Necro Butcher

NWA World Heavyweight champion Christian Cage and “Canadian Dynamite” Maxime Boyer vs. Pierre Carl Ouellet and “Paranoid” Jake Matthews