Llakor 0 Report post Posted September 30, 2008 CP is the Canadian version of AP so this would have gone out over the newswires may have been printed in a avriety of newspapers in Canada. http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/top/news?slug=c...s&type=lgns Jessica Murphy, THE CANADIAN PRESS Sep 28, 15:10 EDT MONTREAL - Montreal’s International Wrestling Syndicate, a federation that puts on ultra-violent hard-core wrestling performances, says their sport gets a bad rap. “You’re right that it’s low-brow. But Shakespeare was low-brow,” Mike Ryan, a writer for the syndicate, said in an interview. “You’re telling stories that have to do with violence. But that doesn’t mean there’s no craft to it.” Six-foot-tall Alexandra Lodwick - a.k.a. Vanessa Kraven - has been a wrestling for over four years. One of the few female wrestlers on the IWS roster, she’s a pretty woman with delicate features and an eyebrow ring who says people are too quick to judge the sport that takes dedication and skill to master. “It’s kind of a dance,” she said. “There’s an art to it.” Ryan likens wrestling to a performance piece where people get hurt. “It’s still gruesome but at least there’s a point to it,” he said. A good wrestling show combines elements of drama, comedy and narrative with violence, outrageous characters and fan-favourite finishing moves like Lodwick’s Powerbomb. “There’s a lot of sophisticated stuff going on and people don’t realize it,” said Ryan. In fact, he wove the social commentary of Shakespeare’s Richard the Third into the 2004 narrative for the IWS. “The bad guys can’t get away with it forever, the underdog can win, there’s a price for being loyal,” said Ryan. “That’s social commentary.” The IWS was founded in Montreal in 1998 by Eddy Dorozowsky, a.k.a. Sexxxy Eddy, and Manny Elefthriou, a.k.a. PCP Crazy F’N Manny. Their first show at a Montreal college led to live wrestling being permanently banned on campus but the two were simply building on Quebec’s wrestling history. Canadian pro-wrestling pioneer Walter (Killer) Kowalski got his moniker in Montreal when he injured Yukon Eric in a match in 1954. Andre the Giant wrestled in the city as did Bob (Legs) Langevin, who later became a bodyguard for Elizabeth Taylor and former prime ministers MacKenzie King and Louis St-Laurent. About 15 wrestling federations now operate in the province but Elefthriou said only about three have talented wrestlers and hold major events. Some IWS wrestlers, like Lodwick, have become minor celebrities and perform throughout North America, Europe and Japan. “Hard-core wrestling is several things but in basic terms, it’s wrestling without any rules,” said Elefthriou. “At the IWS, we call it more hard-core entertainment. We tell a story, we make it spectacular. We want the crowd to go crazy.” This year’s major event was a violent grudge match among six popular wrestlers involved in an ongoing feud. “Wrestling is essentially a soap opera for men,” admitted wrestler Neil Felzenstein, a.k.a. Beef Wellington. “You need the good guys for the people to cheer and you need the bad guys to piss people off. Otherwise you’re just watching two guys roll around or hit each other with chairs.” The narrative arc culminated in the Fans Bring the Weapons match, which even organizers admit can get a little dangerous. “It’s extreme and incredibly violent,” said Ryan. “It gets pretty grisly.” Almost 900 fans attended the Saturday night event held in a downtown Montreal concert hall. “It’s the biggest even of the year, period,” said Steven Wilson, IWS promotions manager. Fans brought rackets, mitts with thumb tacks, clubs made with plastic forks and the all-time favourite weapon: fluorescent light tubes. “They’re very creative,” noted Wilson. The first three rows of fans were given safety goggles and surgical masks to protect against flying glass. Staff wore surgical gloves to protect themselves from the blood. “A lot of people say it’s needless violence, just people breaking glass over each other, but in the end, it really is a show,” said Elefthriou. “An extreme show and people love it.” After a two-hour build up of increasingly violent matches and with announcer Nick Paterson taunting them: “My world is about culture and class. Yours is about poutine and crass,” the crowd was ready for blood. The wrestlers hit the ring with fire, jumps from the second-storey balcony and stunts that involved smashing dozens of fluorescent light tubes over each other until the ring and floor were coated with glass. They stumbled out of the ring at midnight bleeding and embedded with glass. But Ryan said that was all part of the show. “It’s cuts on the forehead that bleed a lot with no real danger,” said Ryan. “But you sell it like you’re dying”. The official results: IWS Un F'N Sanctioned Delivers! A great show ended in controversy as some charge that Beef Wellington cheated to win the main event of the International Wrestling Syndicate's Un F'N Sanctioned. During the Fans Bring the Weapons match, Beef pukked out a bottle of ether and knocked out Viking for the pin, doing with a cloth what light tubes and barbed wire could not. IWS Un F’N Sanctioned Results Quick and Dirty Saturday, September 27th, 2008 Medley, 1170 Rue St-Denis Montreal, Quebec, CANADA Attendance 624 Extreme Dream Tournament Final for the vacant IWS Canadian Title: EXesS vs Shayne Hawke EXesS beat Shayne Hawke by submission in 12:28. EXesS is the new IWS Canadian Champion and the first ever Triple Crown Champion having won every belt in the IWS. Montreal vs. the Maritimes: 2.0 (Shane Matthews and Jagged) vs. The Maritimes Express (Mr. Suave Josh Aero and Marko Estrada) 2.0 beat the Maritime Express in 11:04. Rock vs. Roids: Twiggy vs. Franky the Mobster Twiggy beat Franky in 15:28. IWS Title Match: IWS Champion Kevin Steen vs. Joey Mercury Kevin Steen made Joey Mercury tap to the Sharpshooter in 14:08 defending his title. IWS Tag Team Title Ladder Match: IWS Champions Up in Smoke (Cheech and Cloudy) vs. The Super Smash Brothers (Player Uno and Stupefied) vs. The Untouchables (Dan Paysan and Jimmy Stone) Chhech and Cludy climbed the ladder to defend their IWS Tag Team Titles in 17:56. For the Love of a MILF: Joey Ryan vs. “Paranoid” Jake Matthews Jake Matthews beat Joey Ryan in 12:22 Hardcore Main Event FANS BRING THE WEAPONS Beef Wellington, Sexxxy Eddy and the Evil Ninja vs. PCP Crazy F’N Manny, the Green Phantom and Viking Beef pinned Viking at 18:40 after dosing Viking with ether. ***** IWS Un F’N Sanctioned Detailed Results The IWS kicked off Un F'N S by crowning a new IWS Canadian Champion in the finals of the IWS Extreme Dream Tournament. EXesS took advantage early targetting Shayne Hawke's left arm and hand, but Hawke much to the crowd's delight rallied and seemed to have the match won when he bounced a cinderblock off EXesS' skull. Unfortunately for Hawke, when he called for his finisher, the Tomahawke, a semi-conscious EXesS was able to slap in his triangle choke for the submission victory, proving that EXesS can in fact cinch in submission maneuvers in his sleep. Josh Aero and Marko Estrada came to the Medley looking to make their mark, and are still looking. The Maritimes Express had their finisher lined up when Shane matthews rallied on the outside giving his partner Jagged to hit a flash roll-up to steal the pin and the win. Franky the Mobster used his size and strength to dominate his former tag team partner Twiggy in their match, but became frustrated as Twiggy showed fighting spirit and rallied time and time again. Finally, franky snapped and grabbed a chair intending no doubt to finish off Twiggy with it. Surprisingly, Franky chose NOT to crush Twiggy's skull with his metal chair; even more surprisingly, Franky was booed for showing compassion; not surprisingly at all, the resilient Twiggy was able to take advantage of Franky's slight hesitation to roll the Mobster up for a fast leveraged pin. Joey Mercury, wearing his trademark fur, announced to the capacity Medley crowd that we were fortunate to have him as a guest, because in january he is returning to the WWE in time for the Royal Rumble. An irritated Kevin Steen got into a war of words with Joey Mercury that ended with Mr. Wrestling leading the crowd in a chant of "Crisse de Tapette!" accusing Joey Mercury of merely posing as a heterosexual. Kevin Steen's biggest weakness will always be his surgically reconstructed knee and Joey Mercury took quick advantage throwing Steen knee first into the ring-side barriers. A hobbled Kevin Steen desperately fought Joey Mercury, hoping to prevent Mercury leaving with the IWS title and appearing on WWE-TV to literally trash the IWS title. What tipped the battle in Steen's favour was his ability to hit the Sharpshooter from virtually any angle. Medley shows have seen great ladder matches in the past, but the one last night has quickly climbed to the top of the rankings. The six men in the match killed each other for our benefit using the ladders as weapons and platforms. My pick to win the match, Jimmy Stone, was poised for victory when Stupefied hit him out of nowhere with a 360 cutter off the ladder. IWS Tag team champions Cheech and Cloudy took advantage of this opening to destroy Player Uno and Dan Paysan leaving the firld destroyed long enough for them to climb the ladder and retrieve their weapons. Joey Ryan came to Montreal looking to fuck Jake matthews manager the MILFy Lollypop. She did fuck Joey Ryan, as it turns out... in the ass with the handle of Jake's shovel. Whatever momentum "That 70's wrestler" built up in the match, Lollypop quickly undermined as Joey Ryan took more low blows in one match than most people take in a lifetime. The IWS main event was a chaotic hardcore brawl that saw its particpants taking a rdiculous amount of damage including the Evil Ninja being press-slammed out of the ring into a burning table; PCP Crazy F'N Manny eating a frog splash dive off the balcony by Sexxxy Eddy. In the end, Beef won the match using a most unexpected weapon, a bottle of ether, to drug Viking into a pin, giveing Beef's team the victory. The IWS next show is Blood, Sweat and Beers at Le Skratch 965 Cure Labelle, Chomedey, Laval, Quebec, CANADA. VIP tickets are $20. Regular tickets are $15. $18+. Card and times subject to change. For more information go to http://www.syndicatewrestling.com or write to [email protected] Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
