CARNDUFF - Professional wrestling made a stop in Carnduff on May 29. It wasn’t the WWE, but the fans would tell you it was pretty close.
Fast Centennial Arena was the venue and about 350 came out to cheer and hiss. There were five matches, but the one of real interest was the main event which featured a local wrestler Levi Knight (real name Levi Day).
Other matches pitted “Headline” Shaun Martens against Travis Cole, Tyler James went head-to head with “The Canadian Rottweiler” Kid Kash, “Hotshot” Danny Duggan squared off with Canadian Goose, and “Big Balls” Adrien Burton battled with Kevin Cannon. The feature match saw Knight go toe-to-toe with Jacked Jesus.
It was quite the event as the wrestlers battled it out. Many a time, one wrestler came close to ending the match, with his competitor escaping the pin just in the nick of time. The third bout between Duggan and Canadian Goose ended on a controversial note. It appeared that Duggan had won, much to the chagrin of the fans, but the sharp-eyed Irwin R. Schyster, a wrestling legend with the WWE, came from his seat and pointed out a chain that Duggan had illegally used and the decision was reversed, much to the delight of the crowd.
Then came the main and final match. Kids lined up to welcome Knight, the hometown favourite. As the bout started, it appeared that Knight was much overmatched. Whatever he did, Jacked Jesus had an answer. The match seemed to take its toll on both wrestlers, but the local boy seemed to find a second wind and before one could say, “Jacked Jesus must be getting some divine assistance”, Knight’s opponent found himself on his back for the count of three and the match was over.
The crowd went wild as Levi Knight’s arm was raised in victory.
Carnduff was the last stop of a four-day tour that saw Canadian Wresting Elite land previously in Prince Albert, Yorkton and Regina. CWE began in 2009 in Winnipeg. It was started up by Danny Warren, who wrestles as the villain Hot Shot Danny Duggan.
Prior to the COVID days, tours often ran for 40 days. They are slowly getting back to that hectic pace.
Live events are CWE’s specialty and they focus on small-town Canada, although they do enter larger markets occasionally. They last visited Carnduff this past September. As a rule, some of their proceeds help local organizations. On this visit, the Carnduff ladies’ ball club was the beneficiary.
Special thanks to Mike Wiseman of Moosomin who kept the evening going smoothly as ring announcer. Normally a ref, a recently broken neck prevented him from doing that this time around and he did an exceptional job as the evening’s host.
