MatRats get rave review
By DON 'Cyrus' CALLIS -- For SLAM! Wrestling
As I mentioned on the NHB radio show, I spent all of last Sunday in
Calgary as part of the Matrats Rave in the Ring show.
It was unlike anything I have seen before from an athletic standpoint, with
incredible highspots and athleticism, all from competitors aged 14-21.
The show took place in a cool looking night club with full lighting and
special effects.
The ring is the standard wrestling variety, but with a couple of twists.
The ring posts have a neat industrial look to them and about two feet above
the top turnbuckles are circular launch pads which allows the competitors to
get even more height on various moves.
RAVE-LIKE ATMOSPHERE
The group includes several members of the famous Hart family including Ted
Hart and Harry Smith, the son of Davey Boy Smith. Jim Neidhart's daughter is
the host of the show. Between matches there is a rave-like atmosphere with
dancing and music videos on a giant screen.
The matches are incredibly fast paced and the product is very clean, with
little or no punching, and no profanity or sexual innuendo.
Basically, you are dazzled by the wrestling and the production. Which
brings me to why I was there.
Matrats has a pay-per-view on Oct. 28 from Calgary and Joey Styles and I
are going to be part of the broadcast team for the event. I am looking forward
to it, as this is a product I am very excited about.
I was quite thrilled to get to do an angle with Eric Bischoff where we
engaged in a war of words and a little shoving match. I also had an
opportunity to speak with Bischoff for the first time face to face, and was
very impressed with his vision for the product.
The whole thing was a total rush for me, and I encourage everyone to check
out the pay-per-view in October as it will be different than anything you have
ever seen before.
FORMER ECW STARS INVADE WINNIPEG
It was a crazy weekend of wrestling in Winnipeg as well, with the big IWA
Ultimate 8 television taping at the Winnipeg Convention Centre, where the
maniacal Dr. Luther was crowned the first IWA champion in a tournament win
over former ECW world champion Mikey Whipwreck.
Friday was the autograph session at Jabroni's with myself, Sandman and
Mikey. There was a wonderful turnout and lots of the fans got to chat with
Sandman, who seemed in a talkative mood. Unfortunately Tommy Dreamer could not
make it, but most fans were more concerned with meeting Sandman or trying to
buy one of his famous canes.
Saturday was the show, and overall I was very pleased with the improvement
in production with the new video wall, and with the talent, having added
Whipwreck, Sandman and Michael Shane to the roster.
Dr. Luther, who would wrestle three times en route to the title win, worked
on a leg that was literally purple and black from his knee to his heel, having
sustained a serious knee injury earlier in the week. Luther ended up in the
emergency room for half the night.
Stands With Thunder made it to the finals of the tournament, but was unable
to continue after Gerry Morrow and Luther destroyed him with suplexes and cane
shots. SWT hopes to be first in line for a shot at Luther's belt when the IWA
returns to Winnipeg in the fall.
By the way, my training centre in its new location is open once again, and
we are accepting students for our fall session. Contact me at
Cyrusofecw@aol.com for details on how you can get trained in the wrestling
industry.
Send email to
CyrusofECW@aol.com.
Listen to Cyrus every Sunday from 6-7 p.m. on 92 CITI-FM on the NHB wrestling call in show with his co-host Joe Aiello.
