Ottawa's Wrestling Community Picks up the Cancer Fight

It may sound a little odd, but on Friday, August 17^th, Tudor Hall will have a bevy of professional wrestlers and scores of raucous fans all fighting in the name of one ‘homeless guy’.  Phrank Morin, known to wrestling fans as Stinky the Homeless Guy, was beloved by fans and his friends in the wrestling world.  He would walk to the ring in torn up t-shirts with a taped up shoe and his trademark hat all to the tune of ‘Maybe Tomorrow’, the theme of the Littlest Hobo.  Over several years, his often-touted smile and unique humour was a fixture in Ottawa and Quebec as well as the Northeast United States, where he fought in Lego Weapons Matches and became a champion after finding a title belt while digging in the trash. 

It was with little warning that Phrank’s career was cut short when in December of 2010 it was discovered he had cancer.  The next month during his first cycle of chemotherapy it was found that the cancer was terminal.  He was told he had one year to live.

One of his good friends in the wrestling business was Ottawa C*4 Promoter Mark Pollesel, who after hearing the news, wrote the Canadian Cancer Society about putting on an event for Phrank.   Over the next several months, Mark and his crew held countless fundraisers at his own shows.  They sold cupcakes and t-shirts, they shaved heads; whatever they could do to put the show together, they did it. 

“Basically everybody who had known Phrank from promoters to wrestlers to fans all stepped up and helped us raise the money.  It's our little community, indy pro wrestling, coming together and trying to make a difference.”

As they continued to raise money for the big event, Phrank’s sickness was growing as well.  Soon, one year became only three months.  On April 1^st, 2011, Phrank passed away.  It was a huge blow to all those who had been hoping to put the event together and have Phrank attend.  The decision was made to go ahead with the show, and put it on in his memory instead.  

The very first Fighting Back saw nearly 400 people come to Tudor Hall, among them Phrank’s mother, sister and girlfriend.  It was a night filled with great emotion and tremendous success as well.  The ‘little community’ raised over 10,000 dollars for the Canadian Cancer Society.  At the end of the night, everyone left with a smile on their face and quite a few wiping away tears.

This year, Mark is hoping for even more success.  Former Wrestlemania headliner Bobby Lashley will appear, Harry Smith, a member of Canada’s own famous Hart Family, and Jay Lethal of TNA Wrestling.

“If you’re a wrestling fan, you'll be in for a treat.  You'll see guys who you've seen on TV like Lashley and Smith, working without the limitations of commercial breaks and TV time.  If you're not a wrestling fan, you can show up, donate $20 straight to the Canadian Cancer Society with a General Admission Ticket purchase, lower your inhibitions, and just have fun for a couple of hours.”

Emotions will undoubtedly be running high as his fellow wrestlers take to the ring on August 17^th to put on a show for their fallen friend.  The event isn’t about someone who died though, but about celebrating the person this community loved and his unwavering spirit.

“Much like Phrank and his attitude all the way through his sickness, this is going to be a positive night.”

Fighting Back 2:  Wrestling With Cancer will be held at Tudor Hall (3750 North Bowesville Road in Ottawa).  Tickets can be purchased at VERTIGO Records (193 Rideau St. in Ottawa).  All money from ticket sales will be donated to the Canadian Cancer Society in memory of Phrank Morin.

Bill Dundee, Jeff Jarrett & Jimmy Valiant vs. Robert Fuller, Jimmy Golden & Tommy Rich - AWA - September 17th, 1988

 I was having myself a shave and thinking about all the regular life crap that I have to do tomorrow, going to work as a simple example, and I was having a hard time being very confident about any of it.  You know, you have yourself, which is the active you; the person who goes and talks to people and is the physical embodiment of your being but then there's also your perception, which is what shapes you.  I think anyone that can actually write the last couple of sentences I've written probably is starting out with a disadvantage. 

Not Pictured:  His normally enormous beard.

So there I was thinking to myself how am I going to get through this next day and kind of feeling as though I wasn't all that great of a person.  It's safe now to ask, what does this have to do with wrestling?  On the surface this seems maybe a bit more suited for some personal introspection or maybe a therapist or something, but I find when I feel down I turn to the Boogie Woogie Man.

This past Monday was Jimmy Valiant's birthday and I thought that it would only be fitting if I worked him in to my mini-project here.  There are some guys who just are exactly what they are.  In Buddhism, it would essentially be zen.  A state of being without thought to being.  Just doing what you do.  That's truly mastering yourself as a person.  And if you get "Come to Papa" tattooed across your stomach, I would guess you don't give a fuck about the perceptions of others. 

 On one side of the ring you have the Stud Stable consisting of Robert Fuller, Jimmy Golden and Tommy Rich along with Downtown Bruno and Miss Silvia.  If you were in a psych class or something, you might think of them as society.  Vain and judgemental.  On the other side is the Superstar Bill Dundee, a short Australian, Jeff Jarrett, with his bleached hair and of course, Jimmy Valiant.  Jarrett may seem sort of the odd man out, but under the tutelage of a Jimmy Valiant you're bound to hear a few jail stories and maybe some of it might get through to Jeff and he can give him a prison tattoo using some magnets and a guitar string.

Big Mama's Flowers

 Valiant is wearing his "Big Mamma's Flowers" shirt and clapping and stomping even though there is no music to be heard, but he knows there's music somewhere and maybe he can get something started.  Unfortunately, the match starts instead.  Jarrett is in there going move for move with Fuller until Golden comes in to break up a post-suplex pin.  Jarrett outsmarts them both and then cleans house with some dropkicks.  Boogie Woogie comes in for some celebratory butt bumps with his team.

Bring 'em back!

Fuller gets Dundee into the corner after the tag and throws some really cool looking punches before making the tag to Tommy Rich.  Dundee is in control with a lot of hip tosses and bodyslams before Rich cheats and pulls him by his hair to the other corner.  Dundee's too crafty to get caught up and scurries between Rich's legs for the hot tag to Valiant.  Valiant's version of a hot tag is a bit different than your average wrestler.  He picks up the ref and throws him down, proceeds to the other corner and hip thrusts at the two men on the outside, hip thrusts for an additional 30 seconds at the man who was already in the ring (and assumedly waiting to be punched in the face still) before finally blocking three punches and starting his big offensive push.  Jimmy gets whipped into the ropes, stomps the fingers of Downtown Bruno trying to cheat and then slides outside to make out with Miss Silvia.  THAT is how you make a comeback.

Valiant has long found a loophole in the law that after 15 sexual assaults you can no longer be charged.  MERCY!

 Verne Gagne on commentary speculates that if he were a beautiful lady he may not like to be kissed by Valiant.  If we were a more diverse community, this might have launched a thousand fanfics.  Valiant puts in all the offense he knows, the noggin knocker and punches before bringing Jarrett back in.  Tommy Rich hits a low blow and Jarrett's in trouble.  Golden comes in and gets suplexed.  Everybody comes in Jarrett gets a sleeper hold on Golden, Dundee puts the figure four on Fuller and in the corner Valiant is applying his submission finisher, a 3 minute eye rake on Rich.  The rest of the Stud Stable come in and it's a DQ win for Valiant and company.  Brickhouse Brown comes out to help and it's a party, just like Valiant loves.  Of course, after a party you have to clean house, and out goes the Stud Stable. 

I don't think too many wrestling enthusiasts would praise Valiant for his wrestling skill, but the man was what he was.  Even if you hated him, you couldn't ask for a more entertaining guy to stand on the outside for a tag match.  When you think too much about life, you start wondering why you're in it.  When you thrust your crotch at anyone and everyone, you remove all doubt.  Life's questions will answer themselves when you never stop hearing the music.  And Boogie Woogie Jimmy Valiant will just keep dancing until a party starts.

Thrust until you're finally free.

Keiji Mutoh, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima vs. CHAOS (Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka & Tomohiro Ishii) - 07/01/12 - NJPW/AJPW WE ARE PRO WRESTLING LOVE

I am only passively aware of current Japanese wrestling, but these are all guys I know pretty well or at least through King of Colosseum 2; Ishii I’m looking at you.  Iizuka has changed quite a bit.  He used to be all shoot kickpads and sleeper holds and now he is fucking NUTS, yanking people around in the crowd, dragging people by their collars.  Ishii looks exactly as I remember him, maybe a few more polygons, Yano is the same just without those bothersome eyebrows.  Iizuka grabs the tv announcer by the scruff of his neck and drags him over the announce tables and the guardrail and proceeds to pull all of his shirts off; far more shirts than one announcer needs.  Yano in the meantime yanks Yuji Nagata backwards at the announce table for trying to help or possibly jealous of his luscious eyebrows.

TenKoji comes out to their sweet mash-up theme.  I have no idea if this is a reunion for them or not.  I’m pretty sure Kojima has been in All Japan for most of the time.  Tenzan has probably been almost winning a lot of big stuff in New Japan before ultimately injuring himself.  Mutoh is the fucking manliest gay cowboy ever.  He still moves like the guy who jumps out at you at the haunted house, very controlled bursts of energy.  I guess 10,000 moonsaults will slow you down.  

He rode in on a horse named Fabulous.

 CHAOS gets the jump on our dream team and Yano grabs the mic and yells at the crowd for flaunting their eyebrows at him or something.  Kojima takes him back in the ring for some signature strikes.  Mutoh is still really fast for the split second where he drops the flashing elbow.  Iizuka CHEATS~! and hits Mutoh with the chair while simultaneously scaring the hell out of his former announcer victim.

Perhaps having a breakthrough with this immersion therapy, the announcer starts screaming “MUTOH GANBATTE!” at Iizuka as he keeps putting the boots to Mutoh.  Back inside Iizuka starts choking Mutoh with a rope.  Iizuka constantly looks like his head is about to explode.  He kind of works the same as I remember, except he replaced all his rest holds with underhanded tactics.  Yano comes in and starts apeing the Tenzan Mongolian Chops.  He does the Mutoh pose after the second one and Mutoh does this great sell of “Wait a second….that’s my po…ahh shit” as he takes the last chop. 

Heeeeey!

Mutoh makes the hot tag to Kojima who does the Kobashi endless chops in the corner and now I wonder what Kobashi is up to and if NOAH is still alive.  Another day. Kojima with the ‘Ichiyaro Bakayaro’ elbow.  Mutoh is in and hits 16 dropkicks to everyone’s knees and 10 dragon screws to get to our triple submission spot, Mutoh with the Figure Four, Tenzan with his Anaconda Vice and Kojima with his hammerlock sleeper thing that I vaguely remember as a Fire Pro D download move maybe? 

Ishii is left in the ring because he has the least interesting tights and takes a TenKoji Cutter followed by the original SHINING WIZARD~!  The ref is pulled out of the ring before the three though.  Iizuka has STEEL FINGERS!!!  I fucking love Iizuka.  Let’s go down the list,

              1)  Disregard for Human Life.  Check

              2)  Sweet ass skulls on his tights and knee pads.  Check

              3)    Steel Fingers to poke people with.  Double Check

But, as things do, it goes awry and he pokes Yano in his chest instead.  Iizuka eats a Shining Wizard and Ishii wanders in because it’s time for him to lose.  Get some caccodemons on your tights or something dude.  Lightning doesn’t cut it in 2012.  Lariato, Diving Headbutt, Moonsault.  This one’s over.

 

Mutoh still has the best moonsault.  It’s probably easier for him now that his kneecaps are dust.  The announcer is going nuts and throws his headset down in joy.  Mutoh wants him in the ring!  Iizuka eats an extra-curricular KojiCutter.  He’s tossed to the corner, Mutoh with the Shining Wizard and Pale Asian announcer with the Lariato.  The other announcer is losing his shit.  This was way better than any John Cena Make-A-Wish.  He’s back on commentary crying with joy, his incredibly small nipples still glistening from battle.

I need to see more 2012 Iizuka.