CARLYLE - When the doors opened to the Carlyle Memorial Hall in the evening of Feb. 26, people flocked in, eagerly waiting for the show to begin for the Canadian Wrestling Elite (CWE).
This was the first time that the promotion was in Carlyle and the crowd was excited to see the event take place.
(The Franchise) Shane Douglas was one of the main attractions, being a former champion in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), now known as World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). He also took part in Total Nonstop Action (TNA) wrestling, where he was a wrestler and a manger.
Douglas was a school teacher at the time his career began, and he taught special education for seven years. He loved teaching his kids and always told them to never lie and be strong with whatever they did.
At the same time, his wrestling career began and when the time was right, he moved on to wrestling fulltime and left his teaching job behind him.
In ECW, he was the world champion for a combined 874 days, but he had more accomplishments when he held titles in all three major U.S. promotions in the 1990s, making him one of the few to do so. At the time, Douglas did not even know that this was done, until a fan told him about the accomplishment.
ECW was hardcore wrestling and he said they wrestled many nights out of the year.
Douglas said he does not like the politics involved, and after some issues with former WWF owner Vince McMahon Jr., he moved on.
He loves what he does today and proclaims that this is not a sport, it is wrestling.
At the age of 59 years, he still has the moves and took on (The Mastermind) Kevin Cannon, whom he defeated with ease. As he came from behind the curtains, he made the crowd feel like part of the action, by high-fiving the kids and even hugging one of the front row guests.
When his match was over, he spoke to the crowd on how great it was to see so many attend, and that it was a wonderful place for the kids to be.
An event like this keeps kids away from drinking, drugs and wandering the streets. Douglas said they can yell at the bad guys and cheer the good guys, as it is all part of the show to get the audience involved.
He said it is a fantastic way for kids to get rid of tension, while enjoying a show, and not get into trouble for yelling.
He spoke little about his past days, but praised the organization he was touring with.
Douglas said that CWE is into safety first, and if it is not safe, it is not done. He feels that today's WWE takes far too many chances, and this is why so many of the athletes end up on the injured list.
While with the WWE, he had no idea that at one point he had broken his neck.
“We all get sore and have bumps and bruises,” he said. “But we chalk it up to the match the night before.”
The ring bounces with the moves, the floor is hard, the turnbuckles are real and they still hurt.
Although he healed well, he feels caution should be taken more in the industry.
Five matches were lined up with the first being Chiseled Chad Daniels verses Scott Ripley. This opening match had the kids pumped and getting right into the show.
Due to the low ceiling in the hall, a lower ring was set up, but this did not stop any of the wrestlers from doing an off-the-top-rope move.
The next match had Josh “Cheeks” Holliday against Canadian wrestling legend EZ Ryder.
Tag team champions (The Zombie Killer) Mentallo and his tag team partner (Mighty) Leon Lokombo took on (The Headliner) Shaun Martens and The Boston Bruiser. This match came into the crowd, which gave some of the people some great memories as the wrestlers were right beside them.
In the end the tag team champions lost this match, but the titles were not on the line.
The last match of the night was CAM!!ikaze verses the seven-time CWE champion Danny Duggan.
Duggan has just returned this year from a knee injury and was happy to be back in the squared circle.
He managed to get the crowd in an uproar with his American flag and by trash talking Canadians. The kids did not take kindly to this and let Duggan know.
At the beginning and end of the event all wrestlers came out and signed autographs for nearly 100 people in attendance.
Duggan, who is CWE's promoter, announced that another CWE will be returning to Carlyle on April 29, with former WWE wrestler Savio Vega appearing. They will also be in Carnduff on May 4.
Douglas said the crowd was great and he enjoyed the time spent in Carlyle.
An after party was held at the Office Bar and Grill in Carlyle where most of the wrestlers attended to sit, relax and socialize.
