“We are hoping to not just bring wrestling, but excellent wrestling to Fort McMurray,” said Cameron Brake, who wrestles as “Buckshot” Bobby Brake.
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Between classes at Keyano College, Cameron Brake and his friends joked they should drop out of their power engineering program and become professional wrestlers. Later that day, Brake saw an ad on Facebook that Monster Pro Wrestling (MPW) was looking for wrestlers.
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“I thought ‘this is destiny. I’ve gotta do it,’” said Brake in an interview. “Now it is my greatest joy. It is the single greatest thing I’ve ever done and the thing that makes me the most happy in the world.”
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On May 11, Brake–who wrestles as “Buckshot” Bobby Brake–will be in Fort McMurray for MPW: Dirty Deeds. This will be the second independent wrestling event in Fort McMurray since MPW came to Keyano College last September.
“That was one of the greatest experiences of my life,” said Brake. “To be able to bring this thing that I love and have pursued to my home is something I imagined doing since I was a little kid. It was perfect. All my friends and family were there, and I did something I love in a gym I played in as a child.”
Brake has a background in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu from training at Bowman’s Martial Arts. He attributed that training to laying a groundwork for grappling in wrestling. The fighting can be a challenge, but the biggest challenge is showmanship. That became easier when Brake told himself to relax, tap into his own personality and have fun.
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His wildest wrestling match was at a bar in Williams Lake B.C. Brake drove straight to the event after working a night shift at Syncrude. He was tired but felt he could still wrestle. During the match, Brake was hit with a wood and glass clock. He says he was “bleeding like a maniac” as glass and wood exploded over his head.
“I was so tired and I ended up finishing the match, partying with my friends and falling asleep with shards of glass in my head because I had forgotten about it,” he said. “That is how intense the high was from performing.”
Sean Dunster, MPW’s owner and promoter, expects the May event to be bigger. Last fall’s event was Fort McMurray’s first indie pro wrestling event in 20 years, but attendance struggled because it was scheduled during concerts at Wood Buffalo Ribfest.
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Dunster says there is still an appetite for wrestling in Fort McMurray. He heard from plenty of people in Fort McMurray who wished they could have attended. The people who saw the wrestling pleaded with Dunster to come back again. One local resident, Kevin Garbuio, brought 13 friends and compared wrestling to Shakespeare.
Brake says he has also noticed a growing interest in professional wrestling. Much of this is thanks to the arrival of AEW, a renewed interest in WWE and classic wrestling clips uploaded on YouTube.
“We’ve got big plans for Fort Mac. We’ve had a lot of people ask about training and maybe we can get a ring up there,” said Dunster, who was part of a WCW developmental camp in the 1990s and early 2000s.
“We are hoping to not just bring wrestling, but excellent wrestling to Fort McMurray,” said Brake.
MPW: Dirty Deeds returns to Keyano College on May 11. Doors open at 6 p.m. Ticket information is on Facebook.
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vmcdermott@postmedia.com
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