Canadian Wrestling’s Elite tour brings the pain to Prince Albert
Chad Blind has never broken his nose.
That’s not something many professional wrestlers can say, especially someone with 20 years in the business.
Blind, who goes by the ring name “The Big Chief,” — an apt moniker for someone who weighs in at more than 400 pounds — was one of 20 wrestlers hurling bodies and insults at the Canadian Wrestling’s Elite (CWE) event at Lakeland Hall on Saturday night.
The show was part of CWE’s A Nightmare on Elite Street tour, which spans five provinces and includes 21 events in 21 days. Blind, who hails from Lestock, Sask., signed on for five of the tour’s stops in Saskatchewan and Alberta. Blind wrestled for the CWE championship against “Wrestling’s Strongest Man” Tyler Colton, but fell victim to “a sunset powerbomb from the top rope.” He’ll get another crack at the title in Regina on Aug. 12.
Before working with CWE, Blind primarily wrestled out of Regina. But now that he’s joined on with the promotion he’s had opportunities to travel the province and perform in front of friends who never got to see him in ring. That applies to Prince Albert, a city he used to call home.
“Prince Albert is an amazing city regardless what people might hear my alter ego say in the ring about the place, calling it ‘The gateway to the toilet bowl.’ That’s not how I feel. Really, it’s a gateway to beauty,” he said.
“I lived a pretty sheltered life my entire life before I moved up here and the city’s really special because it brought me out of my shell a lot.”
Growing up as “a little fat kid living in a small town where there was nothing happening,” it was Blind’s dream to become a professional wrestler. The opportunity finally presented itself in the late ‘90s when Blind came across an ad in a newspaper.
“I wasn’t sure if it was serious or not, so then I called the number, did some inquiries, went and met with the people and it was legit … and probably about six or seven months later we had our first show at the Regina Exhibition auditorium,” Blind said.
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Saturday night’s results:
Match 1: CWE tag team champions Shane Sabre and Phil Atlas defeated K-Dos and “Killa” Kaz Karter and Canadian Unified Jr. Heavyweight champion “Tornado” Tony Kozina and “The Red Ribbon Warrior” Kenji Brea in a “Triple Threat” tag team fight.
Match 2: Three-time CWE champion “Hotshot” Danny Duggan defeated “The Crazed Cowboy” Jacob Creed.
Match 3: “The Last Pure Athlete” Jordynne Grace defeated the Ring of Honour’s “The Gatekeeper” Kelly Klein.
Match 4: CWE champion “Wrestling’s Strongest Man” Tyler Colton defeated “The Big Chief.”
Match 5: The Ring of Honour’s “The Last Real Man” Silas Young defeated “The Mercenary.”
Match 6: The Ring of Honour’s “The Octopus” Jonathan Gresham, Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Kaito Kiyomiya and “Second to None” Alex Anthony defeated Kute Kody, “The King of Pong” Ethan Price and Tasty Travis in a six-man tag team bout.
