Former ROH, WWE and TNA multi-time champion Austin Aries is the headliner as Canadian Wrestling’s Elite (CWE) returns to Prince Albert at the PAGC Urban Services on Friday, Nov .28 for the Rumble to Remember on Friday, Nov. 28.
Aries will be in Prince Albert as part of the Rumble to Remember tour. He said it’s been a good experience so far.
“We’ve kind of lucked out with the weather, especially,” he said. “(We) got the sun peeking out right now, haven’t hit any snow yet or frigidly cold temperatures, so that’s been real nice. This isn’t Ares’ first time wrestling with the CWE. He’s wrestled at a few house shows, but never completed a long tour like this.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever done anything like this 22 days, 23 days, whatever it is,” he said. It’s nice when you’ve been doing this as long as I have that you can still put some challenges in front of you, some things that kind of test you that you haven’t done before.”
Ares has recently returned from a tour of Mexico and CMLL. He said the experience in Mexico is completely different, but one thing they both have in common is the chance to visit smaller cities and towns regular visitors might skip.
“Just getting to take their hands and talk to them and hear their stories, have a little conversation, that’s pretty cool.” Aries said.
Aries, who was born Daniel Solwold, said he grew up a wrestling fan and started watching in the early 1980s. After graduating high school, he went to college, but decided it wasn’t for him. Instead, he decided to try wrestling.
“This was all pre-internet though,” he said. “You couldn’t Google to figure out how to get into pro wrestling. It was still a little bit of a hidden and protected secret. You kind of knew somebody who knew somebody.
“I had a friend of mine who I grew up with who was training to be a wrestler. He started training in Minneapolis, which was a few hours from where I was at going to school.
I went up and checked it out.”
Aries was trained by noted wrestling trainer from Minnesota Eddie Sharkey, who trained a lot of talented Minnesota wrestlers like Rick Rude and the Road Warriors.
“Once I knew this was a possibility, I moved up on my buddy’s couch and started doing whatever I had to do to chase the dream,” Ares said.
Aries has now been wrestling for 25 years which he said was crazy. He got his start in 2000 with Ring of Honor (ROH). He said his friend sent him an article about ROH and what the independent was about.
“I remember at the time writing them back and saying like, yeah, ‘that’s looks pretty cool, but I’m not ready for that yet,’” he said.
Ares wrestled a couple of matches with CM Punk who had been working with Ring of Honor. He also wrestled at the ECW Super 8 tournament.
“That kind of put some eyes on me,” Ares said. “It’s kind of starting to get a little bit of recognition or branching out a little more beyond just the Midwest.”
He said Ring of Honor was hosting ‘Do or Die’ events, which were a free show that acted as a try out for people like himself to get seen by the company.
“They invited me to one of those in the Midwest, but I was already booked that weekend.
I actually just drove. I hopped in a van and drove out with a bunch of other guys just kind of on a whim. Then I got put in a do-or-die match with Danny Daniels and unleashed my arsenal and it was enough for them to show interest in me.”
He said that once ROH showed interest he moved to Philadelphia where the company was based, eventually becoming the organizations first multi-time champion. He said ROH helped him develop.
“I was working with guys consistently that were more experienced than me, that were better than me,” he said. “It was challenging me to grow as a performer and as a pro wrestler, but being the guy to unseat Samoa Joe and his two-year title reign and what he had done at that time, that kind of thrust me right in the spotlight.”
Ares has also been a six-time TNA X Division Champion and three time TNA Champion. He said that when looking back on his career he can have a different favourite memory depending on the day.
“The best thing with pro wrestling is it’s allowed me to travel the world,” he said. “I grew up in a suburb of Milwaukee. I don’t know how much I would have ventured outside of my respective bubble if it wasn’t for pro wrestling.
“That’s expanding my worldview and give me a perspective of life that I wouldn’t have had otherwise. That’s honestly the best thing wrestling has given me as far as the memories or the moments. I mean, it’s just the interactions, right, it’s just getting to talk to people and understanding that at the end of the day, what we do, it’s a form of entertainment, but it can have some real impact on people’s lives or create memories for them that are going to last forever or get them through some difficult times or whatever it might be, and that is something that feels good. It pays you back when you’re able to give that to somebody else.”
Along with an Over The Top Rope Rumble Main Event. Aries is in a Special Attraction Match against Prince Albert fan favourite “The Crazy MoFo” CAM!!ikaze.
Aries encouraged fans old and new to come out to the show.
“It’s an opportunity to come out and see pro wrestling in a setting where you get to really feel the connection with the performers, the pro wrestlers. You get to get up close and personal. Everyone is out there to create a great night of entertainment for families and for kids,” he said.
Other matches on the card include a CWE 123Approved.ca Hardcore Championship Match with CWE Hardcore Champion “The Pissed Off Pitbull” Robby Royce against independent wrestling legend “Tornado” Tony Kozina, a Tag Team Match between “Crude Oil” Cody Mac and The Canadian Goose against “Hotshot” Danny Duggan and Ronnie Attitude and a CWE Championship Match between CWE Champion “Chizzled” Chad Daniels and “The Canadian Crusher” AJ Sanchez.
The Meet and Greet is at 6 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and bell time is 7 p.m. at PAGC Urban Services
Advance Tickets are available at Colette Portamedic Services and Flawless Victory or online at cwetickets.com.
michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca
