Mystery Wrestling 14

Wrestlers from the world roll into town

J-D Potié

The Aydelu Centre, also known as the Gatineau Thunderdome, was rocking last week, as professional wrestlers from the region to across the Atlantic Ocean enthralled a crowd of around 200 during Mystery Wrestling 14.

With Mystery Wrestling Co-Founder Evil Uno along with special guest Allie The Bunny as on site commentators, simultaneously streaming live on Twitch, the event featured seven matches including a couple of tag team contests, quirky costumes and numerous props pulled from under the ring - from metal chairs to wooden mallets - not to mention a chaotic lumberjack match that left the crowd shocked and awed, and the ring blanketed in fragments of broken doors in a dominant display of destruction, comedy and wrestling.

Involving the likes of New Japan Pro Wrestling Strong Openweight Champion - all the way from Nottingham, England - Gabe Kidd, as well as Canadian native wrestler Stu Grayson, and two-time Pure Wrestling Association Elite Women’s Champion Alexia Nicole, the event marked Mystery Wrestling’s return to action after selecting its inaugural champion Psycho Mike at Mystery 13 last January.

In the main event, Kidd, who entered the ring carrying his Openweight Championship Belt, uneasily dismantled Grayson in a both silly and serious duel that became a battle between Canada and England with a lot of playfully patriotic trash-talking making the whole crowd turn against the boy from Nottingham and root for Grayson.

After the event, Mystery Wrestling Co-Founder Patrick Lozinski told the Aylmer Bulletin that he’s thrilled to see local wrestling fans respond to the company’s unique brand of wrestling with such appreciation and loyalty. “The crowd has been awesome,” he said. “I think they’re falling in love more and more with our product. They’re familiar with it, and they’re becoming real Mystery Wrestling fans and not just wrestling fans.”

Noting that Mystery Wrestling champion Psycho Mike’s first-time absence made it harder to come up with a compelling fight card, Lozinski said the presence of Kidd, who wrestled in the Tokyo Dome in Japan last January, more than gave it justice. “It was pretty insane … to have [Gabe Kidd] wrestle at the Centre Aydelu in Aylmer,” Lozinski said. “It’s quite the accomplishment.”

Focused on providing a product that is different from the majority of mainstream wrestling events, Lozinski says Mystery Wrestling will continue to take risks by providing what he calls “a buffet of all the styles of wrestling”.

Regarding the lumberjack match, which was a hit with the crowd, Lozinski explained that it was a personal twist of his on typical lumberjack matches. Instead of seeing two wrestlers in the ring trying to throw each other out to be harassed by several wrestlers outside the ring, this match featured actual lumberjacks simply mercilessly beating the pulp out of the two wrestlers in the ring, all while one of the lumberjacks played a dazzling electric guitar solo.“This is a concept that I proudly came up with, based on a wrestler from the 90s called New Jack,” he said.

Speaking after his match, Grayson, who has been long a recurring participant in Mystery Wrestling, said the show was one of the best he could remember, and that the audience is responding increasingly positively to its wildly unpredictable product. “Every new show, the crowd gets what we’re doing more and more, and they get behind the concept more and more,” Grayson said, noting that the wrestlers are also becoming more accustomed to Mystery Wrestling’s concept. “They understand the ridiculous things we do. Every time we put on real hard-hitting action, they immediately change gears and understand that this time it’s about two badasses beating each other up.”

“The more the fans are into it, the stronger we get in the ring,” he added.

Mystery Wrestling 15 is scheduled to take place on April 27 at the Aydelu Centre.

While the fight card remains a mystery, Lozinski said the event will mark Mystery Wrestling’s two-year anniversary, which merits making it a little extra special. “We’re gonna try to put a little extra love in it, maybe put some love into the aesthetic, and entrances and whatnot,” Lozinski said. “Just try to freshen it up just a tiny bit.”