Emo Reeve Russ “The Terminator” Fortier walked down the dimly lit Emo Arena surface last Friday night to the chorus of cheers and loud rock music.
His Fort Frances counterpart, Mayor Glenn “The Amalgamator” Witherspoon, followed shortly after wearing a ski mask and waving a Fort Frances flag–this time to waves of boos and hisses.
This was not your typical town meeting.
The Winnipeg-based Canadian Wrestling Federation made its first-ever trip to Emo to stage an extreme wrestling show in front of 375 fans.
While the feature match saw Emo native Dean “Madman” Martin capture the CWF’s “hardcore” championship with a victory over “The Spider,” it was Reeve Fortier and Mayor Witherspoon who put on a show of their own to kick the evening off.
“It was tough out there. After just five minutes, I was dying,” recalled Reeve Fortier.
Mayor Witherspoon added it was difficult to concentrate at times. “When I saw him with that makeup dripping off his face, I started to laugh,” he remarked. “I thought he was going to die on me.”
Before the match, each municipal leader had a slew of seconds accompanying them to the ring. CWF champion “The Big Kahuna”–and bad guy of all bad guys–was in Mayor Witherspoon’s corner and took time to chastise the home crowd.
The mayor did little to verbally abuse the crowd, opting to ply his dirty work inside the ring, including sneaking in a chain when the referee wasn’t looking.
“Wasn’t that authentic when I put that chain around his neck?” he said three days later.
But when all the participants started to brawl outside the ring at the six-minute mark, Reeve Fortier, himself a former judo brown belt, made his move and locked up Mayor Witherspoon with a “Reeve rollover” for the win.
Mayor Witherspoon was not upset with the loss but rather the lack of punishment he was allowed to inflict on Reeve Fortier.
“There was a plan where I was going to level him as he came off the ropes but it never happened,” he said. “That’s one move I have in my arsenal.”
“There has always been a rivalry between Fort Frances and Emo and it was fun to play it up a bit,” added Reeve Fortier. “Glenn was a good sport to come in here and be the bad guy.”
The wrestling event was organized by the Emo Chamber of Commerce, with proceeds going towards building a sportsfield complex north of the town.
Meanwhile, Martin put “Spider” through two tables en route to capturing his second “hardcore” title in front of the hometown fans.
Other wrestlers on Friday night’s card were “Caveman” Broda, National Wrestling Alliance North American champ Dark Rain, and Baron Von Wiener.
Yes, that was his actual name.
Reeve Fortier said a good time was had by all. “It was just nice to do something for the community. Anything I can do to help, I’ll do,” he said.
“It was a good match and a good crowd,” echoed Mayor Witherspoon. “I hope the town raised some money for their fields.”
Still, the big question remains: where does this municipal rivalry go from here? Next year, Reeve Fortier said the Fort Frances faithful will have a chance to cheer on Mayor Witherspoon.
“We’ll probably have a rematch in Fort Frances next year so maybe the tables will be turned,” he said.
No definite dates have been set but “The Amalgamator” already is looking forward to getting “The Terminator” back in the ring.
“I look forward to that happening,” he said. “I have to improve my record back to .500.”
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