Eugene’s antics steal show

By Kirk Starratt

Transcontinental

NovaNewsNow.com

Ultimate Championship Wrestling (UCW) made its debut at the War Memorial Community Centre in Windsor Friday night with an event packed with wild action.

Nick Dinsmore, a.k.a. former World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Superstar Eugene, was the headline attraction. He squared off against “Lumber” Jack Johnson, accompanied by Papi, in the first half of the night’s double bill.

Known as the “Wrestling Savant”, Eugene incorporates elements of some of the greatest wrestling stars into his own repertoire. He is extremely versatile in the ring and difficult for opponents to prepare for.

Despite Johnson attempting to use his trusty 2X4 “Woody” against Eugene and trying to steal a win by throwing powder in Eugene’s eyes (after the referee was knocked for a loop), it was the former WWE Superstar who had his hand raised in victory when the smoke (or powder, in this case) cleared.

Following the match, Eugene praised the Windsor fans. When asked about his match against Johnson, Eugene said the ringside audience was calling his opponent “Lumber Jerk” and he credited the crowd for giving him a heads-up in time to avoid a blast from Johnson’s 2x4.

Experienced pro wrestler

Eugene made an appearance at Wrestlemania 21 in California in 2005 alongside “The Immortal” Hulk Hogan, perhaps the most well recognized performer in the history of professional wrestling. Eugene was once the tag-team partner of the legendary “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan and is a former co-holder of the WWE World Tag Team Championship, with William Regal.

“When you finally get there and you make it to the top of the mountain and you’re standing there with your idol, your best friend, you know that all your dreams have come true in every sense,” Eugene said about his Wrestlemania appearance with Hogan. “Ever since that day, I’m just living the dream, that’s all I’m doing because when I stood across from my hero, I was just, like, so excited.”

Wildman on the floor

In the second half of the evening, new UCW Champion “Wildman” Gary Williams, successfully defended against “The Silver Tongue Sex Symbol” Jeremy Prophet. Williams won the title from Kentville’s Trash Canyon last Thursday night at the Halifax Forum. He and Canyon are national TV stars on The Fight Network’s Wrestling Reality and RUSH HD’s Kardinal Sinners.

In Windsor, Canyon was victorious in his match against “The Real” JJB. “Commercial Free” Sexton Phoenix defeated “Dynamite” Dave Floyd and UCW Middleweight Champion “Badness Personified” J.P. Simms successfully defended against Tristan Strife.

Tag-team

In an interview with ring announcer “Captain” Kirk at the opening of the show, UCW President, Promoter and CEO Chuck Martin announced wrestling legends the Honky Tonk Man and Bushwhacker Luke were unable to defend their UCW Tag Team Championship within the specified 90-day limit. Therefore, the championship was declared vacant and a single elimination tag-team tournament has been organized to crown new titleholders. The team of Kentville’s Aaron “Hot Shot” Haggerty and Truro’s XXL won a semi-final tournament match against Johnny Jack Spade and Victor Cross, managed by Bill Goldstein, in Windsor.

However, later in the night, after Kirk invited Haggerty and XXL to the ring to congratulate them on their victory, they were interrupted by Spade and Cross, who demanded a five-minute time limit rematch. Haggerty and XXL accepted but ended up on the short end of the stick the second time around. Spade and Cross advanced in the title tournament.



• It should be noted the video that accompanies this story is of a graphic nature. All wrestlers appearing have years of highly specialized training and are performing in the spirit of entertaining fans, not in the spirit of violence or irresponsibility. Nothing shown here should be mimicked or re-enacted by anyone who is not a trained professional wrestler. VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.