The name Stampede Wrestling is still one that inspires awe in the minds of Canadians. Whether you were a fan of professional wrestling or not, the promotion holds a special place in Albertan’s – no pun intended – hearts.

Throughout the long and storied history of Stampede, many of the promotion’s top stars, including Bret Hart, Owen Hart, Dynamite Kid, and more made their respective way at one point or another to the former WWF or current WWE. One of the final Stampede roster members to sign with the world’s biggest promotion is Natalya, who of course can still be found on national TV on a weekly basis with her work on Friday Night Smackdown.

Appearing on the Duke You Suck podcast hosted by former Stampede/PWA star Duke Durrango, Natalya described her early days in professional wrestling plying her trade for her family’s legendary promotion.

“It was such a special time,” she commented to begin the show. “We don’t realize how important those early years are. Looking back on it, they were so special. They were really the building blocks of my career that helped me to achieve everything that I have today. But, when we were living it, we were wrestling in the Ogden Legion and the Bowness Sportsplex and we were just scraping by, and we were happy to do it all for literally nothing. When I look back at what I was making and how much work I was putting into it, it really taught me so much about how much I wanted to do this.”

“When people ask me about getting into the industry, and they tell me they love wrestling and they watch me on TV, or they watch me on Total Divas, or they have followed my career, they don’t understand how important it is to find what it is that you love and to run hard with it,” commented the former WWE Women’s Champion. “When I found what it was that I loved, which is pro wrestling, being able to be given that opportunity in Stampede Wrestling was everything.”

Speaking of her introduction to the business, Natalya then went on to describe how the promotion not only affected her career in professional wrestling, but life itself, listing a number of ways that Stampede influenced her as a human.

“I kind of fell into it through the family, but then 20 years later realized how pivotal it was for me as a human being. It taught me a lot about resilience. It taught me a lot about work ethic. It taught me a lot about relationships. It taught me a lot about what matters to me. It taught me a lot about fighting for things that I believe in. I learned all of that those early years with [Duke] and [his] brother and TJ and with Harry and this motley crew of people that we worked with, from Bruce and Ross to the whole crew that we worked with, from Jamie and Anna and Harmony. I look back on it now and I laugh, but it was such a special time for me to really hone my craft.

“I definitely would not be where I am today without Stampede Wrestling.”

Please credit the Duke You Suck podcast with any of the above quotations, with an h/t to Spencer Love for the transcription.

Since making his DEFY Wrestling debut in 2018, BC’s Artemis Spencer has become one of the most well-known pro wrestlers on the independent scene. While his work with the Vancouver-based ECCW was more than enough to earn him a reputation as one of the most talented individuals in the Pacific North West, his run with DEFY has truly been remarkable. Not only has he faced and defeated the likes of Schaff, Rey Fenix, MJF, and Christopher Daniels with the promotion, but on December 14, 2018, Spencer defeated Shane Strickland to capture the DEFY World Championship for the first time.

While by no means was Spencer a stranger to winning titles by that point, but even he’s the first to admit that reaching the apex with DEFY meant something special.

“You wrestled for ECCW for pretty well your entire career, [where] DEFY is a bit more of a recent addition to the repertoire for yourself, but you’ve been the heavyweight champion of both promotions,” I noted. “Do they perhaps mean a little bit differently for you? How do they sort of equate for you, or what are the different feelings you have between both of those championship wins?”

Spencer took a second to mull the question.

“I’m kind of a down-to-earth kind of guy,” he began. “I’ve won lots of championships, like in ECCW or around Vancouver. I’ve won lots of belts over the year and I’m just like, I’ve never been, ‘Oh, yeah, it’s just kind of a prop. It’s fun, whatever.'”

“But, when I had that DEFY Championship, I really felt like it meant something,” he beamed. “When I got that, a bunch of doors opened up for me and that’s when I started to believe the belts can kind of mean something. I’ve never been a belt guy, and never been all about the championship, but I can’t deny that that DEFY Championship got a lot of eyes on me from a lot of people. I’d say that DEFY World Championship means a lot to me.”

It was far from the first time a guest has sung the praises of DEFY Wrestling. Though DEFY has just barely scratched the four-year mark of existence, the Seattle-based promotion has earned a reputation for its incredible in-ring action, raucous fan base, and, most importantly, treatment of people involved.

“What is it about DEFY specifically as a promotion?

” I asked him. “You’ve brought it up, Ravenous Randy’s brought it up, [and] anyone I’ve spoken to who’s even worked there fleetingly has brought up just the amount of love that they have for working for DEFY Wrestling.”

“What else is there about DEFY Wrestling that really draws Artemis Spencer and his heart to it?”

AS: “You said love, and love is it,” he espoused. “You can tell like everyone from the top, the promoters [and] booker’s [that] they love wrestling. And the wrestlers, they love wrestling, and the fans love it just as much. It’s just the kind of the perfect mix. Everybody in that building is just on the same page and just want good wrestling.”

“It’s – I don’t want to say magical, but there’s something going on there.”

Please credit Spencer Love/Love Wrestling with any of the above quotations.