Independent pro wrestlers are some of the most well-travelled individuals on the face of the planet. By design, the job requires hundreds of hours on the road on a near-daily basis in order to make ends meet.
That’s something that current IMPACT Wrestling star Cody Deaner is more than familiar with. Over the course of his twenty-year career, Deaner has found himself on the road more often than not, recently having a string of 19 straight days of travel cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Of course, independent scenes from town-to-town can differ wildly, nonetheless when talking about promotions and fan bases thousands of kilometres away. It was something that Deaner and I discussed when he joined me for an upcoming interview and specifically chatted about the differences in wrestling scenes across Canada.
“I think the one thing that I noticed about being out in Alberta is – I don’t know if it was just my mind telling me this, or if it was actually true, but I felt like the Alberta fans are a little more of an old school fan, because of the history of the Hart family and those things.” Deaner began. “Maybe it was because I actually went and visited the Hart House while I was there in Alberta because I’m a huge – obviously, as a Canadian, Bret Hart is like the man.
So, I went out and I just had that on my mind.”
Deaner continued.
“Just wrestling in front of those Alberta fans, I mean, it just felt like this old school feel, and some of the crowds in Ontario like that, but not all of them,” he explained. “But, every single time I’ve wrestled in Alberta, it’s just like this old school mentality. I guess maybe what I mean by that is there’s not a fan that’s in the audience that’s trying to bring attention to themselves. They just appreciate watching what’s in the ring, and they just want to have a good time, no matter what kind of wrestling is happening in front of them. They are there to have a good time, and support the guys they like, and boo the guys they don’t, which is usually support the guy they’re supposed to cheer and boo the guy they’re supposed to boo, and they just want to have fun.
“
“That’s my kind of wrestling, man, and that’s the kind of fans are in Alberta. And that’s – I noticed that right away when I was out there.”
Please credit Spencer Love/Love Wrestling with any transcriptions used.