For the first time since the early 2000s, Prince George may be about to get a pro wrestling school.
A recent revival of the sport in Prince George drew the attention of hundreds of fans who packed the House of Ancestors last weekend to watch the Primetime Wrestling’s League’s first two champions crowned.
Now, Stuart “The Mauler” Brown and his team are looking for a venue to open a pro wrestling school to help build the renewed local love of the sport.
“We have already started looking at buildings,” Brown said, “we are either going to find something ourselves or find something to share with somebody.”
Brown previously ran a pro wrestling school in Prince George that opened in 2000, he said when they started there were around 20 people taking lessons from ages 16 to their mid-30s.
This time around he is hoping for that “or more,” he said they have around 16 interested people already before a venue has even been locked down.
“You start off with your basics, learning your rolls and landings,” Brown explained, saying students gradually work up to actual wrestling and choreographed stunts.
“We are completely safe, and won’t let anyone do anything they are not ready to do,” he continued. “A lot of it is basic tumbling and callisthenics to start with, it is just strengthening the body.”
There is no set start date yet, but Brown has been actively searching for a venue and wants to get going as soon as possible.
“In five years, I want [wrestling] to be a main, regular thing that anyone can bring their families to and have fun. I want to continue to grow it here for sure,” he said.
Two weekends of wrestling have been held at the House of Ancestors since mid-October under the Primetime name, with another weekend planned for May 12 and 13.
Fans got into last weekend’s event by donation, raising $4,600 for the Crisis Prevention, Intervention & Information Centre in honour of “Prime Time” Franky Styles, one of Brown’s first students, who took his own life during the pandemic.
“It was absolutely amazing,” Brown said. “Sold out both nights, loud insane crowds… they were loud, chanting screaming.”
“Backstage Pass” Braydon Goss and “Mr. Beefy Goodness” Vance Nevada both left with champion’s belts on the weekend and will return in May to defend their titles.
Nevada holds the most titles in Canadian professional wrestling history, now with 46 in his 30-year career in the ring.
BC Indigenous Sports Hall of Famer “Delta Dawn” Dawn Murphy also made an appearance in the ring.