This Friday, Island Charity Wrestling presents its annual charity family wrestling show with all profits this year going to support You Are Not Alone (YANA).
What originally started as a unique idea for an annual store summer party and charity fundraiser for Superstore in 2009 has now moved indoors and become an annual tradition in the Valley that welcomes anyone to its shows.
While you will see exciting wrestling action, crazy good and evil characters, and storylines, you will not see professionals.
ICW is a non-professional charity group. While a few members have had some professional training, the majority are local retail workers who practise and put on pro-style wrestling shows for fun, charity, and community service.
Its members vary in skill level and experience in the ring, but do their best to put on a good show and never fail to entertain. ICW has a loyal following of fans that come to all its' shows wherever they are, many of them children that really love the action and characters, no matter how unpolished some may be.
This year's Valley show, the War on the Shore, features a dozen matches including all four championships up for grabs in the main events. The ICW title will be on the line as "Dangerous" Doug Beattie-D.D.B. squares off against his arch-nemesis Splash Campbell.
The Vancouver Island Tag Team Championship is up for grabs as champions the Chain Gang defend their belts; and the Vancouver Island Charity Championship is on the line as Splash Campbell defends his title in a 12-man over-the-top-rope battle royale.
The hardest title to win, the Vancouver Island Hardcore Championship, also gets put up in a "fans bring the weapons" hardcore match, as four-year champion Acadian Assassin, the longest-reigning champion ever, faces his latest challenger "Big" Willy Johnson in a no-disqualification, falls count anywhere match in which anything can and will happen.
Also scheduled to appear is: Taco, "Mexico's biggest Canucks fan" Juan E. Cañuck, Explosive Claymore, The Bumbling B, "The Lost Viking" Magnus Hunkström, Hillbilly Black, "The Wrestlin' Rocker" Zed Leppelin, Major America, The A-Train, Big Daddy Pain, Cooter Johnson, "The Sickness" Chris Slade, Matt Havik, Ivan Boneyard, Safety Man, and more.
There will be prize draws, programs for sale with collectable trading cards, a small merchandise table including DVDs of past shows, and pictures with the wrestlers all available to raise a little extra money for YANA.
Superstore manager Shawn Rondeau will run the concession table by donation, with all proceeds from concession going to Superstore's charity, President's Choice Children's Charity.
All seats are for a minimum donation of $5, making this low-cost entertainment for the family or anyone who likes professional style wrestling with a beginner's twist.
This Friday at the K'ómoks Band Hall, next to the I-Hos Gallery, at 3320 Comox Road in Courtenay. Doors open at 7:30.
Seating is limited to 150 so pre-purchase is recommended. Tickets can be purchased from any participant or by calling 250-792-3332, or at the door if any remaining.
— Island Charity Wrestling