Wrestling is coming back to the Comox Valley in the form of a charity event featuring an assortment of colourful characters from the Island and the Lower Mainland.
Funds raised at the inaugural Slams for Sebastian Over The Top Rumble, slated for Feb. 16 at the K'ómoks First Nation band hall, will help pay medical costs for a six-month-old boy who has spent four months in hospital to receive treatments for a rare medical condition.
During his short time on this planet, Sebastian Cobban has undergone a PDA ligation, tracheostomy, hernia repair, appendix removal and gastronomy tube insertion. He is diagnosed with Dandy-Walker variant, facial palsy, pharyngeal web and micrognathia. His parents, Amanda Davis and Tyler Cobban, have twice moved and had trouble finding work during Sebastian's time in hospital. The couple has received help from family, but medical costs continue to mount.
"Their attitude is great," said event organizer/wrestler Keith Spinks, aka Sgt. Kaos. "Lots of people feel sorry for themselves, but they don't at all."
A recent concert in Campbell River raised about $2,000 for the couple, who are from the Valley but live in Edmonton.
Spinks, 43, is also a former Valley resident now living in Campbell River. He had been with Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling, Pacific Coast Championship Wrestling and All-Star Wrestling. The February event will be his final match for good reason: he has undergone three surgeries on an arthritic knee that needs to be replaced.
"I want to do one more match and do it for a good cause," Spinks said.
He will face Gorgeous Michelle Starr — a ring veteran who has wrestled in the WCW and WWF, as well as Japan, Korea, England and Mexico. The former Los Angeles resident now living in Surrey was Spinks' trainer at one time. They each hold a victory over the other.
"Even when we're not wrestling he's always interfering in my matches for the last six, seven years," Spinks said. "This is like the rubber match. And I'm not going out a loser."
Valley wrestler Barry Goode returns after a five-year sabbatical to face Disco Fury. He had a tuneup match Saturday at a card in Duncan.
The Slams for Sebastian will also feature seven-foot fan favourite Cremator, whom Spinks compares to former wrestling stars The Undertaker or Kane. Cremator is from Port Alberni.
"Or Rob Zombie's mind, if you ask him," Spinks said. "He was my tag team partner at the last charity show. The fans love him."
Cremator will take on longtime nemesis Scotty Mac, a former tag-team partner of Spinks until he turned on Sgt. Kaos.
"We had a feud for a couple of years. The crowds here hate him," said Spinks, recalling fans from a previous charity show attacking Mac as he made his way to the ring.
The card also features BJ Laredo, Scott Steel, Azeem the Dream, Lak Siddartha, the Krofton Kid and a ladies' match. JetFm's Rock Dawg Andrew Davis, who is Sebastian's great-uncle, will be a special guest referee at the February event.
All proceeds will help Amanda and Tyler with medical costs.
Spinks — who has spent his share of time at Children's Hospital with his epileptic daughter Jenna — is no stranger to charity shows. He has previously held fundraisers for Special Olympics and You Are Not Alone. The latter raises money to assist families who need out-of-town medical treatment for their children.
He plans to hold a Slams for Sebastian wrestling card and a Songs for Sebastian concert once a year.
"Their medical bills aren't going away," Spinks said.
For more information about an online fundraising campaign, visit http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/sebastiansmedicalfund/27057. The Facebook event page is https://www.facebook.com/events/433421010038853/.