'A surreal moment': Local wrestlers appear on WWE's Monday Night RAW
The return of World Wrestling Entertainment to Edmonton ended up being a dream come true for a group of local wrestlers.
Six of them were chosen to appear as security guards for wrestler "The Miz" on Monday Night RAW at Rogers Place last week.
“A lot of the time I was kind of fighting back myself not to be like, 'Oh my god! This is the coolest thing ever,'” recalled Mike Carlson who wrestles as Jack Pride.
The "Miz Force" ended up in a heap on the floor as wrestler Dexter Lumis, dressed in Edmonton Oilers gear, broke a hockey stick over The Miz's back. Even though they lost the on-screen fight, the local wrestlers were just happy to be included.
“Anytime you're on WWE TV, that’s cool," said Michael Richard Blais, a local wrestler and producer. "But for me, I ended up getting to do it with my little brother who was one of the guys in the security team with me and some of my very good friends in wrestling, which for me was cool.”
Blais and the rest of the security team are the driving force behind a training school in Edmonton called Clandestine Wrestling Society.
When they’re not teaching people how to wrestle they’re grappling each other at monthly shows at the South Common Rec Room. Blais described his shows as an "intimate atmosphere," but WWE is the highest level.
“Definitely a surreal moment. It’s definitely something all of us want to do, definitely what I want to do. That’s the goal for me at least, to be a professional wrestler in the WWE so getting that chance was pretty eye opening for me,” said Steven Crowe AKA The Rhinestone Cowboy.
The guys will try to recreate that excitement during their next event at the Rec Room on Oct. 28.
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Marek Tkach
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