Kim and Dwayne Soper hold up some of the wrestling memorabilia that fill their Medicine Hat home. Wrestling returns to the Hat on Wednesday for the first time since pandemic restrictions were lifted.--NEWS PHOTO ALEX MCCUAIG
amccuaig@medicinehatnews.com
The glory days of Stampede Wrestling saw future stars of the sport make regular pilgrimages to the Gas City with a fan base which welcomed the bruisers with huge crowds for decades.
Honky Tonk Wayne, Bad News Allen, Owen Hart and the British Bulldogs would all go on to be international stars in the WWE.
But not before making a stop in the Hat to thrill fans.
While the creation of wrestling royalty Stu Hart has since passed, the memory of Stampede Wrestling still lives at the home of the Soper family in the form of autographed framed photos of mainstays like the Cuban Assassin and Gamma Singh hanging on the wall, to name just a few of the many pieces of memorabilia.
And it’s a love of the sport that runs right through the family of super fans that includes Dwayne and Kim Soper and their children, Sinjin, Owen, Brody and Arizona.
For family patriarch Dwayne, he says the return of wrestling next week to the city will be a welcome relief as the Western Canadian successor to Stampede Wrestling, Canadian Wrestling Elite makes a post-COVID return to Medicine Hat.
“I’ve been a wrestling fan since 1977,” said Dwayne, remembering taking in his first match in his native Newfoundland and seeing that province’s most famous wrestling product, Ed “Sailor” White. “From that day onward, I was hooked.”
What followed was a lifetime passion for the sport with Dwayne pulling out old wrestling magazines from the 1980s featuring letters he wrote to the publications as a youngster.
A move to Medicine Hat and exposure to Stampede Wrestling only served to cement his love of the sport and the connection to soon-to-be wife Kim.
“I used to sit front row centre and Kim used to sit front row centre,” said Dwayne, adding they’d hadn’t actually met during the shows in the late-1980s but, “lo and behold, years later, we’re married.”
Kim says she’s been a fan since the age of 12 and attended more matches than she can remember but, “When I was younger, there was a lot more fans.
“I love it. I love it when the fans mouth the bad guys off. It’s funny and I love to see the interactions.”
Part of the problem with local attendance has been the dominance of the WWE with all its glitz and glory.
It has led to wrestling losing touch with fans and not interacting with them, say the Sopers, who add they prefer the independent circuits.
“I like the indy wrestling and how they still do that,” said Kim.
And when the wrestlers come to town, they know the four Soper kids will be ringside ready for a verbal tussle that will energize the crowd.
It’s part of the connection between the family and the sport which sees them host the brawlers at their home.
“It’s a hard life,” said Dwayne of wrestling, which can include 30 show dates in 30 days. One which Kim says doesn’t necessarily lead to fame and fortune on the smaller circuits but does give the opportunity for the family to put up wrestlers from around the globe and hear the latest of the sport.
As for the current fanbase of wrestling fans in the Hat, Dwayne says the city has one of the best CWE fans west of Winnipeg where the circuit is based.
And with next week’s fight lineup being one of the first large indoor events in the city post-COVID restrictions, it’s an opportunity to “get away from all the stress … and yell at people in a way you couldn’t to normal people.”
The main event for the July 6 show at the Cypress Centre will feature CWE champion “Hotshot” Danny Duggan square off against the masked luchadore, “The Zombie Killer” Mentallo.
The undercard will see the homecoming of the Hat’s own “Crude Oil” Cody Mac as he takes on “The Headline” Shaun Martens.
Advance general admission tickets are $20 and can be purchased at the Garage Pub or online at cwetickets.com.
