Introduction –

WR Global is a new idea in which our very global staff will be writing about what country they’re from and what wrestling talents have inspired them or made them proud of their country. WR has writers from all over the UK, North America and other parts of the globe who contribute amazing content each week to our readers. This is our way to get a little more personal with you and share with you exactly what has made us a fan of wrestling and what has made us proud to support it. It doesn’t quite matter if the superstar has made the biggest impact or is a fan favorite. It also doesn’t matter if they’ve made it to the big leagues or won a title. All that matters is we share information about these superstars from our respective countries and perhaps inspire our readers to do the same through commenting on the write ups. Most articles will be showcasing around 3-4 talents from the respective countries of the writers and most countries will be able to have multiple articles due to the abundance of talent. If you’re a fan and you want to share you’re superstars with us, please do! At WR we are proud to be one of the most Global sites on the internet, and your participation is one of the main reasons for that. Please enjoy Global and most of all, enjoy all the great content on WR.

      Personal Introduction –

James Bones/violentshadows
@violentshadows
County of Residence: Canada

Over the years in the wrestling biz many of my fellow Canadians have made quite a huge impact. I’d say most famous would have to be the Hart family the impact that was made with Stampede Wrestling and the amount of talent that set food in their ring. Other greats like Edge and Christian, who have been in the spotlight more recently in the past few years, have continued that legacy. From my past I remember characters such as Dino Bravo and Earthquake (John Tenta) who hailed from Canada. Our hearts will also always remember Chris Benoit who was on his way to being a hall of famer. WWE has always played off Canadian heritage with gimmicks like The Mountie(s). No we have a new generation of amazing Canadian athletes in the ring, such as the descendants and family of the famous Harts, Harry Smith, Natalya Neidhart and Tyson Kidd. Although there’s many more I could mention and remember, this is a huge part in why I’m proud of my fellow Canadians who’ve became big in the wrestling business. An honorable mention goes to Chris Jericho who wasn’t born here, but raised here.

    Global Canadian Edition –

I wanted to introduce my whole Canadian Global chapter by mentioning a few of the Canadian wrestlers who I appreciate the most from different eras of my watching of the sport. Since I was young, hearing the entertainers announced from my home country always gave me a smile and gave me hope that even I could one day make something big of myself. I didn’t feel hopeless and shut off thinking that everyone famous was from New York or LA. It gave me pride to hear the Hart family announced from Calgary, Alberta, Canada and that their family created some of the biggest stars out of the Dungeon and Stampede Wrestling. When it comes to more recent times, the new generation of Harts are now continuing the legacy as well as guys like Christian and the recently retired Edge. Incredible talent obviously comes from everywhere around the world but in most of our lives we like to support and root for our own countrymen.

John Tenta – One of the men I got to watch when I was growing up and quite young. Playing a heel for the most part as Earthquake in his early days in WWE, he planted his roots when he had his feud with Hulk Hogan and was the bad guy up against the American hero. I also remember another amazing feud featuring Earthquake with Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts in which Earthquake ended up “squashing” Jake’s snake bag with his best friend and snake Damien inside. At this time I was a big fan of Jake and this horrible heel move made me furious at Earthquake which obviously means the writers did their job. I also remember when Tugboat decided to change it up and turn into Typhoon and teamed up with Earthquake to rule the tag team division as the Natural Disasters. These two had some big profile matches against Hogan and Brutus. Tenta like many moved on to WCW where I remember him wrestling in nasty brown tights with a small Canadian flag on his front. After a few years there of being buried, Tenta made his way back to WWE as Golga with the horrible gimmick group, The Oddities. Golga was into Cartman from Southpark and had a mask that covered his identity. Thank goodness this group didn’t last long. John Tenta didn’t stick around WWE after that gimmick was done except for an appearance a few years later at a gimmick battle royal at WM17. A few years after that John Tenta would get cancer and pass away in 2006. Tenta tidbit – he was a successful sumo wrestler before becoming a professional wrestler.

Edge/Christian – Two best friends who both hail from Canada who took the new millennium by storm. Although they started in WWE a few years before 2000, it wasn’t until further into it that they started winning tag team gold and having some of the best matches of WWE history. These two along with the Hardys had some of the most insane matches making tables, ladders and chairs a popular gimmick match which is continuing on this way, although not as extreme. These two weren’t afraid to do anything in the ring and proved it by raising the bar almost each and every time they got in the ring. In most recent years we saw Edge become multiple time world champion and main event both Raw and Smackdown. Edge as we all know had to recently retire due to a neck issue which he doesn’t want to make worse, which to me is a sign of a very smart man. This seemed to open the glass ceiling for Christian as after Edge retired, Christian finally became a multiple time world champion and worked some great programs on Smackdown with Randy Orton. Two future hall of famers in my opinion, Edge and Christian are two of Canadas most popular performers in the ring.

Tyson Kidd/Natalya Neidhart – The future of WWE and two of the new generation of Canadians making it big in the wrestling business. Tyson and Nattie, a couple in real life are the next generation of Hart family. Although Tyson isn’t related (just being w/ Natalya) he was with the Harts from a very young age and grew up training in the dungeon with Harry Smith and Natalya as well as Teddy Hart and a few others. Tyson has been very successful in Japan and especially Stampede Wrestling where he made his start at a very young age. Nattie is the first third generation diva in WWE, and has shown her impressive skills and real wrestling ability proving why she’s part of the Hart Dynasty. I love the fact that these two haven’t stepped into the business by being given a handout. Both have had to work for it from a very young age and train extremely hard to get where they are today. Both amazing technicians, I can’t wait to see what exactly these two have in store for us as they’re just starting to develop in WWE. Although Harry didn’t stick around long, the door will more than likely always be open for him to return if wanted. I think currently his MMA dreams are a better goal. Needless to say, the new generation of Hart family trainees make me proud to be Canadian.

Fun fact – Roddy Piper is Canadian, but is billed from Scotland. He will be featured in another future edition.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this write up as to some of the reasons why I’m a proud Canadian when it comes to wrestling. I know a lot of you love to root for your fellow countrymen. The Irish have their Sheamus and Finlay. Mexico has their Mil Mascaras and Alberto Del Rio. The U.S. has quite a lead over all of us, but hey, every country has enough talent to make someone jealous. Feel free to leave what country you’re from and who it is from your country you respect the most or remember from the business. It’s a very global business so let’s see what corners of the globe we actually touch.

violentshadows@Hotmail.com