Memorable Moments

With nine years of history in the books now,  it goes without saying that the Prairie Wrestling Alliance has provided fans with a bevy of memorable moments. And with such a wide-ranging fanbase of fans who took in their first PWA shows in 2009 to fans that were with the PWA right from the start in 2001, we knew we’d get a host of different answers when we posed the question: what was your favourite PWA moment?

Marky Mark topped a lot of people’s lists, given his size and reputation for taking incredible punishment. PWAwrestling.ca fan dreman450splash wrote:

“My personal favorite moment is at an event at century casino, i think it was fright night 2008, when M put Punishment through the casket. that was awesome.”

PWAwrestling.ca fan Alex had another painful Marky Mark memory:

“So many to think of…But I think the most memorable was Drago vs. Marky Mark when Drago chokeslammed Mark into a chair from the apron to the floor. I’ve been a fan of Drago even before his PWA days and to watch him go toe-to-toe with some-one as good as Marky is something I’ll never forget.”

PWAwrestling.ca fan Parsons recalled the thrilling conclusion to Marky’s feud with Phoenix Taylor at Night of Champions 2006:

“The ladder match between Marky and Phoenix Taylor a number of years ago in the NAIT gym. Jumping from ladder to ladder . . . on . . . through . . . over . . . I had brought non-wrestling fans with me that night and they couldn’t keep still. The action was too incredible – people were on their feet. Outstanding!”

PWAwrestling.ca gibble concurred:

“the Mark/Phoenix ladder match was probably the most insane ladder match I have seen”

It’s not surprising that Night of Champions came up several times in people’s answer, as PWA’s biggest night of the year has delivered some of its greatest moments. PWAwrestling.ca fan Spook looks back more than five years ago for his greatest moment:

“Hands down it has to be the whole “Night of Champions” event held on Oct 9/04 at the Extreme Zone.”

The show, the PWA’s first at the Xtreme Zone venue, featured a thrilling four team 60 minute Iron Men Match for the PWA Tag Team Championships, in which the Stampede Bulldogs outlasted the Funky Bunch, and two teams from Damage Incorporated to capture the gold for the first time in their PWA careers. Damage Incorporated had been holding the gold as a unit, combining any of their four members as defending champions, but this format eliminated the numbers advantage for the Durrango Brothers, Greg Pawluk and Randy Myers. Chris Steele also defended the PWA Championship in a rough contest with Tex Gaines, that led to a rematch that PWAwrestling.ca fan jcmoney remembers quite fondly:

“Mine was from a while ago (back in the Xtreme Zone days) was the street fight between Tex Gaines and Chris Steele, to this day it is one of the favorite matches I ever seen in person, and the crowd was going crazy for the match. Steele came out of top, barely. And Tex did not seem all to pleased with the result and took up his complaint with Kurt, but Kurt did not agree with Tex’s protest, so Tex absolutely DESTROYED Kurt with a Stop sign and it was easily the loudest weapon shot I have ever heard in my life.”

Other Night of Champions moments recalled by fans included Mick Foley’s appearance in 2009, Christian and Al Snow squaring off in 2008, as well as PWA Hall of Famer Gama Singh throwing a fireball in the face of Michael Avery to enable Gama Singh Jr. to capture the PWA Heavyweight Championship in a triple threat match that also featured then champion Scotty Mac.

PWAwrestling.ca fan Dwayne was especially fond of some title changes, such as the aforementioned Stampede Bulldogs Tag Title reign, as well as PWA Hall of Famer “Dirty” Duke Durrango becoming the PWA Heavyweight Champion, a title he would eventually drop to TJ Wilson in a thrilling cage match at, yep, you guessed it, Night of Champions.

A few of our readers also threw in votes for special guest wrestlers that have appeared on PWA shows, most notably the legendary Abdullah the Butcher, and TNA Superstars Samoa Joe and current TNA Champion AJ Styles, who squared off in Calgary and Edmonton in the fall of 2007 for the “Invasion” and “Fright Night” cards, in addition to Styles returning last year and taking on Chris Steele and Ravenous Randy in singles contests.

Thanks to everybody who submitted their picks for memorable moments! Be sure to check out the message board for the next PWA Fan Feedback Question!