The Sundre Elks Club is approximately $1,000 in the hole after a poor turnout at the wrestling event it hosted in town on Canada Day.
Only 65 people attended and the club was expecting at least a couple hundred, said Howard Payne, the club's chaplain, adding that last year's event attracted 194 people.
He said he is disappointed but moving forward and is extremely thankful for the sponsors, the donors and the attendees the event did attract this year.
The club was planning to raise funds for children to participate in recreational activities in the community. Unfortunately, the club did not raise enough money to break even, so will not be donating any money.
However, club members are already brainstorming other ways they will be able to fundraise money, he said.
He believes the long weekend was a factor in the low turnout because several people were out of town. If the club decides to host the event again next year, it will be on a weeknight, as it was last year, he said.
Last year, the club was able to donate $2,000 from the wrestling event towards the Sundre Skate Park.
This year's event brought five wrestling matches, including three championship titles and was held at the Sundre Arena on July 1. Payne said it cost the elks club $3,500 to host, but that the wrestlers put on a great show and enjoyed being in Sundre.
Three of the wrestlers attended the Sundre Museum before the event for a meet-and-greet.
Massive Damage, Jack Hammer and Bambi Hall, from Canadian National Wrestling Alliance (CNWA), said at the meet-and-greet that they were excited to be performing for the second time in Sundre.
“We're not just a wrestling organization, we do a lot of community stuff,” said Massive Damage, mentioning that last year a few of the wrestlers went to Sundre High School and talked to students to “leave a positive message”.
He operates a wrestling training school in Edmonton and has for 10 years, he said. Fully invested in his wrestling career, he has been wrestling for 18 years and says his signature move is the “spear”.
Before wrestling, he played football and was a body builder. He was invited to a World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) developmental camp in 1997 and trained with wrestler Leo Burke.
“It's living the dream, going out and doing what you love to do, not many people have an opportunity to do something they enjoy doing,” said Massive Damage, who won his match at the event.
Jack Hammer has been wrestling for eight years, but has a career outside of wresting. He has been in the military for 12 years and was recently in High River assisting with search and rescue, he said.
“I watched it (wrestling) when I was a kid and fell in love with it. I went to my first independent show about nine years ago, got in touch with somebody and ended up training from there,” said Jack Hammer. “Some people love it, some people hate it and I absolutely love it.”
“You see this 240 pound monstrosity coming with shoulder pads with spikes on it and skulls all over it and Rob Zombie music playing in the background and you want to run, but you cant and then you get in the ring with them and you wish you had,” he laughed.
He doesn't stick to one signature move, but is currently into the “fireman's carry front slam”, he said.
“One of the best things about our current crew is we're like a family. Massive is pretty much like a big brother to me, he has looked out for me in a bunch of different aspects, not just wrestling, but in personal life too. I can go to him for anything,” he said.
He was defeated during his match against the CNWA champion Bobby Sharp, which was the main event of the evening.
Bambi Hall fought for her ladies championship title at the event and won. She has been wrestling for two years and says she grew up with wrestling and that her mother is also a wrestler. She uses a “bulldog” as her signature move.
“I've always loved it,” said Hall. “You get to use your imagination to the max, you get to be creative all the time.”
