Lords of the Ring

Up until last week, I'd never heard of a Texas Death Match.

But when Scotty Mac, the reigning heavyweight champion of Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling, told me that it would be something to see, well, I believed him. For it might be fake, but there would be blood.

And when my girlfriend heard that I'd be heading out to Surrey's Bridgeview Hall -- nestled in the industrial shadows of the Pattullo Bridge -- to watch it, she asked me with a straight face if I wanted to bring a knife.

I had to tell her that, as a journalist -- and let's use that term loosely -- impartiality was essential, and stabbing someone at a wrestling match wouldn't bode well for my credibility.

Besides, the 200-plus raucous fans in Surrey weren't there to see me.

Thank you, Mr. Rourke

Extreme wrestling -- while never really a mainstream form of entertainment -- has limped back into pop culture's collective consciousness aided by Mickey Rourke's portrayal of a has-been wrestler in Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler, but for the ECCW boys who do battle in rings set up on the floors of various Lower Mainland community halls almost every weekend, it's just another day at the office.

Well, outside of their real jobs, of course.

"[It's] the best wrestling in Canada today," claims challenger Memphis Raines backstage, an electrician by trade and clearly already in character right before his title shot and death match versus Mac. "And if you didn't know about it, I'd probably hit you for being stupid. And I'd be doing you the favour."

As I tried to wrap my head around that, the crowd jeered and cheered the under cards in the ring, and Memphis and Mac carefully sketched out their match on a piece of paper. One thing was clear: no chairs, tables or garbage containers outside the hall would be off limits.

"Some of the things we're going to be doing tonight, I wouldn't trust just anybody to do," Memphis tells me, "so we do have a connection outside of the business, as well as inside of the business."

No doubt that, behind the scenes, there's a familial vibe between the wrestlers, camaraderie you might find at the dinner table in a fire hall or inside the caravan of a travelling circus.

High-flying, tight-wearing, shirtless birds of a feather, so to speak.

Blood and beer

Outside of the business, Mac works as a bartender. But inside, he's the ECCW's poster boy and has wrestled with the promotion since 2000.

I'm filming the death match (you can watch our video here)...

...so my colleague Mark Yuen and I are right on top of all the bloody action. In fact, blood from a large gash on Mac's head sprays onto Mark's camera after he's struck by a metal chair. The vocal crowd scatters and follows the pair's choreographed moves around and outside the hall like it's a street fight, and at times -- save for Mac's electric tight pink shorts and Memphis's red-and-black leather medieval short shorts with flowing fringe -- it actually feels like one.

Bloodied and battered backstage after the 20-minute match, the opponents hug, then Memphis, the winner and newly-crowned champion, limps towards his changing area: "I need an icepack, a six pack, and someone to kiss my ass," he says.

Afterwards, Mark and I inspect Mac's nasty five-inch gash along the top of his head. "You know that part in The Wrestler where Mickey Rourke takes out that razor blade?" he asks. "I didn't do that."

Mac lost his blade -- or gig as it's called in the biz -- during the match, and his performance requires a trip to the hospital for some stitches. But before he goes, I have to ask: why?

"That's the happiest you'll see me doing anything in my life," he says. "I'm in my best mood on a show night. After a successful wrestling show, a great wrestling match, I'm on cloud nine, and nothing else compares to it."

The truth is, there's nothing fake about that.

You can catch ECCW at the Russian Community Centre in Vancouver Saturday night at 8 p.m. Visit here for more information.

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