'It’s truly something special': Celebrating 30 years of Border City Wrestling in Windsor

Windsor’s longest running wrestling promotion is ready to celebrate three decades of Border City Wrestling (BCW) action this weekend.

Owner and co-founder Scott D’Amore said it’s hard to believe 30 years have gone by since the early shows inside the former LaSalle Centennial Arena.

“We always say what started in a coffee shop late one Saturday night between myself Chuck Fader and Doug Chevalier has grown into one of the oldest and most respected wrestling companies not just in Canada, but the world,” D’Amore recalled.

“And when you look at the people, both that have came through here over the years and that have started here, like the Motor City Machine Guns, Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley. You talk about Rhino, you talk about Rosemary, you talk about so many people that got their start right here with Border City Wrestling and Windsor, and then you start talking about all the guests that came through,” he added.

D’Amore continued, “There's two people in this world that The Rock has been paid to wrestle by. One is Vince McMahon and one is Border City Wrestling and I think that's pretty neat.”

D’Amore explained BCW began because there weren’t many opportunities for people in Windsor or Canada in professional wrestling, “And really, the concept was [to] run a show, maybe if it goes well, we can run another show. And it was a chance to show other people that there was some talent in Windsor that could wrestle. So, we started doing that in 1993. I was still in high school and we did our first show and it went pretty well and we just kept going.”

(Source: Submitted)

D’Amore believes BCW has maintained a homegrown feel despite the company’s humble beginnings to now putting on large production shows for thousands of fans with a partnership with Impact Wrestling.

“There's that interactive bit where you get to meet the wrestlers, see them, talk to them, the fans know each other and it's a whole different experience,” D’Amore explained. “It's great to go over to a show at Ford Field or at Little Caesars or going up to Scotiabank, but here you get to see, you get to touch, you get to feel and you get to have those moments on the grand stage. There's something special about that intimate setting and those memories and you feel a personal connection with the fans. And thankfully the fans, a personal connection at times with us and to me it's something truly special that we built both as a launching point for people in wrestling, but also just for a sense of community.”

D’Amore noted that in 1993, there was no social media and a perceived lack of connectivity, suggesting BCW was ahead of the curve at pulling people together on a regular basis to have a shared experience.

“I remember when we did our ten-year anniversary. Just being overwhelmed by the fact that an entire decade of Border City Wrestling [has gone by] and all we've done, and when we did the 20th which was one of our earlier events at St. Clair College, we'd only been there a few times. I was like, ‘It just doesn't get any bigger than this.’ And I really thought that was the apex and now we're here entering decade number four and I don't think there's any stopping.”

D’Amore told CTV News the next class at the Can-Am Wrestling School starts up again soon, saying the professional wrestling industry is in the midst of a boom period.

“One of the things I'm proudest about here is our coaching tree,” D’Amore said. “When you look at athletes that came out of Border City Wrestling, the Can-Am Dojo, their fingers are everywhere now in wrestling all across the globe. All the major companies, there's somebody who trained with or was coached by somebody that started here, and to me, that's one of the most impressive things.”

BCW’s 30th Anniversary Show takes place Saturday, Oct. 7, inside the St. Clair College Sportplex. Doors open at 6 p.m. with bell time at 7:30 p.m.

Those scheduled to appear include Olympic gold medalist and multiple Hall-of-Famer Kurt Angle, along with Canadian wrestling legend Jacques Rougeau, Japanese sensation Kaito Kiyomiya, former BCW Champions D'Lo Brown, Tommy Dreamer, Johnny Swinger, Cody Deaner, and Impact Director of Authority Santino Marella, and more.

D’Amore added, “I think it's going to be fantastic. I think that people are going to get to have fun out there. And we're going to do this Saturday what we do best, which is get an amazing group of people together behind the scenes and in the crowd, and we're going to create memories.“