Known as THE top prize in Steeltown Pro Wrestling, the SPW Heavyweight Championship is coveted by everyone on the SPW roster, man or woman. Everyone Steeltown ProStar and Wild Women of SPW wish to one day be recognized as the best in SteeltownPro. Since September 2008 seven men can lay claim to having been the king of the SPW Mountain.
SteeltownProWrestling.ca caught up with former SPW Heavyweight Champions to get their take on what it meant to win the championship and what it meant to be the promotions flag bearer and marquee wrestler.
Matt Fairlane:
I had been away from wrestling for a few years before returning to the business for Steeltown Pro Wrestling. To be crowned the first ever SPW Heavyweight Champion in front of my hometown fans was a moment I’ll never forget. Since that time I’ve gone on to travel throughout Canada the US and establish myself as one of the best wrestlers in the territory. For me it was the first of several major career accomplishments since my return to wrestling.
Chi Chi Cruz:
I’ve wrestled around the world against some pretty big names. Winning the SPW Heavyweight Championship was special because I won it in Somerset and Ernie Rheault was at ringside to witness it. Somerset is a small town, that’s where I trained to become a wrestler in the mid-80s and Ernie was my trainer. I hadn’t been back there in decades. To come back, to win the championship, it was like a homecoming.
MARIUS:
Winning it the first time was a big deal. It was my first foray as a main event singles wrestler, the first time I was a promotion’s main champion, and I dethroned Fairlane after more than a year as champion. That match featured my mentor Rob Stardom, veterans like Sgt. Tom Steele and Chi Chi Cruz and established a long standing relationship with SYKO. The second time, defeating Chi Chi Cruz to become the first and only 2-time champion was just as special. When I was a young boy in the early-90s I saw Chi Chi Cruz win the WFWA Heavyweight Title in my hometown. To defeat him for the top prize after all those years, it was like things were coming full circle in a way. Becoming SPW Heavyweight Champion is really what established me as a main event performer, an experience that has become invaluable as I continue to grow as a wrestler.
Ike Idol:
This was a culmination of hard work and dedication, especially after returning from a knee injury that nearly retired me. I held the championship for just shy of a year, I defended it all over the territory against guys like Matt Fairlane, La Sombra, Chi Chi Cruz and even former WWE Superstar Eugene Dinsmore. Being SPW Heavyweight Champion was a pinnacle moment for me as a wrestler. After I lost the championship I decided that it was time to wind things down and quietly retire. It’s an experience I’ll never forget.
La Sombra:
My size, my style, my whole life being told my dream was stupid and that I could never do it…to win the SPW Heavyweight Title…what a feeling. I worked so hard for it, I was sidelined by a knee injury and major surgery, and I came back and worked my way back up the ranks. I won everything there was to win just for a chance, just for a shot at the title. I didn’t get it done the first time but in January 2012 I got it done. It was the biggest win of my life and all I think about every day is winning it again. I proved to everyone they were wrong, I proved that having dreams is worth every sacrifice.
Rob Stardom:
I held it for only a little while but rest assured that I haven’t forgotten that feeling of being SPW Heavyweight Champion. Mark my words, I’m going to get it back and I’m going to enjoy being champion for a long, long time. If that title means you’re the best then it should be around the waist of Rob Stardom.
Jethro Hawg:
Two words come to mind: Yee Haw! Man what a feeling winnin’ the championship. After more than 25 years, can you believe it, this is Jethro Hawg’s first rasslin’ championship? Y’know I never thought it was gonna happen, I came to SPW to help the youngens, sing my swan song and ride off in the sunset. I’ll be damned if 2012 wasn’t one of the best years of my career and now I’m the big pig in the pen! I worked hard, I earned it and being SPW Heavyweight Champion is one of the most empowering feelins’ I’ve ever had. I’m workin’ doubly hard to hold on to it, too.
